So. Ya. Worst blogger. Ever.

I've been busy you guys. It sounds so funny to write 'you guys' as if anyone is reading, but maybe I'm still stuck in someone's Feedly or something and like three or four people will see this? Well, I have a decent enough reason for my absence. Ready for a story? Grab a tea.

Ok, so year ago, after Ben was born, I got really, really into painting and drawing. More so than ever. So, for a while I was painting. Then I was painting more. Then I was painting stuff for kids. And drawing characters for Ben. And the ideas were really flowing.

I decided I wanted to open a business focused solely on my children's illustrations. I had a million product ideas, and I thought I could really make something of it. And then, Sawyer happened. Lovely, incredibly cute Sawyer. So, sidetracked! The best kind of sidetrack :)

Anyway.....Sawyer arrived, we got used to being a family of four, and the idea returned. And I knew it was time to make things happen.

After speaking with my Mom and Dad, they convinced me to look into this amazing government program that, if you're selected, helps you create a business plan, and implementation plan, and supports you through the whole process. This program involved in class training, a business coach, and a lot of resources not openly available to the public. Very cool stuff.

Well, I applied. And I was accepted. And I went to school. And I finished school. And now I'm on #689354 of my implementation list. It's all happening friends. For real. In a few weeks (!!!!!) I will be able to actually share the shop details. But for now, I'll just say that it's coming. And I REALLY hope you like it!

So, I am going to keep updating, and soon you'll see everything! And updates on the boys to come, of course!

P.S. That Rad as F//k t-shirt is by the one and only Sara of Top Knot Weddings, and yes, you need to buy one.

Almost three months and almost three years.

Over the next few days, Sawyer will be three months old, and Ben will be three years old. YEARS. How on earth we got through three years so quickly I'll never know. Is it weird that I still feel like a new mom? Where's all my mom wisdom? When do I get really good at this?

Being a Mom has been the best thing that ever happened to me, but if I'm being honest, it's been really, really hard for me too. I always wanted to be that mom sitting on the floor singing songs with her babies in a cute dress looking great and wearing lipstick. Ya, no. We sing a lot in this house, but the rest isn't quite so cute. Not on most days anyway. I wear leggings (aka the new track pants) 24/7 and there is always, always baby spit up on my shoulder. And there is lipstick in this house somewhere, but Ben's hidden it on me. I miss you Ruby Woo.

I feel like it will always be a learning process. Every day something new to figure out. Having two is especially tricky. I mean, how on earth do moms get their babies to sleep with crazy three year olds running around playing with their super loud fire truck toy? And why does Ben always always want to play with his musical instruments when Sawyer is finally starting to settle? ALWAYSSSS. 

Obstacles aside, having these two boys is such a special thing. I want so badly to be a good mom to them, and many days I fail miserably. But I'm trying, so maybe that's enough? Is that all any parent is ever doing? 

One of the biggest things that I've learned is that our expectations of parenthood are so completely different than the reality, and you can never prepare yourself for it. You just have to throw yourself in and see what happens. And never ever ever get yourself into the mindset that being a parent will look like it does in magazines or on blogs or on tv. So much of what we see doesn't represent the real day to day life with little ones. I wish it did! I wish I had time to wash and blowdry my hair on ALL THE DAYS. I wish Billy and I could take off to Toronto and see concerts and drink beer until the wee hours like we used to. But there will be a time for that again. I wish that life looked like the videos on Love Taza. Man those people are doing is ALL right. (Or so it seems, of course). At least she has lipstick on!

Billy and I actually had a really good long talk about this earlier and it was such a good reminder of the fact that we still have time for so much! There are stages to life and not every can happen in every stage. Right now our time is focused on getting these little boys through their first few years. But things will change, and we will have our independence again, and we will miss this time terribly.

And so. For now, we focus on our little family, trying to keep everyone healthy and happy and connected. Trying to soak up these quick years with the two kindest little souls we've ever known. And trying to be the best parents we can be.

Anyway, I'm getting all weepy thinking about how old Ben is and how I'll never rock him to sleep again and how soon he will stop letting me kiss him 563284 times a day. Birthdays are weird when it's your own kid! So I guess I better put the laptop away and get back to stuffing loot bags for the kids who are coming to celebrate with him. I'm hoping loot bags haven't changed so much that they're expecting iPhones or something. Sorry kids, you're getting the same dollar store crap that I got and loved as a child. ;)

There are no words.

For days now I've been half glued to and half hiding from the media. I have tried to write something about it several times now, but nothing can really sum up my feelings for what happened on Friday to the poor sweet children at that school. 

The gun debate is heated, and will be for a while now I'm sure. I'm not going to chime in, because I don't think it will matter. I would prefer that guns didn't exist period, but clearly that can never happen. My thoughts are on those little faces that I keep seeing. Faces just a couple of years older than Ben.

I put Ben down for his nap this afternoon and as he was falling asleep in my arms I held him and said 'I love you' about a thousand times. I can't begin to imagine how much all of those parents just want to hold their babies again. 

Nothing will ever make what happened to those families better. No explanations. No insight into what that man was thinking. There is a huge emptiness in those families now that will never go away.

My heart is broken for every person affected by this unthinkable nightmare. I hope that in time they heal, and can find a tiny glimmer of comfort in thinking of the memories of their little ones. Their time here was far, far too short. 

Pantone 2013 Colour of the year - Emerald

So long Tangerine Tango, Pantone has officially named Emerald the 2013 colour of the year. I'm sure most people aren't overly concerned with this sort of thing, but as an artist it matters to me, and as an artist that happens to hate the colour green....it kind of sucks.

Is it weird to hate a colour? I don't know why I can't stand green, but it's true! I mean, it depends on the use, I guess, but I never use it (there is a distinct lack of green in my entire portfolio).

I don't mind a hint of lime or wasabi green, and I do love Kate Spade green, but I would never paint a room in my house green, or buy green bed linens. What's wrong with me?

As it happens, it looks like I'm going to have to come around to it. I'm working on a set of four paintings right now for a client and the colour connection between them is green. I've had more and more requests for it, and I'm sure emerald skinnies are going to be everywhere in the spring. Great.

What do you guys thing of Emerald? Does anyone even care? Beuller? If anyone is interested, the full spring 2013 colour trend forecast is on Pantone's site. I actually find them all a little boring, except for Monaco Blue and Poppy Red. I guess I'm just not a pastel girl.

Note: This post is not intended to offend the colour green or green-lovers in any way.

Via Pantone

We love shows.

Last night Billy and I went to see Gaslight Anthem and they were AMAZINGGGG. We had such a good night. A perfect night really :)

We've seen a lot of shows. Seeing bands live (good bands, that is) is pretty much the most fun thing to do ever. And I decided recently that I wanted to keep a running list of every band we've seen. This isn't all of them at this point, more will come to me, but for now these are the ones we could think of. 

This list includes shows we've seen together and other big shows (we can't possibly list all the shows Billy has seen, the list would never end) that one of us has seen. This list also doesn't include bands who were at various Warped Tours that weren't very good. Or bands at bars that we happened to be at that weren't very good. 

Anyway, here goes.

• Alexis On Fire
• The Ataris
• The Arcade Fire
• Beck
• Billy Talent
• The Black Keys
• Black Sabbath
• Blink 182
• Bob Dylan
• Coheed and Cambria
• Coldplay
• Dallas Green
• Death From Above 1979
• Deftones
• Dilinger EscapePlan
• Drop Kick Murphy's
• Emery
• Eminem
• Fallout Boy
• Finch
• Finger 11
• The Gaslight Anthem
• Guns 'n' roses
• Hot Hot Heat (2)
• Janelle Monei
• Jimmy Eat World (2)
• The Killers (3)
• Kings of Leon
• Korn
• Limp Bizkit
• Linkin Park
• Marylin Manson
• Matchbook Romance
• Metric
• Muse
• Nine Inch Nails
• Our Lady Peace
• Papa Roach
• Paramore
• The Pixies
• Rise Against
• Rob Zombie
• The Rolling Stones
• The Shins
• SilversumPickups
• Slipknot
• Smashing Pumpkins (2 after today)
• Snow Patrol (2)
• Story of the Year
• The Stills
• Sum 41
• Thrice
• Thursday
• Tragically Hip
• The Verve (my first show, ha ha)
• Weezer
• Wilco
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Yellowcard

Shows we still want to see (some are not possible, we realize)

• Beastie Boys :(
• Bryan Adams (yeah, I want to see him, so what.)
• Foo Fighters
• Neil Young
• Oasis (ha ha, I know, I used to LOVE them)
• Radiohead (yes, we were suppose to see that show that was cancelled. NO COMMENT.)
• Rage Against the Machine :(
• The Strokes
• Temper Trap
• The Tragically Hip (ok, so Billy has seen them, and yes, I'm probably the only Canadian who hasn't, but it just hasn't happened).

Do any of you like to go see live bands? Have you seen any good ones that we should add to our list? 

Fall cleaning - purging and sorting out our chaos

Spring cleaning is a huge thing, but I like to do that seasonally...partly because I'm a lunatic and partly because it makes the job easier if you spread it out a bit. So, with the holidays right around the corner, while everyone is hanging their Christmas lights, I'm going through every room in our house and PURGING. Now's as good a time as any.

Here's what I'm tossing:

• Clothes that I haven't worn in months
• Clothes Ben can't fit into
• Old/unnecessary toys
• Bed linens that we don't use anymore
• Old coats
• Old shoes
• Household items we don't need

Ben already has too many toys, and toys he's grown out of. His little body is growing at lightening speed so half of his dresser is always occupied by too-small clothes. And I haven't done a clothes purge since I lost my baby belly (ok so it's not COMPLETELY gone, that's not the point!). If you hate getting rid of clothes, and you always find yourself holding on to things just in case, here's a really good tip: keep a big container somewhere in your house for clothes you THINK you want rid of. Do your purge and toss your old clothes in there ruthlessly. If you go 5 or 6 months without ever going into it, then pour the whole thing in a donation bag on your next purge (don't even look, you'll talk yourself into keeping it all again). 

Donating stuff like this is easier these days than ever. I called Clothesline, a Canadian donation program, and on November 30th they will be coming here to pick everything up. There is no limit, you simply label all of your bags or boxes with a big 'D' and leave them at the curb. It couldn't be more simple!

Purging is therapeutic for me, and I find I'm way happier when I know that at least some of the junk in our house is gone. Over the past few years I've realized the beauty of less...it started ages ago when I started reading Zen Habits. Are you familiar with this blog? I read it all the time and LOVE it. It's all about living a minimalist life, getting rid of clutter (in your home and life), and finding beauty in simplicity  I make a habit of reading every post. And no, my home isn't minimalist or clear of all clutter (I wish) but I like being aware of this sort of thing and making an effort to keep our home free of junk. It's taken a while, but I find that I'm wanting less stuff now more than ever. Oh I still want things, lots of things, but now I think more about my purchases. I talk myself out of buying things sometimes now, and that NEVER used to happen.

For example, last year Billy bought me an amazing Coach bag for Christmas. Now, I used to buy a new H&M bag every season (for real), but now I realize how wasteful that is. Wastes my money, and I grow sick of it so quickly (the donation bag full of purses proves it). It's so much better to have a smaller collection of really great clothes (I don't mean expensive, but I mean timeless, like a perfect-fitting cotton t-shirt), than it is to have 10 tops in colours that could only be worn in Spring 2011. 

In thinking about the holidays, I'm trying to be really careful with my gift-giving too. I want to go out of my way to get great gifts for my family and friends that will be timeless and thoughtful, and not something that will end up in next springs purge pile ;)

If you'd like to read a bit of Zen Habits, I'd really recommend these articles:

• How to live a better life with less
• Simple Living Manifesto
• 20 Things I Wish I Had Known When Starting Out Life

How about you, do you love to toss old stuff, or is it a dreaded activity? Any good purging tips to share?

People are good.

Something really, really cool happened to me today and I wanted to share it here because, well, that's what I do. But also because it's really pretty inspiring.

It actually started a few weeks ago when I posted about the H&M Playhouse that I desperatly wanted to buy for Ben. It was only available in the UK, and so I pouted and started to look for DIY playhouse ideas on Pinterest.

But, then I got an email from a reader named Nikki. She lived in the UK, and said she would be happy to buy one for me and send it. WOW. So nice right? Now, I know what you're thinking, it's risky to send a random person money, probably just as risky as sending money to that Mr. Mohammad guy who always emails you at work looking for about a million dollars. BUT. Lovely Nikki understood this, and offered to pay for the playhouse and shipping, and I could pay her when I received it. YA.

Again,playing it safe (I do have a sweet boy living here with me after all!) I sent her the address of my father's company, and within a few business days, there it was. My brand new H&M Playhouse, all ready for me to set up and make Ben's Christmas morning extra special.

I have spoken with Nikki quite a bit now, I've sent her the money via Paypal and will be sending her an extra special thank you gift too. But, I just can't believe how genuinely kind she was to do this. As I said to her, she has restored my faith in humanity! People are so lovely, it's easy to focus on all of the crappy things we hear, but this is such a great example of how thoughtful and nice people can be. She took time out of her day to buy it, package it, ship it, just because she reads my blog and knew I wanted to give this to my son. It literally brings tears to my eyes!

Nikki, I know you're not a major commenter on here, ha ha, but thank you from the bottom of my heart for this. I know it doesn't seem like a huge deal, but I know the look that will be on my little Ben's face when he sees it, and it will be PERFECT. You are a very kind soul for doing this for us :)

I also feel really inspired by this, and I want to try to go out of my way to do something nice for someone for no reason in particular this holiday season. I want to spread this happy feeling around a bit!

H&M Playhouse

Why can't everything that I want to buy just be at Walmart and on some sort of awesome sale? That would be too easy.

I want to buy/make Ben a little playhouse for Christmas...and I want this one SO BADLY.

Of course, it's through H&M Home which is not even in the US yet, let alone way up here in Canada with the igloos. Ugh. 

So, I'm hoping that someone I know somewhere can track one of these down for me...otherwise I'll have to make something myself. I don't want one of those over-the-kitchen-table jobies. So, we'll see. 

Side note: There should be a website where you can post things you want that are not available in your country and some good samaritan somewhere agrees to buy it for you and ship it to you. Sure, it would be on some sort of honour system and people would get scammed by the thousands, but MAYBE it would work sometimes, and that would be amazing. 

UPDATE - A truly kind, sweet lady who reads my blog bought one of these for me and had it sent to Canada. Read this amazing,y kind story here :)

Image via The Guardian

Bullying

This story is really getting to me.



When I was in Grade 7, I was bullied. There was no Facebook back then, or Internet for that matter, so I'm sure it was nothing compared to what goes on today. But, it was hell. A group of girls, led by one particular horrible girl, were mean to me every single day. I was small, nerdy, I had horrible teeth (still do, ugh), and they wanted me to feel terrible I guess.

I remember getting calls to my house, every day, every night. Threats that I would be followed home. Nasty notes put in my locker. I remember being so scared to go to school, but also so scared to NOT go to school, because sometimes that was worse.

The thought of being out at the mall or something and seeing them made me feel nauseous. I couldn't sleep, I was 13 and I had crazy anxiety related insomnia. Looking back on my life, it was the absolute worst thing I've ever experienced.

It lasted about a year, and then I guess it just got old for those girls. Through high school I got over it, and didn't think much about them ever again. But during that time, it was debilitating.

Perhaps they thought it was all a joke. But the threat of them hurting me scared me beyond words. I was soooo young. I didn't understand why they could be so mean. I still don't.

Those women are still out there, now my age, and I would LOVE to know how they feel when they see things like this. I wonder, are you sorry? Do you think it was no big deal? 

I know how Amanda Todd felt, and I am so sad that this happened to a poor innocent girl who didn't know how to handle what she fell victim to. Shame on the people that did this to her. To all of us.

People often feel helpless when they know of young people in these scenarios because they don't want you to call the school, or parents, but they want your help still. Every situation is different, but I can tell you what happened for me and it's a perfect example of how a kind person can do something so small that can make a huge difference.

Recess was a particularly scary time for me, because I felt like anything could happen out there for that hour. Sounds stupid, but it's true. The ladies who monitored lunch break just hung out together smoking cigarettes (thanks ladies) so that didn't help. But, one teacher noticed what was happening and approached me. We didn't talk about what was going on. She simply said to me "I am looking for someone to help me get things ready for classes in the afternoon. I need someone to give up their whole lunch every day. Would you like to help me?"

It was like my prayers had been answered. I had this little safe haven to go to every day for the rest of the year. I folded papers happily and ate my lunch in peace. No scary recess to worry about. One less thing.

I guess the point is, people can help, you just have to find a way to do it in a way that doesn't aggravate the situation. I hope and pray that Ben never has to face people like this. And to the people out there who are the bullies, shame on you. You are the worst.

Image via National Post

Happy Friday!

What's everyone up to this weekend? We will be watching movies, having dinner with some friends, and hopefully getting outside a bit. 

Hope everyone has an amazing weekend! xo

A fresh start

A little while ago I had a moment (or rather, a few days worth of moments) of awakening. It happens to us all from time to time, but I realized that I had gotten myself stuck in a rut. A bad one. I was not taking care of myself, I was a big ball of stress, and I was not enjoying my (pretty blessed) life in the way I should be. I started talking to Billy about it, and he had noticed (of course) and wanted to do whatever he could to help. And since then, I've gone through a couple of weeks of reflection. I've thought about what I need to change, what steps I must take to make the changes, and how I can get myself back on track.

So, in the spirit of my list-obsession, and my adoration for New year's Resolutions, I'm making a mid-year resolution list. I know people hate resolutions, but I LOVE THEM. Like more than a friend. Granted, all of my resolution lists look pretty much the same, I still think it's really important to be aware of your own issues and try to change them....even if you only change them until you make your next list.

So, here is my newest version. It's going to take time to get everything going, but I'm already well on my way, and I feel SO MUCH BETTER.

1. Take better care of myself. Take long baths, spend a little time each night before reading, do the things that I love to do (that I haven't made any time for since becoming a Mom).
2. Take care of my health. Stress is an ongoing issue for me, I have pretty bad anxiety, and it's essential that I take care of myself to keep this in check. I've actually started running again (which I haven't done since before I was pregnant) and I'm already feeling better. I forgot how therapeutic running is for me.
3. Work on my time management. Every Mom complains about balance and I know I'll never sit and say to myself "there we go, it's all perfectly balanced" but I do need to work on breaking up my time so that I'm devoting time to being a Mom, a business owner, etc. 
4. Simplify. This is vague, and that's because I mean simplify EVERYTHING. Things in my closet, things in my life...everything. For example, we're going to get rid of the house phone, because it's stupid to have. We're going to get rid of extra 'stuff' (read - declutter) but also extra time wasters, extra pressures, processes that are redundant in terms of my shop...you get the idea.
5. Spend less time 'connected'. My biggest social media love is now Instagram, but I've backed off Twitter and Facebook and will stay that way. I've even taken off notifications, so I have to go out of my way to log in to FB to see what's going on. I feel like I can't keep up with it, and if I try, then I'm missing out on too many other things that are way more important. I do love Twitter, but I just can't check it all the time...I do now and then and I'm ok with that. As for FB, it has become so overcomplicated, it kind of takes the fun out of it. And it's the last thing I check in on nowdays. I'll make a point of staying connected with blogging pals through comments/twitter, etc. here and there. And, for the most part, my friends and I keep in touch through texts/emails anyway. Oh, and you know, the whole 'in person' method. 
6. Learn to be a better Mom. I feel like I am the last one to know everything when it comes to motherhood, and the truth is that I have not gone out of my way to stay on top of things. I'm going to look for good sources (because the information out there is so overwhelming, I need to narrow it down) and make it a point of staying in the loop on different stages, development things, etc. While I think my method of 'just see what happens' has it's perks, I need to find a happy medium. Side note, any Mom's out there have any good recommendations on websites/books they depend on? I feel like BabyCenter is pretty good, mixed with Dr. Sears. Any others?
7. Stop pre-planning every second of my life. Here's how bad it's gotten. If I know Ben is going to have a nap soon (well, fingers crossed anyway) I will start to think about what needs to get done, and I get panicky thinking about how much I want to squeeze into this tiny portion of time. Like, I'm crazy. It needs to stop.
8. Have fun. Plan fun things with Billy, go for walks, get outside, that sort of thing. I feel like over the past few weeks Billy and I have been doing this more than usual and I have been loving every minute of it. I just want to soak in every last minute of summer!

How about you guys, anyone feeling like they're in a rut these days? Any tips on what I should work in to my list? 

(Billy took that picture if us the other night while we were on a dinner picnic. LOVE it.)

Social Media Icons via CarrieLoves.com

 

Last night I did a few updates to my blog (it never ends, does it?) and I added the Social Media Icons created by Carrie. I stumbled upon these via Lauren of With Two Cats (I follow her on Pinterest, you should too!) and I'm so happy with them! 

I did make myself an Etsy one FYI....I used the capital 'E' in Times New Roman, probably not an exact match but it works!

Be sure to get yourself a set here!

Saige Wisdom's Link Up - Obsessions

My friend Sara over at Saige Wisdom has started a new link-up called Obsessions, which is essentially just a list of things she's loving right now. If there's a list of any sort involved, I'm obviously in. So, here we go.





The return of Mad Men, after the longest hiatus ever. I am a little annoyed that Betty is in like 5% of the episodes now. But I'll take it. Any Mad Men is better than no Mad Men. Her and Don are going to end up back together in the end, right? Right?





Vegetarian Recipes, like this Lemon Basil Pesto Pasta. I'm always looking for yummy EASY recipes, and I'm always leaning towards meatless meals. I can't help it. They're just so good.




Pretty tattoos. I want to get my next one soon, something to do with Benjamin...just not sure what exactly I want. Looking for inspiration. Is it weird that this one reminds me of those horrible No fear shirts everyone has when I was in middle school? Or am I so old no one knows what I'm talking about?




Jewellery by A Merry Mishap. I want to order something SO BADLY, and I keep looking at the collection and trying to decide, but I simply cannot pick just one item. I either need to make a decision already, or just buy a bunch of it. Leaning towards the later.




Paris in Color. Ordering a copy of this book today. How can I NOT have this? There's nothing better than seeing a blogger get published. Living vicariously through you Nichole!



Image Credits:

Mad Men  ///  Lemon Pesto Pasta  ///  Tattoo 

A Merry Mishap  ///  Paris in Color

Things I'm afraid to tell you via Creature Comforts

I saw this over at Creature Comforts and I HAD to participate. I really try to be honest on this blog, always have. But, I want to do this to remind myself that there really isn't anything worth writing about if it isn't honest. Ez, you're a genius.


And now for my list. Ugh. Here we go.

• I am a really, really bad eater. Now and then I'll make something amazing and healthy...but we eat takeout a lot. And I'm not talking pretty rolls of sushi. In talking pizza. Sometimes I make Kraft Dinner. Yep. I want so badly to be the wife that makes big awesome meals every night. Maybe I'll get there. Maybe I won't.
• I'm not even a little bit confident about my art...the fact that I've sold one painting blows my mind. I am trying to get over that because it's hard to market yourself if your always thinking in the back of your head that maybe you're a crap artist after all. But I think that pretty much every day.
• I worry way too much about money. It's not something that Billy and I have to worry about right now, he has a wonderful job and he's supporting our family entirely. But I worry anyway. Way too much. ALL THE TIME. And it drives him nuts. (Sorry babe...I don't know how you put up with me).
• Every night I rock and/or nurse Ben to sleep. It's the biggest no-no, I know. He still can't be just left in his crib to fall asleep on his own, and it's all my fault. I didn't know it was a bad thing at first. Guess I should have read some of those baby books after all.
• Speaking of Ben...I let him watch tv. NO, not constantly, but sometimes I'll have it on for longer than ten minutes. I know, I know, I've read the reports. But sometimes I need to put in a load of laundry, or check my email, or read a magazine. Sorry.
• I mention having OCD is a jokey way now and then....but I actually think I do. It's never been diagnosed, and it doesn't affect anything serious (I can leave the house, for example, without checking appliances) but some things that I do are a little weird. Billy and I were laughing at this last night, but it's a perfect example. We eat these candies a lot (see, really bad eater) and I always eat all of the lemon ones first, followed by grape, then cherry....last ones are always strawberry because they're my favourite. I would be seriously, seriously bummed out if the last one I ate was strawberry. Ya. Seriously, someone call my doctor.
• I can be really, really moody. Lucky for whoever reads this blog I tend to write when I'm in a decent mood. But just ask my husband, or my Mom. I can be awful. I don't know how everyone doesn't hate me sometimes. One day I may very well end up alone because everyone's sick of me.
• My basement is a DISASTER. Like it's piled with boxes and bags of crap. PILED. It's the equivalent of Monica's closet on Friends.
• I can't ever make a decision. When faced with any sort of choice, I have to refer to Billy, my Mom, my Dad, my girlfriends, get everyone's opinion, write a pro-con list, and THEN I decide. Followed by months of second-guessing my decision. 

More will come to me, I'm sure I could write a list a mile long of these. But this is a good start. Maybe this will make me a little bit more accountable to my goal of becoming a better person. Or maybe this is just me. AH. I'm really not awesome.

Image via Creature Comforts

Kate Spade Love

So this laptop case was pretty much made for me, right Kate?


I think so.

Instagram update...still unsure.

So if you follow me on twitter, you know I'm not the most thrilled about the recent Instagram update. If you haven't updated yet, read this before you do! (Thanks to Anna @ Door 16 for linking to this!) 


I can live with it...but if I could figure out the process of going back to the old one I would. My favourite filter, Nashville, has really been affected...tear! It's still ok I guess....but fingers are crossed for it to be back to the old one in the next update.