Yesterday I went to check my mail and found a large padded envelope stuffed into my tiny apartment-sized mailbox. When I tore open the seal I found a pretty yellow ribbon.



Of course! How could I forget!

Last month, I received a letter from the United States Equestrian Federation (the governing body for all U.S. equestrian sports). Apparently I had placed third in the region for the Horse of the Year Award. This news came as quite the surprise since I had only shown once in the region all year. However, the points I collected by competing in that one show were enough to earn my horse a third place. Pretty cool.

And since my horses are in Scottsdale, I was ranked in Region 7 which consists of Arizona, Nevada and Utah. In comparison, the first and second place winners were both local to Arizona and had shown several times during the year.

I can remember when I won first place in the same contest with my horse Summerfire. We showed like crazy that year and traveled all throughout Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin (which is Region 11). Knowing what it takes to get first, I feel proud to have ended up third after competing in only one show.

And what a nice thing to break up the dreariness of winter.

I no longer have to make a special visit to Canada to buy my favorite OTC allergy medicine! Chlor-Trimeton 12 hr. is back on the shelves at Walgreens. After a long absence due in part to manufacturing delays, my careful rationing can come to an end. Thanks Schering-Plough!

Banana Republic is finally joining J.Crew in offering a 15% off discount to all students and faculty! This discount applies to both sale and full price items and must be used in-store only. Just present your school ID at the register to get the discount. Sadly, the discount is only good through the end of 2010 so take advantage while you can!

Every year on January 22nd Eddie and I have a big night out in honor of two occasions. The first, is Eddie’s birthday. The second is the anniversary of when we first met four years ago. It’s rather convenient having these both on the same day and it makes the day that much more special.

This year, Eddie and I met with Hunka, Kendle et al. for drinks at Boltini. Then we walked over to Jim Gould’s for dinner and live jazz. The dinner was perfect, as always. I had a filet and Eddie had the Chicken Picata. At one point during the meal, Eddie pulls out a box from under the table and slides it over to me. I open it and find a beautiful bezel set diamond necklace! He had been hiding this from me all evening…very sneaky!

I wish we had pictures from our big night out, but in their absence, this collage will have to do. I received several compliments on my dress and clutch, so I figured I would post what I was wearing that night.

Clockwise from top left: Fully Fashioned French Heel Stockings, Onyx Stud Earrings (Tiffany’s), Silk Bouquet Clutch (Santi), Platform Heels (Kate Spade), Navy Blue Devoré Hearts Dress (Marc Jacobs), Rhinestone Hair Pin à la Natalie Wood, Bezel Set Diamond Necklace, Leather Gloves, Raccoon Collar Coat* (DKNY), 1940s Vintage Style Makeup and Hair

*Not exactly what mine looks like, but it’s the same style.

Note: I’m usually not the type of girl who is into heart motifs, but I was really drawn to this dress. The navy is so dark it’s almost black, which helps to tone down the hearts. It’s hard to tell, but the yoke is sheer like the illusion necklines I love. I really like the way it fits and it was feminine without being childish or cutesy.

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday!

Apartment Therapy, the awesome community driven interior design blog, featured one of my photos today! The article is about Fiestaware collections, and they chose to run my photo as the main image for the entire post. Being an established reader and fan of Apartment Therapy, it’s a great feeling to see one of own photos displayed on their front page. Combined with the knowledge that many more people across the world will also see my photo makes for a very exciting day here at MissAnthropolgoy.com.

Thanks again to Apartment Therapy for choosing to run my photo!

When I first discovered this handmade file from lovelydesign, it was backordered and then temporarily discontinued. However, I decided to put myself on the wait list in hopes that they would eventually be brought back. After months of waiting, Sharilyn (the creator of the address file) contacted me saying that she had one ready just for me!

My lovely address file arrived the other day and it was definitely worth the wait. I think it will make a nice home for my recipes, which are currently scattered all over the place.

If you would like an address file of your own, contact Sharilyn directly at sharilyn[at]lovelydesign[dot]com. You will be put on the wait list, but don’t worry because it’s completely worth it! Also, please make sure you are doing business through lovelydesign and Sharilyn, because I have seen many imitators on Etsy.

Visit my Flickr set for more photos from the 2009 Illinois State Fair.

P.S. This is my 100th post!

It’s been almost a year since I switched back to WordPress and I’ve finally gotten around to making my site look a bit nicer. In the process, I’ve learned a lot about CSS and PHP and how the two work together. I caused a few fatal errors in my learning, but that’s all part of the process, right?

Things still aren’t exactly how I want them; I’m not totally happy with how images are handled when inserted into a post. Also, the header image is more or less a place holder until I take some new pictures. The aspect ratio is a bit odd, so I’ll have to find one with a fair amount of negative space so the cropping isn’t obvious.

Anyway, if you notice anything buggy/ugly/etc while you are using my new site, please leave a comment for me on this post. I’ll try and fix it as soon as I am able! It should be noted that I have only viewed my site in Safari 4.0.3, so I really have no idea how things look in IE, Firefox, what have you.

Thanks! Hope you like it!

-MissAnthropology

Eddie is at the state fair today and knowing my love for Eames fiberglass chairs, he sent this: