Some Personal Images and an update...

Hi Everyone!

We made it halfway through the week!

I don't have much to say today.  I fell in the parking lot yesterday going to my car.  In my defense it was slippery because it had been raining and made a sheen on the pavement, but yes...I have a dirty secret, I am a huge clutz! 

So, neurosurgery 10 weeks ago and falling on your face should never be said in the same sentence!

That means I stayed home from work today to ice my neck like crazy and hopefully have a good day tomorrow.

So to make myself feel better I am going to post some photographs of my own photography that I have taken through the years.  Some film, some digital.  When I look at pictures I have taken they can transport me to another time and place. 

I kind of need that today!  So enjoy!

Until tomorrow,

Love

Jess

Overcoming different wedding ideas

Weddings...

My partner and I are getting married this May.  It might be legal, it might not, depending on how the vote goes in Maryland, but we have been together seven years in August and want to commit in front of our family and friends and of course throw a kick ass party!!!

Meridyth and I are both in school, but when I am not working, doing school work, or making art I am dreaming/looking/drooling over wedding images.  Images of dresses, of parties, of table settings swirl in my mind as I sleep.

To take you back further I was a hippie in college.  As in dirty, dirty hippie.  I still have some of that bohemian in me so I am dreaming of a handmade, colorful, and beautiful look.

Meridyth on the other hand keeps saying she wants it to be "classy".  That makes me laugh a little because so far the most stressful part of planning has been figuring out the correct etiquette on the Save the Date cards! 

Anyways, I would not use classy to describe me at all.  Maybe fun, sweet, colorful, good listener, whirling dervish...not classy!

This is me by the way!  We were at the beach.  My hair is much longer though.  I have been growing it for the wedding!

So in this post I am going to post images I like.  In another post this week I am going to post images  I think Mer will like and then show them to her.  A third post with hopefully have us meeting in the middle!

Now images I love for wedding ideas:  I will call it Bohemian Chic
(Note:  I am being a bad blogger because many of these images were downloaded months ago and I cannot find the source!  If you own it or know who does let me know and I will gladly cite it!)

What do you guys think?  Looking at the images they kind of all go together except for the pompom garland!

Until tomorrow lovelies!

Love,

Jess

Loving LOVE and a new LOVE card on LoveUPaperly

Happy Happy Monday my friends!

How is everyone doing today?  I have been thinking a lot about love today.

It could be the fact that I have been making tons of LOVE cards, here is the new one!

LOVE is letter-pressed and the circles are hand-stamped in varying shades see them on LoveUPaperly

Or the fact that even when being in love sucks most people still love LOVE.

In another life I was actually a wedding photographer.  I still have my website up so you can view it, but I'm not actively photographing weddings partly because of my neck surgery and partly because I am working full time and in school again!

However, my point is that Love is awesome.  It is awesome when I see older couples in their eighties holding hands, I love when a groom sees his bride for the first time, I also love when I see images that make me feel love.

Hearts, hearts are the best!  So are puppies, and kitties, and rainbows, and clouds.  Images that make my heart fill with love....make....me....HAPPY!

That takes me today.  I am going to share some images of love today, or what I see as love, or just images I love.

Perfect I think for a very, very cold Monday.

Gorgeous photograph taken by photographer Marianne Taylor

Amazing photograph from a husband and wife team called A Bicycle For Two

Gorgeous engagement session from soyoureengayged.com

Photo from sonriemeee's

Original illustration found here

image originally found on Cream Soda and Love Hearts tumblr

Image found on Country-Life Tumblr

Photograph by Virgil Bunao

Until tomorrow lovelies....GO LOVE!

Jess

Sunday Lovely Photograph

I didn't do this last week or the week before but since I am trying to have consistency on the blog...Artist Friday's!  I am going to try and post a lovely photograph every Sunday for your enjoyment.

Lately I have been dreaming of the Northern Lights.

Have any of you ever seen them?  It is definitely on my bucket list.

Photograph by Raymond Gehman

 See everyone tomorrow!

Love,

Jess

Artist Friday featuring Kaitlin Zorah McDonough

Hello all you lovely people!

I am trying to provide some consistency in posts on the blog, so I am definitely going to do Artist Friday's where every Friday I feature a different artist. 

If you would like to be featured send me an e-mail at loveupaperly@yahoo.com!

This week I am featuring one of my good friends who I lived and went to school with in Venice, Italy.  She is an amazing painter and printmaker and is still living and working in Venice.  I am featuring just a few of my favorites that she has done so please check out her site for more.

Drum roll please!!!

Here is some of the lovely and inspiring work of Kaitlin Zorah McDonough

Dining Room

Winter at it's End

He Visits Home

He Can Think Her There Beside Him

H.S.H

 

I love Kaitlin's work.  It takes me to a place of dreams and travel and yearning and love.  I hope you enjoy her world as much as I do.

Have a relaxing, fun, and enjoyable weekend!

love,

Jess

The Bigger Picture and some cool stuff....

Hi all!

How did everyone's Thursday go?  I feel like this week absolutely flew by for some reason.

Again today I am soooo tired.  Some thoughts on that:
First, neck surgery sucks. 
Second, hurting from trying to hold up my head also sucks. 
Third, I didn't realize how large and heavy my head was until I had neck surgery. 
Fourth, when I see patients at work they might be the ones with the problems, but the look on their faces when they see a tech with a BIG FAT NECK BRACE, is priceless! 
Fifth, is does not take much to make me smile and have a good day.

Seriously, I work for a cardiology practice and patients looked at me all day and asked if I was o.k.  Or maybe their look of horror was they thought work was why I was wearing the neck brace.  Regardless, I wish I had a camera to capture the looks!

On the same thought my third mom told me something the other week when I was having a breakdown.  Yes I have three moms and one day if you are lucky I will tell you about them!

This very smart woman in my life told me that currently I have no control.  I can't control my body, I can't control the number of hours I am able to work, I can't control that I can't go to the gym, and I can't control that Meridyth and I are not making lots of money.  That is when she said the word Faith.  Have faith.

Funny enough just hearing her say it calmed me.  So ladies and gentlemen that is what I have been trying to do this past week....HAVE FAITH.

Please e-mail me if you know original artist/owner of image

I am not sure if this photo "means" faith, but isn't it awesome?

O.k., now some great products or items I am drooling over.  Like any person when I am feeling sad, what do I do?  Look at items online that I want/love/think are cool, etc...

Dinosaur planter from etsy shop CoastalMoss.  So cool! Rawwwwwerrrr!

Hedge Hog cheese grater!  Found on DesignBoom.  Who wouldn't want to grate cheese with this?!

Japan, Nagano Hotel, Tunnel of Lights.  This looks magical!

Now I will leave you with this last thought from an awesome shop on etsy called Gayana

I'm off to be happy AND eat icecream!

Until tomorrow,

Love,

Jess

Awesome bloggers, New card, a foggy brain, and gay marriage...

I have to admit something to you.  I just woke up from a muscle relaxer induced sleep.

Maybe that is why I am feeling so foggy!

So instead of writing something super insightful and awesome I am going to post some links of other super awesome bloggers and show you my new card that I put up on LoveUPaperly!

Reminds me of falling in love in Venice and hearts!

Have you guys ever visited the site A Practical Wedding?  I am actually a little jealous by how amazing it is so you should click on the link.  Meg Keene runs the site and wrote a very insightful piece on working for herself for a year.  This paragraph really resonated for me.

"You can't succeed without being willing to fail with full force. You can't figure out how far you can go, until you push yourself so far that you risk completely falling on your face. And seriously? This never stops sucking, don't kid yourself."

Read more: http://apracticalwedding.com/2012/01/working-for-yourself-one-year/#ixzz1jBoy38zo

Another blog that I read the other day was Gala Darling (she is so freakin cute), seriously Really Cute.  She posted a link on Christian Siriano (the project runway winner of Season 4).  The link was his partner Brad Walsh basically defending him against other people's insults, but the love in the writing for his partner is so palpable.  Love it!

Original photo from the Dallas Voice

Plus Christian Siriano always say's "Fierce", I wanted him to win when I watched him on Project Runway.

On a completely different note, as I am typing this my fiance (by now you probably know she is a girl and yes I am gay), is having an argument with her conservative family over e-mail.

The basic question is, how can they be excited that we are having a wedding (not legal in Maryland) in May but not believe in gay rights or gay marriage?!

It makes me really upset to hear them say how much they love Meridyth and support her and love me too, we have been together 6 1/2 years, but they don't see the contradiction when they think it is o.k. for the Catholic Church to pull away funding from adopotion in D.C. because gay marriage is legal!!

This is a completely different post all in itself and writing while upset is not a good idea!

Therefore I am going to leave you with John Lennon...

Original image holder unknown