I hope everyone has had a warm and happy Christmas!
I’m in the country with my family, working on a crazy puzzle and eating too many cookies. The usual.
How was your day? Good, I hope. :)
Merry Christmas
life
Thanksgiving Day
I hope everyone enjoyed Thanksgiving yesterday (if you celebrate it). I made a ridiculous turkey shaped vegetable tray, hung out with my family, crocheted, and played bocci ball. It was nice to have a day to relax and just remember all that there is to be grateful for. :)
Are you doing any shopping for Black Friday today? I’m working at Anthro today. And I’m scared…
Enjoy the last couple days of November!
Autumn in Portland Part Two (and then some)
Last night I realized that I still hadn’t posted my Portland instagrams! Not that it really matters…but my phone did help me capture some real good moments. :)
1. On my second day in Portland, I took the train out to the city and spent the day just walking around. In Powell’s, I ordered the strongest soy latte ever and sat with my journal and my thoughts.
2. Just some pretty foliage.
3. This is a wise quote from Pizza Schmizza – it’s something I can imagine telling my kids someday. “Keep looking forward, my dears! Soon we will have pizza trees.” (Seriously though, it’s 2013)
4. And this is from the Macklemore and Ryan Lewis show!!! It was an inspiring and beautiful night.
And more recently…
5. This is pretty much how far I’ve gotten in fixing up my room. It is a shame.
6. A super fuzzy hooded coat for a super cold day.
7. Last weekend, I took anniversary photos for a couple, and the arboretum was enchanting. I have no idea why I don’t spend all of my free time there.
8. And I signed up for Birchbox! I am so excited…it’s amazing. That Chapstick up there is the best I have ever used and it is just the regular old Chapstick brand! Birchbox knows their stuff. :)
Right now, I’m taking a blog design e-course and I’m so inspired that I feel like dancing or something. I have been having trouble rearranging a few things on this page and I considered just having it professionally simplified and redone. But there is something so satisfying about doing blog design myself, even if I mess up a lot. The e-course I’m taking is called Your Darling Blog and it is amazing so far. Just looking at the blogs by the alumni was enough to make me sign up.
Oh and it was an early birthday present! Thanks mom :)
“Yer a Wizard, Copper” (and other Halloween photos)
As promised, here are a few pictures of Copper’s costume and the process.
I had it all planned out in my head, and it ended up costing me about seven dollars. I didn’t put much a ton of effort into this costume since Copper is known to tear everything to pieces (which he did).
The stars were made of a sparkly foam sheet. Cutting them out was so much fun! I’ll have to think of other projects that require sparkly stars. :)
Doesn’t he look so cute in that cape?? This is the only part of the costume that worked out. He tried to eat it, but he wasn’t successful. Everything else was torn to shreds as I knew it would be. He seriously thought I was just taking out toys every time I reached for a Dumbledore accessories. Puppies, man! They’re crazy.
I think the photo above is so funny! I was trying to align the half-moon spectacles with his eyes…no such luck. Who even knows what I was thinking when I decided this costume would be a good idea, haha.
Here are a few more pictures from that day…
(Adalin was standing on her tip toes and I was bending my knees. She really isn’t that tall…)
Also, my step-sister’s daughter Lailah turned two on Halloween, so I was able to snag some cute pictures. She’s what you would call “totes adorbs”.
Oh and I can’t forget my costume! And Sara’s. We were Gretchen Weiners and Karen Smith from Mean Girls. I think we successfully made fetch happen. :)
What did you do to celebrate Halloween? Are you as excited about November as I am??
November Goals & Plans
When it comes to choosing a favorite season, I’m completely caught in the middle between summer and fall. But November is my favorite month ever. Maybe it’s because it is my birthday month, maybe it’s because it’s flipping beautiful. I am just really happy it is finally here. :)
(three Novembers ago, by my friend Alissa)
I have some goals. Simply put, they are: to grow my shop, to exercise daily, and to save money. There are a few more, but these are the ones I will focus on so I don’t overwhelm myself with a big list.
Oh and speaking of my shop, it is officially open again! There is hardly anything in it, but I needed to just get it up and running anyway. I’ve made a bunch of fun products that I will add as soon as I find a hat model and a little extra time. I am also planning a big giveaway, yay! :)
I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween yesterday. I have some photos of Copper (kind of) in his costume. I’ll share a bunch of them tomorrow, but here’s a sneak peek:
He was DUMBLEDORE! At least, I wanted him to be. Copper straight up tried to eat every part of his costume.
Anyway, Happy November! May it be a wonderful month.
Autumn in Portland, Part One
My trip to Portland last week was just what I needed. I stayed with my friend Adrianna (we were born on the same day, met when we were babies, etc. we go way back.) and also fit in some time with my cousin and a couple of other friends. It was definitely an inspiring week but in ways that I didn’t expect at all. Normally I go to Portland, fall in love, and feel like I need to stay there forever. This time, I found myself feeling very content as a California girl. I think it’s where I belong, for now anyway. Portland will come in time. :)
Adrianna and I met up with Brittany on Wednesday and spent the afternoon getting coffee and taking photos. They are both studying photography in Portland right now, so it was fun to chat about techniques and what not. One of my favorite things to do while taking pictures is to tell people to pretend to laugh. Then they will feel silly and end up genuinely laughing. You can see that in the picture of Brittany and Adrianna below. I learned it from America’s Next Top Model, so I feel pretty professional about that. ;)
On my last day there, I visited my friend Ashley for like two seconds. I’m sad it had to be so short, but I’m thankful we got to catch up at least a little. Ashley and I also go way back! We met in second grade.
I have a really good feeling about this week. I working here and there (finally got to the train station on time today! Taking the train is really so much better than driving) and planning a little for a Halloween Housewarming party. It’s a potluck kind of party, so there isn’t too much planning to be done.
Also, my shop will open again on November 1st and I’m going to host a big ol’ giveaway.
Happy Monday!
ps. photo #3 was taken by Adrianna & photos #6 and 8 were taken by Brittany. Go check out their websites if you enjoy looking at beautiful things. :)