Notes/Scraps

When you want to hear some really beautiful tunes from a beautiful and talented woman, check out my step-sister-in-law Georgia's stuff here.  It's awesome, she's awesome, hands down.

Poladroid

Happy weekend!  Today was a really good day, full of delicious brunch, engagement photos with Raegan, rooftops and a KU victory.  Even though we were outdoors (freezing our butts off for the whole afteroon) we still had loads of fun.  Raegan, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart!  You are such a good friend and a great photographer. 

Anyway...

Today I spent some time crossing off my internet-to-do's.  One of the main things I really wanted to do was download poladroid and turn my cool photos into even cooler photos.

 

My nephew, the Funny Man Cameron

Badgur (it's hard to spell it to sound the way she says it) and my niece, Ally

Lake Tahoe, CA!

Christmas party @ the Hinshaws

If it wasn't this exhausted I might be tempted to turn as many pics into poladroids as possible.   I'm really into it, obviously...

Fire up your printers!

Today I was on the lookout for a fun printable to-do list so I can put it on my fridge and hubby and I can stay on top of things this year. Unfortunately I didn't find the perfect template (yet), but I did find some great resources online for pretty printable stuff.


vintageprintable.com has some beautiful prints that would make great greetings cards, découpage, or excellent gifts if you put them in just the right fancy frame.




Their selection is huge, but their galleries are arranged by topic and color, so you can narrow down exactly what you're looking for.


Plus I just can't say no to a website with a baby tapir on their homepage!




On aprintaday.com you can find some fabulous downloads for notepads, calendars, gift-tags and all sorts. I love this site.






It's definitely not too late for this calendar, either.

I'm inspired to get crafty :-)

Pictures c/o vintageprintable.com and aprintaday.com

Posting Frenzie

Dear readers, I've been provided with such great content today that I can't hold off on posting.  I just wanted to share with you this picture from my stepbrother's house, taken by his lovely wife Georgia.

Their place is so rad.  And gigantic.  Love the red door and that is their Christmas tree, believe it or not.  It's awesome

Here is their living room/kitchen/awesome hangout space.  The wall to the right is where movies are shown on the projector.  It's really pretty sweet to watch a movie there (especially during a Halloween party).

Yes, this is their backyard!  The rope lights are an amazing effect. 

To top it all off, they have shipping containers just hanging out in the back.  Seriously, their place is awesome. 

They have a gigantic basement too, which is perfect for hosting shows and band practice and other things.  Both Torin & Georgia are artists and very talented.  They got a fantastic deal on this extremely cool place and it's so very easy to tell that they're completely happy in their new home. 

My little cowgirl

My four-year-old niece, Allyson, can totally rock a pair of cowboy boots.  I recently told them that I would love it if they wore cowgirl boots in the wedding, like the bridesmaids.  Ever since, they've been on the HUNT for the perfect pair.  I think it's too cute that they're this excited and that she found a lovely pair for the occassion!

Thursday:

I want to go to there

And sit on a blanket with a warm beverage and ponder some things.  Today is a day of pondering.  I need to get things figured out before I go crazy.  Seems like this might be the perfect place to do just that.

(photo via ffffound)

It's like rain on your wedding day

After seeing this, I think I could deal. 

Nothing a cute umbrella can't fix!  This wedding looks absolutely adorable.  Their guests actually camped at the camp!  Read more about it here.  Our plan B is to move it all inside but now I'm starting to think that maybe we should just have some cute umbrella's as a back up plan.  Then again, when does it ever rain in the valley in August?! 

PS - do you all have Alanis Morisette stuck in your heads now?  If not, you do now right?!

I'll bet

Images c/o nataliedee.com

Things I like...from Hadley

So...I've never posted on this here site. But after sitting and ruminating about my awful day, I decided I needed something to pick my spirits up. Helll-oooo, online window shopping!

I found a few yummy little things. Let's see if I can figure out the whole picture/link thing.

This, from Etsy:

Cute, huh? I love the barely-touching, delicate leaves

with the crystals! So pretty!

And then, these little pets:

Something tells me my friend Mo would like these too!

I want to hang this in my bathroom:

It reminds me of a clean, dancing jellyfish, which is sort of my avatar when I'm fresh from a bath. Speaking of baths, I've only just lately discovered the true bliss of my bathtub. Last week, after a particularly draining

day, I climbed in with some olive oil and vanilla, extremely hot water, and an enormous glass of wine. Clicked on the Pandora, opened an old copy of Middlemarch (I heart you, George Eliot), and went completely,

utterly thoughtless. I got in touch with my inner coma. By the time I tried to get out, I was a withered prune of my former self. Plus, the wine had gone to my head and the water gave me the spins. So I took a nap.

And that was my Tuesday.

Of course, I woke up to a million piles of cat vomit, three hundred papers to grade, a sink full of dirty dishes, and a sick husband.

Tee hee. Thanks, Natalie Dee. You always brighten my day.

Anywhoo, thanks for letting me show you the product of my mindless cyber-wandering.

Helvetica

My dear friend Inna shared this info with me and I'm pretty happy she did!  Beverly Hsu, a "design librarian" with a pretty awesome resumé, has some great work that you should check out when you get a chance.  Just look at these adorably awesome cookie cutters!

Helvetica cookie cutters!

So cute!

V-day Gifts

Since I posted about my love for this holiday that most people hate, I thought I would add to it with some lovely gift suggestions. 

For him:

Men our age really need a tie, whether they want it or not.  There are many occassions to wear it.  Business meetings, the obvious, necessitate a tie for a lot of young professionals.  Weddings definitely necessitate a tie for the most part.  Dates (pending on the tie - I'm thinking a black, skinny tie will do the trick). 

So thanks to Martha, you can buy a tie and wrap it with love!

A nice bottle of booze.  What man can refuse that?  Mine certainly can't.

For her (moi):

When is there a better time to buy intimate wear for your woman!?  I quite fancy these (in case you're reading, and you know who you are)

I also enjoy jewelry and perfume, accessories and wine/champagne.  While we were in Calistoga, we stopped and bought a bottle of vintage chardonnay for the occassion.  And I always love having cake on V-day.  And flowers.  And delicious food :)

Is it spring yet?

Because I really want to wear these and I want to wear them now!

Ruche is such an adorable online store.  So many cute things that are wallet-friendly.  Me likey!

Thanks for dinner BadgeMo :-)

Photo courtesy of blushalicious.com

Love songs

Our awesome friends want to cover some cool songs for our wedding.  Isn't that sweet?  It makes me very happy.  Our job is to come up with some great (but practical) tunes for them to play.  Do you have any suggestions?  What did you have played at your wedding, or what do you envision you will have played at your wedding? 

(photo via our labor of love)

Valentine's

I have to admit,  I really like Valentine's day.  Ugh you say?  I understand.  Before Badger came around, I wasn't so into it.  But I can't really say that, because when I was younger, my dear sweet mama would always provide my brother & I something really sweet.  Every year, no matter what.  Brandon & I would always get a basket full of candy, a cute card and usually I would receive a necklace or a CD or something she knew I would love.  Isn't that sweet of her?!  She also helped her friend out in the floral department at our neighborhood grocery store during the month of February just because she enjoyed working with flowers and the help was needed.  So she always made V-day a good time for us.  So I love it for that reason.  I also love it because yes, I'm in a relationship and can celebrate it for that reason.  Also, because 4 years ago, Badger invited me to hang out with him and Mr. Bort for a night of food, booze and Skat.  I knew he was into me so I was pretty stoked when he invited me up.  I stayed way longer than planned because him and I ended up talking until the wee hours of the night.  And I totally ditched class the next morning.  And now the rest is history.  So even though we don't recognize V-day as our anniversary (we chose the first kiss as the day to celebrate, which is towards the end of the month) I still enjoy the celebration with him in more ways than one. 

Anyway...onto the actual reason for this post.  For the last several years, I have made a sweet card for him out of random materials found around the apartment.  I'm insistent upon it - not too sure why, but why not?  So for inspiration and ideas, I naturally turn to Martha Stewart.  I mean, you have to admit that her ideas are usually pretty awesome.  Her cupcake recipes are always delicious and she is of treMENDOUS help with the wedding planning.  And just look at these card ideas...

PS - I just received a link to a live stream of PUPPIES!!

Plant help!!!

Aaaah!  Disaster struck while we were in California.  And who's to blame?  That's right.  Kitteh.  Apparently, his claws got hold of the curtain in the living room, which happens to have my beloved String of Pearls plant from Sprout Home hanging from the rod.  The plant came CRASHING down, spewing soil and strings all over the place.  Luckily our friend Jake was around to clean up the damage and hopefully put kitteh in his place, but what really saddens and maddens me is that my plant has been traumatized!  So I need some help, as I am a bit lost on how to repair the damage.  I mean, I truly LOVE this plant.  Everyone that has seen it loves it.  My mom has even been on the hunt for one since she came to visit me last. 

Does anyone, ANYONE have any advice for me on what to do?  Seriously, it lost the bulk of its strings.  I just want to break down in tears because this plant is so awesome.  And I JUST replanted it since it was growing so nicely.  I'm so sad :(

So thanks a lot, Gus.

California Dreamin'

 

 

 

My goodness, just look at how hideous Lake Tahoe is.....