GONE BUT NOT FOR GOOD

I'm taking a little break from blogging. I have a few things other things I should give my attention to right now and want to take some time to refocus on what and how I want to share things here. Thanks to those who check in here every now and then. I'll be back in awhile!

200!!

It's been awhile and although I get conflicted about what my blog should really focus on I made it to 200 posts! Here a few favorite posts I thought I'd share with you.

Summer Botanicals


Valentine Fun


Focaccia Bread


French Press Slippers


Refinished Coffee Tables

POPSICLE PUZZLES

I came across this idea via pinterest and adapted it a little bit. I've had a box of popsicle sticks forever in my stash of kid project supplies. So when I saw this idea it was like it was meant to be that I do this too : )

Rather than using photos (when was the last time I actual had a photo printed!?) I came up with something else. I was going to use magazines at first but the pictures weren't as fun or just not right - maybe it was just the wrong magazine. Instead we used pages from a coloring book. With a little bit of trimming to fit on the popsicle sticks and some glue we made a couple puzzles of the Cars characters.

They're easy to store, just wrap a rubber band around each one ... or put a shape or color code on the back for kids to sort them out before putting them together! (Another tip - make them colorful, it seemed easier for this 3 year old to use the colors to help put them in the right order when he'd get stuck)

ROLL CALL?!

I'm very excited to be moving this weekend into a larger space, to be able to unpack all the craft boxes and be able to work on the projects I've had brewing in my head on on paper for the last several months. I'm also nearing my 200th post in the very near future and thought it would be fun to do a giveaway for anyone out there reading -- not from this post, but on the one coming up soon!

I don't really know how often or what people like to come here to read about, so please take a minute to comment on what you enjoy or would like to see as I continue on. Ideas for the giveaway are also welcome!

**** 9/8/11 -- I didn't realize my comment settings the way there were so that not everyone could comment. Thanks for letting me know. It's now fixed so it's open to anyone that would like to post a comment : )

TICK .... TOCK ....

I am feeling antsy!

Since we've been back I've had to adjust to a new work schedule. I'm spending the fall working with 3 families, along with anything extra when anyone else calls and I'm available to do it. I really like it because the times are different depending on the day/family. Most of the time it's the same every week but sometimes it'll change a day here or there. The best thing about it is that Chad's schedule can be a variety of 3 shifts and days off every week. Even though it's kind of wacky, it allows us the most time with one another -- even if we both happen to be going to bed at 7 am : )

Tomorrow is a day I have off and Chad is working overnight. This would be the perfect time to take advantage of getting a project done because I can't sleep.... but we've starting packing when we have some time to so we're ready to move on the 10th. My other thought is to continue packing, but I don't know how noisy that is to whoever lives downstairs :S So, I've been killing some time on pinterest and coming up with more projects to do once things are all set up again!

We had very thoughtful wedding guests who kept in mind we'd have to find a way to transport gifts from MT to TX and just gave us gift cards that were much easier to pack. And rather than waiting to shop after moving we hit up Target and Bed Bath and Beyond for a few things we didn't want to miss out on while they were on sale. But we haven't opened any of to use yet. Another reason I'm restless. I can't wait to bust open the new bedding set we put together -- and perhaps paint an accent wall before unpacking too much??

My birthday is coming up too.... the end of September. The boys I watched back in MT have birthdays a few days before mine. They'll be 5 and 3. They and their sister were in our wedding. After we left the 3 year old has been asking if I can come to his birthday party and it breaks my heart to not be there. He wanted to talk to me on the phone the other day, so his dad called me up and we were able to chat. I miss those kids!! I think it was harder to say goodbye to them this time that it was when we moved.

Anyways. My birthday. It's just a few weeks away. I've got my eye on a pair of tall boots. Fingers crossed.

I'm still enjoying the 100 degree heat, but I think it was a little bit cooler this morning. I was picking out something to wear the other day and found myself giving those fall sweaters a yearning look. I love dressing for fall and all the scarves I get to wear. Might not get to see those until Christmas?? Maybe I'll have to plan a trip somewhere cooler before then ; )

I suppose I should find something to do... or check in at pinterest once more before trying to hit the sack!

JUST SING ALONG TO MY STEREO

I am HOOKED on this song!! It's called Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes with Adam Levine (from Maroon 5). Definitely infectious. Here's some of the lyrics and a couple videos.

My heart's a stereo
It beats for you, so listen close
Hear my thoughts in every note, oh oh
Make me your radio
Turn me up when you feel low
This melody was meant for you
Just sing along to my stereo

LOVE IT!

HITCHED!!

We had a beautiful week in Montana and the most perfect weather for our wedding August 13th in Bozeman. I'll post more about the wedding later, but that's why I've been MIA. Just got back to town and getting back into some kind of routine before we move into a bigger apartment in a couple weeks : ) Hope to post a little bit before all that happens. Until then, a picture from our ceremony and a picture of us the day after after a super relaxing float on the Madison River.

DAY 29 - YOUR ZODIAC SIGN (DOES IT MATCH YOUR PERSONALITY?)

My sign is Libra. Most of these traits are used to describe this sign -- and here's what I have to say.

Diplomatic -- I don't like conflict
Romantic -- Yes, I'll take some romance please
Charming -- I hope I am
Easygoing -- Around the right group of people
Sociable -- Always up for a party
Idealistic -- I am
Indecisive -- I like change
Flirtatious -- Voted this in high school
Self-indulgent -- I do spoil myself

DAY 28 - 3 WISHES

1 - For a LUSH in Fort Worth

2 - A new car for me!

3 - More wishes?

DAY 27 - SOMETHING THAT STRESSES YOU OUT

This might be a weird answer, but time stresses me out - in a couple different ways, but this is one of them. I like to work on projects start to finish, so if I don't have enough time I often won't start a project and then I get anxious about wanting to work on all these fun ideas I have. I hope this will be better when I have a craft room again to spread things out and not have setup/clean up each time I work on something.

DAY 26 - PHOTO OF TOWN WHERE YOU GREW UP AND WHERE YOU LIVE NOW

DAY 25 - YOUR DREAM WEDDING

. . . is only 2 weeks away! Can't wait to share photos!

DAY 24 - FIRST 10 SONGS ON SHUFFLED IPOD

Jack Johnson - Losing Hope

Across The Universe Soundtrack - With A Little Help
From My Friends

Aerosmith - Same Old Song and Dance

KT Tunstall - Under the Weather

Modest Mouse - Float On

Muse - Uprising

Lady Antebellum - Love Don't Live Here Anymore

Eminem - Space Bound

Train - Hey Soul Sister

The Script - Break Even

DAY 23 - SOMETHING YOU'VE LEARNED

How to curl my hair without heat, using a sock! This was the results of the first attempt. Trying again tonight. Also want to try rag rolled curls. Thank you pinterest!

DAYS 17 - 22

DAY 17 - SOMETHING YOU'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO ... my wedding! and MacKenzie River Pizza : )

DAY 18 - FAVORITE PLACE TO EAT ... PF Changs - yum!

DAY 19 - SOMETHING YOU MISS ... quick trips to the grocery store

DAY 20 - NICKNAMES ... Sarah Sue (by grandpa), Sarsh (by spelling mistake), Roper (by coworkers at preschool)

DAY 21 - ALLTIME FAVORITE PHOTO OF YOURSELF, WHY?
I wish I hadn't added this to my challenge list because it's just too difficult. I went with this one because it's the one I use on my sittercity and care accounts for families to see, so I must like it. I also really liked those glasses and wish I still had them.

DAY 22 - WHAT'S IN YOUR PURSE?
I just bought a new one so it's fairly cleaned out! It includes ...
- cell phone
- keys
- wallet/checkbook
- business cards
- mackenzie river pen ... they are the best
- extra hair tie and bobby pin
- lip gloss
- roll on perfume
- nail file
- color swatch of bridesmaid dress fabric
- day planner

DAY 16 - DREAM HOME

You should really just visit my Pinterest page to see all the home ideas I come across and love! We've had a lot of fun checking out new model homes ... whatever we end up in will definitely have a lot of projects to tweak it just the way we want it.

DAY 15 - YOUR PETS

Chad and I are currently without pets, although for awhile there was a parakeet that took up a corner space in a place or two in Montana. His name was Houdini because he could escape from his cage and I did not take care of him. I'm not sure what exactly happened to him, but one weekend when Chad and his brother had gone to Great Falls I discovered him stuck in the bottom of his cage and before someone was able to come help (I seriously would have done more damage if I had tried) he was gone. I don't recommend birds.

Between my brother and I we've had numerous fish and other water creatures, box turtles from school and hamsters. I don't remember any other little pets.

Tigger was dragged in from the street when we were little and in Juneau. She had to be put down while I was away at college because she'd gotten too old. I remember one time she got trapped behind some empty space at the bottom of a bookshelf and it took awhile to find her. She occasionally brought birds home as presents. She had 4 kittens that we named Gus Gus, Sarah and Tyler and something else before they all got new homes. Tigger loved to cuddle, she'd crawl under the covers with me and sleep there. I'm definitely a cat person and would love to have another, but Chad is allergic so we'll see if that ever happens.

Tess we got in 4th grade. She was a golden retriever and loved to eat up shoes. She was just getting out of her crazy puppy stage when she ran out in front of a car.

Maggie we got as a rescue from the pound. She was the most mellow dog. And kind of quirky. She liked to eat from her food bowl laying down in front of it. One morning after 13 years she just didn't wake up.

Some day we'll have pets again after all this apartment living is over.

DAY 14 - PICTURE OF YOU LAST YEAR/HOW HAVE YOU CHANGED?

- I live in Texas
- I'm engaged
- My hair is longer ... and I actual fix it up sometimes!
- I'm more spontaneous (just a little)
- I've ordered a beer for myself to drink and have finished it.
- I wear more dresses

GAH! This is hard :S Anyone else?

DAY 13 - GOALS

-- Exercise more! Hoping with scaling back on how much I've been working to regain some time for myself to do this.

-- Be as close to worry free as possible on the day of the wedding. At that point whatever happens will happen and I will do my best to just let it go!

-- Come up with some kind of system and tackle all these projects I wanna do.

-- Be able to seriously look for our first home

-- Stay in touch with people better. It was a new years resolution that I've been failing with : (

DAY 12 - SOMETHING YOU DON'T LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT

Lately it's been color swatches for the wedding. They have been a lifesaver to be able to take out and double check for just the right yellow when I come across things or make an unplanned trip to get wedding stuff.

DAY 11 - FAVORITE TV SHOWS

I've mentioned that we watch a lot of tv. So there's pretty much something on every night that we record so we can skip through the commercials when we catch up on them over the weekend. I'm debated on sharing them by day, but decided to go with what network they're on.

USA
- White Collar
- Covert Affairs
- Burn Notice
- Suits (it just started but I really like it)
- NCIS reruns
- Law and Order SVU reruns

NBC
- Community
- Law & Order

ABC
- Castle
- Desperate Housewives
- Grey's Anatomy
- Modern Family
- Private Practice
- V

FOX
- American Idol
- Glee
- Hell's Kitchen
- House
- So You Think You Can Dance?

HBO
- Eastbound and Down
- Flight of the Conchords
- Game of Thrones
- TrueBlood

SHOWTIME
- Weeds

STARZ
- Camelot
- Spartacus

HGTV
- Design Star
- Color Splash
- The Antonio Treatment
- Curb Appeal: The Block
- Income Property
- Yard Crashers

DAY 10 - SOMETHING YOU'RE AFRAID OF

I'm scared of bugs. Even little ones. They creep me out. And in Texas they are bigger :S We basically hose down the entry to our apartment and patio with bug spray to keep them out, but lately there've been a few crickets that have made their way into the bathtub?? So annoying. I'll find a glass to trap whatever I come across and wait until Chad comes home to let him handle it.

DAY 9 - PICTURE OF YOUR BEST FRIEND

Chad is my best friend. I was thinking about our wedding today and all the exciting stuff that will be going on and how much of it he won't be involved because he's the groom. I can't tell him about my dress because he wants it to be a surprise but it drives me crazy sometimes to not be able to tell him! The bridal shower and bachelorette party are obviously not for him to attend, and that's okay and the way it is, he'll hear about some of it all later. But I started thinking about the rehearsal and dinner the night before and having to say goodnight to him and not see him until it's wedding time! Right now it feels weird to me that I'm gonna wake up and be running around getting hair and make up done and everything else -- I'm sure on the day of I'll be so busy that I won't notice too much - but right now it makes me sad that it's not something he'll be around for, how foreign it will be getting ready and not be talking to him about how happy/nervous/exciting I am. I'll just have to think about how lucky I am to get a best friend for life.

DAY 8 - PLACE YOU'VE TRAVELED TO

I've been to Aruba twice. Once in 2007 with my parents and brother and then again in 2008 with my family and Chad. Both times were a blast. There is a lot to do there and it's easy to get around on your own in a rental car. The first year we stayed at a hotel on the beach and the second year rented a house with it's own pool.


There's a nice side to the island, where the hotels and beaches are, and a rocky side where you don't go swimming, but there's amazing waves that crash along the shore. There are a few little pools that water washes into, but the day we went it was too windy.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Chad. We took a trip on a pirate ship to do some snorkeling. Between the sites they take you to see (a couple different reefs and a shipwreck) you get lots of yummy drinks : )

We spent New Year's on the beach watching fireworks.

Both trips we did some windsurfing -- wish we'd done more, but it wasn't for everybody.

DAY 7 - BULLET YOUR WHOLE DAY

- Woke up
- Watched Weeds & Design Star from last night with Chad
- Took dress for wedding to get altered
- Trip to the store
- Late Breakfast
- Talked on the phone
- Tried starting a new project
- Paid bills
- Bought something online
- Stared at wedding to-do list
- Pinterest
- Snack
- Got ready for work
- More pinterest
- Checked the mail
- Worked at preschool
- Came home
- Made chocolate chips cookies for Chad
- Cleaned the bathroom
- Watched Remember Me
- Made sure Chad was up for work
- More tv
- Bedtime

DAY 6 - PICTURE OF SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY

Finished spaces. This one is done by Dan Vickery - a winner from HGTV's Design Star. I love it.

I enjoy decorating and really planning out the look I want. Luckily, Chad's style is similar, and if he doesn't have an opinion on a certain space I'm free to do what I please. For the most part it all stays in my head and I get so excited when I come across something that just fits perfectly. I will be so thrilled when we get into our first house to be able to thoughtfully plan and PAINT each room.

Until then I will come and work on your house anytime!

DAY 5 - A SONG TO MATCH YOUR MOOD

I don't know that the words are the best match to my mood, but every time it comes on the radio I crank it up and am happy that it's summer time!

DAY 4 - A YOUTUBE VIDEO

I realized when thinking about a video to post that I've seen a good deal of videos on youtube. It was hard to choose! So here's a few other favorites if you care to visit them.

-- Numa Numa
-- Flashmob on Weeds
-- The Landlord
-- Chaccaron Maccaron
-- Drunk History

What are your favorite videos?

DAY 3 - EXPLAIN HOW YOU GOT ONE OF YOUR SCARS

I have two scars. One is from having my appendix taken out a few years ago and that was probably like most other appendix stories -- you hurt, you see the doctor, you have emergency surgery before it bursts, stay a night or two at the hospital and then get to go home and do nothing for a week. I did have another doctor later tell me that it's a very nice scar and that whoever did it did a good job -- kind of random.

My second scar is actually older, I got it when I was a kid. I don't really even remember what grade I was in .... 4th or 5th maybe?

I was at the lake with my family and some friends that came along and were leaving from somebody's place after a visit. I was driving the boat and as we left the prop on the motor got caught up in a rope anchoring the end of the dock in place. The wheel started spinning around. My dad had recently made some modifications to the boat and there was some changes done on the wheel that hadn't been smoothed down yet. As it spun around something came around and cut my right forearm.

I didn't even know anything happened. In the midst of all that was going on I moved somewhere out of the way for the dads to figure out how to get untangled. Someone else finally saw my arm and asked what happened. Between 2 - 3 inches had been cleanly sliced open - deeply, I could see how thick my skin really was.

In most situations this is where you head to the doctor to get all fixed up, but that doesn't always happen in Alaska. We'd pretty much just gotten to the lake and the effort it takes to pack back up and get back to town includes a boat ride on the river and a drive. On top of that, I hate needles, so I did not want to go get stitches. My mom is a nurse so we went back to the cabin and she used steri-strips to put me back together -- obviously cleaning it and all that.

We stayed at the lake for the rest of the time and I have a fun scar. It doesn't really bother me that it's there. It's really smooth and flat - if you ran your finger across it you wouldn't be able to tell it's there. Sometimes it's a conversation started when someone notices it. I like to make stuff up about what happened - "knife fight" - but end up telling the actual story too.

DAY 2 - MEANING BEHIND YOUR BLOG NAME

Originally I wanted to come up with a name to put on the things I sold and using the word design seemed like a good choice because it didn't put a specific label on the products I made or might want to make. It made it really easy to have different collections of things. And then Sarah Christine because that's my first and middle name.

As far as using this as my blog name I wanted to be able to use blogger as a portfolio, but for the kind of website I really wanted I eventually broke down and bought sarahchristinedesign.com and learned a little bit more than I already knew about designing my own site. It's still a learning process.

So now it's more of a place to share works in progress for SCD, things that inspire me to be creative, a place to organize my projects ... all other elements of design. So I just kept the name for my blog as well instead of changing it to something more personal. Plus I'm just lazy about coming up with anything else that fits just right.

DAY 1 - PICTURE + 15 FACTS

Eeekk, why am I not in bed? I am so out of whack with working in the afternoons and not having so many morning commitments .... plus Chad's days off have been during the week so I'm very turned around. Gonna throw wedding excitement in there too. I'm so anxious to be in Montana and get married, get back and move and be in a routine. Does that mean I'm ready for fall?! Oh man.... maybe I am? I still need to get a tan though....


1 - I grew up in Alaska and lived in Montana and now live in Texas. I really don't like snow so this is probably the place for me.

2 - I'm from Alaska and don't eat fish ... or a lot of other things that most people would like.

3 - I can't wait to be a mom (no I'm not pregnant. . I just really want my own kids). I heard a song yesterday that went "she's got car seats with no kids" ... yeah, that's pretty much me

4 - I think I have 2 speeds .... sloth mode and energizer bunny. This morning I woke up and got a lot of stuff done in a shorter amount of time than usual and then the next 2 or 3 hours hardly did a thing ... got stuck in turtle gear. I hate not being able to finish something when I start it, so I had all kinds of time to sew today but because I knew it wasn't long enough to finish the projects I wanted to work on I psyched myself out and didn't do anything :S

5 - I watch a lot of tv. Thank goodness for DVR.

6 - I don't have an appendix anymore ... or my wisdom teeth.

7 - I love to take baths.

8 - I enjoy re-purposing stuff.

9 - Someday I will have a house with an amazing kitchen and bathrooms. My heart is set on glass tile.

10 - I'm a loud typer. Chad just told me I'm keeping him up : S I'm also a very fast typer, so I better finish this up!

11 - When I read a book I can't do anything else until I finish it. Who cares about eating dinner?

12 - I like sour things.

13 - It's possible that I could be addicted to amazing fabric and have a really hard time resisting buying a yard just to have some.

14 - I like shopping by myself, during the week, when I know everyone else is at work.

15 - I'm probably gonna write more posts for this challenge and then just schedule them to post on the appropriate days. I'm torn on if that defeats the purpose of the 3o day challenge or if it's more to get you posting and writing about things you might not typically think of.

30 DAY CHALLENGE

So ... jumping on the blog challenge band wagon! Here's my own version based on a few others I found out there. Ready, go!

1 – Picture of you and 15 facts about yourself

2 – Meaning behind your blog name

3 – Explain how you got one of your scars

4 – A YouTube video

5 – Song to match your mood

6 – Picture of something that makes you happy

7 – Bullet your whole day

8 – Place you’ve traveled to

9 – Picture of your best friend

10 – Something afraid of

11 – Favorite TV shows

12 – Something you don’t leave the house without

13 – Goals

14 – A picture of you last year, how have you changed?

15 – Your Pets

16 – Dream house

17 – Something you’re looking forward to

18 – Favorite place to eat

19 – Something you miss

20 – Nicknames

21 – ALLTIME favorite picture of yourself, why?

22 – What’s in your purse?

23 – Something you’ve learned

24 – Put your Ipod on shuffle, what are the first 10 songs?

25 – Your dream wedding

26 – Photo of town you grew up in and town you live in now

27 – Something that stresses you out

28 – 3 wishes

29 – Your zodiac sign and if you think it matches your personality

30 – Picture of yourself today and 5 good things that happened to you since you started this challenge

AUNT ANNIE'S PRETZEL KIT

One of the girls I babysit for had a school fundraiser awhile back and I got this pretzel kit. Recently made it and they were delicious! Next time from scratch?

48 DAYS ....

Okay .... it's time to start getting some stuff done! We've been checking on RSVPs, narrowing down song selections, finding Chad's ring, etc -- putting together all the last details we can here.

What I had in mind for my hair has finally materialized and I'm so happy to have that done, as well as making myself some earrings. I've got a bracelet idea in mind as well but it's gonna require some more tinkering. There's a couple different pieces I made to put in my hair and then made some smaller ones for any of the bridesmaids that want them.


So ready for this day to be here, to be in Montana, to see family and friends, to put complete trust in all the vendors we're working with to create our vision and enjoy the day with Chad!

12 ON THE 12TH: JUNE

I am an awful cheater when it comes to my 12 on the 12th. By the time I've realized the day it's already gone and I've missed my opportunity to photograph what I've done. Right now I am setting an alarm to go off the night of the 11th so I am ready.

We've had a busy day though, and here's my best shot at capturing it.

1 - Apartment shopping! We moved into the tiny apartment last September and will be moving into something bigger as soon as the lease is up. Texas apartments require a 60 day notice, so we started to check out what our options might be for Chad that are close to work and will give us some extra SPACE!

2 - Sonic happy hour : )

3 - It's not open on Sundays, but yesterday I experienced the craziness that is Sam Moon. It was a little overwhelming and since it's so busy on Saturdays they don't even allow strollers in the store. But I'm excited to go back some morning during the week.

4 - Loving out engagement pictures ....

5 - Car shopping! Long story short ... right now we only have one car, but hopefully not for long. With Chad starting his job this week we'll be able to go pick something out soon because juggling the van between us won't work well for long :S

6 - Laid by the pool today, it was great. We even went for a little swim.

7 - Making cosmetic bags (or whatever you wanna use them for). Have a few down at SOBO Fashion Lounge and a couple of them have sold already : )

8 - Diet, diet, diet. We're getting married in 2 months. Major cutting down on the carbs and more picking up some weights to tone these arms up!

9 - Happy Birthday to Chad!! He's the big 3-0 today!

10 - Hunger Games Series ..... I read the 3 books over a week and am waiting for more movie details to come out ...

11 - Craving MRPCo ....

12 - The 10 day forecast .... nothing less than 95!

SUMMA WHAT?!

Oh my, it's June! What the heck happened to May?

There's so much to do in the next 3 months ... this month ... this week.... today ... and I am taking a little break to catch up on some blogs I like to check in on and with my latest favorite thing - pinterest ; )

I found this on there today .... so I'm not really wasting my time, right? It's a fun place to keep track of all those little things you find online and want to remember. I think it could be a little addicting.

I was mildly productive today. Yesterday Chad got his new drivers license and I figured since I don't have plans this morning today I would go get mine. Except the lady told me that I had to register my vehicle at the same time, but first you have to take it to pass an inspection test and blah blah blah. So I found somewhere to take it and sat there for an hour while they checked it all out and replaced my back brake light that was out.

By the time I got home to retrieve all the other info I need to bring in to get set up here I didn't want to drive back to the DMV where there were already about 50 people waiting when the first opened. Will be super prepared tomorrow I suppose.

I've got a couple different to do lists going. One of course for the wedding. And since I made it I've started having nightmares about something not being done (bridesmaid not making it to town, flowers not ordered, no one ready and the wedding is about to start). It's mostly just smaller details now, we've got to come up with some fun favors, print some engagement photos, plan the rehearsal, etc. I can't believe it's just over 2 months away.

A friend of mine here is getting married in 2 weeks. This weekend is her bachelorette party. We're gonna spend some time at a lake house and I'm way excited to get some sun! We went and bought new swimsuits earlier this week. I'm ready for a Texas tan : )

Chad is finishing up his review in class and will be employed again June 13th! His birthday is the weekend before so I'm sure we'll be doing something to celebrate.

We've been doing a little house hunting, although we need to come up with a timeline for when we think we can go approach a bank about a home loan. There are some beautiful places here that are going to make the decision hard. I am ready to get out of the tiny apartment, but it's not super practical to move somewhere else for another 6 months if we'll be packing it up to move into our first house (fingers crossed!). It's a lot of fun to look though and we'll have a good idea of all the things we need/want when the time comes.

So, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my quiet morning (the apartment is a disaster, but that's getting ignored today too) before work and will start running around again tomorrow!

POPPY SHAPED LEMON COOKIES

Picked up the latest Martha Stewart in an airport along the way because it had super cute poppies on the cover. Inside I found this fun decorating idea. I made some sugar cookies over the weekend (minus a cookie cutter! will be buying one for next time!) and already made cookie icing to decorate. I think it dried a little too quick, so next time I better just make them like Martha did!

ENGAGEMENT PHOTOS

We finally got to see some of our engagement pictures and they are amazing!! We got to work with a super fun photographer, Morgan, who I knew before we even were engaged I wanted to have do the photos. To see a couple more from the perfect evening we got in Montana click on the picture above. To check out more of Morgan's stuff click on her logo!

ZIPPER SUCCESS

I've been pretty intimidated to try sewing anything that needs a zipper added to it, but there's so many cute things that just work better with one... plus you can get them in pretty much any color and that just adds to how fun they can be.

So here is my first successful zipper attempt! I looked at another little bag that I'd bought to see how it was put together and did my best to repeat it. And I hate using the seam ripper when I screw up so I was looking at it every 5 minutes to double check my idea of what order to sew everything.

Found the fabric on my most recent Joann's trip. It was the "don't know what I'll make with it but I have to have some" kind of purchase. I have some left so maybe I'll make a little set?

Very happy with my results : )

FIVE WORDS TELL A STORY

Came across a fun site, called Five Words Tell A Story, that daily uses 5 words to convey something. Then they dress it up a little bit and put it out there to share. Not sure when this one was from, but thought I'd throw it up here.

12 ON THE 12TH: MAY

1 - Arts Goggle happening this weekend in FW. It's a music festival/art gallery/local business fun!

2 - My brother just finished his graduate program at IU, so I spent last weekend in Bloomington drinking wine helping him celebrate!

3 - Think I may be hooked on Glee ... have watched a couple new episodes, think I need to start from the beginning ...

4 - The weather has been so wacky that there is an umbrella packed in my bag at all times!

5 - Makeup/Hair appts for wedding day made!

6 - Check out the frog exhibit at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. It's there until September.

7 - Part of Chad's training involves a few trips riding trains. All I can think of is the Thomas the Train song ...

8 - Wine arrived from Oliver Winery in Bloomington! I wasn't able to pack any in my bag home since I only brought a carry on. Will enjoy soon ....

9 - My friend Kelly spent the last several months in India volunteering at a school. She just returned home to Alaska and sent me some beautiful fabrics from her trip!

10 - Waiting to get our engagement photos back. Refreshing our photographers blog every night to see if they've been posted yet : )

11 - Most of our wedding invites have gone out, there's a few addresses that we're waiting to get back and the last couple invites to cut and assemble.

12 - SweetTarts for breakfast!

CAKE ON THE BRAIN

Back in Fort Worth after a trip to Montana for Easter/wedding planning/catching up with friends and to Indiana for my brother's graduation. Both were a lot of fun and the perfect little break after being in Texas for nearly 8 months!

We got a lot of stuff done for the wedding. It was super great to meet with everyone helping put together our big day. And we had a perfect evening for our engagement photos after having to postpone to windy and gloomy weather earlier in the week. Can't wait to share a few of those here ...

So far we've not put a lot of thought into our cake. The chef we hired for the reception asked about it and we threw out a few ideas. Very excited she's willing to do the cake as well, as that cuts down on the running around we'll have to do or worrying about another vendor. We decided on a few other things, but lately I've been looking at lots of pictures to get an idea of how it should look.

Here's a few of what I'm liking right now and have a few others in mind too. We'll see in about 3 months what the final design is!

CHECKING OUT ....

We will be out and about the next few weeks here and there doing a lot of "vacation" and some other important stuff too : )

SUMMER BOTANICALS

My second set of paintings! Here's the Pottery Barn inspiration for $49 a print. My knock offs cost whatever the canvas and paint was. I think it would have been fun to paint the background instead of leaving the canvas white, but I wanted to sketch out my flowers first and the walls in the room they're going into are blue, so I thought the white might look nice against it.

I had a super fun time painting them! I've been perusing websites for other ideas I can try imitate and thinking of places I could put them : )

ROCK N ROLL BIRTHDAY GIRL

Made these for the cutest girl turning 7 in April that I know! Also sent her a pair of jeggings to wear with these fun tops : ) I'm in love with the black and white one. Thinking of making myself something like it that would go great with some killer black boots!

12 ON THE 12TH: APRIL

So, I totally didn't ever to 12 on the 12th for March....oops! Here's part of my life from today.

1 - Another little hat I'm knitting. I actually did pretty well up at the bazaar in Sitka last weekend and sold 1/3 - 1/2 of what went up there : )

2 - Sneak peek at one of the paintings I'm working on

3 - The power went out the other night here during a thunderstorm, so we lived by candlelight. It's been awhile since I did that, probably as a little kid in Haines.

4 - This pineapple's days are numbered, tomorrow I will make myself cut it up and enjoy!

5 - I'm brunette again

6 - For the next 5 weeks I have a crazy schedule with getting to Montana, Indiana, lots of work and missing Chad while he's gone for some work training

7 - I think the Albertson's in Saginaw is quite nice. And right now there's a Monopoly game going. I get very excited about putting new pieces on the gameboard!

8 - Fabric for the next bag I'm gonna work on

9 - I didn't feel super great when I woke up this morning and luckily my morning plans canceled, so I curled up on the couch and sipped on some squirt

10 - Found these in my purse from some weekend fun. Ended up going bowling and had the best time. Had to stop and pick up some socks on the way since it wasn't preplanned. Great reminder of my 174 bowling score!

11 - After flipping through my catalog in the mail have decided a trip to Crate and Barrel is definitely in order for our wedding registry. I already started on online since the flatware I want is from there. We already use it but need some pieces replaced. Why not add some more C&B fun?

12 - Getting into the habit again of making the bed in the morning. Makes the biggest difference when I get home later for thinking the bedroom is picked up : )

SURE, I CAN PAINT?

I don't remember being super into art class in school growing up. There's a few projects here or there that I remember that turned out well but not many of them were paintings.

My last big attempt to paint art work was inspired by Color Splash on HGTV. I was pretty confident that I could make something for our living room and we had the perfect size piece of plywood. I'm pretty sure what happened is that I bought the wrong kind of paint and went a little crazy spraying it with a water bottle, along with not being patient enough to let paint dry and the colors started mixing together in a bad way.

So instead of painting works of art I had Chad built me a wood frame and then wrapped fabric around it. It works great. And it's easy to change when you want something new.

One of the families I sit for has a little girl and are wanting to do some decorating in her room since she's not a baby anymore. I was super excited to help. Her mom bought some canvases and paint and has given me the freedom to paint whatever.

I looked googled things like art for girls room and what not to get some ideas. Pottery Barn Kids had some cute stuff that I'm gonna do my best at imitating. Right now those are just sketched out to paint this weekend. Two I already have done. Check them out!

She was born in New Orleans and the fleur de lis is a big symbol there. And a whimsical owl (that still needs the bee painted in)

SCD VERSION 2.SOMETHING

First the apartment, then the van, then my craft supplies, even the cupboard beneath the kitchen sink is not safe from reorganization. So it was only a matter of time before the {scd} site got it.

I've been making a lot of things lately, for the Rainy Day Bazaar in Sitka, AK, for coworkers or families I sit for. Or people see things like my own bag or hair clips. And everyone always asks if I have a website that they can share with their friends. I was embarrassed before, because I didn't think the pictures were that great that I'd taken or that I didn't have enough to show. And the time that it took to do the site on my own how I really wanted it done was beyond my own skills.

When it comes to website and html I think I've been decent enough about navigating my way through what I'm trying to accomplish, but it was time for a new idea and some help. After a few "free template" searches that come up with mostly blog layouts I found Wix.com -- such a fun and easy site to use. I even found a template that offered an online store. So last night I spent awhile playing around and created my new look. And at the end found out to use the ecommerce option you do have to pay. But it was easy to take out since I'm not prepared to pay monthly fees for my own online store front yet. I'll just need to kick it in gear and list some things on Etsy.

So, here is it! A more professional {scd} online that I am very proud for anyone to see -- it doesn't have everything I've done so it may be more of a portfolio kind of site, but it is so much better!

SCD: PEE PEE TEE PEES

Comes in two sizes (these are the smaller sets) to avoid
getting "showered" when changing your little boys!

BUTTERY BUTTERFLY

There's a sweet little girl that really likes butterflies. Here is the latest addition to her closet : )

STAYCATION

My mom is coming to visit! She gets in later tonight. And even though I have to work Thurs/Fri afternoons I will be off from everything else the rest of the time she's here : ) And the tiny apartment is clean!

We've got tickets to see Josh Turner Saturday night, there's a big craft bazaar on Saturday, shopping for wedding shoes and a dress for her, checking out a local quilt shop that I've heard great things about, maybe back to the botanical gardens, hopefully a trip to a bigger mall in Dallas and who knows what else!

I totally failed on posting my 12 on the 12th, I succeeded at taking a picture of the doughnut shop I got my breakfast from and that was about it. Will have to take lots of photos while my mom is here and do a 12 from the 17th-20th : )

ONE PROJECT AT A TIME . . .

Right now I'm working on bobby pins and really trying to just do one thing at a time on the little card table to help keep the tiny apartment looking clean.

Tomorrow I have a WHOLE DAY OFF! No early morning, mid morning babysitting, no work, no evening plans -- nothing! I actually have this morning off unexpectedly as well and am getting caught up on some laundry and cleaning so tomorrow I can spend the whole day crafting to get ready for the Rainy Day Bazaar. I've got my to do list and tomorrow is the 12th, so expect some pictures of lots of sewing : )

WEEKEND MOMENT 3.6.2011

Dancing tooth at a busy intersection coming back from downtown Fort Worth. Made me smile. Over SuperBowl weekend there were two of them. I wonder where his buddy was today?