merry may

Pretty Pweeeaaaseee

2011-11-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

Hey all. I was wondering if you might do me a little tiny favor?

I've made new accounts on all the social media outlets for my new venture and I was hoping you might follow and spread the word.

@MerryMayShoppe on twitter
Merry May Shoppe on Facebook
Merrymayblog.blogspot.com

Get up to date info about my new little shop (Eep! Launching November 12th at Roosevelt Row's Pie Social!!), my travels, sales and events.

Thank yoooouuuu. I love you all : )

New

2011-09-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

I've been in need of a little bloggy change. So from now on I'll be blogging here. I've uploaded all my previous posts and, as you can see, it looks pretty much the same. The difference is that I'll be able to keep up better and have an opportunity to reevaluate what I want to share (more art, music, food). I would love it if y'all would stop by, say hello, and maybe even follow. XXOO.

Happy Birthday!

2011-09-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

Today's my mom's birthday. Whatta babe.

Juice

2011-09-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

I have this amazing friend named AJ. She's super funny and very talented and we've got a lot in common. A couple weeks ago I went over to her house to hang and she began to tell me about her adventures in juicing. I was nervous at first to try her juice mixture which she called her "gross green juice". But it wasn't gross at all. It was so yummy and I've been dreaming about it since. My dear friend got stoked on juicing after watching the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. So after ardent suggestion I finally watched it this weekend. It's a pretty decent flick and has some really interesting info in it.

So now I too am stoked on it and I'm dying to get a juicer. I need the gross green juice stat! I don't need anything big and fancy and, in fact, would prefer a simple, smaller model. I've been checking out these two versions but I thought I'd throw it out there to the blogosphere to see if any of you have thoughts/suggestions/experience with this. Any help would be just lovely : )

Breville

LeQuip

Fashion Inspiration || Alexa Chung

2011-08-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

Alexa Chung is effortlessly cool.

She's got a great sense of style and always rocks it.

So pretty.

Off to College...

2011-08-25T14:57:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned, my baby sis has headed off to college. She's a big girl now : ) Here's some pics from our trip.

Mt Rainier

Our flight got in and we had some time to waste so we headed into downtown Seattle. We had some lunch and went to the market.

Smelled like shit. But there were babes working the donut hut so I felt ok about it.

So cute!

We checked in to our little bed and breakfast and grabbed dinner on Puget Sound. Friday we woke up and headed to the school. We got lucky cause Andrea's move-in time was like the first of the day! So it was not to crazy and we had full access to dollies to truck our goods around, free stuff- I got a to-go mug and a bottle opener key chain (which seems like a dumb idea giving 18 year olds bottle openers then forcing them to go to a seminar on drinking), and coffee- which was magical since I was totally freezing.

Hot mama- sittin in her new dorm room.

I found this gem while walking in the neighborhood. It's perfect.

There was the most incredible produce and flowers there. It was seriously magical. This flower was the size of my head.

Best Friends FOREVERRRRRRR.

I love her and I'm so excited for her.

Hi Hi Hi

2011-08-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

Hello! This past week has been totally crazy. My parents and I took my baby sis and bestest pal up to college in Tacoma. It was totally gorgeous and I'm so excited for her. She's already met a lot of folks (lucky kids had facebook groups and stuff so she knew lots of people before she even got there!), signed up for classes, and is fully immersed in orientation activities.

That's my face.

My boss is in San Diego this week. Which means I'm holding down recievables by myself! Scawee! No one to fix my mistakes ;) Anyways, I hope all is well and y'all are getting some fall weather headin your way. We definitely aren't. I'll be back soon with pics from our Seattle trip.

Adventures in Veganism || The Good Heart Cookbook

2011-08-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Jón Þór Birgisson, singer for the band Sigur Ros, teamed up in artistic collaboration with his boyfriend Alex. One of the many things to come out of this magical collaboration is this awesome cookbook. All of the recipes inside look super yummy, seem super easy, and are raw! Just gather ingredients, grab your blender and hit it.

Holy crap YUMMMMMMMM.

Jónsi and Alex Recipe Show - Raw Strawberry Pie

Road Trip || Cults

2011-08-12T08:00:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago my dear sister and I took a quick road trip down to Tucson. Cults was playing at Club Congress so we decided to make a weekend of it!

And we're off!

We stopped at Dutch Brothers for some coffee first... And totally creeped out the dude working there. Andrea started taking pictures of him- weird? Maybe. But he was standing in the fridge when we got there. I think he's the weird one. He then proceeded to tell us how some girl basically stalked him and made him a collage of secret pictures she had taken of him. Haha.

Yay sisters!

Tunes for the road

Hotel Congress

After checking in to our room, we grabbed a quick dinner at the Cup Cafe in the hotel. It was actually fairly nice out and we enjoyed it by sitting outside until it started raining. As we left the restaurant we noticed the GIANT line so we jogged upstairs to get ready quick.

Cute

Cults! Cults! Cults! They have the best hair.

We made friends with these nice folks behind us. They let us go in front of them cause Andrea had a fancy camera. Win!

On a similar note, we were also by these crazy folks who were super drunk. The girl proclaimed how "effed up" she was and worried how they were supposed to drive back to Phoenix THAT NIGHT. Eep! I hope to God they didn't. She dropped a glass (which shattered at our feet) followed by a beer. They kept giving Ms. Cults high fives between each song....until the guy tried to kiss/bite her hand. Sloppy yet funny.

I caught the towel that Mr. Cults wiped his sweaty face with hahaha. Lucky Andrea. She was just soakin it up.

I loooove old signs

Soyrizo, tofu and potato burrito from Lovin' Spoonfuls.

We spent Sunday exploring the town. We started with brunch at Lovin' Spoonfuls, followed by coffee at Cartel, and vintage shopping along 4th. Pretty great weekend with my bestest friend EVA.I'm so thankful I got to spend it with my sister, especially since that little lady will be leaving suuuuper soon for college. She's the best : )

They look fun huh? Enjoy.

Fossil Creek

2011-08-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

For my best pal Danielle's birthday we all packed up our things and headed to Fossil Creek! It was my first time and, boy, was it fun! Here's some pictures from our day.

Me and the BIRTHDAY GIRL!!

Boys in the back!

Look at that water!

Nick || Danielle || Taylor

Maggie and I

Trevor and I

Dinner after a loooong day of swimming.

I have great friends : )

My Day

2011-08-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

My work is filled with super funny people. It's such a good atmosphere where we're all like family. Sometimes I'm super happy to go to work cause I know I'll be laughing my day away. Here's what happened today.

Gettin my iphone on at lunch. This is my boss (she didn't know I was taking her picture : ). Oh and, yeah, she said that. Hahaha. What a gem.

A Few of my Favorite Things || Makeup

2011-08-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

I'm kinda obsessed with makeup. For real, you should see my stash. It's crazy.

When I was young (like 5) my grandmother would let my cousin and I play with her makeup. She taught us so much through the years and really instilled an interest in both my cousin and I. I was fortunate to be able to work in consmetics at Nordstrom through college and I learned so much about application, content, color, etc. So I thought it would be fun to show you a few of my favorite makeup products. There are, of course a whole bunch more but I thought I'd start with the basics. These are the things I use nearly every single day. Try em out. I think you'll like em.

NOTE: Since working towards being vegan I have (sadly) come to find that some of my favorite products are not (which isn't exactly surprising). I'm trying out vegan products here and there and would love any input on your vegan faves.

FACE || Lush Colour Supplement

Lush products are the very best and, to be completely honest, if they introduced a whole makeup line, I'd run out to buy it all this instant. It's like magic in a little pot. It makes my face flawless. And, I swear on my sister's life, it made my face look BETTER when I took it off. It's all the fancy herbs and shit in it that are sitting on your skin all day. I get the light pink and light yellow (both only $13) and mix em for the right shade. They last surprisingly long (pretty sure I had my two little pots for 4-6 months). The only problem is that they do not provide many options for darker shades. Ya hear that Lush?? Get on it.

FACE || MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural

I used to have a love hate relationship with Studiofix. If you've ever used it you probably know what I'm talking about. It made me look like a frikken doll (which is pretty much my goal in life), yet it really did a number on my skin. I don't really know what they put in that stuff but my poor face didn't like it. Nowadays, I generally only add powder to my routine before going out on the town or somethin like that. This stuff is great cause it's super light, yet buildable, with a nice matte finish. And my face doesn't react poorly to it. Must be all those fancy minerals ;)

COLOR || Nars Blush

Sex Appeal | Oasis | Deep Throat

Nars blush is pretty much the best thing ever. To be completely honest, I first bought their deep throat blush cause of the name. Yep, I'm that guy. Now I realize that the dirty names are just a plus (makes me smile every morning). This stuff is highly pigmented and blends beautifully. Another plus- as far as I can tell almost every shade looks fabulous on most skin tones.... weeeeiiiiirrrrdd. Don't know how they do it. AAND word on the streets (web?) is that the founder of Nars, Francios Nars, is even vegan. Killer. Their stuff, though expensive, is great.

EYES || Revlon Color Stay Liquid Liner

I'm such a sucker for liquid eyeliner. I wear it pretty much every day and feel naked without it. I've tried my hand at many different kinds of liner and find that Revlon's Color Stay line is my favorite. It's really easy to apply and wears really well. No smudgies throughout the day. Also, for those of you who prefer a pencil liner, the Color Stay line makes a nice one. However, there is one con; There are limited colors. Which I guess isn't a problem for everyday wear but I'd love it if they had a teal or even a golden brown color. Also, while Revlon does not test their products on animals, their products are not necessarily vegan.

EYES || Kiehl's Marvelous Mineral Mascara

I pretty much don't leave the house without mascara. As a daily contact wearer, I can be kinda picky about my mascaras. I've noticed some brands dry or irritate my eyes- no bueno. This mascara is awesome; it gives a natural look with good hold that doesn't stiffen your lashes. Unfortunately, as a subsidiary of L'oreal, Kiehl's is not vegan. Boo for that cause this shit is magical. If you have any suggestions for vegan mascara's that make my lashes look awesome and feel healthy, lemme know.

LIPS || Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm

I love this stuff cause it instantly pulls together a look. This stuff is cheap and you can get it pretty much everywhere. It makes my lips smooth and hydrated and gives a nice little bit of color to keep my grill lookin fresh.

LIPS || Revlon Matte Lipstick

For a heavier look, try Revlon's Matte Lipstick. Matte lipstick can be dangerous territory for some but let me make my case. It stays on all day yet isn't designed like some franken-lipstick to stay on for all of eternity. It'll stay put through a night out but will easily come off when the night comes to an end. They've got plenty of shades to tickle your fancy. Plus you can swipe on some gloss or chapstick to change and control the look. Apply lightly, blot, and add chapstick for more of a stain look. Apply, blot and /or powder, and touch up for a full coverage look.

What are your favorite makeup products? What can't you live without and why?

Boo.

2011-08-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

Howdy y'all.

Via Instagram \\ @merrymay

I've been a horrible blogger lately. Worse than horrible in fact. I wish I had some awesome story about how I've been off traveling to distant lands, or the like. But alas, it's just a funk.

Of course some days you feel like poop. Sometime's things get better real quick-like. Other times the blues stick around. That's the kinda funk I'm in- the deep blue funk that camps out and makes your little life it's home for a while.

While I've not been feeling like doing much of anything, I know that being more active (physically, socially, mentally, etc.) would certainly do wonders. It's just about finding the momentum. That's what I'm trying for.

Anyways, I pretty much just wanted to say thanks for stickin by to all of you who still pop in to see what's up in my little piece of the blogosphere. I've got a bundle of posts just waiting to be completed and posted and I'm hoping my sweet and I can get together soon to work out a whole buncha fun bloggy ideas we came up with.

Untill next time,
XXOO
Ash

(Btw, I still post on my tumblr and instagram most days so please say hello if you've got either)

My Baby

2011-07-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

Remember how I bought that super rad trailer that one time?

Well, we went out to Oklahoma to pick it up! (we actually picked it up some time ago and I'm just now posting about it. Oops!) Anyways, I'm pretty much in love. I've not loved something so much since I got my Iphone (Haha, kinda sorta kidding. But also kinda not : ).

Here's a buncha photos from our trip! Yay!

Humphrey and I- Ready to go!

Boooredom = taking weird pictures.

Tipi- AZ.

Water park- somewhere in TX.

NM had so many great old signs.

We made it!! (Notice those floral cushions in the trailer. They're gonna need to go.)

Bored again.

Pretty!-TX.

Tipi- AZ.

Sign- OK.

My Baby!!

I'm so stoked and can't wait for it to cool down a bit to begin working on it. First task- painting the interior. It's unfortunate that the previous owner painted over the pretty wood walls. But... Whatcha gonna do? The worst part is that the interior (weird fleshy peach color) and the exterior (vibrant yellow) clash. Each is pretty but not together.

Down the road I would love to paint the exterior a minty color.

-weheartit.com-

That's what's guiding my choice for the interior. I'm thinking pretty golden white color.

Thoughts? Ideas?

Guest Post on The Crafty Vision of Sara(h) Darlene

2011-07-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

The pretty Miss Sara put up my guest post! Check it out! It's a good one (I got a little carried away on this one : ).

Guest post!

2011-07-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a pretty fun guest post and thought I'd give ya a little sneak peak! The lovely Sarah asked me to do a guest post while she works on movin to dowtown Phoenix. I was so stoked cause a) guest posts are so fun! and b) we can have coffee dates! Haha.

Anyways, she's had some pretty awesome posts lately all about home decor. Do yourself a favor and go check it out. Here's a sneak peek of my post I'm preparing and a little tour of my house. Check for my guest post next week.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

Hope you have the best day ever. Swimmin, BBQin, fireworks! Yay!

I love Charlie. Like, so much.

Weekend Recap

2011-06-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

1. Birthday lunch with Stephanie 2. Aren't they so cute? 3. Andrea created a photobooth for a Harry Potter party complete with these awesome props 4. My face.

1. Me and my bestest pal Nick- covering up his big forhead 2. Pool party! 3. Handstand contest 4. My boys

1. Bffs 2. Hikin the mountain 3. Farmer's market bounty 4. Sister with the pretty flowers I bought myself!

Say whaaat?

2011-06-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

Modcloth's having a sale.

Eep! Here's what I want.

If I had to choose one bag to describe me, I'd pick this one. It's so me.

Perfect summer dress.

This dress is the most lovely cut. Gorgeous.

LOVE
Check it out folks. What are you crushin on?

VACATION!

2011-06-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

I've been MIA recently, and for good reason. We took our annual family vacation! Each year for almost as long as I can remember, we take a family trip with the whole crew- mom, dad, sister, boy cousin, girl cousin, her hubby and three kiddos, grandma, grandpa, aunt, and uncle- that's right, like, a billion people. Unfortunately, boy cousin was unable to embark on our family trip- he had to stay home with his fiance and her lil boy cause silly work got in the way.

Got my favorite lil lady by my side : )

My cousin's kids. All set to go on the airplane!

This year's adventure took us on a cruise to the Bahama's, St. Thomas, and St. Maartin.

Giant!

Central Park

Our room!!

Our view

We flew out saturday afternoon and arrived in Fort Lauderdale late that evening. Sunday afternoon we were allowed to board the ship. Get this- the folks from the previous cruise get off around 9 in the morning. Then they board the next cruisers around 1. Nuts. Anyways, we sailed on the Allure of the Seas, the largest cruise ship ever. This baby held over 6,000 guests and over 2,000 crew. With something like 12 individual restaurants in addition to the main dining room, the ship also holds an ice cream shop, a cupcake shop, and the first ever Starbucks at sea.

Bye bye Florida!

Bahamas

St Thomas

The lizard situation in St. Thomas was a little outta hand

I love this little church in St. Maartin

There's a casino, ice skating rink, spa, gym, aquatheater, comedy club, theater (where Chicago played), and more. There were tons of activities to keep you busy including two surf simulators, a zip line, two rock climbing walls, basketball courts, a jogging track, mini golf.... I could go on for days. It's seriously nuts.

Goofin on the Boardwalk

Riley bein silly. It's the only pic the little stinker would let me capture.

So happy to be eatin her toes!

My favorite picture ever. I told her to close her eyes and mouth before she jumped into the pool and this is the face she made each time. Love that little girl x 1000.

We watched the Stanley Cup final in the aquatheater in the rain.

My mom made me take a picture of her making a silly, I'm hammered face. She pulled it off pretty well.

We had lots of fun and I got a lot of quality time with the kiddos. Supah fun. Oh, I've got videos too! I'm gonna try and do some fancy things to it and I'll post it in the next few days : )

Updates!

2011-06-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to doing some updates around these parts. Feels gooood. I'm still working on some things (ie: alignment. grr!) but feel free to take a lil look around. I put a list of all the fun places you can find me in the "About" section. Be sure to check it out so we can be friends in ALLLL the places listed, oooohkaaay??

Also, if you know how to center my Outbrain widget or the comments section, let me know : )

Summer Songs

2011-06-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

Since it's the first official day of summer, I thought I'd share with all you lovely folks out there some of my favorite songs that remind me of summer.

This one actually doesn't necesarrily remind me of summer- I just found it while searching and love both Owen Pallatt and Joanna Newsome : )

Vlooooooog

2011-06-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

I've decided to begin posting vlogs on here. Like semi-often. Why you ask? Well, I take videos and photos all the time but never post em cause... well I don't actually know why. But I've begun a new quest to bring out my inner weirdo and let her pretty lil face shine. So what better way than making a fool outta myself online? Making a fool of yourself makes you strong. Awesome? Awesome.

I saw this adorable vlog from Elycia of Love, Elycia on My Girl Thursday today.

She seems fun.

Adventures in Veganism: Perfect Summer Dinner

2011-06-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

It preeeeetty hot here these days. However, not terrible by our standards. I made this yummy fresh dinner tonight and pretended I was having a pretty picnic in a pretty park with a pretty breeze and all my pretty friends.

Here's what I made!

Kale salad, curried potato salad, and corn on the cob. Mmm.

Brief confession: I'm kinda a terrible cook. Not the worst by any means. The thing is, I kinda hate following recipes. Recipes are like a whole buncha rules and I really just wanna break em. You'd think after screwing up recipes all the time I'd learn my lesson. I'm getting there. These are simple recipes that you can doctor and adjust to your tastes and it'll still be delish! Here's what ya do.

Kale Salad- One of my most favorite salads of all time is the Kale salad from True Food Kitchen. Only problem, it's covered in parmesan cheese. Here's my cheese-less version. This little mixture is so fresh and light. I love love love kale.

A bunch of kale
1 lemon
1-2 cloves of Garlic
A smidge of olive oil
Pepper to taste

Roughly chop the kale. Using a grater or a microplane (if you don't have one get one. I love my microplane. It's magical) zest the lemon (half the lemon if you'd prefer) and squeeze the juice of half the lemon into a bowl. Add a clove of fresh garlic and a bit of olive oil. Stir in some fresh ground pepper and toss the mixture with the kale. If you'd like, you could add some red pepper flakes for a little kick. That's it! Yum!

Curried Potato Salad- Another thing I love- curry powder. I put it on everything. Here's a yummy vegan twist on boring, traditional potato salad.

A handful of baby potatoes
Onion (as much or as little as you prefer)
1 tbsp Vegenaise
Curry powder (as much or as little as you prefer)
Sprinkling of cinnamon
Splash of jerk seasoning (or red pepper flakes. or neither)
Dash of salt
Fresh parsley

Slice up your potatoes, toss them in a pot, and boil until tender. Mix up Vegenaise, lots of curry powder, a little cinnamon, and a sprinkling of jerk seasoning for some spice. Toss potatoes with the yummy mixture. Throw in some freshly chopped onion and parsley. Salt to taste. Nom!

One of the best parts of summer is corn on the cob!! I love going to my grandpa's farm in upstate New York and filling my belly with lots of corn. Boil yourself (or grill- even better!) up and ear and you've got a yummy dinner.

Poolside

2011-06-07T07:20:00.000-07:00

Hangin with my pals poolside is fun.

I love all of my friends so much. They do funny things. Like this.

On our way!!

2011-06-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

The whole fam is loaded up and making the trek to Oklahoma to pick up my trailer. Right now we're in Gallup, New Mexico. Find me on instagram- merrymay, or on my tumblr- mmhandmade.tumblr.com for pretty pictures along the way.

Somebody Graduated [SO MANY PICTURES]

2011-06-01T15:33:00.000-07:00

That's right! My super awesome, super hilarious, super attractive sister totally graduated high school. That's right world- WATCH OUT. Baby girl's a legit adult (kinda) and we're going wild. She's so boss.

Senior pics by Angelina Rose Photography

Before Graduation, being a dementor.

Graduation was on Friday afternoon and the whole crew showed up for support. My mom pretty much blew it (or so she kept saying... truth is, everything was fine) and forgot batteries for the camera and the flowers. Luckily I had my rad zoom lens from Photojojo.

The freakin ceremony blew my mind. There was something like 350+ kids and they blew through em so fast- I'm lucky I even caught it when they called Andrea's name. Seriously like, 40 mins max.

We even got a pretty cool performance. (Yeah, that shaking is from me laughing).

Friday night we went to my grandparents for a SUPRISE wedding shower for my favorite cousin and his fiance. It was most of the family's first time meeting Kellie and her little boy Cayden and it was cool we got to bombard her with meeting like a billion people. I spent some time flying Cayden around in circles so I'm pretty sure he likes me, which was my goal for the night. WIN!

Matt and Kellie

Cousin-in-law Jason with baby Kaylin, my best friend :) .

Riley was sick. I just love this picture. Poor buddy.

Saturday was the big graduation party. I ran around in the morning grabbing the food and special goodies for the event. We had the best spread- for reals- wraps, salad and pasta salad from That's A Wrap (one of my favorite local restaurants and, coincidentally, the same thing I had for my high school graduation party), my sister's favorite pudding from True Food Kitchen (it's vegan, gluten free and unbelieveable), and 3 gallons of horchata. Not to mention rad folks and a custom playlist! BEST. PARTY. EVER.

Even R.Pats showed up.

Cuteness.

Oh! AAAND! My dear sister got me a graduation party present.

She made this picture I'd been drooling over for ages. She got it framed all pretty for me, so I can always remember her.

Anyways, I was gonna tell you about our sweet Memorial day hangs but I'll tell ya about it later. And come back cause I've got a heart wrenching, tear inducing letter to my sis coming in the next few days! AWWWE.

One of my most favorite feelings in the whole world

2011-05-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

One of my most favorite feelings in the whole world is getting my hair cut. I love:
feeling the weight come off (I've got quite a bit of hair)
how something so small can make you feel renewed
the feeling of someone else playing with your hair. It's the best.

When I was in high school I had different hair with each visit. I got bored easily. Now-a-days, I am always yearning to change it up but I never do. First of all, it took like, a really long time to go back to blonde and grow it out. I had been thinking about doing a coppery ginger color. The problem- my roots are so light that when my hairs begins to grow out I look like my hair is thinning. Not to mention the upkeep necessary to make sure I don't look like I'm balding would be torture (on my wallet at least). I'm stuck.

Here are some pretty hairdos I love love love. (Confession: I'm a hoarder. I stockpile pictures of pretty/inspiring things on my computer. So these have all been collected and I don't know where I got them from. If you know, holler at me so I can credit.) Thoughts? Suggestions?

Color : Fringe-less (Grow out my bangs perhaps?)

Purdy

Color!

Victoria Legrand of Beach House : Her hair is magical. I'd kill for her hair.

Color : Fringe

Love! : Asymetrical fringe

Face framing fringe : Color

Messy and adorbs.

Love!

I'll prob stick to Michelle William's look in Blue Valentine- ya know, still long and blonde, just change up the styling a bit. I think I wanna grow it loooongerrrrr. Whatch me start nommin prenatal vitamins. (Does that even work?). Input would be appreciated : )

Tunes and Tumblr

2011-05-23T17:48:00.000-07:00

Hi hi hi!!

How are you? How was your weekend?

(I love this picture I took this weekend. I can't help but laugh when I see it. This is my BFF Danielle. She looks confused, surprised and a little upset- like I unexpectedly grabbed her bum or somethin.)

It's getting HOT here fast. Supposed to be like, 105 by Saturday- just in time for my sister's graduation party... boo. I'm doing my best to stay positive (it's actually held off pretty well this year) and really take advantage of the last few nice days. However, Miss Negativity keeps popping in reminding that soon enough my skin will feel like it's burning off. Nearly every single summer I have this freak out sesh where I hate AZ and my whole life here and will do anything to move away. It's weird cause once it cools down I'm totally content and actually kinda (KINDA) like the place. I just like being outside dammit.

On a lighter note, I'm totally obsessed with tumblr.

Merry May

100%. I'm tumblrin all day long.

Here are a few of my faves.

Tigerlungs

Marry Potter

JVL

Folk Object

Positive Repository

Are you on Tumblr? Who do you follow?

Here's some songs for you to listen to while browsing : ) XXOO

What. A. Weekend.

2011-05-18T09:11:00.000-07:00

Hii!!! How was your weekend? I hope is was wonderful. It was a nice mellow weekend.

Saturday my baby girl went to prom! Woot! I made the trek over their side of town and met my sister at the salon where she was getting her hairz and makeupz did. It was sooooo sooooo good to see my old buddies Drea (in black) and Ryanne (whose got the cutest little baby belly ever). Drea makes me laugh so hard and I love her to pieces.

Drea did an awesome job on Andrea's hair and makeup (she even put some pretty eyelashes on me so I could be fancy). Andrea rarely wears makeup... or does her hair for that matter... but she looked amazing and not overdone- like a billion bucks. Her friend Tyler was her date. So cute. They went to Cibo for dinner then on to prom.

Sunday!! Sunday was Of Montreal at the Marquee!

If you recall, Andrea and I went to see them for Halloween and had an epic time. I had origionally bought like a thousand tickets (ok, 4). One was meant to be for my bud Jasmine but come noon on Sunday she texted me saying she was sick and couldn't go. Such a bummer. However, it worked out ok because my sister's crew (who are the funnest/funniest kids I know) had all planned to go but none had tickets yet.

I told my BFF Danielle to buy a ticket and was super stoked when she did. We danced our asses off and got glitter crazy (it was EVERYWHERE. Even found it in my shoe the next day... not the shoes I wore to the show... after I took a shower). I seriously love a good show. I love dancing crazy and getting covered in sweat, jumping up and down like a crazy person and using the people around me to help me stay standing up (yeah, I'm that asshole). It gets the endorphins pumpin like crazy and I feel amped for days afterward. So good.

Painted Palms played first. They were way rad. Here's my sister being silly.

Of Montreal

They played one of my fave's, Plastis Wafers. I started taking a video but became drunk on the beat and had to put my phone away so I could start jumping.

Listen to it here.

Anyways, Thanks for popping in. Hope you had a super awesome weekend.

Playlists and Shop Visits

2011-05-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

Guess who came to visit me yesterday at the shop?

My BFF Andrea.

My Buddy Danielle.

And baby Henry.

What an awesome surprise. Totally made my day : )

Now here's a playlist (for reals. working this time. or ill kill someone) for you to enjoy.

What do you have planned for the weekend? I'm gonna go see this after work.

Tomorrow I'm going to help my buds Andrea and Jesse move then go help my pretty lil sis get ready for PROM! She's such a babe. I'll take lots of pics to share with you. Sunday is OF MONTREAL. Woo! My goal is to dance so hard I'm sore for a week. I'm gonna dance my ass off.

This for That with Rikki Cupcake: Cheeeeeese

2011-05-10T17:28:00.000-07:00

First things first- veganism check in! I'm doin pretty well and honest to God, it's been pretty easy. I don't feel like I'm missing anything at all and I've found that, I don't actually really like cheese (I feel ya Rikki). My friend Kara would be shitting her pants right now but it's true. As a vegetarian, I tended to rely on cheese for like, most meals, not cause I liked it (I've now learned) but because it's convenient. I like having to be thoughtful and creative with my meals.

Anyways, it's time again for some more words of vegan wisdom from the lovely Rikki Cupcake of Seitanic Vegan Heathen. This time she's gonna tell us a little bit about vegan cheese options. Don't forget to check out her first post on vegan milk substitutes here. You'll love it : )

Oh cheese, oh you great wonderfully gooey, sticky, stinky mess of fat. How I miss you sometimes. I miss your greasy puddles on pizza, your comfort and intense aroma...OK who am I kidding, I never really liked you cheese, you made me tummy hurt, you made my butt a little bigger than I would have liked and worst of all you made mediocre foods almost tasty. I can say I am probably one of the few Vegans alive that doesn't crave cheese or desire to have cheese alternatives filling my cupboards, but I will admit there are times when a cheese like substance is absolutely necessary, like cream cheese frosting for my sweet potato cupcakes or ricotta for a delicious lasagna.

But for those of you out there who are not like me and actually like cheese there are quite a few substitutions out there to satisfy those cravings, but I will warn you, most of them do not taste like cheese, the texture is often "different" and 9 out of 10 of them will not melt. Once you have been Vegan long enough most likely you will have the foggiest idea of what cheese really tastes like and these alternatives will prove to be amazing, but if you have just converted give it a few months before diving into a jar of Vegan nacho cheese or you might find yourself crying somewhere in a corner. I know this sounds extreme but it takes a while for our bodies to adjust to a new diet and it takes our taste buds even longer. If one lives on a salt-free diet their entire lives then tries a Dorito they are most likely going to find it disgusting, and the same goes for switching from a highly salty or fatty diet to a diet of (hopefully) whole foods. After a few months of a cheese-free Vegan diet, I tired the very first Vegan cheese of my life, and it was one made easily at home, tofu ricotta, and this is still easily my favorite cheese. All you need is:

1/2 block tofu

1 T. chopped fresh basil

1 T. lemon juice, fresh squeezed if you can

salt and pepper to taste

Crumble the tofu and toss in the other ingredients and mix with your fingers. I put this on pizza, in lasagna and on top of pasta dishes. It is tangy and tasty and best of all it isn't greasy or fatty. You can add sun dried tomatoes, oregano or red pepper flakes to change the flavor around too. This same cheese is easily made with cashews, almonds and walnuts if you have soy allergies. Just remember to soak the nuts in water for about 8 hours, then strain before putting into a food processor or blender with the other ingredients. If you are not one to make this at home Tofutti is putting a Vegan ricotta on the market in the next few months.

Since we are on the topic of Tofutti, they make a pretty great cream cheese that spreads wonderfully on bagels and as mentioned above I use to make delish cream cheese frostings.

My only advice is the flavor is a bit odd, so mix in garlic powder or cinnamon to change the taste a bit. Hmmmmm garlic-y bagels. I am making myself hungry as I type this. They have flavored Tofutti but nothing is better than mixing in your own jams, agave, chili pepper or what have you, this way you control the calorie count and flavor profile.

The second cheese I learned to make and to absolutely love was a cheese sauce for mac n cheese, but it also suitable as a nacho cheese. The recipe is from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen and is crazy delicious!

1 1/4 cups water

1 cup plain, fat-free soymilk (may use other non-dairy milk)

3/4 cup nutritional yeast

3 tablespoons cornstarch or potato starch

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

pinch cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons tahini

1 teaspoon mellow white miso (or additional salt)

black pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until mixed well. Put into a sauce pan and cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally. As it heats the sauce will thicken, when it gets to your desired consistency pull off of the stove immediately. Pour over cooked pasta for easy macaroni and cheese or add jalapenos, tomatoes and chili pepper for a great nacho cheese dip, or simply pour in some of your favorite salsa. The recipe calls for nutritional yeast (nooch) and can be found at Sprouts, Whole Foods and Sunflower Market in their bulk sections. Nooch can be sprinkled by itself on top of salads or pizza to add a hint of cheesy flavor. I add nooch to my morning tofu scrambles and to my homemade chili.

If you are interested in making all homemade cheese there is a great book by Joanne Stepaniak called the Uncheese Cookbook and although it is almost twenty years old it is still relevant today, and was most recently reviewed on Bittersweet blog by Hannah Kaminsky, vegan chef extraordinaire.

Now, if you are not one to spend countless hours in the kitchen there are a ton of cheese-alternatives packaged and ready to eat. In my opinion the best are Daiya, Dr. Cow and Follow Your Heart.

These three companies have excelled at the faux cheese and deserve a great big hug from Vegans worldwide. There are a ton of fake cheese out there on the market, but you will never know which ones you love until you give them all a go, and you will have to taste a few duds to find the few that appeal to you the most. If you are looking to make a pizza Daiya or Follow Your Heart, if you are looking to host a wine and cheese tasting go for DR. Cow, and if you are looking to impress your friends, make the Mac N' Cheese recipe from above. The one thing you will discover as you go along in your Vegan journey is the longer you are away from a cheese-filled diet, the less you will miss it. You will discover so many different herbs and spices that a completely cheese-less pizza will be tantalizing, an alfredo sauce made with soymilk will be outstanding and a quesadilla make with yuca will be exquisite!

If you have any recipe requests or vegan questions send them my way rikkihale@hotmail.com

Rikki Cupcake

Thanks Rikki!! You're the best.

Livin the Dream

2011-05-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey Milstein takes pictures of super rad trailers.

From his site- "Small Dreams presents a typology of the post WWII trailers that popped up in Palm Springs, California. Early models were made using surplus sheet metal and the technology developed to make World War II aircraft. Over the years people would add on, remodel, and create mini gardens and decorative statements."

I think I'd love to live in one of these pretty little homes.

A Really Cute Video to Make You Smile

2011-05-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

I just had to share with you this adorable video of my cousin's little girl.

*The video is working now*

Quick story. My cousin Amber and I were basically raised like sisters.

We did everything together, including going to daycare together while our parents worked, going on family trips together, we were even dressed alike all the time.

We even fought like sisters.

The other two, yeah them on the right, they're my cousins Carissa and Kerrie- So cute right?

But now we're pretty dang close. She's got the most amazing kiddos and I'm so happy I get to be a part of their little lives. Here's the cutest video of her youngest to make your day happy.

Adventures in Veganism: Chickpea Salad

2011-05-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

I just decided right now to start a new "series"; anytime I write about food stuff it shall be called Adventures in Veganism. Woot! (Which also makes me wanna watch Adventures in Babysitting).

Yesterday I made a super yummy chickpea salad. It's kinda like a vegan version of tuna or egg salad. I was at first suspect but it turned out super yummy.

Here's whatcha do.

Ingredients
Can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
Vegenaise
Mustard (grainy, sweet, spicy- whatever you prefer. I used spicy mixed with a little bit of horseradish, mmm.)
Onion
Cucumber (or celery. I just don't like celery.)
Sandwich toppings (I used lettuce, tomato, sweet pickles (or mix relish in), and a little bit of avocado)
Bread

Pour the chickpeas in a bowl and smash em up real nice. Mix in vegenaise and mustard, diced onion, and cucumber. Load up your bread with your favorite sandwich toppings and plop on a heaping dollop of your chickpea mixture on top. Quick and easy. Nom!

Guess what I bought

2011-04-27T07:20:00.000-07:00

I bid on this lil gem the other day on Ebay.

But I lost.

But then I get an email from the seller. Apparently the person who won "accidentally" bid.... hmmm seems suspect, yes? Anyways, she offered it up to the top 3 bidders at the lower price and I snatched that shit up.

The interior is a little too grandma-y for me (What? Is that possible?). But luckily, all this lil girl needs is a cosmetic makeover. The bones are perfect.

One of my dreams in life is to own a vintage trailer. And this one's perfect- 1961 Shasta. Im a sucker for the wings.

I've got a lot more things in the works that are pretty exciting. Change is super scary but I think it's time for some changes around these parts. I want to tell you more but I must wait.... I think by this weekend I'll be able to divulge more. Cross your fingers, say your prayers for me purdy please.

Happy Earth Day Babes

2011-04-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

The History of Earth Day

In honor of Earth Day I thought I would provide some quick ideas for things we can do today to help the planet! I pulled some of this info from an Earth Day post I did a few years ago: you can read more earthy things here, here, and here.

Here they are:

Eat organic/local- Our food often travels between 1,500 and 2,500 miles from farm to table and sometimes ever further (especially when we insist on having kiwi in the dead of winter!) Most grocery stores have a small area of locally grown produce. Organic options help to cut back the amounts of pesticides and herbicides deposited into the soil and ground water, cutting back on money and energy put into purification efforts.

Get your thrift on- It's startling how many nearly unused things can be found at second hand stores. Savers gets truckloads of items from Target and they still have the tags on! Plus, buying second hand or vintage makes you totally cool and stuff.

Skip that fast food lunch- Fast food is great and easy and it’s sometimes nice to get a break from work midday. But fast foods are highly processed and require a lot of extraneous packaging. The planet and your heart will thank you.

Drive the speed limit- Driving the speed limit can help your gas mileage meaning more time between fill-ups! More time between fill-ups means we are less dependent on oil.

Turn the light off in your office when you head to lunch- If each one of us would turn off our lights for the ½ hour to hour of lunch we could save significant amounts of energy!

Unplug things when not in use- Even when not in use a plugged in phone charger can drain energy. Be mindful to unplug small appliances when you aren’t using them.

Cut back on meat- Did you know that cows produce 200 to 400 quarts of methane gas per day, or 50 million metric tons per year? Methane is one of the leading causes of green house gas emissions, second only to carbon dioxide. Even one additional meatless meal per week cause dramatically cut the emissions of methane.

Be mindful- No one is perfect. We all make mistakes. We often think that one little thing like recycling that paper towel isn’t enough to make a difference. But it is the little things that count and one tiny change can have a BIG effect on the planet.

Here are some awesome links for you to check out today : )
15 Ways to Celebrate Agriculture on Earth Day
Cow Farts vs. SUVs
Combating Climate Change by Eating Less Meat
Rising Demand for Meat Takes Toll on Environment
Living the Good Life

Oh Hai

2011-04-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Ahhh. I've had a busy and tough week or so and I'm sorry for my absence. Do you ever just feel like you kinda need to get away from everything and hide for a moment? Yeah, that's how it's been. But I've really been thinking about a lot of things and am mustering up the courage to make some changes here and there, hopefully for the better. I've got some good ideas and now it's just about taking the jump and making it happen- which is often the hardest part.

How have you all been? Well, I hope.

This week is going to be another busy one. But HOPEFULLY, it'll be a good one. I got a few things in the works and I reeeeaaaaally hope they work out cause I really wanna tell y'all about it.

In the meantime, check out this rad 1937 Ford Housecar.

Apparently, this lil baby is one of only six said to have been made per year in the mid-'30s at the Ford Plant in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was found in an old garage and had only 19,000 miles on it! And the owner's manual was actually still the glove box in like-new condition! It blows my mind how well things were made way back when. It makes me so happy to have the opportunity to experience a blast from the past once in a while (it also makes me sad to know that, with the way things are made these days and the disposable culture we live in, my children and their children won't have that same opportunity).

It's so cool- like a mix between a tiny motorhome and a gypsy caravan. What a gem.

WAFA/Sarah Barnes

2011-04-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon the WAFA collective a little while ago and was super stoked and inspired. WAFA (We Are Fucking Awesome) is composed of artists all over the world and aims to bring people together to inspire and ignite each artists' work; WAFA (We Are Fucking Awesome) is a global artist collective dedicated to the support and development of emerging artists. We are an international network of working artists... Our hope is to bring together a community of artists, united by collaboration, to inspire one another. To have the sense of family and community restored, where we can belong and continue to give value to what we believe in. To have an open dialogue about everything we experience, and the free exchange of ideas, knowledge and tools. Our focus is on collaborative works and initiatives. All work documented on this website was created by two or more artists working together. We have found that collectively we are stronger than individually. Yeah, they are fucking awesome.

One of my faves is Sarah Barnes, a collage artist and embroiderer.

Lovely. Check out this interview with her. And don't miss her beautiful blog.

Six Things Phoenix Might Probably Need I think

2011-04-08T16:06:00.000-07:00

Phoenix has really come quite a long way and it's getting cooler and cooler each day. I mean, I'm totally stoken on Filmbar, we've got the awesome market, lots of good coffee shops, the lightrail zippin through, and food trucks running rampant. Here's some other stuff I think we might probably need.

A super cute flower shop.

Flower Girl, NYC.
To turn the old buildings into hip, multiuse living spaces and storefronts, restoring the original architecture. (ie: not tearing em down to start from scratch and not letting aASU snatch em up to build parking structures on. And P.S. we don’t need any more new, stucco, blah places k? Why build from scratch when we've got architectural gems standing empty?)

Luhrs Building, Downtown Phx.

An awesome bakery or two.

Babycakes, NYC.
More vegan restaurants and options (maybe a vegan ice cream shop or something rad like that, eh?).

Yes, this Cheesy Mac and Rib sandwich is vegan. Mmmm.

KindKreme, LA.

Greenspace.

Unpack a park. Whaa? RAD.

Some cool boutique hotels.

Hotel San Jose, Austin, TX.

This all reminds me of the old argument- which came first- the rad downtown? or the rad folks inhabiting it? Do you invest time and money into it hoping the right folks will stumble upon it or do you get the right people's interest before you invest?

What are some things you LOVE about your home town? What are some things you'd like to see different?

What's wrong with what we eat.

2011-04-06T07:55:00.000-07:00

I watched this video the other day on Ted. I thought it was super interesting and wanted to share it with you. I like how Mark Bittman goes about discussing this topic. Instead of shocking people or pounding it into their skulls with military tactics, he's logical, smart, and funny.

Rant

2011-04-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been MIA. I've had an unfortunate string of bad luck and it's really gettin me bummed out.

First I lost a $20 bill. I found $1. Weird karma right?

My mom hit my car. She didn't mean to (at least I hope she didn't).

I've been out of it. I feel like things are just uncomfortable, like when you have a scratch right in the center of your back and no matter which arm you use or which way you bend and stretch, you still can't get to it. Somethings outta wack.

Maybe I need to look for a new job? Maybe I need to be more creative? Maybe I need new friends? I dont really know.

.... whatever...

I found this cool tumblr today- JVL.

AZ Blogger Meet-up (PART 2 // IMAGE HEAVY)

2011-03-30T08:14:00.000-07:00

I'm back with more pretty pictures from last weekend's AZ blogger meet-up. Read part one here!

Andrea and I met up with the group at the Downtown Public Market and joined the ladies as we explored some of the amazing shops downtown Phoenix has to offer. We popped in to Made Art Boutique and had a nice chat with Cindy, the mastermind behind that great shop and one of the people working hardest to make downtown Phoenix a success (def an inspiration). We had some giggles and ran next door to get coffee before the lady train took off again.

At the GROWop we had some craft activities to do- flower crowns and planter boxes- water, shade, and chairs for people to rest, and of course great shopping at the GROWop and Butter Toast.

Andrea and her new buddies. Love it.

My business partner and dear friend, Josh and I.

Making flower crowns, flower necklaces, and flower bracelets.

The boys- manning the shop and looking handsome.

Scott taught us how to make these awesome little wooden flower planters.

Josh and Andrea.

Josh getting in the spirit with a flower in his ear.

Kara- I love her.

Andrea thought we should take a prom picture, since she was wearing a corsage and all.

Yay!
The meet-up was such a success! I'm bummed I never made it to the dinner part but I'm really glad I could be a part of it. Thanks to Chelsea for being so awesome and letting me have a DIY. and Thanks to Danielle for coming up with this great idea. Now that we've met in "real life" don't be a stranger, k?

AZ Blogger Meet-up (PART 1 // IMAGE HEAVY)

2011-03-29T08:13:00.000-07:00

Woot Woo!

The AZ Blogger Meet-up was this past weekend. And it was suuuper fun. It was so awesome to see old and new faces, and get to know some online friends in "real life".
Here's how my day went down. I woke up early, got ready and buzzed over to my buddy Andrea's house. After I picked her up, Andrea and I ran to the store where we picked up some supplies- water bottles, flowers, bananas, raspberries, bagels and tofutti cream cheese (supplies = breakfast apparently, lol). We ran to the GROWop to get everything set up and lookin all purdy. After we ate our yummy breakfast, we were amped and ready to conquer the day- we began by picking lots of flowers so our blogger buddies could create flower crowns : )

Andrea with her bounty.

Prettyness. After everything was set up, I texted Chelsea to find out where the group was at and Andrea and I zipped over to the Phoenix Public Market.

Me and my favorite- the funniest blogger I know, Kara of Sunshine Cupcakes.

My buddy Kristen of Llena de Moras. (We worked at Anthro together : )

Mandy of Dash it All.

(P.S. Do yourself a favor and watch this. It's so cool I'm prob gonna make a whole seperate post about it.)

Courtney of Phoenix is Haute and Dolly and Boy Jewelry and Kristen looking adorable of course.

Yay! Chelsea of Tea Talk and me.

Katy! of Katieverga.com

We walked from the Market to Mercantile where I got a really rad ring for only $8.

At Vintage by Misty.

My buddy Scott, bein awesome and stuff.

There's more coming : )

Om nom nom: Vegan Cheese Sauce

2011-03-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

I spent the better part of my Sunday being all cute and domestic. I cleaned my house up real nice (a little bit at least), planted some flowers, and cooked a bunch.

For reals.

Afterwards I picked up my momma and sister from the airport- they went to Washington to visit some colleges. I got some amazing vegan pizza at Mellow Mushroom. Seriously, so good (there are two in town if you're local : )

Then I rushed back to see my BFB (best friends brother) who was in town from Utah for the night.

Kenny = BFB

This kid makes me laugh my makeup off my face. Liquid eyeliner stands no chance. I just love their family.

Donny (BFF-in-law), me, Danielle (BFF), Dasi (Totally adorable BFF2)

So I expiremented with making vegan cheese sauce. I was skeptical but had the ingredients so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I found this recipe online and doctored it a bit. This is how it ended up- suprisingly pretty tasty! Easy and yummy- give it a try!

1/2 cup flour
1 stick of dairy free butter
1 1/2 cups water
spices
soy sauce
1/2 cup nutritional yeast

(I added)
1 can of green chiles
2 cloves of garlic
lotsa hot sauce (I used Cholula cause I had it one hand. Syracha would make this sooooo very yummy!)

Melt one stick of dairy free butter (pop the garlic in there too). Add flour, stirring rapidly. Add soysauce and any spices you like (chile powder, paprika, garlic, tarragon, etc). (This is where I added the can of green chiles).

When it thickens, turn off the flame. Stir in nutritional yeast. (Add a bit of water if it's too thick).

Guess what?
You're done! Now slather it on pasta, potatoes, broccolli. Make some nachos. Woot!

What I Wore

2011-03-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hey hey! Guess what I wore?
This cute, stripey dress.

Normally I haaate shopping. I can never find anything I like. It's weird cause I love thrifting, and for most people it's usually the other way around I think.

But I actually found this gem at Forever 21. I know what you're thinkin- "What? Ashley are you serious?"

Yes. Yes I am.

Cuteness right?

(P.S. Check out the cute featers in my hair. There are four but I'm not sure you can see too well in the photo. I got it from my loves, the ladies at the Roose Parlour and Spa).

Traci had on the cutest dress ever. There just so happened to be a similar, red maxi in Butter Toast. So we played dress up.

Tumblr Love

2011-03-23T07:45:00.000-07:00

I semi-recently got a tumblr account and I must say, I'm pretty much addicted.

I love that, with one button, I can post any pretty lil picture I see. And it's pretty cool to have a place to file all my inspirations (ie: not load up my computer with it all). Right now I have about a billion different folders on my computer with all sorts of inspiration in em- art, DIY projects, tattoos, makeup, home, and on and on. It's rediculous.

Do you have a tumblr?? Let me know, I'd love to follow you! Do you have any favorites you wanna share? Check mine out here!

WW and Stuff Like That

2011-03-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

Check in time!

Woot woot! Down 1.6lbs this week. That's 6.5 lbs total!

As you can see there were a few weeks in there where things kinda... well not much happened. But as weight watchers says, it's all part of the journey. So, it's nice to see things moving again. This past week I did pretty well with being active as well as with my eating (I even started learning to TAP DANCE!! Holy crap it's so awesome- I was practicing all last night. It's one of my life dreams : ). I've been more in tune with what I'm eating and why I'm eating it, and way better with tracking. And the best part- I feel so much more comfortable in my body these days (working out and walking helps). I know 1.5 lbs seems like nothin but, it makes me feel good.

On the vegan front, I've be goin strong since the last post. I had a couple little mess ups but nothing intentional. Mostly in the begining just not thinking or being aware of ingredients- you really just have to kinda reframe your brain to be just a little more attentive. Again, I feel really proud of myself. I'm psyched. And now that I feel a little more confortable I want to start experimenting with recipes. I've got some really great cookbooks that I wanna master.

How was your weekend??

What I Wore

2011-03-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

Howdy Friends. Here's another lil outfit I wore the other day.

Taken by my bud Traci outside of Butter Toast Boutique.

Skirt: Vintage

Top: Plain ol wife beater

I remembered to take pictures of my rings this time!

Necklace: Owlette. My friend Rebecca is launching her Etsy shop super soon. In the meantime, stay connected via Facebook.

Shoes: Thrifted

See more here.

I hope you're having a splendid weekend! If you're in town, come downtown for Art Detour. There's lots going on and sixth street has live music, lot's of booths filled with vintage and handmade, live mural painting, and big big sales! (Trunk sale at GROWop and Butter Toast with awesome vintage items for 3-5 dollars and 40-50% off winter items! Woot!)

Dreams

2011-03-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

I almost never remember my dreams. The few times I do they are always suuuuper weird and make me wonder what the heck is going on in my subconcious. Where's Freud or Jung when I need em?

Aside from my dream last night, there are three dreams I remember- like, from my whole life. First (youngest) (this is the only one I remember the circumstances surrounding it)- I was little and super sick one Easter weekend. I dreamt that everything in the whole world was made/composed of jelly beans. Even my mom and dad. My baby sister was a tiny pink one.

Second- I have always been incredibly in love with Macaulay Culkin- even when he had that weird relationship with Michael Jackson or when he was lookin way creepy. I had this dream that we were on a family vacation in Hawaii. My dad and I swam out to this cafe which was basically and island out in the middle of the ocean. But the coolest thing was that the cafe/island was an old airplane with a weird dock/patio thing for people to dine outside. So we are exploring this (somehow giant) airplane when all of a sudden people freak out. Turns out, there is a bomb onboard the plane and we all need to get out as quick as possible but I can't find my dad. Suddenly, my love appears and saves me.

(I love you buddy)

Third (brace yourself cause this one is awful)- I am on another family vacation and the hotel we are at has this amazing, beautiful pool. We are all jumping off our balconies into the pool and having an awesome time. When it comes to my dad's turn, he does this fancy flippy thing before, suddenly, the pool dissapears and my dad goes crashing to his death (I woke up crying).

Fourth (last night)- In my dream, my parents keep calling me and asking me to come over and see their new dog. I'm super suprised that they would get another dog so, of course, I go over. There are like, a billion people there for some reason (I guess to meet the puppy..?). So they introduce me to the dog, Taylor.... which was a four year old little blonde girl. But all we could talk about was how Taylor was such an awful name for a dog.

(our puppies- Taylor and Humphrey)

Analyze that.

Fashion Inspiration: Anna Karina

2011-03-15T15:34:00.000-07:00

Anna Karina is one pretty lady.

Look at that outfit.

This one's my fave- the makeup, the hair, the collar. Love.

Her hair!

Happy Monday

2011-03-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some tunes to get your week started off right : )

XXOO

Introducing a New Guest Series by Rikki Cupcake

2011-03-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

I'm suuuper excited about this fun new series called This For That. As I said the other day, I'm trying my bestest to be vegan these days. So I reached out to the author of one of my favorite food related blogs, Rikki Cupcake of Seitanic Vegan Heathen.

(How cute is this pic??)This girl is chock full of foodie knowledge and has been so helpful to me in my trek. Here she'll be doing a series on vegan replacements. If you've been toying with the idea of becoming a vegetarian or vegan, you've gotta hear from this girl.

Rikki and I were talking the other day about how the typical conversation goes when a person finds out you are vegetarian or vegan. It kind of becomes this scripted interaction where you're sure to run into all the usual questions and comments- "Where do you get your protien?" "I could never give up ___!" and on and on. A lot of folks think you've got to give up so much but the truth is, these days it can be super easy to eat a compassionate diet. Through this series This For That, Rikki's gonna teach us all about the myriad of vegan substitues are out there so all of us can put the smack down on our animal derrived vices (if you so choose, of course : ).

I spoke a little bit about it a while back about my reasons for eating veg. I'd really like to discuss a little more depth my reasoning but I don't wanna bog you down in too much info (especially when y'all could be reading Rikki's amazing content. But no fear- I'm working on a big, fun, informative post that will be coming soon. So without further adieu- Meet Rikki!

So, you are thinking about going Vegan, you have your mind made up, you are determined to save the planet, hug some baby cows and become a vegan superhero, you are ready and then you decide to pour yourself a bowl of fruity-os and then you become completely baffled as what to drown them in. Might as well go back to bed and start over, right? Wrong! Milk replacement is one of the easiest things in the vegan diet, there are handfuls of dairy milk replacements, so much in fact you may feel jipped having had only two options (cow's milk and goat's milk). Now you can jump for joy as you have so many more options then before. There is soy, one of the most popular choices out there, and has reportedly been used by the Chinese before the 12th century. Soy milk is quite thick, very similar to full fat cow's milk, and has nearly the same amount of protein. The taste can seem a bit "off" the first time you try it, the key is to properly refrigerate your soy milk ahead of time and shake the bejeezus out of it before pouring it on your tasty breakfast cereal. Once a box of soy milk is open it has a lifespan of seven to ten days, after that drink at your own risk. Soy milk is great for making ice creams, puddings and yummy alfredo sauce for pasta. You can even get vanilla flavored or chocolate flavored soy if the plain is, well a little too plain.

Another great and incredibly tasty milk is almond milk. Almond tends to be a little lower in fat than the soy, is a great alternative to those with soy allergies, and is okay to drink during Lent. Almond milk is great for baking, it adds a great flavor profile and because of its thickness it hold up just as well as cow's milk. Almond milk ice cream, smoothies and coffee creamers all have a velvety smooth texture and a simple and sweet taste. These to come in vanilla and chocolate, and the company Almond Breeze makes 40 calorie Almond milk, perfect for those on a diet.

Another nut milk on the market is hazelnut milk, it tends to be a bit more pricey but is very high in vitamin E. Hazelnut milk can be a bit more difficult to find and is worth the try if you can get your hands on it. Oat milk is the same way, higher in cost, more difficult to locate. It also has a lower protein count but can often times be fortified with calcium and protein. Oat milk is great in cereals and since it doesn't have an overly strong flavor it can be used for sauces in Indian or Italian dishes. Rice milk (a grain milk just like oat) is very easy to find and has a thinner consistency than most plant milks, it is the equivalent of fat free or 1% milk. Rice milk has a slightly sweet taste and is perfect for adding to just about everything. It makes for light and fluffy desserts, is wonderful in coffee and the best part, is it is great for those with severe allergies. Since rice milk is made from brown rice it doesn't contain many vitamins or nutrients so it is important to purchase a rice milk that has been fortified with vitamins to make sure you are getting your daily intake of calcium, protein and B-12.

Then there is coconut milk, and not the kind in the can either. There is a wonderful company called So Delicious that makes coconut milk that doesn't taste the least bit like coconut, so much so that I used it in my creamy mashed potatoes last Thanksgiving and no one was the wiser. Coconut milk yogurt is the best yogurt on the market, it tastes so much like the real thing it is incredible!

The last milk is hemp milk, drink enough of this stuff and you will be wasted! Ha ha, not really. To me personally, hemp milk tastes like old socks, but it is so high in Omega 6 and Omega 9 it seems like one should drink more of it. Here is my compromise, make ice cream with it, once you and a cup of sugar or agave to it the sock flavor disappears. Hemp is really good for your body and the harvesting of it is pretty good for the environment too.

Remember when it comes to soy milk, buy organic, and that is not just the hippie in me saying this. Most soybeans in the United States are GMO (genetically modified organisms), which means you are putting potentially harmful stuff into your body. The good news, Starbucks uses organic soy, so next time you order a soy latte know you are helping a small farmer somewhere in the US keep his or her dignity and their farm.

Now for fun, a recipe!

Basic Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from "The Vegan Scoop" by Wheeler Del Torro

1 cup soy milk, divided

2 tablespoons arrowroot powder (get at Whole Foods or Sunflower)

2 cups soy creamer

3/4 cup sugar (most organic sugar is vegan)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For this recipe you can replace the soy milk with almond, hemp or coconut and get the same results, the creamer can also be replaced with a coconut milk creamer...yum!

In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup soy milk with arrowroot powder and set aside.

Mix soy creamer, remaining 3/4 cup soy milk and sugar in a saucepan and cook over low heat. Once mixture begins to boil, remove from heat and immediately add arrowroot mixture, it should thicken slightly, then add vanilla extract.

Refrigerate for 2-3 hours and then freeze according to your ice cream maker. If you don't have an ice cream maker, what is wrong with you? Just kidding, head over to the store and pick up some Coconut Bliss or Tempt hemp milk ice cream. Both are AMAZING!!!
(I can attest- the Coconut Bliss ice cream is insanely good! I've yet to try the Tempt Hemp milk ice cream but it's on my grocery list).

Rikki Cupcake

Yay! How rad was that?! How rad is Rikki? The coolest part about vegan milk replacements is that grocery stores are gettin hip with it and often times offer many different options. That means you don't have to make a special trip to a natural foods store if it's out of your way. Stay tuned for more helpful veg goodness to come.

What I Wore

2011-03-10T17:07:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to do some "What I Wore" posts but there was always one little problem... I never have anyone around to take my picture! So my buddy Traci of Butter Toast and I decided, since we both work our shops on Thursdays, we would start lookin cute and taking pictures each Thursday. Here's the first installment! And be sure to check out Traci's blog for deets on her adorable outfit!

Taken in front of the GROWop

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

(Look at the pretty lettuce!)

Outfit: Vintage Blue Plaid Wrap Dress

Accessories: (which you can't see and we didn't think to take pictures of- next time- we're new to this!) The two turqouise rings I wear EVERY day. I literally feel nakey without them! And a super pretty flowery ring from Urban Adornments. And of course the matching best friends/sister bracelet me and my sissy wear 24/7.

I love this dress. It's light weight and super comfy. I love the little ruffles on the pockets and the cute open back. Perfect for this rather warm (kinda super warm... it was like, 90!) day.

It all starts now

2011-03-08T15:07:00.000-08:00

I'm embarassed to admit this. I do this thing that's totally rediculous. You probably do it to. You see, I make goals and stuff but try not to tell people about them- you know, just in case I fail or something (which means I'm really just setting myself up to fail, right? I begin my trek unconvinced that I can even succeed). Well BOO TO THAT! This little lady is the one who really got me thinking. She joined Weight Watchers and posted her stats weekly on her blog. She's way rad and I wanna be like her, ok? Well, because of her success with Weight Watchers, I decided to check it out. I've been doing it (poorly) for I-don't-even-know-how-many weeks. And, of course- I've been half-assing it.

I know it sounds like I'm being way harsh with myself but it's more of a reality check. I'm sick of my wavering ways and I'm down to tackle some of the things I've really been wanting to tackle (including losing some weight, hiking till it's too hot to, learning to tap dance, learning the uke, being vegan... there's probably more too).

I'm a lucky duck because I've got some amazing and talented friends who would totally help me accomplish these goals if I wasn't so lame (ie: too scared/proud to ask for help). My buddy LeAnne is a dance teacher and I've already thrifted tap shoes. My buddies Jesse and Nick could both teach me the ukulele (Jesse even teaches music for a living!). I've already got great responses and support from my buddies Andrea, Jasmine, and Rikki (who has the most amazing vegan blog you should totally check out) about my vegan quest. So from here on out, IT'S ON- I'll be reporting to you about my progress. If you too are looking for an accountabilibuddy, count me in! Shoot me an email and let's get this thing goin!

Oh Man.

2011-03-07T07:53:00.000-08:00

My past week or so has been SO very BUSY. (Which you've probably noticed from my lack of posting last week.... I missed you : ( ). It nice to keep busy but sometimes I get so overwhelmed I just want to do nothing and hide away in my house for a while.

This weekend was jam packed. One thing I did was help at my friend's over at Butter Toast Boutique, Jasmine and Traci's photo shoot. It was a boho, gypsy-themed editorial shoot out in Peoria. I got there (late) around 7am- models had to be there at 5! Eep! All my buds were there gettin pretty. We headed out to this awesome little spot Jasmine found. It was this pretty, green area off the canal and was the perfect backdrop for what the ladies were trying to achieve. While the talented photographer Angela Simpson was hard at work, I snapped some photos of my own to give you a sneak peek of all the prettyness. All the folks involved were super great and super fun. I can't wait for you to see the real pictures.

I love this one.

My buddy Jaz, bein cute and soakin it in.

Anyways, I'm thinking (hoping, praying, putting out good vibes) that this week will be a tad more mellow and I'll have much more time to do happy things. Cross your fingers. Oh aaaand guess what?? I'm starting school today.... Yikes.

How was your week/weekend? Talk to me people! I miss you.

Lil Hump's 4 Month Birthday

2011-03-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

Monday I took the day off work.

I went over to hang with my momma and celebrate Humphrey's four month birthday : )

We cuddled and went for a walk.

Fashion Inspiration: J Crew

2011-03-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

I must be jonesing for new clothes lately. The coming of spring (Yay yay yay!!) always makes me wanna splurge and buy a whole new wardrobe. I keep finding sooooo much fashion inspiration and tons of stuff I want! And the pretty weather we've been blessed with here in Phoenix lately only makes me crave spring/summer fashions moooore! Luckily, I hate shopping- going to the store, browsing around, trying things on- (which is kinda strange cause I loooove thrifting which requires much more effort probably. Hmm- weird)- so I'm not goin' broke with all the spring prettiness poppin' up these days... YET.

Check out J Crew's Spring/Summer 2011 line. Oh man, I would wear pretty much every single thing here.

Oh how I love her hairs and lips together.

This look is perfection.

On the right- The denim. The brown socks. The bright lips. Eep!

P.S. On a somewhat unrelated note, do you kinda hate that fashion moves so quickly? What I mean is, I hate that spring is just popping it's little head up and we're recieving coverage of fall/winter lines! Yeah, so I understand that those in the biz gotta be way ahead of their game- I get it, I do. But I don't wanna hear about it. It sucks. I, for one, want to enjoy the season at hand. Be in the moment. Aaaand plus, I can't have any of the cute fall things right now anyways... what a tease.

This video will make you wanna turn up the heat and don a spring-y dress.

Hope you're just peachy. How was your weekend??

14 Reasons Ashley and Andrea are Thankful This Thursday

2011-02-24T16:27:00.000-08:00

My bud Andrea stopped by this afternoon to hang with me at the GROWop.

We decided it would be fun to make a little video of all the things we are thankful for this pretty Thursday.

Untitled from Merry May Handmade on Vimeo.

Fashion Inspiration: Nasty Gal

2011-02-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

I have a problem. I'm not good at shopping. Maybe I'm too picky...? Sometimes I find things and think, "Oh this would be cute... if you took off this and changed that." Sometimes nothing catches my eye at all .

The other day I decided to pop into a certain store. I tried on a bunch of stuff only to leave pissed off. All the stuff was cute and had the edge I was lookin for but the cut and style of most of their things just wouldn't work.... and I mean, on anyone (except, of course, cracked-out-skinny models and prepubescent teens). Grrr. Now my style is super vintage-y and girly- I just can't help it, I'm a sucker for ruffles- but I've been wanting to infuse it with a little more spunk. Get more edgy... be tough (P.S. I'm begining to think this might not ever work for me. I'm just too sweet and precious lol : ).

Anyways, I found these looks on Nasty Gal that I think are great. They've got vintage and new and mingle the two together in really lovely and fun ways.

I'm suuuper into boho/hippie these days. Can't wait for the weather to warm up a little. I need this dress.

This is so adorable. Love the sleeves. And the assymetrical skirt. And that ring.

Adorbs.

Perfect transition to Spring outfit.

Shooooooeeees!!!

How cool would it be if I could wear leather hot pants? All. Day. Long.

Hahaha Notice that these really aren't even edgy at all- but I guess they are to me. I'm tryin to be a little less grandma and a little more funky. Any thoughts or suggestions? What's your favorite thing over at Nasty Gal?

Woa... This Weekend [[BIG THANK YOU'S]]

2011-02-21T07:34:00.000-08:00

This weekend we had our big fundraiser and it, suprisingly, turned out amazing.

Ya see, here in Phoenix it had been gorgeous and spring-like with temperatures nearing (exceeding?) 80 degrees! We were prepping for the perfect party when- dun dun dun- storms rolled in to ruin everything. We weren't about to let the fundraiser get ruined so we implemented plan b- tents and bonfires. We went to work first thing.

Brandon and Jochy makin' the party rain-proof.

First I met up with my sister, who watched the shop for us and made the cutest signs ever showing peeps where to go for the event. I then went over to Rebecca's- another one of the GROWop's fine and talented members- where we made "jungle juice". I am not well versed in tending bar, if you will, but I've gotta say that our juice was pretty freakin good (it had fresh squeezed tangerine, blood orange, and grapefruit juice!). We tried to sell the recipe at the event but I guess people didn't like it thaaaaat much : )

After we concocted our juice, Rebecca and I decided to brave the weather and we headed outside. We set up the tents- which, in hindsite, we probably should have waited for the boys to get back. It was definitely harder than it needed to be but hilarious. We were struggling, being drenched in the rain and tripping over the mulch in her back yard- it was way fun.

Later the boys arrived and we were able to get up a biiiiiiig tent that sweet Jasmine let us use! Seriously, what a blessing! That girl is awesome and the tent was perfect.

Hilary, Brandon, and Kenny bein cute and makin it happen.

The weather began to clear up as set up was winding down. Each time we would get a little glimpse of sun I'd get all smilely inside. And even with the poopy weather- we had a great turn out! I totally underestimated how well things would turn out! We raised soooooo much money and are about half way to our goal!!! Seriously unbelieveable.

I wanna thank everyone who came out and donated AND--

Rebecca- for stickin it out with me alllll day : )

Andrea (the friend not the sister)- for being adorable and contributing items for the bake sale and for inviting all your babely friends.

Jesse- for playing rad songs. You're the best and everyone was loving it!

Sun Ghost- for performing even with the poor weather. You guys always pull through and are wonderful friends.

Kenny- for manning the bar, being cute, eating Andrea's treats, just being great.

Josh- being adorable, manning the entry, selling lots of tickets.

Lumberjack- for finding us the ac unit in the first place!!!

Hilary- for juicing the fruits, getting the kegs, tellin' all your friends.

Jasmine- for letting us use your big tent, chairs, extention cords, trash can.

AJ- for coming by even though you were making a wedding party look pretty all day long.

Brandon- for helping us set up that giant tent.

Andrea (the sister)- for being a peach and sitting at the shop so we could all go set up and painting the cutest signs ever. I love youuuu!

Danielle- for being one of my bestest buds and hanging with me all night and making everyone love you and thereby, making me look really cool.

Janessa- for coming to hang after working late. We all love you.

LASTLY-- it's President's Day and everyone I know has the day off! So help me think of an excuse so I can leave work, k ?

Fashion Inspiration: Natasha Khan

2011-02-18T12:06:00.000-08:00

Oh man, I love Natasha Khan (aka Bat for Lashes).

1- She's totally rad.

2- I love her music.

3- She has the coolest makeup.

4- Her style is flowy and fun yet totally effortless. She probably rolls out of bed looking that cool.

5- I wish I had her bangs.

6- She's got a sweet face and looks like she'd be a nice friend.

7- This video's pretty neat.

GROWop Video Tour

2011-02-16T06:53:00.000-08:00

Last week I made this silly little video while playing with my new Iphone. I used the 8mm app- which is super duper fun and you should totally get it if you don't already have it. Take a looksy.

XXOO,
Ashley

Wanna help us survive the blazing Arizona summer? Go here to read more about our fundraising efforts!

B H L D N

2011-02-15T07:36:00.000-08:00

Urban Outfitters debuted their new bridal line yesterday!
(Valentines day = cuuuute!)

BHLDN has the most lovely things.

Following in the Urban Tradition, BHLDN is a little bit edgy and untraditional (like Urban Outfitters), a little bit feminine and retro (like Anthropologie), and a little bit bohemian (like Free People). Three Urban brands rolled into one?? Perfection.

But I wouldn't expect anything less.

If you're big day is comin up, you seriously can't miss all the lovely-ness over at BHLDN.

I've never really been the type to hope and dream for my wedding or things like that. But I spent like, all day browsing and am in love with this new, fancy brand. They've got everything you might need- gowns, dresses, shoes, lingerie, jewelry.

These are all my most favorites- probably- it was hard to choose. Take a looksy. What do you love?

Be mine!

2011-02-14T07:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines day lovers!

Here's a Valentine's day playlist with some of my favorite lovey songs.

Hope you have something special planned with the ones you loooove. Big hugs!

XXOO,
Ashley

Facts About Arizona Summers [[Help Us Stay in Business]]

2011-02-10T15:03:00.000-08:00

Fact: Arizona is hot as hell in the Summer.

It's so hot in Arizona in the Summer, you start sweating when you walk out the door first thing (like, before 7) in the morning, regularly burn yourself on the seatbelt clicker, get sunburned driving in your car, and can cook eggs on the street (not really- we tried it one time to no avail).

Angelina Rose Photography

Fact: It's way hot for at least 5 months out of the year.

May's Average High Temperature: 93

June's Average High Temperature: 103

July's Average High Temperature: 105

August's Average High Temperature: 103

September's Average High Temperature: 99

info source

Fact: The average summer high temperature is the hottest of any area in the United States after Death Valley, which is the hottest of any major city in the United States, and approaches those of cities such as Riyadh and Baghdad. The temperature reaches or exceeds 100°F(38°) on an average of 110 days during the year, including most days from late May through early September, and highs top 110 °F (43 °C) an average of 18 days during the year. On June 26, 1990, the temperature reached an all-time recorded high of 122 °F (50 °C). Thank you Wikipedia.

Fact: The GROWop has no air conditioning.

Fact: Without AC, we will be out of business until the weather cools down : (

Fact: A super special, amazing person donated a four ton AC unit! Now we need to raise money to get this little (big) baby installed! Anything will help! Got an extra nickle layin around? That's more than we had yesterday! Anything, I mean ANYTHING, would be such an amazing help.

Fact: We are having a fundraiser. If you're local please stop by. It'll be fun, with local music, live painting, a dance floor, bonfire and more. Pretty please help us spread the word about this important event!

Come one! Come all!

2011-02-09T06:33:00.000-08:00

I am soooo sooooo excited that two of my most favorite bloggin ladies have set up this super fun event for all the local AZ bloggers on March 26th. Danielle and Chelsea are planning a meetup that, while still in the works, a super fun dinner at a downtown Phoenix restaurant and some sort of daytime activity.

Wanna get in on the action? You can find out more and RSVP over here. You bet your bum I'll be there : )

Best Weekend

2011-02-07T07:32:00.000-08:00

Hey all. How was your Superbowl weekend? I actually had like, probably the best weekend in a loooong long time. Friday was the First Fridays Art Walk in dowtown Phoenix. I walked into the GROWop to man the post and what do I see?

Sorry for the bad bad picture.

The ah-mazing cash wrap!! We had been talking and designing and figuring things out for some time. But our suuuuper talented friend finally finished it and delivered it just in time for First Fridays. He made it from a pile of scrap wood. Can you even believe it? It's more than perfect.

Then I went out to Mesa to see my buddy Jesse's band Red Son play at the Nile's one year anniversary. Even though their music is intense, they are pretty much the nicest people in the whole planet and it was way fun to be able to see my buds killin it. Afterwards, Andrea-

Yeah, bad pictures again.

the cutest little lady in the whole world- and I went dancin and met up with a giant gaggle of friends. It was super fun and I was happy the two groups could hang a bit and mingle.

Saturday was nice and relaxing. I got to spend some time hanging with the ladies of The Roose and my momma, while AJ put the magic touch on mom's hairs. She left lookin like a million bucks, but AJ wouldn't have it any other way. Then we went for lunch at one of my favorite downtown restaurants, Carly's Bistro.

Saturday night I got to hang with my buddy Dasi. We went to Josh's birthday party, my adorable business partner at the GROWop.

Kenny and Josh- I stole this off someone's facebook.

Poor guy got hit hard with the awful sickness that's been goin around. But he bucked up for his bowling party Saturday night.

Afterwards, Dasi and I went to Lost Leaf, had some girl time, and met up with our other friends.

(Funny side note: This guy came up to talk to Dasi and I and proceeded to tell us how no one at that bar likes blondes, hahaha. Don't really know what he was talking about or what that meant but... People are weird.)

Sunday I slept in nice and late. All last week I was suuuper sick and so it was nice to have a little time to rest up and fight this thing off for good. I cleaned my house all nice-like and headed over to my parents for super bowl festivities. (I mostly just napped in my sister's bed while watching SVU though). But then my favorite little boy in the whole world came over and we played games and ran around the back yard with little Humphrey.

Riley

Humphrey

Then I went over to my friends to watch the end of the Superbowl game. I'm not gonna lie though, I don't really like sports or the infamous commercials- which, am I right?, seemed to be severely lacking. I mean I only saw a few but the ones I saw were way lame. Anyways, it was super fun to be able to mingle with all my buds all weekend long. I love them all so much and I am so lucky to finally have some totally sincere, totally rad, and totally hilarious folks to call my friends. Lucky me : )

What did you do this weekend?? Did you eat lots of bad, yummy foods while watching the game? Did your team win??

Three reasons why I'm super excited

2011-02-03T14:23:00.000-08:00

I am so excited. For several reasons.

Here are three.

One
I ordered new glasses!! They are super rad and adorable. Check em out. (Don't mind that awful face I'm making ok?)

Two
I got a verizon Iphone. Woot Woo! Ordered it up first thing this morning (well, because I'm sick my mom woke up bright and early to order it for me- she's the best).

(hello!)

Three
The amazingly talented Katy Verga is the newest consigner here at the GROWop!! I met Katy at the Crafeteria, a local indie craft fair. I instantly fell in love with her dolls and wanted to be best friends.

Each little doll comes with a name and a story and kinds of cute little touches- see the glasses and scarf?

This is Teddy and Samson. Here's Samson's story : )
"Samson most enjoys bird watching. He can preform any bird call you request from him, from the Blue Jay to the House Finch, to the Mockingbird song. He has recently taken an interest in carpentry."

Suuper adorable- I love them so much!

Since I am sick and it's cold (we are lacking any sort of temperature control here at the shop), I'm gonna bundle up, eat some thai food and watch the Danielson Famile movie on my sister's Netflix <3

Fashion Inspiration

2011-02-01T07:14:00.000-08:00

So I HATE when people do this.... But I feel inclined to.... I am sorry I've been slacking on the blog front lately. I have been working out some issues and things in life and have not been keeping up as I would like to here in blog world. There are lotsa things I wanna share with you and lotsa blogs I usually keep up with that I haven't been : ( But don't worry, the serious life things will eventually work themselves out as they should and I've got backstock in blogging ideas.

Anyways, have you seen these mug shots of Australian criminals? I found it via one of my favorite blogs, Little Paper Planes. Who knew those yardbirds could be so dang fashionable. I'd give my right arm to look like them; so dapper and debonair.

Pretty hat.

The one on the left if the most adorable (why does she look so happy to be having her mug shot taken?). I have to recreate that outfit.

I think this one is beautiful.

Her hair!!

Handsome fella. Love the bad boys : )

Etsy Love: Lucky Labs

2011-01-27T17:43:00.000-08:00

Guess what I just got?

This awesome laptop cover from Lucky Labs. It's sooo handsome.

It was a slow day at the shop today. I drank a yummy soy latte from one of my favorite coffee shops, Urban Beans (it's my favorite cause all my friends work there. Pop in and say hi to them : ) and enjoyed the pretty weather.

Hope you had a great day.

30 Things That Need to Stage a Comeback

2011-01-26T06:40:00.000-08:00

I love Lesley M. M. Blume's 30 Things That Need to Stage a Comeback, Pronto! Here are four I can surely get behind. Pronto is right. Let's get to it, friends!

Record Players = Duh

Manners = Yes Please!

Lockets = Of course

Picnics = My Fave. Take me on a picnic and I'll be yours forever.

1, 2, 3, 4

Check out the other 26 things that need to stage a comeback here. I'm totally on board for all of them.

GROWop Photo Tour Part 2

2011-01-25T07:22:00.000-08:00

Kenny, Josh and I run the GROWop, a small co-op in downtown Phoenix (902 N. 6th Street) . Our goal is to help small, independant businesses grow and flourish in the community. There are so many talented folks out there, some who already have Etsy shops or consign in local boutiques who are trying to expand their efforts and spread their talent and we wanna be the ones to help. Right now we have about seven consigners and are working hard to reach out to some more. We have big goals and are searching for likeminded people to join our consignment team. If you make quality handmade items and would like to inquire about consigning at the GROWop please email us with some photos of the things you make and a little snippet about yourself at merrymayhandmade@gmail.com or growopboutique@gmail.com.

This might be my favorite thing in the whole shop. Kenny made this book shelf (get it?) out of a whole buncha hard cover books. I love it. It's real heavy.

I really want to work on creating a big and adorable children's section.

These hand bound sketch books are super awesome and each cover is handpainted.

In the back we have this great little work space. Things are coming together slowly but surely. It's going to be suuuuuper awesome.

I hope you enjoyed the tour. If you're local pop in and visit : )

GROWop Photo Tour Part 1

2011-01-24T06:37:00.000-08:00

Today is the day! It's time for a photo tour of the GROWop, the co-op I run with my buddies Josh and Kenny. Stop back tomorrow for part two!

XXOO
Hope you had a great weekend : )

....

2011-01-24T06:26:00.000-08:00

Only Kinda Embarassing

2011-01-21T07:01:00.000-08:00

I have something to admit. It's only kinda embarassing. Buuuuuuuut, I LOVE Nichole Richie.

She is hilarious and super stylish and has really gotten her shit together. I have to admit- I loved the Simple Life. Yeah, yeah it was a terrible premise- two rich bimbos going out into the real world, wreaking havok and seemingly disrespecting each and every person they ran into along the way. But Nichole Richie was the saving grace for that show. She was weird and hilarious and, even though her hair and outfits were tragic (even by early 2000 standards), I wanted to be her friend.

This poor quality video shows exactly what I mean.

Well, nowadays, she seems to be a fairly normal (by celebrity standards, at least) and super stylish lady. She began her accessories line, House of Harlow 1960 and has expanded over the years to a clothing line, Winter Kate. Check out some of the beautiful pieces from her Spring line.

(I looooooove this one)

And watch this behind the scenes video from Nylon.

Patchwork Pattern Maker

2011-01-19T07:06:00.000-08:00

A little bit ago, I found this super neat Patchwork Pattern Maker from the Victoria and Albert Museum while browsing the blogosphere. You can upload a photo of anything and it creates a pattern for you. You can crop the photo, change the shape, decide how many different colors you would like to use, and determine the complexity of the piece.

Here's a quilt made from a picture of precious little Humphrey.

Before

After

Here's one of me making a funny face.

Before

After

Cool huh?

Collaborative Consumption

2011-01-14T06:51:00.000-08:00

First off- I'm so excited! I had been wanting to tell y'all all about the little co-op I run with my friends, the GROWop but somehow forces were against me. I wanted to share pictures, do interviews, a street tour and more. However, the first time I forgot my camera. The second time I brought my camera, only to realize the batteries were super dead. But yesterday was my day- I was so on- and finally, I got a bunch of photos. YES! This is happening. Expect a post or two in the coming week : )

Second- I found this super interesting video the other day. It's all about this new book, What's Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers; "Collaborative Consumption describes the rapid explosion in traditional sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting, and swapping redefined through technology and peer communities". Yes please! So interesting!

I hope you all have wonderful, wonderful Fridays! XXOO

P.S. Thankful Thursday's will be back in full force next week. Sorry for slacking my loves!

New Favorites

2011-01-12T07:09:00.000-08:00

With getting Christmas and Birthday money I've been doing A LOT of browsing online. I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite shops! Some are new finds and others are oldies, but definitely goodies. Check em out!

From stationary to totes and even onesies, Dutch Door Press makes some pretty adorable things.

I wish I could knit really well. If I could, I'd be getting ALL of the lovely patterns over at Tiny Owl's Magic Attic. I am speechless- I am in love.

My sister and I visited Lemon Bird's booth at Renegade in LA last summer. We literally hung around their booth the longest, tasting everything and trying to come up with uses for each and every one of their jams. I really wanna get a membership to their Jam of the Month club but I'm not sure I can eat that much jam! Presents and giveaways perhaps?

My GROWop buddies and I were honored to be able to be a part in this awesome basement sale back in December. It took place in a real life bomb shelter where I met so many cool folks with all kinds of awesome (and affordable) goodies. One business that was there was Flour Vintage. Check out these beauties!

How great are all of these shops? Have you found any amazing Etsy shops lately?

Five songs/artists I've been loving lately

2011-01-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

I don't know how I'd get through the work day without music. Here are some songs/artists who I've had on Pandora alllll day long.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Myspace woot woo!

2011-01-07T16:20:00.000-08:00

My lovely pal Danielle over at Sometimes Sweet did a fun post the other day. She posted a bunch of fun photos from her myspace. Now, I was a total myspace hater. I resisted and resisted until one boring snowy day in college. My friend and I decided together not to go to class- bad!- and instead we spent the day creating myspace pages. I guess, in hindsight, it was a pretty fun way to spend the day- bonding as we tried to make our pages as cool as possible and creep through people's profiles, looking for cute boys, haha. So yes I was a late bloomer and my photos aren't nearly as exciting but hey, I thought it would be a fun way for y'all to get to know more about me!

Oh and here's one of my new hair

If you're local come to First Fridays and say hello! 6th Street and Roosevelt.

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY WEEK

2011-01-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

In my family, we do Birthdays up real good. My momma grew up with a sick mom and with a super busy farming father. Naturally, there wasn't a big to-do around their home when it came to birthdays. When my mom and dad began their own little family, my mom began making all of our birthdays super special. That means we often spend the whole week celebrating.

So this week is my birthday week and I'm pretty excited. We are having a family dinner tomorrow evening and a big party with all my most special buds on Saturday (the real Birthday day). Should be super fun! I really wanna make a vegan cake (to stick with my resolutions, which, P.S. I've been doing pretty good on! I need the UH-MAZING Rikki Cupcake to show me the ropes : ) Anyways, to celebrate this week, I'm getting my hair done! It always so exciting. I am looking for a change! What are your thoughts friends??

Maybe a change of color?

Cute bangs, huh?

I love her hair. It's so big.

Awe Jenny. So Cute.

This might be my favorite.

I don't know. Ya see, I never prepare and always end up with the same thing (Ok or I get super cheap in the moment and flake on any heafty plans, lol) . Help! It's a new year and I need some spunk!

True Story

2011-01-04T06:46:00.000-08:00

I recently found this AWESOME series, True Story, on Yes Yes. I fully spent like, and entire day reading through these interviews, where we get to hear from "people who have experienced interesting/amazing/challenging things".

There is everything from I Didn't Buy Anything New for One Year to I have Asbergers, from I met my Birth Mom to I'm a Genius. The series even includes more sesitive topics like, I had an Abortion. Its really interesting to hear everyone's stories and it really gives a new perspective on lots of different topics. Be sure to pop in and read this great series.

*** Please be sensitive and appreciative of the folks telling their stories. I know that some of the sensitive topics can illlicit strong feelings. I also know that, with the anonymity of the blogging world, sometimes folks say mean things (not y'all though I'm sure! : ) So let's be supportive and keep it positive. XXOO***

merry may

Pretty Pweeeaaaseee

New

Happy Birthday!

Juice

Fashion Inspiration || Alexa Chung

Off to College...

Hi Hi Hi

Adventures in Veganism || The Good Heart Cookbook

Road Trip || Cults

Fossil Creek

My Day

A Few of my Favorite Things || Makeup

Boo.

My Baby

Guest Post on The Crafty Vision of Sara(h) Darlene

Guest post!

Happy 4th of July!

Weekend Recap

Say whaaat?

VACATION!

Updates!

Summer Songs

Vlooooooog

Adventures in Veganism: Perfect Summer Dinner

Poolside

On our way!!

Somebody Graduated [SO MANY PICTURES]

One of my most favorite feelings in the whole world

Tunes and Tumblr

What. A. Weekend.

Playlists and Shop Visits

This for That with Rikki Cupcake: Cheeeeeese

Livin the Dream

A Really Cute Video to Make You Smile

Adventures in Veganism: Chickpea Salad

Guess what I bought

Happy Earth Day Babes

Oh Hai

WAFA/Sarah Barnes

Six Things Phoenix Might Probably Need I think

What's wrong with what we eat.

Rant

AZ Blogger Meet-up (PART 2 // IMAGE HEAVY)

AZ Blogger Meet-up (PART 1 // IMAGE HEAVY)

Om nom nom: Vegan Cheese Sauce

What I Wore

Tumblr Love

WW and Stuff Like That

What I Wore

Dreams

Fashion Inspiration: Anna Karina

Happy Monday

Introducing a New Guest Series by Rikki Cupcake

What I Wore

It all starts now

Oh Man.

Lil Hump's 4 Month Birthday

Fashion Inspiration: J Crew

More Videos and Silliness

14 Reasons Ashley and Andrea are Thankful This Thursday

Fashion Inspiration: Nasty Gal

Woa... This Weekend [[BIG THANK YOU'S]]

Fashion Inspiration: Natasha Khan

GROWop Video Tour

B H L D N

Be mine!

Facts About Arizona Summers [[Help Us Stay in Business]]

Come one! Come all!

Best Weekend

Three reasons why I'm super excited

Fashion Inspiration

Etsy Love: Lucky Labs

30 Things That Need to Stage a Comeback

GROWop Photo Tour Part 2

GROWop Photo Tour Part 1

....

Only Kinda Embarassing

Patchwork Pattern Maker

Collaborative Consumption