don't forget

This quote was in my inbox this morning. I needed it.

wednesday wonderfulness

So my sister was chastising me for no posts lately, and I say chastise away because, um, I have a life and I made 14 pints of strawberry jam today and strawberry ice cream AND I'm typing this on the keyboard of my new and shiny mac. (Resolution: no meals at the desk. Keep said keyboard shiny.) On the other hand, I just drank a rawther large Diet Coke + Rum, so I'm feeling strangely energized. With that in mind, please ignore any grievous errors of grammar. 

• Mmmm. Love this. Next tattoo?
• Awesome! Best and worst of futuristic music videos. (confession: I currently secretly love Lady Gaga.)
• One girls attempts to make her uniform less boring. Hmmm...may have to do my own version of this post. 
• I'm so trying this: amazing breakfast taquitos tutorial. 
• a cappella awesomeness! (you will waste time watching these, I promise.)

Um, I have no more goodness, and I'm too tired to look for more. However, if you're not my friend on facebook or a twitterer you probably don't know that I've recently gotten my first tattoo, Chesterton the rabbit ran away, I got a guinea pig named Agatha, and acquired a rabbit named Lucy. Oh, and I did an amazing maternity shoot in Minnesota with some very yummy mummys and my husband's sister moved in with us, and she has a pet chicken named Gatsby. I promise to have real pictures soon. Really. 

linkage loveliness!

Yes, normally these would be compiled or expanded on, but since I haven't time, and I've a HUGE pile, I'll just throw them all up and see what sticks. Lots of tutorials this time. 

• Julia Roitfeld's home in NY. Lovely, simple, chic. Oh that I could stack my magazines in such a manner! 
• I love her take on a runway look, and while I wouldn't wear it exactly, it does get me thinking. Plus: military stuff = hott! 
• adding loveliness to a medicine cabinet. What are other hidden spots that you can beautify? 
• making toddler crayons! I just think a stack of these + a huge roll of paper would keep visiting kids entertained indefinitely. 
• for all the soon-to-be yummy mummys: DIY maternity mini. (J, I'm looking at you!) 
• this blog, and it's photoshop tutorials, are sort of riveting me right now. Most of it isn't my look, but gives some good ideas nonetheless. 
• I. Love. This. So. Much. (The rest of her blog is amazing as well.) 
• make your own mineral makeup!?!
• make a very elizabethan-looking ruffly collar. 
• this wreath is too awesome. Adds a pop of modern-looking coolness to any room. 
• Just for fun: free photoshop brushes. I love some of these. 
• need some amazing vintage dress-making ideas? Check out this photoset. 
• I waaaaaaaant these eyelashes! Preferably something with feathers. 
• 10 inexpensive ways to dress up your house. 

And if you made it through all that, congrats! I'm going to go pick strawberries and make jam with them today. Woo! (And then I'm going to put in another bazillion hours on the photo editing front.) 

balloons + bunnies = happy soft fuzziness

If you already follow my flickr, you'll have seen these, but I'll share a little more background here.
See, the everlovely Porkchop is my original model. When I got my first camera, she was nine, so I would dress her up in ridiculous costumes and make her pose. Soon it grew into a tradition, and every year we do a photo shoot around her birthday. On her sixteenth birthday she wore a white gown and tiara, for her seventeenth we did a vintage dress, and by eighteen she looked like this. We didn't have time to do a shoot last October, so about two weeks ago (before the bunny ran away) we drove out to an abandoned motel that I've been obsessing over and took some pictures.
Now, over the past few years Porkchop has become veryvery good at hair and makeup, and has been spending more time behind the camera. So when we started the shoot and even as we ended it, both of us felt flat and kind of "off." What is normally effortless and fun was actually work, and we were sure we both hated all the pictures. But after I finished processing them, I'm in love. Again.
Here's to many more photoshoots, Porkchop.









View the rest of the set here.

pictures I love right now

Click on the image to get specifics about each shot.

have your mother's day present ready?

Well, if you're a more care than cash kind of girl, try one of these nifty homemade gifts. If your mom is anything like mine, she'll like that much better than anything you buy. (For the record, I knitted my mum a scarf out of some alpaca that matches her eyes.) 

• mini clipboards; maybe make one for receipts, one to clip recipe cards to while cooking, one for the grocery list...
• homemade bread and jam; intended as a wedding favor, but what mum wouldn't love this? Maybe add a little wheel of brie?
• I'm not sure how to present these paper flags, but I think they add a celebratory air to everything. Hang them next to her breakfast table to remind her every morning that you're thinking of her!
• a silk flower necklace! If your mom is more the anthro type, you know. 
• handprint corsages! Super-great if you have kids. (Otherwise just weird.) Also, start now and have one of these ready for next year.
• a whole bunch of good ideas over at the purl bee: knitted treasure locket, bath mat, super-quick coasters, dishtowels, and framed botanical pillows.

Enjoy! 

kind of an epically bad week thus far

So on Tuesday I came home from work to discover that my adorable bunny Chesterton had somehow run away. I was so sad that my husband attempted to acquire another, but the pet store was out. So now we have a guinea pig named Agatha.
Yesterday I discovered that I made a reallyreallyreally huge mistake with my business, and suffered the sort of meltdown that I have about every five years. I don't want to go into too much detail, but it was awful. Fortunately, as I type I am discovering that it might not be as bad as previously thought, so that's a good thing.
And now onto the not-so-happy news: I know you all have noticed posting becoming more and more sporadic. Well, here's the deal: I don't have time to devote to everything I want to, and this blog, started as a collection of loveliness and reveling in the creativity of others, is now taking more time than I have. I'm indulging my own creativity now, and I need to put my energy there. So. I'll be updating, but much much less frequently, and you can follow me on my photography blog but more often on twitter. I know, it's a bummer, but hopefully when things slow down I can pick it back up again.