happy birthday to my honey!

Yesterday was Jeff's 30th can you believe it?! We celebrated with his family and enjoyed some bacon cheeseburgers, pretty much Jeff's favorite thing to order at restaurants :-) and a hamburger cake. 

I found the cutest hamburger cupcakes at Target and after looking at them realized I could totally easily make them. I didn't but hey, maybe some other time right?

If I was already a successful/famous writer and artist rolling in the money I would get Jeff a trip somewhere tropical, a new drum kit, new computer or something like that but sadly we are not living the lifestyles of the rich and famous. We are however, lucky in love and happiness! I decided to get him 30 silly gifts to celebrate this special milestone. Cooper helped too by looking pretty and posing whenever I tried to take a picture.

I found this awesome tutorial to make  bunting  out of scrapbook paper and ribbon. It was fun and easy I promise! I'll probably have bunting all over our house within the next year. 

I love you Jeff. I have absolutely loved sharing ten years of birthdays with you...and I look forward to many more to come.

There is someone else who really loves you too...

my favorites

The bookstore at DU had a ninety-nine cent table. That is where I found this:

 At first I had absolutely no clue what this thing was. I just thought it would make a fantastic toy for Cooper. After eventually reading the tag I learned this little blue guy apparently is the "common cold"  You can find this and lots of other cute stuffed germs, er, microbes that are obviously way bigger and adorable than reality here. The flu is particularly sweet however food poisoning leaves something to be desired.


Anyway, the interesting part about this is I learned that for the many varieties of cold viruses the rhinovirus is the most common. I thought this was an especially cute toy for Cooper for two reasons. 
1. I can say, hey cooper, go get your cold 
2. we actually call him "rhino" 


He likes to do this thing where he rushes in (usually while you are asleep) and "rhino's" or pushes his nose and head under bedding, pillows, clothing or pretty much wherever he wants. Sometimes he will even rhino your arm or leg if he wants to get by.  

um, don't bother me, I'm eating.

why did you give me this?

I love Jeff...

a whole lot. 

a work in progress

My room is not quite finished yet but I wanted to post some pictures of what's done. I was sitting at my desk seeing all of the different things randomly sitting around and I wanted to capture the moment before I organize it all and put it away. I'm still looking for more orange touches, curtains and a nice chair as well as shelves for the wall. I just know I am going to be so inspired in this space.

this is the "a" from the old campus activities signage at CSU. "a" is also for  alli

ask

very anxious to paint something

I will keep this forever. 

a cute cabinet for my journals, obviously the place to hang out

lamp from american furniture warehouse. so perfect

a bunch of stuff randomly collected waiting to be put away...I kind of like it

that wall is a chalkboard wall lovingly painted by Jeff

"a" is also for artwork

a good view of the wall that will hold my "to do's" and goals

now I know why I kept all my half finished stuff from figure drawing. this feels quiet.

july is half over.

I can't believe July is already half over and we are more than halfway through 2011. I kind of feel like Jeff and I have been running non-stop for a while now and even our down time is not relaxed enough. I am definitely envisioning myself on a beach in the very near future. I guess it's the pisces in me that is craving the feel of the ocean and the warm sun on my "scales"

My art studio/creative space/writing room is just about done thanks to Jeff painting in all of his spare time. The chalkboard wall is soooo cool and I can't wait to start chalking up my goals. I am even more excited to start crossing some of them off. I have to share that I'm getting a little nervous. I have been in a small slump virtually every day and at some point also during every day I realize I need to lift my head up and live life.


I am just about finished with my application for a masters degree program at DU, creative writing. It's a program that works with working adults so it definitely works for me. I'm ready to start doing something to help myself and better myself. I have all of these opportunities at my fingertips...


I started my official running program a little late with the slight rain delay (it's a 5K, I am starting small but I'm starting) I'm looking at indoor running options what with all the storms we've been having. I really love the rain so I'm not complaining. 


I scavenged the on-sale craft/art supply racks at michaels and found some fun new things to work on and try out.


Jenn sent me a bunch of old college pictures a while back and we scanned some in to put on facebook. Hey, we didn't have digital cameras (at least I didn't) OR facebook when I was in school...agghh I feel old. Anyway, this one really stands out to me. I have no idea who I'm calling or what I'm doing but I look happy, carefree and like I'm having fun. I'm sure I was and sometimes I miss that feeling. It's so nice it was captured and I can look at it now and realize what I want out of this one life I get.

happy fourth of july!

ta-da

the before...

...and after

I painted it white, took out the old hardware and replaced those with wooden knobs I painted with a turquoise craft acrylic paint. Total cost: about $10.75ish for the knobs and paint. I already had a can of white paint leftover from some other painting project and the dresser was the awesome price of free. I think Cooper likes it too...

...and I also found the perfect lamp.

I was really anxious for the holiday weekend to finally put my art studio/writing space/inspirational haven together. Jeff sweetly started painting the walls after a long day of work and errands and I worked on a few projects...


The color this water turned was really breath-taking. My lacking photography skills can't really capture the essence of it but it was so lovely I either wanted to drink it or frolic on a beach pretty much immediately.

I got this cute little dresser from my mom and while it is very adorable and a color I really like, it doesn't fit in with my new color palette. All the small drawers are perfect for holding my paints, pens and inks so I'm anxious to put all of that stuff away again soon (oh and immediately pull them back out so I can get creating) 


Here is the before and a work in progress picture. I'll post the after tomorrow when it's all put together.

ps. the wall color is perfect...a little bit minty but not too minty, pretty and soft and absolutely perfect for contemplative moods, creating... and finding things beautiful. I can't wait to share my new space!