a very good day.

Sunday, I paid a visit to one of my favorite friends. 

When I arrived with a haul of maternity clothes to cover her sweet baby bump due to arrive in November,

she surprised me with a birthday gift!

Fancy this...

the cutest to do/notes by thomaspaul.
Now I can write lists in style!
Find more awesome stationary here.
I have my eye on the chocolate-orange-marigold set.

A journal by Sabrina Ward Harrison.

Shannon and many of you know that I am a HUGE SWH fan.

This is such a great piece of her work to own.

In fact, I am such a fan that I already had this great book.

However, it is so lovely that I haven't taken a pen to its pages.

I just don't dare ruin the artwork.

I can make my own mess elsewhere...

With Shannon's blessing, I took this beautiful journal back to its home in search of another another gem.

You know where this book led me?

To none other than

Anthropologie.

I want to thank Shannon for giving me the excuse to treat myself

to eye-candy heaven!

When I arrived, I almost melted to the floor.

About eight must-have books practically jumped off their shelves and tables

trying to catch my eye and swoon me into taking them home.

Here are some in no particular order...

Inspiration selections from Paulo Cohelo the great.

Because "old" has been whispering to me...

Jane Eyre

*I just LOVE these bound books*
You probably remember them from a previous post.

Pride and Prejudice

Great Expectations

Made From Scratch.

This should be my next purchase.

She writes about beekeeping, clothes making, and hen picking.

All necessary things for our country move on the horizon.

More on this soon. :)

While overcome with the huge decision,

Shannon's magic gift buying reasoning ran through my head:

buy something that you wouldn't buy yourself.

And the choice was made:

I've always wanted to splurge and buy

an

entire book on cupcakes.

Can you imagine...

there are

Coffee Cupcakes,

Coconut Cupcakes,

Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes,

Ginger Cupcakes,

Chocolate-Orange Cupcakes

 and even

Lemon Cupcakes!!!

Delish.

a lovely friend. presents. eye candy. books. a book of treats, nonetheless.

it was a good day.