hello reality

Just bought this. For some reason buying the car seat is more of a reality check than having a big belly.

Hello Athens

We took one last trip before the baby comes. It was too awesome.

Here's Brooks and Jen having the most delicious cupcakes ever.
Brooks striking a pose.

Brooks and Leah chillin' at the tail gate party.
So much good food there! This is one of our fav places.My favorite store in the world honored by the name of my blog :)The campus is as beautiful as I remember it.
What's a trip to Athens without a Frosted O, (like an orange creamy in a cup) YUM!See more pics here.

Fall

Fall is here and I love it. To celebrate, I changed up my blog colors and header a bit. If you're using a reader or RSS click over to check it out and let me know what yout think. Happy Fall!

photo by me

Preggo Advice

I'm enjoying the pregnancy posts on Design Mom this week. I especially liked this one from Jenny the Bloggess:

Advice for women who are too pregnant to function anymore:

Inevitably your husband will come home to find you unable to move under the weight of this gigantic fetus you are carrying and will want to know why the house is a mess and dinner isn't made and then you'll want to stab him because this is all his fault but you don't have the energy to find a clean knife.And you'll want to explain how completely exhausting being pregnant is but men never understand so whenever Victor would say "How can you be tired? You hardly did anything today!" I'd respond, "I made someone's ear canals today. Inside my stomach. Without even using my hands. What did you do today? Paperwork? God, how exhausting. I MADE SOMEONE'S NERVOUS SYSTEM."Then my husband would walk away, suitably impressed. Or scared. Either way he left me alone. And this is how you have a successful marriage.

for babe

If you read my other blog, sorry for the duplicate posting. I'm just so excited to show you the finished top for my babe quilt (I wrote about here and here). What do you think? I pretty much love it.

Purses

I was never a purse girl growing up. In fact, in highschool I carried a boy wallet in my back pocket. Gross! I don't even think I used a purse in college. Why would I want to carry around a purse in addition to my backpack? I'm not sure when I made the transition (sometime after 2005) but now, I'm a purse lover all the way.

This green purse was one of my first big exciting purse purchases:

On a trip to Vegas earlier this year, I had to have this one:


And on our camping trip in Canada this summer, I drooled over this one:

I've always like this Coming and Going bag by That Darn Kat and I'm restraining myself from buying the pattern from her etsy shop. Isn't it just cute? I def need something more causal for my collection.

Day Job?

Friends, someday (sooner than later - I hope my boss isn't reading this) I will Quit My Day Job and become a full time Etsy seller. I'm telling you so you hold me accountable. I WILL DO IT! And I will sell purses and wallets something like these (of course with better photos):

$5 makes a big difference

500 Pencils

Saw this on Black*Eiffel. Totally wishing had enough money that spending $33/month (for 20 months) on colored pencils wasn't an eye-popping waste of disposable income. "Introducing 500 Colored Pencils: the only set in the world that matches the span and wonder of human creativity." I'm totally smitten with colors and names like:

Lettuce

Mermaid's Gown

Tea With Milk

Lobster Bisque

Not sure what I'd do with them all, but the thought of receiving a once-a-month package of perfectly sharpened colored pencils, with delightful names, in beautifully awesome hues, makes me happy.

Shabby Picks

There are at least 6 dresses from Shabby Apple that I must have! The Five to Nine, Ballerina, and of course the olive colored Jody Maxman. Now I'm really missing my pre-preggo body :(

Local Gems

My friend Liz and I recently visited two Salt Lake City gems! First, I stopped off at Frosty Darling, a boutique featuring retro-modern/vintage art, candy and gifts. I spotted great wall decor idea that inspired me to do something similar in our nursery. Aren't these great?

Next, we skipped around the corner to Gourmandise (bakery). I was absolutely smitten by the tarts with sparking fruit and the deliciously flaky looking pastries. It was lunch time so I ordered a simple cup of vegetable, beef, and barley soup with a wheat roll. It was delicious. I'm already planning my next visit where I hope to be able to try one of each item in their display case. Seriously.

Jing.

Could I possibly be more nerdy? I'm totally loving Jing. Yesterday, I used it to give feedback on a webdesign project for work. Today I used it to show a friend how to locate something on a Facebook page. Now, I'm blogging about it. Again I ask, could I be more nerdy?

For the Floor

When we get around to re-re-painting our master bathroom, I want to put one of these rugs in front of each sink. This time it will be grey/slate walls with white trim. Last time we thought grey with a light hint of lavender would be nice to try, turns out, it was all lavender and the most springy looking pastel purple I've ever seen. Lesson learned.

To Tears

I was just catching up on Nie Nie's blog and recovery and cried my eyes out reading this post, laughed reading this post, and thanked God for my health reading this post.

photo via

Fine.

I wasn't going to do this, but here you go. I surrender.

20 weeks

I Tri.

Actually, Brooks does. On Saturday he did his first sprint triathlon! I have a great time spectating and taking photos. Here are some highlights:

That's him in the yellow shorts. Just finishing the running portion. If you're experienced with triathlons you'll notice they did this one backwards.

Look how photogenic he looks as he speeds by on his sweet road bike.

My super duper camera skills captured his splash as he jumped into the pool for the swimming leg!

And the classing post-race pose with the bike.

summer vacay

We went on a camping trip for 6 days. It was fantastic, to say the least. Here's why:


See more pics here. Guess who isn't looking forward to normal life starting tomorrow (Monday)...

Dream House

Someday we're going to have a house like this in Athens. Now, if only I had $200,000 in liquid assets....oh and a million dollars.

Price: $749,000
Location: Athens, Georgia
Bedrooms: 8
Approximate square footage: 6650

Built in 1820, this splendid Antebellum home is set on 30 natural acres filled with abundant trees, vegetation, natural springs, woodland walkways, and wildlife. The angled ceiling and walls and the original pine planking attest to its historic character. The spacious floor plan features exceptionally large rooms. Grand views of the grounds are offered from the large front verandah.

Financial Qualifications: buyers who can demonstrate at least $200,000 in liquid assets.

4th shots

Hope you had a happy 4th...one of the best holidays of the year, in my opinion. I haven't used my camera forever but was finally able to pull it out and have some fun. Here are some of my fav shots of the weekend.

Gimmie

I can't wait for fall when all the great fresh garden vegetables are ready. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving summer. I just want a tomato sandwich right now! I really hope my neighbor's garden over produces and that they have to give us tomatoes and zucchini.

Last night, all I wanted to eat was carrots and ranch. Brooks kindly picked some up at the store but unfortunately they tasted like chemicals. Not sure if it was the carrots or the ranch. Pretty sure it was just me. Grrrr.

(photo by me - farmers market in L.A.)

Creative Grossness

I'm entering a contest organized by a fabric designer. You just make something out of her fabric and email it to her. There's also a Flickr photo pool of the entries so far. You can see what I'm entering here. But more importantly, lets talk about the person who made reusable menstrual pads and entered them in the contest. HAH! I almost died laughing. That's just disgusting! And kind of insulting to the fabric designer don't you think?

Here I Am

Hi there. What's that you say? It's been a month since I blogged? Well let me tell you what I've been up to...

Sewing - I've been making custom order bags/purses. So far I've made 12. More to be done and shared later. Also, converting our old sewing blog to this new one.

Watching - So You Think You Can Dance, The Bachelorette, final eps of Pushing Daisies (sad to see it go), and more....

Working - I made a pact with myself to not talk about work on my blog. This is me not talking about work on my blog. I've been doing a lot of it. That's all I'm going to say.

Growing - Aside from the tomato plant on our deck (which seems to have been contaminated with a bug or something), I'm also growing a child. Expected harvest date is January 1, 2010. This might be the main reason for my month-long break :)

sooo... like the super awesome retro highchair I bought?