Since it’s technically still January (for one more day), and January is the first month of the new year, it’s totally okay for me to write a “hello 2016” post right? Fashionably late is better than nothing! 🙂 I’ve been telling myself that once I graduate grad school (in May of this year!! AHH) and once John and I get married in two months and the planning is over with, I will F I N A L L Y be able to devote the time I want to devote to this blog as well as to Stick & Stone Co., and to doing more of the things that I love to do that give me happiness and fulfillment (painting, hiking, photography…). I feel like I haven’t had any me-time the last several months, and that dear friends is a place you never want to end up in.
I have some time this morning (in between job hunting/wedding planning/homework/eating breakfast) to let you all in on what’s been happening since November in my life and though I did not want this blog to me “all about me and myself” like a lot of other blogs out there are, I do find it nice to let you in every once in a while to the girl behind the screen. Here’s what’s happened since then in a nutshell:
- WEDDING PLANNING – my sister in law told me right after we got engaged that towards the end of her planning, she just wanted it to be over with already. At the time, I was bright eyed and found that mindset highly elusive (granted this was during the summer when I was NOT doing full time grad school and drowning in 45+ hours a week at work…), but now I TOTALLY understand where she was coming from. Wedding planning, especially the DIY part, is the most fun thing ever. Being engaged is a whole new world. However, when combined with other life consuming things as mentioned above, I really just can’t wait for it to be over and for our marriage to finally begin. When we get married, we will have been dating for 2 years and 1 month and engaged for almost 11 months. John and I are like BRING ON THE WEDDING ALREADY!! @%&$ (but bubbly will do for now)
- CHRISTMAS – it was a great Christmas this year. My favorite thing about the holidays are decorating for them, and baking like there’s no such thing as calories. This year, John gave me such a thoughtful gift, a French Jullian Easel and new sets of everything- brushes, paints, canvases, etc. (and I thought last year’s was amazing! Last year he got me a Canon 10-22 wide angle lens, one that I’ve been wanting for years).My girl Bianca and I went shopping for a ton of Christmas ornaments post-holidays and scored big time at Anthro, Pier1, Target, and Pigment and were joking about how we won’t be able to even use any of the things we got until next Christmas…but that’s okay because it will be like opening up belated Christmas gifts to ourselves 😉 Here are some snaps from my holidays:
- JOHN’S BIRTHDAY – his birthday is right before Christmas (Dec 16) and I really wanted to surprise him with a trip back home to Washington state. I was planning it for months with plane tickets and coordinating with his family and friends, and even bought us tickets to see MUSE in Portland (told him that MUSE was his present, and that we were seeing them in San Diego…hehehee). When I finally told him what we were actually doing (2 days beforehand), he broke down and it was the greatest gift-giving experience I’ve ever had in my life. Rewind: John actually moved here with me so we could be together while I was in grad school and really misses living in a place where there are nice people, actual seasons, and green (basically he doesn’t like SD but is here for me which I could never show enough appreciation for). We hadn’t been back to WA since announcing our engagement to family last June, so naturally a surprise trip for him wasn’t even a question!
And of course we had to stop by our favorite bookstore in Portland and purchased about $100 worth of books together…. 😛 (side note: Neil Gaiman is one of my MOST fav authors OMG.)
- GRAD SCHOOL – this has been such a wonderful thing to experience, and is something I have been on then fence about actually doing for quite some time. I’m glad I finally committed to applying, and it’s been really
intensestressfulamazingoverwhelming?torturingfun BESIDES the fact that it’s coming to an end already…I will have my Masters in Liberal Arts, namely the Rhetoric of Public Memory in Museums, in 3 short months. Then I’m never doing anymore school a g a i n. Unless I go back to my Ph.D, which I’ve actually been sort of maybe considering in like two years. Maybe. Yeah right. Anyway!
^ Date days with J are the only ways I keep my sanity these days
- STICK & STONE Co. – my beloved little Etsy shop! <3 I have had literally NO time to create anything new for S&SCo. in months…until last week!! I finally caught a break and was able to pound out about 20 new tassels for my spring line (during which I stayed up until about 1:30 am binge watching Bones and probably looking pretty crazed with the amount of thread and beads that were spread across my entire floor and workbench…)
A couple of new items have already made a sneek peek on my Etsy shop, but because I care about everyone who actually takes the time to read my posts on the mini apartment (<3)I’m showing all my new tassels on HERE first before they fly off the shelves at *drumroll please* ….my alma mater San Diego State University! <3 Their bookstore wants to start selling my tassels next week, which is a huge step for me with this business especially since a) I never promote, like ever…no time and no money, people. S&SCo. is only known by word of mouth right now, b) I’ve been wanting to sell S&SCo. on greater platforms for a loooong time, and c) I’ve been wanting to add more home decor product to my shop including fun things like wall hangings, found objects, DIY kits, etc. for those who are all about that eclectic-bohemian-wanderer life. Yeah girl. So heads up if you attend SDSU, Stick & Stone Co. is coming your way!
I promise to post more from now on…I have a list of a zillion things to blog about sitting in a notebook on my floor so hopefully 2016 gives me a lot more free time than 2015 did 😀
It is good to be able to follow you along in your life, get to know you better and to share in your excitement of your upcoming marriage. God bless you and John on this journey. I love you both.