Locke: A Photo Essay

Locke loves to lay on dad, talk, dream, watch squirrels, find interesting places to sleep and to snuggle with blankets. 

NOW TRENDY: Super Creative Party Themes

OK ya'll, I am beyond excited about this post! As you all know by now, I love a good celebration/party, so I am currently loving that people are going all out for their parties these days! Themes are on a whole new level and it just makes my heart happy.

One of the main reasons I am so excited about this post is because I have a real life example to share! A friend of mine recently had a baby shower and when I saw the pictures I almost cried it was so perfect. 

The theme was children's books and everyone really went above and beyond to make the books come to life through creative refreshments and clever decorations. The result was just adorable and perfect for a baby shower! 

Here are a few of the details!

pictures via Sarah C

I just can't get over it. So great! I especially love the added touch of using those library card labels! (not sure what the technical name for those is, but if you've ever been to elementary school surely you know what I'm talking about)

DO YOU LIKE IT?

Nope. I looooove it. I have some experience in event planning/management, and seeing people get excited about planning parties and creating themes makes me overjoyed!

WILL IT LAST?

Oh man, I think so (and rrreeaally hope so!). I think that the sense of community that comes with planning a well thought out get together will help keep this trend going strong!

OTHER COMMENTS .....

I'm not saying that there haven't been good parties out there until now, I just think that the desire to throw one is more apparent. I mean, my parents planned and threw some amazing birthday parties for me and my sister, and I think that's one of the reasons I'm so passionate about it. 

Plan on, my dears, plan on! 

BONUS:
Click the link to see where the hostesses got their inspiration to create a children's book theme!

Thanks for reading.

Bye friends.

8 Cups. Every Day.

Since I've moved almost a mile into the sky, it's been even more apparent to me that I do not drink near enough water. Occasionally I will wake up feeling sick to my stomach and light headed. I'm no stranger to the feelings of dehydration, and it's something I'm trying to work on. 

So recently my husband came across an app called Waterin. It is a super simple tool that helps you keep track of your water intake and sends you alerts throughout the day letting you know that it's time for more water! 

source

At first I was annoyed because I wasn't  doing a very good job and it was simply serving as a reminder that I am terrible at drinking water. However, slowly but surely, it has made me much more aware of how much water I'm drinking, and although I still struggle to hit the daily recommended amount, this app has definitely helped me make water a more constant thing to have around. 

So if you're having a hard time hitting that 8 glasses a day quota, I encourage you to download this FREE app, Waterin. (available on the iPhone, iPad, Android and possibly other stuff, idk)

BONUS:

If it's a really hot day (shout out, Texas) or you are a more active person (working on iiiit .....) then you do have the option of changing the amount of water you would like to consume every day! 8 glasses is just the suggested minimum. 

BONUS BONUS:

I think it's also helpful to have a reusable water bottle that holds at least a liter. It serves as an additional reminder to carry with you at all times and is another way to visualize how much water you are drinking/need to drink. 

Cheers to staying hydrated!

Thanks for reading!

Bye friends. 

A Little Something For Friday

I wish I had the energy/brain capacity to write a really awesome post today, but I don't. I decided to clean the living room today, in detail, and now it smells really good in here and I just want to sit and smell it and watch HGTV while I await some news on the job front.

So here is my Friday post. Just a few links that I've come across and want to share. I hope you find something that strikes your fancy!

- Some super charming illustrations that reflect my life pretty accurately.

- This is me, openly admitting that I do not like sweet potato fries, and I want to try these butternut squash fries as an alternative. (see pictures 4 & 5)

- An amazing tunic from Curator

- These pointed toe flats from Victoria Secret (I forget that they sell amazing basic wardrobe essentials.)

- A hand bound address book from Etsy.

BONUS:
I had a moment while writing this where I questioned whether or not it was Friday. This week went by so fast!

Thanks for reading.
Bye Friends!

Festive-al Weekend

Don't you just love a good festival?? That has definitely been one of my favorite things about our recent move to Denver. So. Many. Festivals. I'm a big fan, and thankfully so is Jonathan. So this past Saturday he had plans for us to attend TWO festivals (whaaaat. dream day.).

Originally they were both going to be a surprise (a continuation of birthday fun), however, he was really really excited about one of them so he went ahead and told me what it was. 

First we went to the Lafayette Peach Festival. This one was a complete surprise, and I was so pumped! I looove peaches. My family actually used to have a peach tree when I was little. We would pick peaches and my dad would make the most amazing peach cobbler. Ah, memories. 

After walking the whole length of the festival street lined with vendors selling everything from fresh picked vegetables to handmade soaps, we were a bit hungry and stopped at a fun little pizza place, Apiezza. We snagged a table by a window so that we could still enjoy the festival view. They had a special menu for the festival and I could not pass up a refreshing peach italian soda. It was amazing. The pizza was perfection and being able to watch the festival from a comfortable air conditioned area was simply ideal.

With almost full stomachs we were on a mission to get some peach cobbler on the way back to our car. Well, mission possible, because we snagged some from a booth that was completely out of their peach pies and almost out of their cobbler. People here love their peaches. And because of this we were unfortunately not able to get any actual fresh-from-the-farm peaches on our way out because they had all sold out! However, it was still so enjoyable and I can't wait for next year! 

After the peach festival we went home for a hot second to grab a few things and rest before heading to our second festival, Cultivate! This festival is presented by Chipotle (which started in Denver BTW) and is all about promoting sustainable, local, wholesome food. They strive to educate people on the importance of sustainability while entertaining them with all day live music (cold war kids headlined ..... I knew a song ..... ) and live cooking demonstrations from well known chefs. And obviously, they had some amazing food as well. 

We had a blast. There was so much good food and oh, did I mention that I met Blais from Top Chef? BECAUSE I SO DID. And he's really photogenic ..... 

BONUS:

We met this kid (teen) who helped out Blais during the cooking demo. He's apparently a prodigy chef that caught the eye of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban who is now making a documentary about him. (here's to hoping I make the cut, right?) Anyways, his name is Aaron Kirschner and you should look him up!

BONUS BONUS:
- We bought an amazing soy candle from Incendiary Scents at the peach festival.
- And we enjoyed a pecan pie doughnut from Glazed and Confused Doughnuts in the Artisans Hall at Cultivate!

We're always on the lookout for mention of other festivals in our area. There are quite a few coming up in these next few months before it gets too cold. And I say, bring it on. 

Well everyone, as always, thanks for reading!

Bye friends. 

A Grab Bag Of Sorts

Hey guys!

I want to start out by saying thank you to those of you who sent me little bits of encouragement yesterday after I posted "I just need to 'do me' for awhile." I'll be honest, it was a little embarrassing to post something like that, but it felt really good and yesterday being my first full day with out social media went really well. I'm looking forward to this time and what it is going to do for me. Now, I promise that I won't constantly post about this, but occasionally I will in order to hold myself accountable.

So, that being said, one of the (many) reasons that I am trying to rid my life of various distractions is so that I am able to do things that I truly love doing, or have wanted to try doing. Instead of grabbing my phone to mindlessly stare at it, I want to grab things (get the post title now?? heh) that will make me feel more productive. Things like .....

1. Craft Supplies
When I was little I was ...... adorable. And along with being adorable and a bit chunky, I was all about crafting. I still craft occasionally but not near as much as I would like to. So I want to channel my 10 year old self and craft my heart out.

BONUS: Some DIYs I am particularly excited about
- DIY Oversized "Gallery Prints" via little chief honey bee
- T-Shirt Headbands via Milo&Ben
- And I want to experiment with making homemade beauty products such as lip balm, deoderant and soap!

2. Tennis Shoes/Yoga Pants
So my husband and I have been trying to eat better lately. It's actually been going pretty well. We both feel good about it. But we cheat on the weekends, because we love food to much not too. Anyways, all that is great, but we have not been working out really at all, and that's just silly. So I am really wanting to try to make that a big part of this whoooole thing.

BONUS:
I'm particularly wanting to get into Hot Yoga. Have ya'll heard about this? It's also called Bikram Yoga and apparently It can change your life. It has SO many benefits, and if it becomes a regular thing for you than it will more than likely increase your daily water intake (which can't hurt!). Read this to learn more about all of the benefits!

3. A Book
I have never been much of a reader. More so when I was little, I rrreeally loved (and still love) Roald Dahl. But through High School and college I only made it through the occasional book. But it's a goal of mine to make it through all of the Harry Potter series. I have had all of the books since they came out and have never made it through book 4. So wish me luck!

BONUS: Books I want to read after I make it though HP .....
- The Wild Wood Chronicles (written by the lead singer of the decemberists)
- Less Is More: Embracing Simplicity for a Healthy Planet, a Caring Economy and Lasting Happiness
- Clean Gut: The Breakthrough Plan for Eliminating the Root Cause of Disease and Revolutionizing Your Health

OK, well, I don't know what has gotten into me with these super wordy posts but, I'm thinking tomorrow I will post about the festivals that Jonathan took me too for post-birthday weekend! (aka there will be pictures) So, that'll be fun.

Thanks for reading!
Bye friends.

"I just need to 'do me' for awhile."

So here's the thing ...

This Sunday, the preacher at one of the churches we have been trying out brought up a quote from Richard Beck's blog Experimental Theology. Richard was a professor of mine and is also a family friend. He and his wife helped serve cake/desserts at my wedding so, they're my heros.

Anyways, here's the quote ....


" ..... why do people want to inform everybody back home that they are going to a 'beautiful' place like Malibu? Do they have no shame? No social skills? Do they like making people envious?

Why would you want to let a person back home know, as he or she slogs through their mid-week work commute, that you are currently sitting at the beach? What sort of sick person Tweets about sitting on the beach while others are working?"


So this quote kind of struck a chord with me. 

I've been struggling with the concept of what social media used to be for me vs. what it is now. Social media sites (i'm specifically referring to facebook, twitter, and instagram) used to be a form of mindless entertainment for me, and a way to keep up with what was going on in peoples lives. I feel like that's what they are for most people. But within the past couple of years I have let it become too much of a necessity. On top of that, I have started relating to things like the above quote. (face meet palm)

I have allowed pictures of vacations (which I can't afford to take), status updates about jobs (which I don't currently have) and tweets about productive days cleaning the house and doing all of the laundry (I don't think I have ever in my life done "all of the laundry") to become legitimate reasons for me to judge myself, my priorities and my coolness. (smh) Not to mention the fact that I have also allowed my social media persona to become a photoshopped (or in this case instagram filtered) image of what my real life actually looks like. (rolls eyes)

And I'll tell you, it's not a good feeling when you realize how much of an affect these silly websites have on your life. I'm annoyed with myself for letting it get this bad. But I don't need anything else fueling my self judgement, so I'm attempting to find comfort in the possibility that I'm not the only person who has experienced this.

ANYWAYS, all of this to say that I have decided to step away from my personal social media profiles for awhile (facebook, twitter and instagram) in order to realign myself physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually without the distraction of a daily battle between myself and said social media. It's simple really, I just need to "do me" for awhile. I just need to re-figure out who "me" really is. I think I deserve that.

At first I was hesitant to share this decision on my blog but then I realized that the title of my blog is "life as a blog" and that maybe I should live up to that title and be a bit more transparent and open. I'm thankful for bloggers like Kelle from enjoy the small things and this post from the blog Kendi Everyday because they encourage me to be OK with a post that isn't about something necessarily creative or exciting or happy, but simply about something real.

That being said, I do plan on continuing to post on my blog (fun things and real life things included), but I won't be sharing the posts on any form of social media so, if you would like to continue reading my posts then I encourage you to become a follower, bookmark this site, add me to your reader or follow the blog through email. (see right side of the screen)

DISCLAIMER:
I still see the value social media and am not at all bashing or criticizing what social media is (in fact I actually am exploring job opportunities in the realm of social media). This is a personal decision and a personal journey.

BONUS: 
I encourage you to visit Experimental Theology and read the "The Angel of the iPhone" series. I'm slowly reading through it because there are some big ol' words in there, but overall it is relevant to me, extremely well written and well thought out. 

Well, If you made it through this wordy mess than I truly appreciate your dedication, and thank you for reading!
Bye friends. 

Blog Lovin'

fonts used: alex brush script and ostrich sans black

A few posts ago I asked for people to send me suggestions for new blogs to follow! Thank you to those who responded whether it be via text or blog. I really appreciate having some new channels of inspiration and entertainment!

I decided to share some of my favorite suggestions:

Mrs. Lillien - suggested by Emily M.

little chief honeybee. - suggested by Dempsey J.

Today's Letters - suggested by Emily G.

Enjoy the Small Things - suggested by Rachael P.

Camille Styles - suggested by Erin C.

I've actually been following little chief honeybee and Camille Styles for awhile now, but I didn't want to miss an opportunity to promote them because I love them. (Erin C. actually interned for Camille Styles! How awesome is that?)

And I am always up for other suggestions if you ever want to send them my way.

BONUS:
Emily G. authors her own blog as well em + the city. You should definitely check it out!

Well, thanks for reading.
Bye friends.

Bithday Day, Birthday Pancakes!

YAY YAY YAY! Today is my BIRTHDAY!

To celebrate, I decided to make myself some birthday pancakes! (why not, ya know?)

Originally I told myself that I was not going to be stingy on any of the ingredients. I wanted full fat, full sugar, delicious pancakes. But I decided it would be more fun (and healthier or w/e) to create my own Greek Yogurt Birthday Pancakes recipe. So I did!

font used: Quicksand

RECIPE:
1 small container of Vanilla Greek Yogurt (mine was 5.3oz)
1/2 Cup of Cake Mix (your choice of flavor, I did the kind with sprinkles in it, duh)
1 Egg
A Splash of Milk (this is kind of optional, and I used almond milk)

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Combine yogurt and cake mix.
2. Add the egg and mix until the lumps are gone.
3. Add a splash of milk if your batter seems a little too thick. (you can add more if you want if you prefer a thinner batter)

..... now there's your pancake batter! I'm not going to give instructions on how to cook a pancake because frankly I still don't have it mastered and I also think that it's one of those things that people generally have their own method of doing. But if you are completely new to it here is a link to some great pancake cooking instructions!

BONUS: Toppings
- I used frozen whipped cream!
- You could add some fruit, maybe something fun like pineapple?
- Icing.
- I think some good ol' maple syrup would work just fine.
- This delicious looking buttermilk caramel syrup.

This wraps up birthday week!
Thank you all for enduring my birthday posts. I hope you weren't overwhelmed (or annoyed) with them, but I just really really love birthdays. I love the feeling you have when you wake up on your birthday, and I love the carefree happiness that comes with a birthday. In fact, I think you should pretend it's your birthday for a little bit today and do something special or out of the ordinary.

Well, I'm off to enjoy today!

Thanks for reading.
Bye friends.

Birthday Eve

font used: Lobster Two

Guys, tomorrow is my birthday!

Birthday Plan:
- Take J to work
- Come home and make birthday pancakes (will there be a recipe post tomorrow? maaaaybe. stay tuned!)
- Go shopping with some birthday money
- Come home and get ready for my birthday date!
- Go on my birthday date!
I cannot wait! (obviously)

Tonight I am making me and J these turkey sliders and we will be watching the season premier of one of our favorite shows Face Off. I can't think of a better way to celebrate birthday eve!

Thanks for reading.
Bye friends!

Birthday Week Cont.

Seeing as it's birthday week, the fact that I .....
1. woke up at 6:30am to drive my husband to his new job (we only have one car, I'm not a creep)
2. proceeded to stop at King Soopers and do our weekly grocery shopping
3. am now writing this blog post at 10:23am (mountain time)
..... is shocking to say the least. I should be sleeping.

I will say that I could not have accomplished this without copious amounts of iced coffee (using coffee ice cubes that I made last night, seriously genius), and my favorite podcast stop podcasting yourself, so, shout out.

And since I'm awake and wanting to enjoy birthday week to it's fullest (3 more days, counting today), I day dreamed (lol, irony) about what kind of party I would throw myself and here's what came of it .....

one, two, three, four, five, six

Although this party would be a blast (right? so dreamy!), I'm really looking forward to a quiet birthday evening with J. Mainly because it's the first time in two years that we will be together on my birthday!

Anyways, all of this party talk has got me itching to throw one and therefore longing for the day that we live in a home suitable for hosting. Patience is a virtue though ..... eh?

BONUS: Story Time
This weekend I was so excited to go to a Blues festival here in Denver and was certain that it was on Sunday (see previous post) ..... TURNS OUT it was on Saturday and we missed it. I hate when that happens .....

Well, thanks for reading.
Bye friends!

Birthday Week!

Everyone! We are in the midst of birthday week! (yes, that's a thing)
Look at what my mom did .....

She sent me seven cards. One for each day of birthday week! Hundreds of miles away and still finding a way to celebrate with me! She gets me. 

I really love birthdays and celebrating things, and today Jono and I have a lot to celebrate!

1. Birthday week continues!
I don't plan on baking myself a cake, but if I did, I would hope I could make it as pretty as potter + butler did .....

2. HE GOT A JOB!

I'm pretty sure he'll be working in a cubicle of sorts, but I'm still feeling inspired by this masculine work area via this way cool tumblr insideinside .....

3. We have officially been married for 8 months as of yesterday!

Our conversation about it .....

Me (yelling from our office to the living room): Hey, Jonathan!

J (yelling back): Yeah?

Me: We've been married for 8 full months now!

J: Wow! That's cool. 

Me: Yeah, that's 2/3 of a year!

J: Yup

Me: 66%

J: Yup

Me: Like, if we had a pizza, and it had 12 slices, we would have eaten 8 of them .....

J: I'm hungry for more!

Me: *walks into the living room to kiss him for being adorable*

^^ Proof that marriage is fun

This weekend we plan to continue celebrating by possibly hitting up the Denver County Fair (I am particularly interested in the Zombie Beauty Pageant), and by definitely hitting up the Blues and Brews festival on Sunday! 

BOOM. It's celebration city over here! Lovin' it.

Thanks for reading!

Bye friends.

I Believe In The Happy Place

In Denver, during monsoon season, a day goes something like this ....

cool sunny morning
warm sunny day
cloudy rainy afternoon
cool clear evening

It is the best weather pattern I could ever ask for. I really love cloudy days and I really love rain.

Yesterday we woke up to cloud cover and the temperature didn't rise above 75. I wore a flannel shirt and leggings all day, and for those who know me well that is my outfit of choice.

This is a picture of the view from our desk chair. You can't tell, but at this point there was some rain coming down. 

My desk chair with a cup of coffee, something mildly creative happening on my computer screen, and an open window with rain coming down outside. 

I would consider this a happy place for me. 

I love that moment when you breathe in and realize that you are in a happy place. So pleasant. 

I encourage you to seek your happy place! Maybe this weekend? Let me know what you find!

Thanks for reading. 

Bye friends. 

Ch Ch Changes!

One of my favorite things about keeping up with a blog is having the creative freedom to do whatever I want with and to it. So I'm working on making some changes to the way the blog looks. Bear with me, just having some fun.

Celebrating!

Founts Used - Sunshine In My Soul, Quicksand & Georgia

Thai Inspired Turkey Lettuce Wraps

You guys, I want to preface this post with the proclamation that my husband is a wiz in the kitchen. His ability to turn out rock-star meals should no longer blow my mind, but it does. He's just so creative.

We had some leftover turkey loin in the fridge and he decided to shred it and make some Thai inspired deliciousness that we could use for lettuce wraps. He found a few recipes to gather inspiration and then totally just went for it! Here was the result ......

Fonts Used - Sunshine In My Soul & Georgia

They were so so good! And he made them in basically no time.

Recipe:

Ingredients 

- 1lb of ground turkey, cooked (we used leftover turkey loin)

- Lettuce (romaine, iceberg, etc. your choice!)

- 1 cup, carrots, shredded

- 3tbs of cilantro, chopped 

- 3tbs of almond butter

- Juice from 1/2 a lime

- 2-3 green onions (your flavor preference)

- 1 small jalapeno, chopped (add more if you're into it)

- 1tbs garlic, minced

- 1tbs olive oil

- 1tbs sesame oil

Directions

Heat both oils together in a skillet. Add garlic and onion and let cook for about 1 minute. Then add almond butter. Let it cook until smooth. This will create your base sauce. Next add carrots and the jalapeno and let cook for about 1 minute. Finally add your ground turkey and let it all cook together for another 1-2 minutes. Turn of your stove, add lime juice and cilantro and mix. Season with salt and pepper if desired (we thought it was fine without it). Scoop onto lettuce cups and serve!

Let me know if you try them! I want to know how they turn out for others. The recipe is a bit of a guess as he just adds as he pleases, but it should be pretty close! However, it does give you some freedom to play, which is what this recipe is all about.

BONUS: Ways to shake up the dish (via, my hubs)
- Add fish sauce and/or soy sauce for more of an asian flavor
- Use red pepper flakes or siracha instead of jalapeno for an intense spicy kick
- Make with peanut butter instead of almond butter

Well thanks for reading!
Bye friends.

Bye, Google Reader. Helloooo, Feedly.

Well, I hadn't been keeping up with my blogs lately .... I've been mildly preoccupied with being unemployed .... so when I went to sign on to my google reader the other day and found that it was NO LONGER A THING, I panicked. BUT, they were kind enough to suggest other options, and I went with Feedly.

I'm all about easy to figure out and easy to use. I've only been on Feedly for a couple of days but I am liking it overall. I haven't utilized all that it can do yet, and I don't really know if I'll need to, I just want all my blogs in one place and this does that for me. You can use your gmail info to log in, so you don't have to create a new profile if you don't want to. And the lay out is clean, well designed, and easy to work with.

So, thank you Feedly, for being there for me when Google Reader no longer could be.

What readers do you guys use? AND bigger question, what blogs do you read? I realized recently that there is whole world of blogs out there that I don't read and should .... so I am open to suggestions! Leave a comment with your personal favorites.

Hello My Name Is Unemployed?

So, I've been thinking a bit about self worth lately. What all goes into it? Where does it come from? And, unfortunately, I feel like it rarely comes from the right place.

Recently, I've been finding a lot of my self worth in my current employment status. I am unemployed. And everyday I wake up, open my computer, and apply to as many jobs as I can. Once I've completed enough to make me feel accomplished and productive, I close my computer and relax for about 2 minutes, then I start excessively checking the email on my phone.

As the day progresses, I start feeling worse and worse about myself, no responses must mean I'm no good, right?

Wrong.

But it's not easy to remember that. And after almost 2 months of this, it's almost impossible to remember that.  And that's just silly.

Why am I putting so much power in the hands of these employers? A power that they probably have zero idea that they have (nor do they want). It's not fair to them and it's not fair to me (or to us, I can't be the only person guilty of this, right?)

I have made being unemployed my whole identity to myself. Job descriptions are constantly telling me how qualified I am. At what? Life? No, Hayley, just that position, calm down.

Basically what I'm trying to say is, I've decided to no longer base my self worth on my unemployment, because I am confident that the right opportunity will come my way soon enough, and I want to be just as happy now as I will be then.

So, to all my fellow unemployees; we are fighting the good fight, soldier on, keep the faith, and trust that you're still awesome.

BONUS: How to get through unemployment...
1. Learn something new - I've been learning to sew and I made a skirt!
2. Write about it - I mean, why not. It can get emotional. Start a journal and make it funny, like pretend unemployment is a deserted island and you're stuck on it.
3. Read the book "How To Cope With Unemployment (Without Going Crazy)." - I haven't, but I probably should.
4. Better your self-branding - Here's an article to help you that.
5. Work out - Is this one obvious? Because I have yet to take it on.

Ok. Thanks for reading.
Bye friends.