Friday Favorites!

#1. Last Saturday I got to see these beautiful friends AND shop with them at Dallas Market. These are my co-workers from Mammoth Spring and I haven't seen them since August so you can imagine my excitement when they called me and told me they were heading to Dallas for market. I have always wanted to go to Dallas Market and it was WAY cooler and bigger than I ever could have imagined. We had so much fun and I loved getting to spend the day with them and catch up. I did a little bit of damage and came home with some cute new jewelry. I'm going to have to do some major shopping next time I visit Mammoth because they got some super cute stuff!

#2. After market I made the short drive to Ft. Worth to have dinner with my best friend Marcus. He has been living in Seattle for the last 4 years and now he is within 1.5 hours from me...YAY!! My best friend from college, Allison also met up with us for a little bit. It was so fun to hang out with both of them on such a late notice. We also got to see my sweet friend Christen for a little bit. I love that we all live so close and can get together more often!

#3. I started an Etsy shop this week. I have always wanted to start one, but to be honest, it scared the crud out of me. I finally bit the bullet and spent some time figuring out how it all works. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm excited to see how it goes. I'm working on adding some new items to the shop on a regular basis and working on the appearance of the shop. Right now it's a very rough draft so bare with me, but I hope you will check it out and take a look. 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/QuinceeTaylorDesigns?ref=hdr_shop_menu

#4. My friend Stephanie (and possibly Jan) is coming to stay with us this weekend. We're so excited to hang out with her and show her around. This will be her first time to get the "love shack" experience.

#5. This week was my first whole week of work at my new job and I'm so ecstatic to report that I am loving it. My boss and co-workers are wonderful and I think this is the perfect fit for me. It doesn't feel like work to me and it's something I think I'm going to love doing every day. I'm so thrilled that every thing worked out and thankful for this new opportunity. 

That's all I've got for tonight. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Sewing Project: Some Goodies for a Baby Girl

Not sure what is about giving baby gifts that I love so much, but it is so fun to shop and create for babies...especially girls. Our friends are expecting their first baby girl soon so I decided to make her some stuff. I was in the crafting mood and wanted to get some more sewing practice. I had seen all the cute customizable baby name headbands, blankets, hats, etc. so I thought I'd give it a try. After lots of thinking and brainstorming, I figured out a way to design my own fabric and have it printed online and shipped to me. I'm so excited about this because the possibilities are endless. You could switch it up in so many different ways with fun fonts and colors, or even design your own patterned fabric. I had it printed on organic knit fabric so it's stretchy and really soft. It is really expensive for a yard of this fabric so I opted for a fat quarter square of it to experiment with (I was scared it wouldn't turn out or the fabric wouldn't be great quality, but it is). The fat quarter square was plenty of fabric. I was able to do a headband, hat, and then I had left overs that I could have used for a bib or burp cloth if I knew how to sew those (that's my next project). I however, didn't have enough fabric to make baby leggings out of it, which was what I was hoping for. 

 Here is the fabric.

And this is the hat I made. I just cut out my own pattern and didn't do any measuring which was a bad idea because I made the top of the hat too short so I couldn't tie a knot in it. Therefore, that's why there's an extra piece of fabric at the top to make a knot. Here's to hoping this will fit on her little head!

 I also made this headband. It was so easy to make and I'm excited to get some more cute fabrics and make some more.

I decided to make her a hand-stamped initial onesie to go with the headband. I just used foam stamps from Hobby Lobby and fabric paint.

I used to make onesies like the two pictured above all the time, but when I moved far away from my mom, I quit making them because she was my seamstress that sewed around the letters. She was happy to retire from that position. My goal is to be able to do it myself, but I'm really scared to attempt it and I have a lot more practice to do before I'm able to sew around such small letters.

While I was practicing and playing around with my hand lettering, I thought I'd go ahead and make her a print to put in her nursery.

I had a printing place condense it to a 4x6 and print it in color for me so I could put it in a frame.

I had so much fun making these goodies for Ella and I can't wait for her to get here. I'm ready for the next baby in line so I can make some more stuff and keep on practicing.

Hand Lettering Project : Week 2

Prompt: Summer Love List

I was going for the calligraphy look here. Can you tell which two words I started out with? It took me a few lines to get the hang of it (hammocks and float trips were a tad bit shaky).  And those are pineapples in case you can't tell. 

This project has been so fun and I'm really enjoying looking at all the other participant's work. It will be fun to look back after the 52 weeks and see how far we've all come. To follow along or join in on the fun, visit Pen and Peplum Blog. You can see every one else's work in the comments on her blog or follow this link.

Oh and I have some great news to share!! After months of being unemployed and trying to figure out what to do with my life, I am happy to say that I accepted a job today. It is in the hair/beauty industry, but not actually doing hair. Due to privacy, I won't share where the job is, but I am really excited for the opportunity and can't wait to start. I have loved staying home for a while and getting caught up on photography and getting all settled into our new house and finishing all those projects, but I'm not going to lie, I was starting to get cabin fever. Ready for some human interaction and praying that this is the right fit for me and a job I will love!

Easy, Yummy Crockpot Recipes!

I love it when I cook more than one meal a week. And I love it even more when I cook more than one good meal a week. That is reason to celebrate for me. I've been trying to do more meal planning. I've been successful in cooking at least 3-4 nights a week recently. That's a pretty big deal in our house. Usually Aaron is the cook. Thank goodness for my crock pot. It has been a life saver.

I thought I'd share a few of my latest successful recipes. They were all husband approved and will be made again in the future.

Slow Cooker Angel Chicken: You can find the recipe here: http://www.southernplate.com/2013/08/slow-cooker-angel-chicken.html

Chicken Taco Chili: Image source and recipe found here: http://ryleegrover.blogspot.com/2013/02/healthy-recipe-chicken-taco-chili.html

Tonight I made meatball sliders. I got the recipe from a friend and I have used it so many times. It's crazy how easy it is and it's so so good.
You will need:
-Pre-cooked Italian Meatballs (1 package)
- 1 jar Chili Sauce
- 1 can Jellied Cranberry Sauce
- King's Hawaiian Rolls
-Parmesan Cheese

Combine meatballs, chili sauce, and cranberry sauce in a crock pot until heated thoroughly. Put the meatballs on the rolls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. So simple!

Do you guys ever get on Pinterest at night and you're completely full from dinner, but you see a recipe and suddenly you need dessert or something sweet? Yeah, happens to me all the time. This one did it to me tonight. It will be next on my to bake list.

Image source and recipe here: http://iamaddictedtorecipes.blogspot.ca/2013/10/cinabun-cake-cinnamon-bun-cake.html

Oh and if you want to find some healthy recipes (won't find them here) and workout tips, check out my friend Courtney's new blog!

One more thing...check out the new tea cup I added to my collection today. I couldn't resist buying her. Too bad I don't drink tea, or have tea parties, but I sure do enjoy displaying them and looking at how cute they are.

52 Week Hand Lettering Project

Pen + Peplum is hosting a 52 week hand lettering project. I have no clue how to hand letter, but I'm so inspired by it and I think what people do with it is amazing. I am a terrible artist and I cannot draw at all, but I love experimenting with hand writing so I thought this would be fun. I know nothing about watercolor or what brushes to use and I definitely don't know how to do calligraphy so I'm for sure a beginner. Yesterday, I found a watercolor kit at TJMaxx so I bought it and gave it a try. You can definitely tell this is my first attempt so please don't make fun, but I'm excited to see how it evolves over the next 52 weeks.

{prompt 1} 2015...a word, a mantra or your focus for the new year.

My word, mantra, focus for the year is content. To be content with what I have, where I live, what I do, etc. I always find my self looking at other people and thinking, man I wish my house looked like hers, or I wish I had her job, or I wish I was as skinny as her, or I want her wardrobe, or her talents, etc. I'm going to work really hard on not comparing myself to others and being content with what God has given me.

P.S.- I know it looks like I wrote that with a marker, but I promise it's watercolor and paintbrush. I need to figure out my consistency of the paint. And please ignore that ugly leafy thing I painted under it. (See what I mean with content? haha)

P.S.S.- Someone in our house looks pretty content. He loves to sunbathe.

Let's Talk About Hair...

So I am currently in what I like to call a mid-20 crisis. I cannot decide what direction to go in my career path. Do I do hair again, or do I use my degree? Do I make less money and do what I love, or do I make more money and sit at a desk? If I were back in my hometown, I would without a doubt go back to my hairstylist job, but I'm in a new town and I don't know anyone and I would have zero clientele. I have faith that I would build a good clientele with some time, but it is still scary to me. If I decide to do hair again, do I do booth rent or go with a company that pays hourly plus commission and benefits? You see where I'm going with this. I have so many questions running through my head and there are pros and cons to all options. Working nights and every weekend didn't bother me when I was single and living 7 hours away from my fiance, but now that we're married will that bother me? Regardless, I find myself really missing hair and I've had the itch to get my hands in some hair recently.

Every time I go into a salon and get my hair done, it makes me miss it even more. The last time I got my hair done, the stylist had the best up-do book at her station and I loved looking through it. I had heard of the stylist before and I've seen her tutorials and work all over Pinterest. After looking through the book, I knew I had to have it. Thankfully, my sister-in-law bought it for me for Christmas! Ever since, I've been wanting to play with every one's hair and try out some new up-dos. 

 The book is called Elegant Upstyles for Today's Bride. The author is Steph of Hair & Makeup by Steph....she is amazing. Look her up on Pinterest.

Here are some of my up-dos that I've been meaning to share.

My sister-in-law let me try out few up-dos on her after she gave me the book. The pic on the left is my version and the pic on the right is the look I was going for from the book.

If you have beautiful hair and love getting it played with, come to my house and we can play beauty shop and experiment with some new fun hairstyles ;)

While we're on the subject of hair, I'd also like to share with you an awesome hair product called Bosley Revive. It is a shampoo/conditioner/leave-in treatment set for hair loss. My dad has been using it for about 5 months and it's amazing what it's done for him. I was shocked when I saw how well it worked for him because I honestly thought his hair was too far gone. Proved me wrong. One set lasts my dad three months and it is under $50. You'd be crazy not to try this stuff if you know it works and it's under $50 for a three month supply...CRAZY! I've got two more Guinea pigs that just started this stuff so hopefully I can give you a good progress report on their hair in the upcoming months. If you're interested in learning more, let me know, I'd love to tell you more about it.

 This is a before and after of my dad's hair.

Yes, I realize he is in need of a haircut, but the fact that he has that much hair to cut is amazing to me. Trust me I've cut my dad's hair plenty of times and I know exactly how it feels in my hands and it is so much thicker I couldn't believe it. 

So if you know my dad and you see him around, tell him how great his hair looks because he was kind enough to let me advertise it to the world on my blog :) 

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. We had a wonderful holiday. We left on Wednesday and spent New Year's Eve in the Tulsa area with some of our friends. We played games, ate yummy food, and even did a little duck hunting.

 Excited to share another year with him. 

 These are Aaron's friend's girlfriends, fiances, and wives. I'm so glad I got to meet them recently. We have only hung out a few times, but they're so sweet and totally my kind of people. So glad we got to hang out on New Year's Eve.

My 2nd time duck hunting. It was cold and we came home empty handed, but it was still fun.

Can you see us?

We stayed Thursday night with Aaron's parents. Aaron was so excited on Friday because he got a new toy that he's been wanting for a while. He bought a fishing kayak. I'm pretty sure I better buy a kayak before summer so I can go along with him, or else I'll never see my husband this summer. We're looking forward to a lot of camping/fishing trips in our future. 

Friday night, we drove to the Tahlequah area and stayed with our friends from college. It was great to see them and catch up. Saturday, I went shopping with my cousin and we stayed Saturday night at her new, beautiful home. We cooked dinner and had game night. It was another wonderful weekend getaway. Now, I'm looking forward to staying home the next few weekends, snuggling up, staying warm, and relaxing with nothing on our to-do lists. Sounds amazing to me :)

I wanted to leave you with a few paragraphs from the book I'm currently reading, Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist. If you know me well, you know she is one of my most favorite authors and I have read and loved every one of her books. This particular book really hit home with me. There are just a lot of good words of advice and hope. I know a lot of friends that are going through wonderful times and a lot going through really hard times and this book has so much encouragement and words of advice that I think everyone should hear. 

"We are a million miles from last December, and I want to keep this moment with me as a reminder of what can happen in a year. Anything can happen in a year. Broken down, shattered things can be repaired in a year. Hope can grow in a year, after a few seasons of lying dormant. I didn't like who I was or how I was living a year ago, but I didn't know any other way to do it. I recognize the face that stares back at me in the mirror these days. When I look into my own eyes, I recognize a person I thought was lost, and I feel whole, for the first time in years.

I don't know where you are these days, what's broken down and what's beautiful in your life this season. I don't know if this is a season of sweetness or one of sadness. But I'm learning that neither last forever. There will, I'm sure, be something that invades this current loveliness. That's how life is. It won't be sweet forever. But it won't be bitter forever either. If everywhere you look these days, its wintery, desolate, lonely, practice believing in springtime. It always, always comes, even though on days like today it's nearly impossible to imagine, ground frozen, trees bare and spiky. New life will spring from this same ground. This season will end, and something entirely new will follow it."

For those of you going through times of sweetness and times of bitterness, my prayer for you is that 2015 will be the best year yet and that many new, wonderful things will happen for you.