Smile And Wave

Family Photo Shoot with Rebecca Caridad: Part One

The lovely Rebecca and her sister, Alysia, came down from Boulder about a month ago to do a home shoot and an outdoor shoot with our family. I just got the prints and cd in the mail today and couldn't wait to share my favorites. There are a lot of favorites! 

Funny story: I'd spent a few days getting our house super clean along with the help of Brett and despite the help of the smaller people that also live here. I'd been so busy I'd put off coloring my hair to hide the (quite) noticeable difference in browns (and maybe a few grays) and finally made some time to take care of it a mere three hours before the ladies were to arrive. I couldn't remember which color I'd used the previous time so I just picked something that looked right and went for it. My middle name is procrastination.

As soon as I got out of the shower I blow-dryed the top of my hair to see how it turned out and grew a little concerned that it was more fiery red than auburnish brown. I went out in the sun and had Brett take a picture of it so I could see and then panicked a little when even he said I should probably high tail it back to Walgreens. I threw my hair in a bun, checked for dye stains on my face and neck, and tore out of the driveway. Thankfully, I still had enough time to redye my hair a more subtle shade of what I wanted and got things diffused just in time. 

Despite the hair drama it was such a fun afternoon and evening. The kids were pretty cooperative and loved the extra attention from our company, the weather was great, and Rebecca and Alysia were so warm and full of whatever it is that makes you feel so much at ease around them (and their large lenses). After our shoot Brett took the kids home to put them to bed and the ladies and I went to Shuga's for dinner. I loved getting to spend a little extra time with a fellow creative that I've only previously known online. I was so inspired by stories they shared about their mom and how much she nurtured their creativity as kids and taught them about farming and gardening and different mediums she was interested in herself. It's so evident that that made an impact.

I have more photos from our venture out to Garden of the Gods to share in a future post. If you're in Colorado and are looking for a photogapher you can check her out and get in touch with her here.

 

I Scrapbooked!

A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from the darling Lexi Bridges-a creative mama with a shared love for vintage, playing with paper, and Target runs-inviting me to contribute to a class she is teaching for Studio Calico. For those of you who aren't familiar with SC, it's a scrapbooking kit club that combines product from major companies, exclusive SC designs, as well as non-traditional objects in an effort to keep scrapbooking fresh and innovative. They were one of my favorite kit clubs back in the day when I was scrapbooking regularly and known for their well-styled, on trend kits.

I was thrilled to join in and honored that Lexi had thought to ask me. She's quite talented with the paper! I was asked to contribute a mini book that reflected the class title 'This Is Me'. It's full of Instax, lists, journaling, beautiful paper, wood veneer triangles, arrows, stitching, and even a little woven page. 

The Studio Calico This Is Me class is on sale from now until March 31st and then runs through the month of April. This is Me is self-paced so all class content will be posted in the classroom on April 1st but there will be a class message board and challenges all the way through April. Students will receive a class kit and will all get access to the digital files.

Click here to read more about this class and join in the fun!

I really enjoyed putting this mini book together and using some new supplies. I know I'll always document my life one way or another-be it through scrapbooking, art journaling, instagramming, or blogging. It's like leaving little time capsules for yourself to rediscover and see how much you've changed. Or maybe stayed the same.

-Rachel

Giveaway: Lisa Leonard Designs

Lisa Leonard has long been known for her beautiful silver jewelry but has recently added a little bit of gold to the mix. I love the new Gold From Any Angle, Basic Rectangle, and the Gold Dark Night Stone necklaces but my favorite was the Chevron so I was thrilled when Lisa sent one over! 

Lisa has also been generous enough to offer two $50 gift certificates to two lucky readers!

To enter to win:

*Go to Lisa's website and come back with the link to your favorite piece.

* Tweet about the giveaway for an extra chance to win and come back to let me know.

The winners will be chosen on Saturday, March 9th and announced here. Make sure to leave a way to contact you if you don't have an active blog account.

Also, check out Lisa's new Hope(Full) collection-a fair trade line that provides work for Ecuadorian women and allows funds to be sent back to the community to help local children attend school and receive free meals. It's a great way to add some color to your ensemble, or that of a friend's, while knowing your purchase is doing something so much more important than that. 

Thanks, Lisa!

-Rachel

A Little Cake Party

We invited our neighbors over to make cake with us on Monday because we all really wanted some cake. I had visions of a beautifully frosted double layer treat but then got stuck on the idea of making something kind of healthy. It's not usually a good idea to test a new recipe on friends but I was feeling confident that the Chocolate Paleo Snack Cake I'd found on Pinterest had enough good feedback that we'd be safe. I also found a recipe for a white frosting that looked delicious from the same website and volunteered Brett's services to run to our local health food store to find dates, coconut everything, and vegetable shortening. 

While he was gone I got things ready and set the table to make it a little more special. It's not everyday that one has a cake party.

Our friends came over and the kids played while we talked and sorted and pureed and poured. We got things measured out for the kids to take turns adding and mixing and tried to reassure Sebastian that he would love this new healthy cake. He was suspicious.

The cake came out fine and tasted pretty good. We used this recipe and added an extra egg. My friend, Jessa, has chickens in her backyard so they were about as local as you can get! It was like a moist brownie consistency. The frosting, however, was not something I'd be comfortable passing along. It tasted like shortening so we added 2.5 cups of powdered sugar in order to get it to look and taste sweet enough to offer the kids. We had to make it twice, too, because I didn't know the difference between coconut milk in a carton and coconut milk in a can. Learning all the time, I tell you!

The kids had already waited awhile for the cake to be ready so we didn't let it cool much before adding the frosting so it ended up looking a bit like this. I likened it a brownie with melty marshmallow cream frosting. It was good enough for 4 out of 5 of us to clean our plates but Sebastian was a little disappointed. I promised him a regular cake if he didn't like our healthy one so later that night I used what I had on hand to make something a little more to his taste. 

This one was made from this cake recipe and this frosting recipe. Once again I misread the directions and put the butter substitute in too soon (we were out and I had tons of coconut oil and vegetable shortening to substitute) so it was less meringue-y and more runny. The pairing of coconut oil and brown sugar made it taste like butterscotch. 

Sebastian woke up first and told me he went straight to the kitchen to check for a cake. I let him have a small piece for breakfast and have promised him we won't finish it off before he gets home. Even though the cakes didn't quite turn out to be as gorgeous or perfect as I'd hoped, we had such a lovely time having our friends over to share in the process. Something I hope we can do more often this year!

Oh, and while we were baking our afternoon away, Brett was out running 14 miles with Sunday. I made a cake and he ran a half-marathon. So, there's that.

Any links to your favorite tried and true white cake or chocolate frosting from scratch are welcome to be left in the comments below. I've got one frosting recipe I love that uses powdered sugar so I need a buttercream that I can count on. Thanks in advance!

-Rachel

 

Our First Christmas Festivity with Friends

A sweet new friend invited us to join her family and some other friends to see the lighting of the trees at the historic Broadmoor Hotel and Resort here in Colorado Springs last weekend. It's the kind of event that you find more enchanting than any description would've prepared you for, partly because of the location (one of the most gorgeous buildings I've ever seen on this continent) and partly because of the millions of twinkle lights. We got there in time to visit awhile with our friends and dance to Christmas music all the while enjoying the happy crowds and lake full of geese in front of us. There was a Dixie Band that led Santa and his elves across the bridge to light the big tree and then the whole lake lit up. It was beautiful. 

By the time the it was over the kids were getting antsy and we were all famished so we didn't get to stroll the grounds much but I'm thinking I can get Brett to take me on a date night to walk around with hot chocolate in hand. Talk about romantic! 

We did manage to get some fun shots in front of this wrapped willow tree. They're a bit blurry again but we'll take what we can get. It turns out my viewfinder has been messed with a bit and has been out of focus and causing some blur. The worst part is that I didn't even notice for so long! My friend Tara's husband happens to be a photographer and noticed it was off when I asked him to use my camera to take a picture of us on the lake. I think it's time to take it in to get cleaned and adjusted. Oh, and time for me to get my eyes checked. There's been a little more squinting lately!

It was a festive start to the season and one of those things we wouldn't have heard about had we not been invited by someone who'd been there before. It prompted yet another list on my kitchen chalkboard of all the things I'd like to do as a family to fully enjoy this holiday season. We usually do small activities with an Advent calendar but I'm also trying to think outside the typical and hoping to include another activity or two in the vein of guerilla art. Maybe we'll glitter a bunch of pinecones and hang them in a pine tree at the park or doorbell ditch a movie night box to some neighbors. The wheels are spinning!

Do you have any special plans to celebrate this season? It's my absolute favorite!

-Rachel

Image credit: B/W photo by Luc

Special Messages and Secret Missions

This post that Andrea of HulaSeventy posted earlier this year was a reminder of this first post of hers that I read about guerilla art that has been on my to do list for about...five years. I love the way that woman approaches life. She's inspired me (and I'm sure many, many others) to keep an eye out for the special parts of life that are so easy to spot when we are young but that can be overlooked as we embrace our changing roles and responsibilities. I like that she lists simple pleasures, celebrates urban beauty, and uses photography to bring love and joy to herself and those her life touches. 

This weekend I decided it was time to introduce the kids to guerilla art in a similar way Andrea and her family did years ago. I sat the kids down with some paper and markers and sectioned off places for them to draw on for easy cutting. I told Sebastian to think about drawing something that would make someone happy like the sunshine or flowers so that's exactly what he did. Ruby drew a bunch of circles around circles and then I added little messages to their drawings. I then wrote out some affirmations that I knew I'd appreciate if I found them in a crack in a wall somewhere.

We copied, cut, folded, and headed downtown to see what would happen. I told the kids we were going to hide these messages for people to find and that they'd make them happy. They didn't really need more of an explanation and quickly discovered the kinds of nooks and cracks their little notes would fit into. Sebastian started asking if he could just hand them to people so I told him to go for it. He gave his first one to a little girl about his age and told her mama it was a secret message. He wasn't discouraged when people weren't interested and just moved on to the next. It was so fun to step back and see how much they enjoyed it and to realize we were doing something really good for our own family in the process regardless of how these notes were ever received.

It's my hope that many of these little notes will have stayed put until Monday morning. What better day of the week to find a surprise in your meter or on the floor as you open your shop for business? 

Thank you, Andrea, for inspiring our family to journey out of our comfort zone and interact with our town in a new way. It was good for our hearts.

Have you ever run across a secret message tucked in a corner or an affirming sticker in the ladies room? Have you ever left one of your own?

-Rachel

Around The Interwebs

I was thrilled to be invited to share a few books that have been in heavy rotation these last few weeks over at Sometimes Sweet! Head over to Danielle's beautiful blog to see the full post.

Also, can I just say how much this labor of love was worth it?! I'm so happy to finally have my very own vintage bike. See the full tutorial for painting your own on A Beautiful Mess.

If you need me I'll be here....

-Rachel

College Friends Lost Everything in a Fire

Brett just messaged me a little bit ago alerting me to the tweet someone else had sent out sharing the sad news that some college friends of ours from OBU in Shawnee, OK had lost their home and everything they own to a fire last week in Luther, OK.

Rachel shared that they were all taking naps after staying up late the night before preparing for a friend's wedding when a neighbor pounded on their door. They opened it to see their field on fire and had just enough time to get the kids, their important documents, and get in the car. Their home was engulfed in flames only minutes later. 

Devastation by fire is so fresh on our minds as we anxiously kept an eye on the burning mountains here in Colorado Springs earlier this summer and heard accounts of whole neighborhoods being scorched. The thing I've taken from that devastation is how many people want to help. There is a real need for this sweet family and a really easy way to reach out and show support. Another one of their friends has started a place to donate funds through Indiegogo and has set a goal of raising $5,000 for the Cobb family. 

If you feel so inclined and are able, I know they'd appreciate any donation towards rebuilding. It warms my heart to know so many of their friends are already reaching to support them as they process what has happened and work on the next step. 

All my thanks,

Rachel

*photo borrowed from Indiegogo site

One Very Talented Lady

Sandi of AdaLou is quite the talent! She wrote to tell me she'd been working on a secret project a few weeks ago that involved a few of the bloggers that inspire her and her knack for illustrating but we didn't get to see what she was working on. Fast forward to today when she unveiled her big project on her blog and call me blown away! 

I'm so thrilled to have been thought of as a part of her project and am excited that I get to enjoy my own custom cameo necklace! More than that, though, I'm so happy to hear how Sandi has pursued a new way to develop her creativity through a new medium and use her talents to make beautiful product.

She kind of nailed it on all of us, huh! See if you can guess who everyone is and then head over to find out if you were right.

The great news for everyone is she's offering custom cameos as necklaces or brooches in the very near future! Be sure to check her blog mid-month for more details.

EDITED: Prints and cameos shown are now available in her shop.

Sandi, thank you so  much for making us all feel special! You're such a gem.

-Rachel

p.s. All images borrowed from Sandi.

Vintage Findings

The thrifts have been kind lately. We are two weeks away from relocating our home so normally I'd be packing but since the Army takes care of most of that for us, I've been out hunting for more things for them to pack. Even the pickiest of thrifters (and I'm pretty picky these days) will find something they love in Springfield, MO.

First off, a well spotted box of neon letters by Elsie later turned into the inspiration color I've decided to design the kids' next shared room around. I'm a sucker for metal letters.

I also came away with two more vintage sheets, another cup for our collection (to replace one of the three that have broken!), and the cutest little vintage cash register I've ever seen. Everything color coordinated well. I guess I was having a yellow/aqua day.

Ruby decided it was a good place to store her cheerios.

I'm wearing: Vintage striped dress, thrifted. Vintage skirt, handmade from a vintage dress. Cardigan, Target. Belt, thrifted. Highwood clog c/o Lotta from Stockholm.

Thursday, despite feeling a little under the weather, we got dressed and took an impromptu road trip to Ozark, MO. into some fresh thrifting territory. I have to admit I got the itch after seeing Jenny's Instagram feed turn up a Catherineholm bowl for $ .55! I knew I wouldn't find one but I just had to go hunt. Like Edward Cullen when his eyes turn red. Jenny knows darn well what I'm referring to. She explains it even better here.

Turns out there was a Catherineholm casserole dish with my name on it just waiting for me on the bottom shelf of the Ozark Goodwill. I have had one in my Etsy favorites lately that was going for $55 so finding this one in black for $4 was a bit thrilling. I almost didn't take a photo of it thinking someone else might snatch it up while I was adding a filter on Instagram!

We hit up River View Flea Market near downtown Ozark next and found some beauties. I tend to spot anything aqua or mid-century first. This darling cake carrier was almost pretty enough to come home with me but since I never rarely bake, I decided to leave it for someone else to enjoy.

These two just about made me cry. That cabinet of multi-colored drawers was going for $375 so there was no question that it was staying put but those two woven rugs were almost too much. Their colors were gorgeous but as pretty as they were, they wouldn't have worked in our house. Sorry, beautiful rugs. I'll remember you fondly.

With thirty minutes to spare before needing to head home to pick Sebastian up from school, we stopped in at Spring Creek Antiques. I literally carried Ruby through the aisles because I didn't want to waste any time getting the stroller out and hauling it up the stairs! I almost didn't see this afghan but Ruby was taking her time playing with some toys so I took another look and there it was! You can't beat a $6 afghan in near perfect condition. Oh, and that aqua metal camera was a steal, too.

Thank you, Ozark.

Ruby's wearing: Dress c/o MishaLulu. Vintage sweater c/o HeightofVintage. Leggings c/o Tea. Boots, Old Navy.

Any child of mine that behaves well on one of our treasure hunts gets to pick out a treasure of their own. I think it's a great way to win them over to the thrift side while they're still impressionable. This time Ruby picked out a sweet, vintage teddy bear and while I tend to avoid second hand plush animals at all costs, she gave me a doe-eyed look that I couldn't resist.

I'm going to miss the great thrifting in and around Springfield but I've heard Colorado won't dissapoint. If you're new to thrifting or just like to hear how other people do it, Jenny just wrote two great posts on tips for thrifting part one and two and I hear there are more to come. Jenny's been doing this for years so listen up!

Do you have great thrifting nearby or do you virtual shop on Etsy and eBay? Any epic finds recently?

-Rachel