At my last birthday, in oh... February. Madalyn gave me a certificate for a cake decorating class. Perfect DZP gift from my BeeEff! Well, then our class got cancelled and I almost wasn't sure this goal was going to be completed, but then Duff's Cakemix happened and all was well in my DZP world.
It was... awesome! Not only was it reasonably priced, but the staff was friendly, everything was well organized and stocked with all the go-to tools for awesome cake decorating.
We had a blast. My fave creation was my L&C ode to the blog I love so much!
If you're ever thinking of trying something new or want an awesome gift for a friend, I highly suggest this place.
Blacklist Studio Prints has some adorable lovey dovey prints. Big thanks to Design*Sponge for sharing their stuff, I'm officially hooked. These are just a few of my faves, but they have a bunch of cute stuff here.
Spontaneity is probably one of the top sought after qualities people aim to be in their daily lives. The structure of having a continuous routine can make people koo-koo and therefore have this desire to break away from the monotony and just do somethin' crazay!
That, is not what I did.
I didn't set this goal because I'm too rigid and structured. While some may argue that my planning side definitely can come out more often than my spontaneous side, I am by far one of the lesser rigid members of Orange County. And with completing this goal, spontaneity kicked structure's ass!
And this is what happened...
Back story #1: Life is fucking hard. Period. Everyone knows it, and believe me! I know I'm not the only one fighting. Everyone is struggling with something. We're all fighting through bumps in the road to achieve an over-arching goal... whether it be finding that perfect career, the blissful relationship, that adorably-put-together-home, the bestest friends, the sweetest and most supportive family and the cutest pets. We're all going through life to reach that perfect plateau.
Through that bumpy road, some of those bumps are big, some of those valleys are low, and it can feel so hard and borderline unbearable.
Some days I find myself having to talk myself out of bed. Push myself to be presentable and not just a lazy mess. I'm literally giving myself a pep talk in the shower on most days, and praying so hard for positivity to push me through the day.
I can proudly say I get the job done, and by the time I'm standing in front of the barista at Starbucks, my coworkers, friends, family, puppy, I have a smile on my face. I have a pep in my attitude. I have hope for the sun to shine, because I have found a state of mind where I really am, hopeful.
If I couldn't acheive this state of mind, I would find myself holed up under the covers never to come out. Believe this.
And so, the planning side of things: I've been searching for a quote that I wanted to get tattooed that basically said, "life is hard, but keep moving forward." Something to remind me to keep my head up even at my lowest of lowest points, and serve as a visual pep talk that takes only a single look.
I would come across a few little lines here and there, but nothing ever stuck. Then one day I saw a photo of a girl's side-tattoo of this poster and I was furious! While I'm all about unique-make-it-your-own tattoos - that's what they're for anyways, right? - but this chick defamed this poster by changing the font, changing the crown, *grrrrr* oh my goodness!! *clenched-fists* I instantly thought, how could you ruin such an already perfect design??
And that's when it hit me.
Why am I searching for that perfect quote, when this crown says everything I could ever want it to say and more. Thanks to that awful tattoo, I decided, this is what I want - when I'm ready.
Back story #2: The poster. Not many people even know the history behind the Keep Calm and Carry On posters, but here's the make-a-long-story-short story... During WW2 the British gov't designed a series of morale-boosting-propaganda posters and used them across the country to motivate and uplift the people during the testing times that were to lay ahead.
Here's a quick three minute video that gives you the background, plus how it came to be commercialized:
Now, where spontaneity rules all: I had a rather tough week last week, followed by receiving some piss-poor news on Monday that completely thrusted me in one of the crappiest valleys of emotions where even a smile was just not going to happen.
The following morning I was going through some of my favorite blogs, one of which being Fuck Yeah, Tattoos! and I decided this needs to happen, today! I called my tattoo guy Todd at Ace's High in Fullerton, CA and not to my surprise he was completely booked up! Although he promised to call me if anyone cancelled and an opening would spring up, I was immediately bummed out and my spark was starting to fizzle.
I decided to, Keep Calm and Carry On with my day. I went home and started a mass amount of laundry and then *BOOM!* fate must have been on my side because one of his appointments finished extra early, and I found myself trying to decide if I was going to get this tattoo or finish drying my six loads of wet laundry (not an exaggeration). Todd gave me a window to get my shit done and get my ass in there no later than 8:30pm and I was in just under the clock. Next thing I knew, the stencil was on, needles were preped and it was done 'n' done.
I couldn't be happier.
For me, this tattoo symbolizes my daily motivation, my three-second morning pep talk, and my instantaneous reminder that no matter how hard life gets, keep my head up, Keep Calm and Carry On, because there's a light at the end of this tunnel.
This is Yvette. She is Danny's cousin, but most of all she is my friend, my family. This year she too offered to help me cross off one of my DZP goals from my lovely list! I rambled off a few choices and voila, Color Me Mine sesh for two!
How could I not choose something symbolic of my birthday? A peacock studded cupcake to hold my jewelry. I'm so excited to use it everyday.
And since Yvette is currently blissfully in love, it was no surprise when she made this adorable Valentines inspired piece.
Photos of the final pieces to come!
Thank you Yvette, for the fabulous birthday gift. I had such a good time hanging out, just us girls.
Talk about a style I can seriously appreciate! Fabric & Handle created all their designs around four fabulous principles: flexibility, natural materials that feel good, strong and sturdy construction, and best of all - keeping it simple. Tell me you aren't in love with these tote bags... I dare you!
Came across this from FFFFOUND! and thought this would be an awesome idea for an identity package and some business cards don't you? Which got me thinking... If I were 4 icons, which would I be?
This running Colour Clock represents time as a hexadecimal color value. For those of you who aren't following, every color has a code, so this lovely lime green is coded by #125811. If I were to pop that code in one of the settings on this blog, for instance text color, background, hyperlinks, etc., then it would change to the new coded color! Get it? I think we do...
Say hello to the only zippo lighter I would ever remotely think about owning. I saw an ad for these recently that included a Yankee Candle logo, which instantly had me intrigued. So the blogger in me looked 'em up! These super sleek, lipstick-like designed zippos are made specifically for candle lighting!
Pretty damn cute huh? I already know one of my best friend's who I will be directing to this post. She will be head over heels, I just know it!
