Let's get this party started

Last week was insanely packed (in a good way) and there's still so much I have to blog about. But that will have to wait, because *happy dance* it's my birthweek! 

Marlon sure knows how to get a party started, at least in my book. He kicked off my birthday celebration by treating me to a little somethin'-somethin' at Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. 

And that is your sneak peek at Dutch Design Week. That's about all I can manage for now, but there will be more (lots more) when I get back. Promise.

In the meantime, I'm taking off to celebrate The Big 3-0 with a long-awaited trip to Istanbul. I'm excited to be crossing another big one off my lifelong travel wishlist. Ta ta for now and see you next week!

Wish list

Before I continue with my Rome posts, let me just say... it's October and it's my birthday month! Yippee!

It's a big birthday this year and I'm celebrating it in a big way with the trip to Istanbul. And since I've (surprisingly) actually made enough friends here to throw a house party, I'm thinking of doing just that.

While I must say I'm pretty content, there are a couple of odds and ends I'm obsessing about at the moment. It's been a while since I put together a wish list; I think my birthday is a good excuse to do it!

1. Adobe Photoshop (the only time I ever miss having a PC is when I think of all the cracked software I used to have)
2. An Apple mouse
3. The pretty Missoni scarf I saw at De Bijenkorf
4. An English-Dutch, Dutch-English dictionary (to further my language studies)
5. Parisian Chic by Ines de la Fressange
6. Design Sponge at Home by Grace Bonney (one of my favorite blogs, now in print)
7. Heck, any book from my Amazon wish list!
8. Love, Chloe perfume
9. A Flickr Pro account (thinking ahead for my blog)
10. A nice book of easy patterns for knitting or sewing

So many books on my wishlist! And I told myself I wouldn't buy any new books until I read every last one of my 38 (yes, you read that right) unread books. But if new books are gifted, that doesn't count right? Right.

YOU SAY IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY?!

I tried getting this post up yesterday June 18th but couldn't-- so Happy Belated 69th Birthday to Paul McCartney!!! Even though John is my favorite Beatle, I still love Paul- and George, and Ringo too.
What Paul McCartney songs are your favorite?
I have too many but some of my favorite songs Paul wrote while he was in The Beatles are:

And I Love Her
Blackbird
Carry That Weight
Eleanor Rigby
Get Back
Got to Get You into My Life
Helter Skelter
Here, There, and Everywhere
Hey Jude
I'll Follow the Sun
I'm Looking Through You
I've Just Seen a Face
Lady Madonna
Oh! Darling
Penny Lane
The Long and Winding Road
Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
Wild Honey Pie

Linda McCartney

Linda McCartney

Linda McCartney

LM

LM

LM

LM

LM

(Images From: Beatles 365 Days, Life, Daily Mail: Images of The Beatles. Photographs by: Astrid Kirchherr, and Linda McCartney.)