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...

handmade gift giving...

as some of you may recall, a few weeks back i promised myself that i was going to learn embroidery this year! no if's, and's, or but's about it... this was going to be the year of the stitch! i scooped up a great book, embroidered effects by jenny hart, and i started studying. after reading and rereading that fabulous little book, it was time to try my hand at some stitching. my nieces upcoming 6th birthday was the perfect occasion for me to get in gear and get to work! here is the finished product which i gave to her at her birthday party this past weekend...

the little birds were iron on transfers that came with the book and the rest of the design i did myself. having the birds already drawn out definitely made this project less overwhelming...

95% of it was done using the "split stitch". the little red berries were made by using the "french knot" technique. which, by the way, i'm in love with!

i hand painted and distressed the embroidery hoop as well, so that it too is part of the art...

all in all i think it came out pretty darn ok. it was my first attempt and i loved every bit of it. not every stitch is perfect, but i put a whole lot of love into it, and after all, that's really what gift giving is about, isn't it?

yippy!

amazing news first... yesterday evening etsy's handmade wedding story about MY wedding was posted. they had contacted me shortly before christmas to see if i would be interested in doing a little write up about our wedding for their blog. OF COURSE i would! it's so exciting to see a story about evan and i in the same place where i read so very many other amazing articles. there might have been a few happy dances around the living room...

this is a favorite shot of mine not in the article. it's the pierce/trimboli family photo. evan is the youngest of 8 kids so about 75% of this photo is his family. i just love how relaxed it all is... ahh what a day! you can read the article HERE...

in other admittedly less exciting news, the shoes that i ordered about 2 weeks ago finally arrived yesterday! i had been on the hunt for vegan saddle shoes for many a year and finally found them online at payless! i was so excited to get them, i immediately put them on and snapped a few shots to share in my joy. check 'em out...

i do believe they will be making appearances in my ensembles fairly often these coming days. so super comfy and way cuter then a pair of sneaks... i'm stoked!

so all in all yesterday was a darn good day. etsy feature and cute shoes... i couldn't be happier!

feeling springy... shop update

perhaps i'm getting a bit ahead of myself with it only being early february and all, but i can't help but feeling like spring is just right around the corner. perhaps its the daffodils (planted by the previous owners of our new home, thanks!) beginning to sprout in the backyard, or the fact that i just purchased a pair of super cute shorts yesterday, but spring is in the air... and i'm loving it!

with that said, i've been working my butt off for the past few weeks on a new spring line of accessories to add to my etsy shop. inspired by the floral wall decor i had added in january, these lovely floral brooches are my newest obsession. so much fun to make, and wear, i just can't get enough. i'm kinda having a hard time not keeping them all for myself...

here's one i made a few weeks ago during a fashion crisis. i had just purchased this oversized shirt dress and when i went to wear it out one evening i realized i didn't have a belt to go with it. flower brooch to the rescue! i had made this little plaid one for myself earlier in the week and had yet to wear it. i attached it to a simply bit of black ribbon, and voila... instant belt! i think it did the job perfectly...

snow day fun!

having grown up in NY, i've seen my fair share of snow. the brutal northern winters were one of the reasons i moved south in the first place. so it amazes me, after only being in the south for two years now, just how excited i get these days by the prospect of snow! in the wee hours of the morning this past saturday we received a nice covering of the white stuff, which led to a very eventful saturday afternoon. phone calls were made, plans were hatched, layers were put on, and sledding occurred!

evan and i headed over to adam and steph's house where they, along with amber and katia, awaited with the sleds. adam pointed out a wicked hill just up the block from his house. seeing as the roads were a sheet of ice, it was the perfect spot to try out the new sled. evan got the first ride of the day which was undocumented. evan's report on the hill... it was a success! then adam was up...

there he goes...

it was my turn next...

that little sled is extremely fast and extremely fun! i conquered it...

steph's turn and she was stoked...

flying down that hill...

we took a little drive to a new spot. one with actual snow and not in the middle of the road. amber and katia decided to be the testers of this new hill...

as it turns out, this wasn't such a good spot. amber and katia ate a bit of snow on this one...

new hill...

and it's GOOOOOD!!!

a little male bonding sled time. i do believe this is when adam busted his thumb. it's just not a good day of sledding without an injury!

ladies turn...

look at that determination in his eyes! this hill will be mine!!!

katia was less determined and more scared for her life...

i still haven't recovered from walking up this hill a good number of times that day.

lovely ladies of the mountain, hangin' ten on our sled...

for the last run of the day we opted for pushing the limits of this little plastic sled. this ended up not being the best idea (big surprise), as i got bounced off, half rolled, half slid down the hill, got snow up my back and down my pants. all in the name of fun!

with frozen fingers, frozen toes and yes, frozen facial hair, we decided to call it a day on "the slopes".

we all retired to adam and steph's for an evening of wine, chili, pj's and movies. great end to a great day...

jumping through hoops...

so, i've got a recent obsession with embroidery. who hasn't right? something about the precision and texture has got me hooked! the amazing amount of tradition behind it all can be somewhat intimidating, but i'm ready for the challenge! i've purchased a book to learn the basics and can't wait to get into practicing my stitches. until then i'd like to share some of my etsy favorites... enjoy!

this little bunny by Cake Eaters, in his retro 70's coloring, is just too cute for words!

the mother and daughter team over at Hare and Drum make wall decor with gorgeous designs and meticulous stitches!

i love this simple design from Samskiart. would be a perfect valentine's day gift for that long distance love.

this sweet little illustrated dream by Cowboy Bunny would be the perfect piece to design an entire children's room around.

what can i say about Neawear, i've coveted all of her wall wear for quite some time now. it is impossible for me to choose just one! i would blow my nest egg here... if i had one.

Mary's Granddaughter has some of the most original designs i've seen to date. i love the little bits of loose thread and the 3D elements she adds to her pieces.

being vegan, i'm not into trophy animal heads hanging on my wall. however, i would take this vegan friendly one from Penny Royalty any day!

ahhh... an embroidery of someone doing embroidery! Planetmithi just blew my mind with this one. love it!

ok, now it's time for me to get to work. all this browsing of others embroidered treasures has lit a fire under my bum!

the cost of crafting...

i was just reading some very interesting articles this morning and wanted to take a minute to share them with my fellow artists/crafters/etsians and friends...

i for one know that every time i list a new item on etsy, the part that takes me the most time is figuring out the cost at which to sell it. you have to take into account what you pay for materials, the time it takes to make it, somehow put a value on your creativity, then also the things that most buyers don't think about like, cost of promoting and advertising, and cost of living because for me this isn't a hobby, it's my full time job, and also what my wholesale cost would be. because my etsy prices are retail i have to leave a little wiggle room to discount for wholesale while still making a profit. on top of all that, you can't help but compare your items to what similar items are going for on etsy. with so many folks using it as a site to just sell the things they make in their spare time, and therefore not looking to make a living wage, it really drives down the price of what a buyer may think handmade goods are really worth.

all of this started with an etsy facebook link. megan auman makes these incredibly cute, impeccably made, eco friendly cozy cuffs. she was lucky enough to get a shout out from etsy on their facebook page, which started quite the conversation about costs. take a second to check it out here!

this then led megan to try and explain her pricing and what exactly goes into the cozy cuff. read her blog article here! she was so good about keeping a cool head in her explanation. i know that if i read all the things that people posted on that facebook link about overcharging and other nonsense, i might not be so kind. kudos to you megan!

she then wrote another article here! this goes into the topic a bit more, stating that many etsy buyers, for the most part, are driven solely by price and then poses the question, what is the artist who is looking to make a living here to do?

i'm not sure what the answer to this is. i believe that if you have a well made product that you're passionate about, you won't feel the need to compete with the undersellers. that will come across in your product and the buyers who understand that will be loyal. that is my hope at least, i think megans too. as you can see on her etsy page, she's found many buyers who do understand the value of her work. the items in my shop are not at a very high price point and even i have had buyers asking me to give them a deal. it's tempting to do so just to make a sale, but those are not the buyers that i'm interested in marketing to. i want someone who understands the value of handmade and is willing to support it, not take advantage of it.

i'm sure many other sellers have their own thoughts and opinions on the matter and i would love to here more about it. feel free to leave comments or links to other articles on the subject...

here's one book i know i'll be looking into...

thanks!

blarg...

today is just one of those days...

it's all rainy and chilly out, and i can't get myself motivated for the life of me. i have had no car for two days in a row now. my poor little jeep cherokee is having some sort of steering issues that have yet to be solved, and this leaves me stuck inside. i've already watched 2 movies and caught up on the real world, (this is what confinement does to me) but at least i did get it together long enough to make one new ruffled floral wall decor for my shop. i guess the day is not a total wash. barkley doesn't seem to motivated to do anything either. he was neutered two days ago and is still taking some pain meds. at least he has a good excuse for his laziness. so i'm fully writing today off! barkley and i will continue to be useless. tomorrow is another day!

new year, new look!

ever since we moved into our new humble abode, i've been struggling with the perfect spot to photograph new items for my etsy shop. i had no idea how much i lucked out with perfect lighting in our apartment until we moved out. i've tried all sorts of different spots in out new home with no luck. we have a number of insanely large trees on our property which block most of the natural light from coming into our house. great for keeping it nice and cool in the summer, not nice for taking photos though. so finally, with all the new items piling up, i realized that i wasn't going to FIND that perfect spot, i was going to have to MAKE it! enter chalkboard paint! i have to admit that i've wanted to paint a whole wall with chalkboard paint for years now. i thought this would be a great reason to give it a go. i chose the one wall in my studio that gets the most light, (it also is the wall that gets the most light in out entire house luckily) and i dove in head first! it took a few coats to get it fully covered, and it seemed very dark at first. however, now each time i draw on it it holds onto some of the chalk and seems a bit more of a dark grey rather then black. that was my original hope. i also need to use more pops of colors now to make it a bit more interesting. it's trial and error, but at least it's fun!

i'm not totally sure that this is 100% the most perfect back drop for my items, and i'm also not positive that i ever will find a spot that makes me as happy as that little spot in our apartment. but this is loads of fun and gives me the chance to get pretty darn creative with things. i love that i can update it for holidays (notice the current valentines day theme going on) and draw fun little critters for a bit of whimsy. i can also use it to sketch out ideas or leave really large notes for myself when i'm not using it as a backdrop. if i had it my way every room in our house would have a chalkboard wall. for now i think this will hold me over...

HELP!

this is a call to all who are reading! the rescue that i've spent the last 2 years working with, North Mecklenburg Animal Rescue, has an opportunity to win $10,000! this is huge and definitely within reach! it's super easy for you to help, just read on...one of our biggest success stories to date, Gunny, has been entered in a most valuable pet competition. if he wins, he gets to give $10,000 to the charity of his choice. seeing how NMAR took a huge chance when they saved him from euthanasia, he would love more then anything to win this money for them.

if you don't know Gunny's story, here's a little sum up for ya. Gunny was picked up by animal control and he was covered in puncture wounds. when i say covered, i mean that there were so many they couldn't even be counted. some were old and starting to heal, while others were fresh and newly received. his leg was broken, probably a number of times, and so swollen he couldn't even step on it. one of our volunteers, the ever amazing amy, found out that he wasn't going to be put to sleep until his scheduled euthanasia day which was a week away! now understand that we never want to see dogs put to sleep, but gunny was in serious pain and they were giving him NOTHING to help with that. so amy got him out that day thinking that at least she could take him to the vet and get him euthanized that day. he seemed to be beyond any help that we could give. well something amazing happened that day.... gunny smiled! through all the pain and terrible things he had been put through, he smiled his goofy gunny smile, wagged his tale, rolled over for belly rubs and charmed us all! gunny was taken to the vet that day where it was decided that he was probably a bait dog in a pitbull ring. ya know, the dog that won't fight so they tie him up and let the other dogs get there practice on him. that was our

sweet little gunny. well now that he had somehow gotten out we were all determined to give him a better life. the community came out with unbelievable support and raised enough money for us to get him the 2 intense surgeries he needed. one to heal a bad throat injury and the other to amputate his leg. amy fostered him through all of this and, as we all knew would happen, fell in love with him. he is now as good as new, well minus a leg but he doesn't seem to even care about that. he's gone on to help educate people about the misconceptions about his breed and help raise awareness about dog fighting. in fact he was even in USA TODAY... today. so when amy entered him in the most valuable pet competition, we knew he had a fighting chance to go all the way.

tomorrow is the last day to vote for our little gunny. it's an intensely close race between one other dog and himself. if you could please pass this on to anyone you know gunny, myself, and our rescue would forever appreciate it! just go HERE and vote for gunny. you will have to enter an email address, but i can tell you from experience it takes two seconds and you will not get any junk mail. how can you deny this little face...

thanks so much!

if you just haven't seen enough of gunny, here are some other places he can be found...

*facebook fan page*

*blog*

*youtube video*

*USA TODAY*

shenanigans and tomfoolery...

last weekend i met up with a couple of good friends for coffee and what would also prove to be a fabulously inspiring chat. maria, of "a forgotten art", and steph, of "darling clementine", are each working on opening their own etsy shops as we speak. they are both incredibly talented, equally lovely ladies, and i can't wait to purchase pieces from each. we started off talking shop, quite literally actually. ie, how to keep from getting completely overwhelmed by all the other insanely amazing items on the site, how to work out shipping, best spots in charlotte for buying fabric, time management, and working on finding your niche and branding your shop... that was the first hour. well it's bound to happen when creative minds get together, talk turns to what inspires us, and currently we are three very inspired ladies. we continued to chat it up about blogs we follow, great photo sharing sites, how many great "style a day" bloggers there are, projects we're working on, want to work on, and one day will eventually get around to working on. minutes flew by and what was meant to be an hour or so meeting, ended up being over two hours, and we weren't even fulfilled! business talk had to come to an end so that dinner and game night could begin!

we went back to steph and adams house where we decided to let our significant others join in the fun. we were also joined by the always fabulous katia for a dinner of pasta, salad, and yum yummy bread. we certainly had to carbo load for the fun filled activities ahead! the wine started flowing the ladies started getting silly and we hadn't even busted out a single game yet. enter uno attack! a new favorite amongst this crew. it's a simple concept, press a button, wait to see how many cards you get... what could be fun about that? honestly, i can't even answer that question, but i have to say that this game can provide us hours of entertainment! there was definitely some cussing, (i'm southern now so i have to say cuss instead of curse) and maybe even a bit of name calling involved, but it was good family fun all around.

adam & steph...

katia gets the small plate...

adam & steph have Monkey & Squirrel decor!

the sauce... vegan soyrizo goodness!

the men... yikes!

just so as to make a full night of it, we adding another game to the roster. we were now joined by matt and kate who in addition to themselves, brought dessert, mmmm! we decided to bust out pictionary man for game two of the evening. take the regular pictionary concepts, but now draw it on a 3 dimensional man. it took us a few rounds to really get into a groove with this one. we tried girls vs boys for the first round. the boys may say that they destroyed us simply because they were better at the game, but i say that we just hadn't warmed up yet. even though maria can draw a mean crab, it just wasn't enough to win. the next round was terribly suspenseful. we mixed up the teams and it was a death race to the finish. we were neck and neck the whole game but alas, my team was beaten by one point in the end. bummer!

the picman!

matt & twiggy...

we see you maria... :)

with days like this and friends like these who could ask for more? simple pleasures like good conversations, ridiculous game nights, yummy food and great friends are definitely not to be taken for granted. stay tuned for pictionary man, the rematch! because while i do appreciate these simple pleasures, i do not appreciate losing!

:)

see more photos from the evening here!

the studio in action...

i am in love with my studio! there i said it. i know that having one whole room that i can dedicate to my crafty ventures is a luxury not everyone can experience. and while it's come a long way since we moved into our little home, it does still have a way to go before it's finished. we'll start with the fact that there is still nothing on the windows, and the closet is stuffed full of items in no particular order just aching to bust out. it's a work in progress and a fun one at that. i have dreams of it being fully organized with art on the walls from some of my favorite etsy sellers, shelves everywhere so that anything i could ever need is right at my fingertips, and a great spot for taking photos of new items to add to my own shop. i gal can dream. i don't know if this will ever all happen in this one room, but the simple fact that it is a possibility is comfort enough for me. the one thing that i have zero complaints about in this room of wonder, is my brand spankin' new drafting table from ikea. it's quite spacious and even has a built in light table. i use it almost everyday and have not regretted its purchase for even a second...

painting table...

drawing table...

hair goodies making table...

and possibly what it gets used for most often, a place for juan to lounge in the sun...

with that said, i should probably get back into that room and get to working! these are busy and exciting days here... happy creating!

2010!

first of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! the end of 2009 was pretty crazy here at casa de monkey & squirrel and the blog updates had to be pushed to the side. with the etsy holiday season in full swing there wasn't much time for things that didn't consist of painting, packing, shipping and shopping! i also took a little time off to have a much needed visit with my family in ny. that has ended now though, and things are getting back to normal. i'm working on lots of items to add to my shop for the new year. all new cast iron goodies as well as a new line of hair accessories and brooches. busy days ahead!

i thought i would use today to catch y'all up on our ever continuing house renovation project. the kitchen has been taken down to the walls, well technically it's been taken down to the 2x4's behind the walls. we're bare bones here! no stove, no sink, no cabinets and the fridge is in the living room! it makes a great statement piece. so without delay, here is our kitchen...

this is a "before" pic just to refresh your memory.

habitat for humanity came and disassembled everything for us one day...

...then came back the next and took it all away. (pardon these pics. they are from evans phone because i accidentally took both cameras with me to ny... woops!)

we're doing some interesting living these days. making for dinner only what can be cooked in a microwave or toaster oven, then washing dishes in our bathroom sink. we've decided to only unpack the essentials for now which consists of two dishes, two bowls, two cups, the cutting board and the can opener. luckily evan and i are both very laid back about all of this craziness. we know that one day we'll look back and reminisce about the early days in our first house when we spent all of our money making over the kitchen and ate ramen for a year to make up for it. ahhh, to good ol' days!

things should start moving along now though. we've got all or our new cabinets in boxes in our guest room and evan is out picking up the new flooring as we speak. i will be sure to keep the pictures coming as the magic continues to happen. 2010 is looking good so far and with the new year comes a new kitchen... let the renovations continue!

friday the 13th...

this past friday, yup the 13th, my husband, our friends, and i got together for a bit of a gift exchange. the gift being one terrible tattoo. each chose a name out of a hat, then laughs and good times followed. i sat out of the tattooing part and just took the photos...