...{...home hair cut...}...

just a quick post today. already a crazy week for me. yesterday, a few hours after i got to work, i received a call that my nanny was being transported to the hospital due to her heart. so i spent the day up at the hospital. she is better now, but they are still treating her.

...on to the blog post...

do you cut your own hair or have it professionally cut/trimmed? i kind of go back and forth.

thankfully i have a great hair gal now who i totally trust and she's been working on my hair for the past year. with the cooler weather i have been sooo wanting some bangs. a few years ago i wanted a full bang, think kate hudson in bride wars. so i took a pic of her to the salon inside my local ulta store...what i walked out with was horrible... my hair has a natural wave to it and the girl cutting my hair didn't take this into account, thus leaving me w/ some short, crazy looking bangs. ever since i've been terrified to try that style again...instead opting for the side-swept look instead. but i've not been able to get the idea of that style of bangs out of my head. so i was going to have my new hairdresser work her magic on them the next time i went...but...i'm too impatient!...so...i cut them myself sunday night---eek---because my hair is so thin, i took quite a bit of hair to make the bangs and they are a bit thick...but, other than that i'm pretty happy w/ them...

right after cutting them...a bit long - almost eye-lash grazing...will need to trim up again this week

no styling...air dry...you can see the wave...still like them this way too...

~ jess

...{...weekend review...}...

did you guys have a good weekend?  mine as usual went by way to fast :-(

friday night i went to the local state fair.  the older i get the smaller the fair seems.  it was the opening night so it was pretty busy.  we were there for about 3-1/2 hours.  rode 3 rides.  ate from two different food stands.  went there with 3 friends.

one of the rides i rode...brought back lots of memories of childhood

overcame my fear of heights to ride the ferris wheel

few from atop the ferris wheel

few from atop the ferris wheel

the most unique thing they had at the fair to eat...deep fried snickers

ate my first every gyro...it was lamb and pretty delish

and it was HUGE...no way i could eat the whole thing

then went to church this weekend...

oh...and made some cupcakes - spiced pear and apple w/ raspberry buttercream frosting. here is the original recipe. i only had 1-1/2 pears so i added in an apple. also had no nutmeg. for the frosting i just made a basic buttercream and added in fresh raspberries. the combo is a bit different, but i really liked it.

~ jess

...{...birthday robot boy...}...

hey everyone!...hope you are having a lovely weekend.  i always have a million projects i want to wrap up during the weekend, but always end up doing more relaxing than working...which is a-okay with me ;-)
anywho...thought i'd share this cute little birthday card i made for my nephew back in august...usually my cards are rather frilly, so it was a challenge for sure for me to come up w/ something for him.  but i really liked how it turned out.

~ jess

...{...me:a-z...}...

seen this popping up on everyone's blogs lately...funny thing cause i actually did it back in 2009 on facebook...anywho, i'll share it here too!

a...age: 28
b...bed size: twin...i have a very small room in which to live and craft
c...chore i hate: washing dishes...ugh that nasty water on my hands
d...dogs: lady who is a great pyrenees...i want an english bulldog someday
e...essential start to my day: breakfast
f...favorite color: usually pink, but it depends on the shade...really love gray too
g...gold or silver: both although more gold than silver for a while...and i'm really into rose gold right now
h...height: 5'3.5"...yes, i need that half inch ;-)
i...instruments i play: none anymore, but i took piano lessons for nearly 10 years
j...job title: art director
k...kids: maybe one day after God sends along my prince charming
l...live: southern us...home of the hogs...woo pig sooie...go razorbacks!
m...mother's name: denetta
n...nicknames: jess...and jessie only by some family
o...over night hospital stay: none as a patient...stayed overnight w/ my grandpa when he was there
p...pet peeves: slow drivers...people who think they know me and judge me on their assumptions...people who can't make decisions - although i was like that for years...
q...quote from a movie: "a thousand times yes" - pride and prejudice
r...right or left handed: right...although i tried to be a lefty as a child which helped when i had a cast on my right hand twice
s...siblings: two half sisters...plus several really close friends who are like sisters
t...time i wake up: 6-ish during the week...whenever on the weekend...
u...underwear: yes, i wear them...
v...vegetable i hate: fresh broccoli
w...what makes me run late: procrastination
x...x-rays i've had: back...hips...arm...hand...neck...teeth...ankle...knee...
y...yummy food i make: cupcakes mainly...although i cook lots of other things
z...zoo animal: umm...like them all

~ jess

...{...sympathy cards...}...

first off...wow, two posts in one day!

on to the post now... i must say that sympathy cards are probably the hardest card to make.  it's that fine balance of trying to add a bit of cheer but keeping it more solemn as well.  recently a friend's family member passed away and i needed to make 3 sympathy cards for the family...each family member being in a completely different age group - 20's, 30's and 50's...and two for females and one a bit more masculine for a guy and his family.  i also wanted to just use the same main sentiment and just change up the inside sentiment.

all sentiments, the impression plate and cardstock are from papertrey ink.  the papers are from various 6x6 paper pads.  the mehndi stamp was stamped with chalk inks.  the tulips colored with copic and prismacolor makers.

~ jess

...{...september birchbox...}...

goodmorning...and happy friday!  i LOVE friday's.  they usher in the weekend...it's usually not as busy at work and we can dress casual...AND i get to see some of my very best friends EVERY friday night.  tonight we are going to the local fair, so i'll try to take some pics and share w/ you guys tomorrow.

speaking of...can you believe i've been blogging so much this week...kinda getting on a roll here and really liking it.

first thing this morning i'd like to share with you guys what all i received in my september birchbox.  if you don't know what birchbox is, it's a monthly based beauty sample subscription.  now some of you may scoff at the idea of paying for samples, but sometimes they do put full sized products in the box as well.  and i soooo look forward to it each and every month.  it's so nice to be able to try the small size before rushing out and paying who knows how much for an item that you may or may not like.

~ jess

...{...recent shopping...}...

just a quick post for a recent video showing some things i purchased recently...enjoy...oh, and don't forget to subscribe!

~ jess

...{...mother's day revisited...}...

as i was cleaning up my image folder last night, i realized that there were a few projects this year that i failed to post.  for mother's day this year i decided to create a 12x12 layout in a shadowbox for both my grandmother (nanny) and my mom.  i'm such a procrastinator that i was working on these right up until the last minute!  but i was very happy w/ how they turned out and they seemed to really love the gifts...oh and of course i made cards for them too...

...first my mom's...

yes, that is a pic of me as a baby w/ my mom...check out her hair!

...now my nanny's...

my grandparents always had watermelon on the anniversary of the day they met...

caption: memorial day anniversary tradition...as a side note, i was born 25 years to the day they met

~ jess

...{...yummy figs...}...

just thought i'd share with you guys one of my all time favorite yogurts...and actually, its the only greek yogurt i've ever been able to eat w/o "doctoring" it up with honey...it's the greek gods fig greek yogurt...i found it at a somewhat local (an hour's drive north) health food store...

the only bad thing...it's loaded in calories and fat..that's why i only treat myself to it once every few months...

~ jess

...{...studio calico...}...

look what i got in the mail last night!...that's right, i finally took the plunge and subscribed to studio calico.  i'm super excited!  i even went and had pics printed on my lunch hour so as soon as my package arrived i could start scrapping.  but as always, i lacked the follow through.  was just so tired last night that i didn't really get much accomplished.  i still have oodles of photos and videos to go through to get ready to be posted here on the blog...

but for today i'll leave you with this...

~ jess

...{...weekend outfits...}...

goodmorning!

hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  as it is most of the time, this weekend went by way too fast.  thought i'd share a few pics from this weekend.

friday night i went to red lobster for dinner w/ some friends.  i have a small group that i meet w/ every friday night.  then after dinner we were going to see the new movie contagion, but opted for some starbucks instead.  saturday i traveled about 3-1/2 hours for a church gathering that lasted all day.  then sunday i enjoyed about 12 hours of sleep...church service...then a youth fundraising dinner of fried fish.

i actually only took two pics all weekend...i need to step it up w/ more pics.  these pics are just from my iphone, so not the best of quality...although i did touch them up a bit in photoshop...

friday night...ready for dinner w/ friends

sunday...church time

~ jess