Incoming Mail: Nancy Drew + Creepy Hearts + Instax Cactus Stacks!

I almost caused a ruckus at the post office when I opened my mail box.  Why?  Because of the awesome Nancy Drew envelope that was in my PO Box waiting for me!  How cool is that?!  Once I got to my car, I had a total Zoolander moment because I saw that the envelope was the letter!  WHAAAAT?!  Super cool!  Inside was a super cool Instax cactus stack (that totally made me think of Mustache Cash Stash from Regular Show) from Jess!

Next up, a really awesome set of Creepy Hearts Club hearts from Laura in the UK!  I love them!!!

I had commented on the cute flower cards that Marisa acquired and I totally got one in the mail!  Hooray!

And finally, my best friend, Lauren is getting married and the Save the Date finally arrived!  It's so cute!  I saw the comp a month or so ago and the printed version is way prettier than I could have ever imagined!  It's very Wes Anderson-y (in a good way, of course!) and totally them.  Love it!  I was going to put it in my SMASH*book but I think I'm going to frame it instead.  Hooray for more wall stuff!

How is your week going so far?
Happy Wednesday!

Instant Adventures #3: A Surprise Party Adventure!

I'm a little light on the Instant Adventures for this past week because, well, there was a surprise party for my Mom being planned and preparations for Lauren and Chandler's Engagement Brunch...on the same day!  Needless to say, this weekend was wild and lots of fun!

1. The gorgeous bouquet I got for my Mom's birthday on Tuesday
2. A photo of our memo board at home with the very special addition of Lauren and Chandler's save the date + the heart garland I DIY'd



I did find time to make a cute heart garland for a certain someone's birthday that coming up in May!  I need to make 2, actually.  I've got two wonderful May birthday folks that need some hearts!  :)
I stumbled upon Alana Jones-Mann's wonderful blog and saw this pretty garland that I just had to make!  And this pretty heart backdrop and this marquee light heart and so many other awesome projects to try!

So...about my Mom's surprise party...My aunt had been planning it for a little while but because my Mom's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, my aunt held off the party for the weekend after her birthday - which led to hilarious sitcom-style anguish from my Mom because this was the big 6-0 for her and she wanted a big blowout!  But she was expecting it the weekend before her actual birthday, not the weekend after!
She complained to everyone that my aunt wasn't doing anything for her and I had to hear all about it last Saturday, which led to the impromptu visit to Lips on Sunday, the bouquet on Tuesday and a whole lot of secret-keeping.  Thankfully, she was definitely surprised!  I didn't take any photos (bad blogger!) but others took care of that for me!  The only thing I got was the cake - which I glad to order because that meant I could choose what the message was!  Heeeeyyoooo!



I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Happy Monday!

Happy Birthday Mom!

This weekend was quite full of adventures - the biggest one was the start of my Mom's 60th birthday celebration!  Technically, her birthday was yesterday but that doesn't mean the party has to wait, right?!
I accompanied my mom to the mall on Saturday and there, my sister and I made impromptu plans to take my mom to Gospel Brunch Service at Lips on Easter Sunday.  If you love a good drag show (and we all know I do!) Lips is the best place to go for dinner and a show!  I'm planning on taking Lauren there for her Bachelorette Party because she also loves a good drag show!
My mom had a blast!  They brought her (and everyone else who was celebrating a birthday) on stage and the whole restaurant was shocked to hear that my mom was turning 60 :)  Everyone was so nice and the performers were great!  I can't wait to see what it's like on a regular night!

  

Above are photos of the flower arrangement I had made for my mom because I thought they were absolutely gorgeous!  I went to the florist and didn't know what to say when the florist asked me what kind of flowers my mom liked.  I totally blanked!  All I could think of was roses (safe, right?) and hydrangeas (for some reason) and then I let her take creative liberties on the rest because I'm hopeless when it comes to flowers - EXCEPT for my favorite flowers: Gerbera Daisies - which I had no idea would make an appearance in her birthday bouquet.  Bonus!
They did a fabulous job at the flower shop and I can't wait until Mother's Day so I have an excuse to have 2 bouquets made!

How's your week so far?
Happy Wednesday!

Instant Adventures #2

1, 2 and 4: Cemetery in Decatur
3. One of the Living Walls installations.  It says "Never give up".  I'd like to get instants of all the Living Walls walls!  Check out the artist, Eme, here and here!
5-6: Barns in Alpharetta

We were supposed to head up north to Helen, GA this weekend but the rain put a damper (heeeyyyyooo) on that...so instead, we explored the delights of Kirkwood and Decatur.
Yes, the old man and I went down to have some Vegan treats at Dulce Vegan and check out what Kirkwood had to offer and while we were waiting for Burnt Fork to open (for some delicious BBQ treats - yes, even Vegan ones!), we did some urban exploring at the cemetery.

I had to throw that Hipsta shot in there because I was so happy that my Hipstamatic app was cooperating with me on Saturday!  The same could not be said about Sunday's adventures but once I got it to cooperate long enough, I got some neat shots of a barn that my old man and I found.

 

This weekend was full of LOTS of adventures!  How was yours?

Incoming Mail + The Prettiest Handwriting + 3 Things

Yesterday was such a wonderful mail day! I know I usually post my "Incoming Mail" posts on Wednesdays but I've been getting to the post office a day later because of reasons so I've been a day behind.  I'm kinda glad, though, because I was able to take the time to take lovely photos of all the goodies that came in the mail this week!





 This awesome pin-up postcard and collage (which is totally getting framed!) comes from Roberta all the way in Denmark!  I sent her some Creepy Hearts Club hearts and she sent this back as a thank you!  So sweet!  I've got a little something cooking for her, too!  :)



This sweet card (and super cute envelope) is from Rachel.  I told her about my 10 hour adventure in the car in January and shared in my pain.  And guess what?  She's also a video professional!  I love that!  I'm totally going to geek out in my next letter to her!  I hope she doesn't mind :)



This next package is from sweet Kathleen in Australia!  Last time, I sent her an origami heart and some other little things and she was sweet enough to send me some gorgeous origami papers from Japan!  Also tucked away in the cute card, there was a C.S. Lewis quote (which I can't wait to frame), 3 things about her and a Mail Tag with 3 prompts for me: A spritz of perfume (I know just the one!), my birthday, and the best thing about Georgia.  I found a cute little note card in my stockpile and filled out my 3 things already but I'm saving the perfume spray as the absolute last thing I do because I want it to last the whole trip to Oz!

I was so happy to see such a bounty in my P.O. Box yesterday and I realized I have two half assembled packages that need to be sent out!  Ugh - I've been such a space cadet lately.  One of them can be delayed a little but the other should've been sent out ages ago!  I'm hoping the recipient doesn't mind its tardiness!

I'm hoping you're having an awesome week!
Happy Thursday!

Writing my demons away

As a participator in NaNoWriMo since 2009, I think my writing is...okay.  I've finished a script and I'm working on another but I feel like I need more.  My writing mentor randomly sends me roundtable discussion videos with scriptwriters - which I adore - and sometimes, he'll send me inspirational interviews to read from novelists or scriptwriters to help me get into the zone.  While I love all of that, I have all these stories stacking up in my head just waiting - no - screaming to get out.  Just yesterday morning, I woke up from a dream that had the perfect framework for a suspenseful film and in my spare moments, I'm writing the second episode to my soon-to-hopefully-not-be-fictional-anymore TV show.
Okay.  So...now what?
Luckily for me, I was scrolling through my iPad's open tabs and saw this post from Becky at The Pink Samurai.
Yes, I want that Gipsy Danger shirt...yes, I want to do a hand-printed galaxy wall in my house...and then I saw the link to an e-course called "How to Write and Pitch a Book Proposal" and I HAD to click on it.  And buy it.  And read it immediately.  And download the PDF.  And print it out.  And scan through it a million times.
I'm so insanely inspired!  It made me think back to this article by Hello Wordsmith.  You know, the tough love thing.  So I spent most of yesterday afternoon and the afternoon before that (after work, of course), revisiting the previously finished script.
I have to admit that I'm a little afraid of revisiting that particular story because it's really tough on me emotionally but I have to power through it (like Hello Wordsmith says) and get it out.  It will be a little different this time, though.  Last time, I stuck to the most important details in the story - like you would for scriptwriting.  This time, I get to explore the emotions that particular situation brought out in me.  I think I'm partly afraid of revisiting this particular story because it's based on something that actually happened to me and, while I think it's movie-worthy (think Blue Valentine sorta kinda), I don't really want to revisit that particular time in my life.  Maybe it will be a good energy exercise to release that negativity?  Who knows.  I'm hoping that with this, I can expel it once and for all and move forward.

As for the other stories, well, we'll see how they shape up.  I put my old man in charge of episode one of my soon-to-hopefully-not-be-fictional-anymore TV show and he's not delivering.  I took it upon myself to give him the benefit of the doubt and have a little faith in the pilot, hence the reason why I'm writing the second episode.  I might just wrap up episode two and back track to pick up episode one.  Or make episode two episode one instead.  I need to do a little more research, though.  Ah yes, good ol' research...

Are you working on any passion projects?  What are they?  I'd love to know!
Happy Wednesday!

Instant Adventures #1

What a great day for photos!  I've been going a little crazy with my Instax Mini photo + VSCO Cam + A Beautiful Mess combos on my phone but I just love it too much!
What are your favorite app combos?

1 + 2: School bus depot
3: The dogwood we planted for our awesome dog, Red, after he passed away
4. The cemetery I used to hang out at in the mornings before school.  I know - so dramatic, right?

Incoming Mail: Spring In Full Bloom!

I know, I know - this post is late.  Oops!  Yesterday was a long day at work and it got even longer when I got home.  Phew!  Anyways...thanks to super awesome pen pal Jess for sending me some sweet blooms in the mail!  I'm hoping she'll like what I sent back!  :)

I'm still experimenting with my Instax Mini.  Yes, I was the crazy lady that held up traffic in the turn lane to get the Instax of the Big Chicken below.



Not bad.  I'm still playing around with the framing.  And why does it look so small here?  I was on the opposite corner of the damn thing and in the Instax, it looks so tiny!  Gotta love perspective...I will say that I l'm liking the colors I'm getting with the yellow gel I added to the flash.  Now...if someone would just let me take their picture...I'll know what it looks like on skin tone.  Maybe I'll get the courage to ask my favorite lady barista for a quick snap?  Or maybe I'll wait until we start filming and take some (more) snaps of the camera guys...

Happy Thursday!

Do You Even...?!

Born out of a silly joke with my cousins and enhanced upon by my sister, I dragged my old man to Target to take the above photo.  Oni and I talked about Photoshopping it but I wanted realism.  I wanted to actually be holding a for real GoPro for the GoPro BRO photo.

During this journey, while I didn't purchase the GoPro HERO 3 (like I actually want...), I did purchase the Instax Mini I mentioned here.

 

Not bad! I'm still playing around with the ridiculously bright flash (as you can see in the pirate photo above) but I found a scrap from some orange gels at work and some really nice transparent tape (no haze!) and took this photo outside.



I love it!  With more experimentation, I think I might make a #DailyInstant tag on my Instagram and do a weekly post on it here!  What do you think?

Happy Tuesday!

Incoming Mail: YEAH DAWG! DON'T Shake it Like a Polaroid!

 

I like when I can combine last week's super awesome mail with this week's super awesome mail and thanks to The Impossible Project, I did just that! I combined the sweet camera I got from Mini Penny Vintage and some film from The Impossible Project and made a little Polaroid magic.
Check it!

 

They might be a little blurry but I still love them because they're the first Polaroids I have shot in years.  YEARS!  I know, I know, I could totally buy myself an Instax and enjoy the joys of instant film all the time but I've been putting it off because I don't know if I want this one or this one.  Such a Libra...

Cara had me laughing hysterically at the post office when I opened up my P.O. Box to find her "YEAH DAWG" postcard in there!!!  I needed a good laugh!  ^___^
**Remember, you can totally join in on the fun postcard action by signing up for her Anthropomorphic Mail Art Project!!!

And finally, I had sent my friend Cassie a mini get well kit because she had some MAJOR surgery recently and she sent me the cutest thank you note back!  So sweet!  I'll admit - I'm a little jealous of the bow tie the dog is wearing...just putting that out there...

How is your week going so far?
Happy Wednesday!

All The Feels for Cosmos

  
Source / Source

Something happened to me as I watched the "Sky Full of Ghosts" episode of Cosmos.  While cool science guy forever, Neil deGrasse Tyson, was talking about the most recent discovery of the oldest cluster of galaxies picked up by the Hubble Space Telescope, I felt tears stream uncontrollably down my face.

Why?

I've always loved science and space and the Universe in general.  My horrible math skills prevented me from exploring my love for space at the college level, so I'm here on the amateur level.  But all the stuff that has been featured on Cosmos so far, I've always known - thanks to my wonderful science teachers - and other stuff I've picked up through the original Cosmos (on Netflix, y'all!), regular Google searches, the Star Walk app, The Universe, the History Channel and its sister channel, H2 and, dare I say it, Ancient Aliens.  Why was the information about how fast light travels making me cry?  Because the way it was presented on the show was mind-boggling.

I know the star light we see in the sky is older than we think it is but the way it was said and expressed on the show was too much for me to handle.

I think it was a mix of the knowledge of the oldest object in space picked up by the Hubble, the fact that it's going to take the Voyager1 40,000 years to fly by the next star, the fact that the "ghost" images of supernovae are thousands of millions of years old but we're JUST NOW seeing them and the fact that we're looking into the past every time we look into the night sky...that's just mind-blowing.

Anyways - I hope you have been enjoying this new version of Cosmos as much as I have.  I mean, anything with Neil deGrasse Tyson means it's going to be AWESOME.

How is your week going?