High Five... For the Last Five Fridays

I haven't done a high five post in five whole weeks... so really, this is just going to be one big photo dump. Here we go:

1. Got our rings dipped! We get them rhodium plated about every 8 months. And by we I mean I... hence the reason I'm also wearing Sean's ring in this pic. 2. It's screen porch weather.

3. The garden is in place... and as of today there's a lot of green growing there that wasn't when this picture was taken! 4. We celebrated my mom's birthday in downtown St. Louis at Cielo. 5. Emily got married!

6. My buds keep me company during the work day and make me laugh. 7. It's screen porch NAP weather. 8. Couldn't leave out the pics of Emily dancing with her Dad.

9. I thought blondes weren't supposed to get gray hair this young? Though I don't know if I'm considered blonde anymore. Either way, Sean made me laugh about it. 10. New drapes for our living room! We have a family room and a living room and since the tv isn't in the living room... well, it's just kind of sat there since we moved in. Feeling more like home now. 11. Sean surprised me with flowers when he knew I was having a bad day.

12. Visited this new-ish fabric and quilting shop and fell in love. 13. Really this isn't a high as in "good times," but the water was high from all the rain, and it's actually kinda pretty so I included it. This area is normally a field of grass. 14. This face! Fun to see how content little Nora is with bath time.

15. These faces! It's been nice to meet up a few times with Anna and John while she's been on maternity leave. 16. Finishing up a gallery wall in the dining room. But I've already got plans to change that yellow frame. 17. Tomatoes! Which are now in the ground in the garden you see above. Updated photos to come soon.

18. I found a new favorite tea this Spring. Harney & Sons Dragon Pearl Jasmine, which was actually a favor from Emily's wedding shower back in January. Glad I saved it til Spring! It's very floral and tasty. 19. New scarves in the shop! 20. Feeling good about putting some tricks I taught myself to good use on the ol' serger!

Confession... I am well aware of the fact that I am guilty of over-using the exclamation point. Most times when I write an email or blog I make a point to go back and edit them down to an acceptable level... but this time, I'm leaving 'em. Because really, five weeks of high fives deserves 'em!

Happy Friday, Friends!

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth

Be Kind... and a Freebie

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. I've found this statement in the back of my mind quite often lately. Do you ever stop to examine how you treat the people you love and those whose paths you cross? To their face or otherwise. Because it's true, our battles may not be the same, but everyone certainly has at least one.

I definitely haven't always lived by this mentality, but as I round out the last month at age 26, I have to say I'm pretty proud that I do now. Perhaps being married to the most patient man in the world has something to do with that... plus I'm sure adding more candles to the cake year after year does too. And now I have a Jewel song stuck in my head. (FF to 1:45 for the line I'm referencing there...)

It's been a while since I've done anything typographic so I sat down this morning and created this print to share with you. It was cathARTic if you will. The watercolor wash is from Bittbox.   You can download the 8 x 10 image here.

All Dogs Go To Heaven

Yesterday we bid farewell to my childhood doggie, Lily. She lived a very long, happy life, and we will miss her dearly. My brother and I bought her for $40 in 1998 (which I'm not sure I ever paid my half of to my brother...) and we brought her home in an Apple Power Macintosh box. I was 12 years old at the time.

Almost a year ago Lily came to live with Sean and I in St. Louis. Sean never questioned taking her in and loved her as if he'd had her most of his life too. We're a bit heartbroken at the suddenness of having to let her go, even though we knew with her age it would probably be coming at any time.

Yesterday we spent the remainder of our day looking through photos and reminiscing about our pup. This post is going to be one huge photo (and video) dump of Lily throughout the years... so you've been warned. Please allow extra time for images to load.

 Lily at 3 months and me at 12 on the left, and nearly 15/27 years on the right.

We used to play fetch across the winter pool cover when she was a pup. I was jealous that she was light enough to walk across it.

She loved to play tug with a towel. That and hide new rawhides in couch cushions or the corner of a room. She would "bury" them by nosing the carpet around where she dropped the rawhide. And if you caught her in the process she'd look at you, appalled that you'd be watching her hiding spot, pick it up and move to a new corner.

She loved her buddy Chance, my mom's West Highland Terrier. He passed away about 4 years ago.

She was the subject of many scrapbook pages in the high school and college books my Mom made for me. My little Mizzou fan wore a Tigers collar for a long time, and got the '07 charm from my graduation tassel for this page. She had a habit of blinking one eye at a time, and my Dad always said she was winking at us.

 She proudly wore the pink peacoat (lined in gold satin :) I got her for Christmas one year.

She always waited patiently while we opened Christmas gifts, and allowed me to put all my unwrapped bows around her collar.

She turned 12 when she stayed with Sean and I a few years ago while my parents were on vacation, and we honored my friend Laura's beagle Carmel, who passed away earlier that  year, by making her a birthday hat like Laura always did for Carmel.

A few days later she was the excuse that Sean used to get me to the park he proposed at...

 And she was our only witness that day :)

And the following weekend we returned her to my parent's house. We had some fun tempting her with a treat in the pool like I used to do as a kid:

She came to live with Sean and I at the end of April 2012.

She ignored the cats for the most part, sharing their love of napping, and sometimes in the sun. Every now and then decided to play with their toys. She got one of them stuck in her lip sometimes and it made us laugh.

We always found her sleeping in odd positions, half off her bed, behind a chair, with her tongue sticking out.

Her little hips started to give out on her later in life, so we'd often find her sprawled out on the floor. It didn't seem to bother her though as long as food was involved!

She was a very messy eater.

And cute as can be.

Yesterday morning I was able to calm her and hold her in my lap while she took a nap. She hasn't wanted to be held like that in years.

Sean and I took turns hugging on her and giving her treats. She was content. We're happy she didn't suffer. She was a huge part of our lives and we can't quite believe she's gone, but we know we did the best we could for her and we imagine her in doggie heaven, enjoying the grass and sun:

We love you pooch. Thanks for being a loyal companion for so many wonderful years.

Quick Valentine's Day Gift Wrap Tutorial

I wanted to dress up the gift I got Sean for Valentine's day this year, but I already spent the max for the budget we set on the gift itself. I don't have any Valentine's Day appropriate gift wrap laying around... so I decided to make my own out of supplies I have lying around my studio. Here's a quick tutorial in case you're in the same boat as me these last few days before Valentine's Day, and of course, you could adapt the colors and stamp shapes to make your gift wrap appropriate for any holiday.

Supplies:
Craft paint
2" Styrofoam ball (or something you can cut a heart shape out of... a pencil eraser would be good too if you want tiny hearts)
Fabric
Sharpie
Scissors
Paint brush (optional)

Directions:
First, cut the Styrofoam ball in half. I opened the scissors up and sawed at it like you would with a knife. Then, draw a heart shape onto one flat side using your Sharpie marker like you see in the photo below.

 Next, get out your craft paint. Dip your styrofoam "stamp" into the paint and press it onto your fabric. I used a random pattern, with pink and white hearts. Note: make sure your fabric is on top of something you're willing to throw away, as the paint may bleed through the fabric as you stamp.)

If you're not happy with how some of the hearts came out, you can fill in some places with your paint brush. I did this on a few just to make sure they definitely looked like hearts, but I like the sponge-y texture the styrofoam gave most of them so I just left them as is.

Then, let your paint dry. Once it's good to go, you can wrap your gift! The fabric I chose to use was a pre-finished linen napkin, 18" x 18", to wrap a 4" x 5" x 1.5" box. If you're extra ambitious and have a scrap piece of fabric, you could always finish the edges with a 1/4" hem yourself, but I think a raw edge would work just as well for this project.

To wrap, set your gift on top of the fabric with the wrong side of the fabric facing up. Orient the gift so that the flat sides of the box are parallel to the four corners of your fabric.

 Take one corner of the fabric on a long side of your box up and over the box, and tuck the corner under the box.

Then do the same with the opposite corner, except this time, fold the excess fabric corner under itself and lie neatly on top of your box.

You should have two corners of fabric left pointing out from the short sides of your box, like a little fabric burrito.

Twist these up and toward the middle of your box and tie a secure knot, and you're done. You can even reuse this fabric wrap for V-Day next year.

I decided after I got to this point that my gift wrap wasn't quite the level of in-your-face gawdy Valentine's hearts I was going for, but I'd already thrown away my Styrofoam stamp! So I went back and added red (This is what happens when all of your craft paint is running low... what you thought would be one color turns into three.) polka dots with a pencil eraser. Only the best for my Sean :)

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Birthday To Me

Last Sunday was my 25th birthday. We celebrated by heading to Maifest in Hermann, MO, which I've talked about before in reference to Oktoberfest, but have somehow never actually posted a recap about it. I'm sure you can imagine why... Anyway, it's been a tradition to go to Oktoberfest and Maifest since I've been of legal age to do so. That really hasn't been that long in the grand scheme of things, but I can definitely say that Hermann is one of my favorite places to visit.

 Near Hermanhoff winery on our way to Tin Mill Brewery

Grape vines at Stone Hill

This is what Sean would look like if he actually drank that giant glass of wine and wore liederhosen

First of all, I must say that I can't believe the amount of time we were there. Hermann is a little over an hour away from where we live in St. Louis. We left at 10:30 am. We got back right around 11:30 PM. 11:30 PM! Second, I have to thank all of the people who were there, and especially those who stuck it out for the entire day to celebrate. It was such a fun time, and though I tend to not like being the center of attention, everyone made me feel quite loved on my 25th.

Most of the gang that came... somebody was looking ready to go home (that's our best man, Brett)

Me, Emily and Crista (maid of honor and bridesmaid) at Tin Mill Brewery

We went to a few wineries, ate a ton of cheese, crackers and cookies, hit up one brewery, had our fill of bratwurst and German potato salad, as if that wasn't enough, headed to the bier deck in Washington, MO on our way back for a little more celebrating and a ton of appetizers. (Sean's cousin's own John G's!)

Crista and I both decided to wear yellow dresses for the day. I have no idea what's going on in this photo but I thought it was funny.

I finally got a photo of Mary's baby bump! Me with my (soon to be) sister in law and cousin in law Monica.

What a perfect way to celebrate a quarter of a century :)