busy days

here's a little peak at the treasures captured by my phone these past few days...

finally met our friends little girl lucy * squirrel being pretty * delicious noms * dental checkup for me!

oh ya know, just some cute puppy goodness!

presents in the mail from a friend * new sneaks * plenty of rain clouds * puppy tail hole!

dog sitting great danes * smoothies * whipped up some bunting for the bedroom * big doggie snuggles!

tonight evan's bff, and our old brooklyn roomie, gets into town. he's only here for a night so we've got to jam pack the evening with quality hang outs and delicious vegan eats! should be a great night with friends...

photo dump...

tofu scramble * friends band * roller skating bridal shower * saving squirrel from a tree

*sleepy sleepy pups*

view from the hammock * vietnamese nibbles * stitching party with steph * good fortune

*more puppy cuteness!*

*proper hammock lounge attire*

stitching up an order * big smarties lollipop * snuggling siblings * editing photos

i'm so excited because our friend lesli and her boyfriend dave are coming into town today from NY... and they're bringing their dogs! it's always fun having lesli around because she likes to gossip, and talk smack, and drink wine with me. good times! it's going to be a crazy full house here for a bit, but it'll be absolutely worth it! barkley has a big time doggy crush on moods (that's one of the pups), and they always run around like maniacs and exhaust each other out, which leaves us with sleepy puppers, and that is always nice :) this will be mirabelles first big doggy play group too, so we'll have to see if she can hold her own with the big guys.

i've got some very very exciting news to share tomorrow, so be sure to stop on back!

inspiring interiors

a few of my favorite rooms i've been collecting...

one thing is clear... i do believe i'm coveting some white walls!!!

sources

1 * 2 * 3 * 4&5 * 6 * 7 * 8

ps... don't forget to enter the stitch machine giveaway going on now!

stitch machine giveaway!

i'm so excited about todays little giveaway!

fellow charlotte, nc crafter sarah of stitch machine, is offering one of my lucky readers a chance to win this super adorable floral bow hair clip.

i actually purchased one of sarah's satin hair bows for myself last summer and i absolutely LOVE it! it's the perfect simple hair accessory for summer. this flower pattern though is making me swoon and now i'm thinking i just may need to expand my collection!

it even comes wrapped up in a sweet little box! who doesn't like receiving presents in the mail, right?

here's how to enter...

you should be a follower of my blog. then take a visit over to sarah's shop and leave a comment below telling us your favorite hair goodie in her shop!

for extra entries you can...

tweet, facebook, and/or blog about about the giveaway

follow me & sarah on twitter

follow sarah's blog

thanks so much for playing friends, the winner will be announced friday... let the spring giveaways continue!

vegan comfort food

a few months ago while evan and i were visiting my parents in atlanta, my mom busted out her beef stew recipe and veganized it for us. i think evan had been craving it every day since! so last night adam and steph came over for some cooking and hang outs and we whipped up a big ol' pot of stew. good lord was it yummy! it goes a little something like this...

VEGAN BEEF STEW

2- packages of gardein beef tips

1- 16oz bag of baby carrots chopped in half or so

1- bag of celery cut into 2" pieces

1- large onion chopped

2- bay leaves to be removed before serving (we actually didn't have these and it was still delicious!)

2- envelopes lipton onion soup mix

1- carton veggie broth, or 2 cans

there is really no exact way to do this so you can adjust and flavor to your liking as well.

first brown the beef tips in a bit of oil, this will give the gravy a bit more flavor. once browned, set aside. add broth and a few cups of water (start with 2 cups and add more later if needed) to a large pot. then add all veggies and bay leaves and bring to a boil. reduce to simmer and let cook for about 40 mins until veggies are tender. add beef tips, salt and pepper to taste (we added lots of pepper but no salt since there is a lot in the soup mix) and simmer for another 20 minutes. in a separate bowl mix corn starch and water together and slowly add it to the stew to thicken the gravy. definitely do this slowly because it thickens quick!

we served it over bow tie pasta with a side of crescent rolls (also vegan!) and it was the ultimate comfort food! it fed the 4 of us last night (and evan and adam can do some eating!) and we still have leftovers today. that's the kinda cooking i like! let me know if you give this a whirl. my momma would be so excited!

also, don't forget today's the last day to enter the nautical giveaway. i'll be announcing the winner later on... happy friday!

sweet pea mirabelle...

just had to share this bit of puppy sweetness :)

sweet puppy love...

if i seem distracted lately, it may be due to unbearable cuteness...

yesterday i was informed from a gal at the dog rescue i work with, that they needed some help placing a litter of 10 puppies in foster homes for a few weeks. she also asked if evan and i might be able to take one for a while. well certainly we could! we've fostered before and i've had puppy fever lately so i thought that this might be just the thing to get me over it. i went with another rescue gal, to the house where these pups were currently staying, to give shots, take pictures, and pick up one foster puppy for us. well not 10 minutes after evan met this little baby, (who was originally named precious, but we are calling mirabelle) evan was already saying that maybe we might keep her. we've been thinking for quite some time about getting barkley a little friend, and we've always wanted a pit bull (there needs to be more responsible owners out there to help break their current bad reputation, and educate as to what amazing, loyal, sweet dogs they really are), and it seems that she just may have come into our life at the perfect time. so without further adieu, here is sweet little miss mirabelle...

barkley already loves her to bits...

we took her over to our friends shop (to show her off naturally) and she proceeded to zonk out on the counter...

so it looks like we've got ourselves a new member of the family. let the days of sweet puppy breath, nibbled shoe laces, house training, and lots of snuggles begin!

instax mini

yesterday a little anniversary gift arrived on our doorstep from my parents... an instax mini! i've been coveting one of these babies for quite some time now. ya see, a few years back i had a serious polaroid obsession, but they discontinued the film and left me heartbroken! enter instax and see me a happy gal! it's so adorably cute and chubby, and so very much fun to play with. check out barkley posing all super sweet for my first test shot. he loved the noise it makes when spitting out the picture. silly pup!

i'm so stoked to fill up a whole box of these babies! three cheers for tangible pictures :)

here are some other fun instax things from around this here world wide web...

the dainty squids 52 weeks of instax...

elsie does some awesome things HERE and HERE...

a flickr group pool...

and a really clever flickr group pool...

anyone else really miss having photos to hold and flip through? evan and i are talking about printing out some of our favorite digital pics each month, just so as to start a little collection of our own. one of my favorite things is looking through old pictures and it's super sad to think that our kids won't have that same kind of experience. so let the archiving begin!

oh, and if you haven't already, be sure to enter the spring giveaway i've got going on now. such cute cute goodies to be won :)

two years ago today...

evan and i said "i do"...

and i'm thankful for him everyday!

13 views from the weekend...

my goodness am i one tuckered lady! evan and i have been bit by the spring cleaning bug big time and we spent this weekend getting things DONE! we fully intended on spending this past two days cleaning up around the house, but it ended up taking on a life of its own and we got so many little projects finished. it feels super good to be productive!

on saturday evan pulled out all the dead bushes in front of our house and we planted these sweet little babies right here... so much better then the ugly shrubbery that was there before!

i made a spur of the moment decision that our living room table absolutely needed a makeover. it was blue/grey before and now...

is a violet/grey!

i scored these sweet little vintage doilies on my antiquing trip on friday. they are now our coasters!

i also gave this tiny end table that we found a few months back a face lift. it had been sitting around waiting to be painted, and today was its lucky day...

so much prettier! oh and that skull you see there also got a face lift today. he was originally white! in my opinion there are few things that don't look good painted gold :)

we also rearranged our bedroom and hung up some new little bits of decor. hehe... i just noticed barkley left his kitty toy on the bed. love that pup!

a pretty little birdie...

a vintage tin lid that i also found on friday...

the full view of the ship in its new home...

these lights were in our living room before, but my original intent was always to have them in our bedroom. they finally made it there and barkley approves!

and while i'd love to say that it was all work and no play, we definitely had a few relaxing moments in the hammock. the weather was finally nice here in charlotte after raining for about a week straight so no way were we going to miss out on this!

the view from the hammock. ahhhh, so good!

hope a lovely weekend was enjoyed by all! i think i'm going to head back out to that hammock and enjoy the last few minutes of sunshine before getting back to work...

feeling uninspired

it happens to all creative people at one point or another... and often multiple points throughout their lives. the loss of creative motivation. well for the past few days i've felt this very thing coming on, and yesterday it full on smacked me in the face. i feel completely uninspired. usually i can look at beautiful things online, or read my favorite blogs, and become absolutely motivated again. right now though, this just ain't so. i hate this feeling. generally there are about 120 projects running through my brain and i simply can't wait to get started on each and every one of them. well the projects are still there, but the excitement has gone. so today, in an effort to find that zest again, i'm doing some of my favorite inspiring things.

1) going out for coffee... silly but true

2) going to my favorite salvage yard/antique spot to cast iron hunt... it'll be muddy and messy but it never fails to get me excited

3) stop by some craft supply stores just to browse

4) tonight and this weekend play with anything new that excites me without the pressure to create a finished sellable piece

i'll go ahead and expand on #4 for a bit. i think when you craft for a living there is this pressure that you put on yourself to have everything you create become a perfect sellable piece. i don't often make things anymore just for the fun of it. so this weekend, in between cleaning up our house and rearranging some things (also one of my absolute favorite things to do), i'll be finding my inner inspiring mojo. it's still there, i know it is, but i've forgotten to tend to it for a while and i think it's just feeling neglected.

anyone else ever get in one of these funks? what's your favorite way of finding your way out of it? yesterday in an effort to start shaking this feeling, i played around with some materials and created that little lady above. it had nothing to do with anything regarding my shop and it felt rather good just fiddling around! i thought that might do the trick, but today the "blah" lingers. so apparently more extreme measures must be taken!

here's to an inspiring weekend!

how i've missed you so!

well hello there friends! it's been quite some time since i've been able to regularly post here, and for that i apologize. march was just a crazy month with too many activities and too much traveling. not to say that i didn't enjoy it all, but there is something to be said for being home with no plans at all!

i've got so very much to update on, that i'll just have to break it down into a few separate posts. let's start with my trip to NY two weeks ago. i flew up for my cousins wedding and stayed up there for 6 days. my brother and sister still live in NY and i miss them and their little families tons! anytime i get a chance to visit them and their kiddos i jump at the opportunity! and with the exception of a 24 hour stomach bug whilst there (which was down right evil!), the whole trip was so so very lovely. my phone is chock full of photos from my little trip, and here are a few of my faves...

an early morning flight...

i love you sky mall!

my poor niece was sick when we arrived...

decorations courtesy of my 2 years old niece...

babysitting my nephew...

my sisters cat charlie... don't wear black pants around this fellow!

mani's with my mom and sister...

it was definitely a NY wedding!

the first dance...

building castles with the kiddos...

a rainy day walking around NYC...

my snuggly little niece...

tiniest plane for the ride home...

uhhg, just looking back at these pictures makes me a bit homesick. not for NY really, or any physical place, but for my family and friends that still live there. NC is my home now, and i love it to death, but if i could transport all of those people i love down here with me, what a happy lady i would be!

weekend bits...

what a fabulous weekend this past one was! friday was an uber productive day for me, painting up lots of new Monkey & Squirrel goodies and getting them all set for photographing. then later that night steph and i headed out to her home town of fayetteville, nc for a bridal shower her mom was throwing for her. it was such a lovely relaxing time, hanging with her pups, eating lots of food, and getting all the final wedding plans set!

here is the weekly iphone photo dump :)

monkey before

monkey after (look for him in the shop soon!)

stephs chi-hoo-hoo twiggy

vegan breakfast that rocked our faces!

sushi with the fam, and sake for me and steph

pups at stephs folks house... P & Snatch!

P & Lola workin' on their tans

stephs amazing idea... chick patty/veggie burger stacks!

i'll keep this here post short and sweet, 'cause after eating all the above goodies i've gotta go and get my butt to yoga.!

oh, and here's a little music monday for ya to enjoy... this song makes me wanna cry, and jump and sing all while blasting it inside my brain. see if you get the feeling too :)

let sleeping dogs lie...

i was browsing through some old photos this morning when i came across the one above, taken at an event i was working with the dog rescue i volunteer with. the event that day was just a few blocks from where evan works, so i told him that he NEEDED come down on his lunch break and meet this little booger of a dog! at this point we had zero plans of adopting a dog. we were in an apartment with a no pet policy and were already hiding 3 cats inside! a puppy was just not in the cards for us yet. so with the best of intentions i decided to just bring barkley (then named carter) home after the event to foster for the weekend. i would get to snuggle him for a few days and then bring him back to the rescue on monday. welp, as you may have already guessed, barkley never went back to the rescue.

i've taken quite a few pictures of barks since having him in our lives, and while browsing them all this morning i've noticed a reoccurring theme. this dog sleeps A LOT... and apparently i like to photograph it. so without further adieu, i present barkley... sleeping.

life wouldn't be as snuggly without you barks!

weekend bits...

what a fabulous little weekend it was! it consisted of having zero plans to start off with, but ended up being filled with some surprise visits from out of town friends, some impromptu afternoon cocktails, and a bit of work productivity to boot! here are a few little snapshots off the old iphone from the past few days...

spring has sprung in our backyard...

delicious morning treats...

come on, is this really neccessary?

just letting a little friend have the right of way...

a monkey in a box!

brunch with miss steph, sooo...

...as to bribe her to let me take some pics of her wearing my new spring headbands. (they'll be up in the shop soon!)

a new tradition was born... mimosa sundays!

and last but certainly not least... what time is it???

it's cookie time!!!

pay it forward...

yesterday my niece brigitte posted this fun little thang on her blog, and i thought today would be the perfect day to play along too!

**ok i feel a side note is needed here, because brigitte and i aren't all that far off in age for her to be my niece. so here's the backstory, evan is the youngest of 8 siblings, and brigitte is the daughter of his oldest sister. therefore when evan and i said "i do", not only did i score myself an awesome 22 (or are you 23 now B?) year old niece, but i also landed one amazingly huge family! and now that that's cleared up, we can continue...**

it's the 2011 round of pay it forward! here's how it works...

The Rules:

- Be one of the first five people to comment on this post

- You will receive something handmade from me within the next few weeks

- Post about Pay it Forward on your blog/social media site of choice, and send something handmade to the first five people who comment on your post. Keep the craftiness going!

- You can send anything, big or small, it just must be handmade.

so how much fun is that?!?! i got my comment in on brigitte's just in time and i can't wait to see what she makes. you must be a follower of my blog, and just remember to leave me your email in your comment so that i can contact you about where to ship your lovely little handmade goodie. also, don't forget that you must then post this on your blog (or facebook) and keep the good will going. the name of the game is pay it forward after all :)

ready... set... go!

disney dream cruise 2011

hi friends! i feel like it's been forever since i've checked in. the week away was absolutely amazing, but it's certainly nice to be back home getting into the swing of things again. today i thought i'd share a little photo dump of some of my favorite pics from our vacation... enjoy!

setting sail

evan and our nephew

ahhh the sunsets...

hangin' in nassau

yummy glowing cocktails!

my stinkin' adorable niece!

kickin' it!

did i mention the sunsets?

so pleasantly surprised by the vegan options!

buddies!

so how was everyone else's week? did i miss anything majorly exciting? it was so very nice being completely cut off from the world for a while. no cell phone, no computer, no news... i loved it! i may just have to make a habit of this more often!

a bit of this and that...

i have a new love, and its name is mood polish!

i had first heard about this polish over on the dainty squid (which p.s. is one of my absolute favorite blogs at the moment), and i new i needed it bad! i opted for this perfect pink/salmon combo, because it just seemed like such a cruise worthy shade!

i slapped it on last night...

and i'm totally stoked about it!

it's not too much of a drastic difference in colors, which is fine by me. just some subtle color changes throughout the day. oh and my middle finger definitely has some chunky gold flake polish going on. i can't resist it!

welp, evan and i leave for atlanta tomorrow where we'll stay with my parents for the evening. then sunday morning we'll all drive down to florida to meet up with my sister, hubby and kids, my brother, wife and kids, my sisters bff, hubby and kids (they've been part of my life since i was about 12, she's basically another sibling by now), and some other friends of family. it should be a jam packed with fun few days and i can't wait to get going! now i've got to go finish up a few work related goodies and finish up packing. i may be able to check in once or twice while i'm gone, but if not i hope everyone has a great week!

here are a few things from around the web to keep you busy while i'm gone...

cutest kitty video EVER!

is it iced coffee weather in your zipcode?

this made me want dessert bad!

a lot of folks have been talking about the back to the future project this week, but i personally love the chini project!

this is an amazing little read!

i would like to have this to hold a single vegan cupcake for me!

adios amigos... the fun and sun are calling my name!

oh happy day!

you may remember me swooning over these shoes here. well i decided i just couldn't pass them up and i went ahead and ordered them. to my excitement, last night they arrived at my doorstep and they're perfect!

these bad boys will be coming on our cruise with me and by god i will find a time to wear them!

vegan reese's peanut butter balls

evan and i aren't really big valentine's day celebrators. we actually had absolutely nothing special planned for yesterday and we were both just fine with that. i went to yoga, evan worked late, and when we got home we ate some yummy dinner and caught up on 30 rock... a perfect evening in my book!

i did want to do one little special thing for evan since he's been so wonderful about me cutting sugar and carbs out of our dinners these past few weeks. so i got this recipe for peanut butter balls from our friend lia, who got it from our friend bryan, who i'm not really sure where he got it from. lia made us a huge batch of these for our wedding and they were a hit! evan loved them (as he loves anything involving chocolate and peanut butter), and i thought it would bring a little smile to his face to come home to such a fabulous sweet treat! they're so super easy to make and taste just like reese's peanut butter cups... which p.s. were my favorite pre-vegan candy so these really hit the spot for me! here's how to make 'em...

you'll need...

1 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup softened margarine

dash of vanilla extract (optional)

2 cups powdered sugar

chocolate chips

stir together peanut butter, margarine and vanilla in a mixing bowl. i was actually out of vanilla and didn't feel like going to the store, so i just left it out. i couldn't tell a difference. next add 1 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar. mix together starting with a spoon or fork, then use hands to knead it into a dough ball. add the remainder of the powdered sugar for a chalky (more reese's) consistency, or leave it out for a creamy filling. i added the extra!

melt the chocolate in a double boiler, and while that's melting make up your little peanut butter balls.

you can then either drop the balls in the chocolate to coat them...

or drizzle the chocolate over top for a fancy pants look! (note: i had to thin my chocolate with a bit of soymilk to get it to drizzle)

place on wax paper and let cool in the fridge...

these can be eaten while still warm and gooey, cooled in the fridge, or even as a frozen treat! evan loved them, and i even broke my no sugar for 21 days rule to enjoy one. how could i resist?