my niece's 12th birthday

my niece turned 12 back at the beginning of march.  as soon as i saw these jars on stephanie howell's blog, i knew i wanted to make a version for my niece.  only instead of just a few pieces of paper, i wanted to make a jar that would last her all year long.  it was sooo fun creating all these prompts...some are just sayings, like 'you are beautiful'...some are prompts to take pictures...some are prompts to help her family...some are prompts to pray for someone or help them...some are just fun prompts.

i will say it took much longer to create this project than i thought it would.  of course i did wait to the last minute like usual. ha!  i think it would be a fun gift for friends or adults too!

i also created an altered canvas artwork piece for her bedroom.

~ jess

essie play date polish review

i love spring.  it's my favorite season, for sure!  spring and summer are actually also my favorite seasons for nail polish.  usually i'm a pink nails kind of girl, but i definitely like a lot of other colors too.  i kept seeing pics of essie's 'to buy or not to buy' lavender polish and i was falling in love.  so i ran to walgreens friday to pick up that polish, but got sidetracked when i saw essie's 'play date' from their 'go overboard' collection.  what i love about it is that it is a much richer purple.

saturday i put it on my nails and was in love!  not only is it such a beautiful color, but its so creamy and a dream to apply to the nails.  it was opaque in two coats.  i used china glaze 'strong adhesion base coat' and seche vite for a top coat.  i did have chipping after two days, but that was just due to my nails splitting. 

essie 'play date' swatch

i can definitely see this polish getting a lot of use on my nails not only this year, but for years to come.  check it out next time you are in your local drugstore or beauty store.

~ jess

ps... i'll try to get better pics next time i do a polish review!

100th post and some pics

so i just noticed that this is my 100th post!  wow!!!  honestly when i started this blog i wasn't sure how long it would last.  you see i'm pretty good about starting things and never following through.  but i love this little outlet and i think i'll keep at it for many more years to come...

if you read my currents list last week, you'll know that i was feeling a bit depressed after stepping on the scales.  but i dug in and went to the gym and counted calories all.week.long.  i'm not gonna lie, it wasn't easy and i wanted to cheat...a lot!  but i kept pretty close to my allowed calories and am happy to say that i'm down 2.8 lbs!  i'd like to keep it up and get some momentum as i have 71 more pounds to lose to get to my goal weight.  i know it's not going to happen over night, but it's a day at a time.

i jumped on here to actually post about some senior pics i took for a friend last month.  now before you start looking, just know that i'm not proclaiming to be a professional or anything even remotely close. ha!  it's just something fun i like to do as a hobby and only do sessions for close friends or family.

~ jess

currents

listening: barton hollow album by the civil wars - i'm addicted to it!

reading: nothing lately.  i started delirium by lauren oliver a few weeks ago.  read the first few chapters in one sitting and then haven't picked it back up yet.  the beginning was okay, but i just haven't been in a reading mood.

eating: junk. ha! but trying to get back to the 'good-for-me' stuff this week

drinking: a tropical green smoothie.  so very yummy!  best green smoothie yet.

wearing: gray.peach.pink.  wedge sandals because it's going to be in the 80s today.

feeling: horrid yesterday about myself for getting to my highest weight ever.  as in - in my entire life!  but i started counting calories again yesterday and went back to the gym and made better choices so today is a better day.

weather: sunny and just warm enough.  it's a nice change after all the rain we had last week!

watching: enjoyed renting tintin and dream house from redbox over the weekend.  loving fringe and the firm on my dvr.

waiting: until 11am this morning to get the addons from studio calico! oh and for good friday so i can go on a girl's weekend trip!

wanting: to stay on track and lose some of this weight.

needing: to take several boxes of clothes to the consignment shop today. 

enjoying: this lovely warm weather!

wondering: about a lot!  ha.

working: on becoming a better person.

pic above is a graph of my weight for the last 3 years...and the inflections are only for a 10lb range! i need to find the resolve to push past that as i need to lose about 80lbs. but it's so easy to stop and fall into old habits... must.stay.determined!

~ jess

grateful

a lot of times when i am in a bit of a creative rut i turn to pinterest to find some inspiration. either in layouts i've pinned, or color combinations i see, or design elements i come across or in this instance a saying that i ran across. as soon as i saw it i loved it and knew i wanted to incorporate it into a layout. i print up some pics that are just every day pics w/ no story behind them so i can add them to pages like this... here's the link to the original saying that i pinned...

this layout was created using the 'field guide' kit from studio calico along w/ elements in my stash...

~ jess