Birthday balloon, business cards, backstage passes and a sprouting tomato

Last week, I celebrated my 24th birthday. So for the next two(ish) months, my husband and I are the same age. Thrilling news I know!

But wait- there's more! I also received via mail my new business cards! Yes, B U S I N E S S CARDS! I'm officially a business woman..entrepreneur..small business owner..? Whichever, I'm officially that. And I'm officially stoked about it!

I've been waiting to 'announce' it publicly, and I still am. But I figured I can at least announce that part and in a post to come later this week, I will share all the fun details about it!

But back to my birthday week...
It was fun celebrating the two occasions together. My husband asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, and being a total bum about planning anything on my birthday, (I used to plan like a month or more ahead, and one year I hit a wall I guess and just never got into planning ahead for my birthday,) I kept putting it off. So the day before, I finally got around to telling him I wanted to purchase a big round balloon. See, I had gotten a vision from God one night....haha, just kidding. I got a photo idea (from too much Pinterest-ing?) into my head which involved a balloon and my business cards. The picture in my head was way cuter than what I got, but uh well, it was still fun. And I still have the balloon. My husband and I have bets on how long it will last.. hopefully to his birthday in May! (Saving money like a boss.)

So we got the photo I wanted, we celebrated with family here and in Idaho (Skype), we ate red velvet cake made by my sweet mother-in-law, hung out with friends, and I received this darling pretty pair of earrings from my beloved husband:

They are from Blue Nile which is a great online jewelry store! He got my engagement and wedding rings from there too!

. . . . . . . . . .

On Saturday morning, I helped my small group from church at an outreach in a park near downtown Birmingham. We partnered with another company in town to throw an Easter egg hunt for kids in the area.

After that, I headed to the BJCC arena in downtown to meet up with my good friend who lives in Franklin, TN. She and I have known each other since we were 2 or 3 and have been friends for most of that time. She is from Idaho as well and moved to TN about two years ago. She works for Jeremy Camp at the moment and has been on the road on the Winter Jam tour with his family taking care of the Camp kids. So the tour was in Bham last Sat. night and she got backstage passes for the hubs and me. But first, she and I got to have a little time to sit down in the coffee shop downtown, (called Octane. Really cool space!) and visit and catch up on life.

Then we headed back to the arena and I met the Camps, got to hang inside their tour bus, and hung backstage as multiple bands went up and played. We even danced on stage for a minute on two different Family Force 5 songs.

Austin eventually made it after work, and we watched Jeremy Camp, Skillet and a couple others play before we headed home late that night. Neither of us know a whole lot of the newer Christian artists, but I've always enjoyed Jeremy Camp's music and the concert was fun to watch. TONS of people there! The second photo below is my shy attempt at snapping a photo of the chick from Group 1 Crew. (The one bending down to the little boy.) She just went solo recently, but I remember listening to their first album back in my high school/dance team/listening-to-Christian-hip-hop days. (lol) So ya know, I had to get a picture because I was standing right by her. Haven't listened to a song since though...

Now today, I'm packing to head to Idaho tomorrow for a week to visit family. I'm so happy I get to see my family, but I will miss my hubby for a week! First time being apart while married for more than a night. :P I think we'll get through it though. Austin is going to "bach it up" and I will have girl time with my mom and sis! ;)

Oh! I mentioned a sprouting tomato in my title didn't I? Ok so I bought some tomatoes on the vine a couple weeks ago and I noticed the seeds were way darker than normal so I was weirded out and didn't eat all of them. There is one still sitting in my kitchen that started sprouting! It's super weird, and since I have the furthest thing from a green thumb, I had no idea what to do, but didn't want to toss it right away. I asked a friend of mine and we decided I should try planting it and see what happens. I will laugh if it does nothing. I know I could pull the seeds out and plant those, but the tomato has greens coming off of it and it just seems like a waste to me to toss it! Am I wrong? I tried googling but I got bored trying to find the info I need. That's probably why I'm terrible with this kind of stuff.

Ok, I have got to go finish packing and getting the place ready to be left in the hands of a guy all week. (Babe, please don't kill the plants or leave alllll your cloths on the floor every night.)

Until next time-
t.

Saturday in all it's glory. {west elm + kate spade}

MIn the middle of website building (yep, I'm building a website for that thing I'm doing that I'm not publically announcing yet..) Saturday chores, FaceTiming family and getting ready to go to a wedding shower, I want to share about West Elm and their Kate Spade Saturday collection! (Whew, sorry that was a long sentence!)

If you haven't checked out West Elm, you should! They are a sister company of Pottery Barn. But they have such a unique style and I love it more every day! 

My hubby and I even registered there when we got married. We own a lot of fun items (gifted and bought) and it really is a great mix of both of us.

My hubs loves the more modern look, and though I like it too, I always tend to lean towards more traditional style. West Elm is actually a perfect mix of the two (or at least in my opinion,) and their unquie looks stand out.

They teamed up with another one of my huge faves, Kate Spade (!!!) and created the Kate Spade Saturday collection. It's vibrant, fresh and full of life and I want to get my hands on every piece! (Anyone want to give me birthday money?! Jk.)

They have some awesome sales going on right now too! Table top and bedding is all 20% off right now. And then each week they have different items on sale.

One thing I also love, is they work with local vendors in whatever city each store front is in, and bring them in to showcase the local's stuff! They have different lines they carry of cool artists from all over as well. Always new styles popping up!

So check them out and see for yourself! And let me know what you think!

Here are some wishlist items I have:

This Belgian linen stripped duvet cover in 'pale harbour' has got a strong hold on me. 😍 

Also, I have come to the realization I want and need a pouf. I mean who doesn't?!

Also this chair, that mirror, those table cloths and so much more!

xo,

t.

Ginny Au Workshop - Part 2 of my March'15.

Ginny Au Workshop. Those three words together are the prettiest 3 words I focused on the end of this past week. If you are involved in the wedding, event or styling world at all, you might have come across that name at some point. If not, well, you should look her up, like yesterday. She is an incredibly talented stylist and I was honored to be taught for a few hours under her!

Check out this beautiful personalized Shinola journal, with our names written by Script Merchant Calligraphy that we were each given to take notes in. My pencil was dull by the end!

Here's how my bright and sunny Friday went:

Friday morning I headed to The Nest, in Birmingham, a great little venue I had heard fun things about! It was the perfect place for something around 13 of us gals, from all over, gathered around Ginny Au and listened intently as she brought her own styling world to life right in front of us. She taught on unique ways for finding inspiration and creating style boards. One main point she made that really stuck with me was, how would you find new ideas if you're only looking at what other people have already used? She encouraged us to be inspired by things in life that will lead us to fresh ideas. We looked at beautiful art work, paintings, unusual photography and even listened to some classical music. It really opened my eyes to think about how to style something, starting with all of that, rather than starting with photos someone else has already shared a million times.

A little background- Ginny Au is British, but lives here in Birmingham (where her husband is from). After meeting her, I soon realized she is one of the most down to earth people I have ever met. She was so sweet to each and every one of us, treating us as though we are friends of hers and fellow stylists. When she taught and discussed, she was open, honest and just plain adorable. It made the day just THAT much more enjoyable. And I thank her for that.

The photos below are just glimpses of beautiful decor that Ginny brought and charming florals and greenery by Rosegolden Flowers!

After her powerpoint presentation, and our dedicated note taking was finished, Ginny showed us how she likes to style a table, then a bride/model, and then an invitation suite. We watched her, in all her styling glory, eager to get our own hands on the pieces.

But before we got to, we broke for lunch. It consisted of the best chicken salad {sandwich} I have ever tasted, (apparently made by Ginny's own mother!) wrapped in paper and tied with string and accompanied with chocolates wrapped in cheese cloth, grapes and a cute little bottle of rose lemonade! I mean seriously. I wish I had gotten a better photo of this lunch, it was THAT cute. However, I can blame it, in a good way, on having a fun conversation with my table mate. It was great to meet and connect with the other gals there! They are fellow stylists, photographers, artists, bloggers and even moms. (What a fun career I chose!)

Then it was our turn to play! We broke into three groups and each rotated to the three sections to style. My group's first was the invitation suites. Each of us played with a couple of different suites, styling them to our own desires. Here are a couple iPhone snaps of mine: (I used my Canon Rebel for all other photos.)

Then we moved onto the model/bride (who happens to be Ginny's assistant, Kaela Rawson. She said she "get's married a lot.." due to the mount of times she puts on a wedding dress, holds a bouquet and lets strangers position her body how they want.)

Then we got to move onto the table designs! We each took a half table and did what we want. But by this point, as the class was nearing an end, the decor and flowers were scattered all over the room. So I decided to keep it simple, and natural looking, rather than try to do a big fancy look. Between the greenery and the rocks, I felt as though it gave a stream/river ambiance. :)

I can't tell you how much fun I had. It was a magical day for me, as it was also the first styling and design workshop I've ever attended. It gave me insight, inspiration, ambition, an event styling high, and a perfect reminder of WHY I got into this, WHY I love it and WHY I am SO GRATEFUL to God for allowing this to be my "work!" I am blessed to be able to do what I love!

I ended my day sitting down around my table with my husband and a couple/friends of ours for a Mexican dinner, margaritas, and good conversation. It was a great way to relax after a wonderful day!

Hope y'all enjoyed reading about this! Ginny truly was and is an inspiration to me, and her kind words to me personally about my new adventure I'm embarking on (that I have yet to announce to you all ;) was the breathtaking flower on top of the icing on top of the cake!
Happy Spring~
t.

Half A Dozen :::|:::

Hello Monday, and hello to whoever is reading! I am about to share the first fun part about my March '15. If you missed my last post, an introduction to my March series of posts, click here to read. Otherwise, keep reading! :) Oh, and if you are solely interested in my top 6 registry items, skip half way down.

Today, my hot hubs and I are celebrating a little something. It's little compared to what we will hopefully celebrate together for years to come. But it is a big celebration because it puts a good mark on our first year of marriage.
Happy 6 Months to my awesome husband!

Neither of us are into the whole "happy 6 weeks!" "Happy 2 months!" "Happy 14 months!" Ick.
I mean that's not that bad if you're one of those people. We just are not. And I will not change when babies come along. If I start posting every other week about how old my kid is, or worse, during pregnancy I post the size of the kid inside me compared to some fruit, my husband has permission to band me from social media.

Sorry, that got a little dark. Anyway...

We got married on August 30th last summer. But 6 months later, we're celebrating our little half year mark on March 2nd, because, well ya know, February rides the short bus. Uh well.

So now I want to share some inspiration with you that derived from thinking about the last 6 months.
First off, we made it longer than a lot of marriages. Probably Vegas marriages mostly. Or Kim Kardashian. What? Are we all over that joke?

Also, we have now been together in person, and lived in the same city, for days exceeding the amount of days we were together in person while dating. 161 (roughly) to 190 (roughly.. including wedding + honeymoon.) We dated long distance, if you didn't know.

We really have been blessed with a beautiful first 6 months of marriage. I'll try not to get too sappy on here for everyone's sake, but I do mean it. It's different for every marriage I'm sure. And though we both know that our lives together won't always be this perfect, due to just life and how it goes, we are very grateful to have had such a good start. Especially since I moved away from my hometown and family, it's been as good of a transition as it could have ever been! I have one amazing guy.

Oh! Another thing. I have managed to FEED us every week! Points for wife!

Ok now I will move on to something a little more fun. I am going to list 6 items we were gifted, and LOVE. Items you should definitely register for if you're engaged. (Or use wedding money on afterwards.) :)

#1. Ninja blender.
My parents had gotten one in the year prior to me moving, so I had already fallen in love with it, and wanted to make sure it was on our registry! Though we haven't used it to it's full potential yet, it is an awesome and super powerful blender! I make smoothies pretty often, and my favorite part is I can make just one. I don't have to make a huge batch, but just use the individual cups to make one at a time. Also, I use the same to 'chop' up onion. It turns it to paste practically! So if you need onion in a recipe to add texture, then don't use the Ninja. But if you want flavor and no hassle in cutting it up, the Ninja is perfect!

#2. Toaster. (lol)
Ok, so that's a given I guess. But here's the thing.. my parents got rid of our toaster years ago and we used the oven. Seemed fine to me. But now that I have one again? Love it. Forgot how great they are. Also, we have a rad toaster! It's from West Elm where we had one of three registries. (Great place to find fun and unique stuff to register for!) See pic below:

#3. Towels.