The Curious Yellow

Work -- times two

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:05:00 +0000

Well ladies and gents, I've officially been employed for one whole week! The one week hiatus from my blog can only be explained by the one solidweek of on the job training I just received (aka becoming one massive sponge who cannot make room for even one more measly drop of water - system overload). Despite the usual stresses of starting a new job, I am really excited and loving each new person I've met. Even better, I'm feeling extremely lucky to have landed where I have. So now the real work begins and I can't wait to see where the future takes me! Enough of that, and I promise the work-speak will be kept to a minimum on the blog. It'll be the last thing I'll want to talk about I'm sure!

I may not have had the energy to blog all week but thankfully I was still able to make some time to finish up a couple new pieces for the shop. Thank goodness chevron is still so popular, because I am still l-o-v-i-n-g it. See below:

P.S. I am making a personal commitment to continue painting in whatever spare time I'll have outside of the new job. Now that I've had the last few months to get some good work in, I couldn't imagine letting it go. It would just break my heart! Anyone else out there working a full time job and selling on Etsy who might have some helpful hints on work life balance? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Til next time folks, and have a great week!

Top Image Source: Etsy Hey Paul Studios - embroidery hoop- So cute!

Wanted: Lavender Skinny Jeans

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 16:08:00 +0000

I am hot on the hunt for a pair of some lavender skinnies. Something about this soft shade of purple has me smitten, and I can't get them out of my head! Sometimes you know exactly what it is you want, and nothing can stop you from finding them. I've found a couple options, and am curious which one is your favorite? I think I'm leaning towards the Forever 21 pair, or the Target pair.

1. Forever 21 $24.80

2. Old Navy $19.00 (on sale!)

3. Target $22.99

Before I commit to any of them, I gave the lavender shade a whirl on my nails. After trying this color out, now I KNOW I have to have them in a pair of skinny jeans. I spotted this polish in the checkout line at Forever 21, and it was destiny. :) I'm officially in love.

New Art, New Job!

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 23:45:00 +0000

My two latest pieces made their way into my Etsy shop this week, and me without a single post about them until today...such neglect! Since my previous hexagon piece sold, I wanted to give it a new spin with a new color combination. I love the yellow and teal pops of color! The green mod piece is definitely fun, but a bit more dreary than I originally intended. Painting without a real plan sometimes takes me down paths I didn't expect, and I'm always glad for that process. Somewhere out there, there is a room begging for both of these pieces to call it home!

I plan on beginning a new piece tonight in hopes of getting two or more pieces added to the shop before I begin...

You heard it right. The interviews went better than I could have ever hoped, and I was lucky enough to receive an offer shortly after. I couldn't be more excited to join the working world again, although there was a certain joy in taking a break from answering to the man. Perhaps someday I can rely solely on Etsy and my blog, but until then mama's gotta help pay the bills! I kick off my new endeavor on Monday as a Marketing Coordinator for a privately held, medium sized company in Overland Park, KS, so I plan on having a full weekend of painting before then. Thanks again for all of your good luck wishes, it must have helped. :)

Till next time folks...

Who Wants A Cupcake?

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 22:14:00 +0000

Happy Monday friends! This weekend I had the opportunity to try an absolutely, positively, to-die-for cupcake recipe. Just try to say The Perfect Chocolate Cupcake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Icing without drooling. Props to you if your mouth didn't water.

Now I am not one to bake confections from scratch. If there is a shortcut, I generally take it because that's just how I roll. However this weekend I was feeling a little...ambitious. Every element of this cupcake was made from scratch right down to the caramel used in the icing, and although it took me a bit longer than expected it was worth every minute, dirty bowl, and dusty counter top. These cupcakes are everything. There truly is a difference in cupcakes made from scratch, my husband can attest to that as much as I can. :)

A big thank you to the Chef In Training for sharing the recipe on her blog (where I found it from Pinterest). Just don't judge my final product against hers, because I couldn't quite achieve the cupcake boutique icing job with even remotely as much skill. :) No matter, this recipe is definitely a keeper!

Wanted: This Necklace

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:02:00 +0000

It's a rainy, dreary day here in Kansas, and this necklace is just the thing to brighten my day. I am in total lust with this sea foam green two tone chain necklace from Nordstrom. Perfect for spring, don't you think? What makes this necklace even more amazing is its attractive price: $14.00 people! Dress it up, dress it down. Pair it with neutrals or with colors. Versatile and inexpensive are a winning combination every time. You can find this necklace on my Most Wanted--Fashion board on Pintrest, along with lots of my other favorite fashion finds.

P.S. Thanks for the well wished on the interview last week! It must have worked, because I was asked back today for the last interview! Woo hoo! Wish me luck just one more time. :)

Today, We Celebrate!

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:31:00 +0000

Image Cred: Flickr

The last 24 hours have been BIG my friends, and we have much to celebrate! Let's review the awesomeness:

1) The Blog

2) The Etsy Feature

3) The Etsy Success

1) THE BLOG:
Have you noticed the killer blog updates? I mean, it's practically a whole new blog! In my eyes, a great blog is a combination of good design, amazing photos, and interesting content. My previous monstrosity was missing two out of three, and sometimes even all three. Now I've got a clean and focused design, incredible photos, and I promise that I'm working on the content part everyday. :)

To whom do I owe for all of the blog/photo help? My uber talented, uber successful sister Rebecca Haas, owner of Rebecca Peters Photography. Having a professional photographer in the family has had it's benefits, not gonna to lie. She always has a camera ready to capture important, or even unimportant family moments (which when shot by her, are sometimes are even more memorable). Her photo prowess coupled with her html and graphic design experience, and being the great sister that she is, she offered to help me with the blog overhaul. I'm indebted on this one for a while, wouldn't you say? There are not enough thank yous in the world. Love ya sis!

2) THE ETSY FEATURE:
Last night, something major happened. Something I wasn't sure would EVER happen...one of my pieces made the front page of Etsy.com in the handpicked items! My Colorful Hexagons piece was there, and I took a screenshot to ensure I never forget the glory. Can I just say that I've never had more traffic to my Etsy store? Wow:

3) THE ETSY SUCCESS:
Nothing short of 30minutes into the Etsy homepage glory, The Curious Yellow Etsy store received its very first order! Not only am I overjoyed to have made my first sale, but it has really opened my eyes to just how much the added exposure really meant to my budding little shop. Now that the excitement of my first Etsy success has been dialed back a notch, I've got to not only get back into the studio and paint my little heart out, but work on some SEO and networking to boost my exposure. More treasuries, more circles, more artwork, more blogging....Gameplan, GO!

Add a Little Love to Your Mantle

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 18:08:00 +0000

Etsy: Valentine's Day Geometric Heart from The Curious Yellow

Above is a piece I worked on this morning, perfect for a little Valentine's Day decorating. Whether you want it for you mantle, bookshelf, sideboard, or otherwise it's the perfect size to add a little Valentine's Day love to any room.

I don't typically do too much decorating for Valentine's Day myself. I go all out for Christmas, Halloween, and some Thanksgiving, but even then I really need to cut back. If my living room looks as though the holiday exploded inside of our home, it may be a tad overkill. Just sayin'.

Just for fun, I put together an Etsy treasury full of some of my favorite Etsy Valentine's Day decor finds. Etsy is so full of incredible things, you just never know what you'll see. You can go check out my Valentines Day Decor treasury here. For a little preview, I featured some of my favorites below. Maybe I should reconsider my decision to not decorate for Valentine's day. :)

Etsy: LOVE pillow from Alexandra Ferguson

Etsy: Valentine Heart Dish from Susabella

Etsy: Red White Pink Paper Garland from Fanciful Chaos

Dressed for Success

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 22:36:00 +0000

Job interviews...you gotta love 'em. Even the most seasoned professional surely is a ball of nerves during a job interview right? So it's not just me?

Today I was lucky to be asked in for an interview for a marketing position I'm actually really excited about. I was even more lucky to make it through the entire interview without a single social blunder. That in itself is a nice removal from previous interviews I've suffered through. Perhaps I've finally learned to listen to that little voice in my head that says "You should stop talking now." Truthfully, the interview actually went well, really well in fact. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they agreed and I'll be asked back! If not, at least I have a great interview outfit to use on my next victim. :) Wish me luck!

Blazer: Love Culture (similar)
Blouse: Old Navy (It was $7.49 on clearance in the store!)
Necklace: Old Navy - $9.95 (not available online)

On To The Next!

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:23:00 +0000

I shared the below pic of my latest completed piece on my Instagram last week, and I couldn't be happier with how it came out.

Pink, Blue, Gray Hexagons is available in my Etsy store.

Could this be my new favorite piece? Quite possibly! I wanted to send a little shout out to all of the people who took the time to offer positive feedback or like the piece. A little validation goes a long way, trust me. You just never know where inspiration is going to take you, but I've learned to trust my instinct and go with it. 99.9% of the time, I'm happy with the result. As usual, you can find my new favorite piece available in my Etsy store.

Lately I've been toying with new ways to incorporate fashion trends into my artwork. Not only does it challenge me creatively, but also taps into multiple passions of mine. I've already got some ideas brewing for my next pieces. Neon accents, pastel shades, bold patterns, and more are rolling 'round and 'round in the ol' noggin. Intrigued? Stay tuned... It all makes me very, very excited to paint, and even more excited to shop for spring! :)

image creds:
Neon Accents: Milli Millu London
Pastels: Piperlime
Bold Patterns: ArdenB

I Love A Cheap Fashion Find

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:02:00 +0000

When a fab pair of black moto ankle boots are on sale for $12.49 at Target.com, you buy baby, buy! Looks like the black is now sold out, but they still have brown available at a still very reasonable $17.49! I'm in love, and the price tag didn't hurt either.

Colorful Hexagons

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:13:00 +0000

How did Thursday get here so fast?

This week has been super busy with everything but painting, but it's actually a good thing. Anytime you can spend time with family, you absolutely must! I was lucky enough to spend an entire day with my mom and sister doing what we do best: running around town shopping (when I say an entire day, I mean it. We literally spent nine hours shopping. We have a problem and are not denying it). Add on some intense job hunting, and making some major progress on planning my best friend's bridal shower and bachelorette parties, I'd say that's a successful week so far!

I thought I'd share a progress pic of the Color Me Inspired piece I mentioned in my last post. Despite my busy week, I was able to spend a little time working on these colorful hexagons. This piece is really making me happy so far. I'm still totally in love with the colors.

Last but definitely not least, here's some good news this week. I was lucky enough to be featured on the Kansas Etsy Team Blog as one of the team's newest members! It's my first official feature, so please do go check it out!

While you do that, I'm off to the work room to paint! :)

Color Me Inspired

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000

Happy Friday everyone!

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling especially inspired today. I absolutely love days like this; days where you feel like you can do it all and then some. Why the sudden feeling of motivation?? I was totally inspired combination of colors I recently came across on Pintrest. Let's be honest, sometimes the littlest of things can create a madwoman in me. :) Check out this unique and modern quilt:

This very cool quilt came from a gorgeous blog called See Kate Sew featuring all things sewing. She has great tutorials and associated images so if you are looking for sewing inspiration, you absolutely must check this blog out!

So back to the inspiration. Sometimes these things just sing to you and you know something must be done to satiate this need to play with the color combination, and this one has done just that. I'm planning on starting a new piece exploring the calmness and contrast of these lovely tones (I swapped out the black for a warmer navy color to cut back on the contrast just a touch).

I wish you all a well weekend, and hope you get to do something, big or small, that totally inspires you!

Craving a Crafternoon

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 22:44:00 +0000

Sometimes, a girl just needs a crafternoon.

Crafternoon
/kraft er noon/
noun: an afternoon devoted purely to crafting.

I came across this DIY bracelet idea on Pintrest, and I can't stop thinking about all the gorgeous color possibilities. At under $5 a piece, I think maybe I can afford to make a few.
The tutorial is linked below!

Time to schedule a crafternoon STAT.

DIY Wrap Bracelet Tutorial

Etsy Love

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:50:00 +0000

My Etsy shop has been feeling the love lately, so thank you to all my followers out there who have Favorited my shop and/or my items! My shop feels the love, and so do I.

Here's a snapshot of the new piece I've been working on. It's been nice watching this little guy take shape over the last day. I hope to have this one up in my shop by tonight or tomorrow:

Though I've experimented a bit with patterns and geometry, I can't seem to help myself from the pull of creating nature-inspired paintings. The heart wants what it wants. :)

In other news, one of my pieces was recently featured in an Etsy user's treasury which is always a great feeling! If you are unfamiliar with treasuries, a treasury is collection of items any Etsy user can create highlighting their favorite Etsy items. These items can be selected based on a theme, color, or concept, or with no rhyme or reason at all. Etsy.com may elect use any treasury on its homepage so being featured in a treasury is always a great opportunity for exposure.

I've created a few treasuries of my own. It's a fun thing to do if you have some time to browse through the millions of items offered on Etsy. There is really some amazing stuff out there! The below treasuries are created by me, and you can follow the links to view the treasuries in their entirety. Leave me a comment over on Etsy if you like it! If you've never created a treasury, I urge you to give it a try and share it with me. I'd love to take a look!

Yellow-The Happiest Color On Earth

Everything's Coming Up Rose Gold

Feeling Good...Finally!

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:44:00 +0000

Nothing can spoil a vacation quite like a stomach bug. It was a great trip to Arizona, don't get me wrong, complete with warm weather, great food, plenty of beers, some good football, and even mountain climbing. The pics below were taken at Camelback Mountain on the Echo Canyon Trail.

It was all going so well up until the final night. That stomach bug hit me and it hit me with a one-two combo. BAM and I was on the hotel bathroom floor for the entire night. Lovely. One extra day in the hotel and a couple of changed flights later Jared and I finally found our way home via the red-eye. That was a loooooooooong trip home to say the least.

After getting home the fun continued and I was hit yet again, only this time with a nasty sinus infection. A quick trip to the Dr. and one Z-pak, coming right up! FINALLY, after one full week of being just plain sick, I am feeling back to normal. Fingers crossed that I won't be sick again until 2014 because I have paid my dues!

Now, back to painting, job-hunting, and do anything outside of the house! :)

Happy New Year's Eve - We're Phoenix Bound!

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:20:00 +0000

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

I hope you all have some rockin' plans to ring in 2013. My hubbs and I are keeping it low key this year because we are headed to Phoenix on New Year's Day to cheer on our beloved cats in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl! Whoop Whoop! I personally have never been to a bowl game before, so I'm really looking forward to it even if I do have to sacrifice a wild New Year's Eve party. The 65 degree weather doesn't hurt that much either. Are you jealous yet?

However, because New Years is one of the most exciting holidays in the world of fashion, I had to play the what if game. IF I were going out a celebrating the New Year in style, I could dream of lifting my glass amongst friends wearing a little something like this. A girl can dream right?

Deloom.com Crochet Macchiato Party Dress - Only $37.40!

Heel.com Brown Patent Pumps

Etsy.com Gold Statement Necklace

Etsy.com Feather Hairclip

I wish you all a very happy and safe New Year's celebration and we'll see you in 2013! Go Cats!

New Adventures are my Favorite - It's Etsy Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 21:56:00 +0000

Where does one begin when she hasn't blogged for over a year? Beg for forgiveness? Offer a million excuses? Maybe pretend like no time had passed and just write whatever comes to mind? Or maybe, just maybe, kick off her new blog post with a bang by offering some exciting news? Yes, yes, I like that idea the best. Check it:

Someone has opened her very own Etsy Store! What, WHAT!? You heard me right. My original intention and goal for starting the blog in the first place has finally been realized. That's right... The Curious Yellow is now offering my hand painted art on canvas to the public!

I mean how great is Etsy.com? I don't know what took me so long. I mean it was super easy to set my store up, and after all, what purpose do goals serve if you never intend on achieving them? Sure, there's the slight fear of failure, but you never know until you try. So here I am, trying. If you can find away to monetize something you love to do, well my friends, that is the perfect scenario....the dream. I may never sell a single thing, but I'll be so glad that I set a personal goal for myself and achieved it. Worst case scenario, I'll have some fabulous art to gift to my friends and truly enjoyed myself while I created them. :)

Here's my current fave piece, and I'm being entirely honest when I say I would hang anything I have painted and will paint in my own home. I really do love them all.

Multicolor Geometric Pattern on Beige

Many more where that came from! For those who are interested to see what I have been working on and will be working on in the coming days, you can check back at my store occasionally, and I'll be pinning my new stuff on my Pintrest Curious Yellow board, as well as blogging while new pieces are in progress.

My adventure is just beginning so wish me luck!

New Artwork--Yesssss

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 21:18:00 +0000

So way back when I started this blog, I had the intention of focusing my posts mainly on my artwork. Naturally amidst the engagement, home-buying process, and wedding planning stress, my artwork has fallen by the wayside. That deserves two sad faces. :( :( Although I had lots of great content to write about, I was missing the main reason why I started the blog in the first place. Now with the wedding craziness disappearing (awww) I was able to finally work on something new for the humble abode!

Meet my three new friends:

They have found their new home in my recently re-vamped master bedroom. Yeah, you may remember that about a year ago I already went through one re-vamp. Just something about it didn't feel right with me. I wasn't in love with our room the way I expected to be. I didn't even post any pictures of the completed room online. That has to mean something, right? So, time for another change! Even better, it meant I was able to paint something awesome to hang above our bed. :)

I'm definitely feeling the love now! Sorry the pic is a little dark, but I was getting some great sunlight! Ever since my wedding colors were determined, I have been obsessed with the color emerald green. I just love its richness and brightness at the same time. It's a great accent color with gray, so it was an easy switch from my previous color choice. Add in some new bedding, and new accent pillows, and I'm all set! I'll post some more pics once the room is totally done. I have a few more things I want to do before I consider this case open and closed. :) FYI, here's what color the room was when we moved in:

That's a whole lotta blue! So here's hoping I can get back to painting some more, and maybe even start up my Etsy store one of these days. Hey, a girl can dream about quitting her job and relying solely on hand-painted artwork, right? Right??? Please???

A Brand New Start--Literally

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 23:28:00 +0000

So today I remembered that I actually have my own blog. Oh blogging, who has time to do it anymore? Okay so it's been a lot of months since I've posted, what can I say, wanna fight about it? With the wedding going off literally without a hitch (thanks to some awesome family coordination), a one week incredible honeymoon in Cabo Mexico, and not one but two new jobs for the newly formed Whitney family, things have gotten crazy! You heard me right, both Jared and I are both proud owners of new jobs. We figured, hey, we might as well throw what remained of our single-lives in the trash, and start all over, good idea right? (Not really, it was totally planned, but the timing of how this whole thing went down has been rather, well, strange). First and foremost, wedding, horray! Photo above taken by our uber-talented photographer Jeremy Arnold (see full blog post here with more images)! There's my own horn, tooted. The wedding was incredible, can we do it again? :)

Now on to the decision to uproot my six year career. From my standpoint was simply ready to move on to a new career with more potential and move on to something bigger and better, and Jared was finally ready to have a job which allowed him to be home more than away. We are SO INCREDIBLY lucky to have both found GREAT jobs in this rather lousy job market. Don't get me wrong, it took about 2 months before I was able to land an offer, but I still consider myself lucky. Interviewing the Wednesday before the wedding however? Not desirable. I'm surprised I didn't come off like a complete stress-ridden, basket case.

So today was my very first day at at my new job as the new Internet Marketing Coordinator and I think I'm going to like this place! (although one guy did say to me "you look like someone, and this is nothing against you at all, but like that ditzy girl from that one show....you know what I'm talking about?" No sir, I have no clue, but please be more specific for my own personal ego...sheesh). This exchange happened only minutes before the cheesy sexual harassment video aired. Ironic.

And Jared? He is finishing out his 2 remaining weeks at his current position and starts at a local software development company thereafter! I'm so excited for him, I think he will love it there from all the great things people say about the lucky company who landed him. :)

So, we have a brand new start on our hands, fo sho. Here's hoping my sanity sticks around throughout this transition process. Three cheers for the Whitneys! Yayflag! Yayflag! Yayflag! :)

Warrior Dash/Stroll

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:39:00 +0000

Today was the big day, the day of the Kansas City Warrior Dash. This year is the first year the Warrior Dash came to Kansas City, and I was so excited to give it a try! A group of my friends signed up together to join the fun. Here's a group photo before the race.

Little did Red Frog Events know, they scheduled the Warrior Dash to be held during one of the most trying heat waves in Kansas City. Today, we dashed in 97 degree heat at least that's the temperature it was during our wave. I use the term DASH figuratively. There was not much dashing on our part, more power walking/strolling instead. We jogged for maybe the first mile of the course, and then it was all over. The heat was so intense, the heat index was over 100 degrees, and the course was MUCH more challenging than originally expected. That, coupled with our 11:30am start time, made for a good 50min 5k course time. We should have expected trouble, when the starting line announcer told us to hydrate about 20 times, and then found it imperative to say that "they have seen over 30 people go down just this morning due to the heat". Fan-friggin-tastic. That really motivated me right from the start.

My friend Kate had warned me that the course was full of hills, but I was completely caught off-guard at the quantity and significance of the elevation changes we experienced throughout this course. The incline and decline were so steep, that just walking up these hills was trying, let alone the 10 challenging obstacles sprinkled in between. One participant actually had already ran in the Chicago Warrior Dash held earlier this year, and said that this Kansas City track was ten times more difficult. That made me feel like much less of a pansy. :) It was challenging, but still very fun! The obstacles ranged from cargo nets, to jumping over fire, to balance obstacles 6ft in the air, to tires, to a mud pit at the very end. The link in the beginning of this post will show all of the obstacles we encountered if you want to check it out. It kept us on our toes with every turn and every hill. A few were a little out of my comfort zone--mainly those that required climbing over a tall obstacle to climb down the other side--but all in all, I am so pumped that I finished every one of them! This is my favorite image of the day--My best friend Lindsay and I tackling the fire pits:

My friend Abby was a spectator at the event, and I have her to credit with some of the rockin photos she captured. Thanks Ab! It was fun, but the jury is still out whether or not I would participate again next year if the event is held at the same time of year. That heat was crazy bad, so bad that they cancelled the event shortly after our wave finished. I'm glad I had the opportunity to participate before it was called off! Whew! Otherwise, I would never have known what crawling under barbed wire in utter sludge felt like:

Cake vodka & what's for dinner

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:21:00 +0000

Why eat plain ol' pizza, when you can have pepperoni pizza bites!? This recipe popped up on Annie's Eats, one of the MANY cooking blogs I follow. I couldn't resist, so I made this delicious, pizza-riffic finger food tonight for dinner. Super easy to make, and super yummy!

*I substituted 2% cheese and turkey pepperoni, so I could eat more with less guilt. :) Pair it with a side salad, it was a satisfying little meal.

Prepared, ready to hit the oven

After only 20min of baking. It smelled amazing

Ready to eat with a side of marinara for dipping!

Drool

The cheesy, gooey, yummy

I treated myself to a dinner cocktail as well. Anybody ever heard of this cake-flavored Vodka?

Well I heard it was amazing, and I had to try it for myself. The smell of it alone was DIVINE. Mix it with a little Sprite zero, and I had myself a nice dinner time refresher. :) Seriously, try this stuff. The mixing possibilities are ENDLESS. Tomorrow night is my high school 10yr reunion, (if that doesn't make you feel old, what will)? A few of us are meeting up over at my house for pre-reunion cocktails. This is sure to be a hit!

Making lollies

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 02:58:00 +0000

I have no idea why, but I really want to make some homemade lollipops for the girls at the office (and myself I suppose). :) With all of this inspiration and easy how-to recipes, it shouldn't be too hard. Check out these lovely lollies:

photo and recipe cred

photo and recipe cred

photo and recipe cred

I'm seeking out some fun molds and then the candy making is ON. :)

Bag-Pipes--Game time!

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 02:02:00 +0000

It was the weekend of the fourth of July, and Jared and I really needed a break from all the wedding planning festivities. We quite literally spent the entire fourth of July weekend doing ANYTHING BUT talk, plan, buy, or do whatever associated to the wedding. It felt great to shut the ol' brain off for a bit.

As Jared is quickly learning, I have a tendency to not understand how to just sit and be completely unoccupied, especially when there are so many things we could be doing instead! I figured, this was a perfect opportunity for a DIY project I have been really wanting to try. So off to Home Depot in an attempt to make this new yard game! We have dubbed our game, Bag-Pipes (we're using bean bags instead of tennis balls. I couldn't imagine what a nightmare tennis balls would be if you're playing on concrete, and although I searched, hacky-sacks are not that easy to come by these days. Bean bags it is).

As with any DIY project, the instructions always seem to appear easier than what you actually go through when you attempt to DIY (especially when you do not own either a circular saw, or a jigsaw--lots of hand sawing and sore arms). Case and point: three days later we are finally done. Also, we opted for PVC pipe rather than the drain pipe, this may or may not have contributed to our extended assembly time. Now that it's done, our test runs to determine fun-level of the game went over really well! It's a nice change from bags, washers, and yard golf for sure, and is actually more challenging than it appears. Of course I got lots of photos during the process. I DO have a blog to update after all. Check it out!

Sawing, the seemingly never ending process. Jared and I took turns, as much as I wish I could have just sat around and taken pictures. :)

That's 4inch PVC. Not as easy to saw through as originally expected. Also not recommended, is our sawing support--a step ladder. :)

Rupert had to get in on the action. :)

All 20ft of PVC cut up into their correct sizes

The pieces arranged in formation.

(not pictured--borrowing my parents jigsaw to cut the tops of each tube to a 30degree angle, or whatever was close to that in our case. It wasn't pretty, I'll just say that, by planning, or execution).

Next step, spray painting the inside of each tube

Then I spray painted the outsides with a contrasting color--probably unnecessary, but I can't help myself apparently. My neighbors pretty much had no idea what I was up to, and likely thought I had some strange idea of yard decor.

(Also not pictured--the process of gluing the pipes together. Way challenging when you are dealing with unlevel tubes--due to handsaw cutting. Once again, it wasn't pretty)

Next, on to the point-level labels

It's finally starting to come together now!

One complete set, ready for action! (pay no attention to the uneven spray paint. Two days in, I started to care quite a bit less about perfection) :)

Matching bean bags, of course!

Two complete sets! We're done, finally! Hooray! Who wants to play?!

And what does one do with a scrap piece of PVC that just happened to resemble a crown? Spray paint it yellow and photograph Rupert in it of course! :) He looks thrilled about it, doesn't he?

So there it is, we're primed and ready to try our new Bag-Pipes game out at the Royals game this Saturday for Lindsay's birthday! Yippee! Here's hoping it doesn't fall apart. I might cry...The good news, is that Jared and definitely can work well through adversity in a rather difficult DIY project. :) It's meant to be.

Last Anniversary, as a single

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 02:22:00 +0000

via

Happy three years together future hubbs! :) Hard to believe it's been three years already! I'm also personally celebrating the last time I will celebrate an anniversary as a legally single woman. The next anniversary we will celebrate is on August 27th with my husband, every year, for the rest of our lives. :) Blissful sigh. :) I absolutely love this saying, and I absolutely love him.

Emerald Perfection

noreply@blogger.com (Abbey) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 00:42:00 +0000

Thank you Etsy, for providing me with these lovelies:

Vintage Swarovski crystal bracelet via Bumbershoot Designs on Etsy. It came in the cutest little packaging too! Love it!

Custom heels? Yes Please! Via Paris XOX on Etsy

2 BIG questions marks on my wedding to-do list are officially checked off! I know, I know, I already had shoes....but they were so tall, I just couldn't walk normally in them, on a day where I really need to be able to walk. :) Done, and Done.

Invites here by Tuesday, picking music for the ceremony, wow, this is really happening! Squeeeee!