Happy Weekend + Hotel Valley Ho

Un, deux, trois!

Hotel Valley Ho is the place we stayed at the night after our wedding. It is such a special place to us, and once a year we spend the night there. It's like we are tourists in our own city. I loved waking up Sunday morning and walking around, taking photos of all the botanical goodness, and not to mention having room service for the first time together. The ZuZu Cafe has the best cappuccinos I've ever had.

♥ Did you do anything fun this weekend?

Friday's Favorites + Weekend Links

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We live about four hours away from Palm Springs, California. There are so many hidden gems in that city! I was reading A Beautiful Mess, and now Jason and I have a nice list of fun things to do/see next time we visit. Hopefully sometime in October we will take a mini-vacation there and check it out. You can see the list here.

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I love this little projector for Instagram photos. I saw this over at Our City Lights, and this would be such a neat little thing to have. I went over to Projecto and read about it, and I can't wait to get one. 

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I have seen this Madewell tote around lately, and I think it is the perfect fall bag. I love that it's leather and durable. I usually use small, cross-body bags so it would be nice to have something to fit my notebook. I've never gotten anything from this store, but everyone seems to be raving about their Wildly Simple campaign. I think this weekend I might finally see what the fuss is all about.

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Even though it's cooling off here in Arizona (finally!) I think I could still get a lot of use out of this mason jar tumbler. It's made by The Mason Bar Company, and I think this just jumped to the top of my Etsy must-have list. 

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I'm in love with everything this artist creates! Out of all her lovely prints, this one would fit best in our home. Also, I just found out that her first picture book, Dream Animals, is coming out October 22. You can find all of The Black Apple artwork here.

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I've been eyeing Fredricks & Mae domino sets for quite some time. I love these star ones that can found here. It's such a fun twist on the classic game. Dominos always remind me of my grandfather on my mother's side. Games are such a fun way to spend time with the ones you love.

♥ Happy Friday lovlies! Do you have any fun plans for this weekend?

Painting + True Expression

"Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is." // Jackson Pollack

As a child I always loved to doodle and color. The summer before freshman year of high school I did my first painting. Since then I have been painting on and off for about 11 years. I went through periods of selling my work, but that didn't seem to stick. I became overwhelmed with the idea of making something beautiful for someone else, and I lost touch with what I loved about painting. My favorite thing about it is that it helps me by using colors to express my emotions. I will never let myself get discouraged again because what I paint isn't realistic and overly perfected. It's messy, and I love it. I can appreciate all works of art, but life is about having fun with what you do, and I want the act of painting to be relaxing. Not everyone is going to appreciate this painting, but what matters most is that it's mine, and it is a true expression of myself.

♥ Do you like to paint?

Friday's Favorites + Weekend Links

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This is by far the coolest things I have ever seen! I can't believe that I'm just hearing about it now. This camera instantly prints out images from your iPhone. This just jumped to the top of my Christmas list. I watched their kickstarter video here from last year, and if you are interested in this product it gives a lot of information about it. Also, you can frolic around their website here.

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Last winter I bought the comfiest sweatshirt from Hello Apparel, so needless to say I'm a big fan of their products. I love that no.1: they are a local company, and no.2: that this tote is pretty much the cutest thing ever. You can find their merch here.

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Just because summer is pretty much over, doesn't mean that I don't still want something bright and cheerful on my nails. I love this color by OPI called "Need Sunglasses". I haven't been able to find in a store, but they carry it on Amazon here.

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I've been seeing this book floating around so I think it will be the next one I pick up. Hopefully during fall break I can get some much needed fun reading done. 

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Sadly, this item is currently unavailable. I found some pretty similar bumble bee pins here. I must have Christmas on the mind because all I can think about is this would be the most fun stocker stuffer. I love how it's still 100 degrees out here in Phoenix, and I'm thinking about the holidays.

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This little tissue dispenser made me smile. I've seen in a bunch of colors, but I like white the best. It kind of goes with our contemporary decor. You can find this bad boy here.

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Ok ladies, this cute Gal Pal retro hearts ice bag can be used for hot or cold. All I'm going to say is that I need this in my life. It looks like this line has been discontinued, but I did find one site that might carry here, and one similar here.

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The one on the far left reminds me of our little family. I wish the dog was black and white though, so it looked more like Joker. I absolutely love these iPhone cases. I think I might be leaning towards the second one from the left. It can be purchased here.

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I've been really wanting to do a little embroidery project. I found this blog and the inspiration is endless! I feel like this pattern would be easy, and a fun way to start.

♥ What are some of your current favorites? Have a wonderful weekend lovelies!

Currently + Long Drives, French Music & Space

Watching. I love that it's fall and all of my favorite shows have been starting back up. Last night I watched New Girl and The Mindy Project. It was heaven.

Playing with. Paper, photos, felt, spray paint, and zinc nails. I'm in a weird place where I've started a bunch of little projects and haven't finished any of them yet. 

Loving. Long drives at night on the highway. I love little moments with Jason, laughing, getting lost in a song, or playing with Joker in the back seat. Both of us get so busy that it's nice to make the most of every little moment together.

Working on. About a zillion projects, and then homework. It's almost time for midterms, so there is a bunch of things due soon.

Reading. I read Kinfolk Vol. 9, and somehow it was perfect again. It was all about the weekend and how to spend your time wisely. I decided I don't care if it's 100 degrees out this weekend; I'm going to get up early, grab an iced latte, and spend the afternoon at the farmer's market.

Thinking about. Space, actually. The main topic of conversion at Fort George lately has consisted of wormholes, stars, distant galaxies, and the Voyager Interstellar Mission. Sometimes it's easy to forget the complexities of outer space.

Tasting. Jason and I picked up some cookie butter from Trader Joe's this afternoon. We haven't tried it yet, but everyone seems to think it's amazing. After reading all the reviews we just couldn't resist.

Anticipating. Sunday, September 22 is the first official day of Autumn. We are going to celebrate at a nearby diner with a cup of coffee and a slice of pumpkin pie. I believe it's going to be a new tradition.

Listening to. The French Cafe album from Whole Foods has been on repeat for the last week. The French language is so beautiful.

Inspired by. Anthropologie's fall collection has me swooning. I had a little procedure done on Monday and Jason got me a pretty jacket because I was so brave. It's still ridiculously hot out so it might be a little while until I can wear it.

♥ Thank you to Danielle at Sometimes Sweet for the idea for this post. What are you currently into?

Friday's Favorites + Kinfolk Vol. 9

This afternoon Jason and I ran to Trader Joe's to pick up a few groceries. I picked up some beautiful blue hydrangeas, and what sold me were these big, gorgeous leaves. Also, my Kinfolk Vol. 9 just came in the mail so I'm one happy girl.

Today I decided to put on my favorite mellow album. Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago". It was the perfect tunes to listen to on another afternoon of coloring.

It was perfect to listen to Bon Iver when coloring his page in the Indie Rock Coloring Book. Also, I traded up from 12 colored pencils to 50! 

This bougainvillea bush is right outside our backdoor. Right now it's quite overgrown, but I still love it.

When I was taking Joker on his afternoon walk the clouds took my breath away. There is so much beauty in nature.

I decided to put all my colored pencils in a mason jar to see them better. I actually liked how it looked so much I'm displaying them on my bookshelf. It's the little things in life.

This feature is usually overflowing with inspiration from others, but I'm finding that some of my favorite things right now are coming from my home, or right out my front door. I'm so glad that I started bringing my Canon with me wherever I go. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

♥ What are some of your current favorites?

The Indie Rock Coloring Book + Crosley Record Player

Jason and I are in love with our new Crosley record player. We have been so busy the last few weeks that we haven't been able to enjoy it as much. Today I put on a very special album, "Narrow Stairs" by Death Cab For Cutie. One of my favorite memories is directly attached to this record.

Last weekend I picked up this little guy, and decided today was as good a day as any to do some good ol' fashioned coloring. What really sold me was that all the royalties go to charity. To read the story behind the Yellow Bird Project, click here.

I quickly found out that 12 colors is just not enough, so tonight I will be making a quick stop at Michael's. I'm such a busy bee, so I allowed one cup of tea's worth of coloring for today. It was such a fun way to spend an hour, listening to a record and coloring the afternoon away.

♥ Have you heard about the Yellow Bird Project? Do you still like to color?

U.S. Map Mat + Two Dollar Fun

We have two cats: a grey tabby named Baby, and a white siamese named Farrah. Usually we just have a dish towel underneath their food and water bowels, but last night we were at IKEA and I thought this might a simple, fun DIY.

We got this mat for $1.99! Since we are using it for food and water, we thought using a bath mat would be best because it will be more absorbent. I just drew an outline of the United States with a disappearing ink pen. I used the ruler to make a straight line at the top and free-handed the rest.

what you need:

Bath mat

Disappearing ink

Scissors

Ruler (optional)

Just cut out the shape. You can make any shape you'd like. The ladies from A Beautiful Mess did a similar project in the shape of a dog. You can find their creation here.

Farrah approves!

♥ Do you have any suggestions on a simple, fun DIY project?

Weekend Photos + A Family Heirloom

We revamped our silhouette DIY project on Sunday. I usually wear my hair down, and Jason doesn't have facial hair anymore so we decided to change it up with new paper and a new design that felt more "us". You can see the original post here.

I went to Forever 21 to pick up some new clothes. I ended up getting a pretty black and white striped skirt and a Star Wars sweatshirt, but best of all was the photobooth! We hadn't done one in years, so it was a cute souvenir from our Saturday night.

 

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My parents came over to visit our place to see our new floors. We tore out the old carpet and painted the underlying concrete. After they saw our Flat Iron building wall art it reminded them of a family heirloom from my Great Aunt Irene. It is a paperweight of the Flat Iron building from 100 years ago! I feel so lucky to have a piece of history and family in my home.

One of my favorite things is getting a letter in the mail from my pen pal Sara. Needless to say that she is awesome, and you can find her blog here.

I have always wanted to read Franny & Zooey. We stopped in at bookstore this weekend, and for $6 I just couldn't say no. Also, my mustache mug makes me really happy.

A little snapshot of our home. This is where we read, laugh, snuggle, listen to records, have long talks, and do homework. Not to mention where we had a mini Firefly marathon on Sunday.

This woman is amazing. Every month I download her beautiful desktop calendars. You can find it through her website here.

I feel like I've been so busy that I haven't shared as much of myself and my world on here. I have been mostly expressing my inspiration, but I am going to make it a priority to show what life is really like at Fort George.

♥ How was your weekend?