hearts and eggs

My front door wreath

This is what I had up at the beginning of the year until Valentine's Day

And this is what is up now! I'll change it after Easter, but I'll be sad to take these adorable eggs down. I think I might make a new yarn wreath sometime soon since the yarn is getting shabby. 

Do you guys have front door wreaths? I feel like it adds a lot to the house.

Bailybelle (...again)

Remember Bailybelle? Yeah, I know...it hasn't been that long. My mom loved the ring that I got so much that she asked me to order her some things. She picked out a ring and pair of earrings, and they look great on her!

Of course I had to get some things for myself, too

This is my loot along with Vanessa's ADORABLE bags. Her packaging is super cute, which is always a plus for me. It shows me that the seller really cares!

This necklace is AMAZING. It's definitely one of my favorites. I love the colors, and it's the perfect size. I was going to give it to my mom for Mother's Day...but I don't think I can part with it. Mom, I promise you'll get something just as good!

It's no secret that Vanessa is incredibly talented. I would definitely call her one of my top 5 favorite jewelry makers on Etsy! It's not only that she offers a great selection of jewelry, but she's such a sweet person too! I think I've bought enough stuff from her now to send her kids to college. ha! Be sure to check out her shop here. 

Happy Tuesday, friends!

Quote of the Week - 032711

new from Shepherd's Haven

I just wanted to pop in here really quick and share some of the new items from Shepherd's Haven. I love love love the new stuff they've been making! Not all of these are listed yet, but I'm going to try to get them all listed in the next week. Be sure to visit the profile page and learn what the organization is all about. Enjoy!

Thanks for looking! Check the shop for these awesome new pieces.

Gusta Java coffee

One of my favorite local businesses is Gusta Java (blogged about here). They roast the coffee here in town, and also have a drive-thru cafe. I finally decided to try making some of their coffee at home and I went with the Zimbabwe (thanks, Anna!)

I got it ground there and had them leave it pretty course for my French press. It takes a little more time, but I love the process of using the press! It's just so relaxing in the morning, and I don't have to worry about leaving it on. The drawback is that it cools down a lot quicker, so I'm looking for a cozy to put around it. If anyone has a good suggestion for one, feel free to let me know in the comments.

yummmmmmmm. I just finished the Zimbabwe coffee today and tomorrow I will make Tanzanian Peaberry! My buddy Joe picked it out for me, so if I don't like it, I blame him. If anyone wants to try some of Gusta's coffee, check out their website to order, or email me and we can work out a way for me to get some to you.

Heits

Today is the last day that the Heit family will be a family of 4. Tomorrow, Kelly goes in to have the twins! Very exciting stuff, people. Scott is my coworker/office-mate. Don't they have the cutest little family?! I am really excited about the twins because I'm going to do some newborn pictures of them. It'll be my first time photographing twins (and I'm extremely nervous)! Here are some random snap shots I took of them at my house.

 

I hope all of you are off to a great start this week!

Quote of the Week - 032011

Mitch Hedberg

Greek Quinoa with Avocados

This has become one of my favorite things to make lately. It is in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, but the same recipe can be found online. I made it because I had a lot of quinoa and I love love love avocados. The Feta cheese is ESSENTIAL!  You absolutely cannot leave that off.

 serve the quinoa mixture over a bed of spinach and avocado. mmmmm...

 it doesn't look terribly appetizing in my pictures, but it surely is!

Give it a try, if you like avocados and quinoa! I might try it without the onion next time because I end up smelling like a big onion after chopping them up, and I think it would be just as good without it.

Happy friday, everyone!

"Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes after...wards"

(look it up)

custom work

Quite a long time ago I got a request for my Hungry Policemen image using deer. It was for a doughnut company to use as imagery for their business. I got the piece done, but I never heard back from them. Oh well...life goes on! I figured I should at least share it here though.

Rather than buy two or three more packs of deer (they're like $12 a pack), I decided to do a composite. This was actually the first and only time I've ever done a composite with my miniatures! At least I know now that I can do it.

one of the raw images before any editing

final composite. I combined 4 images to get the doughnut full of deer.

I get a little crazy with all those strobes flashing in my eyes. 

I'm glad that I did this little piece, even though it never got used. It was good practice with Photoshop, and I got to eat a doughnut without feeling too guilty. Score! I really enjoy doing custom work. I actually have one that I need to get done now...perhaps this weekend.  

On a totally unrelated note, I watched Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for the first time tonight. I am not a big fan, simply because I didn't see much of a point to it. I also rather enjoy the safe little bubble that I live in, and all the drugs in the movie really creeped me out. I'm not at all surprised that it flopped when it came out. 

Ok that's all...have a great night, everyone!

dior sweater

I couldn't resist putting this picture on here. The look on my face is absolutely ridiculous! But anyway, Paige and I dropped by Goodwill a while back and I just so happened to be having a good thrifty day! I ran across this Dior sweater and snatched it up as quick as you can say "holy-lucky-thriftstore-score!" Not only is the color incredibly vibrant and beautiful, this thing is softer than a baby's butt. It's a bit big, but I happen to like my tops to fit big, so it's perfect. You can't see the texture very well in these shots, but it's really interesting. It doesn't look like it would be soft, but it definitely is.

I decided I would try to be funny and wear this to the Oscars party that I went to (what are you wearing?! Dior! ha...yeah not that funny). It wasn't a fancy shindig or anything, just some folks getting together to watch the show. We all filled out ballots, and I learned that I am terrible at predictions!

details:

top: Dior from Goodwill

belt: Etsy, gift from my honey

pants: Target

shoes: Marshall's (Franco Sarto)

...obviously I'm a bargain shopper :) 

Quote of the Week - 031311

day about Nashville

My friend Alanna and I went on a little day trip to Nashville, about two hours from home. We didn't have an agenda really, just a couple of things we definitely wanted to do and then a lot of wandering.

Our first stop was Urban Outfitters, then we drove down the road a bit to a place called Burger Up. We walked around the corner and the man walking out held the door open for us. When I looked up to smile and say thank you, I saw that it was Jack White. I wonder if he noticed my eyes get really wide? He and Karen Elson ended up eating out on the patio. I so wanted to tell her how much I love her album, but I didn't want to be "that girl." I guess people around Nashville are used to seeing those two out and about, but I was taken pretty off guard! (Ok I was literally shaking, and Alanna said my face got pale..guess I was starstruck). Anyway, on to the food...OH MY GOODNESS. Seriously the juiciest burger I've ever had. I'm pretty sure it's locally sourced as well...so score! I highly recommend trying this place out if you haven't already.

Next we went down to Katy K's to shop Closet Case Vintage. We saw some adorable things! Like that white dress which I stated "would be great for a wedding dress...you know for like a second marriage." Sometimes even I think the things I say are dumb.

Sweet CeCe's yummy yummy frozen yogurt!

We took a lot of pictures of each other. Both of us are photographers, so that's just kind of what we do. Plus, who doesn't love to whip their hair back and forth? My neck is hurting pretty badly from all the whipping we were doing.

We went to this great home store with some incredible furniture.  Retro modern something or other. It's kind of across the street from Fido. The lady working never said one word to us, so I guess she could tell we weren't going to buy. It was still fun to look around and take pictures. No one was there until we decided to take a few...which is why we both look so uncomfortable (above).

There was a really cute paper store called Social Graces that we visited. They had a ton of gorgeous cards and papers in all sorts of colors. They even had some great old books and hymnals out for decoration. I think the best part of the store was their extra stuff that was just decor. 

I can't even tell you how great it was to just get out of town for the day. Alanna and I always have a lot of fun, and not having an agenda made it even better. We'll be going back in April for the Kills concert along with another friend of mine, so I'm hoping to revisit a couple of places that I loved!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Don't forget to set your clocks ahead!