weekend-o-birfday fun!

both my hubby, and our friend steph celebrated birthdays this week, which led to an entire weekend of hang outs and celebrations! here are a few favorite shots from the past few days...
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographerhanging at a salvage yard...
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
amazing little lion we spotted there...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
hello mr.cricket!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
beautiful sites at my favorite cast iron hunting spot...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
sleeping in late on sunday...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
birthday party for evan & steph... mmmm snow cones!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
it was a dinosaur themed party, so naturally we made necklaces!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
see more about this brilliant idea HERE!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
birthday girl in her dino nose :)

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
adam sporting a dino hat!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
the birthday boy crashes in the bounce house...
all in all, it was a weekend for the records. good friends = good times!!!

family fun...

hola folks! it's so good to be back home after a fabulous little family getaway. i miss my fam like crazy at all times, and these little visits seem to hit the spot every time! hope everyone had a wonderful weekend... here are a few shots from my fun filled one :)
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
carousel...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
swings... one of my favorite things in life!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
swingin' with the niece...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
baby swings for my youngest niece...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
odd animal excrement exhibit at the museum...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

little niece splashing around...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
evan and i so sad to be going home...
aren't vacations just the best thing ever!

roller coasters? yes please!

the mr. and i are heading out of town for a few days to go meet up with some of my family in williamsburg, va. what's in williamsburg you ask? well busch gardens of course! roller coasters, ferris wheel, swings, cotton candy, and water slides here we come!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week. i'll be back on monday... wooohoooo!
photo found on flickr...

the joy of new goodies!

i'm so stoked on my newest etsy purchase that i just had to share it with everyone. i can't say enough just how much i love this necklace!
a couple of weeks ago while delivering some Monkey & Squirrel goodies to Young Blood Gallery & Boutique in Atlanta, GA, i spotted some letterpress necklaces from a fellow etsy seller that i had been in love with for quite some time. these letterpress necklaces from Gwen Delicious are so simple and beautiful, and when i saw that they had a "j" in stock i new i just couldn't pass it up. since then i have been wearing it everyday... no lie!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
a couple of days after returning home i decided to browse her etsy shop and see what other lovely treats she might have in store. that's when i spotted the "&" and also an "e". being a total nerd for love i couldn't say no.
when they arrived the other day i was busting with excitement!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
perfectly packaged! (those adorable little black toes belong to one Monkey, of Monkey & Squirrel. he can never resist a photo op!)

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
the anticipation grows...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
absolutely perfect! "e&j" = evan & jenn... told you i was a nerd for love :)

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
i can't say enough wonderful things about my new necklace. i'm almost tempted to start carrying around a little black stamp pad so that i can leave little j's and e's all over the place...
check out more from Gwen Delicious here...

happy friday the 13th!

in honor of this most lucky of days, adam, steph and i decided to honor the age old tradition of getting 13 tattoos on the 13th. the day went as follows...


jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer





jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
we are a bunch of silly fools!



jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer




jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer



jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
adams...



jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
stephs...



jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
mine...



and a close up...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer


happy friday the 13th one and all... have a great weekend!!!


all tattoos courtesy of the fabulous a.j. lingerfeldt...


love is in the air!

later on today evan and i are heading over to two of our bestest buds home for their engagement party. so darn stoked for these two crazy kids!
to adam and steph, we wish you nothing but a lifetime of love, laughs, and good times!!!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

you're such a hipsta...

some recent favorites from the ol' iphone. oh hipstamatic... how i love you so!


jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
summer cruisin' in evans truck...



jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
late night hang outs with some musically inclined friends...



jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
some fun little streamers i made for my studio...



jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
sushi night!



jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
abandoned prison...



jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
most handsome kitty ever, juan...



jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
love...


sunday special...

this little video is quickly making its way around the blog world.... and for good reason! it may just be the cutest wedding video i've seen to date, and i must admit, i've watched quite a few. before getting married i didn't much care for wedding porn (not at all pervy, just a term for browsing others wedding photos), but since my own wedding i can't get enough it!
so here's a cute little somethin' to enjoy on this sunday morn'...

Max, Margaux, & The Marvelows from Shark Pig on Vimeo.

good to be home...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer



my goodness has july been a crazy month for me! i've already had 3 out of town trips, and have another coming up this weekend. i feel like i shouldn't even bother unpacking at this point! last week i left for my home town in NY for my nephews christening, my nieces birthday, and just some general quality family time. though i miss them all terribly already, i must admit i do enjoy getting back home to my hubby, my puppy, and my bed! here are a few fave moments from the trip...


jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer




jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer


jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer


you can also check out *this little video* i made of my trip while sitting on the plane during a two hour delay!

quite a week!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

i have been a terrible blogger this past week! *slaps self on wrist* it's been one of those weeks when life just comes at you from all sides and you have to pick and chose exactly what will and won't get done. i like to think of myself as some sort of wonder woman who can do anything and take on any task, but sometimes i just have to admit that i can not physically get everything done. that realization came this past week...

on the fourth of july evan and i went over to his mom's house to have dinner. evan's mom got us a huge box of veggie burgers and we were going to do our best to put a good dent in it! while evan and his brother were outside starting up the grill, him mom and i were hanging out inside watching a little hgtv, like we often do. after about 30mins of the boys being outside, evans brother came in and said that evan had gotten burned. upon running outside i find evan standing there crouched over, no shirt, covered in what appeared to be ash and burnt hair, and the skin on his arm and neck already red and blistering. his shirt caught fire while lighting the grill. i took him up to the emergency room, which thankfully is only about 7 mins from his moms house, and we spent the next 3 hours there. they gave him some morphine for the pain, cleaned and wrapped him up, and sent us on our way. you better believe we still went back to his moms for those veggie burgers. when evan is hungry, there's no stopping him!


jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer


so, this past week was all about taking care of my mr. when you suddenly see how easy it can be to lose the most important person in your life, it's funny how everything else just falls to the background. he needed quite a bit of help doing just about everything. he couldn't go to work, he couldn't really do much of anything. he did a whole lot of sleeping mixed in with a lot of resting. luckily it's all paying off because he is now healing like a champ! in just one week his arm is looking almost completely healed. his neck is still looking a little rough, but that was where it was second degree burns on the verge of 3rd, so that's to be expected.

in addition to my nurse duties, i had a couple of large wholesale orders to get out, my regular etsy orders, and also i had to get ready for The Big Crafty which was yesterday. if you're not familiar with The Big Crafty, it's a huge craft show in asheville, nc (about 2hrs from where i live in charlotte) that happens twice a year. this was my first year taking part in it and i had so much prep work to do before we left town saturday afternoon. the show was a ton of fun and i'll do a complete update about that later.


jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

so yes, i was a busy busy gal last week and slacked on the blogging. i'm sure y'all understand, and after an extremely good sleep last night i'm feeling back to my non-stressed self!

the pics posted are some of my favorite of me and my hubs. he scared the pants off of me on the 4th, but i love him to little bits anyway.

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

and so it begins...

yesterday we got to pluck our first goodie from the garden! check out this beautiful 100% organic home grown zucchini!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

and we've already got another one coming in too. yaaay for fresh veggies!

before and after... a dresser is reborn!

so, as i've mentioned once before in a previous post, i love refinishing old furniture pieces! a few weeks ago i spotted this dresser at an antique/salvage spot, and it was just calling to me for a face lift!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

it's a solid wood dresser that was handmade by a gentleman who lives about an hour from me, right here in north carolina. it had gotten a few bumps and bruises during its life before coming home with me, but nothing that a bit of sanding and paint couldn't cure.
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
i pulled out the drawers, took off the knobs, sanded the entire thing, and then gave it a coat of grey primer.
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
it was looking better already!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
for its final finish i picked a lovely shade of violet grey. notice that the two top drawers were also changed from two knobs to one.
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
i fell in love with these ceramic drawer pulls and just couldn't pass them up!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
a light hand sanding gives it more of a rustic feel and shows that this baby has indeed been around the block a few times. it also reveals the blue/grey primer underneath, which is just fabulous in my book!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
and it would appear that it is now becoming a tradition for juan to jump in the last shot. this is his new favorite spot in the house. at any given time of day i can almost guarantee that this is where he can be found.
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
so there ya have it. a fabulous little weekend project that i think anyone can take on!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

you grow girl!

i just walked out to check on the garden this morning and was so pleasantly surprised when this big beautiful zucchini bloom was there to greet me...
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
we've also got lots and lots of little cherry tomatoes coming in...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
oh how happy i will be when we get to harvest all of these goodies. i'm definitely hooked on gardening now. this is my first time ever having a real garden (not just some wilting plants in a pot) and i find myself going outside every few hours just to look at it. everything changes from day to day and it's so very exciting watching it all grow. you can count on what may end up being an obnoxious amount of garden updates in the coming weeks. hope you like looking at plants!

surprise!

evan and i were down in new orleans all weekend visiting my best friend. we got home super late last night, and this morning when i went out to check on our garden, i had this lovely little bloom waiting to greet me. the zucchini is on its way!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

mmm mmmm good!

happy monday, i hope a lovely weekend was had by all! the mr and i had quite a busy weekend and i must admit i'm pretty happy when my peaceful monday rolls around. i realize that i am one of the few folks in the world who enjoys this day, so i won't linger on that thought too long.
today i wanted to share one of my new go to recipes. i mentioned in my last post that one of my recent obsessions is zucchini pasta. not only am i in love with it because it's so stinking delicious, but it's also so super easy to make and clean up after.
as you may or may not already know, i've been making an effort to incorporate more raw foods into my diet. since doing the master cleanse a couple of weeks ago, i now crave healthy delicious raw foods pretty much every moment of the day. more raw foods = more living foods = more energy going into your body = a happier me! i can say without a doubt that i notice a difference in how i feel when i'm eating less processed foods and more whole, raw, delicious goodies! so without further adieu, here is zucchini pasta in all its glory...
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
this has become my raw food bible. the recipes are so easy, and so far all fabulous!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
the recipe...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
the ingredients...
bell pepper, tomato, onion, basil, oil, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, zucchini, salt, pepper, and a spiral slicer. i purchased this slicer to really do the job right. i absolutely love it and would recommend it to anyone! you certainly don't need one to make this dish though. you can use a veggie peeler instead and make wider noodles. just as yummy!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
the sauce prep work...
chop it all up and throw it in a food processor or blender. easy peasy!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
the finished sauce... mmmmm!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
making the pasta...
this slicer makes it ridiculously easy to make long spaghetti type noodles. some ended up being about 3 feet long and i realized i should probably go ahead and slice them up a bit before serving. it takes all of about 30 seconds to turn one zucchini into a bowl of noodles!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
beautiful!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
then just pick out your favorite pasta bowl...
evan and i always eat pasta out of these super cute bowls our friend lesli made us for a wedding gift.

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
and just like that you've got an amazing raw, vegan pasta meal you can feel fantastic about devouring! we went ahead and ate ours at room temperature and it was amazing, but you can certainly warm it up a bit if you like. the goal of eating raw is to retain as much of the nutrients as possible without cooking them away, so you just don't want to heat it above 116 degrees F.
i've made the pasta for lunch a few more times since this, and just had it with fresh basil, olive oil, and chopped sun dried tomatoes. it's been amazing each and every time i've had it. you simply can't go wrong!
if you're thinking about working some raw meals into your diet this book is a great place to start. almost all of the recipes use about 5 or 6 ingredients, and they're often things that you would already have in the house. i'm the kind of person that gets easily overwhelmed by cookbooks, but i've found this one to be a great intro into the world of raw food. amazingly easy, and equally as tasty! you can also watch the author, jennifer cornbleet, make this recipe here, and some of her many other creations here.
also check out her "not tuna pate". it's the perfect thing to keep in the fridge for a quick healthy raw lunch. i especially love it on a simple bed of arugula, with a drizzle of olive oil, a splash of lemon, and a bit of ground black pepper. yumm-o!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

new life for an old piece...

you may or may not already know this about me, but for about a year and a half i worked for a local artist by the name of beth philips doing furniture refinishing. if you happen to find yourself in cornelius, nc at any point in your life you can see her work at an adorable little shop called bebe gallinis.
while i no longer refinish pieces as a profession, i certainly still put that skill to use to decorate my own home. here is a recent purchase that had a bit of new life breathed into it...
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
evan and i were in need of some new dressers because the ones we had moved with us down from brooklyn and didn't quite survive the trip.

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
we found this fabulous little solid oak piece for 20 bucks at the very salvage spot i spoke of in my last post. it wasn't looking so good when we found it, but i saw the potential that was hiding under there!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
i used a belt sander to get off the many layers of paint and stain that were bringing this baby down!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
then used a dark grey primer to coat the whole piece, and chose a rich mustard yellow as the final color...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
i sanded the whole thing again and roughed it up quite a bit to give it more of a shabby appearance. the color still felt a bit too vibrant for me at that point, so i rubbed a deep oak stain across the whole thing.

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
i'm quite pleased with the end result...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
...and apparently so is our little juan!
i just scooped up another dresser this past weekend which will hold every bit of our goodies. this one shown here isn't really big enough for much more then some unmentionables :) i'll be sure to share some before and afters of our new piece if it ever stops raining long enough for me to get out and paint it!

master cleanse- day eleven... bummer!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
after coasting through days and days of just drinking the master cleanse mix, i hit a brick wall. i take full responsibility for it though, because yesterday i was not a very good cleanser.

i woke up feeling fabulous yesterday, lots of energy, cleansing business as usual. i was so busy all day though that i neglected to drink much of the lemonade. by not much i mean i had three glasses all day. as a point of reference for you, you're supposed to have about 8 to 12 minimum! this was not smart. a total of just shy around 200 calories in an entire day, a busy day too, is probably going to bring anyone down pretty low. this morning, day 11, i woke up feeling like poo! i was nauseous, and uncomfortable, and upon realizing that i needed to get some calories in me quick i started to make my way into the kitchen. this is when it got ugly. i started sweating, shaking, and slowly but surely blacking out. i grabbed a glass of water, dumped some maple syrup in it, and sat on the floor right there. after a few sips i was able to make my way to the couch, where i proceeded to spend the next 5 hours. no energy to move, just enough to put on the first season of arrested development and veg for awhile.

i full on intended to go for 12 days until this morning and it bothers me that i had to stop early. however, the reason i started doing this was to get a healthy new start, clean out my insides, and feel great! losing some weight was definitely part of the equation, but starving myself was most certainly not! if i'm not doing this the right way, then it's time for me to stop. this whole process has really taught me to listen to what my body is asking for, and right now it's asking me for some food! so i'm swallowing my pride and giving in a day early. i went to the full 10 days which was my original goal and i do feel great about that. i'm really excited to start working on my new plan too, incorporating lots and lots more raw foods into my diet. steph and i have been researching raw meals and i'm stoked to start working on some of those!

so for today it's onto orange juice. later steph and i will be making a large pot of fresh veggie soup and i'll also get to drink some of the broth from that. breaking a fast correctly is just as important as the fast itself, so i'll be sure to at least do that part right.

let the cleansing come to an end...


photo found on flickr

master cleanse- day seven, and some weekend goodies!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer

the cleansing is still going strong! it's day 7, and after a slow start to the day, i'm feeling fabulous. steph (my cleanse buddy) and i did a little fabric shopping earlier, and even hit the gym after that! i haven't updated in the past few days because on days 4, 5, and 6 i was pretty much just coasting through it. with the exception of some really low energy on day 5, it's been pretty uneventful. the weekend was a little bit tougher though, simply because it was beautiful out and it would have been so lovely to have a little cookout, and most weekend get togethers tend to revolve around food or drinks. somehow we all stayed strong and made it through!
i'm still thinking about going for 12 days instead of 10. i'm already at 7, and the thought of being done in 3 days is quite appealing, but i feel like i could really benefit from just a couple more days. it is after all, just two more days out of my life, not eating solids. in the grand scheme of things, not too big of a deal at all.
all cleanse business aside, check out what evan built in our backyard this weekend. a raised garden bed! lots and lots of veggies await!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
she's a beauty!
jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
on saturday we drove out to blue max and had them dump a ton and a half of soil in the back of evans truck. that baby was riding low!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
then it was time to fill her up!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
perfect!

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
barkley discovered that the soil was a nice cool spot to lay out...

jenn pierce, charlotte nc photographer
...and take a much needed nap. gotta love that pup!
hope everyone enjoyed a lovely weekend as well!