Fresh Face/Sleepy Face

I've needed a little pick-me-up lately. And since giving myself a makeover is not in the cards, I thought my blog was the next best thing. I've been mulling over the web design at Design Sponge and thought I could make my own version of a Design Sponge-inspired look. So here we have it. A little face-lift. It feels like a breath of fresh air for me. Now I just need to follow suit with my homepage and design site... But that can wait.

In other news, Finn napped for a whopping 10 minutes today. Here's what that looked like:

This weekend I plan to visit HERE and worship HERE. See you next time with Sunday Faces!

A Colorful Christmas Wish List

These are a few of my favorite things...

Colorful cutting board from Cambria Cove:

Repro Depot's Folk and Flora books:


Hearthside Slippers, from L.L. Bean:

I love these water bottles from Paper Source:



Washi Paper Masking Tape, from MoMA:

A Letterpress Machine, from Paper Source. Be still my heart:

Happy, Sad, Happy, Sad.

Maya is the cutest sad baby. That's just all there is to it. Lately she has started crying when I sing this one particular melody. It's the darnedest thing! But it's so cute that I can't help but sing it! It's so funny to see her trying to smile, but that little pouty lip keeps slipping away from her. :)

A crazed creative does laundry in pearls and learns to just let it go already!

(There's a crazed look in her eye, I tell ya!
She's pondering the perfect use for pinking shears today.)

I will openly admit that I have hard time with "creative" blogs. I get a pit in my stomach when I see beautiful blogs belonging to fantastic fabric fashioners, printing press princesses, daring designs divas. I want to do every single one of those things that I see. And I want to do them flawlessly. It really is a problem. Sometimes I make myself go to their sites and give myself a figurative slap on the hand. I say: "Self, it's not all about you right now. You do a LOT. And you do it well. Get over it. Leave some of it for someone else who does it better and has the time. Jeesh!" But I still find myself lurking in self-loathing on How About Orange, and Oh Hello Friend. Then I have to remind myself that CLEARLY I am creative. I know this. And it is my curse. CLEARLY I try to dip my paintbrush into too many pots. And I have come to realize that this is my blessing. This is my curse. I will always want to paint/print/design/photograph/hum/write/sew/craft/code/create. There's no getting around it. But I haven't the time for it all. I have the longest and most well-loved relationship with graphic design. That's where I can boast a full-bodied education steeped in Garamond and gradients, baselines and bleeds. And I hang my hat on its comfortable hook, happily.

But! Oh... the "but." When I find other creative folk out there in the wide world of the web who seem to effortlessly have the ability to "do it all," it trips me up. My mind starts a frenzy of all of the unfinished projects and intended efforts that I have to finish and master. This is SO SILLY of me! My only comfort comes in thinking that maybe I am a little bit of a "Crazed Creative." I am. Maybe a lot of one. Wes also exhibits many of these characteristics. I love this about him. It's what makes him great at what he does. But he always thinks he needs to be doing way more. But it's what keeps him great at what he does. It's probably why we compliment each other so well. **Crazed Creatives get off the hook for this behavior, because we don't really know that we are doing this. We don't really intend to make anyone feel inferior by flaunting our overflowing amount of creative energy, only to pout and say we aren't creative enough. It's like a deficiency. And we lack many other useful skills, like how to be doctors and nurses, investment bankers and Harvard MBAs, and in my case a consistently successful cook. And if I sew something, it never involves a pattern, and I won't ever learn to read music, so that it takes me twice as long to complete these tasks, out of sheer pride that my creative skills should be able to master these things organically. You see? So please just pat us on the head and sigh.

Are you still reading? Where am I going with all of this blabbering? Right on over to Casey Brown Designs. I found Casey HERE on YouTube one afternoon completely by accident. I can't even retrace my steps. And I will tell you why this find is significant for me. I watched all of her delightful videos on achieving an Authentic Vintage Self, and really really liked her! I am not a vintage kind of a gal. I am decidedly modern. But I enjoy it on others, and love vintage/vintage-inspired and heirloom jewelry/accessories, if they have special meaning (they compliment Modern so nicely). So while I was watching Casey I found myself wanting to try the "prefect red lip." Just for fun. FOR FUN! No pressure to be a new aficionado on a perfect pout. Just wanted to see if I could do it. And it was pretty, but not for me. So after watching many of her videos, I decided I wanted to get to know Casey a little more. I found her website. Uh oh. She's one of "those." She does it all. And she has TIME for it. She doesn't have children yet (the other completely legitimate reason I can proffer myself for not starting/completing projects). And because I found her through the "back door," I didn't immediately judge her. I went to her About section, and found that she is surprisingly like me. And I smiled. A big smile! I felt relieved. Not as crazy. Others have done this for me—helped me get over myself and just appreciate. Dandee, A Day that Is Dessert, NieNie (and she was the hardest in the beginning to read, but so worth it). They have helped me realize that I can enjoy the talents of other creative women around me without needing to try to replicate those creative efforts all. the. time. I can benefit from them without having to be them. I can test their creative waters, become inspired, take some gorgeous photos, send a perfectly packaged treat, mother in new and wonderful ways. Then I can comfrotably go back to being me, a little more enriched.

So for one whole day, thanks to Casey Brown, I put on red lipstick, my precious family heirloom pearls that my mom gave me on my wedding day ("Are you sure I can HAVE these!?"), and I DID THE LAUNDRY. No designing. No sewing. No painting. I just did what needed to be done. And I felt really glamorous. Then I wiped it all off so that I could kiss Finn's face until he giggled and pushed me away (while I secretly contemplated how I was going to make Maya that flower mobile out of felt, while racking my brain about where the how-to link had disappeared to...)

Couldn't resist a few more...

Reachel just sent me some more cute photos from our time with Coco. So cute, I had to post!

The Girls

Maya's favorite place to hang out.

Finn loving Coco.
(Reachel's fab boots are peeking into the photo...)

Super Sunday Faces!

Last Sunday we were visited by two dear friends from Mesa, AZ, the Bagleys. Some of you may know Reachel from Cardigan Empire, and also from my Supermom Series that ran earlier this year. Reachel's touching post can be found HERE. I was so excited to hear from Reachel last week when she let us know that their prayers to adopt a baby of their very own had been answered! Andrew and Reachel are happy parents of a beautiful baby girl, Coco. And she was born only about an hour away from us! So we were lucky to see the Bagleys and meet a brand new 4 day old Coco! I think her blankets weighed more than she did. :) She is so precious and pink! Holding her was like snuggling with a little fluff of a thing. So tiny. So sweet! I can't express how happy I am for the Bagleys. Reachel was glowing with an air of "completeness." She just seemed so at home with Coco in her arms. And I don't think I've ever seen a new Daddy so instantly comfortable with his new baby as Andrew is! You can view Coco's video that Reachel posted on Cardigan Empire HERE (you'll need tissues).

One thing that Reachel said in her Supermom post has stuck with me:
In the Old Testament Jacob’s wife Rachel declared, “Give me children, or else I die.” Her sister Leah was in a procreating frenzy and every other verse, handmaids Bilhah and Zilpah are pregnant, but it seemed Rachel’s womb was fixed shut. Then when you least expect it in verse 22 of Genesis 30, there’s the one line I cling to: “And God remembered Rachel.”

And oh how He has!

****************

In the spirit of Motherhood, I will be starting a new round of the Supermom Series! Come back Monday, November 23, as I kick things off with a few inspirational words from Stephanie Nielson. I have a great group of moms lined up who will be posting through the holidays! So I do hope you'll join me to see what they have to say that can add to our lives.

Happy Sunday!

A willing subject

What is a wifey to do when she's home alone missing her husband? Use his amazing, underused camera, of course!! Wes doesn't have time to read my blog, so he'll never know. Heh heh. Ahem. I mean, "Wes, thank you for letting me carefully use your Canon. I treated it kindly, even though I had no idea what the heck was going on with the color, which I thought was set correctly, and thus had to adjust things in post..." I admit it was a lot more camera than I am used to. But I really like the sound of the shutter, and I think I even let out an audible, "Aah!" when I heard it. I actually don't think these look that much different from my usual photos (with some depth of field exceptions). I want Wes to show me some pointers specific to his camera (assuming he'll let me use it again), so I can make them sing! That being said, here's my test subject:
"Mom!! I'm done with this photo shoot!"

Over and out.

I've Branded Myself

Seeing as I have an almost embarrassing number of blogs, I thought they needed a home page. And I have been wanting to de-clutter that sidebar of mine for a while. So the solution? Something simple for now, maybe fancier in the future:
I was inspired tonight after working on a similar concept for my friend, Crystal. Her design is much snazzier than mine. Go check out her fun site(s)!

General Deliciousness

Private Chef Laura Janelli joins me on Lickable Spoon. Check out her recipes HERE.

The Art of Sitting Unassisted

It took her a little while, but she finally figured it out. This girl has the funniest expressions! I admit I sound a little "over zealous" in this video, but I was trying to keep her happy, and I was, indeed, excited that she is finally sitting (I was beginning to worry, what with her 8 month b-day fast approaching).

6 Years of knowing

I laughed when I opened this photo in Photoshop today. I missed the focus on my ring, and I know that Wes would immediately point that out. Not that he's trying to be critical, but because he can't help it. It's like a simple observation of life: "It's cooler outside today, and you missed the focus in that shot." That is why I love him. Or rather, I love that I KNOW that about him—that I can predict it, or expect it. It's familiar. I love familiar.

Before I met Wes I had strict criteria for someone being constituted as "the one." Basically I had to "just know" they were the one, preferably soon after meeting them. Maybe it sounds young and silly, but I am not kidding when I say that all my life, since probably second grade, I knew that I would "just know." The day I met Wes he said 2 words to me ("Hey, Notetaker."), and I immediately thought/felt, "Where have you been, and let's get going with our lives together!" By the end of our first date I "just knew." And I am so glad that I still do.

"Fricker Freating"

Halloween was a hit! We just happen to live in one of those neighborhoods now that has tree-lines streets and fall leaves blowing along on the breeze. And every house was decorated and ready to welcome all the trick-or-treaters drifting up and down the streets tonight. It was admittedly an idyllic Halloween. And it was really the first time Finn has experienced REAL tick-or-treating (or as he calls it, "fricker freating"). Even though the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of Little Red Riding Hood, I was feeling decidedly Witchy today! So I went with it. I got into the spirit of things and created a miniature graveyard in our empty planter on the porch, hung a ghost, carved a small pumpkin, added an ornage lightbulb to the porch light, and finished up Maya's costume. I even braved our hilly streets in pointed-toe heels (I'm serious about my costumes). Then we came home and Finn roared at all the trick-or-treaters coming for candy, and watched happily out our front window for more costume-clad kiddos to grace our doorstep. He then ate all the lollipops in his little pumpkin, and is now watching Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin, trying not to fall asleep and miss any more action. He kept calling me Harry Potter Cowboy Witch, because I had the big hat on (and because we watched Harry Potter today). Too cute. Maya conked out at 8. I have to apologize for the lack of good photos of Maya. Wes is crewing on a film project, so it was just us tonight (and tomorrow, and the next few days...). Maya and her new tooth were not having a great evening, and I couldn't get a smile out of my little horned owl. I made the costume myself, footsy talons included. And I was feeling pretty good about my skills until she got called a caveman, after which she promptly spit up all over the front of her costume. I decided it was time to head home after that. :) Here are our highlights!

Happy Haunting and goodnight!

Halloween Art by Finn

Dear Granny and Grandad Beauchamp,
Thanks so much for the Halloween package! I made some artwork with Mom's help. And I immediately put on as many of the Boo Boo Bandaids as possible.

A Little Laundry

Where's Maya?

Take your eyes off of her for 2 seconds, and she's working on an escape plan!
(That's my coffee table, in case you can't quite tell...)