Time To Read More Words (and share some more of my own)

So happy to have connected in the internet with this cool lady: Check out her blog (at which she and her hubby are renovating an incredible home and barn!)and her fabulous etsy site!

I have made a new decision for this upcoming year of my blog reading. Reading blogs is one of my favorite things to do after work, while cuddled up on the couch with my wife and our dogs and fat cat (often with a cup of tea and glass of wine-bliss!). But, after reading a few blogs over the past year or so, I have noticed that I feel terrible about myself after I read them...like I'm not one of the cool kids again. And it is totally ridiculous and insane but it is even more silly that I keep reading those sites (and following a few of them on twitter). I know this is totally about me and not them or their blogs but I know that there is something small beneath the surface that is a bit pretentious and maybe not so real. I can just feel it. So, my decision is to only read blogs that fill me with inspiration and depth rather than begin questioning my worth or productivity or "coolness." This is not to say that I will only be reading blogs about world peace or climate change, I will still hunt for the perfect vintage outfit, the best red lipstick, the perfect barn renovation project done on a modest budget, and I will blog about these things, too. I will also look inside myself a bit to see why not being the cool kid still hurts like hell.

With this said, I also happen to read many other inspiring and ego-less blogs (like AO and hers and hers and hers and this one and this one, too! Ooops, and more (I will share more as I find them). See, there are many fabulous women who create blogs full of art and design and crafting and share their recipes and photographs and share my love of vintage and thrifting and reading. They also share stories of their lives and all of the great parts and the sometimes not-so-great parts. All which are pretty incredible secrets to share with strangers. And I feel lucky to read them. So, thank you, great bloggy ladies! Happy New Year!

p.s. I have a twitter so feel free to follow me. I mostly post about drinking coffee, knitting, tweeting about raising our cute little chickens, or commenting about my wonderful wife's pet sitting business (to help market her).

Oh, and I got a new computer! Wooooot! So, now I will be able to blog more. My computer was slllllooooowwwwing down the past few months and I was frustrated every time I used it. Well, no more! Oh, sweet, sweet Mac, how I love thee always!

I love how Atwood loves to be right in my lap while I knit. <3

WTF is CSS? and how do I even begin to speak?

I am at war with myself. (I always want to say "elf" after I say "myself" as in myself the elf- but I digress) I want to make an all-star blog full of fabulous vintage finds, pictures of the food I make, the cakes/brownies/cupcakes I bake, or will be baking more now that we have eggs, noteworthy mentions of fashion, art, the world that grows around me. But, in order to do this I need to speak the language and thus far, CSS and Photoshop and HTML is as foreign to me as, um, some other foreign language that I do not speak. The war with myself (the elf-whew, I feel much better) is fueled by looking at other beautiful blogs, blogs written by women who appear to be amazing and carefree and fluent in the words of the machine, i.e. the web design environment. I am committing myself(I didn't do it this time...ok, stopping now)to learning Photoshop CS5 since I freaking OWN it and maybe watching all of the youtube.com tutorials will help me. I am in need of arrows and pointers and fun fonts and creative cutouts of my favorite internet finds, yo! I need brushes and tools and cut little pinking shear borders around my blogness. Stay tuned, folks. Stay tuned.

Photoshop and blogging

So, I now have the newest version of photoshop and a heck of a lot of desire to learn how to use it effectively for blogging. I have already learned how to add text, mess with the pixel/resolution, and a few little things to do with photos. I have ordered a new mouse b/c I am not able to use my track pad very well with photoshop. Not sure why this is....I see KMH do it and she does it just fine (super talented lady)! I guess I am still so very new to it (and am completely learning through watching videos on youtube). I have also done a bunch of research on the Bamboo tablet and may be getting one of those soon, too. I am still trying to figure what all I need/want/have to have to be able to do what I want with my blog. I am giving myself the next few months to really get this going...find it's direction, purpose, meaning. Fashion? Decorating? Life? House renovating? All of the above? I guess we will all see how this evolves. Ha...that sentence made me laugh. Since there are just SO many of you following this blog. I mean, really! ;) Hold on to your seats, peeps.

She said, "I've been killing zombies all night."

So, Shaun is home, on the couch, zoned out, playing a Wii video game in which she is killing zombies. Now, I am NOT a fan of video games to begin with, nor am I a fan of violence, but her comments while playing are cracking me up! Now, does she LOOK like a zombie killer?


I just got home from cutting my friend's hair. You know how sometimes you meet someone and then you think, "huh, how did I not have this person in my life before?" I think this often about many of my friends and it never ceases to amaze me that I am so lucky to be surrounded by so many strong and brilliant women. One thing that this particular friend has said to me many times is: "change your thinking." This small sentence has truly shifted the way in which I process things. It is so true...sometimes we just have to alter our thoughts and by doing this, we can create something positive from something troubling and/or painful.
Picture of Marsha and I at an art show last summer:


Every night I go to each of my favorite blogs...Here are some links. Enjoy!!! this one, this one, too, yup-love this one, and I'm a big fan of this, and this.

I am lucky to have a very creative friend, Kristin, who has this blog that I frequent for inspiration. Kristin is an artist, an art professor, a fabulous friend and a wonderful neighbor! She and I both bought our first (and probably forever) homes this past summer and we often get together and talk design, thrifting, art and our ever-crazy schedules and supporting each other in finding balance in all that we love to do.
Kristin and I...At Havana Hideouts, eating tacos and drinking triple berry sangria: