Lately, lately

Wow it's been awhile, huh! Well to make things easier, I made a little collage from my phone of all the things I've been up to lately! (If you know me, you probably know I take excessive amounts of pictures of EVERYTHING on my phone.) So, this is my life in recap:

I also borrowed this idea from Caity Shinnick (who borrowed it from someone else), so if you like it - you can just pass on the credit to Caity. :)

I'm listing explanations of these from left to right, but the pictures themselves are in no particular order on the collage. :)

1. I added a bunch of things to our pin board above our bed right after I finished the post on the pin board. Maybe once I find an awesome H (has anyone seen any?!) I'll update you guys on how it looks now? (I'm already bored with it - I'm thinking about surrounding it, and the entire wall behind our bed, with frames... thoughts?)

2. My birthday was April 29, it was wonderful and 23 feels .. well.. just like 22. :) I debuted my neon coral gellies in honor of the occasion. (They don't look neon there, but believe me, they are!)

3. I (GASP) discovered this place I've thought was closed for a YEAR that sells old windows for... wait for it.. TEN DOLLARS EACH. I am not kidding you, huge ones, tiny ones, really intricate ones... $10. I was so excited to find them that I bought three. And now I have one sitting against our wall in our living room because, well, I didn't think about where I was going to put it. :)

4. That's the light fixture I mentioned in a previous post. I made it for our bedroom from a lamp shade but I think I'm going to redo it. It definitely needs some help at least at the bottom because the diffuser fabric is LOOSE and it's driving me crazy. Sigh. Another day, I suppose.

5. That's the TV stand I mentioned in a previous post. We purchased it for $50 on CL with the intention of refinishing it but, alas, my honey has fallen in love with the finish (although I personally am not a fan) so it's staying for awhile. ...At least until I can win him over. :)

6. Goodwill has been my best friend lately. I made a fabulous terrarium from a $3 footed fishbowl I found there. I'm kind of in love with it. So in love that another picture will appear just a few rows down...

7. That's what I did to one of the windows I bought. Cork board on top and (of course) chalk board on the bottom. I'm already wearing myself out of chalkboards, but they're so easy!

8. The middle of three baby girls was born recently (the last was just born this week!) so I'm working on birth announcements for my coworker and mother of (newly) three. I had one of those six hour passionate design sessions and I can't be happier with the outcome for her. :)

9. Crafting, crafting, crafting. I made this little canvas to join some other things for "Easter Piles" I made a few of my coworkers. This was for Daley. She loves bunting flags. :)

10. Cooking, as always. I've been reading "Eat to Live" and abiding by the suggested dietary guidelines to hopefully improve my health and overall quality of life. :) So far, it's going well!

11. Speaking of designing, I have been working on three friends' wedding invitations and I got the first one I designed in the mail!!! This picture does not to them justice - Lauren knew exactly what she wanted and just needed a nerd to put it all together for her, so I did just that. She has excellent taste and they are simply stunning! I almost passed out from excitement. :)

12. FINALLY put something on our back dining area wall!! Although it's not what I had originally planned, I'm loving it already. And that window down there is, yes, going up above the mantle and, yes, one of the ones I bought for $10 that day.

13. I'm lucky that me and my best friend, Danielle, works together. :) On Wednesday we took our lunch break and picked some FABULOUS peonies from an undisclosed location (aka we broke the rules) and FOUND blue mason jars on the same lunch break! It was a beautiful, free gift to ourselves that are still adorning our offices and making me smile every time I glance over at them. :)

14. Found&Found is going really well! I had the first giveaway, and of course, Daley won. Which was fine because she's one of my most dedicated followers. :) Logan has been surprisingly passionate about me getting exposure for F&F and really making something awesome of it, so that has been an awesome encouragement. You guys should mayyybe go check it out and tell your friends about it? :) (Shameless plug!)

15. My birthday weekend consisted of estate sale-ing, Goodwilling, and window-purchasing. It was pretty much the best thing ever, and the best part: completely unplanned. :) (Pictured are a few of my purchases.)

16. We moved offices a couple of weeks ago at work, so I've been "office nesting." I take it pretty seriously. In fact, the PRESIDENT stopped by to let me know how "cozy and settled in" my office is. Thanks, Randy! :) (Oh, and my flipped dining room chair has a happy home in the corner!)

17. This is what our office looks like right when you walk in. A little weird? Luckily, our awesome director bought us incredible reclaimed wood desks from Restoration Hardware that pretty much make the place look spectacular.

18. Oh! There's the window I made into a cork/chalk board! And that's my new office behind my desk. :) Love it love it love it. I have such a happy place at work!

19. I also gardened on my birthday weekend - which was a little anti-climactic, since it consisted of filling a pot with dirt and putting a seed in it. I prepared for this afternoon of outdoorsy work, but it took me all of ten minutes. Hah. Mrs. D and I hung out for awhile while she clipped her roses, and I planted some more zinnias in our patio flowerbed after she gave me the go ahead. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that the squirrels may have eaten the seeds... :(

20. Oh yes. That's the terrarium. Yes yes yes, I love love love. I need to get more rocks so the cacti actually look planted, but honestly it makes me smile every time I walk in! :)

21. Those are the flower/mason jar bundles I gave my girlies in their Easter Piles. :) I also stamped tags for them with little Easter notes on the back. I love gift giving, it's my (outward) love language!

22. Little Logan (our youngest nephew) is WALKING!! I can't believe he's that old already, and his two older brothers are growing up just as fast. Logan Wesley literally gets more and more precious everyday. I just love them.

23. This was my office pre-nesting. See? I told you. That desk is faaaaabbbbb!

24. Oh and the backs of Lauren's invitations are printed. Another reason I drool every time I look at my fridge. And really, all because of her, not because of me.

So that's a pretty in-depth wrap up! :) Logan is back into running, home is homier than ever, married life is just wonderful, and God is always blessing us beyond measure! Hope all of y'all are doing well, too!

Loves!

-Jill :)