Vintage Photos

Every once in a while I have what I call a "blah" day. It's a day where I really don't want to do a thing. Today was one of those days. Thankfully, these days don't happen often and tomorrow I'll be back to my old self. But until then, enjoy these vintage photos I found on Etsy.

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Sisterly Love

I have two amazing sisters who taught me a lot growing up. They are both a little crazy and they love to dance. While we are very different, I really don't know who I would be without them. So today I am sharing some funny photos of my sisters and I.

Like I said, they love to dance. And I love that moo moo I am wearing.

We are so studious.

Our grandmother made a lot of our clothes and because Angela and Trudy are only a year apart they always had matching outfits. Can't you tell that they loved it?? I, on the other hand, had a different color of the same outfit and I got a kick out of it.









I'm going to guess this was Thanksgiving and like always, I ate myself into a coma.








We also just so happen to all be born within weeks of each other, but years apart. Last week was Trudy's birthday, today is Angela's birthday, and next week is my birthday. I like to think we all can merge together the dates and just have one long combined birthday celebration. But it never works out.

Love you sisters!!

Yellow Bliss

**Beautiful photo found here**

Today is a sunny and very warm day here. I am so grateful for the sun after what felt like weeks of nonstop rain and gray skies. However now I can't stop sneezing, but I refuse to give into the runny nose and itchy eyes as I sit outside now writing this. And to be honest I don't feel much better inside with the air conditioner blasting, so it's a no win situation.

Onto my Yellow Bliss.....

Ever since my friend Alyse bought these amazing yellow wedges, I haven't stopped thinking about the color yellow. I've never been a huge fan and I don't think I could pull off a lot of yellow, but I love the idea of using it as an accent. I put together just a few things that I have stumbled upon lately to share with you.

***Book**Curtain**Shorts**Nail Polish**Swimsuit**Heels***

**Butter Dish**

**Cute Card**

**Girl's Swimsuit**

**Beautiful Bedroom**

**Black and Yellow Office**

**Yellow Collection**

I might start doing a color inspiration post more often. It's fun to see what I can find. Hope you enjoyed the color!

Gardening!

As I've been exploring some hobbies to take up while I have all this free time on my hands, Gardening definitely came up. I've never had much of a green thumb so this one might be a bit of a challenge. Also, finding a spot that is perfect for gardening is also a bit complicated since or backyard is over taken by our dog and the front yard doesn't get as much sunlight that some of the plant need. BUT I think I found a solution:

Upside-down gardening!!!

I might be a little late on the scene, but I have never heard of growing your veggies upside down. Have you?? Well, I stumbled upon this article in the New York Times yesterday and was instantly intrigued. It seems a little difficult at first, but manageable. Like I've said before, I have plenty of time for trial and error. The article also directs the reader to other websites that are more detailed and show you how to build the planters. Of course some plants work better than others upside down and I wonder if herbs would be successful. I'm really anxious to start growing my herbs so I don't have to buy a bundle of cilantro or basil, which I usually end up wasting. Instead I can pick and go as I please.

Also, I have plans on starting an Etsy shop to sell some of my vintage finds. I've started taking some pictures but I am trying to gather some more things and price fairly. I often find great little clutches and scarves. Here are a few of the pictures I've taken, but I might need to re-shoot due to lighting and small details that bother me (like the fold lines in the scarves).







And of course I want to start sewing. I actually found a used but nice Singer Sewing machine on Craigslist for only $25! It was a steal. It was missing the bobbin but those are a dime a dozen.

So there you have it. Those are three projects I want to take on for the summer. I'll keep you posted and would love some tips if you have any.

Thursday Inspiration

It's a beautiful day here and I can't wait to spend most of my time outside in the sunshine. But before I do that I had to share this blog/project that I stumbled upon this morning. The blog is called New Dress A Day and is all about a woman's project to spend only $1 a day on a thrifted dress and transform it into a beautiful piece to add to her wardrobe. I feel so inspired to take up sewing and start doing this myself. I guess I need to invest in a sewing machine. Just take a look at some of these transformations:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:



I want all of those pieces for myself please and thank you.

And the sun finally shines...

The last few days have been so dreary and wet here in good ol' Columbus and I am overjoyed that the sun decided to make an appearance. I also managed to get out of my slump and join my friend Cait for a little dinner and now we are at a cafe. I'm catching up on here while she catches up on some homework. And to top it off? The sun is shining right on me.

Just real quick, how amazing does my little dinner look??



I know you're jealous of my BBQ tofu burrito.

Anyways....
So for the sake of stories I wanted to share my experience with you from my oh-so-long Monday. But first I must state this:

As a young, single, pregnant woman I am most often an object of pity and seen as a sad statistic. I resent anyone who feels the need to pity me. I am happy with my life and wouldn't change a thing. I am truly blessed to have an amazing, strong, and loving mother, an extremely supportive family, and some wonderful, diverse friends. With all that said, please to take this story too seriously. I like to write about my experiences as a way to share my life and provoke thoughts and questions about unplanned pregnancy.

I started writing a little story about it but it was getting really long so I'm just going to share a quick recap. Basically because I am so young, single, and pregnant I am in a situation where I can and need to apply for government aid. The fact that I am currently unemployed is another big reason why I needed to apply. I think it's great that we live in a society that offers such support, but it is unfortunate that many times it is taken advantage of. Anyways, my experience with applying was exactly how I thought it would be.

We spent hours waiting patiently moving from one office to another and dealing with people who clearly hated their jobs. However, the whole experience was not like that. I also applied to WIC (Women, Infants, and Children). It is a program that makes sure you and your child are as healthy as possible. They ask about your diet and provide food vouchers for your local grocery store and farmers market. The women who worked there were amazing and so helpful and polite. I am so glad a program like that exist. It is so important for young woman to be healthy and this program makes it possible.

I am going to keep that recap short. I just wanted to share my experience and let others know that this is my reality and I am proud to live the life I live.

Onto something a little more fun...

My friend Katie shared this with me and I absolutely love the whole idea. They are a twist on the typical CONGRATULATIONS and HAPPY BIRTHDAY banners. The company behind this clever idea is Banter Banner and you can purchase any of their cute banners. I, however, might attempt to make my own.





Caitlin just gave me the idea to make one that says "Lovely Livin." Pretty clever...

Rainy, Busy Monday

Today was such a long day for me and my mom and to top it off it was cold and raining. Now I am laying on the couch with my legs propped up to ease my aching back. I want to share my enlightening experience with you but my brain is a little too drained and my eyes might not stay open much longer. So instead I am going to do a quick post to share two projects by two awesome people.

One is the beautiful music written and performed by Wheatie Mattiasich. Wheatie is one of those sweet girls you meet and instantly admire. Everything about her is unique and mysterious and you want to be her friend and sit in a big open field with her while she plays you music. You can listen to a small sample of her work on her MySpace page and if you love what you hear (and you will) you can buy her CD by sending her a little e-mail. My favorite tunes come from her CD Sothful Croonings. Wheatie recently e-mailed me to congratulate my pregnancy and I am so glad she did because I had almost forgotten all about her music. But now I have fallen back in love with it and I have been listening to it on repeat. Go listen and fall in love for yourself. Sugarcane will melt you.

The other thing I want to share is a project my best friend Katie has just started. She was very inspired by the book I recently posted about, Obsessive Consumption. As an effort to control her own spending she has started drawing her daily buys on her blog called today i bought. I love her little line drawings and I can't wait to see her Starbucks addiction unfold. Katie has always supported me and while I hope her spending gets more controlled, I hope she keeps buying and drawing too.


Okay, that's all from me for now. Time to indulge in TV and cookies.

Yesterday Was Beautiful

It was really the perfect spring day. Sunny and in the 60-70s with a light breeze. I'll take that everyday. Yesterday was a pretty eventful Saturday for me. I finally got an Ohio ID (not that eventful...), I went to a large neighborhood yard sale, and I helped at a Gallery "Opening" (more of a meet and greet).

I was good at the yard sale and didn't buy a single thing. I only walked around and poked through peoples belongings. One of my favorite past times. My sister and her friends bought a bunch of flowers to plant in a garden. They couldn't pass up the deal: $5 for a crate.



I also saw this beautiful antique baby crib but of course I am on a budget and they were asking a little too much.


We didn't stay as long as I would have liked and I am sure we missed a ton of great things, but we were tired and I had to rest before the Gallery Opening. I also didn't take very many pictures and no pictures of my cute outfit and little belly. I know, I know. I'm really terrible about it...

Anyways, the Gallery that I am helping out at is a little change of pace for me. It is much more like a store than a Gallery. And it is super commercial. But I figure it is something for me to do and hopefully learn from. It is called Mac Worthington and is in the Short North area of Columbus. Like I said the Opening was more of a meet and greet. Every third Saturday of the month the owner invites his top buyers and artists to a little "Meet and greet." There are beverages and snacks and it is extremely casual. It gives the artist a chance to promote themselves and the buyer the chance to purchase an original piece of work. Unfortunately last night was a very slow night. Three artists came and hardly any potential buyers showed up. But I was assured it is never like that unless the weather is awful. My job was to just chat with people and make myself available if they had any questions. The night turned into me chatting with two of the artist about art, pregnancy, and life in general. It felt great to get out and meet new people and hear new stories. The artist I talked to were Dennis Cabbs and Jefffrey Eason. They both do photography collages. Not quite my style, but interesting none the less. Both men had a lot of stories to share and advise to give. It was really a pleasure to meet both of them. Here is a little sample of their work:

Dennis Capps

Jeffrey Eason

Like I said before, the gallery is a little different, so I guess we'll see how it goes. Either way I had a great time meeting new people last night.

Today has been much less eventful and the only thing I have planned is to attend a graduation party. Happy Sunday!

Had to Share

I was looking at Apartment Therapy this morning and just had to share this amazing idea:



A Grass Bed!!!

I want to put that in the sun and take a little nap.

Happy Saturday!

Let's Talk Pregnancy

Hello 5 months!!! Can you believe how far along I am? It blows my mind everyday. And baby girl is active. She loves to dance around in there and I love being able to feel her little body pushing against my belly. We have a little connection now. Whenever I lightly tap my fingers in my belly she comes right out of hiding. It's pretty amazing. My belly is growing everyday and I definitely cannot hide it anymore. I even got my first comment from a stranger. Me and my mom were out shopping and a woman next to me said, "You are so cute!" I was wearing a loose top and leggings that day so I thought for sure you couldn't tell. I was thinking, "Really? My hair is a mess.." but I said with a smile, "Thank you." And she quickly said, "Is it a boy or a girl?" I was totally caught off guard. I just let out a laugh and said, "Baby girl." My mom thought this story was very funny. I guess I've been in denial about my growing belly. It just looks like a food baby to me.

And as my belly grows I have stopped wearing pants that buckle. I now only wear stretchy things. Dresses, skirts, leggings....I should probably invest in one of those handy dandy BeBands.

So far the pregnancy has been a breeze for me. No morning sickness at all. My feet aren't swelling. My body isn't changing too much. I have had no mood swings. I haven't had any crazy food cravings (except maybe the need for hot sauce on everything). Nothing has grossed me out (except raw chicken). My hair looks great. My skin is looking good. My nails are growing. Everything has been pretty swell for me. I feel great.

I've also been having the most intense dreams and I love it. I've always had really vivid dreams that seem like they could be real life, but lately they are even more intense. Ranging from grocery store trips with Britney Spears (Weird, right?) to cars blowing up and flipping over (I blame this on watching CSI before bed). I have been reading about dreams during pregnancy and how they reflect our anxieties of motherhood. But I just blame it on whatever I see during the day being reflected in my dreams. I mean, c'mon, grocery shopping with Britney Spears?

On to something a little more interesting....

I remember seeing this project a while back and thinking how amazing it was. And now that I am pregnant I have even more appreciation for it. Each week Cole's hubby photographed her to document her pregnancy. I love the photographs and the design and her American Apparel Wardrobe. It's awesome that they documented all of that for their little one to look back on. I wish I had the patience and discipline to do just that. But alas, I am a procrastinator. Aren't you jealous you didn't think of this first? I am...






And as if the artist couldn't get any more clever he is working on a project now called The Walk to 40 Weeks. This one is a great little photo project that also includes letters from the parents to their little bean.






Okay, that's enough from me for now. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and I have lots planned this weekend including a huge neighborhood yard sale, a gallery opening, a graduation party, and a birthday party. I'll take some pics of my belly while I'm at it. Have a fun weekend!

Style Admiration

I've loved her since her days on the O.C. and while she never quite made it on TV or in the movies she has won a place in my heart with her effortless and always classic style. I look forward to her monthly article in InStyle Magazine. And whenever I see a street photo of her I always sigh and envy whatever it is she is wearing.

Rachel Bilson, I love your style.




**all images from InStyle's Who's Wearing Who

Inspiration

I've been having trouble finding a job since moving home, which really blows, but I've decided I should embrace this time in my life where I have nothing but free time because it won't last for long. So I've decided it's time for me to pick up a camera and start shooting again. Now that I don't have to worry about deadlines and critiques and perfect prints I can do what I want and have a little fun. Plus I was super inspired by this image from Kate from For Me, For You:


It's so simple and elegant, right? And I've totally taken a picture very similar to this one, but it never gets old to me.

Here are some other images from around the web that I find to be beautiful and inspiring:

Teri Lyn Fisher

by Tracy from Habit

by Stephanie from Dores

On another note I also want to do some fun things while I am pregnant. Might as well have some great stories and pictures for my baby girl. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly I can do that is cheap, fun, and safe. Any ideas?? Please share.....