Oh, hi

Things have been slow around here.  It's been hot, and humid, and while I really can't complain about that because I do enough complaining in the Winter, it has sapped the desire and energy to do stuff.  You know.  So there's been lots of this. 

However, my sweet, beautiful husband and I have been enjoying long talks about important things and nothings, and just lazing around the house together.  Yesterday he suggested we do one of my favorite things in the whole world which I haven't done in years:

Feed the ducks!  Well, and mostly the geese.  So we went to the park at dusk and unloaded some spare hamburger buns on the gracious and well-fed geese.  We like the noises they make.  Though sometimes their boldness makes Tony make this face:

Speaking of bold geese, today at work we took the kids on a fieldtrip to Wheeler Farm (a totally rad farm in the middle of Salt Lake suburban-ness, complete with horses, cows, sheep, pigs, rabbits, ducks, geese, chickens, and at least one cool caterpillar I found.  I have all the animals memorized because one of the kids (we'll call him Seth) kept listing them long after we left.  He fell asleep on the van ride back to school muttering "Bye bye, farm!" to himself.  Kids make me appreciate life in so many ways.)  There was a huge gaggle of gigantic geese - seriously, they were as big as the 2-year olds.  And they were not shy, to put it in the least-descriptive term.  But the kids were brave and I give them points for that.  Some of them even followed my lead and (tried to) let the geese eat bread out of their hands.  I admit had the image of bitten fingers and pecked-out eyes flashed through my head a few times, and thought about how to explain that to parents, but fortunately none of that happened and we all left the farm in one piece.

It was miserably hot today.  And yet, somehow the heat hasn't deterred my love of hot chamomile tea before bed.  (Tried to get a picture of my pretty golden tea in my pretty Corelle teacup, but the camera battery had to die.)  I take my tea with honey.  What about you?

Tomorrow brings grocery shopping, eye-doctor appointments, and a drawing party with friends.  Saturdays are also for cleaning.  I just found a cherry stem hidden on my desk.  We haven't had cherries for weeks. 

love,
kayla

Mila's Daydreams

I wasn't going to post again, but this is something that simply must be shared.

Words cannot express how much I love this.  I'm in a funky sort of mood tonight and this did it's share in cheering me up.  (Motherhood+creativity makes me giddy.)

Visit (and follow!) Mila's Daydreams to be thoroughly inspired.
you're welcome,
kayla

5 things I'm grateful for Sunday: Tuesday Edition

So I never made it back last night.  I decided to go to bed instead.  (I guess someday I'll get back into my night owl routine, but for now I try to go to bed when the husband does, because I'm afraid to lose the sweet newness of being married.  Tell me, married folk, is it inevitable?  Already sometimes I feel it is, and it makes me sad.)

Anyway, since I was in transit on Sunday, here is the week's list of things I'm grateful for:


1. Getting out of town to freshen up my perspective.

2. The rare, almost 100% good day at work, when I'm not a grouch and can just enjoy playing with little ones.

3. Family prayer.

4. When iffy cars act reliable.

5. My husband, always.

Night, everyone.
love,
kayla

Back, armed with pictures

I'm back!  And loving it.  Getting out of town is good, but coming home is better.  I'm still a little pooped, so I won't chatter much, but I do have lots of pictures to show you.

We did a lot of the car thing.

We stayed at my sister's sweet trendy downtown loft, and I had a healthy breakfast.

We walked downtown Denver, and saw neat stuff...

...like this bookstore, Tattered Cover.  I was so in love.

We went to a wedding, at the most beautiful location for a wedding ever, Red Rocks Colorado.

(I just love brides on their wedding day!  And after the ceremony when the new couple walked back down the aisle, they played "All You Need Is Love" and turned up the volume.  Awesome.)

My beautiful sister Kari and her adorkable man.

My niece and I couldn't resist playing on the rocks, even in our dresses and fancy shoes.  I need to go to Moab!

I know it's a picture overload - I took too many.  But when the scenery is so beautiful and you're in good company, it just can't be helped.  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  I missed 5 things Sunday, so I'll be back later to follow up.  See ya!

love,

kayla

Bye for the Weekend

It's going to be quiet around here for a few days as I make myself scarce on a little roadtrip.

via WeHeartIt

My mom, my niece, and I are driving to Denver to visit my sister, so I'll see you Monday!
love,
kayla

Nekked Bear Army

Time to shamelessly plug the art blog!

If you like art and laughing, then I recommend checking out Nekked Bear Army.  It's a communal art blog I have with some of my friends.  They are all extremely talented and the updating happens pretty regularly.  (I don't contribute as much as I should, but I'm trying to change that.  Can I call myself an artist if I have to force myself to do art?)

Here are some of my faves so far:

Chris Cherrington

A

Alex Tingey

Sarahjane Bernhisel

You probably won't regret checking it out.  :)

In other news, movie/pie with Mama Boss was successfully fun, and it really felt good to get out of the house and go somewhere besides work!  But of course, OF COURSE, I forgot to bring my camera, so I cannot share the good times.  I promise to not make that mistake again.

Value your friends, people!  They're important.

love,
kayla

Works in Progress

Sorry the second picture's so blurry.  It feels good to have projects going.  I'll post them all when they're finished (who's telling when that will be.)

Also, here's a vintage sheet I picked up on Saturday.  The pattern I want to make is in the background.  The sheet is only meant for practice and isn't the final fabric I want to use.  So don't worry, my judgment isn't actually impaired.  :)

It was a long day at work, so now I'm going to relax over a bowl of rice while watching Seinfeld with my cute honey.  After that my sweet friend Crissy invited us over for pie and a movie, which I think we can all safely agree is a very good combo.  Have a good night, everyone!

love,
kayla

Rachel's Home Ec Class!!

Not much time cause I gots to go to work, but I really want to get the word out there about Rachel from Smile and Wave's Home Ec class she's teaching (with friends).  I SO wish I could afford to take this class because it looks amazing, at least judging from the previews (a few projects of wish I might want to try on my own anyway.)  So you should stop by her blog and sign up if you're able!

Tony is back (yay!) and  brought the camera with him, so I'll return soon with a few pictures of some WIPs I've got going.  Bye!

love,
kayla

5 things I'm grateful for Sunday

1. The temple.














Courtesy of LDSchurchtemples.com
 
2. Strong, beautiful (inside & out) women I can look up to.

3. A house that feels like a home.

4. Air conditioning.

5. My husband, always.

Hope everyone is having a good Sunday.
love,
kayla

Sadness

Thoughts and prayers to the beautiful Marta, who is dealing with a tragedy.  My heart is with her and full of sadness for her loss.

love,
kayla

Favorable iTunes Shuffling

I love it when my iTunes seems to know my mood and plays songs accordingly.
Some favorites of the night:

• "Comfortably Numb" - Pink Floyd
• "Give Me One Reason" - Tracy Chapman
• "Resistance" - Muse
• "Winter Kills" - Yaz
• "Consequence" - Incubus
• "Ne Me Quitter Pas" - Regina Spektor
• "KRS-One" - Sublime

I spent my evening drawing while listening to music.  What did you do?

Sunshine of Your Love

Here's a great song to start your day.  I've been reading the autobiography of Eric Clapton, which is extremely good and I would recommend it. 

Have a great Saturday!
love,
kayla

I Love Fridays

Wow, I do not like being alone since I got married.  Is that weird?  Instead of rocking out with some "me time" I just feel kinda lost, like I don't know what to do with myself.  How do I make dinner for one?  Who do I tell when I think of something funny?  Although I do get to leave my makeup all over the bathroom counter and that part, I admit, is awesome.

Tomorrow will bring me direction.  I have a job interview in the morning and plan on going to the DI (that's a thrift store, for you non-Utah peeps) in the afternoon to find a sheet to make a mock-up of a dress with.  (It's a vintage pattern I found and I'm excited to try it.)  I might even hang out with a friend or two, which just doesn't happen as often as it should.

But for now I'm gonna turn up my blues music, turn on Left4Dead2 and katana some zombies while on the couch in my underwear.  Party on the weekends, everybody!

love,
kayla

Ah, poop.

Not much to say tonight.  Too restless to relax and too antsy to put my mind to anything.  Ever have days like that?  Sometimes it's okay to not really do anything.

Tony's going to California tomorrow to help a friend move and we just got back from a late-night Wal Mart crawl, where I scored a sweet Star Wars t-shirt and got to spend some time with my boy before he goes.  There's always something to love.

It's time for bed.  But because I can't leave you without something to look at, check out these completely rad pendant necklaces by SeptemberHouse.  They are so unique and cute and are definitely on my wishlist.

She has lots of other cute embroideries in her shop as well, and stop by her blog for free embroidery PDF downloads.  Awesomesauce.

Well here's to hoping tomorrow is a more productive day.  What do you do when you can't get anything done?

love,
kayla

Bloglift + Pretty Bird Bunting

Hi!

Like the blog facelift?  My HTML skills are kinda sorta non-existent so I stayed up until 2 am tweaking things, but I'm pleased overall.  I even like my header, simple as it is.  The whole thing actually makes me very happy to look at.  I'm proud of myself, okay?

Also, in the process I managed to discover that Blogger updated their Post Editor or whatever you call it - you know, where you type out your posts.  This makes me positively giddy, because I'm sure we all know how FRUSTRATING it was before.  One little simple thing like being able to lengthen the typing box and I am a happy gal.  Thankyou, Blogger!

In other news, my 23rd birthday is coming up in a few weeks.  I haven't thought much about it; no parties planned or anything.  I'm a little excited to be turning 23 though, and I don't really know why.  I feel like these are good years.  Not a baby anymore, yet not anywhere near old enough to be worrying about getting old (that's a silly worry anyway, isn't it?).  I've decided to follow the lead of some other awesome friends and bloggers and create a "24 Things To Do Before 24" list.  I started it today (it's a lot harder than I thought it would be) but will wait to reveal it until my birthday.  Exciting, I know it. 

Before I go I want to share a little project I finished up a few days ago.

Bunting is popular nowadays and I wanted to try my hand at it.  I've been hanging onto this vintagey floral fabric for a while, using it in bits and pieces for different projects.  I completely love it; I think it's some of the prettiest fabric I've found.  I've also been doing a lot of embroidery lately and am in a "bird" stage, so I tossed them all together and came up with this simple design.  All three birds are hand-embroidered on muslin from a quick and easy sketch I did.  All the flags are backed with sew-on interfacing with a topstitched border in robin's egg blue, and hung on some teal yarn I found at a yard sale last year.

I hung it above this little corner of my studio I've been working on, and I think it goes perfectly.  Tony and I found both these oldschool typewriters at the thrift store.  They're kind of like our babies.  The cool retro thermos was also a thrift find.

Some closeups of the typewriters.  The pink beauty is a Lettera; Italian made from 1952, ultra-light weight and was used by journalists because it was so take-with-youable.  (Robin's egg added for effect.  Tony found it on the ground by the pine tree outside our door, in which apparently resides a new robin family, although I've yet to see them.)

This beauty is from the early 60s.  Considerably heavier and less wieldy, but we still like it. 

I'm so happy and satisfied with this little corner of our home.  It's exactly like I want it.  I hope you've enjoyed the peek into it as well!  Now I'm off to make dinner for me and the husband: Pasta Helper with roasted cauliflower.  Dude, we're just poor newlyweds.  :)

love,
kayla

Late-ish Night Post

Oh, blog world. How divided I feel about you.

I'm not quite sure I have the proper personality for a blogger, but I know I won't be satisfied until I have a good, solid go at it. Taking a tip from the lovely Elsie over at A Beautiful Mess and have come up with 5 things I love most in life. They are, in no particular order:

1. Family/Marriage
2. The Gospel/Spirituality
3. Art, etc.
4. Books
5. Children

Despite years I've spend believing the contrary, I find I do better with some sort of organization, so I'm going to try and keep my posts related to those topics and see where they take me. Those of you who know me best, however, know how indecisive I am. As the wind blows, it seems like. :)

I have a few post ideas floating around; crafts I've finished/am working on, books I've finished/am reading. Lots of thoughts about marriage, of course, but I'll try and spare you the real gnarly stuff. I'm also (slowly) attempting to give this blog a makeover, so be patient with me and things should start looking prettier soon.

Hope everyone had a good day.

love,
kayla

Some Morning Pretties

Happy Tuesday everyone.

Just wanted to share some Etsy inspiration before I go to work.



Moccasins by Darlingtonia.


Necklace by Mylavaliere.


Dress by ZoeChen.


Crazy jacket by StephanieTeague.

I'd probably wear all of those things together (yes, even the crazy jacket I don't begin to understand.) If only I owned anything that cute.

Short and sweet, that's all I got time for. Have a happy day!

love,
kayla