Today, I am loving...

I'd never been to Marshalls, the designer discount store, before. But the first time I did, during our recent trip, I was quite charmed by their fitting room. It wasn't luxurious at all like the fitting room above. Didn't even notice if the lighting was flattering. Nor did they have the elite amenities like mood music selection or chocolate and champagne freebies in the fitting rooms.

But that day, I was loving... the useful O.C.-ness of the Marshalls fitting rooms.

You know how a lot of fitting rooms don't have enough hooks? Well, this one had a sort of grid-like grill where you could hang so many clothes all over and still see part of the dress so it's easy to choose which one you will try on.

Haha, color-blocking-obsessed much?

Then, once you've tried on your selection, you can hang it on any of these 3 hooks (all inside the fitting room): Is it a DEFINITELY?

Or a POSSIBLY?

Or a NO, but broken down to Marshalls gently?

Isn't it cool that you can organize the clothes you fit then and there? No need to flip through them as you go out of the fitting room to hand the rejects to the attendant!

Plus, here's what greeted me as I walked out of my fitting room stall...

Not a bad deal for your DEFINITELYs and possibly even your POSSIBLYs, right?

Today, I am loving... the organization tools in the Marshalls fitting rooms.

Photos are my own and from here.

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Today, I am loving...

Today, I am loving... my new Starbucks name. 

As some of you might know from here, they always get my name wrong in Starbucks. So many precious minutes are wasted repeating my name over and over and they still misspell it on my cup. Then one day, I blurted out a fake name - Vivian - and they got it right with one try. So Vivian has been my Starbucks name for several years now.

Until two months ago when they spelled it Viviane. So I called for new coffee-shop-name suggestions here. 

And one of my readers suggested Eva. I tried it last week and the barista called out "short Caramel Machiatto for Eva!". I'm not sure if the other patrons noticed it. But it didn't matter. I heard the barista say "forevah" and I couldn't help smile. As naughty as it sounds, the harmless mischief just made my day a little more fun.

So today, I am chuckling... at my fun, new Starbucks name.

Photo from i'mjustsaying.

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Today, I am loving...

The kids are back in school so my new year officially begins today. Am back to "work" on my errands & projects today. The date & days of the week are again important to note unlike during the Christmas break when it really didn't matter what day it was (it just seemed to be one loooong happy weekend!).

So today, I am loving... these free 2013-calendar printables! Just click on the colored links below...

Love the cheerful colors of the letters of each month, especially against the gray typography of the spelled-out 2013 of The Tomkat Studio.

These polka dot calendars from The Twinery are pretty too!

You can even download them in a mini-calendar size!

Here's a gray & yellow (remember this combo from here?) full-year calendar from L@u's Notebook.

Notice the washi tape holding up the calendar? :)

Here's a whimsical option from The Ink Nest.

If you adore owls, try this one from My Owl Barn. 

You can customize your calendar with artworks of owls from many different artists.

My favorite of all is this candy-themed mini-calendar from Eat Drink Chic. Of all the printable calendars in this post, I chose this set and had it printed at Kameraworld for PhP7.75 per sheet (you just need to convert the pdf file into jpg).

Am not really sure what I will use it for (Perhaps a desk calendar? Eeep! Should I have just printed the other polka dot calendar, the one from The Twinery? But...) I loooove the pretty striped & dotted patterns of this sweet calendar!

Plus, you know how I love candy here & here.

Isn't this the most adorable calendar set?

Today, I am loving... these free 2013-calendar printables all over the web. I am amazed at the generosity of the artists who designed these pretty calendars and made it available to everyone for free! 

Not all, but most of these, I found via deliciouslyorganized.

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Today, I am loving...

Today, I am loving... my early Christmas gift from my buddies K & C! It's not exactly from Tiffany's, but it's in a lovely Tiffany blue color - my purrretty Matroyshka necklace!

I was already smitten because as you know from here & here, I have a thing for Matroyshka dolls. To my wonderful surprise, it didn't just look like a cutely fat Matroyshka, but it was an actual nesting doll!!!

I was in love!

So I wore it everyday after that.

To a friend's birthday dinner...

To the Sting concert...

On errands the following day...

Today, I am totally loving... my adorable Matroyshka necklace present! Super thanks K & C!

Photos are my own and from annnniegirl.

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Today, I am loving...

We've lived in our house for over 7 years and I still haven't decided on our house-number's design. Today, I am loving... the idea of an unexpected look for a house number - whether it be by stenciling it on a planter like in the photo above or by positioning it on an unusual spot of your front door like this one...

Or on pumpkins! Haha! (Remember my pumpkin-carving experience here?)

I even like that that this house number is spelled out!

Problem is, none of these ideas will work on my house. 1 The platform from our gate to the street is an incline so a planter would slide down. 2 We are a gated house so that idea of the numbers on the bottom part of our front door will not work. 3 Pumpkins? Okay, that doesn't need explanation. 4 Our street is a 3-block-long cul-de-sac, so houses are counted by lot & block numbers. It will be a whole paragraph to spell it out!

Hmmm... I wonder what unusual house number will work in my house? Ideas, anyone?

Though I haven't thought up one for my house yet, today, I am loving... the idea of an unexpected house number. After all, it's the first thing a visitor sees of your house.

Photos from annnniegirl, here and here.

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Today, I am loving...

Today, I am loving... the idea of wood as the centerpiece. Now that I am trying to move away from matchy-matchy furniture here, it's refreshing to see how walnut & cherry wood can become the showpiece of a room - especially against mixed materials in light colors.

I am so drawn to the mix of wooden panels with the wood grains and all. It makes even a bike stand out!

Today I am loving... these dark wood highlights.

Photos from pinkwallpaper.

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Today, I am loving...

Today, I am loving... these sweet and clever his & hers items. From morning coffee mugs to paper coffee cups...

To a way to mark your side of the bed...

I have this funny lovers' spat pillowcase set in navy. I got them from me&u in Eastwood.

They also have this charming set.

But this is my favorite his & hers item... These ice cream spoons...

They make it necessary for a couple to share a scoop of ice cream. Isn't that the sweetest?

Today, I am loving... the idea of having such sweet & clever his & hers items around the house.

Photos from pinkwallpaper, annnniegirl, here and here.

Click here for previous posts from the Today, I am loving... series. Click here for the down-in-the-dots version of this post.

Today, I am loving...

Today, I am captivated... by these tunnels. I'm not exactly sure what it is about these tunnel of trees that I am so drawn to. Perhaps it is the beauty of the fall colors creating a roof above.

I like the idea of passing through this canopy of trees.

Or through this manmade tunnel.

And how lucky am I to find this tunnel with a VW Kombi passing through? Because as you know from here, I have this thing for VW Campers.

This one looks more like an archway that ends where a canopy of trees begins. There's something so ethereal, yet comforting about it. 

As I imagine myself walking through it, I kind of feel safe, like the tunnel of bricks & branches are cocooning me. Today, I am loving... these tunnels of trees & bricks. I hope this summer's roadtrips will lead me to such captivating tunnels.

Photos from annnniegirl and acupofjo.

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Today, I am loving...

I have always been attracted to barnyard or horse-stall doors. Probably because of my love for horses (see related post here). I guess that's why this photo of a split-door has been bookmarked in my "pretty-folder" for a while now. I think it would make an interesting backdoor. I imagine it can work just as well as the open-pane door here as a kid's puppet theater or lemonade stand.

I've also bookmarked (& posted here) this actual barnyard door that's used as a bathroom door.

But I never imagined you could repurpose an old horse-stall door like this.

Today, I am loving... these repurposed horse-stall doors.

I love the character & charm that these old horse-stall doors bring to the room. The details are just gorgeous!

And I love the idea of partly concealing a bar or groceries. I also think that putting them on sliding rails - rather than a regular door with hinges - adds to the allure. And of course, the pretty backsplash of that bar is to-die-for! 

Today, I am enamored... by these repurposed horse-stall doors!

Photos from annnniegirl, i'mjustsaying, heritage and designsponge.

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Today, I am loving...

I have been in love with the idea of wearing your children's initials around your neck since Katie Holmes kept sporting a Jennifer Meyer diamond-encrusted pendant of an "S" - for Suri - last year. She is rarely ever seen without it and even wore it on the cover of InStyle's August 2011 issue.

I could never afford the real thing at $1,500 a disc. So boy was I glad to find this hand-stamped initial set from Tea Party Jewelry on Etsy!

Then as I browsed through Tea Party Jewelry's shop, I fell in love with the idea of wearing my kids' names - rather than initials - on disc pendants.

So I asked Tea Party Jewelry to customize a set for me: 2 discs, hand-stamped with my kids' names, in this typewriter font that I was really smitten with. I asked them to put the silver spacer ball from the initial set to keep my discs apart. A tiny portion of the discs actually still overlap when I wear my necklace. Amusingly, whenever Isabella or Noah spy their sibling's disc on "top" of theirs on my collarbone, they switch the discs around so their name is more prominently seen. Oddly, they've never done it in front of the other so am not sure what drives them to do it every time. But I'm glad both of them do it because it affirms that I don't play favorites. Unlike them, I don't get to see their names when I have my necklace on. But I've picked up this habit of stroking the discs in the middle of my workday. And whenever I do that, I kind of feel warm all over and I can't help but smile to myself.

I still want an initial set though. And I just love Gwen Delicious Jewelry Designs' take on the initial pendant. I think the vintage typewriter keys give an initial charm a different character. Plus, it's perfect for a lover of pretty typography like me.

And instead of a spacer ball, I ordered a bronze ampersand to go in between my kids' initials (because, as you know, I love the ampersand).

Gwen Delicious has yet to finish casting my typewriter key pendants, but I can barely wait to stroke my kids' initials in the middle of my workday.

Today, I am loving... the sentimentality of wearing your children's names or initials around your neck. It is such a special and stylish way to always have a memento of the people you love so close by.

Photos from teapartyjewelry, gwendelicious and here. 

Some related links you might have missed:

• my pretend closet: J.Crew maritime dress
• the typography-initial trend
• my love for the ampersand (coincidentally, the ampersand letterpress necklace on this post is also from Gwen Delicious!)
• previous posts from the Today, I am loving... series.

And in case you're planning to purchase necklaces on Etsy or anywhere online, here's a great necklace-length reference from one of my favorite blogs, Playtime Break.