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.

On Routine

Did you know that the longer you put off blogging the harder it is to blog? Like many, many other things in this world, routine is key. Like changing your sleep, exercise, or eating habits. You have to take the time to get into a routine to see the results you're after.

So why have I been putting off blogging? Well, lots of reasons. I feel boring, certain things don't go as I expect them to, sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself, it's a lot of work to put together each post, what I'm posting isn't perfect yet, there are so many stinking things on my to do list I don't often know where to start, and so I don't start anything at all. But lack of routine is probably the biggest theme to explain the whole issue.

So let me start from the beginning. See, I have this thing about not showing weakness. That when someone tells me something is "Haaaaaaaard," it always seems like they're whining, or just plain weak. Life is hard. Why talk about it?

Well, why not talk about it? I'm going to talk about it. I've had a much harder time getting used to working from home than I expected. There. I said it. It has been hard for me.

Before quitting my day job, even though I loathed it, I had a routine. Wake up, shower, drive 40+ minutes to work. Eat oatmeal and drink tea while checking email and blogs. Get to work. Lunch. More work. Drive 40+ minutes home. Workout. Dinner. Class. Tv. Bed. Repeat. I didn't particularly enjoy that routine, but it got me through my days, and I felt productive because of it. I never fully realized how much of a role productivity plays in my sanity/happiness/mental state/satisfaction until I started working from home.

With working from home also comes the difficulty of separating ones personal and professional lives. For me, that's even harder when a lot of my personal projects overlap with my professional skills: sewing a gift for someone, designing a friend's wedding invitations, DIYing home decor. Also, there's making the decision to set aside time to do the household tasks so there's also time to do the business tasks. And learning how to get out of my own head, because there's no one else for me to talk to (except my pets) for 8+ hours each weekday.

So why, after six months, have I not been able to come up with a routine to feel that satisfaction from being productive? I don't know. That's just me. Freedom is easy. It took me a while to figure out what my issue was to begin with. I've had the luxury of being able to take my time to figure things out. And I'm not apologizing for it. I'm just finally getting comfortable with it myself.

 So lets cut to the chase. I know I'm not the only one in this boat right now, especially if you subtract the whole blogging/running a business theme. I've been collecting inspiring posts from other bloggers this January in the time that I've not been spending blogging myself. There's something great about the beginning of a new year that brings feelings of the need opportunity to change, improve, grow. So I'd love to share these posts with you, and hopefully (if you're able to take the time to read some or all of them!) you'll get the idea.

Motivation.

Beautiful words from The Reluctant Sojourner.

Don't Read This Blog.

Goals vs To Dos.

I'm an ISFJ.

Give and Take.

On Goal Setting.

Making it worth it.

Less Projects, More Process.

Overcoming Insecurity.

Live an inspired life.

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." --Arthur Ashe

What is your routine like? What makes you feel productive or satisfied, or are the one in the same?

I wish you could see how this post came together. I started it in early January and keep coming back to add and subtract... thinking "I'll go back and organize that into logical thought later." I promise that my idea of a good routine includes more frequent blog updates!

Image source

Show Me Art, Show Me Hope

Something I didn't mention in my last post that also happened on my birthday was the disastrous tornado in Joplin, Missouri. Joplin is clear across the state from me, but I do know people that live there and whose homes were destroyed in the storm. Aside from that, I'll be the first person to admit being terrified of tornadoes (good thing I live in the midwest, eh?) and I can't help but empathize with with the people who have lost their families, homes and lives due to this catastrophe.

Recently my friend Laura shared a link on Facebook yesterday that I'm hoping goes viral. She works for a design firm in town called Moosylvania, and they recently started a project called Show Me Art, Show Me Hope that benefits the United Way Small Business Fund for Joplin. Not only is it awesome art (and it comes signed by the designer!) but all the proceeds go to helping rebuild the city of Joplin. Do me a favor and head over to their shop right now.

All images via Moosylvania. Designed by Laura Hoeman, Jacob Etter, Skylar Salisbury, Hilary Clements and Rachel Hamblin

For A Friend

Remember how we went out on Saturday to celebrate Crista's 30th? Well the majority of the night was exactly that. A celebration. An amazing night out with great friends. A chance to dance and enjoy live music, laugh, sing along, and have a few drinks. But what seemed like instantly, the evening did a complete 180.

To make a long story short, our friend got a very unexpected phone call telling her that her father had been shot in the face that night and was in the hospital. Being about a six hour drive away from him, she left immediately with her fiance and headed to her hometown, when it was already after 11pm. He's made it through an amazing number of reconstructive surgeries over the past few days and continues to recover with his family by his side.

Her family's lives changed forever in an instant, and my friends and I have been sitting in St. Louis, feeling somewhat helpless, trying to figure out how we can reach out, give them hope, and let them know that we love them and are here for support. Crista has asked for prayers to help them through the unfortunate results of a completely senseless crime. So, blog friends, I turn to you to ask you to keep them in your thoughts as her Dad is recovering, and to send them the hope and strength they need to get the justice they deserve. You can view a local news video here to read more about what a selfless, passionate family man he is. (Though the video mentions Crista's wedding being in the Spring, it's actually this Fall and we're all hoping for a speedy recovery so that her Dad can make that walk down the aisle with her on her wedding day.)

Crista, I love you and send my hopeful and positive thoughts to you and your family.

Image via LOV-E

Lend A Hand

Do me a favor? Go check out This Neck of the Woods on Etsy and buy something, would ya?

And not just because Claire makes adorable paper goods, but for a very urgent cause that Claire explains on her blog:

Over the past two weeks, we’ve been glued to the news watching for updates on the floods in Queensland. The devastation is unbelievable and a little bit hard to comprehend from the other side of the world. Unfortunately today it all hit home when we found out that 2 of our close friends in Brisbane (who have 2 beautiful boys, and are 3 weeks away from having baby number 3), have had water 3 feet onto their roof, and have lost everything.

We are feeling completely helpless being so far away right now, and want to be able to help them in any way we can.

For that reason, I will re-open my shop for the next 3 weeks, with 100% of all sales going to the Dodson Family. 

Can you even imagine? Claire, I hope we can help.

Today is September Second.

And I have officially not blogged in well over a month. Where oh where did you go, month of August (and then some?)

I'll tell you. August is typically a busy month for me as it is, with students back on campus and classes starting. Every year I have to retrain students on the art request process in my department, and every year, I get a huge rush all at once because student organizations have so many events going on early in the year. On top of that, I had a new student designer start the first week of classes, so obviously he's needed help figuring out his new job. Oh, and add that I decided it would be a good idea to roll out an online request database the first week of school (actually that's not all my fault... I asked for it before school started, but IT clearly has their hands full as well) and there have been PLENTY of kinks to work out with that one. Of course there's a ton of other things going on at work, but those have been my major time-suckers lately.

But hey, Lauren, that's not enough on your plate! Why don't you decide to move during the month of August as well? That's a great idea, knowing that August is your busiest month EVER. I am quite proud, though, that I only have a few boxes left to unpack and we managed to make a nice chunk of cash at a yard sale a few weeks ago by getting rid of a lot of duplicates (and a lot of boxes that were marked "Goodwill" when I helped Sean move from his last place almost two years ago...)

Then, there's that majorly-exciting-can't-wait-to-get-there-event called the Strange Folk Festival. Which is an entire weekend. And a really great show to be a part of. So maybe I should step it up and MAKE some stuff, huh? Yeah... I'm on it.

Oh wait... one more. We've got a wedding to plan! We figured out who our photographer is going to be, (thanks, Brit!) and I couldn't be more thrilled about that. But a good majority of planning has been on the back burner, and I'm itching to get more going ASAP!

So basically I've just not been the most fun to be around recently. And since I've always said that this blog will be the one place that I can always stay positive,  I just haven't wanted to write about much with my Negative Nancy attitude looming over everything. There's plenty of fun things I need to share with you about the last 5 weeks or so, and I promise I'll get you up to date in the coming weeks. (Especially with all of the things that I've already promised to blog about; I will not break those promises!) For right now, though, there's two things on my mind that I need you to know about:

1. If you're local to St. Louis, you should hop on over to Cherokee and Compton to the newest addition to the Cherokee neighborhood: Peridot! You'll probably be able to find a few (many) Clever Betty items in stock if you're lucky! Check out their facebook page for the most up-to-date info.

2. I'm going dress shopping this weekend with my mom and college roommate. We've got a trunk show booked, a J. Crew appointment, a trip to IKEA and a night out at The Second City planned so far. I've been having dreams of wedding gowns for the last week. I freaked out at one point worrying that the sample sizes would be too small. (they won't be) I'm probably on a list at the bridal salon of "brace yourself before you pick up the phone for this one" customers. I could not be more thrilled!

So, I'm glad to be back. I've missed you. I'll catch you soon. For right now- have a great holiday weekend and get ready for some CB updates like you've never seen!

images via weheartit and all along press

Crazy week in review

I know it's only Wednesday, but it's been a while since I've blogged. Subtitle: Proof That I'm Still Alive.

Since I've been absent, there's been a lot going on in the life of CB. I think this calls for a list!

1. I said farewell to one of my most favorite coworkers ever in the history of coworkers. (also known as the past 8 tax payin' years for me) I was in denial about it for a while, though I knew the date was coming. Sean asked on many occasions if I was sad, and I always answered with, "lets not talk about it." Megan was an Americorps Vista in my department, and not only was her contract up, but she was accepted to grad school in California and will be leaving next month for two years. I'm so excited for her, as I've never met someone with the determination that she has (especially for making service such a high priority in her life and passing that along to others) and I know she'll be immensely successful.

But I'm going to miss our monthly lunch hour trips to a nearby thrift store for half-off day. And chatting about our significant others, family and friends. And emailing each other amazing blogs to read when we could easily walk ten steps to each others' offices to talk in person. Basically, Megan and I had a great time not working together at work. We shared a love for fashion, humor, thrifting and Etsy shopping like no friendship has ever seen. On that note, here's what Megan got as a going away present:

A department joke, but there's the humor thing I was talking about. You bet that's a skull and cross bones printed Snuggie (Ashlee's best purchase ever, second lady from the right) with "Student Life 4 Evah" ironed on letters on the front pocket (by yours truly.) Megan decided to be creepy while we were taking photos and was stroking my head. And those are most of my other female coworkers, minus a few. There aren't many men in our department...

Whew, this is going to be a long list if I keep babbling on like that. But I owe you for all of the non-posting over the last two weeks!

2. I found out I was accepted to another craft show! This one is called Strange Folk Festival. It's in O'Fallon, Illinois the weekend of September 25 & 26. I'm really excited as it's a big show (150+ vendors) and it's two days! Plus, since I prepped so well for the last show, I'm pretty much ready to go. Of course, you know I'll make sure to spend some time adding to my line of products... so be sure to come visit me at Strange Folk if you're close to St. Louis!

3. I celebrated the marriage of a friend and a friend's citizenship in one of my most favorite towns of all time, Columbia, MO. This past Saturday was busy. I went with friends Ashlee and Kaity as a post-marriage bachelorette party for Kaity and I showed them around to some of my favorite spots. This included Les Bourgeois Vineyard, Trops, and various boutiques and vintage shops downtown. I know that makes me sound like a lush, but I was in college when I lived in Columbia, so we'll just leave it at that. We neglected to take any photos, unfortunately...

After that, I met up with Sean and some of his high school friends at Shakespeare's to celebrate Gaby's (the wife of one of Sean's high school friends) citizenship. Last week Gaby finished the last step of many to become a U.S. citizen, and we celebrated with pizza, beer and a little bit of Sparky's for a few of us before heading back to St. Louis. Everyone made sure to bring plenty of cheesy clearance 4th of July paraphernalia to help Gaby celebrate. If you ever plan on going to Columbia, I highly recommend all of the above venues... and then some. That was a lot to fit into one day but it was soooo satisfying to be back!

4. I started moving. Boy do I dislike moving. It's been two and a half years since I had to move last. I know in the end I'll be satisfied, as I'm moving in with Sean at his current rental house, but the process is so daunting. We have a lot of stuff. A lot of duplicate stuff. Personally, I've never owned so much stuff. My dad helped me move to St. Louis in a minivan. Before that I could always carry all my belongings in my tiny two door car. It's a process. In addition, I have two kitties (whom Sean loves, thank goodness) that have never lived anywhere but my apartment. Plenty of cat-proofing to be done. In the process of moving, the fan in my car decided to stop working. Great timing, when I'm a sweaty mess from lifting boxes and it's the middle of July in St. Louis. Fixed that as quick as possible. Can you see why blogging has not been at the top of my to do list lately?

5. I continued to procrastinate with Sean as far as taking pictures of the book he proposed to me with. I apologize. See #4. We'll get there, I promise.

6. I bought a bike. The plan is to do the MS 150 ( 40 miles a day version) in September, but we'll see how that works out. Either way, I'm excited to check out the nearby trail on my new Schwinn. I wasn't so excited to pick out a dorky helmet. Why do they have to make them look so ridiculous? Really, not everyone who rides a bike is interested in looking like a Transformer. I finally found a decent one at a decent price, but it was quite the struggle. Especially when my bike's so darn cute! I have a thing for white... white ipod case, 2 white cameras, white bike... what else could I possibly buy in white!?!

7. Well, how convenient... I planned a trip with my mom and best friend from college to try on (white) Watters wedding dresses at a trunk show over Labor Day weekend. I'm not sure if I'll find what I'm looking for the first time around, but I know it's going to be a fun trip! All I know is I'm in love with a good majority of the Watters line, so it feels like a good place to start.

FYI, I don't plan on sharing too much about our wedding here prior to the big day, as I know many of our guests read my blog, but I'll be sure to drop hints every now and then. There's just no way I'll be able to keep everything a secret!

8. I decided to participate in the Christmas in July sale on Etsy. Visit the Clever Betty shop between now and the 25th for 20% off all wristlet clutches! You can also search Etsy to find other sellers who are participating in the sale by typing "christmasinjuly" or "cij" into the search box.

So, there you have it folks. Thanks for reading my novel. I'm hoping to be back in regular blogging action after such an eventful couple of weeks- as well as visiting yours!

some days...

Some days...people like this inspire me.

Some days...people like that make me envious, make me wonder why can't I be so inventive and interesting. I wonder why I'm so lazy and my to do list keeps growing with nothing getting checked off.

Some days...I wish St. Louis had a better public transportation system so that I didn't have to own a car, and wouldn't get rear-ended by a lady on her cell phone with a dog in her lap. I'm already an anxious driver as it is. Ride with me after a car accident.

Some days...I am put into a situation where I realize that I've become more like the person I want to be. This time I got rear-ended, I didn't freak out and cuss up a storm. Or cry. Or be rude to the rear-ender. Last time, I did all of the above.

Some days...I get really excited about going to an event that could be really informative for my business. And then it ends up being a sales pitch for a $700, one-day class that has all the information I wanted to get out of the ($10) event, and I feel like I got tricked and wasted my time.

Some days...I go home and try on clothes I already own to see if I can make some new outfits, since I can't go to the mall and buy new stuff. And it's pretty fun, and distracting from such an eventful day.

Some days...Some days bring unexpected events, feelings, setbacks. And then some days end and I'm always grateful to start a new one all over again.

Top image via dress a day, bottom two via weheartit

Currently Obsessed

With Corinne Bailey Rae's newest album, The Sea. Especially this song.

I remember hearing about her husband's untimely death and thinking how devastating it must be to lose someone so suddenly. Word on the street is she didn't do a thing for a straight year after he died. She eventually got back in the studio to put together an album that showcases her unique vocals and wonderful writing skills, and subtly references to the heartache she's experienced. "Are You Here" was specifically written for her husband.