Hiatus for the next few days...

Hi Everyone!

I am having a rough week.  I'm not feeling that well and I have been going to bed really early.

Currently I am on the recliner where I have been sleeping, watching Pretty Little Liars, and my eyes are slowly closing.

I was trying to come up with a new post for today but my brain is mush and I can't think.

Hopefully I'll feel better in a few days and be able to be more of a person, or at least more of myself.

Be back soon!

Lots of Love,

Jess

Sebastien Millon

Weight Loss Monday

Hi Everyone!

I have thought a lot about this and I have decided to add a new series to the blog.

If you have been reading for awhile you might have seen some sentences that hint at not only chronic conditions that I have but also my weight.

For some background, a little less than a year ago I was running three miles everyday and I was on my way, training for a half marathon.

Suddenly I had pain shooting down my arm, then shooting down my leg, then numbness that followed the worst pain I have ever experienced.  I had ruptured a disk in my neck and surgery was the only option.

In November 2011 I had a spinal fusion on my C5 and C6 and my recovery is still taking place.  I cannot run but I have been hopeful.

However, my body has not been done with me.  Low iron counts, rashes of unknown origin, fevers, and more pain in my muscles and joints have further hindered my work outs.

I have now gained about twenty pounds since my surgery and I am heavier than I have ever been.

I feel ashamed. 

In my head I have always paired my feeling of being strong with my physicality.  I feel weak now.  I feel heavy....I feel fat.

I am starting to realize that even though my body is a mess right now I have to get to a place in my head where I feel strong so that maybe my body will eventually follow.

So, I have started slow.  I walked for thirty minutes on Saturday.  I walked thirty minutes this morning.  Maybe if I feel o.k. I will walk thirty minutes on Wednesday.

I am not good at slow, I am yearning to start a slow jog which I cannot do.  My body will not do it either.

I hope that every Monday you will be here with me to go through this journey.  There will definitely be some ups and downs.  I will talk about everything in this series.  Recipes, exercise, success, and failure.

Now some fitness quotes that will hopefully keep me motivated!

 Lots of Love,

Jess
 

Lovely Sunday Photograph

Lovely Sunday to you All!

I can't believe how fast the weekend flies by.  Yesterday I had a wonderful day with my parents.  I took a nap in their bed (does anyone else sleep really well in their parent's bed?), we went to see the Avengers, ate dinner, and then I brought home dinner to Mer who wasn't feeling well.

Today I have been trying to relax but I did go through a MILLION, yes a MILLION papers and I tried to organize Meridyth's who keeps just as much stuff as I do!

How has everyone's weekend been?  I hope it has been whatever you wanted it to be!

Now onto the photograph!

Image on Flickr by Paul Harts a Glasgow photographer:  Heylipol Church, Tiree

Isn't this image awesome?!  Mer and I have a few dream vacations we want to take but one of them is Ireland and Scotland.  This image was taken by an amazing photographer I found on flickr.  His name is Paul Harts and his work is really breathtaking.

His images make me want to hop on a plane to Scotland today.

One can only wish!

Until tomorrow,

Jess

Muju World

Hello Lovelies!

I have been looking back at my posts and Oh My Goodness!  I am all over the place!  There are many reasons for this but lately I have had no attention span and a hard time focusing therefore you are getting some really random posts!

Today my random post is about Muju World.  Muju World is a collaboration between two artists known on their website at Mr and Mrs. Muju.  The live in England and both are VERY talented and create resin sculptures, felt sculptures, prints, zines, pencil cases, and custom skateboards.

When I came across their site I couldn't help but smile.  I love finding quirky, original artists that don't seem to care about if their product is going to sell but just make really cool things.

I think that the felt and resin sculptures are just so fun so I am going to show you a few images of those!

Whirlpool Muju Felt Sculpture

Atlantic Ocean Guardian Sculpture

Black Astral Muju Felt Sculpture

Deep Water Felt Sculpture #3

Pacific Ocean Guardian Sculpture

Aren't they awesome?  Check out more of their stuff at Muju World

(Note:  I am not paid to promote any of these sites.  I just like them and want to share the coolness)

Lots of Love,

Jess

Quotes, Products, and Pictures!

Happy Wednesday!

We have made it half way through the week!

I have been finding so many random things that I just adore around the web and I wanted to share a smorgasbord with you today!  I hope you get a kick out of everything as much as I do.

The Fancy

Aren't these really adorable?  Who wouldn't want these in your house?  I thought it would be a cute engagement present too!

Heidi and Lola- Heather Trine

I have turned into a cat lady.  I never thought it would happen but it has!  I am going to embrace it and aren't these sets of pictures a great way to do it?!

I am not the biggest Lady Gaga fan but this quote is AWESOME!  I might letterpress this one because I could use this reminder probably once a day.

Rachel Reynold Designs

Rachel Reynold Designs

Slide lamps shades by Rachel Reynold Designs on Etsy.  How cool is that?  I wish I had thought of that in my college days when I had slides all over the place!

Oh Dier Living on Etsy

If you were a child in the 90's who did not see The Sandlot and who has not said this for the rest of their lives?  My best friend and I still say this to each other!  Available here.

Hope all this randomness made you smile!

Lots of Love,

Jess

Dave Devries and the Monster Engine

Good Tuesday Morning!

I had to share what I came across the other day and I hope you think it is as cool as I do.

Dave Devries is an author and artist and he did an amazing project called the Monster Engine.

What he did was take drawings done by kids and take their structure and idea and draw what they would like like if these simple drawings were done realistically.

The drawings totally captured my heart.  They are quirky, scary, funny, and completely original.

How awesome are these?  Definitely check out the website The Monster Engine.  It talks about the whole project and has more examples!

Lots of Love,

Jess

New print on LoveUPaperly: Don't Forget To Be Awesome Today

Hi Gorgeous People!

I have been working hard on new items for LoveUPaperly.

This print will be up for sale later today!

It measures 8.5 by 11 inches. I used different stamps with archival inks to make patterns in yellow green, and pink. The words are stamped in navy blue saying "Don't Forget to be Awesome Today".  I then drew a whimsical picture of a girl flying over a charming town holding balloons.  The drawing is ink and watercolor drawn over the inks used for stamping.  The print is sprayed with acrylic sealer to ensure a long lasting piece of art!

I think this is a good reminder of what to do everyday and the print is selling for only $7.50!

Hope you guys like!  More to come in a few days.

Lot's of Love,

Jess

Lovely Sunday Photograph

Hello, hello!

I hope everyone has had a great weekend.

Mine has been super busy and full and honestly I have overdone it a bit and I am paying for it now.  Just today we dropped of a bunch of stuff at goodwill, went for breakfast, attempted to go mattress shopping (utter fail) and went to target, bed bath and beyond, office depot, and staples.  I sat in the car for some of the shopping!

I then took a three hour nap and my dreams of more cleaning have dissipated.

I hope everyone has had a great weekend and is ready for the week!

Onto the photograph!  This image is by photographer Tim Flack who does amazing animal portraiture.  Click on his name to go to his website.  I can't get enough of his work!

Lots of Love,

Jess

I Love Typography

TGIF!

I am so happy it's Friday.  We are having a baby shower for Meridyth's sister which is going to be fun and a new doctor started me on a new medication which will hopefully help some of this chronic illness stuff.

Today I came across an awesome site highlighting interesting and innovative typography from around the web.  I love words.  I like the way they look and the way they jump on a page.  Artists that use words to make images ROCK MY WORLD!

Hope you enjoy!

Burdened- Dylanroscover

En Masse- clockblock

I Speak Alone- Gordoca

Typography- e-emoo

Lion- rickystuffedpie

I Love Typography- mindCollision

What are you guys doing this weekend?  Hope it is beautiful, restful and fun.

Lots of Love,

Jess

Awesome and Awe Inspring Photographs from around the Web

Happy Wednesday Lovelies!

I am continuing my week not feeling great and I have two doctor's appointments tomorrow which require prodding/poking/and blood work.

Instead of feeling sorry for myself I decided to share some awesome photographs from around the web.  Be sure to check on the photographers link they have so much more amazing work!

Image by CMGW Photography

Found on Best Photo Site

This is the biggest cave in the world found in Vietnam called Son Doong.

Clark Little Photography

Photo Description:  North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii A large North Shore wave makes its way into a shallow sand bank, sucking the sand off of the sea floor into the wave itself.

Photo found on Beautiful Animals

Awesome.

Hope everyone has a great night.

Lots of Love,

Jess

Navigating the World as a People Pleaser

Hello Lovely People!

How is everyone doing today?

I am feeling Blah today.  Just plain....Blah.  The wedding pictures came and I was so excited to upload them and show them to my family, but especially my Mom.  They just came home from Europe and I was so excited to hear what she thought of them.

She didn't like them.  She said that some of them were beautiful but she was very disappointed that some shots that she thought would be given to us weren't.  I felt horrible.  I picked the photographer and she didn't like them.  I liked them and she didn't.

After that debacle I was feeling sad so I decided to make a nice dinner for Mer and I.  She called and I told her I was making Pad Thai from scratch with huge excitement in my voice.  She said she didn't want it, could I really make it and make it taste good?  She was hungry.

After both of those things I started to get mad.  Then I got upset. 

I am a people pleaser.  I want everyone to be happy and to get along.  It could be I am the youngest child or I am sensitive, or a variety of things, but I hate conflict.  I especially hate conflict when I am feeling sensitive and sad.  It makes me feel like I can't do anything right.

The two most important people in the world to me didn't like my wedding pictures and think that I can't cook.

Typing those generalizations sound ridiculous but that is how I feel.

Wanting to please people sucks sometimes.  I feel like I can always empathize with people.  Feel how they would feel in their situation or why they are feeling that way even if they don't agree with me.  A lot of the time I don't get that back.

Unless you want to please people all the time you can't understand what it is like to want people to be happy and sometimes people don't really give a you know what if you are happy or not too.

Anyways, I think I am tired and I am going to drink a glass of wine and relax with my cats.

Does anyone else try to please people and get hurt in the process?  Or feel hurt when your pleasing doesn't go over well?

I am going to leave you with a gorgeous photograph that I saw on Pinterest.  I LOVE elephants!

Image found of Crescent Moon Tumblr.  Original photographer unknown

Until Tomorrow,

Love,

Jess

Dreamy Sunday...

Hello, hello.  Happy Sunday!

I am feeling under the weather today and I have a lot of great posts coming up for the week!  For today I wanted to share some photos I took with my Diana camera. 

I am just in that kind of mood today.

Lots of Love,

Jess

T.V. Show Weekend

Happy Happy Friday!!!

I am sitting here right now dying my hair and thinking about what I am doing for the weekend.

This week wasn't great in terms of how I was feeling.  I know the neurosurgeon said the spinal fusion could take 18 months to heal completely but honestly I am tired of how swollen my neck is at the end of the day.  Mer always teases me that I look like the hunch back of Maryland.

So for the last weekend at my parents house I plan to watch t.v., rest, and do some crafts to hopefully share with you next week.

Here is the t.v. I plan on finishing/catching up on/or starting this weekend!

HOMELAND:

Mer and I don't have the premium channels, but my parents do!  I have about five episodes left to watch of this show for their season and it is FANTASTIC!  I have been watching an episode every morning before I go to work and I just watched another one with dinner.  First, I love Claire Danes (My So Called Life was a favorite childhood show, did she end up with Jordan Catalano?).  Second, the plot is full of twists and turns and I still don't know who is "bad" and who is "good".  So worth watching!

HOUSE OF LIES:

Here is another Showtime show that I think is great.  The dialogue is  quick and witty and the actors all play quirky characters who you kind of don't like but are cheering for anyway.  Plus, I love, love, love, Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars rocked my world) so I was excited to start watching these shows too.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 PLATES:

Does anyone else miss Top Chef?  I don't like this show quite as much as that one, but it still satisfies my need for awesome cooking competitions and it also has amazing scenery.  So far the chefs have traveled to England, France, Morocco, and Italy.  I haven't seen the Florence, Italy episode yet and since I lived there for a bit I'm excited to watch it.


DESIGN STAR:

Last but certainly not least is Design Star!  My mom and I both love this show and I have a little crush on Vern.

Image found on HGTV website

If you haven't watched it I love it because I actually get good ideas from the competing designers and it is fun to watch the interpersonal relationships between the group.

Those are my T.V. suggestions for the weekend,  What is everyone else up too?

Love,

Jess

Pins and Repins on Pinterest this week

Happy Thursday!
What a looong week!  I am hoping to having a some quality time with Mer this week, but if we don't my parents will be home soon and I'll be home with Mer and the cats.

I only had three Pins/Repins this week on Pinterest but they are some good ones! 

Original source unknown

 How cool is this?  As you might know I am obsessed with Italy and this would be really cool to do with a map from there.

Here are the directions:
1. Paint your nails white/cream
2. Soak nails in alcohol for five minutes
3. Press nails to map and hold
4. Paint with clear protectant immediately after it dries.

Original Source Unknown

This photograph is dreamy.  If anyone knows the original source I would love to give it credit.

Project found on LifeHacker

I think this is such a good use for old wine corks.  Check out the original project on the website LifeHacker.

Until tomorrow,

Love,

Jess