Addendum! Compendium!

I mentioned yesterday in my very random post that I finished my most recent self-imposed sketchbook project. Here are the tastiest tidbits from said book (and yes, I am SUPER ANNOYING!!! and watermarked them). My theme was "First thing in the morning, last thing at night." The two daily drawings varied between primarily text and pure image, and I took some creative liberties with color, stretching the theme, etc. 

I used a Micron 005 black pen and a Pilot Precise V5 Extra Fine black pen, in addition to pretty junky (but cheap) colored pencils. Oh, and I drew out everything in pencil before inking. That's something I generally don't do, because I get really impatient and just want to see the final product, which is a habit I'm trying to force myself out of. Also, I didn't draw ALL the daily drawings on the days I SHOULD have... life got in the way :)

Some of the other pages didn't turn out as well, which is why they're absent, but you gotta go through some bad parts to get good ones. And the above, I'm pretty pleased with! Some of the sayings I found elsewhere (mainly pinterest.com, which has been my vice lately), but the "be here now" came out of my head when I was missing Andrew so terribly over the month we couldn't see each other (incompatible schedules). I don't know who penned the "Don't worry. Everything is going to be amazing," but I remind myself of that a few times a week and it's comforting. And, of course, Dr. Seuss is just wonderful. "Grain of Salt" was a particularly difficult day, mentally, for me; lots of frustration. The "AMPM" was an extra page at the back, and since my drawings were either in the AM or PM I just kinda scribbled that down. Oh, and I eat cereal with banana and drink tea every. single. morning. (And sometimes for dinner, too.)

Fill in the blank... Todays

Okay, so I read my dear friend Zach's little sister's blog kind of regularly (because there are lots of cute things on it!) and she does these things called "Fill in the blank Fridays." Welllll it's Monday... and I want to blog so here ya go!

1. The best deal I've ever gotten is... well, I've gotten a lot of great deals (thanks, coupons!) but the one I'm most excited about is that Kate Spade bag I posted in the last blog entry! I'm getting it tomorrow and CAN NOT WAIT! Other great 'deals' I've gotten, at least financially, in the past few weeks (as I built up my spring work wardrobe and put aside the clothes that were acceptable for college but not Madison Avenue) were a Banana Republic sweater, originally $98 and on sale for $26; a Banana Republic classy work shirt originally for $80 and on sale for $23; snazzy kitten wedged Nine West heels, originally something like $80 and on sale for $22; Me Too snakeskin flats on sale for $29 instead of the original $80. Thanks, Macy's and Nordstrom Rack! Okay, that was satisfying to relive the money I saved but probably did nothing interesting for anyone else reading it. Whoops.

2. If I were hosting a dinner party and could invite people from my fantasy guest list it would include... oh, wow. Great question... hmm. Well, because I don't really feel like writing a big long thing, I'll just list the people I'd want to eat dinner with and a short quip on why: Bing Crosby (probably not surprising to people who know me well) because I would want him to provide entertainment with his amazing singing voice; Kate Bingaman-Burt because I think her design style is just so intriguing, and she lives in the west now and I want to hear about how design differs "over there"; Cappie from Greek because he is hilarious!; Stephanie Herbst because how do you run for that long?; and probably most likely a bunch of others that my sleepy brain won't let me think of. Stay tuned for a possible sequel to this question.

3. If I could choose to eat one flavor of foods (sweet, salty, spicy, bitter) for the rest of eternity, it would have to be... isn't there a fifth flavor? Relatively new? I'll look it up later. If I have to choose from the list I learned since I was a babe, I'd piiiiick... sweet. Although, lately (as in the last few years) I've been steering away from super sugary things, or sugary things in general. I do eat chocolate every day though (I am my father's daughter, and my grandmother's granddaughter in that...). But it's typically pretty dark chocolate, not Hershey's or anything. Plus, I love fruit, and fruit is sweet and sugary! And delicious! And I eat lots and lots of it! So, I guess that kind of made my decision for me.

I dream about... lots of pretty real things. For example, the other night I was spending time with two characters from the show Greek (if you don't watch... do! It's so good despite what you may or may not think!), Calvin and Rusty, and Calvin was about to invent this really cool thing but this other guy was trying to steal it from him so Rusty yelled "TO THE PATENT OFFICE!" and we all booked it there. I don't know if we were successful though.

4. My will be spent (has been spent!)... planning for my wedding! We got lots of stuff done. We = my fiance and our families. We also helped celebrate my big brother's birthday, which was super fun. And the weather was mostly nice. Absurdly nice on Friday, which made walking around the park sooo much prettier and more enjoyable!

5. If I could only watch one movie or TV series for the rest of my life, it would be... GREEK. This reason is twofold: there are tons of episodes, and IT IS SO GOOD. My roommate and I have been watching them all in succession (she re-watches them with me) and I just cannot get over how brilliant the writing is. So funny. And the character development! Love!

Okay dear friends. Enjoy the ramblings. And enjoy a non-super-rainy commute tomorrow! But not Wednesday! :)


PS if my WEDNESDAY alarm goes off AGAIN tomorrow morning (an hour earlier than needed!) I will throw my phone out the window. No, phone, just because I say I will do this every day it does not show that I don't mean it. Seriously. Work. Please. And don't wake me up until I have to be. Kthxloveyoubyeee!

What's Been Inspiring Me

I've recently fallen in love with Kate Spade. I adore all of the happy colors (who wouldn't in such dreary weather?) and, specifically, this bag:

In Persimmon, of course! Ughhhhhghghg love. Want want want.

I've been HUGEly into Honeysuckle, which is Pantone's selected color of the year. As a redhead it's really the only bright red-pink-hued color that I can pull off without clashing horribly with my hair or being wiped out with a pale pink (pink is so not my color, anyhow). Speaking of honeysuckle, I remember when I was told that we could get a sweet treat from the flowering bush in my friend's backyard we were floored and spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out how to eat honeysuckle. It's such a summery plant now in my memory that how could I not love Pantone's choice?

Also, how cute is that video? So simple but I love it. Playing on repeat as I write this.

I've been wandering around the internet, scouring DIY crafts and projects that I want to embark on and now my email drafts folder is storing a pages-long email to myself containing links to everything I want to make. I can only hope one day that the house Andrew and I end up buying (while, of course, functioning primarily as a wonderful place for our children to grow up in) features a spectacular craft room. Preferably looking like this:

Or this:

Naturally I can't find the original linkage for either room inspiration, but aren't they just excellent? Neither is completely my style, but I love the color in the first and the calm in the second.

Hope everyone's rainy Thursday is moving quickly :)

-Jacqui

Spring in my Step

... hasn't arrived just yet.

It's warmer out than last time I blogged, and I bought and returned about 4 pairs of boots until I settled on these (I'm never allowed to buy shoes online again):

... for about half price. Have I mentioned that I love discount stores, sales, and coupons?

I went to Macy's with my mom last Sunday for a few things, and ended up with this Michael Kors purse:

Okay, I can't find it online (what?) but it's a small Hamilton yellow cross-shoulder. Got it for more than 1/2 off; still figuring out if it suits my lifestyle. I'm the kind of girl that throws everything in her bag. This is a little small for me, but maybe it'll make me pare down. I do love this bag, though... bag.

I also got these bad boys for $20. Yup. Wearing them right now, in black, and they're awesomeee.

This is so pretty: