Invites & Macarons

Earlier this month, my cousin-in-law and super duper friend Connie asked me if I'd be interested in designing some invitations for her upcoming baby shower. I love coming up with themes, fiddling around on Photoshop, and other things of that nature, so I was happy to do it. Connie came up with the term "Belly and Brunch," and she wanted to use her massive collection of scrapbook paper as backing, so this was definitely a collaborative effort. They turned out to be pretty cute, and each one is slightly different.




Connie thanked me with a sweet little package of macarons she picked up for me at Payard Pâtisserie during her trip to Las Vegas.



Speaking of macarons, have you seen the chocolate ones they're selling at Trader Joe's? I just spied them last week, and after I picked my jaw up off of the floor, I immediately snapped them up and ran to show Jose, possibly squealing. I knew they had the tiny frozen kind, but I had never seen these before. They're quite big and extremely tasty.



Thank you, Trader Joe's, for making a whole ton of blogger girls' dreams come true. Now to put a photobooth on every corner and inexpensive mid-century modern furniture in every thrift store. Hehe.

The Dapper Creature

I recently finished a watercolor painting commissioned by my friend (and Jose's best man) Phillip Guzman, an awesome artist who specializes in all things spooky and monster-related. He asked me to do my own take on the Creature from the Black Lagoon, as sort of a dapper gentlemanly type.








I like how he turned out. I'm especially partial to his little spats and the tiny fish around the seaweed border. Phillip was pleased with the results, and he framed the painting to hang on his wall, so that's pretty darn fancy! I'm thinking about putting prints of Mr. Dapper Creature up for sale on Etsy if anyone is interested, so let me know if you might be. And as always, I'm open to doing any other commissions; just ask.

Minigolf Shenanigans

Jose and I played a little bit of mini golf last week. The first time we played together a few years ago, I beat the pants off of him, but ever since, I have tended to do pretty horribly. This was definitely one of my worst games ever, but it's always a fun time anyway.


I love the miniature buildings scattered throughout the course. I especially love the little cottage, which was the subject of a Holga photo I took and oddly enough has become one of the most internet-popular photos I've ever taken. I've been seeing it around on Tumblr quite a bit.





Always an adventure!

Fancy and Wearable

When Emily Martin of The Black Apple announced that she would be selling a new line of Fancy Wearables, lockets featuring her artwork, I was one of the first in line to snatch one from her shop. I've gushed about Emily here before, so you probably know I'm pretty smitten with her work. I don't usually wear jewelry, but I thought one of her pretty lockets would be a nice dip into the shiny accessories pool for me. The lockets are made to order, so it took a few weeks to reach me, and when it arrived, I was so excited to open the package.


I love how Emily designed the packaging, and she even included a velvety pouch to hold the locket. She always pays great attention to every detail.


It was difficult to choose which locket I wanted most, but "Lost on the Midway" is the one I went with. The circus tent in the background probably helped a little. Now I need to figure out what to put inside.


As you can see, my Black Apple collection has grown quite a bit! Not pictured are her "Rosie the Pirate" print, the bowl and mug set I was lucky enough to win, and her wonderful book, The Black Apple's Paper Doll Primer.

Stars and Honey

This is kind of becoming a Honey Trees fan blog it seems. Jose and I caught The Honey Trees opening for Lakes a couple of weeks ago, and as always, it was a great show! Unfortunately, we actually had to leave when Lakes started, in order to stand in line early for the midnight opening of Pirates of the Caribbean 4. I dressed a little piratical in honor of the movie.



Some of these are Jose's and some of them are mine. The lighting was particularly unkind that night; I haven't had this much of a problem in the past, but they're alright. I loved Becky's 1950s style dress.






The singer from the band that played before The Honey Trees, The Sassafras Union, came out wearing this funny "I ♥ Jacob Wick More than Becky Does" shirt during their set. I had never heard The Sassafras Union before that night, but they are an amazing indie folk band from my town, and I loved them so much I bought their EP. I never knew that there were so many talented musicians around here! I can't wait to hear lots more from both of these wonderful bands.