Minibook Monday

Hello! Did everyone have a good Monday?  I always feel happy when Monday is almost over.  It is my least favorite day of the week.  It always seems like a Grey, slow start to the week.  It's so unfair to the poor weekday.  I made the BEST dinner tonight though.  I used this recipe.  I made a few substitutions (whole wheat pasta, 1/2 cup pasta sauce and I used skinless chicken breast.) Best part...enough for lunch tomorrow!!

Anyhoo,  I love sharing my minibooks.  Hopefully it's not too boring to see them.  Is it?!?  When I was thinking about the kind of things I wanted to blog about, I decided to start blogging the things that I most enjoy looking + reading about.  Minibooks top that list!  Do you all know Elise Blaha? She is the minibook MASTER!

::Moo cards make the fastest minibooks::

Alright all...have a great tomorrow:)  Hopefully the BIG HUGE blizzard isn't too bad for those of you in the path.  Thanks for stopping by and saying hi!

A good day for an oyster roast

It was a beautiful day.


I mean a picture perfect - blue sky - 70 degree day.  Its the kind of day that makes people in the North jealous when you tell them you live in Charleston, SC.  So, what does any good Charlestonian do with weather like this in January? They go to an oyster festival!  We are lucky to live just minutes away from Boone Hall Plantation which is home to one of the largest oyster roast in the Southeast. The roast was crowded, but it was a great day with family and friends.


I hope you all have a fantastic start to your week:)  Thanks for stopping by!

::Bucket of oysters + John & I::

::Me & my sister + the crowds::

::Boone Hall Plantation cotton bushes::

Right now I am...

listening: Drake and Jamie Foxx KILL IT on this song.
eating:   Anything from this cookbook.  Most things only take 20 min to prepare!
drinking: Trader Joes Blueberry Green Tea.  Sugar free!
wearing: Gap hoodie + gap yoga pants.  Comfy Clothes!
feeling: achy.  Took a nap today, but can't really shake this fever.

::favorite quilt::

weather: B.E.U.A.T.I.F.U.L Bright blue skies, mild temps.
need: to work on magazine cover for electronic publishing class + finish working on a mini book.
thinking: about how to get my b u t t going on a gym routine.  I am feeling stiff and sluggish.
enjoying: my new washer & dryer.  Front loader bliss.
wondering: if I WILL be able to graduate in August.  Finger crossed that the last class I need is available this summer...anxiously awaiting the summer session catalog.
internet find: this unique necklace that I am coveting. Can we say VALENTINES DAY!!

Source: etsy.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I hope you all have a great Sunday.  If I am feeling better *fingers crossed* tomorrow I will be at a huge oyster roast at Boone Hall plantation.  Thanks for stopping by + taking the time to comment.

::Thanks to hello again for sparking this post::

Five for Friday

Hello!
I am glad to see others share the same frequent word issues I do.  In fact today I left comments on a few blogs and never once used the words amaze, love and inspire.  Success! So what does everyone have going on this weekend?  I have some school projects and an oyster roast on Sunday.  The best news of all...60+ degrees and SUNNY! Moments like this I just LOVE living here.

::Sunny day on the Battery::

So far I have three blog features I am excited about Monday Minibooks, Wordless Wednesday and Five for Friday. These may change, but for now I like the structure. What can I say. I am a Virgo :)

1. Kashi Warm Oat Cinnamon Cereal.  WHAT?! This stuff is so tasty and filling. Its basically like cinnamon toast crunch for adults.
   
   
2. Battlestar Galactic. Oh holy goodness.  My nerdy husband is making me a nerd.  All things considered its a really good show.  We like watching TV series from beginning to end and I am actually enjoy the story lines.
   
   
3. Overstock.com. Am I the last to know?  Happiness.  I got these sheets (blue ticking.) Take it from me, soft as velvet.
   
4. Keurig. This is my HEAVEN.  It makes one perfectly brewed cup of coffee on demand.  John (hubs) bought it as a Christmas gift and I use it every.single.day.  *If you are wondering...I think Emeril's Keurig Coffee is the best. 
   



::image here::

5.  Lastly, all of you that have taken the time to comment this week! It has excited me beyond words to open my blog and see the comments.  So, thanks for the warm blogger welcome :)

::image here::

Get a thesuarus already

Hello, it's almost, almost Friday.  Hip-hip-hooray!
So this is my tenth day blogging.  10th day! I am so excited with the opportunities and happiness this is bringing me, so I decided that on the 21st day I am going to do something special.  You know the old saying...21 days makes a habit.

Source: behance.net via Jennifer on Pinterest

Anyhoo...with my happy foray into the world of blogger has come a HUGE problem.  Well really its just a huge problem to me.  I am SO.DARN.TIRED of using these three words:

1. Inspired
2. Amazed
3. Loved

There has to be more words I can used to describe how I feel about others art, sewing skills, photos, recipes, dreams, and words. Its driving me crazy that I can't express how I feel without using one of those three words.  So...I am going to make it my goal to actually write what I feel, not just what sounds good. Also, I am going to spend some time looking through a thesaurus so I can have some fallbacks when I can't think of another way to describe something that inspires, amazes and makes me fall in love ;) Suggestions always welcome.

Wordless Wednesday

Ahh...wordless Wednesday.  This post is just a sampling of my favorite Charleston, SC things.  A small sample of the 100+ things I love about living here. Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you have a great Thursday :)

1. Macaroon Bakery. A piece of France here.
2. Upper King Street.  My home during college.
3. Juanita Greenbergs. Pretty much THE best burritos in town.
4. William Aiken House. Where I worked during college.

The art school hedgehog

So, I kind of wish this was wordless Wednesday, because I just looked at my syllabus and realized that I not only have to animate my hedgehog, but I have to place him in three different scenes.  So meet Mr. Chubby Hedgehog.  A rough sketch of what I will be working on until Friday :) Hope the week is going well for you all!

Manic Minibook Monday

Good Evening! This is my favorite time to write on the blog I am finding. A nice way to relax and wind down for the day. This was indeed a relaxing day, but isn't any day you DON'T work awesome! I also saw Julie & Julia tonight. What a great movie (I know I am totally behind the times, but I don't get to the movies much!) I didn't really know much about Julia Childs before I saw this movie, but man do I admire her determination. Anyhoo...

One of my favorite paper projects is creating minibooks. They always get me out of a creative funk because I use three rules. I know it seems like rules are counter intuitive to breaking out of a creative funk, but the limitations actually help me. It pushes my creativity to think out of the box. I usually gather all my materials together and then develop the plan for the mini book shape and size.

My mini book rules are:

1. Use a unique binding technique.
2. Choose one embellishment and use it through-out (rub-ons, stickers, gems, buttons, etc)
3. Use my own handwriting someplace.

A couple of tips...I love, love, love PVC glue. You can order it from Paper Source. I also keep all my cardboard cereal & oatmeal boxes. I use these to create my front & back covers. They are quite sturdy and allow you to create a mini any size. I keep my mini books in a basket in the living room and love when guest dig through and have a look. What projects help you get out of a creative funk?

Turner Classic Movies = love

Hello all! I seriously love classic movies.  They have been the one constant in my life regardless of where I live, what job I've had, what art I've been into, or what stage my life was in.  They have influenced me so much that my wedding last April was sprinkled with vintage influences.

::Photo by Shannon Michele Photography::

So, I have made a list of the movies current waiting to be viewed in my netflix rotation.  A few I have added based on another blogger, Mandi of ::Here's looking at me kid:: who runs a regular feature called Movie Monday. It seems she shares the same love of old movies that I do.  It always amazes me just HOW much creative/design inspiration I can get from an old black and white movie.  The envelope please...rather, here is the list!

1. The Palm Beach Story
2. Christmas in Connecticut
3. Splendor in the Grass
4. Royal Wedding- Here's looking at me kid Rec
5. Guess who's coming to dinner
6. Million Dollar Mermaid
7. From the Terrace
8. Sex and the single girl
9. The Seven year itch
10. Strangers on a Train
11. Gigi

If you have another recommendation, please let me know.  I have tomorrow off *woohoo* since I worked on Saturday.  Even better the hubs has the day off too.  Sleeping in, lunch together, shopping downtown.  I am so excited to have no "real" agenda.  I hope you all have a great start to your week too!

Wine and Pizza

This is a new feature I hope to do often.  My friends always tease me that "everything" is my favorite, but its kinda true.  I do have lots of favorite things and this feature is where I will share all those things worthy of the favorite things title.  Nope, not Oprah...just Jeny :)

1.  Pizza. YUM.  The best pizza we've had is from Whole Foods.  Have you ever had their pizza? Its baked fresh in a wood-fired oven.  Well, this afternoon I went to Whole Foods to get staples for the week and asked the pizza guys if they just sold dough...turns out they do and for 3.99 you can make Whole Foods pizza at home.  Basil, Mozzarella, Tomatoes and a little olive oil = perfection.

::My Pizza Margarita::

::azeite by Graceº, on Flickr:::  

2. Red Wine.  It goes perfect with pizza and is my guilty pleasure.  My favorite things about Red wine is how much my family has started to enjoy it.  It has become a big part of our gatherings. We love Davinci Chianti and Rex Goliath Cab.  What is your favorite wine? Red or White?

::Around the table at Family Dinner::

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So because I am just getting the hang of this blogging thing and fighting my way through photo uploads these are my TWO great shares for tonight.  I know...totally major right! Its only my sixth day blogging so hopefully as the days tick by my blogging skills will get better.  Just 14 more days and this is a habit.  If you would be so kind to leave a comment.  I am trying to decide between using Photobucket and flickr.  Any suggestions are welcome.

Hedgehogs, art school and Anthropologie

Hello friends! Just a short post tonight.  I have to work tomorrow (BOOO) + finish an animation project for school.  My obsession with hedgehogs is still HUGE and I drew a little chubby fellow to animate.  Like always I  asked for a hedgehog this Christmas and John got me this baby hedgehog one instead.  So cute.

:: A Skunkboy Creatures Creation::
 

It's a Skunkboy Creatures and she makes the cutest stuff. Anyhoo.... Once I am done with the animation I will have to post it here.  Being in art school we do quite a few critiques, but they never get any easier.  I think that's going to be the hardest part of being a designer, building confidence.  After working for 11 years as a system engineer, a career in art is essentially like learning a whole new language.  Worth it though.  I have loved art since I was three years old.  I wanted to be a designer of recipe cards-weird I know, but I would sit for hours coloring in index cards.  I think following graduation it will be the first thing that offically design for me! The fonts, the colors, the imagery.  I think about design all the time. Now I need to get a handle on the sharing part!

I have NO problem sharing my love of others inspiring work and Anthropologie (A DREAM JOB) never, ever, ever fails.  They always seem to be a half step in front of everyone else. I love this video about scarfs.  Ummm...another great pleasure of mine.  I really should do a scarf post.  Do you all have a certain way to wear them?  I have started doing a knot in mine.  Anyway...enjoy!

Scarf Scenes from Anthropologie on Vimeo

Do you Pinterest?

I am LOVING Pinterest...I have been dipping my toes in looking around, but now I have started to build my boards and pin the things that I am"starring" in my Google reader.  It fills me with a visual bubbly you just can't get any other way. Pinterest puts a bookmark in your toolbar that allows you to "pin" anything that interest you.  Very easily you start to curate your own library of images, words, styles, books, and products you love.  It is like a little window into your soul.

First sign up...@pintrest.com and then...::Follow me HERE

These are a few pins from my Visual Love board.  Have fun!! 

via on Pinterest

via on Pinterest

via on Pinterest

via on Pinterest

If you do sign up and I know you will don't forget to ::follow me::

Quinoa...Keenwa the new seed

Tonight I had the BEST salad...although it is somewhat of a mirage because I can find no record of it on the Earthbound farms website. BTW...go here and get a coupon for $1 dollar off a salad.  Thank you Earthbound farms! Anyway, I found this kit at Wholefoods and was honestly drawn to the balsamic vinegar dressing.  You can't beat the taste of balsamic for the minimal calories.  The salad was Spinach + Quinoa (pronounced Keenwa) with sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, olive oil, sea salt and balsamic.  The protein (14-18%) in this salad made it a meal all on it's own (picture inserted here if I could find it!) I have read a lot about quinoa over the last few month, but have been scared to try it.  I must say it will be giving couscous a break as I work it into mealtime.  It had a slight lemon flavor that made it refreshing and had a satisfying crunch.  Yum.  I looked up info and wasn't surprised to find that it is closely related to my 2 favorite foods...beets, spinach and also the ever tasty tumbleweed!?! LOL!  I have never had a tumbleweed, but have to think this is an error in the wiki entry. Tumbleweed or not, I am so excited the I broke the quinoa seal and I have yet one more way to bring in the protein.  Protein for me = full belly.

This recipe looks good.

image found here:

 

 

 

I keep going back and forth about signing up for weight watchers.  I pack my lunch every.single.day. So I am not afraid of the extra work, but it's the points and measuring.  I have a nut allergy so I can never just follow a diet plan, and that always adds an extra heap of irritation. I am going to make a decision by February 1st.  Right now I miss the early 20's when I could just stop drinking beer for a few weeks and see a drastic difference.  The 30's are not as kind.

My soundtrack

So tonight John told me what he wanted for Valentines Day...he told me that he wanted a soundtrack.  A "soundtrack" I said...which one? He told me that he wanted my soundtrack.  My soundtrack? Hmmm...I started thinking surely he wanted something beyond Tori Amos (girl crush) and the Beatles (life shapers.) I have a playlist on my iPod that I use all the time called "good times" it's my go to when I am feeling sad, happy, excited, but IS it my soundtrack?

aged paper hearts::jenypenny.etsy.com

Needless to say, I have quite a bit of musical soul searching to do before I can actually commit to my soundtrack.  Valentines is really only just weeks away!

Currently

Amy Tangerine does a thing on her blog that I always love reading...its a currents list. I like that it is a little slice of life. Since I am always surprised how F.A.S.T life moves, I think it will be fun to start.

So....currently::
listening: John watch Battlestar Galletica. Netflix happiness!
eating: just had a coffee from the Keurig. Love that thing!
drinking: nada
reading: Nigella Kitchen (Yes, I read cookbooks!)
wearing: grey & black stripped socks, jeans, black cashmere JJill sweater, ruffle pick shirt from Target.
feeling: bummed that is is 7PM and I have to go back to work and school tomorrow.
weather: chilly & rainy
wanting: to figure out how to make the title font on my blog different.
needing: to get gas in my car.
thinking: what is wrong with my darn dog…why is she so whiny?
enjoying: Kashi Warm Cinnamon Cereal.
wondering: if I should sign up for weight watchers, I have 37 lbs to lose.

Hello World!

I have stopped and started a few blogs over the last 9 years. I often find myself NOT posting on the blogs I stalk because I have nothing to offer. It is weird to have so much in common with people that I have never met. Hopefully this blog with help me stretch my wings and finally make those connections.

Greatly inspired by Elise Blaha (who shares my exact wedding date!)
It's time to...

::print available in Elise's etsy shop ::

I hope to participate in:
Wordless Wednesday
What I wore Wednesday
Recipe sharing
Esty promotions
and slice of life entries like this...

What are your top 3 favorite foods?

Watermelon, Beets, and Mexican

What are your top 3 favorite places?

Tokyo, Japan :: Sullivan's Island, SC :: Any Ritz Carlton

What was the last movie you watched and would you recommend it?

Legends of the Fall…am I the last person EVER. It was so good.

Where was the last place you went?

The Village Bakery in Old Village for lunch with my husband.
Name 3 places you have never been that you want to visit.

Paris :: UAE :: Ireland

Name 3 things on your bedside table.

My cell phone :: The Crafter Devotional :: itunes gift card
What are the top 3 things that your job requires you to think about?

I am a system engineer for NOAA so I have to think about security, software applications, and checking server event logs for errors.

What was the last musical or theatrical event that you attended?

A Christmas Carol at the Dock Street Theater downtown (Charleston, SC)

What are the first 3 things you would do if you won the lottery?

Get a good tax attorney, pay off my sisters house, and pay off my Mom's house.

What are the top 3 things that you wish you could do?

Sing on Broadway for a season :: lose weight :: work as a full time designer :: get pregnant

What is the last thing that made you smile?

Watching my new washer/dryer get installed today. Front loaders baby!!

I want to share my:
Photos
Paper Projects
Small tutorials
Favorite quotes
Bloggers I <3.

So, hello world. So happy to finally meet you!