Feeling Blue

Recently I seem to be drawn to floral prints that incorporate lots of blue when I'm out hunting for my etsy shop. Yeah, that other etsy shop. I'm having a hard time keeping up myself! When I first saw the skirt below I thought the fabric would be great for a pillow, but the skirt is too cute as it is, especially with the side hip pockets, so I can't cut it up.

But my very favorite most recent thing for my etsy shop is this bathing suit top. The print is so fun. It would be perfect just paired up with some solid colored bottoms or shorts. If you see anything you like, scoop it up soon! We're headed to Atlanta on Sunday for a two week trip to go see our families. Can't wait!

Wallpaper Projects

Our friends Lauren and Derek wrote a great new craft book on, you guessed it, wallpaper projects. The book is filled with so many fun craft projects, and of course they scouted some amazing wallpaper for the book--designs both new and vintage. And guess who's thanked in the acknowledgments? Moi! I know. I couldn't believe it either. My name in a real book! I felt so special when I saw that. Really, though, I just helped out by working at their shop and had nothing to do with the actual book. I'd like to make something out of it though. You should too.

At Lisa's

On Saturday night we went to Lisa's house for a party. Her place looked amazing as usual, and the food was soooo good. She served some of the most delicious Mexican food I've ever had--tamales (pork, chicken and cheese tamales), enchiladas, all kinds of dips and chips, salads, and of course margaritas. Yum. Am I making you hungry? I'm making myself hungry thinking about it. For now you'll just have to feast your eyes on her place instead--the blues, pinks and reds, warm candle light--makes me want head back over there. Somehow I missed having a piece of the Meyer lemon tart her neighbor made. I think I was so full after dinner that I forgot it was there. Sure looked delicious though.

Our New Camera

Our new camera arrived on Friday. Andrew worked from home just so he wouldn't miss the package. I told him I'd be sure not to leave, but he was really excited about it so he worked from home anyway. It's the new Canon Rebel T1i, and it's amazing! We've been using the Rebel XTi (which we plan to sell now), and I really didn't think it could get much better than that, but Andrew wanted the new one, and it has video capability as well, so I was excited about it too. By the time UPS got here, and we fooled around a little bit with the camera, it was almost dark, but we wanted to take it outside and try it out. The ISO can go up to 3200, which means you can take pictures in almost no light (and without a flash) and they will still look pretty great (though for quality's sake, it's not ideal to have it nearly that high). The first picture above was taken when it was almost completely dark as well as the one just below of the pink flowers in the sidewalk.

I was so excited that the next morning I woke up at about 5 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I was thinking of Tea and Cookies' post about stalking wonder (a terrific post about noticing the small beauties in life around you). I had been meaning to go for an early morning walk with the camera ever since I read that post but just hadn't done it yet. So I jumped out of bed, put my jacket on over my PJs and headed out. The streetlights were still on, and the sun was coming up, and I just wandered around the block and took these pictures, all of which are just as they were (I still need to learn how to use photoshop). One day I hope I can say I "make" pictures (rather than "take") like I know other real photographers do, but I have a lot more to learn. Just ask Andrew--I'm constantly asking him what settings he thinks the camera should be on to achieve a certain goal. He's really much better at it than me. But here's a start.

Giveaway Day! Your Pick

For today's giveaway, I decided that you get to pick the prize! Any one thing under $25 can be yours--one bag, one piece of jewelry, one blouse, etc. Just leave a comment here by Saturday at 12 noon, and I'll announce the winner tomorrow later in the afternoon. Go ahead and see what you might want in my etsy vintage clothing shop. Here are just a few things I have listed now (just showing these as an example, but you can choose anything under $25). Yay!



It's after 12 and I've drawn the winner, and it's Debbie from Romancing The Bling!! YAY Debbie! By the way, Debbie makes really beautiful re-purposed jewelry, including pretty hair pins and hair combs--go check out her shop. Debbie, I'll be in touch to see what you'd like from my shop. Oh, and from now on, I'll announce the winner at the bottom of my giveaway posts.