master cleanse- day three

i don't have much time to write but i wanted to squeeze in a little update.

it's day three of the cleanse and things are still going pretty smoothly. definitely not as hungry today, and the headache has been gone all day. the headache has really been the worst part so far, so i'm really thankful to not have to deal with that today. i woke up this morning feeling fabulous, great energy level and no more brain fogginess!

an interesting thing started to occur today though, which i hadn't really noticed on any other days. i'm not hungry, yet i still have the urge to eat something. the past two days it was most certainly the hunger making me want to chow down! it's weird and i don't really know how to describe it, but i'm guessing that it's like what a smoker might feel when quitting. you have these habits that often revolve around cigarettes (or in this case food), and your body still just wants to go through the motions. it would appear as though i've arrived at the part of the cleanse that is mostly the mental struggle now. seeing things that look good, and smelling things that smell oh so yummy, it's all about the discipline now! it's tough, but i really enjoy challenging myself and pushing my body to see exactly what it can accomplish. it's not unlike the feeling i have when getting tattooed. only this will be lasting much longer. having your mind tell your body to do something it really doesn't want to do, and doing it successfully, is pretty amazing. challenging, but rewarding in both cases.

well i've got to head out. i'm delivering some more maple syrup to steph who had to work all day. i'm so thankful to have good friends along for this ride with me. it makes it a whole lot easier!

night folks!

~photo found on flickr~

master cleanse- day two

half way through day two and i'm still feeling pretty good. i definitely woke up quite hungry this morning, and the idea of drinking that quart of salt water didn't exactly sound like the most appealing breakfast in the world. then i did my morning weigh in and the day got a little brighter. i'm down 2lbs since yesterday... woohoo! after that bit of motivation i chugged that salt water like a pro!

today has had its tough moments though. all of that food from our celebratory last meal is now completely out of my system, so my body is really just adjusting to running off of the lemonade. i've had a little bit of a headache since last night, which i'm guessing is from the lack of caffeine. i was drinking around 2 to 3 cups a day previously. i also had a hint of nausea earlier, which i think was just from not drinking enough. i mixed myself up a nice fresh glass of lemonade and i'm feeling a little better now. other then that, my energy and mood are just fine. i of course don't have the energy i would had i had my 3 cups of coffee today, but i'm fine with that.

one thing that has been helping are these videos that adam (a fellow cleanser) found on youtube. it's just always so motivating to hear, or in this case watch, other people who have done it and survived. this woman ended up doing it for 40 days and not only survived, but had a whole change of lifestyle because of it. if you're thinking about doing the cleanse, or have done it, or just want to see a video talking about it, you can check it out HERE... she's just adorable and it's amazing to see the change in her face and body as it goes along.

that's all to report for now. i hope to have the hunger feeling go away come day three. i remember last year when i did it days 3 through 7 were a breeze. fingers crossed for that feeling again. i'm actually toying with the idea of going a little bit longer then 10 days, but we're going to have to see how this goes first.

master cleanse- day one

and so it begins...



my friend steph and i had been talking recently about doing the master cleanse. if you're not familiar with it, it's the one where you just drink the lemonade, cayenne pepper, maple syrup concoction for 10 or more days to completely clean out your system. you also happen to shed a few pounds in the process. while she and i are very excited at the prospect of some nice squeaky clean innards, it's the thought of melting off a few inches that is currently quite appealing to us. we have a good number of beach trips already scheduled for this summer, and we've been having a few to many big dinners and movie nights to feel good about it.

i'll be documenting this entire process start to finish, mood swings and all. i think it will actually be a motivating part of this next week and a half. i've done the cleanse once before, last year about a month before our wedding. i wanted to look and feel my best for the big day, and nothing makes that happen like 10 days on a liquid diet. i actually ended up needing to have my dress taken in again, which excited me, but didn't excite evans mom who was doing my alterations. she gave me a light scolding for doing something so drastic oh so close to our wedding. woops!

so last night we decided to go out and stuff ourselves silly in celebration of our last meal. we somehow even managed to convince stephs boy, adam, to join in with us. he wasn't sure how he felt about it then, but i just received word from steph this morning that he's stoked on it today. woohoo! no amount of convincing would get evan to join our little gang of cleansers. he tried it with me last year and only lasted around 10 hours. one day i'll get him to take part...

apparently you're supposed to ease yourself into the cleanse, but we decided to take more of a jump through a brink wall at it. we'll see how that goes i guess...

last drink... beerlao (thanks to steph for the recommendation)

last appetizer... tofu with sweet and sour dipping sauce

last supper... red curry with tofu, pineapple, and veggies. delicious!

we made sure to clean those dang plates!

adam made up custom jugs (leftover from last weekends sangria party, and that's one reason why we need to cleanse) for he and steph to take the mix to work with them in.

a small sampling to see what he's in for. the verdict... yummy!

i just drank my first liter of salt water about an hour ago, which you drink every morning to keep things moving along. is that too much info? it was gross, i won't lie. i don't really like salty things in general, so drinking a liter of warm, salty water in one sitting is not ideal. it's an important part of this though and it's all just mind over matter. we'll see how much my mind is conquering my matter come day 7...


in completely unrelated news... as you may already know from my previous post, yesterday was my one year etsy anniversary. what a fabulous day it was, i mean you already saw the celebratory meal! well, one of the etsyversary gods must have smiled upon me yesterday because Monkey & Squirrel was lucky enough to land a solo feature on OhDeeDoh! that's Apartment Therapy's childrens site! there might have been a happy dance or two around the living room. i can neither confirm nor deny that though...

happy etsy-versary to me!

april 26th 2010, it's my etsy anniversary! one year ago today i decided that it was time to stop dreaming about it, and time to start doing it! today i wanted to share with you a look back at my first year and also share some of my etsy photos from the day i opened and how they've progressed to today...

i was working two jobs last year at this time, one at a dog rescue and the other as an artists assistant, and got word that both jobs would be ending in a few months. i had a decision to make, i could look for another job knowing that it probably wouldn't be as fulfilling or enjoyable as my previous two, or i could take a chance, open an etsy shop, and see if i could make a living as a full time artist. i had been a shopper on etsy for a few years, and even opened one shop previously that just didn't work out (i was neither serious about it then, nor ready for the amount of work that goes into a successful shop). i thought quite a bit about it, and the decision didn't take me very long at all. i had a few months to play around with it, where i would still have the two jobs and be able to see how the etsying would pay off. evan and i also didn't have any large expenses, or any kids, so we could definitely afford to be a little risky at this point. it was now or never, so i jumped into it head first. for me, opening up an etsy shop didn't take a huge amount of investment. i had quite a collection of goodies just waiting to be turned into treasures, and the rest would come here and there. every single one of those first earnings was invested right back into monkey & squirrel.

my shop ended up doing fairly well right from the get go. i know that i was really lucky in that respect. i hadn't realized until after i started up my shop, that i didn't see anything else exactly like my items on etsy. i would love to say that i planned that out and researched to find an unfilled niche, but that just wasn't the case. it was dumb luck and i'm not afraid to say it! with that said, i also know that that was just what helped me at the beginning. what has continued to keep me going is the intense amount of work i put into it on a daily basis. the amount of times i've taken and retaken photos is enough to be a full time job in itself.

so after about 5 months of doing all three jobs simultaneously, it was time for my first two to end. i was officially a full time, self employed, artist/designer. it was scary and exciting and also somewhat unbelievable. even still, i wake up in the morning and can't believe that i get to be my own boss. luckily i'm a pretty tough boss and i keep myself in line, but also a great boss who treats myself to ice cream every now and again!

i work more hours, work harder, have more stress, and wake up in a panic more then ever before, but the rewards come ten fold. i get to give myself days off as needed and not have to request them from a higher up (though it's definitely hard to take a day away and not feel guilty), i can sleep in and work late if i'm feeling groggy in the morning, i can take my business in any direction that i see fit for it, basically i can live a better life in general.

here are some of the things that i've learned in my first year...

*this is always everyones first tip. take great photos! i know that mine are not the greatest out there, but i am always trying to improve on them. never be content with your pictures. when selling online, that's all the customer has to go by, so they need to sell themselves. get different angles and make sure your first one is an eye catcher, because it needs to stand out when shoppers are scrolling through a list of thousands of other items.

*read the etsy blog regularly. the articles are full of tips and tricks to help your shop be successful. i never would have known what SEO, or analytics were without it. they also help me stay on top of what etsy will be highlighting in the coming months, thus increasing my chances of being featured somewhere.

*speaking of features... work those tags! when etsy tells you in their blog that they will be highlighting things in the coming month, be sure to tag your items accordingly (only if they fit that description of course! nobody enjoys a mistagged item) this increases your chances of landing in treasuries, and possibly even the coveted front page! it also helps to look over your tags every few months to fine tune them and make the best use of all 14 spots given.

*when i was first starting out, i hung out in the forums quite a bit. mostly just reading what other folks were asking and chatting about. if i had questions, that was where i went to get them answered. i don't hang out there quite as often as i used to because i found that along with the wealth of information, there tends to be quite a bit of negativity in there. i like to keep a positive mind and i find that i get a bit debbie downer if i read some of the threads. you can certainly connect with some fantastic, really helpful folks there though, so if you're a newbie definitely browse around a bit.

*when things are slow, work on your shop. don't freak out (which i still admittedly sometimes do), the shoppers will return, and when they do it would be wonderful to have a nice cohesive shop with fabulous new goodies in it!

*have a strong online presence. my facebook fan page and twitter are two places where i get most of the traffic to my shop. keep in mind though that being spammy on either of these is a quick way to turn people off to your shop. keep it really genuine and don't just post links to your items to get views. in addition to those, i also read TONS of blogs! i've been so very lucky to have had my shop featured on some great blogs, and it often happens just by being a great honest follower. leave thoughtful comments on an article if you've found it interesting, and don't leave a link to your shop at the end of a comment. it's like trying to sell something to someone who has invited you over to dinner. tacky tacky! if someone finds you're comment interesting they will click on the automatic link back to your blog (as long as you have a blog that is) and that is where you should have your shop link.

*this might seem like an obvious one to many folks, but print your shipping labels through paypal. at first i was doing them through the usps site and it took 3 times longer. paypal makes it so simple, just make sure that your etsy and paypal addresses match up and you're good to go! i wasted quite a few months not doing this and it still bothers me...

*get organized! having a system for everything helps. i used to not enjoy the packing and shipping end of things, and thought it a necessary evil. then i got a system! i set up all of my tools for shipping (scissors, tape, tags, twine, boxes, packing material) in one area, and now i can easily grab for thing, and they are always where i last left them. i find it really enjoyable now, making the packages as cute as possible, and imagining the excitement someone gets when it arrives perfectly packed at their house. i find it to be a relaxing part of my day to day.

*one great tip i received was to add some more pricey items to my shop. in general my goodies are not that expensive, but i was told that if i added a few higher ticket items i would probably see the average amount spent in my shop go up. at first it didn't make much sense to me, it seemed like people would just ignore the higher priced item and go for the less expensive things, simply because bargain hunting seems to be pretty prevalent these days. however, the logic behind it is that even if those higher ticket items don't sell as often, your now mid-range priced items won't look as high in comparison. then if you happen to get someone who is looking for a higher priced item, you've also got something to offer them. it's hard to track a direct result of this, simply because my shop was still very new when i got this tip, but i think

it's a great one to share!

*last bit of the day, be sure to step away from it all every now and again. my days used to be totally all about my business. i even felt like i never had enough hours in the day. though i still believe i could use an eighth day in the week, i've realized that etsy, and monkey & squirrel, aren't going anywhere. i've started going back to the gym (thankfully) after feeling like i just didn't have the time for so long, and i've found that my days are actually more productive. i can, and do, fit more things into a single day then i thought possible, and i'm in a much better mind set after getting a good work out in.

well i hope some of you have found a bit of this helpful, or at least to be an enjoyable read. i'm still learning and am really excited about working on expanding my business this year. if you've got any great tips that you've learned from etsying, please feel free to share them in a comment.

side note... one thing i noticed when looking back on my past year was that i can track the evolution of my hair thanks to etsy. ahhh, this site is great for so many reasons!

kinda rusty...

little redder...

black!

current hair, dark brown and growing out the front...

happy monday folks and i hope great weekends were had by all!

we've come a long way baby!

i just realized that i hadn't yet shared the most recent progress on our kitchen renovation. we've come leaps and bounds since my last post. take a second and refresh yourself with the before pictures, before scrolling through the after ones that are about to come... go ahead, i'll wait.......

since my last kitchen update, we've gotten all of the the cabinets, and cabinet fronts, installed. the counter top is in, dishwasher is working, we are still waiting on a stove, but we're making due with our little toaster oven for now. amazing just how much you can cook in these guys! we finally got to unpack all of our dishes, and if look hard you can even see my new teacup collection proudly displayed on the top shelves!

this sink is probably our favorite purchase. we did a little splurging on it and it was well worth ever penny. it's a big ol' ceramic farm sink, and it is heavy as all get out!

so that's where the kitchen stands as of today. we still have to trim out all of the cabinets, windows and baseboards, install a gas line for the stove, move a water line for the washing machine (which used to be where the dishwasher is, but is now in a built in closet on the other side of the kitchen, that you can't see here...), pick out light fixtures, and decide if we're going to get a little kitchen table, or a small island with stools. so much to do, and miles to go before we sleep...

you can see the whole kitchen progress, start to finish, here!

green pop!

i'm so excited to be taking part in poppytalks handmade market this month! i've been working on lots of new spring goodies and am stoked to have this opportunity to show 'em off! here's one newbie that's recently been added to the group...

chubby chic-a-dee desk topper

i've been a fan of poppytalk for quite sometime now, and a shopper in their market for just as long. i'm honored to be showcasing my items in the company of so many other talented folks! here are a few of my faves from this months gallery...

sleeping bunny #1- green thread

ruffle tunic/dress- spool and sparrow

bull cloth pouches- humunuku

up at the lake- jane heller

woodgrain clock- bliss in a teacup

pink cupcakes- stephanie levy

mustache crayons- chase dreams

the playground- kiki and polly

hop on over and check out all of the other amazing artists that have a little gallery spot in the market this month. it's sure to not disappoint!

memories...

weekend happenings...

i had been wanting to get my feet tattooed with the last names of my grandparents for a bit now, and on friday our friend chris just happened to have a cancellation and was able to get me in. i had a rough idea of what i wanted on each foot and he did such a good job balancing them out and making them cohesive.

the cards are for my mom's parents, who taught me how to play cards at about age 4, as well as the value of a truly good poker face. my grandmother was never without a roll of pennies in her purse just in case the chance to gamble with the grand kids might arise. so many of my younger memories are of spending days at their house. taking walks to the pool, making cookies, playing with my grandma's jewelry, and lots and lots of crossword puzzles. the most valuable life lesson though was from my grandfather who said, "always walk with your head down, 'cause you never know when you might find some money." thanks for that gem grandpa!

the cardinal is for my fathers parents. my grandfather just loved cardinals and i think that after he passed away the love transferred to the rest of my family. cardinals are all over the place here in nc, they're actually the state bird, and every single time one swoops in front of me i can't help but feel like it's my grandfather giving me a little hello. when i think of them it's all about big family gatherings with a pot of sauce cooking on the stove all day, golf lessons in the backyard, watching pretty woman for the first time ever in their guest room, and being the only girl to go crabbing with the boys.

they are missed...

in addition to new tattoos, we also got a new little something for our home. yesterday was our one year anniversary! i can not believe just how quickly one year of marriage flew by. my parents drove up from atlanta to hang out with us for the weekend, and while they were here they purchased us probably the greatest anniversary gift ever... a hammock! i had been wanting one since we moved into our house, and was set on having one for the summer. we have two perfectly spaced trees in the backyard that were just calling for a hammock, and i thought it a shame for them to not fulfill their destiny. thanks again mom and dad, i can already see many a summer evening spent swinging and relaxing here.

perhaps i'll go kick up my still swollen feet right now, hang out in the hammock for a bit, and think about just how lucky i am to have the greatest family anyone could ask for...

oh, hello kitchen!

this weekend some big progress was made here on the home front...

on saturday evan, and two of his brothers, installed our new floor. they were a determined bunch and busted the whole thing out in about 6 or so hours. gotta love these boys!

here's the new floor in all of its finished glory...

the cabinets have also all been installed. we still have to put in shelves and the fronts, but we're getting there! oh and it's of course still an absolute mess!

look at that butcher block counter top, and all that storage space... it's a thing of wonder!

we're really excited that an end is now in sight. no more cooking every meal in a toaster oven or microwave perhaps?

you can check out all of our progress HERE...

a little more here and there...

a few additions to some previous posts...


the studio makeover is still on going, and some new organizational goodies have been added.


i had a large cork board that i just no longer had any space for. so i cut it down and put bits of it in some old salvaged frames that i repainted. this size is much more to my liking!



ahhh... gotta love a makeover!





i've added onto my teacup collection that i started on our trip to asheville a few weekends ago.


i'm now only missing one green teacup and saucer. i'm currently bidding on one on ebay and i guess we'll see how that turns out!



now i just need to have a tea party, perhaps with wine though. a wine party with these little cups sounds just about perfect!




i also added a few more goodies to my skeleton key collection. 10 newbies to be exact. scooped these bad boys up from miss emily gene over on etsy. somehow i still feel that i need more!!!


ahhh... i just love 'em!



garden update... lots more of our little seedlings out grew their starter pots and were ready to get movin' on up to the east side! they're all real stoked on their new larger homes...



mmmm... squash!




i think that perhaps i actually purchased some magic beans when we went seed shopping a few weeks ago. our string beans are already about 14 inches tall, and on tuesday they grew 3 inches in one day! mind you, we planted these from seeds only one week and 4 days ago. i can see how folks grow (pun intended) to really love gardening. this is fairly amazing!



if all of our plants produce fruits and veggies as expected, we're going to be rolling in produce. i absolutely can not wait for it!




we're gearing up for another productive weekend around here. evan will be laying some new flooring and i plan to do some painting. doors, window trim, and the ceiling are all due for fresh coats. lots of coffee and good music will hopefully get us through it...

happy friday!

pics from the weekend...

evan and i had a rather productive, rather domestic kind of weekend. here are some visuals...

after just 6 short days most of our seeds had sprouted and already out grown their little "greenhouse" that i made for them. i guess it worked!

it was time for them to move into some larger pots. the great thing about these jiffy pots is that they're biodegradeable, so you just plant the whole thing, pot and all, into the ground when the time comes.

cucumbers... lookin' good!

some tomatoes and the sunflowers were also ready for a transplant...

another task that was accomplished this weekend was the studio revamp. i realized a few weeks ago that i just wasn't happy with the color or set up of the room. saturday i woke up and was ready to take on the job of repainting, rearranging and organizing. i'm pretty darn happy with the outcome...

hooks for holding my embroidery hoops that are waiting to be used...

some prints from one of my favorite artists, yoshitomo nara, and a super cute little embroidery i purchased from the great northern, on etsy.

one wall is a few shades darker then the rest....

more hooks for my most used goodies. yes, the pearls get used often. you'll notice them in quite a few of my etsy shop photos.

a shelf of goodies waiting to be photographed or painted...

little birdie shadow boxes that i made last year watch over everything...

to see the original studio, you can go HERE or HERE.

and here is what evan was working on...

the first cabinet was put up!!!

and a second, woohoo!!!

hope everyone else had a lovely weekend. now that we've got this kitchen thing on a roll i should have lots more renovation pics to come.

yaaaay!

i recant that statement...

ok, so a few weeks ago i made the statement that from now on friday would be ensemble post day because i just enjoyed doing them oh so much. well i'm already taking that back. i realized shorting after doing so, that making it a rule that fridays i must post an outfit took all of the enjoyment out of it for me. i do so love me some ensemble picks, but setting a specific day to do them just doesn't really work for my schedule. for example, today i needed to paint and tend to some light gardening and pack orders... that doesn't exactly make for cute outfit picks. i did however come across some finds that i'm just hearting and i would love to share 'em with ya!

ahhh, this scarf. i got it about 7 or so years ago when i worked at a vintage shop in nyc. it's pretty much my favorite and i couldn't find it all winter because it was packed away in a box somewhere. so naturally it turns up on the hottest day of the year so far. 76 degrees is still ok scarf wearing weather in my book!

and these sneaks are my new go to spring/summer everyday footwear. i got them at walmart of all places, for somewhere around 7 bucks. perfect for the ample bike rides i plan to have this summer. i do believe i will stock up on them because i can certainly wear me through some sneaks

so anywho, that's my stance on the outfit posts. they'll still appear on my blog, but who knows when and where. gotta love a mystery.

happy weekend one and all!

in bloom...

i was just outside painting and looked over to see that my mysterious little bud had opened up. it was just sitting there basking in the sunlight and i hadn't even noticed it.

i'm not sure what kind of flower this is exactly. i originally thought it was a daffodil, but now i'm not 100% on that conclusion. if anyone has some thoughts on the matter, feel free to let me know.

happy sunny days!

meanwhile, back on the home front...

well, my high hopes for bright sunny days this weekend were shot down by the over lords. it was cold, rainy and just all around pretty gross. i'm so very much over these grey days. apparently today is supposed to be nice and sunny, and possibly even somewhere around the 62/64 degree mark... i will take that and run with it!

i wanted to give an update on the flowers that we've got going on outside. if you didn't see the earlier post about the discovery of these little beauties, you can check it out HERE. with all of the previously mentioned rain that we had the past few days, i was a bit worried about how our delicate little sproutlings would handle it. friday night we actually got so much rain so quickly that the flowers were almost completely submerged in water. didn't seem like it would be too good for them. this is what they looked like on saturday...

they plants that were once covered up by the wood pile are now turning green and seem to be getting a bit stronger. the mass amounts of water have got them looking a bit sulky, but i'm hoping that after a few days of sun they'll perk back up.

this little bud is what all of the others should be looking like right now. this one was found growing off to the side of our house. it's getting much more sunlight and is looking like it should bloom any day now.

barkley agrees that this flower is a.o.k!

on saturday i finally got around to planting our little seedlings. evan and i are pretty darn gung ho about having a kick ass garden this year. we're planting 3 kinds of tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, string beans, banana peppers, sweet peppers, basil, rosemary, marigolds, and sunflowers. for two folks who have had a hard time keeping a single basil plant alive, this is quite an undertaking.

while i was planting on saturday, evan was building! i'm so excited about the ridiculous amount of storage that these cabinets will bring us. we've been living out of boxes for months now and i'm more then ready to start unpacking. we're so close i can almost taste it!

the cats were really stoked on the building process for other reasons. empty boxes! these are zaboo's (aka monkey's) little ears that you see here, and that's juan chillin' in the window.

ohhh, all the possibilities!

evan even built a platform for the cabinets to sit on. he's such a handy guy! they will have doors on them a bit later, but we still have to paint the ceiling in the kitchen and we're holding off on the doors until that's done.

evan's new toy. apparently ever guy needs a ginormous miter saw to call their own.

i was just outside a bit ago and now this little flower is even closer to opening up... perhaps tomorrow?

lame-o...

well, it's happened. after just a few weeks of doing the friday outfit posts, i already have to miss one. it's amazing just how much taking a little break last weekend has set me back. i've been playing catch up all week and exhausting myself doing so. i was a bit under the weather for a couple days and that certainly didn't help matters. so i'm buckling down today and painting, sewing, packing and shipping, all day long!

i'll share with ya'll some of the goodies i've been working on. they have yet to be listed in my shop because we've had nothing but grey skies here for days. no sun means no pictures, and no pictures means no listing. so these are some mediocre pics i took just to document the progress...

i've got lots and lots more of these to work on in the coming days. some are going to be shipped off for a consignment order and some will make it into my shop. i so easily fall in love with all of these. one of these days i'll actually make one for our home...

i do realize that i showed the skeleton key one in my last blog post, but it looks so good with the rest i thought i would share it again!

this is the one i'm currently working on. sometimes i just need to stop and wait a day or two to feel out whether or not a piece is finished. i'm still on the fence with this one. i do so love the bit of embroidery on this one...

this weekend is solely dedicated to work, work, work and i'm keeping my fingers crossed for a bit of sunshine too!

happy purchases!

i thought i would just take a second to share with you all some of my most recent purchases. it really doesn't take very much at all to make me happy seeing as all of these goodies were under 10 bucks. i do so love me a good bargain!

i found these sweet little Lu-Ray tea cups this past weekend in an antique shop in asheville. i'm now desperately on the hunt for the pink one that goes along with this set!

these vintage skeleton keys were a fabulous ebay find. i've already incorporated one of them into some of my wall decor. the possible decorating uses for these are endless. i now believe that i must have more keys... lots of keys... tons, if you will!

soon to be available in my etsy shop...

i found this awesome little watering can at the salvage spot where i find most of my cast iron goodies. evan and i have big garden plans in the works for this summer and this will certainly come in handy!

i just now realized that this is the only non-vintage piece in my new purchases collection. this super cute little ring was a forever 21 find. it was like 2 or 3 bucks... how could i say no?

so there ya have it. this is just me doing my part to stimulate the economy. it's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it...

asheville weekend...

well the weekend getaway to asheville was just fantastic! i thought i would share a few pics from our wonderful mini vacation...

the dog rescue that i work with is now located about 20 mins outside of asheville, so we decided to do a quick drive by to say hi to all the pups. barkley was pretty stoked on it because, after sitting in the car for about 2 hours, he then got to run around with multiple puppies and get good and dirty! i didn't get a single picture of him playing (what a terrible mother i am), because i was way too caught up in meeting all of the new arrivals at the rescue. be sure to check out some of the cuties that are there now HERE...

this handsome guy is no new arrival. he's been at the rescue since shortly after i started working there about 2 years ago. that is WAY too long for a dog to be at a rescue. he's the sweetest, snuggliest dog ever, but he doesn't really get along with other dogs. that has made gabe really hard to place in a home. he also gets passed up time and time again simply because of the way he looks. he's a BIG pit bull, with a head that could swallow me whole, and it's understandable that it might make people a bit nervous. once you spend a few minutes with him though, and he curls his entire body up in your lap, you realize it was silly to ever be afraid of this big old softy. you can read more about gabe HERE...

playing with all those pups certainly made evan and i work up an appetite. now non-vegans may not understand the joy of finding some good vegan fair, so i'll apologize in advance for all the food pictures. in charlotte there are really few options when it comes to vegan goodies, so when we end up in a city with tons of options at our disposal, we tend to get a bit excited... and as it turns out, pretty darn full!

first stop, rosetta's...

i opted for the veggie burger... delicious!

evan's choice, the family favorite. tofu covered in some sort of yummy peanut sauce, with collards, mashed potatoes, and a side of mac and cheese. yummer!

then it was off to see henry rollins. the reason we went to asheville in the first place...

oh my god, i don't think i can possibly say enough good things about the show. photography was off limits inside, otherwise i would have some visuals to share. if you ever get a chance to see him do spoken word, don't hesitate. go buy a ticket and see him! he has got more energy then any other person i've ever see, and he absolutely has a need to share with you his thoughts, ideas and experiences. he spoke for almost 3 solid hours, without a break, and he was as excited, and exciting, at the end as when he first walked on stage. good stuff!

the next morning we got up and took barks on a little walk. we meandered along these train tracks that were right next to the hotel we stayed in. so pretty always seeing the mountains in the distance wherever you go...

then onto more eating! we've heard amazing things about the vegan brunch at the laughing seed cafe and had to check it out for ourselves...

it's a super cute little spot and we were really luck to not have to wait to be seated. we heard that most times you can expect to wait about an hour to be seated for brunch. not today good man!

this was quite possibly one of the best breakfasts i've ever had. it was tofu, eggs benedict style, with soysage, grits, spinach and a biscuit. i was full the entire day after finishing off this plate. so uncomfortably full and yet so totally worth it!

evan went for your classic tofu scramble with a "milk" shake on the side. all delicious as well!

we then hit up a few antique shops and walked around for awhile. all in all, a really relaxing weekend. i can't wait to go back when it's a bit warmer and we can really enjoy everything that asheville has to offer. i'm sure there is more to it then just great food :)

oh and barkley really enjoyed the weekend too...

friday ensemble...

ahhhh, procrastination. i'm not gonna lie to you folks, i shouldn't be blogging right now, and yet here i am. last week i said that i would make friday "outfit post day" from now on, so i'm sticking to it! this week was kinda exciting for monkey & squirrel on the business end of things. i got a new wholesale account in canada, which means monkey & squirrel has now gone international! it's the first shop anywhere outside of the u.s. to carry my products and i'm pretty darn stoked about it! so i just have a few minutes to give a little blog update and then i have to get my butt back to work...

this little number is just what i wore to run around doing some errands. ya know, post office and such. i got this oversized shirt dress a few months ago and i love love love it! it can sometimes look as though i'm "with child" when i don't have a belt on, but who the heck cares. it's cute as all get out!

ohhh, these boots. they are a thing of wonder. you can take the top strap off , unfold 'em, put the strap back in, and you've got yourself some knee high boots! two looks for the price of one. now that's something i can get into!

i purchased this scarf just before christmas as a little gift to me. i wear it all the time and will be sad when summer comes and it gets too hot for it. ok, i can not tell a lie, i will NEVER be sad to have summer come, but i will miss wearing scarves :)

jeans- target

shirt- marshalls

boots- ebay (make me chic)

scarf- tie mee on etsy

earrings- diesel

so that's it for now. i've gots to get to painting now. lots to do and little time to do it in. that's really how i work best though. tomorrow morning the hubs and i will be off to asheville for the weekend. we're heading there to see henry rollins do some spoken word. i can't wait, i've got a bit of a crush on him and i may just turn into a silly smitten gal if i get too close.

happy weekend ya'll!

lovin' some blogs?

exciting news... now you can follow Monkey and Squirrel on Bloglovin! if you haven't checked the site out you should definitely do so. it makes reading and managing all of your favorite blogs super easy. i've only just recently started using it and it has already changed my life. enjoy this happy tip of the day!

Follow my blog with bloglovin

barkley is really excited about this big news too!

making a house a home...

after a few weeks of not really working on any of our big home projects, evan and i decided to really buckle down this weekend and get some things done!

a couple of days ago we noticed that some flowers were starting to pop up right next to a large pile of wood we had sitting in the backyard that was waiting to be broken down and carted away. this little guy here made us realize that there were probably lots more little blooms struggling underneath the pile to reach the light of day. i was saddened by the thought, but the pile of wood was so large, and we really didn't have anywhere better to move it, so i came to terms with the fact that this year they just weren't going to make it.

i think perhaps evan knew i was sadder then i let on about this, because while i was taking a shower one day he surprised me by moving the entire pile to another location. to my amazement, this is what was found underneath...

they are about the same size as the ones that were not covered, but they are totally yellow from the lack of sunlight. they are also so very soft and fragile. i'm pretty sure they're daffodils, but if anyone knows otherwise feel free to let me know.

i cleaned out all of the leaves that had gathered, and recovered in soil some of the bulbs that were just sitting on the surface. i don't know if they'll make it, but i've taken them on as my new pet project. i know it's not the ideal way for a garden to look, but i do so love the way they have a perfect gradient from pale yellow to deep green.

i also found a few of these larger bulbs just sitting on the surface. i've replanted them and am pretty excited to see if anything comes of it. ahhh, the mystery!

we then took our motivation inside to continue our never ending kitchen renovation. it's really only never ending because we don't often have entire days to spend working on it. to see the steps that it took to get us to this point feel free to read up HERE.

evan finished putting up all the drywall and also mudded and sanded every nook and cranny.

evans mom stopped by for a little visit and helped us prime the walls. we rope as many people as we possibly can into helping us out with this kitchen.

paint time! we decided to go with a really pale grey. we want to keep the kitchen feeling very bright, clean, and airy. with the cabinets being white and the floor a deep brown wood, i think we've made the perfect choice.

this is me in my painting attire. thanks evan for capturing this!

there will soon be tall built in cabinets in this empty space below. oh, how i love me some storage space!

the washer and dryer are in the kitchen, so evan built this little room to keep them all tucked away. he's quite a handy guy to have around. i do believe i'll keep him :)

you can also spot barkley here in one of his favorite spots in the house. he loves to curl up in front of the heat vent and nuzzle his nose right on in there. crazy pup!

i was on such a renovation roll yesterday that i even decided to refinish our back door. the door is as old as the house and was in desperate need of a face lift. we will eventually get a new door, and a little doggy door for barkley, but this will hold us over until that day.

the repainting of the door was such a spur of the moment thing that i didn't even get a "before" picture. it was the same color combo as our front door, so this should give you an idea of what it looked like...

it has such an old feel to it already that i thought i would just go with it and really bring out it's shabby side. i hand sanded the panels to pull some of the blue color through the fresh new coat of paint.

it came out really well and i now know that i can confidently do the front door without fear of ruining it. here's to experimenting!

we still have quite a bit more to do as far as the kitchen goes, but it really feels like it's starting to move along now. i guess having actual finished walls will do that to a room. it's so very gratifying to be doing this all ourselves. it's taking longer (ok, much longer) then expected but evan and i really enjoy working together to make this little home our own. we're shooting for having it done by my birthday which is march 28th. stay tuned to see if we make our deadline...

a little interview...

hey there! just wanted to give a heads up about a little interview that i did recently with andreas over on the blog Brothers by Choice. feel free to hop on over there and have a read. he and his wife are so super sweet, they purchased a few cast iron goodies from my shop and then contacted me to see if i would like to do a little write up for his blog. of course i would! you can read it HERE.

enjoy!

on a completely other topic, i just finished editing some photos from our weekend in atlanta and i came across this one i took of my parents new kitten. good lord is she cute! just wanted to share it...