fare thee well summer...

evan and i are off to the beach in a few hours for a little end of summer getaway. technically i shouldn't call it little because it consists of about 30 of our friends, coming into town from all over the u.s., to all stay in one house, and live it up for 5 days. though i already feel like summer is over, and am having a hard time wrapping my head around swimwear, i'm super excited to sit on the beach with a glass of wine and a good book.

here's a view of last years crew...

with us being gone for 5 days that means barkley has to get boarded, or as i like to call it, go to summer camp. i always feel so terrible leaving him there, but he absolutely loves it and actually gets a little depressed for a day or two after coming home. i usually like to get him a little something special to come home to and seeing as he destroyed his last bed, i think a new one might be in order.

i'm currently hunting for the perfect one...

i LOVE these ones from canvas, but at this price point, barkley can not be trusted with these just yet!

there are some really fantastic beds on etsy made from recycled materials. i love the rusticness (let's go ahead and make that a word) of this one from lovenostolgicwhimsy...

and this one from recycledbrooklyn.

and last, but certainly not least, is this canvas bed from bowwowbeds. i actually wanted one of these before we even had a dog. they look so tough and durable. perfect for a pup who is still growing out of his chewing phase!

i hope everyone else has something lovely planned for the weekend. i'll be back tuesday nice and relaxed and ready to get back to work!

weekend visitors!

this weekend evan and i had a couple of very welcome little visitors. if you happen to follow me on twitter or facebook then you've already seen these adorable faces. if not, then be prepared for a ridiculous amount of cute...

i posted about these little guys HERE, and was lucky enough to be able to take two of them home on saturday after an event with the rescue i work with.

i just wanted to give them a few days of being absolutely spoiled rotten... and spoil them we did!

evan and the pups take a little nap...

then barkley and the pups do the same...

they are so super sweet, already crate trained, and ready for their forever homes!

how can you resist this much sweetness...

in about half an hour i'll be heading out to drop these guys back off with the rescue. i know for sure that we're not ready for another puppy, but dang it am i gonna miss them!

adios summer...

my internet was down for an entire 24 hours beginning last night... it was a rough day let me tell you! it's back now though and i thought i would just share this adorable little gem before i head on off to bed.

apparently my little Barkley has decided that he's done with summer, and went ahead and kicked off autumn by destroying his kiddie pool. how could i be mad? i mean really... look at that face!

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...

hanging at a salvage yard...

amazing little lion we spotted there...

hello mr.cricket!

beautiful sites at my favorite cast iron hunting spot...

sleeping in late on sunday...

birthday party for evan & steph... mmmm snow cones!

it was a dinosaur themed party, so naturally we made necklaces!

see more about this brilliant idea HERE!

birthday girl in her dino nose :)

adam sporting a dino hat!

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 :)

carousel...

swings... one of my favorite things in life!

swingin' with the niece...

baby swings for my youngest niece...

odd animal excrement exhibit at the museum...

little niece splashing around...

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!

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!

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!

perfectly packaged! (those adorable little black toes belong to one Monkey, of Monkey & Squirrel. he can never resist a photo op!)

the anticipation grows...

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

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...

we are a bunch of silly fools!

adams...

stephs...

mine...

and a close up...

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

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

get 'em while they're hot!

if you read yesterdays post then you already know just how excited i am about these little guys. i was so stoked about getting them up and in my etsy shop that i painted, distressed, photographed, and edited last night just so that i could have them available today. so here they are, the newest addition to my cast iron collection...

cast iron horse hooks, choose your color

hope you enjoy them as much as i do!

giddy up!

yesterday i spent the entire day unpacking boxes of decor that had yet to see the light of day since we moved into our new home. we had been holding off on putting up any paintings, photos or decorations of any sort until we had fully finished our renovations. with the kitchen still not fully done (we just have a bit of trim work left to do), i could wait no longer! a gal can only live with bare walls for so long.

i came across a few of my cast iron horse hooks that i had set aside for my own personal use back when we were still in our apt. i had left them in there unfinished, rusty state, because i simply couldn't decide what color to paint them. well finally a decision was made...

i've opted for solid glossy white, with a hand painted and distressed background of varying colors.

we have evergreen...

mustard yellow...

and slate blue...

VOILA!!!

i was in serious need of some jewelry organization and these will do the job perfectly! i love the way these look so much so that they are now the color schemes i will be offering up in my etsy shop. be on the lookout for these to be available very soon!

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!!!

you're such a hipsta...

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

summer cruisin' in evans truck...

late night hang outs with some musically inclined friends...

some fun little streamers i made for my studio...

sushi night!

abandoned prison...

most handsome kitty ever, juan...

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.

daaaaang!

oh and p.s.... here's a new little somethin' that Monkey & Squirrel is involved in!

HOOTERS tour 2010... get into it!

good to be home...

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...

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!

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!

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.

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.

and so it begins...

yesterday we got to pluck our first goodie from the garden! check out this beautiful 100% organic home grown zucchini!

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!

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.

i pulled out the drawers, took off the knobs, sanded the entire thing, and then gave it a coat of grey primer.

it was looking better already!

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.

i fell in love with these ceramic drawer pulls and just couldn't pass them up!

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!

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.

so there ya have it. a fabulous little weekend project that i think anyone can take on!

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...

we've also got lots and lots of little cherry tomatoes coming in...

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!

moose spotting!

it's pretty darn rare that i keep any of my cast iron goodies for myself. i fall in love with certain ones, but generally feel kinda guilty if i don't share them with the public. with that said, no way am i giving up this guy! i've never had him before and who knows if he'll ever come into my life again. i just knew from the moment we met that he was destined to hang by my front door for all eternity.

a solid white, high gloss, paint job seemed to be what fit him best.

i can't help but smile every time i look at that silly critter!

i do promise that if ever i stumble upon some more of these on my numerous cast iron hunts, i will share them with the world. he's too amazing to not be in every living room world wide!