Current State of Mind

quote found via Pintrest

This weekend I took a trip over to my local floral shop Larkspur to pick up some of these beauties to do a mini photo shoot indoors. I was in need of a mood boost, since the skies were grey and my heart was a little down.  Nothing to do with recent family health events, they are all fine and well, thanks... I think this quote  just speaks to how I've been feeling lately.  

Monday Thoughts

A beautiful and inspiring quote to jumpstart your Monday!  Check out the rest of Pretty Zoo's quote series.  They're amazing and eye catching to boot!  This was true for me for the last 2 weeks.  For those of you who don't know I work as a commercial photographer for a photo studio.  And the last several weeks (because our in house photo stylist's) were on vacation my bosses gave me the opportunity to style several environment shots for one of our newest and busiest clients. I worked with one of our most talented and easy going photographers, which helped to make the weeks go by even smoother . I had so much fun styling these shoots and did them with surprising ease and confidence.  With the help and encouragement from another fellow friend, these past few weeks have really made me consider other career options besides photography.  For the past (almost) 6 years commercial photography has been my safe comfortable cushion.  In other words my safety.  I don't know if it's because I am approaching my 30th birthday at the end of this year but I've been feeling more and more like I need a change of pace and I find myself seeking new challenges that my day to day work no longer offers me.  I'm not at all ungrateful for anything that this safety has given me over the past few years but I'll soon be ready to make a leap and do something that's scary and new and exciting. 

Where Oh Where?

I find myself asking today where has this week gone?  Really, it's Thursday already! I must confess the possibility of taking on this challenge has consumed my thoughts these last several days.  Combined with the support of my co-workers who have faced the tri challenge and lived to share their stories :)  I am truly excited for this challenge, now I just have to face how much it's going to cost to get a complete overhaul on my bike.  It's seen better days.  But I hope to have it back on the road within a few weeks.  If your looking to start a challenge (physical or not) I highly recommend the You Can Do It Handbook.  I was reading the stories of past triathletes and the tips they offer on how to get started.  It's got great references on almost any challenge your looking to take on too.  Such as scuba diving, organizing, volunteering, to writing your first novel.  So come on, YOU can do IT!

Happiness Is....

* creating a DIY holiday
* spending Christmas with my best friend
* taking a week off to unwind and nest
* hosting dinner/cocktails for friends and family
* creating new memories
* thigh high socks
* creating photo calenders as gifts
* being so blessed to have a home, health, and family
* getting a great Groupon deal
* waking up to sunshine
* seeing where a little creative inspiration can take you
* growing out my hair
* paid time off
* making gingerbread cookies and royal icing from scratch
* decorating my first REAL Christmas tree
* comfy cozy nights on our new couch
* year end bonuses!
* ice skating on my Birthday (I'm turning 29, eek!)

EV Photography

What is happiness for you this holiday season? It's fun to look back on the years, here is my post on happiness from 2008 :)

I am taking a staycation for the next week and a half.  So I will be back to blogging next year :)
Thanks for tuning in this year,  and thank you for all your positive words. Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to you!

xoxo,

~Liz

Cozy Comfort

The weather in the Chicago has begun to show its true colors this week. Meaning up until this week the temperature has remained somewhere between the mid to high 60's. Which for the Midwest, at this time of year, is almost unheard of. Add daylight savings time on top of the chilliness and I've got good reason to find comforts in the little things, one of them being a classic childhood favorite- mac & cheese. I'm warming up to a bowl tonight as I write this post and it's such a small but significant comfort to me. My choice in mac is the Trader Joe's variety made with Wisconsin cheddar. So warm and cheesy, it's hard for me to stop at just one bowl! What are some of your cozy comfort foods? Ones that just make you all warm and cozy inside.

Meet Joe

EVPhotography & pumpkin print

Hi everyone! Today I want to introduce the special person in my life that gets me going, calms me down and puts a smile on my face every time we are together (which just happens to be a lot these days). The funny thing about our relationship is that we went to college together, took the same classes, yet never even glanced in each others direction. It wasn't until he started freelancing as a photographer that our lives crossed paths again. We were work friends for close to 2 years until we started hanging out outside of work. Our relationship grew and developed over our love for tennis (that's what we did on our first date), and since then it has grown to include the outdoors, camping, cooking, and music. The thing I love the most about him, is that he just gets me, in all my silly and goofy ways. I don't have to cover up any parts of who I am when we are together. I get to be me, for good, bad or sad.

We've been living together now for 5 months (and dating for over a year) and although there have been some adjustments and compromises, I still can't believe that he hasn't gotten sick of me. I know that may sound like an odd thing to say, but it's true. Don't you find it fascinating to know of people that have shared there lives together for years or even decades? It's something that sounds so out of reach these days, but I look up to those who can work through issues and come out stronger in the end. Here's hoping :)

hello sunshine

Happy start to your week everyone! How was your weekend? Did you do something adventurous, fun or scary? I did something all of the above this weekend- Joe and I hosted our very first dinner party on Saturday night. Besides having to run out and buy more chairs so that we could all sit in the same space, we roasted our first beef tenderloin, which came out pretty tasty and we indulged on apple pie with a scoop of pumpkin ice cream from TJ's. All in all I'd say it was a success and I can't wait to host again :)

You're sew cool

It's Friday and time to unwind, unravel from this weeks work and get ready to play on weekend's time! The other day as I was glancing over my sidebar, I noticed that my followings for my blog keep growing. I wanted to take this time to say "Thank You"...you. To all that share with me every week, who encourage me, and take the time to drop me a line :) You are my driving force and it puts a smile on my face every time, really!

Want to know more about how you can get your own photo layout and starburst medallions just like the ones used above? Check out the inspirational blog of Pugly Pixel. Katrina runs this creative machine and is so so sweet for allowing fellow bloggers to download her crafty creations. Just please remember to read her terms of use for her clip art here before you get started. Thanks a bunch Katrina!! Happy weekend everyone :)

Hello October

I'm just catching up on things from this weekend. It was so great to ease into the season this past weekend by spending Friday all by myself. I spent the day running errands, taking a cardio bootcamp class, and sprucing the outside with pumpkins, gourds, and purple mums! I even had time to carve my very first pumpkin while the seeds toasted up all yummy in the oven :)
For those of you who are just as head over heels for this glorious season as I am , I'd love to hear how your spending it!

For those of you who are looking for a seasonal lift, stop by That's Happy blog, and download a cute owl desktop wallpaper calender by illustrator Lisa Rupp. I have it on my work desktop, and love the hint of autumn it brings to my 9-5. Thanks Lisa for sharing!

Sunday Afternoon

On Sunday my family and I gathered together to celebrate my dad's 62nd Birthday!

My mom catered from yummy Portillos and we all shared in conversation and company

for the afternoon. But there always seems to be times when I start feeling antsy just sitting around eating and talking for more than 2 hours, that photography was my perfect excuse to escape and see what my favorite little people were doing outside. Here were some of my findings.

Happy Start

Butterfly Moss

I have so much to be happy for to start off the week. I spent the weekend with little down time (for which I was grateful when I did have time to devour the Sunday Trib) and spent it with family at a bar-b-que, at dinner and a movie, drinks at a friends, and at the Botanic gardens for an afternoon photo shoot. I'm still going through my files today, but would love to share with you some of the portraits we ended up creating. How was your weekend?

hey awesome

Agreed :)

Forgive me...

As I work on getting life back to order. It's funny how reconfiguring your things and furniture to fit into a new space requires one to rethink more than just that :) I've been working steadily on getting my craft room/space up and running. Stay tuned for the before and afters of my craft closet transformation!!

Loving: Boat of Life Poster

Boat of Life poster

30 Day Journal Challenge

I completed my first page of the 30 day Journal challenge being hosted by Janel. It's not to late to join (they are on day 3). Just grab a journal, pens, pencils, markers, and anything else you fancy and get to creating pages. Click here for all the details :) Below is my first intro page. I had fun creating designs on my page along side text. My plan is to use colored pencils and black pen to outline the text and illustrations. I really like the way this turned out. Check out more journal pages via the flickr group too!

30 List for Summer

P is for Party

30 things I vow to do this summer:

1. Rock climb
2. Watch a movie in the park
3. Pack a picnic
4. Visit a dog park
5. Bike ride along the lake
6. Watch fireworks
7. Take a couples photo
8. Make sangria
9. Host a dinner party
10. Dance like no ones watching
11. Wear SPF daily
12. Go camping
13. Swim in a lake
14. Design and build a custom shelving unit
15. Buy fresh flowers bi-weekly
16. Open up to new color schemes
17. Ditch diet coke
18. Build a campfire
19. Create minty/citrus flavored cocktail
20. Find couple to play doubles tennis
21. Wake up early to see the sun come up over Lake Michigan
22. Throw an open house
23. Plan and host craft night
24. Visit farmers market
25. Drive less
26. Walk in the rain
27. Be more social
28. Spend a weekend with my nephew
29. Plant outside
30. Eat 2 meatless meals a week

Are you planning on keeping summer new and exciting? I'd love to know what your list/plans include!

Fun Survey

I thought this would be fun to share with you on this beautiful Monday morning! Thanks to Courtney for tagging me :)

3 names I go by:

1.Liz

2.Liza

3.Lizzie Bear

3 jobs I have had:

1.newspaper carrier

2.dry cleaner cashier

3.Photo teacher assistant

3 places I have lived:

1.Grayslake, IL

2.Chicago, IL

3.Belgrade Lakes, Maine (for 6 months)

3 fave drinks:

1.Yogi green tea

2.Iced coffee

3.Mango smoothie

3 TV shows I watch:

1.Top Chef

2.The Hills (haha)

3.It's always Sunny in Philadelphia

3 places I have been:

1.Portland, Maine

2.Denver, Colorado

3.San Salvador, El Salvador

3 places I would like to visit:

1.Australia

2.Italy

3.California

3 fave retro TV shows:

1.Clarissa explains it all
2.Punky Brewster
3.Double Dare

3 fave dishes:

1.Pan fried tofu with brown rice and brocolli

2.Egg white omelet with blueberry pancakes

3.Asian noodle soup

3 things I am looking forward to:

1.Moving to Chicago with my best boy

2.Furnishing our new pad together

3.Having an open house with friends as soon as we're settled in

Room to Grow

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I am entering a new phase in my life. I'm looking forward to coming home to someone who's company I wholeheartedly enjoy, where we can create a meal together and end the day sharing in daily stories. A few of you requested to see some photos of my place when our things are mixed together. But we are planning on living at my place until my lease is up at the end of June, in which then we'll be relocating to Chicago! So we are planning on saving to decorate our new apartment in the city together! Which I am so looking forward to because we share similar design aesthetics. We are drawn to modern mid century pieces with industrial, naturalistic, and cozy accents. (okay, the cozy part is mostly me :) This is totally new territory for me, so I am mixed with overwhelming emotions.

On a different note: I'm currently loving these lace Photoshop brushes that I incorporated into my succulent photo. You can get 'em for yourself here, and they're free! I've included some of the designs in this fresh minty green color that I love. They remind me of old lace remenants that I sometimes find at the bottom of my mom's sewing drawers.


Psst: Wanna learn more? Here's a great link to learning more about how to upload, create, and organize your Photoshop brushes!

A BIG Thank You!

This post is way overdue, but it is never to late to say thank you to everyone who continues to support me, my work, and those who continue to inspire and motivate me to keep at it! I'm very grateful to have such a great connection of blog readers, your comments keep me smiling and excited to keep blogging!

{New Day}

I woke up this morning wondering if last night was all just a dream. Happily it was not. I don't know about you but after last nights election outcome I have had a lightening of the spirit that has stuck with me all day. I realize that one person cannot change the outcome of the world. But I know it takes just one person to get things rolling in the right direction and a special person to awaken others to take action for the greater good. It is truly a new day.