happy birthday dear chelsea

{photo credit: facebook}

today is my friend chelsea's 29th birthday. she and i met in college and even though she's a better dresser than i am (and a better baker, hostess, business woman, and hair model), she likes me and has remained a wonderful friend throughout the years. this weekend, we are having a MASSIVE girl party in my hometown with her and her mom, my friend sarah and her mom (and two kids), and me and my mom. girl powerrrrrr. i am woman, hear me roar.

chelsea has stuck with me through all kinds of ups and downs in my life. she has been a strong support system and sounding board when i needed her help, and she has also been a good enough friend to tell me when i'm about to do something stupid. "don't stick your finger in that outlet. you'll get hurt." that kind of thing. i owe her big time for putting up with my shenanigans. (that's why she's getting four presents this year instead of one...)

happy birthday, chelsea dear! year twenty nine has good things in store for you. now let's party!

new business cards

{photo credit: me}

i'm so excited to share my new business cards with you guys! it's been a long time since i've had updated business cards. the last ones i ordered were pretty cool and didn't cost me that much to order, but they were still missing that special something. i have been thinking about what i wanted my new cards to look like and considered making them myself, but i didn't want them to turn out looking like a bad art project. after some research on pinterest and etsy, i decided to go the route of rubber stamp business card. so very happy with how it turned out!

{photo credit: me}

{photo credit: me}

{photo credit: me}

i found sam on etsy, and she was the sweetest and coolest girl to work with. her shop is yournewfriendsam, and she is so talented. she does lots of custom design work, hand lettering, rubber stamps, and photography. i highly recommend her for any custom design work! she was always very quick to respond to my questions and emails, and once i decided on what i wanted my stamp to say, the turnaround time was super quick. my stamp was in my greedy hands in probably about a week!

{photo credit: me}

the thing i like so much about using a stamp as my business card is that i can never run out of cards. when my stock is running low, i don't have to re-order online and wait two weeks for them to arrive. i can simply stamp up a bunch of fresh cards! and by using different colored inks and papers, i can customize how each set turns out.

thank you sam for designing such a beautiful stamp! it's like i'm a real artist now.

{photo credit: me}

internet gems. part seven.

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animals interrupting yoga.

i ordered a business card stamp from this awesome etsy shop. i can't wait for it to arrive so i can start stamping things!

super stoked to go see DMB tonight! it's supposed to thunderstorm, but the show goes on rain or shine. i'm choosing a gym clothes and rain coat outfit for the show. and no mascara.

these sweet family photos from urban nester.

just found out that an event involving local artisans and local beer existed. you better believe i'm looking into this.

goat cheese pasta brought to you by the lovely laura.

happy link looking!

sola coffee cafe

{photo credit: me}

last saturday, my boyfriend took me to a new (to me) coffee shop in raleigh. i was shocked that i did not know this place existed because if there is a coffee shop within a 50 mile radius of me, i know about it. what's even more shocking is that my man doesn't even drink coffee. how does he, the non-coffee drinker, know about sola coffee cafe and me, the bordering on coffee addiction girl, not know about it? what parallel universe am i living in?

so glad we went-sola coffee is awesome. the decor is hip and eclectic and we happened to go on the one saturday of the month that they host a pop-up artist market. there were probably about 10-12 artists there selling their handmade goods.

it got me super charged up to create, and i think i am going to contact sola about participating. i talked to a few of the vendors, and one of the girls said it was her very first time selling her stuff! hearing stuff like that makes me feel proud of any artist who is trying something new with their art. i want to do like a synchronized jump high-five with them. i'm never sure how that will be received so i usually just tell them good luck.

who knows. maybe next time, i will be the girl telling a customer that it's my first time at the market. if they go for a high-five, i'm taking it.

{photo credit: me}

{photo credit: me}

{photo credit: me}

{photo credit: me}

{photo credit: me}

{photo credit: me}

caramel apple pie trifle

{photo credit: me}

do you remember apple bobbing from when you were a kid? i'm glad i never thought about just how disgusting the whole game actually is when i was nine years old and my head was submerged in a bucket of germ and spit infested water. not to mention what a fool you looked like to everyone who was standing around watching you. at nine years old you don't care about stuff like that. you care about that apple. that one freaking apple.

now that we're grown and fancy, we prefer our apples already caught for us. preferably peeled and sliced. doused with sugar and layered between whipped cream and creamy vanilla pudding.

caramel apple pie trifle

(this recipe yields 42 servings. 42? i don't have that many friends. i cut everything in half, and it made enough for one small travel size serving and one medium/large serving.)

ingredients:

1 package yellow cake mix

6 cups cold milk

3 packages (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding

1 teaspoon apple pie spice

1 jar (12-1/4 ounces) caramel ice cream topping

1-1/2 cups chopped pecans, toasted

2 cans (21 ounces each) apple pie filling

2 cartons (16 ounces each) frozen whipped topping, thawed

directions:

1. prepare and bake cake according to package directions, using two greased 9-in. round baking pans. cool for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
2. in a large bowl, whisk milk, pudding mixes and apple pie spice for 2 minutes. let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.
3. cut one cake layer if necessary to fit evenly in an 8-qt. punch bowl. poke holes in cake with a long wooden skewer; gradually pour a third of the caramel topping over cake. sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans and spread with half of the pudding mixture.
4. spoon one can of pie filling over pudding; spread with one carton of whipped topping.
5. top with remaining cake and repeat layers. drizzle with remaining caramel topping and sprinkle with remaining pecans. refrigerate until serving.

for the original recipe go here

try it out! it was super easy to put together, and i had no leftovers. my friends are just like me-they like their fruit as unhealthy as possible. 

what didn't make it to instagram

{photo credit: me, dan, nice random guy}

top left: beautiful view from a camping trip in early spring
top right: goodies from the farmers market
bottom left: breakfast of champions
bottom right: double date rock climbing

{photo credit: me, amy}

top left: crab quesadilla at food truck rodeo
top right: date with my dad
bottom left: roommate date night at parts and labor in durham
bottom right: the best birthday card

{photo credit: me}

left side: ootd featuring the most comfortable target maxi dress
top right: my cute parents loving on each other
bottom right: little bebe succulent

{photo credit: me, mom}

top left: good advice on pavement
top right: custard at the ballgame. hey, batta batta.
bottom left: keep it dirty, durham.
bottom right: canoeing along with my adventure man

{photo credit: me, dan}

top left: proud artist displaying her wares
top right: working on a new jewelry display
bottom left: the prettiest dozen roses from my crush
bottom right: pool days

what's happening in your non-instagram world?

currently

{photo credit: me}

hello and happy monday! hope everyone had a nice long holiday weekend. for whatever reason, my boss also gave us today off. i didn't complain one bit.

so i'm a tad late to the game with this one. anne and jenna hosted a "currently" link-up which went live on the second, but even though i'm late, i figured i'd join in anyways. i love sharing my currentlies with you all.

wishing // for a giant slice of chocolate cake to appear in front of me. wish big or go home.

celebrating // my boyfriend and i recently celebrated four months. i know it's not a big milestone anniversary or anything, but you have to start somewhere, right? he's been a huge addition to my life, and i am thankful for him every day.

wearing // my bathing suit. whether it's poolside or beachside, i've been enjoying some quality time in the sun and water. if you can't beat the humidity, play in it!

cooking // chicken salad. i forgot how easy and delicious this is. i made a big batch to take with us last weekend to the beach, and it was very simple to put together. it really just requires some chopping and stirring once the chicken breasts have been poached. i used this recipe. give it a try!

planning // an upcoming bestie weekend with my girls. my two college girlfriends, my roommate and i are meeting in my hometown of southern pines for some quality girl time. we try to get together fairly frequently to catch up and do some shopping and coffee/wine drinking. i love my girlfriends, and it is always so nice when we can make all our of schedules coordinate to hang out. i anticipate lots of giggling about boys.

what are you guys currently up to? happy monday!

america the beautiful

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God bless america, land that i love. stand beside her, and guide her thru the night with a light from above. from the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans, white with foam. God bless america, my home sweet home.

happy independence day! 

july mix

{photo credit: me}

happy july! are you guys coordinating your plans for the 4th? i think we're going to play it low key and go to a baseball game and watch the fireworks after the game. i'm not feeling like battling huge crowds and traffic. i remember one year we went to watch fireworks at a local concert venue, and it took us close to two hours to get out of the parking lot afterwards. cue headache and road rage. but for some reason someone had a bucket of fried chicken in the trunk? so we ate it? the night was redeemed slightly.

let's get down to why we're really here. how about some tunes for these hot hot days? these songs will get you to and from the pool, no problem. put that sunblock on and your earbuds in and prepare to jam out. hey, summa! 

celeste : ezra vine

sideways : citizen cope

coming home : pete kilpatrick band

wild heart : great american canyon band

let me in : grouplove

some surprise : the cake sale

the garden you planted : sea wolf

noble heart : phox (seeing them play in chapel hill this month!)

without words : ray lamontagne

think of me : rose golan

wrap your arms around me : gareth dunlop

happy july!