new tasty music for your ears and some sweet progress for me

we had a lovely day yetserday. we started it off with going to church with a friend we had not seen in a long time. then the three of us headed downtown for breakfast at the broken yolk cafe. it was good.
later, philip and i headed up to north county for a graduation party and a birthday party. i honestly wasn't looking forward to these two things as much as one would think. i love everyone who would be at both gatherings. however, in the past six months or so, i've started getting EXTREME anxiety before going to gatherings with large groups of people. it's not as bad when i know everyone. but when i only know half the crowd or only a handful, it's definitely much worse. it's something that i'm working on, but it's caused me to opt out of a few occasions that i regret missing.

our first stop was a graduation party where my anxiety was getting the best of me. i knew two people for sure [the graduate and her brother]. other than that, it was her family and close friends. i was very excited to celebrate her and wish her luck on her move to med school, but i couldn't really think past all the strangers that would all turn and stare at me when we entered the house.
we finally got there and the only stares to greet us as we walked in were those of small children and their one chaperoning adult...ok, not too bad. we wandered a little further into the house to find everyone gathered in the living room as an audience. their attention was captive to the band performing [yes, no one even noticed us come in! ...relief] we found two friends to sit with in the back of the room [not the two friends mentioned before, this is good]. we all watched a very intimate and very sweet performance by the WONDERFUL Dan Mangan.
the graduate, leah, has an awesome brother! he got one of her favorite bands to come to her graduation gathering!! how rad is that?!
they gave an incredible performance! it was him on guitar and his bass player [upright bass, that is] in the living room of their home. it was such a fun performance where the listeners were forced to participate [in a fun sing-a-long kind of way]. if i ever get to see them perform again- i would be sooooo happy! and john definitely got major big brother points for that one!

our next stop was a double birthday party [papa and son]. by that time anxiety was gone and i had a great time catching up with people that i haven't had a chance to see in a while. it was a lovely day. also, i'm glad that i gave my anxiety a little slap in the face by actually going where it didn't want me to.

and now that you've gotten this far, you should go here and start with the song robots. its worth it. do it.

puppies!!!!!!!!!!

i've been telling people that my baby fever is gone. this is because everyone else in my family is pregnant. no joke- i have 3 pregnant sisters right now. instead, i have puppy fever like no other!!!! i want a puppy sooooooooooo bad! all of my customers at starbucks bring their puppies to our patio. most of them are pugs, french bulldogs, and boston terriers. those are my favorite!!!!! it's horrible that those are the most frequent because it's making this worse for me. also, our neighbor just got a 4 month old french bulldog. his name is hugo and he's so precious! he's always so excited to see us when we get home. i love him.

my sister is coming home from germany while her husband is being deployed to afghanistan. she says that she wants to get a puppy when she gets home! i hope she does. this will mean that i get a baby niece/ nephew AND a puppy niece/ nephew. aren't i the luckiest aunt ever?! here are some pictures of golden retrievers to persuade her decision [over a rottwieler]...i love rotties, but i hope she gets one of these instead

and in case my husband reads this post, i wouldn't mind a puppy that looked like one of these...

love.

i am a sucker for any dessert, guest, banquet, or gift table that's decorated with pretty, colorful, or rustic things [extra points if there's yummy desserts in the mix]. i dream of one day making a table as beautiful as these...my little sister is pregnant, so i'm hoping that her baby shower will be my big break ;)









PS... if anyone would like to share a pancake breakfast and a little devotional/fellowship time at a table like the last picture- let me know! i'm in!!!

you can find more pretty tables and other fun party ideas here.

fabulous etsy finds.

i can't seem to get enough of etsy. you discover more and more stores each day. it's almost overwhelming. here are some wonderful, yet random finds that i just adore.


these absolutely GORGEOUS bridal hairpieces by hems and bustles.

this brilliant yarn bowl by Darrielle's Clay Art.

the first kiss necklace from the cosmic girl shop.


this cute print from rosie music.


this beautifully made coffee mug from this shop. i don't think you could ever have too many coffee mugs. my husband would strongly disagree.

A new way to travel...actually an old way.

For a while now, I’ve wanted a vintage trailer. I never really told anyone or looked into it because I just thought, “it’s a big item, probably something we can’t afford.” Apparently, I was wrong. I told Philip and he’s all about it! All he's been doing when he's home is researching and trying to fins us one.
They are very lightweight- to be towed behind any car [yep, even the accord]. They are PERFECT for when we would want to go away for a weekend. [we never actually go anywhere because we just can’t justify the amount of money it costs just to sleep somewhere]. We could take it camping! Don’t get me wrong, I like camping, and I like sleeping in tents. But honestly, I would prefer a trailer for those long trips- especially when I think about having little ones in the next couple years. Last but not least, they are sooooooooo cute! So many of them have vintage upholstery, stoves, and little refrigerators. They are just adorable! We’ve been looking at burros, scampers, casitas, and bolers [nick-named the egg for it’s shape]. The one’s we could afford aren’t decked out like these beauties, but are kind of like a blank canvas. These are still fun to look at for inspiration.

my new addiction.

Yep. I've discovered Polyvore....it's amazing. A little too amazing. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to waste a lot of time doing this. It feels rewarding because the end results are pretty. At least it feels more rewarding than stalking around on Facebook. We all do it- don't judge me ;)

So I've been dreaming up a photo shoot for all of my crafty projects. I have so many ideas for a website, photos, themes, etc. I'm constantly writing/ drawing things in my inspiration notebook. I'm excited for it to all to come together one day. Anyway, here's a basic idea of what I have in mind for a photo shoot.



I want it to have lots of different textures: old woods, weathered metals, soft chinelles, and nature's lovelies. It's going to be painted with soft grays, pretty pinks, and antique shades of bright colors.

This definitely is last on the list behind:
come up with a name.
open up the etsy shop.
make business cards.

Until then, I'll just make sure to keep my inspirational journal handy.

projects.

Since we've moved into our new house, my interest in decorating keeps climbing! We just finished our downstairs wall this weekend. It's been painted and had a few different things mounted on it. We both LOVE how it turned out! My current project is a chair and table/lamp that I purchased at a trip to Amvets. They're going to make a little sitting/ reading nook in a sunny corner of our bedroom. I purchased them both with intention of painting and fixing them up. I started with the chair, which is being painted a golden mustard yellow. Next is finding a fabric to cover the cushion- I can't wait to do this!!! Then I will be purchasing a throw pillow to go on top. I have future goals of learning to sew and having this be one of my first projects, but until then, I will find a cute one. So far, this is my favorite.



I found this lovely pillow here.

I will be posting before and after pictures of these projects once they're done. I just need to finish first ;)

PS...
you should listen to She & Him's new album 'Volume Two' at NPR. It makes me happy.