To all my readers (all two of you): keep on the watch for crazies!!

If you haven’t heard of the website Pinterest, you probably aren’t 1.) a creative person or 2.) a giant internet nerd. Since I am BOTH, I was linked here by a great friend, Clare. Incidentally, she took our awesome proposal photos which I will re-post here soon. She is usually the most “on top” of things in the creative world and I’m so glad she shared this awesome site with me!

Pinterest is an incredible resource for anyone in the planning stages of…well, pretty much anything. You can “pin” images from around the web to your boards via a simple shortcut in your browser. There are boards ranging from celebrity crushes to baby clothes but the real strength is in the gathering power from all over the internet. It’s still in its early stages, which means its still awesome. It’s ad-free and totally free to sign up and I love every thing about it.

The amount of wedding and event pinnage (is that a word? It is now.) is massive and I will credit the site for helping me get loads of planning done over the last month. I have been able to gather things I’ve liked from every blog, google search and stumble imaginable and keep it all in the same place. It’s like a virtual idea or concept board for our wedding at a glance. It’s helped me come up with a real image of what I want the day to look like that was difficult to achieve from clipping bridal and fashion magazines. With the unlimited depth of the internet, how could monthly publications possibly come close to this? I have been so grateful that I can quickly pin something in a fifteen minute planning session before running out the door and when I come home, I can review my pins and not wonder “What was it I liked earlier?” It is also keeping my bookmarks a lot less crowded and I’m able to really only bookmark the things I know for SURE I want to do.

So if you’re planning a wedding or planning to redo your guest bathroom, check out Pinterest and also feel free to follow my boards if you want to see my planning progress.

My Pinterest Boards

For Christmas this year my parents gave me a Roxy leather satchel as a symbol of starting my new life at a new school. It is large enough to shove extra clothes, snacks, art supplies, etc into in a pinch so I knew it would fit my new life in the painting studio at UTA.

The months since then have been a serious whirlwind and since my last trip to the studio in Arlington on Friday I have finally started to breathe again. I’m making time for all the things I have put off since December. All handled in a detailed list and proportioned throughout the summer so I can really focus on getting it done RIGHT. I have embraced my perfectionism and in doing so, freed a part of myself that was previously pretty ashamed I cared so much.

The fun part is, I’m also ALL creativity and passion so those two sides living in the same girl make for some interesting experiences, let me tell you. For example, when my life is all chaos, so are my physical surroundings. And my person. All my energy goes to making work and putting 100% of my energy into showing up to make it happen.

When school is in session my hair doesn’t get cut, my pedicures are self-applied, my room is a disaster area and my belongings are scattered in the places I most frequent: my parents’ house, Julian’s apartment (my fiance, more about him later) and the studio at school. My wonderful purse that my parents gave me has one seam loose in the strap already and is constantly weighed down by the eternal switches in cargo.

School is now out for the summer, I have two weeks til summer school starts and I just now sat down to clean out my purse for the first time in at least a month. As I pulled things out and started taking inventory, I realized it was a visual representation of all the things that are going on in my life now and all the incredible things that have happened. I decided this would be a perfect way for a quick catch up for my readership (if you’re still out there).

2 pencils & 1 eraser from drawing class – school has been great this semester. It is the hardest thing I’ve had to do since beginning my art life but it really paid off: emotionally, artistically and academically.

1 bag of colored sharpies and page markers – wedding planning has been all within the confines of deadlines this semester but now that summer is here, I will be hammering out some big things before school starts again.

1 wallet with exactly $0.17 inside. Being a student on the go is HARD financially. Enough said.

1 iPhone with very beatup pink case. Lifeline to my real life when I’m at school, lifeline to art when I am home. Key to keeping my loved ones very close at all times. Support system is a go!

1 present I bought for Jules around Valentines Day – our friendship turned romance has transformed my cynical, broken heart into a big fat teary-eyed mess. I have never had more fun with anyone and I’ve never felt more loved, comfortable and cared for by anyone in my entire life.

1 Chinese New Year envelope with engagement cash gift inside, to be deposited in our not-yet-opened joint wedding account. – He liked it and put a ring on it. No, seriously, the weeks since the proposal were on some sort of fast-forward button. It’s all been a blur but I will write a very detailed account of that very special day and the events leading up to it very soon.

1 new pack of Peppermint Orbit with five pieces already gone – I go through a pack in about five days. I should really start buying it by the case. My dentist would be mortified.

1 Mountain Berry Jolly Rancher – Where did this even come from? I had no idea this flavor even existed!

1 tiny bag of Robins Egg candy from our late-night Easter Egg hunt at mom and dad’s house. – Julian fits in so well with our family. I could not have asked for anyone more suited to come in and fill the role no one has ever been able to. He will make a great husband, yes, but he will make an incredible son-in-law. Makes me feel so lucky on a daily basis.

1 Ziplock bag with a fork & spoon inside from Grandma’s House – I moved out of Grandmas house over Spring Break this year in preparation of her big move to a retirement community. Her house is on the market (not the best market, everybody say prayers we will see it sell!) and I moved back into my parents house. It was a huge move. My biggest yet and I reduced my belongings to fit in a 5×5 storage space (this is SMALL, think about it) and four shelves in my parents garage. The furniture I plan to keep went to Julians apartment where he exclaimed “it looks like a real home now!” and everything else was boxed up to sell. It was very therapeutic. I am looking forward to the next move in to a new apartment with my husband next year!

I cosmetic bag full, including 1 Banana Boat Sunscreen stick SPF 30 – Last summer Julian and I travelled to Florida for a wedding and we spent every moment of our time there enjoying the ocean. I had never seen the ocean, let alone touched the water. I talked the whole way there about not being sure I would enjoy myself. As soon as we arrived on the beach I was mesmerized. We were alone with the lifeguard and one sunbather since it was so early. There were so many birds out. There were three storks out when we arrived! I held tight to Julians hand and started out sitting on the beach with the waves lapping my toes. By mid-day I was up to my neck, laughing and playing in the water. It was honestly, a transformative experience. I learned that I can trust myself, I can allow myself to have fun in new ways and most importantly, I can trust Julian.

1 small bottle Tylenol Extra Strength, half full – We doubled our joy by welcoming my second niece, Ivy Jane into the world last August! I feel like God adds so much joy to help us get through times we never thought we could. I have let go of so many things that gave me pain, heartache and anger in 2009. With so much to look forward to and so much love in my life, I realize that I am a lot stronger than I gave myself credit for. I am really blessed beyond measure and in ways I couldn’t have predicted. The pleasure truly is worth the pain.

I yellow legal pad containing a list of painting ideas – I have been so blessed with my art career as of yet. Awards won, shows under my belt and many works have been purchased. I know it’s all simply encouragement that I’m on the right track. I am always reminded that I’m at the beginning of my journey and I will always be learning. I wonder if I will ever reach a moment where I feel I’ve “arrived”. I hope not. I’ve learned a lot about attitude and how important it is to remain open and humble this semester. I’ve also learned that nobody can validate my work except me and I am on a mission to make sure I do that as often as possible. Gotta keep going. I know this journey will be full of amazing things!

1 list of new YouTube account information – I have so many ideas and after warring with myself on a confidence level, I’ll be attempting to launch a few of them over the next year or so. I will definitely keep you posted.

1 list of restaurants in the Fort Worth area – I made this list in JANUARY! I am determined to relax and enjoy this summer with Julian and the rest of my family, even though I’ll be taking summer class very early in the morning!

I plan on many upcoming posts about wedding planning, art, life and how things are now. I hope some of you come back and read about the next chapter in my life. I’ve missed writing and I’m ready to get back to this in a major way. Stay tuned!

In the month my painting was hanging up, I met a vast list of friends at the Community Arts Center on a variety of occassions. It was so fun getting to see my friends react to my work as well as get the chance to see the show many different times. In some ways, it made me feel a little more at ease with the idea that I was hanging in such an important show. And for my first, it’s going to leave a serious impression. Basically, I’m spoiled now.

Here’s a picture of me and my painting at the opening:

Hoping this is the first of many!

I’ve been perusing countless shops and today started the dreaded shoe search. I’ve taken my browsing online since my feet and back have finally tuckered out. In my hot-linking, I’ve found quite an array of fun, fashion forward items that really make me wish for an endless bank account supply. A few of my favorites below:

NYC Vintage Subway Map dress

Cotton Dress from Topshop

I’m actually planning on saving up for this one:

Walk-A-Ways Dress from Anthropologie

As an already proud Aunt, desperately in love with this little girl, I have to share a couple of pictures from the weekend.

Me holding Georgia on her first night home!

Baby Georgia, awake and alert!

She’s gorgeous and I cannot wait for many more moments with her. It’s been overwhelming to have that kind of love just plop in my life out of nowhere. The journey from now on will be fun all the way! Congrats to the new proud Parents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. And to me! Cool Aunt Heather!

I am so excited about my paintings right now! I finished my second in the Little People series and I’m making plans to start my third one next Monday. The plan is to finish six of these before school starts in the Fall and I am starting to feel like I could be done with that goal far earlier than expected! I haven’t emailed the new one to my mentor yet. Still feeling “not quite done” and it’s still existing in the studio without a signature. Maybe soon I’ll feel ready for the criticism. And hoping he won’t say something involving the word “redo”. I’m currently planning about three hours work on this one. For now, here she is:

For those of you that don’t know, my brother and sister in law are adopting a little girl and she is due in TWO WEEKS! I cannot explain how excited I am to meet her! I’ve already decided that I’m going to be the “cool” Aunt. We will visit art museums and I’ll be the one she calls from her dorm one day when she is too scared to call home. But until then, I got her a pink hoodie and tiny pink converse to wear. Also planning on giving a couple artistically inclined gifts when she arrives. It’s going to be awesome.

Happy Summer, friends!

Me:  “I may be subconsciously in love with Jon Stewart.”

Him:  ” I may be consciously in love with Jon Stewart.”

So many reasons why I would gladly elope with Mr. Stewart. I will post a few below.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my productivity issue that seems to be slowly infecting my brain. With school over for the semester and another week before it starts up again, I find it nearly impossible to get work done in my own home. I wonder why that is? On the day of our final critique in painting we discussed each others work and the subject of conciously controlling our work environment came up quite a bit. There was encouragement for two of the painters in the room to get theirs under control and I couldn’t help but feel that perhaps that’s part of my problem.

In case you’re unaware, I’m currently sitting with four unfinished paintings in my office, all at about 90% completion. My mentor said the other day while looking at my final painting, “Two hours more and you’re done.” He said it with such matter-of-fact assurance that it almost made me cry. He’s been giving me pep-talks involving metaphors for the art world. Pumping up my confidence by talking about my natural ability and all the while, smiling at me when I feel like I’m not worthy of any of the praise. I’m convinced that most of this is a mind game that I’m playing with myself. Because really, the only person who decides whether or not I’ve got what it takes is me. Plain and simple.

Hmm. Interesting. I think I just decided to paint for an hour before bed. Here’s a picture of all my paintings up at final critique. The one I’m painting on now is the Fisher Price one on the top right. Enjoy!

The semester is officially winding down. I had my last painting class today and my drawing final is tomorrow morning. After next Wednesday’s painting final, I will be done! It’s been great and for the first time ever, I’m really sad to see it all end! The good news is that I will be taking painting this summer as continuing ed. That way, I can use the facilities and benefit from the artists and teachers input.

Went to see Star Trek tonight with Mom and Dad. It was great! I highly recommend it. My love for JJ Abrams abounds. If you see/have seen it, can you spot the Slusho easter egg? Genius.

I’ve got a bit of drawing reviewing to do before tomorrow so I’m signing off. Have a good weekend!