"it's good to be loved by martha. even if she is a felon."

i saw this today. and my heart stopped beating.

martha. freaking. stewart.

i kind of feel like laughing, because the way annie and i do things is, well... funny. we assemble invitations at midnight while we watch the bachelorette. we have business meetings at arby's. i photograph the invitations in my spare bedroom lying on my stomach or standing on a stack of textbooks and usually on my lunch break. but don't tell martha :)

i still can't even believe it.

we were so lucky to get to help out with lauren's wedding. thank you lauren!!!

a vintage poster

well folks, here it is, avintageposter.com

and, because i am shameless and need to spread the word...

a new side business to the side business to the real job

i have been working on a new little project lately. one that was heavily influenced by otter pops. the site should be re-tweaked for the umpteenth time tonight (should i ever give deadlines? i never keep them. sometimes i wave to them as they roll on by) but hopefully my next post will be one announcing it's official debut. i just got a little anxious. hence, this post.

check it out here: avintageposter.com

chef mike

the other day mike offered to make lunch for us. and he did. complete with his and hers mambas.

an example of true genius

order this sleeping bag and you officially don't have to worry about bears when you go camping.

from eikoishizawa.com. credit to artsy jana for finding nifty stuff and sharing.

minty

ever heard of mint?

it is on my top 5 list of things i cannot live without. free-budgeting tool. complete with pie graphs and bar graphs and lots of colored things to look at.

it's simple. all you have to do is create an account and enter your bank(s) information. (no worries-it is totally secure). mint will pull all your transactions from your accounts into one convenient little spreadsheet. you can file away each transaction in it's proper category (rent, groceries, entertainment, etc.) and set your own categories too (ice cream splurge, j. crew sales, unnecessary camping equipment, etc.). and set your monthly budgets. mike and i have been using it for over a year, and while it has kind of turned me into a budget nazi, but it has helped us save a lot and cut things out that we didn't realize were adding up so fast. plus you don't feel as guilty about spending money if there is a budget for it. well, most of the time anyways.

highly recommend it. mint.com.

retail therapy

i used to love shopping. empty my bank account and not even think twice about it shopping. but after mike and i became we and the bank account became ours things changed. the money i would have spent on shoes became the money that should be going to our IRA.

even though i am pretty sure i will die or the second coming will occur before we ever reach the blessed age of 59.5 and see that money again.

but. now instead of buying clothes when i need them or when there is a supremely awesome sale, i can't do it. can't. can't. can't. (that was for you ang. and barry.)

i fill up an online shopping cart. i enter my checkout information. and then there is that confirm payment button. oi. aaaaaaaaaaand exit browser.

this week, i am mourning these lovely items. so close to buying them, and now i am regretting it. a little. at least my unborn children will be able to go to college? but the ruffles...

we love sundays because the church is true. and air-conditioned.

on sunday, mike and i took a nap on the couch. 

about thirty minutes after we fell asleep, i was given the two-arm shove off the couch while mike mumbled "it's too crowded here. maybe you should move over there. toooooooo much body heat."

in my semi-delusional state of mind as i arrived on the floor, i had two thoughts: 

1 - our apartment is hotter than hades

2 - we're not newlyweds anymore

being newlyweds for some reason means that you have to touch each other all the time. because you love each other and obviously that is the only way you can show you love each other, despite any other circumstances, like no air conditioning. and if not being newlyweds anymore means more comfortable naps so we don't have to peel ourselves apart as we roast in our 700 square foot broiler where it is hotter inside than outside because the tiny, tiny, tiny air-conditioner that we bought off ksl as a desperate last attempt against the inferno of july has a radius of approximately six inches, i guess i'm ok with that.

although fall could come any day now. or an arctic chill. 

girls night

jess orchestrated girls night last friday. we ate, watched movies, talked nonsense, and repeated that cycle at least twenty seven times. after you grow up a little bit and realize that clothes are not the most important things in life, sisters are the best. especially my sisters. they are beautiful, talented, and hilarious. {sorry about the pictures - the lighting was awful and i was too lazy to fix things - surprise}

we started the night off at blue lemon, where the sandwiches are bigger than your face...

then we went to the mall, since it has the highest concentration of chocolate stores per square foot. and we visited them all. while sampling a nasty chocolate truffle {who knew such a thing existed?} we found out that syd has never seen project runway {scandal!} and ran home to stuff our faces with sugar and watch the first three episodes from this season.

lara might kill me for posting that picture... but syd looks cute! we made waffles with strawberries and plenty of whipped cream the next morning. mmmm... delicious. and girls night was officially declared a success, minus jen of course.

the b.f.a. - or best friends always club

so maybe it actually stands for bachelor of fine arts. but my dad only calls it the best friends always club. which i kind of like.

anyways. i applied to the bfa in april (you have to be in the graphic design program and complete a year of classes before you can apply). they make it pretty stressful. or maybe the students make it stressful. or maybe its the rumors that swirl about the impossibility of getting in and how there are a billion and five potential applicants. either way, it was stressful. especially since most of my projects were started within a few days or the day before the portfolio was due. my procrastination meant late night, expensive kinkos runs with tons of printing issues (curse you kinkos! i despise you), simultaneously slashing through foamcore and my rug with an x-acto blade at 3 in the morning, and finishing the portfolio at 5:30 am, two hours before i went to set it up at the review. whew. it was close.

here's the portfolio i submitted. don't judge too much, because i still have two years of scholastic learning left. (translates to: there's a lot of mistakes)

this was a poster assignment. i designed a series for a women's chess tournament. clearly i am a feminist.

this was a logo and stationary for an art studio in harlem (an ode to klane and angie)

CD packaging for brand new's album daisy. their lyrics are awesome, so i made all the song text a little bit crazy.

this was a re-design of instyle magazine... 

and three book cover designs for my favorite novels. i did change the title of anthem because it fit better. but the hand-drawn type is probably my favorite part of my portfolio. 

el fin.

oh the things you learn on pandora

coming soon to a theater near you...

their casting looks much more promising. who could say no to buffy?!

life tip

if you don't already watch project runway, you should. i mean it. it is high quality entertainment. you can even watch them online at mylifetime.com if you are like me and only have an option of three channels.

*sidenote: i've always had a soft spot for lifetime tv. when i stayed home from school (at least every two weeks or so) i would eat a half gallon of ice cream and rot my brain on lifetime original movies. which is probably why i am convinced i will die a dramatic death / be kidnapped and held hostage for twenty years.

but back to project runway. i am really excited for this season. some very talented people plus a good mix of crazies and and a certifiable nutcase or two. just look at these people. don't you want to devote an hour and a half of your life to them every thursday and watch them make ridiculous ensembles and sob to the camera about their tortured visions? i think yes. and if that doesn't convince you, just watch once to hear heidi klum say "nina garcia". it's worth it.

things i should have already posted about: part 2 - the final hurrah

back in may (april maybe?) i had been serving in the primary presidency for almost a year. we knew our time as a presidency was almost done since a lot of people were moving, so we decided to throw a big party for all the kids. it was a huge hit. we had cake, ice cream, a pinata (i'm sure their parents were thrilled) and a bunch of games. i loved my primary calling. the kids were hilarious, the people i worked with became wonderful friends, and teaching the gospel to five year olds was a lot closer to my comfort zone than anything involving adults. i miss it. especially since my new calling is teaching relief society. yikes.

favorite primary moments that i can remember:

*having a christmas party and showing the nativity cartoon. all the kids started screaming when king herrod started killing the babies. oops. forgot about that part.

*trying to explain to them that joseph smith was not jesus' dad. that was a different joseph. it took awhile.

*showing a resurrected painting of christ and asking what was happening in the picture: "jesus is flying!"