Creole Wisdom

my midafternoon need

I could stuff my face with peanut m&ms (which I do the rest of the week), but when baby O is down for his afternoon nap, I rely on black tea. It keeps me going.

dessert coma

"I was worried about this patch of dry skin on my arm. I thought I maybe had diabetes, but then I thought-"

"Girl, if I had diabetes I'd be dead by now. All the dessert I eat?!?"-Kate

Boo Boo kills me. I laughed for about five minutes after that!

best dressed

Congratulations to our very own First Lady, Michelle Obama, for making this year's Vogue's Ten Best Dressed list!

What I like about Michelle's sense of style is this: she can mix beautiful pieces ranging from couture to mall finds (J. Crew!) Also, she works her assests to her advantage (amazing arms).

Photo via Vogue.

Speaking of fashion, I'm on the look out for a fabulous coat for Ireland. I want a trench, waterproof, but lined with something warm. Nothing frumpy or ostentacious. Wish me luck!

a little bit on blog design.

I've been thinking about blog design and banners. For the most part, I've made my own banners and in the past just had simple, white backgrounds. Now I like it a bit different: backgrounds that pop and very clean, mostly type-centered banners. Change is good. 

In the past:

Basically I'm over the self portrait of "camera in my face," it's time to move on from that. I have no excuses now that I have a timer. One of these days get ready to see the rest of my face up there- 

Most of my inspiration comes from one of two places: the web or fashion. I spy a Lilly Pulitzer print up there! I love fonts, too. A great resource for free fonts is dafont and also Kevin and Amanda.

Since I prefer to do patterned backgrounds now, I begin with a fabric/wallpaper search. Usually that yields the result I'm going for- funky, vintage, big. I have played around with making my own patterns in photoshop, but stopped with polka dots. The one you see here is a swatch of vintage wallpaper found via google. Please go look at liberty of london, too (don't even get me started on my love affair with that place/their prints that started at age 8)!

I suppose you could go ahead and purchase a blog design or download one, but wouldn't that take the fun out of it? I've learned a lot through this entire process (more HTML and some CSS) Don't be afraid to do it yourself, learn from mistakes, and experiment. 

The way I see it, a blog is your magazine and you get to be the editor.

St. Paddy's Day 2010

I have spent St. Patrick's day in some great places: There was the New York Parade in kindergarten, Savannah during high school, and Boston in college. But I don't think any of those will come anywhere close to this year's location.

Photo via flickr.

Yes, that's right, I'm going to Ireland. For St. Patrick's day. With my mother. To visit Karen.

My excitement level has been extremely high since mom and I purchased our tickets Saturday. I am still in shock. I cannot believe it. I haven't been "abroad" in a long, long time, and never with my mom. It's going to be a fantastic, fun trip.

We are flying from Minneapolis to Chicago and then from there to Dublin. Since Karen will be in Northern Ireland mom and I are planning on traveling around in the Republic and then visiting Ballycastle near Belfast in Northern Ireland. Two countries, two currencies, and one amazing trip to look forward to.

Right now I have quite a bit to do in preparation:

Renew and (rush) my passport (that's my to-do for tomorrow)

Save tons of $$ (exchange rate is not so good)

Figure out if my iphone will work overseas

Read some great books

Make my list of must-sees

And that's where you can help me. Where do I need to go? We'll be gone for over a week so I have time, but what are the absolute best things to do/see/eat/photograph in Ireland and Northern Ireland?

big black balloon

Good weekend dear readers, good weekend. But sad, too. Jackie turned the huge 2-1. I bought a gigantic black balloon and Kate rolled her eyes. Emma turned 2-3. I had pink champagne. Karen is leaving for the green North tomorrow. Our new roomie Maddie is a gem and we have since gone out three nights- how's that for a welcome to the house?

Happy Monday!

king, family, and time

I love these images:

 

Thank you Time and CNN. Did you know that the first female photographer for Time was (wait for it!) an AOPi? That's good.

rambling goals

There are so many things I hope to accomplish in 2010.

 

I want to:

•Really document more of life. I have two bins of family photos that need to be dealt with (because, let's face it, I'm the woman for the job)

•Figure out where I'll live come August. I'm thinking uptown?

•Actually be healthy. I realized a while ago that I cannot survive on Camembert cheese from surdyk's and carr's water crackers. So it's been a steady, but still fresh movement towards more veggies more movement and less waiting for my metabolism to kick in come thirty.

•Blog with care, dedication, and interest.

•Get myself out there freelance wise. I've started, but there is a long way to go

•Travel, see, and photograph more. Discover interesting places in my own city.

•Regular haircuts and some shopping.

•Be the queen of my budget and invest more. Smart finance managing. 

•Keep in touch better with those I love far, far away (ongoing check. see photo)

Right now I need to:

•Make my bed

•Organize papers better

my news.

As I gave away a few posts ago, I am starting a new job.

I've worked for the current preschool/daycare for two and a half years. It was time. I will miss so many things, and not miss other aspects.

It's a new year, and I'm thrilled to be starting an exciting adventure.

I'm going to be working as a nanny for a tiny little boy (he's only five months!) and doing lots of (hopefully) freelance work.

Tomorrow is my last day, and I'm sure I'll have a hard time saying goodbye to some of the most adorable and hilarious children in the world, and at the same time I am ready to start my new gig next week.

Life is good. So take a moment and celebrate with me:

the desk makeover.

My brand new little (not, more like weighed a ton and took two rural MN boys to lift it up two flights of stairs) desk. It was time for some deep cleaning up on the landing, and I took one look at the sad state of the above and decided it needed a change. So here we are, and now I can sit down and balance my checkbook in peace. 

Should I start posting before shots, too?