My Birthday & Toby! (Image Heavy!)

First off, thank you to each and every one of you who wished me a Happy Birthday yesterday! It means a lot to me and I'm happy to say it was a splendid day. Typically birthdays don't go very well for me but I can safely attest to the awesome friends that I have and I'm lucky to have someone like Mike. It's all worth it!

Now where to start it... The past few days, Mike and I have been going gaga over these delicious little fruit snacks from Kroger. I LOVE SHARKS, obviously, so I had to snag up a box. At $1.25, they're DEEEELISSSHHH! AND they're vegan! Even better! Seriously.. go buy some. So good!

I spent some time after class yesterday at Barnes & Noble, looking for inspiration and picking up a new journal/sketchbook to keep all of my school thumbnails in. I picked up this one because 1. I'm in love with the design and 2. I love the color, but after thinking about how I couldn't bend it, I put it back for a different one (Turns out Jordan, Caitlin, Amanda and I THINK someone else, has the same little notebook! funny :P) Anywhoo, I want to get a print of this and hang on our large wall behind the couch in our room.

My little birthday present to myself was the Special UN-Anniversary Edition of Alice in Wonderland. Sorry, but Tim Burton can suck it. The Disney version will always have my heart.

This is what I wore for my birthday yesterday. Broke out the kite banner dress!

I have some seriously amazing friends. Honest. Upon arriving to school, Merissa had folded a paper crane on my desk that said "open me".... it was a picture of a gorgeous turquoise stone owl necklace she had bought me but it hadn't arrived yet. I'll wait to show you because I want to show you the actual thing. It's MARVELOUS!

Kayce came strolling into class and brought me a thing of tulips! So excited! These are now on our back deck soaking up a little bit of sunshine. I can't wait to break out the planters of flowers and such this spring/summer!

Caitlin got me this EPIC shark poster (they know me so well!), a gorgeous smelling Citron Basil candle for Paper Rock Scissor downtown and she even did a little portrait of me and put it in the most gorgeous frame! She found the frame at Goodwill and said she was like "tacky floral frame? Kaelah will love it!" and I do!

We had plans to go to The Pond (a local bar) for a bit after classes and stuff but Kayce ended up having plans she didn't know about and all that jazz so we decided on rain check. I've started planning a big Picnic in Pinkerton for next Friday afternoon. Balloons, Shark Cake, good friends and sunshine! If you're in/around Franklin, let me know if you want to come! The more the merrier!

Instead of doing The Pond, Mike and I made plans to continue with our normal Tuesday night activities... which means every Tuesday night, provided something decent is playing, we go to the movies. We started this tradition a little while ago and it's stuck. Everyone at the theater knows us now haha We saw "Hot Tub Time Machine"... it was funny. Definitely a good laugh, but I probably wouldn't see it again. Afterwards we ran to grab some groceries, came home, he cooked me some Veggie Stirfry (I'm not lying when I say I could live on this stuff!) and we watched FOUR more episodes of Dexter! (Only 1 left in season 3! eep!) Then it was sleepy time!

Today I woke up and headed over to class. Katie, Caitlin, Jordan, Kayla, Merissa and I headed up to Athens Paper afterwards to get some nice paper for our Print Design 2 coffee table book project. Merissa and I took the Yeep (her amazing red jeep) with the top off. We were there foreverrrr! But we all got plenty of awesome paper. Afterwards, she and I headed over to East Nashville to meet Kayce for some drinks at Red Door East. She introduced us to her friend Bobby and the 4 of us had good conversation and a nice time. This weather is glorious! Her friend Bobby is starting a business called SunnyDaze which is like skateboard apparel I believe. I'll have to keep my eyes/ears open for it & spread the word. We stayed for about an hour and a half and decided to try to get home. Bad idea. We were stuck in traffic FOREVER. What would typically be a 25 minute drive home turned into an hour and fifteen. Oh Nashville! On our way, though, Merissa got a call from Caroline... the TOMS internship coordinator. EXCITEMENT! She had a phone interview and will have her second one later this week. PLEASE EVERYONE KEEP YOUR FINGERS AND TOES CROSSED FOR HER! If anyone deserves this opportunity, it's Merissa. She's gone above and beyond for me so many times and I can't imagine them ever passing her up! Eeep!

She dropped me off at home and stayed for a hot minute, then Mike and I went to Blue Coast Burrito for some veggie burritos. Now we're at home, blogging and whatnot. About to watch the last episode of Dexter, then catch up on Community, The Office and Modern Family. Phew!

OH OH OH... I'm so excited to show you all pictures of Toby! I have sooo many on my phone and he has just stolen my heart completely. Mike has decided that it's okay to put his pictures up because his desire to show him off outweighs any kind of fear. Prepare for him to melt your heart!

The first two are from the first time I ever met Toby... back in January! Awww! And his first trip to Sweet CeCe's!

Here's one from Centennial Park when Mike got to see him walk for the first time (and say DaDa!)!!!

The last few are from this past weekend. I bought him a little lamb at Target and he was enamored with it! So precious! The last one is from the TOMS Style Your Sole party that Merissa hosted on campus. Excuse the fact that I look ridiculous messy/chubby/awful hahaha I hate wearing jeans and I had VERY VERY little sleep! :P (The Chik-fil-a cow loved to play with Toby... I think it's funny Mike and I are standing with a cow that has a shirt saying "eat more chicken" and we don't even eat meat haha)

ANYWAY - so sorry for the overload! Stuff catches up with me! I hope you're all having a marvelous week thus far! I can't believe that April starts tomorrow! Eep!

xoxo

Book Project: Last Chance to Submit

I could REALLY use everyone's help on this project! Please read and send in stuff! You can send as many items/scans as you want! Don't limit yourself!

I'm ~stalking submissions. I'm doing a coffee table book for my Print Design 2 class and I'm taking submissions for it (It's just for my portfolio... not for sale). The idea is to have photos/polaroids/pictures of something that means a lot to you ("What Makes Your Heart Flutter?"). Then on a plain white piece of paper, write your name, age, location, and what it is/why it is important to you. These will be scanned into a large format coffee table book. I want it to be very personal so thats why I'm asking for you to write with your own handwriting and scan it in. I have to have submissions by Sunday, April 4th at the latest and they need to be 300dpi or better (Hi-Res). You can scan them in and email them to me or you can mail them to my PO Box if you'd like. If you submit something and would like to see the final product, I will gladly email you a PDF of it (just say you'd like one!). If you're interested in participating, feel free to leave your email below, email me, or pop over to my journal and let me know! I'm sure so many of you have awesome things you'd like to share so I hope it is okay that I open this up to you!

If you'd like to see an example of what I mean, just let me know! I'll try to post one ASAP. You can email your submissions to kaelahbee(at)gmail(dot)com

(click to see this at full size)

The Rebel's Manifesto

The Rebel's Manifesto by Keri Smith.

(source: Gala Darling)

Twenty-Two

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Here's to another year. Another number. Another celebration. New friends. New experiences. New places. Here's to a new appreciation for the number 2, and what could be better than 2 of them side by side? Here's to twenty-two! (May quite possibly be my new favorite number... Caitlin would be proud.) But most importantly...

Here's to finding inspiration in any age!

May your heart and mind always be young, no matter how your body ages.

xo

Catch-Up!

Here are a few images from the last couple days (iPhone quality, forgive me!). We went to TJ Maxx the other day and I fell in LOVE with this gorgeous dinnerware set! It's a beautiful pale ashy blue with ornate edges. The bowls are darling and the teacups and saucers are even cuter! Eep! I cannot wait to finally settle down in our OWN home and build from there. I'm sure a couple of years of apartment living will be up first, but we shall see! (Peep the matching yellow set on the shelf below! They even had white! They had the teacups in pink but not the place settings... plus, Mike would never go for all pink plates! haha)

Mike surprised me at school the other night with a strawberry (I mean "Big Dreams") cupcake from IveyCake (my favorite!). I was hard at work studying for my Art History exam and Kayce was there, too, so he ran out and brought one for her as well. So sweet!

We've gotten in this habit of cooking dinner, crawling into the couch and turning on Hulu or Dexter. We made yummy veggie stir fry the other night, threw it into a bowl and settled in. Granted we only ate a few bites each (it fills you up!) but it was DEEEELISH!

I've had 3 boxes of expired Polaroid film and some come out, some don't. I've been taking the ones that don't process correctly and writing short little snip-its and inspirational quotes on the to hang around and send to my penpals. Both of these were mailed off the other day so be on the lookout for little surprises!

As you've read, Sunday Mike and I took Toby down to Hohenwald so we could spend the day with my parents. They were overjoyed at the chance to meet the little heartthrob. As soon as we showed up, they showered him with little gifts they had bought him. My mom bought him a Thomas the Engine plush and educational sound book, and my stepdad bought him an oversized Panda stuffed animal. He had so much fun with them. He definitely stole their hearts immediately. My nana came over, too, and was tickled to death by him. Shortly thereafter, both Toby and I became very very sleepy. We laid him down on my parents bed for a nap and before I knew it, both he and I were sound asleep. Mike came in to check on us at one point and I was halfway off the bed. I woke up not too long after and he and my stepdad left to get dinner. We had yummy veggie fajitas and such and conversed for a while. My stepdad's parents stopped by at one point and then Toby woke up. We played for a bit and then said our goodbyes, we were on our way back to Franklin. Sarah came to pick up Toby not too long after and our house became very quiet. I think Georgia was a little confused why her little visitor had left.

We took this opportunity to go get Dexter Season 3 from Blockbuster and settle in for a long night of episodes. We watched 3 before deciding to turn in for the night. I was jostled awake by an incredible pain in my lower left abdomen at about 6am or so. I could have sworn I was dying. I thought I needed to wake up Mike to take me to the ER but I assured myself I'd be fine and somehow managed to go back to sleep. Off and on all day, I went to Print class and we ran errands. It came back as we went out to eat for lunch. He took me home and I took a nap while he ran to his house in Nashville. He came home and we started watching Dexter once more. We're 3 episodes in tonight and we'll probably watch a couple more before bed. Tomorrow is a busy day of homework for me!

Oh, I'm not sure if I ever blogged about it or not, but I'm happy to say that next Wednesday, I shall be getting my calves tattooed! Well, we're starting on one. Hopefully we'll get a good ways through it (we're shooting for at least a 3 hour session) but I'm going to approve the sketch next Tuesday. Hopefully it all goes well and turns out great, then I can show you! I'm very excited about it. I feel like it's a big step for me... to tattoo my legs. My arms are one thing... but now I feel like I'm really getting into some heavier modification and I'm very excited.

I apologize for my lack of enthusiasm for blogging as of late. Sometimes I get in these funks where I lose a little bit of motivation. I love blogging and I've been doing it for almost a decade now. I don't think I'll ever stop. However, sometimes it's harder than others to muster up the enthusiasm to blog about my day to day life or scour the internet for some great inspiration. But this too shall pass! I'm sure it's nothing!

I'll be the ripe ol' age of 22 in 29 minutes! Hope it's a great year!

xo

The Most Exhausting Weekend... Ever.

This weekend has been NON STOP! Man do I mean it! Yesterday morning I had a ridiculous Art History exam, followed by a nice little power nap that was totally my saving grace. I headed up to Hermitage at 3 to pick up Toby from Sarah by 4. Mike was busy moving things out of his house because it's closing on Wednesday. We pulled into the driveway at the same time (great timing!). We ran some errands and ate dinner at Panera before coming home so I could go to work.

Work last night was ... bleh. It was dead most of the time. I really need that to NOT be the case tonight haha I strolled into the house at 3am and crashed in bed. Toby decided to wake up at 7am. gah! kids! haha Mike got up with him and they played and yelled and what not. I woke up several times but finally just got up at 10. I got ready and showered, etc etc etc. Had to get ready to go to the TOMS Style Your Sole party that my friend Merissa had organized on campus today. I showed up at about 11:30am to help set up. Things went smoothly and we had a great crowd. Mike brought Toby and he was a total hit. Everyone loved him. Finally after taking everything down, a group of us went to Sweet CeCe's at about 5pm. Mike and Toby woke up from their nap to join us. Toby loved the Pomegranate Raspberry Sorbet. After all of that was done, we went to Target to get him new pacifiers and I bought him a sweet stuffed lamb. Then we went to Garcia's for dinner. He's been such a doll this whole time.

Now I'm at home, about to leave for work yet again in 10 minutes and I'd kill for a nap. I'm so so so exhausted. Having a toddler who wakes up at 7am when I get home from work after 3am... it's something haha but I LOVE having him here. It's so much fun.

Tomorrow we're driving down to my parents' house and they're so excited to meet him. It'll be a nice little day trip.

Sorry there are no pictures in this entry... I'm running low on time!

I promise I'll have some soon!

Happy Weekend, everyone!

xo

Happy Almost-Birthday To Me!

This year is already flying by. I feel like just yesterday I was sitting in my Business Law class at 6pm, realizing that my 21st birthday would be spent discussing torts and the legal system. Not that I minded, though. I was never much of a drinker, even after turning 21. And now I abstain completely. However, the following weekend more than made up for my less-than-stellar birthday night. But here we are, another year later... This year I shall be turning 22 in Portfolio class (Tuesday, March 30th). I don't have anything special planned... I rarely do. I've never been much of a birthday gal, though I do love them when I DO celebrate. Whatever ends up happening, I'm sure it'll more than suffice.

But lets pretend I was given $1 Million for my birthday, yes? Yes. That sounds fun. Here are a few things I would buy! Woooo, Wishlist! {click the item's name to be taken to the sale page!}

{Molly Rose-wald Dress : $50}

{Fashion Democracy Dress : $50}

{Babycakes Vegan Cookbook : $25}

{Urban Ears : $68}

{Softies : $4 via Amazon.com}

{Hand Job: a Book of Hand Drawn Typography : $23}

And as always, giftcards to my favorite places because I don't know exactly what I'd spend the rest of the $999,000+ on. haha

What are some items on YOUR current wishlist?

Things I Love Thursday

A short list of photos and links that I'm loving this week...

1. Illustrations by Lauren Gregg. This talented illustrator resides in Athens, Georgia and has an adorable website boasting the names of clients that might cause you to squeal. With past clientele of names such as Nickelodeon, Disney, Visa and Target, she's got a gallery full of adorable! Click HERE to view her website.

2. Target Commercials. Everything about Target is spot on. EVERYTHING. The branding, the advertising, the information architecture of the store (with the exception of the Cool Springs store... I really feel as though Juniors should be in the front right rather than the back right... it needs to change places with Misses but thats just my 2 cents ;P). Targets commercials manage to find their way into a tiny tiny tinyyyy little niche of tv advertisements that I never mind sitting through. I wish ALL commercials were Target commercials. I'm really loving the new approach, too. (Though I never minded the old!)

3. Cleverly placed album art. I've seen many of these on tumblr and the likes. My favorite tumblr is the one with the 3 different album covers at the same time making a full body... Does anyone remember the name/link of it?! ** Edit: Shea found a few of them HERE! So great! **

4. Package Design. Especially this Matrioshka Vodka line! How cute! I don't drink vodka but I love me some Matrioshkas! I can sit on The Dieline for hours and hours and hours just drooling over incredible package design. I really love the innovative things that a lot of students put on there. Sometimes, however, it makes me question why I don't create anything worthy of The Dieline! Maybe I'll use that as motivation!

5. Human Vending Machines. Just thank the Japanese! Here's what FuckYeahStrangeFinds had to say about it...

Japan is famous for its wacky, wonderful and generally amazing vending machines that sell everything from hot meals to ice cream, flowers and beyond. For special products and times, however, human-powered vending machines have now become de rigueur. These are now being brought to the UK by Kit Kat to take the guesswork out of getting your favorite chocolate.

The machine will be operated by a trained person inside so consumers can experience the speed of a traditional vending machine while having a quick chat to brighten their day. It’s an extension of the latest Kit Kat ‘Working like a Machine’ campaign, which demonstrates how taking a break can transport people out of the mundane and monotonous nature of everyday life. Seeing the machine itself and interacting with the vendor certainly is a fun break from the usual!

Crazy, right?! So cool! I love the whole personal-relationship aspect of it all. I think it helps to have some social interaction!

6. TweetlyNoted on Twitter. A new twitter account aimed at showing you that you are always loved and never alone. The tweets are inspirational and lovely, without any of the cheese normally associated with things like this. Very glad to be in support of the new project. Head over to Twitter and follow. Show your support by retweeting and spreading the TweetlyNoted word! You can even submit your own inspirational quotes! How cool!

7. TinyBuddha on Twitter. Your one-stop shop for quotes of wisdom. I love following TB because the simplistic quotes help you realize the bigger picture. It's so important to surround yourself with positivity. Once you do, you will radiate it. Put positivity into the world, and that is what you shall reap.

8. Coffee Muffins! I haven't tried them yet, but Stephanie was sweet enough to send over her recipe via email when she told me that she and her boyfriend had made them. They sound deeeeelish! I know Mike is excited, as are some lady friends from school. I promised to make them plenty if they turned out good. Hopefully we can make these early next week! I shall post the recipe then if you guys are interested!

One thing I'm NOT loving this week is having to study non-stop for this Art History exam in the morning! Bleh! This class is SO hard! However, I am determined to do well on this test, and one bad thing is greatly outweighed by all the amazing things that I DO love so I hope you find more pros than cons in your week, too!

Want to submit something for my weekly Things I Love Thursday post? Got a cool article, website, artist, or non-profit event happening? Email me at kaelahbee@gmail.com and I'll include it! xo

Mid-Week Inspo-Post!

Here's a little mid-week pick-me-up Inspiration post! Full of goodies that have caught my eye. Enjoy!

my desktop

Mint Green Nail Polish (Anyone know the exact color?)

Hilarious Urinals! So Chic, though!

THE BEAST!

(All tattoo photos courtesy of FuckYeahTattoos)

Funny animal illustrations from Animals Have Problems, Too.

Hope your week is going well!

xoxo