oooohwish I was here!

...but I'm not.

So I'm counting on some goooood photo full posts from my favorite crafty bloggers! Ok? <3

Love ya girls, have a fantastic time!!

Wanna be inspired? Check out KLAS ERNFLO!

Seeeriously good eye candy.

xoxo, holly

the Power.

Not sure which is my favorite thing about this funny clip... the hair, or the "Isn't that for techno geeks with spreadsheets?" line.  (aaand what's with the creepy ending? lol)

None the less I thought this was worth sharing, hehe.

Technology certainly has advanced for moms of the 21st century, and internet is one thing I'm very thankful for.

Happy rainy wednesday everyone!

xo holly

this post brought to you by the number 8...

(photo cred) 

I considered myself tagged after seeing Janel's blog post. :)

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:
-getting gel nails tomorrow
-visiting with Lisa on thursday

-weekly ball conditioning class (which is usually followed by Jenna-time!)

-growing my hair llllong (and natural!)

-SUMMER!!! and all the fresh fruit that comes with it

-Springfield, MO in May 

-getting tattoos with Elsie, Erin, and Jenna

-building our business
8 Things I Did Yesterday:
-slept in

-went to church

-watched Supercross

-crocheted

-picked out paint colors for the salon

-ate the most amazing supper EVER.  (cedar plank salmon, roasted potatoes, roasted vegetables, berry cobbler)

-went for a walk with the fam.

-worked on wedding photos
8 Things I Wish I Could do:
-sew my own clothes

-skateboard

-snowboard

-extensions (properly! argh)

-yoga (better, anyhow)

-keep my house fairly clean and still have time for everything else

-salsa dance

-go back to Los Algodones, Dominican Republic to play with Daniela, and braid hair with Alesandra
8 Shows I Watch:
(I don't have tv.... but I occasionally watch if we're at our parents' places)

-AMA Supercross

-American Idol

-Sugar (with Anna Olsen)

-Everyday Italian (with Giada)

-Tyler's Ultimate (can you tell I like the Food Network?!)

-Jeopardy, and I usually play with my Mom, we keep points.

-America's Next Top Model

-Batchelor(ette)

8 Favorite Fruits:
-christmas oranges

-pink lady apples

-passionfruit

-green grapes

-raspberries

-pineapple (fresh, and preferably eaten on a balcony in Hawaii)

-BC peaches

-strawberries

8 Places I’d Like to Travel To:
-Ireland

-New Zealand

-Scotland (hopefully meet some family)

-Tahiti (French Polynesia)

-Dominican Republic (again, only to work at the village)

-Barbados

-Amsterdam (I owe Ryan a trip there.... long story...... actually it's not that long.  He was going to live there for a year, and even had the plane tickets, but then we started dating, and things got serious quite quickly, and we didn't see us making it a year apart, so he came up with an excuse to cancel the trip and we got engaged a few weeks later... <3>

-Toronto, to take some fun hair courses

8 Places I’ve Lived:
-Winnipeg, MB

-my aunt & uncles farm

-Morden, MB

those are the only places, but there's a good 20 some different residences all together, lots and lots of moving in my life.... so right now, I'm not going anywhere, I love Morden forever, and I love my little house here. :)

That was fun.... off to bed!

If you try, link it up in the comments! :)

xo holly

thinkin about decor...

We recently improved our dining room with a new coat of paint ("Flagstone" Benjamin Moore) and a dining room set.  It's actually the FIRST new furniture Ryan and I have bought ourselves other than small stuff like a $29 coffee table from Ikea...  

I love the banquet style!! :)  Now to put some art up on the walls.... I'm thinking about doing a plate collage like this one:

.. but it may take a while to slowly collect beautiful plates, maybe from special places, trips, gifts etc.. so maybe that can be a long term goal.

I am also seeeriously swooning over this painting by miss elsiecake:

This dining room makeover has got me thinking about other areas of my house that are unfinished, like my entrance.  We keep throwing our jackets/scarves underneath our microwave table in our kitchen because we haven't put up any hooks yet... and when I saw this photo from apartment therapy I fell in LOVE.  Ryan and I just may try to make a hook tree sometime..

Other beautiful and simple decor ideas that I'm really inspired by:

(photo from this awesome blog)

I looooove this way of displaying old photos!!

I'm very much in love with paint colors in this range right now..

I am definitely influenced by my mother in law, she loves aquas and robin egg blues.  She's been working on a color palette for their upcoming new home as well, and I can't wait to see it!

What is your favorite part of your house, and why?

Also, I won a giveaway over at "Run With Scissors", Janel's blog, and so I have to pay it forward! Be looking for a giveaway sometime this week!! :)

xoxo, holly

my friends are cool.

I have the coolest friends.

Ones that embroider on gifts for me.

Ones that drive long distances to see me, repeatedly.

Ones that sew and craft with me.

Ones that exercise with me (and drink cosmos after)

Ones that send me short & sweet e-mails to brighten my day.

Ones that are total blessings in my life.

You know who you are. <3

My cute & lovely personalized tee just prompted me to blog about it. :)

(thanks steph, it's the bomb)

xoxo, holly

it's been a happy birthday.

The beautiful bouquet that Ryan surprised me with this afternoon. I love the snap dragons! I've been making them "talk" quite a bit, lol.

When Simon went down for his nap at around 2, I got to put the earphones on, sit down, and scrap to my hearts content. :)  It was exactly how I wanted to spend the day.   After a ROUGH day yesterday (not talking about it), one thing that made my day better was getting the "favorite things" kit from RVA. (other things that made my day better was working out with Jenna, and then eating homemade cookies afterwards, ha!)

When I saw what Elsie did with the kit, I was soooo anxious to dig into it.   I'm not totally finished with it yet, but I wanted to take photos before the sun set.

I'm looking forward to filling up these lists.

I put a list of goals, and dreams, in the envelope.

:)

xoxo, holly

...

link.

s'wonderful.

Diana Krall was great.  My sister in law and I really enjoyed her show.  It was so classy, and relaxing, and well... wonderful!  Her and the entire band have such talent!   It's that kind of feel good music that makes you tap your feet, and forget about the stresses in your everyday life.  Thanks hun for buying us tickets, it was a great birthday gift!

A recent gift that I got for myself....

shiny leggings from American Apparel... yay!  I've been thinking about having a pair for months! I hope I can wear them lots with cute dresses and skirts. :)  It's sort of a risk for me, I'm not usually a leggings type girl.. :P

I felt like taking a self portrait today....

...thinking about how I will spend my last day as a 21 year old....

hmmm.... I'm thinking that (other than haircuts) an early walk with a friend and her newborn, cooking a good supper,  ball conditioning class (abs look out!), and sewing with Jenna sounds like a great way to spend it!

xoxo, holly

so inspired. (and happy earth day!)

Just sharing some things I have been inspired by as of late...

(anthropologie + anna sui + silk + watercolor plaid + bow + asymmetrical = love!)

(so pretty!)

wallpaper:


elsie's new scrapbook:

cute post-its:

I'm excited to see her this evening with my sister in law!!

I've learned all about our new organic color line and used it for the first time yesterday! I love it!

and in light of it being earth day.... here's some green flickr faves! :)

1. I love you Mr. Starbucks, 2. Earth Day 2008, 3. Happy Earth Day!, 4. 10.21.08 - Wecycle, 5. Growth Final, 6. plant a new tree...celebrate the earth!, 7. Recycle!, 8. Recycle Sign, 9. Green Tea Cupcakes, 10. green-tea sake jello shots all done up, 11. Green Tea Ice Cream, 12. Green Split Screen, 13. Green Tea Cupcake Love (with heart shaped decorations), 14. Green, 15. Behind the Green Door..., 16. green up, 17. Go GreEn, 18. Go Green or Go Home, 19. Green apple, 20. 250 of 365: Bright Green

Happy earth day to you! I challenge you to do one of the following:

1. plant a tree

2. pick up litter (yes, even if it's not yours)

3. Bring your own mug to Starbucks (I think they have free coffee if you do!)

xoxo, holly

a little cuteness for your friday.

I have a new love for granny squares.  I made my very first one last october, but I still like to sit down and make a few when I feel like it, or when I'm bored.  I'm hoping to make an afghan... and so today I stumbled across something that would give me more of a reason to work on it!! Pip, from Meet Me At Mikes, has created a Flickr group called "A Granny A Day" and she's doing just that... making a granny square a day! I say, sweet!

Here's some of my favorites from the group so far:

and here's my contribution:

It's going to be fun to work on it!

Also, I've been very inspired by these photos today:

crochet lovely.

lumberjack cuteness!

childhood memories! When I saw this photo, I was immediately brought back to the endless hours I played with my Polly Pockets. I love those memories!

this felt applique cushion. I love the combination of aqua & moss.

and ice cream cone cupcakes!

credit.

I think I'll make some! (whenever I have the time...)

aaaaand, why not share my flickr faves for some weekend inspiration...

1. plumage, 2. cucpake wrappers, 3. Granny A Day - Day 1, 4. She's the cutest Girl Scout, 5. cupcake ice cream cone, 6. ice cream necklace 1, 7. Lemony Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes with Lavender and Rose Frosting, 8. Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes, 9. Alligator Oats, 10. Lumberjack Owl Purse, 11. i <3>, 12. Childhood Revisited (2), 13. I Need Toys. No, Really. Read Below., 14. monica, 15. Japanese fake soft serve ice cream, 16. Soft serve with sprinkles, 17. Untitled, 18. Untitled, 19. cutest bakery in brighton, 20. Untitled, 21. bunny4, 22. just knitting away <3, 23. finally finished, 24. april 11, 2009, 25. Sneak Peek! New Sumthin sumthin!, 26. party dress, 27. dry grass., 28. say hello to my little friend, 29. Day 22/365: Polaroid love, 30. Bunny Cupcakes, 31. Peep Pop, 32. Polka Dot Cupcake Liners, 33. Fourteen Layer Cake, 34. Untitled, 35. living room inspiration board 6, 36. get excited

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend.

xoxo holly

7

I thought this would be fun after seeing it on Helen's blog.

1. I'm messy. Not the perfect make your bed every morning type person... at all.

2.  I would consider the Lord of the Rings Trilogy to be the most marvelous movies I've seen, ever.

3. I used to be a tom boy, and I'm still working hard at trying to dress more feminine.  I'm usually drawn to masculine shaped clothing, and grey, when I shop.

4. I start waaaaay more projects than I actually finish.  

5. I like eating McDonald's cheeseburgers. :P

6. I was on the "Smart Ask" radio competition in high school, and spelled the word "independent" wrong, so we didn't get to be on TV from toronto. (ps. I totally spelled it wrong again, just typing it there.... thank you spell check, lol)

7. I'm suuuper self conscious about my complexion. 

You try! Link it up in the comments. :)

xo holly