california scenes

Coming from such a hot state, I was amazed at the vegetation in California. There are actual flowers blooming in August! Amazing!

Plus, the whole "large body of water" thing is pretty awesome, too. :)

california in film

Guess who loves her antiquated film camera because she never got over the 90's?

THIS GAL.

I just melt when I hear the CLICK-WHIRRRR as the film advances. :)

Anyway, this is the long-awaited vacation re-cap post (one of three)! California was fantastic. The weekend went something like this:

Mr + Mrs Johnson freak out about how amazing the Pacific Ocean is. They decide to stay forever.
Mr + Mrs Johnson sit in traffic for hours and hours. They don't care because they are in California.
Mr + Mrs Johnson meet three lovely British girls. They become best friends forever.
Mr + Mrs Johnson drink boxed wine and beer. They start a fire and sleep on the beach.

Wash, rinse, and repeat.















There were actual palm trees. PALM TREES, people! (can you tell I live in totally land-locked Dallas, TX?)

In short, we spent an amazing five days running around with and sleeping in the same two-bedroom apartment as four British girls and four American guys. We plan to return as soon as possible.

Soon to come, a couple extremely image-heavy post with all the digital photos of the trip I took with my point-and-shoot and gleaned from Facebook. I know you are super excited. ;)

nom town: tillman's roadhouse

Special occasions (i.e. birthday, anniversaries, graduations, etc) mean fancy dinners for me and Mr. Johnson. We like to sit around eating fabulous dinners and pretending we are foodies. We are so very bourgeois.

Since Corban turned 26 this month, I was more than happy to take my man to dinner at Tillman's Roadhouse in Oak Cliff. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.









amuse = spicy popcorn
cocktail = Blood Orange Margarita
appetizer = Heirloom Tomato Salad (hers) + Fried Pickles (his)
entre = Pan Seared Salmon (hers) + Ribs (his)

Ashley and I went to Tillman's for our birthdays in January, and I've been dying to take my mister ever since. I absolutely love this restaurant. The decor is, in Corban's eloquent words, "middle-brow chic," which I absolutely love. The food is high-brow Southern. Everything was positively delicious, but my favorites were the margarita and the tomato salad.

Not only were the food and atmosphere amazing, but cocktails, appetizers, and entres for two people came up to less than $100. Uhm, yes please. Happy birthday to us all.

outfit: lace+ flowers

date: August 20, 2011 / occasion: tax free weekend shopping
details: shirt-Strut / shorts-Old Navy / shoes-Steve Madden

Double portrait! My photographer and me. ♥

There's something so magical about back-to-school shopping that I always want to join in, even if it's just a little bit. Corban and I spent the afternoon on Saturday people-watching in the Galleria and buying a few little odds and ends. I was this close to buying a Lisa Frank-inspired leopard-print Jansport backpack. Because every little girl needs a new backpack on her first day of school. :)

PS - Do not worry, lovelies, I haven't forgotten the vacation post I promised! I'm still gathering and editing the many, many photographs that were taken by the many, many photographers over the weekend. :)

back from vacation

What's up, internet!? The break was absolutely amazing, just what I needed to prepare for the busy times to come. I'm re-energized and totally ready to tackle all my new projects.

I'm still working on getting my photos together, but I promise a vacation recap post asap. <3

a little mini vacay

It seems that is has become incumbent upon me to tell you all that I am taking a little mini vacation from the ol' blog. I've got lots of exciting things coming up at the end of the month, so I feel that a teeny tiny break is in order before the beautiful storm begins.



Do not fear, I will be back next week! In the meantime, be comforted knowing that Mr. Cicada loves you. ♥

favorite things: matthew and the atlas / i followed fires

Despite being a total choir nerd in high school, I've only recently really gotten "into" music. I always just tended to listen to whatever was pop-y and easy. That was before I heard Vampire Weekend in my hairdresser's studio.

Since then, I've been collecting music at an almost maniacal rate. One of my very favorite recently-discovered bands is Matthew and the Atlas. I'm having a really hard time not listening to I Followed Fires on repeat all day, every day.



It's so nom-y. There's just something about banjos that stops my heart.

outfit: yellow + gold

Date: August 5, 2011 / Occasion: errand running + sitting at home with mister
Details: dress-Strut / Shoes-Steve Madden / necklace-loan from Dad / sunglasses-Urban Outfitters

The cartouche necklace is from my dad's collection; it's supposed to be a good luck charm. I'm actually oddly superstitious about good luck charms, arbitrary items with personal significance. When I was in middle school, I bought a sand-filled fabric frog (you know, the one's you get at Earth Bound right next to the hermit crabs) which I has been my good luck charm ever since. When I started driving, I put him in my car so he could protect me.

Ok, I know a bean-bag frog can't actually protect me from automobile accidents, but it feels nice to put significance in things. As though believing in it is the true protection.

The necklace is pretty at any rate. :)

favorite things: summer fruit

There's about two weeks every summer when the peaches have magic in them.

life lessons: learning a craft

It takes time (sometimes many years) to develop a vision and learn your "craft". Wherever you are, don't rush the learning process. The more time you spend developing your skills and style, the better. Be encouraged and keep learning! - Elsie Larson

My first inclination is often to become frustrated when things don't happen fast enough. I always seem to feel like I'm in an "in-between" stage...stuck between places where I want to be, never quite there. But, that's life! I want to always be learning and growing, which means that I probably won't ever really feel like I have everything figured out. And, that's ok!

Thanks for the advice, Elsie! Exactly the encouragement I needed to take that next step forward. ♥

new hair (kind of)

Check it out, bangs! No more hippy hair! This is a big deallllll!



Can you tell that I am ever so slightly vain about my hair?

I was in serious danger of chopping it all off. Every few months I get an irresistible itch to cut off all my hair (or at least dye it purple or something), all the while knowing in the back of my mind that I've been growing my hair out for years and I would be really pissed at myself for ruing all that hard work. It's kind of the devil on one should and angel on the other thing. Mister convinced me to just do a bang trim. He always knows what's best. :)

Does anyone else get that hair-changing itch?

favorite things: i was wrong / dance

I must admit that I was a little resentful when Sleeperstar's I Was Wrong blew up after being on the Vampire Diaries. That was genuinely my favorite song on Just Another Ghost, and now all the teeny bopper posers are freaking out about it.

Geez, Chelle, bitter much?

That being said, I love love love this video.



I don't know who these people are or what their deal is, but this dance moves me. It really expresses the yearning and passion that resonates in me when I listen to the song.

It's really nice to know that I can still be stopped in my tracks. <3<3<3

recent life in instagram

Life has been busy lately, so all you get today are instagram photos. :)









1. new OPI nail polish (50% off!!)
2. fancy cocktails at Whiskey Cake (highly recommended)
3. Yogurtland date with mister
4. my favorite beer
5. new brushes (sorely needed)
6. new Steve Madden sandals (50% off!!)
7. first Polk-A-Dot Bakery experience (yummy raspberry/cream cheese pastry)