project life update - june 2012

more pages from my project life: year 29 album...

- jess

project life: year 29 - june - part 2

i'm going to try this week to post all the pics from my project life album.  this album is still really far behind in being completed, but it is something i am going to really focus on this month.

these are two postcards i purchased at the gift shop of the museum

i simply cut the logo from the bag they used when i purchased the post cards from the gift shop

come back this week to see more pics from my project life!

- jess

throwback thursday

hello!

how about a pic circa 1984-ish for a little throwback thursday!?!

this is me and my grandma at her house in michigan.  i'm sure she made our matching outfits as she was a seamstress and it was very common for the women in our family to have matching outfits ;-) i thought i'd share this photo today as my grandma's birthday is coming up this saturday and she will be 85!  both of her parents lived to be 94 so she's got some pretty good genes and i'm hoping the longevity genes passed down to me as well!

- jess

casual weekend style

sooo... i tried to have a little fashion shoot to show you what i've been wearing lately on the weekend to run errands.  it was a bit comical.  i dragged my mom out into a back yard and gave her the camera and tried to give her instructions on how to photograph me.  it did turn out okay i think for our first attempt.

moving on...

usually on the weekends i like to keep it pretty casual when running errands such as going to the grocery store.

sunglasses: guess (tjmaxx) // black tank: target (old) // tee shirt: target (old) // jacket: kohls // scarf: cynthia rowley (tjmaxx) // jean skirt: old navy (old) // tennis shoes: new balance (tjmaxx)

- jess

currents - 02.10.2013

so it's currently 6:10pm on sunday evening and i thought i'd do one of these 'current' posts tonight...

• listening--> all sons and daughters - the longing

• reading--> just the bible...trying to read it in 90 days so that takes a good chunk of time each day

• eating--> fresh raspberries i picked up at the grocery today...so sweet and yummy

• drinking--> smoothies for breakfast made w/ pink grapefruit, bananas, raspberries, coconut milk and cottage cheese

• wearing--> tennis shoes...a lot

• feeling--> like i'm soooooo ready for spring already!

• weather--> in the 60s today but supposed to be cool this week w/ a chance of snow flurries

• watching--> youtube...i think i'm subscribed to too many channels...can't.keep.up.

• waiting--> ummm...for spring...lol

• wanting--> to get more exercise in this week

• needing--> to clean my makeup brushes tonight and edit a video for youtube

• enjoying--> making better decisions in my life this year

• wondering--> where the weekend went!

• working--> on a new schedule for blogging...i hate that it's still pretty random.

what about you...what are some of your currents???

- jess

weekend review

it seems like this weekend just flew by. can i please rewind???  lol.

today i wanted to do a little recap of the weekend.  once i started looking at the pics i took i realize i need to bring my camera out more...so many things i just didn't capture this weekend...

friday night i went out with my friends to dinner at fuji for some hibachi and sushi.  honestly, it's at least the 5th time i've been for hibachi so i wasn't much interested in the show.  my first thought was just to order sushi and try something new, but i backed out at the last minute.  so dinner for me was the chicken hibachi dinner and a philly roll.  i actually only ate the sushi and took all the rest home for dinner.

after dinner we were going to go to a local coffee shop as my friends and i still needed to do our christmas gift exchange.  but when we pulled up we realized that we only had 30 min until they closed.  so instead we went to goody's which is a local froyo shop.  they were so kind and since no one was using one of the private rooms they let us use it!  we had so much fun and it was the most i laughed in a long time.

on saturday, myself and three other friends took a quick trip over to tulsa.  it was actually a really, really late birthday trip for my friend...her bday was at the end of august!  we first headed to macaroni grill for lunch, which is one of her favorite places to eat...mine too!  i always get the blackberry mint iced tea...so yummy!  for my entree i opted for one of their seasonal choices - tortellini with butternut squash.  it was one of the best pasta dishes i have ever eaten!

next up was a bit of shopping...well, a lot of shopping.  lol.  we spent 5hrs at the mall.  i was worn out after all that shopping/walking.  a lot of the stores were still having sales and i was able to get a few good deals.  my favorite purchase of the day was this michael kors watch, although sadly it wasn't on sale...

after shopping we went to dinner at on the border and their guacamole is insanely good.  we followed that up with a quick stop at the gas station to get some drinks and then krispy kreme for donuts then we were on the road home.

sunday i slept in til around 10 which felt so good.  after a quick breakfast i headed to the grocery store with my mom.  after we were back home and had all the groceries put up i decided to make a meyer lemon pudding.  i ended up putting half of it in these cute little graham cracker crusts i'd picked up at the grocery and the rest of the pudding just went into some little juice glasses.  for some reason i just couldn't get out of the kitchen.  next i decided to cut up the honeydew melon and papaya.  then on to cutting and prepping the pomegranate.  after all this it was nearly dinner so i fixed up some guacamole for a little appetizer.  dad wasn't eating dinner, so mom and i decided to split the hibachi meal i'd brought home friday night.  to stretch it a bit for the two of us i sauteed up a 1/4 red onion and a little summer squash which was a great addition to the meal.

by the time dinner was over i was ready for bed again.  lol.  but i had a bit of cleaning to do.  then i decided to try out this new mask i'd picked up at sephora the day before.  pretty amazing stuff.  i'll be sure to do a review of it soon.  finally i switched on the lovely garden lights i have strung up along the window next to my bed and did a bit of bible reading before heading off to dream land.

did you do anything fun this weekend?

- jess

daily pics and updates

goodmorning.  i thought i was getting better at this blogging thing but apparently not...lol.

first up, i've updated my 30 before 30 list as well as my fall bucket list.  it felt really good to get a few things marked off.  i'm thinking i need to print these lists out to help motivate me on...  next, i finally opened up my etsy shop!  right now i have a few mixed media canvas pieces on there but i'm hoping to get some more things listed soon.

and finally...i meant to post these pics last week.

1. waiting in line at starbucks
2. trying on a blouse at target...didn't buy it
3. getting in some bible reading...i try to read every day but that doesn't always happen
4. this passage of scripture just really spoke to me
5. it's that time of year...eating some soup for lunch
6. what would life be w/o a little froyo ;-)
7. cinnamon raisin biscuits from hardee's...oh sooooo yummy
8. the crazy weather we've been having here

9. it was finally cool enough to wear a sweater
10. adele and james bond...two of my favs
11. maroon 5 always comes out w/ songs i keep on repeat
12. first time to wear shatter polish...kept it on my nails a full week
13. trying on a jacket at tjmaxx...verdict - winner!
14. first caramel apple of the season
15. church outfit
16. grocery shopping goodness

17. first scarf wearing of the season
18. homemade pumpkin waffles
19. my etsy shop
20. deer in our back yard

that's all i've got for you guys today!

~ jess

photo dump

today i thought i'd share some pics w/ you that i took last week on my iphone. surprisingly i didn't take that many pics...

1. it was still pretty warm last week even though it's fall...of course that is what fall can look like in the south

2. waiting at the dr office... just a little checkup w/ my dermatologist concerning a mole that had been acting up

3. picked up a pumpkin spice frapp from starbucks

 4. polish on my nails...review coming later this week

5. some pretty awesome shoes i found at tjmaxx for only $19.99...unfortunately they were a size too big and no matter how many times i walked around in them my feet were sliding all around in them. and they were the only ones in the store :-(

6. a brand new blouse i had bought on vacation from marshalls. wore it for the first time and it had split horribly...and no, it wasn't due to fit as it was the perfect size

7. o.m.g. these are soooo yummy!!! found these at tjmaxx and i'm addicted...keeping them in my desk drawer at work for a little afternoon snack

8. have you seen this or tried it?!? i'm not a huge mango fan, but i took the pic to show my friend who loves mango

9. & 10. weekend church outfit

~ jess

birthday trip

well, i'm feeling a bit better since my last blog post. actually made it to the gym last week...no naps...got a couple things accomplished. now i'm looking forward to this weekend as i'm going away w/ a few of my girlfriends for a much needed mini vacation!

today i thought i'd post some pics from a couple weekends ago. one of my friends turned 30 and so we took a quick little day trip over to okc (oklahoma city). first stop was at the myriad botanical gardens located downtown. we actually didn't do much walking around outside but really enjoyed going through the tropical conservatory. next we headed over a couple of blocks into bricktown to eat lunch at zio's italian. after eating we decided to walk over to the okc museum of art. i kind of wish i'd got a pic or two of us walking over there...it was a bit odd because downtown was so deserted. the museum was great and i especially loved the dale chihuly exhibit. as we were walking back to the car we stopped off for some froyo in bricktown...it was soooo good and refreshing after walking around in 100+ temps. finally we headed over to the mall for a bit of shopping, including my first ever visit to a lush store (which i loved)...but for some reason i didn't get any more pics after we left downtown.

it was a great little trip and i think my friend really enjoyed going there for her birthday. oh yeah, it was a total surprise to her as we always surprise each other on these birthday day trips... we never give anything away and the location and each event is a surprise which makes it so fun!

oh, all the pics were taken w/ phones, either my or my friends iphones, so not the best quality.  i completely forgot to grab my camera as i was walking out of the house that morning...

the 4 of us...we were missing 2 other friends who couldn't make it that day

me and the bday girl...pretty sure we were laughing over the bday card i gave her

myriad botanical garden and conservatory

this was near the children's garden

there were numerous water falls inside the tropical conservatory

a fuchsia bush blooming behind me...love those!...my nanny always had those...

9 out of 10 times i give some goofy pose w/ my friends in their pics...

this fan on the skybridge felt sooooo good since it was so warm in the conservatory

view from the skybridge overlooking the tropical conservatory

my lunch at zios - shrimp limone...it was sooo good

massive chihuly work in the art museums foyer...wish i could of captured the whole thing as it was about 3 stories

hall w/ glass ceiling and chihuly glasswork w/ light shining through...soooo lovely

my fav painting at the museum...i always pic a fav from any museum i go to

really loved this painting too

resting at the froyo shop after walking in the 100+ temps

my froyo...soooo good