Modern Party: Vintage Asian Theme

We are celebrating 3 birthdays this month.  My MIL, SIL, and BIL!  Happy Birthday to all of them!

Our goal was to keep it simple and order take out sushi. Okay. No problem right?

But then my FIL handed me some antique crystal sushi plates to use and that was all I needed for inspiration.

So here you go a “simple” asian theme with a vintage twist.

I picked up the idea of the centerpieces from my favorite wedding site:  Style Me Pretty.

I wanted to go really crazy with the dessert table but held back the reins. We only had 6 adults and 4 kids.

I thought it still came out really cute.

The plates, napkins, doilies were garage sale steals. The tea cans, chopsticks, tea pot, paper lanterns, and bowls were found at a local Asian market.  The paper is from my closet paper stash.  I used canning jars for our drink glasses.

Strawberry shortcake for dessert. My SIL’s favorite.

Unfortunately the weather was not in our favor that day. We had to move the whole table indoors and amongst all the chaos I failed to capture the rest of the celebration on camera!  It was a happy, chaotic, super yummy meal!

As you can see it doesn’t take much for me to get inspired?  What inspires you?

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Senior Friendship Shoot

While I was back home in California this summer, I attended my nieces’ senior graduation.  As a graduation gift to my niece I thought it would be fun to do a friendship photo shoot. And it was!  I finally finished editing the pictures! Nothing like putting things off a bit eh?  There were lots of photos to go through. And just a warning, there are a ton in this post.  I couldn’t help myself.  You all remember this picture?  Well here are some more amazing shots from that day.

My niece. She is spunky, sparky, and fiesty.  Wonder where she gets it from?

I love this kid.

Did I mention that girls this age are the best to photograph? They are naturals in front of the camera. It was not only a special thing for my niece and her friends but it was really good practice for me.  They were great to work with, so patient.

My very good friend, Michael Emo, came out to help me out on the shoot and to give me a few pointers. Michael is an aspiring actor, amazing photographer, and very talented graphic designer. I wish I had an 1/8th of his talent. He was so detailed in his lessons and advice.  I was able to test out some of his Canon equipment. I have total lens envy now. Thank you Michael!

You can check out Michael’s Blog and FB-fanpage for some more amazing photos and work.

His shots are straight-out-of-the-camera fantastic.

(photos courteous of Michael Emo)

Girls, I hope you enjoy your photos and treasure these friendships you have.

Congratulations and good luck in your next steps of life, I wish you all the very best.

“Just about a month from now I’m set adrift, with a diploma for a sail and lots of nerve for oars.”  ~Richard Halliburton

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The horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day.

I recently read a blog post on other’s feelings towards mommy/crafty blogs. I was a little surprised to read that some people did not like blogs that were too positive.  They felt like mommy blogs might portray a false sense of life or worse yet, feel bad about themselves because the mommy blog looked like that they had a perfect life.

Looked like they had their act together, that they were happy all the time. Not real enough.

I had a discussion with my friend about it and joked that I should write a disclosure on my blog that read:  “Attention, attention this blog is meant to inspire. This blog is not to make you feel better about my shitty days.”

She said I should write something about the behind the scenes life; good and bad.

I laughed. Because I am not a good writer. I am good at conversation and I am visual. My pictures tell the story.

But then I thought why not let people into that side of your day?  Tell them all about your recent bout of bleh feelings?  Why not show them how you neglect your laundry and dishes?   Or how your 2 happy girls are really tornadoes in disguise.

Why not show how you are the worst procrastinator on the planet?

Sure. Why not?

Which brings me to my blog title. You all remember that book right?

It was one of my favorites. I even recited part of it at our local Peach Blossom Festival in 5th grade.

That line pretty much sums up how I have really felt the past few weeks.

Bleh.

Irritated.  Emotional.  Anxious.  Angry.  Tired.  Stressed out.

Insecure

Want to run and hide from my toddlers.

Uninspired.  Unmotivated.  Lonely.  Overwhelmed.  Sad.

You get it.

I hate when I feel that way.  Thankfully, it doesn’t happen very often. I am generally a very “glass full kind of girl.”

These feelings usually follow something. And I had a week of my 2 girls being sick with viruses and then I got sick on top of it.

A long, hard 2 weeks.

I also thought it was a good time to answer the question—“How do you have time to do it all?”

I don’t.

I start projects and don’t finish them. I take on too much all the time.

I do what I can when I can. Each day is a new priority. Each day I try to accomplish something.  What I don’t do is watch very much TV.  I watch maybe 1 to 3 hours per WEEK.  Not day.  Per week.

I don’t spend a lot of time on hair and makeup.  I should but I don’t.  I wear a hat 5 days a week.

The other parts of my day are spent parenting, running errands, cooking, hanging with my hubby, hanging with friends, cleaning, changing diapers, editing photos, crafting, obsessing over things, talking on the phone, checking email, way too much time on facebook, and living life.

I blog at night time.  I am a night owl.

It’s all a balancing act and some days I am better at it than others.

I admit I am overly ambitious. I always have been.  Bite off more than I can chew.

This was started with the intent to grow into something. A journal?  A business?  And it has evolved into so much more. I love it.

It’s an outlet for me.

I promise that I won’t be writing too many of these bleh posts.

You see, I don’t have very much help. I am on my own most days with 2 small children.

I have a babysitter every now and then but that’s it.

My in laws are wonderful and also help out when they can and of course I am blessed to have an amazingly hands on husband.

But I am 3000 miles away from the rest of my family.

This blog was started so that I could keep a portfolio of my projects.

It is meant to keep my family and friends connected.

It is meant to INSPIRE.

A glimpse into my days.

My good days……not my bad ones.

There you have it.  Disclosure done.

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