Things I'm Loving: February 2015
I know February is a short month, but I feel like this one went by freakishly fast. We started off this month with a fun photo shoot of me and Robert in our wedding outfits, which you will get to see sooooon. We celebrated Valentine's Day our favorite way: with Chinese takeout and a movie, followed by a Buffy marathon. We got hit with a windy snowstorm that night, so we were especially happy to be snuggled up in our apartment with nowhere to be. We also celebrated the 3 year anniversary of our first date on Tuesday night by going to our favorite restaurant in town, so that was a special treat for a weekday night. We ordered two kinds of pizza, two amazing pasta entrees and a white chocolate raspberry tiramisu for dessert, and we took most of that food home for leftovers because we can't actually eat that much. I also got delightfully tipsy off of a limoncello/prosecco cocktail and a stellar tangerine mojito, while Robert was responsible and drove us home. It was a lovely anniversary, but still doesn't live up to last year when Robert called into the Joy the Baker podcast for me. BUT - it seems as though February is the month for calling into podcasts, because we were lucky enough to get through to Kevin and Demi of Gilmore Guys (after 73 tries) to talk to them on their first call-in show! In that episode, titled "Call Our Name Vol. 1," you can hear me and Robert chatting with them for 9 minutes (!) about Gilmore Girls (starting around the 42:30 mark) - we tell them about how Logan was accidentally a part of Robert's bachelor party and I answer the question of whether Robert is a Dean, Jess or Logan. Those Gilmore Guys are fun. This weekend is my self-prescribed "Do Nothing Weekend," so I have plans to do nothing productive except for a shopping spree with my mom and possibly some laundry. Here are some other things I've been loving:
USING
Artifact Uprising - Every year for our anniversary I've made a little book of photos from both of our Instagram accounts to document all of the moments we had together throughout that year of dating. This year's was especially awesome because it had a ton of photos from our wedding and honeymoon. It's a really nice way to look back on our year together and reminds us of how special the little moments can be, like making crazy cinnamon sugar pull-apart bread on the weekend or eating pancakes on a Saturday morning. For the last 2 years I've used Artifact Uprising to make my books and I've been really happy with them. They now have "Instagram-friendly books," so you can pull your images straight from your account.
WATCHING
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Okay, so I'm twenty years late to this, but cut me a break because I was 7 when this show came out, and it probably would have scared the pants off of me back then. These days it's right up my alley, much better than The Walking Dead, which I had to stop watching because after every viewing I was left in a cold sweat with the shivers. No, thank you - I'd rather have a teenage vampire slayer with her quirky sidekicks and obnoxious quippy puns. Robert and I are working our way through this and we are currently on Season 3. I'm loving it, so now my idea of a perfect Friday night includes Buffy marathons in our PJs. Also - '90s fashion? Dear lord.
LEARNING
Food Photography - As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm working on transitioning into being my own photographer for the blog. (The peanut butter and jelly cupcakes post was the first I shot completely by myself.) I think I was always planning to do my own photography at some point, but I wanted to let it happen naturally. When I started the blog I didn't have a huge desire to take my own photos, and Robert graciously agreed to take them for me. So rather than fumbling around with a camera and learning the ropes of that while also trying to find my artistic "voice" for this space, I allowed Robert to use his existing skills while I worked with him to figure out what I wanted. Throughout that process I've developed an eye for what I'm looking for in each post, and I've also learned about lighting and editing along the way. Recently I've taken the camera from Robert more often to get the photo I'm looking for (as opposed to attempting to explain what I want), and have slowly developed the desire to take over that portion of my blog completely. I also want to give Robert more time to work on his own artistic pursuits. I'm excited to continue practicing and improving my skills, and I'm lucky enough to have an extremely talented teacher for a husband.
LISTENING
Brave Enough - I recently picked up this older live album by Sara Bareilles after hearing this song on Songza. I think the song was halfway over and I had already purchased the album. I have no idea why I didn't already own it since I'm a huge fan of hers. She's a great live performer, so if you're a fan and don't own this album, I highly recommend downloading it from iTunes right now.
Illustration at top created with watercolor, watercolor pencils, marker and Photoshop.
Prints of my illustrations (and other products with my work on them) are available in my Society6 shop.
