opposite schedules

this week the mr. and I have been experiencing very different schedules

I've been working overtime on my masters

which has meant early mornings and long days

and the husband has been going in late and closing up shop

so, I've been on my own in the evenings

and thankfully this doesn't happen too much because cooking for just me

doesn't really happen

because the mr. isn't there pretty much running the dinner show

so due to some rather large lunch study meals

my dinners have been consisting more of fruit, veggies, and frozen yogurt

tomorrow I'll be back to normal, promise

and tonight while I was walking the three blocks to the yogurt shop [so dangerous]

I stumbled onto a little street festival

I'm still not sure what exactly it was for, or who was sponsoring it

but there were lots of very large art displays of cardboard boxes turned into tunnels

bands playing & art for sale

all in all it was fun to walk through

but it would have been a little more fun if I wasn't solo

thankfully just a few more days until our vacation

and I kind of can't wait!

free, friendly, & fabulous for your photos

lately, I've been using something that I stumbled on a while back

for some time now I have moved on from doing all my photo editing in iPhoto

and have been using Photoshop actions instead

however, I'm not sure what it is, but I just haven't been happy with my editing

so I have started using PicMonkey instead for most of my photo editing

and the best part is it is a website that you can use

no need to make an account, or download anything to your computer

and it's free

here are some examples of PicMonkey edits:
[not sure how this adorable shoe shot got missed but it was just waiting to be edited]

not only do you have many filter options [tranquil & intrepid tend to be my favs]

you also can get a little funky by adding rounded corners and text as seen above

or do basic edits such as cropping and photo exposure adjustments

now they have some real cheesy features too that I haven't found very useful

but when it comes to wanting to do a quick edit on a photo, it surely gets the job done

and once you are done editing your photo, just save it anywhere on your computer 

then you start fresh with a new photo

hope you find this helpful, figured I would spread the awesomeness
give it a try yourself here

and while we are on the topic, do you have favorite places to edit digital photos?

I would love to hear what else is out there!

a little while back I got help from my friend

Jaymee Srp of the Design Hive and owner of the shop Retro Menagerie

thankfully I had her to help me get going on E's nursery walls

because I had ideas, but no real place to start

we made a plan, got what we needed, and executed all in one afternoon

just the way I like when getting things done

and yesterday I ordered the perfect mobile - I can't wait to get it

things are really starting to come together, and I couldn't be happier

nursery prints courtesy of Retro Menagerie

frames: Ikea

book ledges: Ikea

embroidery hoops & Fabric: Joann Fabrics

iron tree: Pottery Barn [gifted to me years ago]

"E" changing table lamp: vintage

owl nightlight: vintage

alphabet print: made by me, printed by Retro Menagerie

just trying to keep cool

this weekend I have class and with temperatures over 100 degrees

and the classroom air only getting so cool

let's just say I was pretty miserable all day

it is pretty bad when you realize that not only are your neighbors

sweetly fanning you

but your professor is too

so tonight the family and I spent some time swimming

and baking cupcakes for tomorrow

because in just two weeks from today

one of our great friends, and classmates

is getting married in beautiful Santa Cruz, CA

so tomorrow

 in the afternoon stretch, when you think you just can't handle any more curriculum talk

we will be taking a little sugar celebration break!

how we spent our day [anniversary style]

for our anniversary we debated on what exactly to do

we were thinking mini road trip

but then I decided that a day in the car didn't sound super exciting at 6 months pregnant

especially since we will be getting our car fix in soon

when traveling down to southern california for vacation here in a couple of weeks

so instead of the car, we decided to hit up some of our favorite antiquing spots

and well, let's just say that we had some success

I really must say that I cannot pick my favorite find from the day

I am SO in love with the vintage "E" sign we found for the changing table

I put in some new lighting yesterday and she is sure glowing pretty at night

and yes, the little lady's name starts with an "E" 

but we will leave it at that for the moment

and the kitchen cabinet, well, it's simply to die for

I am loving it in our kitchen, it is such the perfect fit

and because any anniversary isn't complete without some pyrex

I had to pick up this Friendship fridgie that the Mr. found for me

and considering it was priced like it was at a thrift store

it was surely coming home with me

could not think of any better way to spend celebrating four years of married life

24 weeks

yes, 24 weeks means two things:

#1 - we missed week 23, you would think I would have more time over the summer

to snap a quick shot, but apparently not

#2 - I'm now officially 6 months along, which seems pretty real

this last week brought some cooler weather, thankfully

and the mr. quickly learned that touching the air conditioning in the car

is no longer an option for him

it was too funny yesterday when I caught him almost turning the air off

and then quickly moved his hand away from the dial, smart man

little lewis is moving SO much these days

not only can I feel her, but the husband has too

not to mention if you are really observant, sometimes you can see her wiggling around

craziness is all I have to say about that

thankfully she is still not keeping me up at night, at least not yet