On our screen, lately



reality 7,  drama/comedy 2

Live Free Project

My dear friend Sam started a project recently called Live Free.  She posts about things that will challenge you and hopefully encourage you.  She continues to amaze me every day, she's such a beautiful person inside and out.  You can read about the project here.

I really struggled with her recent assignment:  write a love letter to yourself

One of my battles in life is feeling like I'm not "good enough" for other people - not interesting enough, or funny enough, so it's hard to write a love letter about all the really great things about me when that little dark cloud keeps raining on my parade. 

I was stuck.
Days went by with no letter. 

And, as Sam always does, she picked me up with encouraging words and wrote ME a love letter.  She told me to carry on.  I did.  And thought I would share it with each of you.

Dearest Kendra,

Clearly writing about yourself isn't your strongest forte and at times, struggle with ugly, negative thoughts taking over the good ones, but today you will overcome.  Because you're a caring, thoughtful, positive, creative, expressive person who has a really great outlook on life.  You love life.  And continue to explore and take adventures with the goal of making the most out of each day, ever day.  You are loyal and consider that one of your best attributes.  You care for your friends as if they are family and would do anything for each and every one.  You continue to show support and love for those around you during their biggest accomplishments and their lowest of lows.  You are always there.

You have lovely eyes, a big smile, cute freckles and a slim figure.  Whereas most of the time you don't like being so "small", you should try to embrace it and enjoy that special part about you. 

You have a lot to give, so don't get so down on yourself for not being good enough.   Realize everyone in your life is by your side for a reason, because they love you and see how special you really are.

With love. 

Show me all that I could be

It's no secret that I love a good female singer/songwriter. So we can go ahead and add Lissie to the ever growing list of favorites, her voice is incredibly soulful and rich.  When I hear one of her songs on Pandora - as most artists are only background music while I work - I stop whatever I'm doing to really enjoy her sweet tunes.

Take a listen...
Lissie - Everywhere I go (acoustic)




  (Joey - if you're reading, thanks for the music recommendation, she's pretty stellar)

It's HOT ya'll

100+ temperatures call for only one activity outside the air conditioned house: swimming.

Lots and lots of swimming. 
And snacking.

And then some more swimming.

Then last night something magical happened, IT RAINED!  I sort of wanted to cry. 

Out for Drinks

It's been one of those weeks.
You know, the busy, can't keep up with which day it is, kind of week. 

Nothing bad by any means, just busy, and one where we didn't see much of each other for the most part.  So I bought a new dress (it has stripes AND the color purple, I couldn't pass it up) and Ryan changed from his work clothes to end the week on a great note together. 

::whispers::  we've never had "drinks" out before, just the two of us, which is kind of sad... but maybe also says that we like the simplicity of going out for dinner and beverages all in one. 

Hope you all are enjoying your Friday night too!

Thoughts for Wednesday

Surround yourself with people who believe in your dreams

Not all those who wander are lost - J.R.R Tolkien

Let whatever you do today be enough

photo credit:

We heart it

Mat Ugrin

National Geographic

Freezer Paper Stencils + A Baby Shower

My friend Stacy came over for a crafting party last Friday.  We made up a few designs for Baby Ella (here are the lil' booties I made last month for her too) and got to work on her painted onsies.  We wanted to take something extra special to her baby shower on Saturday.   Also, I had way too much fun with the freezer paper stencils last week that I had to share the fun with someone else! 

Tutorial: Freezer Paper Stenciling 

We decided on 4 different designs that all turned out pretty cute!  (well, we think!)  The baby elephant was clip art I found online, but the rest we free-handed. 

A few things we learned (that were not mentioned in the tutorial)

• X-acto knife cutting is hard for everyone and sometimes it takes a couple tries
• We used a hair dryer to speed up the drying process between paint layers
• Glitter fabric paint is AWESOME
• The "big reveal", when you peel the stencil from the shirt, is entirely terrifying.  But don't be scared because it really works!

For gifting, Stacy thought it would be fun to string the onsies together, like clothes on a clothesline, so when our friend pulled on the string hanging outside the bag, they would all come out together...

It worked perfectly too!

We are so excited to for the mom-to-be and can't wait to meet Baby Ella in a few weeks!

Jack Kerouac

"the only people for me are the mad ones, 

the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, 

the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars..." 

-jack kerouac 

image:

New York Times

DIY - sunglasses case

A copycat story...

I saw this sunglasses case while I was window shopping in Dallas last weekend.  It was only $10, but I really wanted to take a stab at it myself.. and hope that I could possibly make it cheaper! 

Materials:
Freezer paper - $4.99
Paint - already owned
Paint brushes - $3.99
Leftover fabric - already owned
Iron - already owned
X-acto Knife and Scissors - already owned

Tutorial I used: Freezer Paper Stenciling  

1. trace image onto the freezer paper - use the dull side, 2. cut out image with X-acto knife, 3. iron the freezer paper to the fabric - shiny side to fabric, 4. paint!, 5. pull off freezer paper and marvel at your new creation, 6. iron over stencil with cloth between your fabric and iron (not pictured, but still important)

I then went on to sew the painted piece of fabric and a softer, fleece fabric to form a little pillow case shape for the sunglasses.  No tutorial for this part, I kind of made it up.  But you could use the previous steps for all types of things that require no sewing: t-shirts, baby onsies, tote bags, scarves, or place mats.

Now Ryan's sunglasses have a scratch-free home

Hey, not bad!  I only saved a dollar, but I had a lot of fun and have plenty of materials leftover for more freezer paper stencils in the future.  Oh the possibilities!

Taste of Dallas

I made a quick trip to Dallas, TX last weekend to spend time with friends, shop a bit, and EAT.  Saturday evening we made our way to the Taste of Dallas, a festival of foods with live bands and plenty of people to watch.  People watching is my favorite.  We paid $5 to get in and it was only a few more $$ to sample the food - a great deal if you ask me.  We were stuffed silly!

4th of July Weekend

The weekend was filled with family, FOOD, friendly gatherings, dinner dates, drinks with the girls, naps, badminton, fireworks, and red/white/blue attire.

It seems I only had my camera handy for 2 days; we had even more fun during the weekend than I was able to capture!

 

Summer Fun

Only two weeks of summer has passed and we have already accomplished so much from the Summer Must-Do list!
   

We celebrated our one year wedding anniversary and saw Dispatch live in concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado

Took a ride on a bike instead of in the car (plenty more trips to come too)

  

Visited friends in California

   

Grew some veggies!

 
Still looking forward to:

•  Exploring the OKC Museum of Modern Art
• Reading, reading, reading
• Watching a movie on the patio
• Taking a photography class
• Hosting a cookout/swimming party (x10)
• Staying up really late to watch the stars
• Seeing the new baby elephant at the zoo 
• Making homemade pizza

Never too many

I've had this floral material in my fabric bin for over THREE months.  Along with plenty other projects backlogged due to my sewing rut.  With summer trips plus 10 hour working days, I've had little desire for much more than making dinner and going on bike rides.  So, I thought a simple skirt was just the trick to get me back in the game.  Probably needless to say, but I'm already thinking about which sewing project I will take on next!

Tutorial: World's Easiest Skirt
(My first skirt made with this pattern, plus pocket success)