a Rafflecopter giveaway

A special word from Abbey:

"Now through January 1, 2013, 10% of all purchases will go to a family friend's daughter, Maari. She is 9 years old and fighting cancer-- a brain tumor to be exact. All without insurance, because their insurance company will not cover costs of treatment. I am also selling a special Hope necklace where 80% of the proceeds go directly to her (the other 20% is strictly to cover the cost of materials). Thanks for your help and support!"

Hello from Baltimore, Maryland! I'll be here until tomorrow evening, and my presentation is tomorrow morning! Send me prayers if that's your thing, or maybe just some good, strong, positive vibes! I'm not sure why I'm so nervous, but I am!

I was posting Life Lately According to Instagram pretty regularly on Fridays, but here we are on a Monday. It feels like it's been a while. Enjoy; and if you have a similar post, leave me a link so I can see what you've been up to!

1. Looking extra-orange on a Friday evening.

2. Grainger, the English building at my alma mater. Miss it so much.

3. Still not sure where to wear this gorgeous dress c/o Jovonna London.

4. Had dinner with my good friend Andy. I see him far too rarely.

5. Earl Grey on a sick day.

6. Beautiful figs and a glass of red wine! World's best after-dinner treat.

7. Sean met us in Lynchburg for my pre-birthday lunch!

8. Rob and I at Metro! for my birthday dinner. We ate a lot for my birthday.

9. See? We made quick work of that platter.

10. New jeans and flatties. They have a little gold heel!

Life Lately According to Instagram is a semi-weekly feature in which I showcase a few of my favorite Instagram shots. You can follow along with me in real-time if you'd like--just search for username @megan_flynn.

[Last bits of summer--my mom came home with these bright, alien-looking vegetables the other day.]

This week has been so long, despite the holiday on Monday. I am so excited to not be driving four hours after work today, but a weekend at home still isn't exactly in the cards for me--I'm off to Baltimore bright and early Sunday morning for a conference where I'm actually going to be speaking. I am so nervous! Luckily Rob is home for the "weekend," so we can hang out tonight and all of tomorrow.

On a different note, I feel like I go through different stages of wanting to really write and wanting to be a little more superficial on this blog. I feel torn--sometimes I just want to write a post that is really thoughtful and carefully edited, and sometimes I want to share links and photos and give away cool stuff (BTW congratulations to Kayleigh for winning the blog design! Joelle will be in touch with you soon). I guess right now I feel like I'm kind of stuck in the middle.We'll see! I have some easy posts scheduled for you while I'm away, but maybe after that I'll sit down and write something (the phrase I always use when I don't write more then a few sentences all week).

Until then, check out a few things I've loved this week:

This trailer for Downton Abbey's third season. One of my favorite shows and I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait.

Kelly Ann's photos from the golden hour are so beautiful, they actually made me gasp. I want to take pictures like that.

Okay, so, Dorothy Perkins? My friend Jenna briefly introduced me to the wonder that is this website, but I've only now just given it a real look and now I'm going to be broke soon.

Indie Maven wrote an awesome article about the Trial of Labor project. It's something that is dear to my heart, as I was born via c-section and my brother was a VBAC baby.

Rob and I just came upon our 42nd mensiversary yesterday, which we really only acknowledge because I really like the word mensiversary.

Speaking of anniversaries, these wonderful people have been together for 82 years.

And last but not least, two new blog friends for you: Kate and Amanda.

Have a great weekend!