Monday, March 19, 2012

giddy? yup! it's my SITs day


giddy? yup!
{things that make me giggly joyous}
yes, of course, there is much in life that makes me especially gleeful!
but today "the giddy" goes to...

me!
cuz' it's my SITs day!
circa b-day 2007 when i discovered my cake was a hello kitty cake.
today the feeling's just as splendidly delicious.
 
what does SITs stand for? well, today it stands for silly is the SITs! because today i am SITs featured blahgger {but really SITs is an awesome resource for bloggers to get support from a network of a whole lotta other lady bloggers}. 

so, wouldn't you know that ironically, i am at a loss for words today. and since i am at a loss for words today {maybe this is how people feel at the award shows, when they say they are speechless?}, i've decided to list the peeps i'd like to thank for making today possible.

how i started blogging...
i had been following kimberly wilson for years, and am a shopper of her yummy eco-luxe lifestyle wear. but it wasn't until i moved from georgia to kentucky that i decided to take one of her e-courses. i had been in lexington for about a year, but was still missing my friends in atlanta. all of them were graphic designers, writers... we were all very artistic, had the same sense of humor... we just fit like peas in a pod. it was a group that i had a hard time leaving. i was really yearning for that connection. that's when i looked back onto kimberly's web site, remembering the workshops she offered. i took the plunge and was very excited about the e-course. i had the opportunity to interact with like-minded women who seemed to be on the same page as me. kimberly reignited the creative aspect of my life that i felt had been missing for a while. she made me set goals for myself. and i found that i was face to face with a part of me that was tucked away. i had been thinking for years about building my brand. this is when i decided to start my blog. i wasn't always a graphic designer. i wanted to be a writer when i was younger. i don't know why i ever stopped. i had started self-publishing my own pet-inspired children's books around 2008. but i also had interest in making my own greeting cards, designing wedding invitations, and always loved fashion... so you see, my ideas were there all along. but it wasn't until silly met kimberly that the ideas started to take the steps. 
get silly tweets on twitter and pinterest; see my silly style on pose; and read my silly stories on lulu


speaking of steps... 
my cali BFF is my oldest and dearest friend, who is there for me every step of the way, in heels and flats and platforms and booties, you name it. i talk to her almost every week, but text/e-mail her nearly every day. i visited her just last year. it had been over a decade since we had seen one another. she gives me the best advice whether it be shopping or about more serious adult stuff. she doesn't judge me, and i don't judge her. we can say whatever we want to say without having to filter first. i wish we could see each other every day, or at least every year, instead of every decade. i don't know what else i can say about her other than she's the sprinkles on my cupcake.
why else is cali bff my bff? why, she's the one who took me to my first sprinkles cupcake, of course!

but who really gets my cupcakes...
my husband and i have been together for nearly fifteen years. next month, we celebrate our ten years of marriage. like most marriages, there's been up's and down's. within those last ten years, we have survived two deployments (around three years apart total); a move back to his home state (where i battled with the decision to follow or not) after living in georgia since '98; living with his family for two years while we waited first for our house to sell in georgia then during our brand new house being built; losing two of our dogs within a year of each other-- all that among other rollercoasters big and small. but here we are, coming upon our tenth year as mr and mrs, and quite honestly, it's not so shabby. we are settled in our new home, we have welcomed in a new terror named bentley, and even though things are realistically always going to be like anything from tjmaxx (slightly imperfect), i wouldn't want it any other way. lucky for him, i just happen to be a maxxinista. who woulda thunk that after a wedded decade, it'd feel like we were just starting a new life together? and, if it wasn't for him, i wouldn't have moved here, and i probably wouldn't have started blogging. and then today wouldn't even have been my SITs day. so i'd like to thank him--the jiggle in my wiggle, the pepper to my salt, the white on my rice, the mister of this missus--for taking me away from the place i thought i needed to be, to the place where i'm meant to be.
salt n pepa's here, and we're in effect...

lastly, how i know this is where i'm meant to be...
i talked to my dad the other week, and he had told me that the universe was opening itself up to me. i thought it was cheesy, but it made me feel real good. well, wouldn't you know, the VERY next day, i received the e-mail that today was going to be my SITs day. yes, it seems that father may know best, after all. unless we're talking lottery numbers.
image from

so, since today is my SITs day, i'd like everyone to go out and celebrate with a cupcake. i'm right behind ya. really. just turn around, and hand me that cupcake. i'll be there.
and, please, don't forget the sprinkles!
p.s.
thank you also to SITs for creating a wonderful community. it's a marvelous thing you do. and i look forward every day to reading the day's featured SITs girl.


p.p.s.
yes, it appears i WASN'T really at a loss for words after all :)

Sunday, March 11, 2012

SUNday

yes, his face always looks sad, but his tail often is the window to his real emotions.
today was a beautifully productive day! first time we had all of the windows open in the sunroom, and bauer loved iti vacuumed the entire room and all of his bedding, so it was fresh for his dog hair to fly all around again. why didn't i wait until the dogs all went to the beauty parlor tomorrow? well, let's just say that this was the preparatory vacuuming.

i was also able to knock out some freelance, as well as volunteer, graphic design projects, and EVEN managed to clean up my office a bit too (aka moved stacks to a different location). 

bentley first tried to distract me with a fun camouflage game of
"where on the pretty rug is bentley?" 
next, he attempted a few statue poses. 
and, finally, he wanted to just vogue before 
his daily "check if mattie has a pulse" exercise.
and, yes, we have move---
nevermind...

guess, this SUNday wasn't so productive for everyone.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

my tummy valentine

what a sweet valentine's week full of shugga and more tummytizing festivities: 
walked into the office thinking it was just another day, then...
alas, the benefits of working with primarily women
{who bake nonetheless}. go women power!
photo by silly blahgs

snickerdoodles. my first real cookie obsession as a child.
photo by silly blahgs

delightfully giddy after a special hand-delivered surprise.
photo by silly blahgs

candleberry tea room's scrumptious egg salad 
on a buttery croissant + tummy yummy 
congealed cherry coconut tea salad.
photo by silly blahgs

the oh so pretty strawberries + kisses mini cake
i {was coerced to} split with my pal nonni.
photo by silly blahgs


sage garden cafe's delectable cranberry chicken salad sammich 
on their tasty sweet homemade oatmeal walnut bread 
and a cup of just hit the spot butternut squash soup.
photo by silly blahgs


callie's homestyle restaurant set me up 
with my new crush: deep fried oreos. 
photo by silly blahgs
this week was certainly full of warm + fuzzies for both the heart + belly. but what's real funny, my valentine, is that i've come to the realization of why i have this unexplainable, unavoidable, and uncontrollable sweet-sweet shugga tooth. i was, quite possibly, manufactured at willy wonka's factory in good ol' candyland, u.s.a.