even though i have a real camera, i ALWAYS use my iphone

greetings from watson, louisiana. (where my parents and sister live) i've been spending a lot of time out here lately :)

people think we're twins...i don't get it.

holy geeze...i remember as a child, time would go by sooooo slooooowwwww. a week felt like a thousand years.

as i've aged, with every year, i've become more and more aware of how time really does do it's own thing. it moves at it's own pace, regardless of how fast or slow you want it to go. it has a mind of it's own, and you're just along for the ride...i'm still not quite sure if i feel like that's a good or bad thing.

regardless, this last month has taught me a lot. i've enjoyed my time "unplugged" from the blogging world. don't get me wrong - i love reading blogs about people's lives and adventures, loves and passions, and i enjoy having a blog so that i can share mine with you! however, there comes a point when you have to realize that living your life is the most important piece...you can share it with others when you find the time, and unfortunately, spare time is something i don't come across often enough :)

with all that said, i want to say thank you to those of you who stick with me through my little (ok, big) blogging hiatuses (is that a word? it is now). i try and make my posts rich, meaningful and interesting, and since i can be so incredibly dull sometimes, i try and leave those parts out.

so what have i been up to this last month you ask? well, i'll tell you...

haven't actually gotten started on the summer goal of reading classic, however i DID find this GORGEOUS copy of pride and predjudice. what?!?

started a blanket :) hoping to finish by the time there's a chill in the air

scored some pretty BA thrifting goodness...

some blue glass ball jars to add to my ever growing collection

a cracker tin JUST LIKE the one my late grandmother had. even though this one did not belong to her, i will treasure it til the day i die. it reminds me so much of afternoons at her house.

my friend tiffany scored me this beautiful crocheted daisy blanket from an estate sale and i got some some new pyrex and vintage wooden thread spools to add to those collections as well

came across the coolest chandelier at z gallerie...it's a pirate ship! i really want it to hang in the corner of my bedroom. for real.

had lots and lots of kitty snuggles

bought this awesome dress. i can't help but to share...it's so comfortable and flattering. i can't wait to pair it with a sweater and tights/boots in the fall/winter...

(holy crap it's time for a hair cut. that crap's getting LONG)

here's a close up of the fabric and pattern

and these babies are now on the wall in my bedroom. i've been eyeballing them for months at UO, but at 40-50 bucks a pop, i just told myself "yeah right." well i had some store credit, and they went on sale for $10 this week. hells yeah.

let's see, what else has been going on? i celebrated a good friend's college graduation, found a new concert buddy (we ran into each other at the spoon concert back in march and have since decided to see all concerts together...i believe we have the black keys and mumford and sons coming up, plus voodoo fest :) )

oh! and i got a promotion :) i now have my very own restaurant and get to run the thing 100% on my own. i'm pretty stoked about it. however, it's going to be a lot of work on the front end to get it to perform at my (incredibly too high) standards, but it will be so rewarding!

lastly, i'll leave you with photos from the balloon festival this past weekend. hot air balloons are so pretty! apologies in advance for the limited amount of photos...i can't get a lot of them to import to my computer :(

have you ever seen a hot air balloon blow up? it starts with just a basket and a pile of nylon on the ground, then slowly but surely, it stands up...the entire process takes a good thirty minutes. here's a video of the last few seconds

cool, right? alrighty, i'll leave you with one last pretty one...this is called a "twinkle glow"

love you guys :)

em

[credit]

holy smokes, i haven't posted in a month. a freaking month.

i really suck at this.

buttttt...i've actually been putting together a pretty big one about some things going on over here in emjay world, plus some gorgeous photos from the hot air balloon festival this weekend. i finally have a day off tomorrow (first one in three weeks) so look for it then! who knows, maybe even tonight (but don't get your hopes up) :)

word to your mother and all that jazz,

em

thunderstorms are for...

snuggling with kitties...







fresh muffins (this one of the pumpkin variety)...



and crochet...





I hope all of my american readers had a wonderful independence day! I'll be back soon with a recap of my summer goals :)

xo
em

ahhh summer...

daiquiri + pool + sunshine = great saturday


now that's a math equation i wouldn't have minded so much in school :)

happy weekend!
em

eight

i've been tagged by the oh-so-lovely carol :) i have to answer the 8 questions she asked me, then make up a new set of 8 questions and tag 8 people to answer them :) here goes!

1. what song is stuck in your head right now? scissor runner stole my heart... well, those are the only words i know so far of jenny lewis' newest music. she's releasing an album with her boyfriend johnny and i've been playing the sneak peek track in itunes on repeat all day :)

2. what's the worst job you've had? honestly, i haven't had a job i hate. i've been with my current job for 7 years, since i was 17. and i lovelovelove what i do. the only other job i ever had was at the local skating rink...and who isn't going to love that???

3. what's your favorite summer activity? that would definitely have to be visits to the snowball stand and swimming at my parents' house :)

4. where would you go if you could go anywhere today? at this moment? springfield, mo. there's this friend i have there that i miss dearly. i wish we lived next door...we'd be great neighbors.

5. what is something that you would love to learn? silversmithing. i want to learn how to make things out of molten metal...it just seems so incredibly interesting and fufilling!

6. do you like thunderstorms or do you get nervous? i *love* thunderstorms. to me, there is nothing better than curling up with a cup of hot tea, a good book, and rolling thunder in the background. plus, thunderstorms create the best sleep. :)

7. do you collect anything? if so, what? i collect vintage pyrex, blue glass ball jars, things with owls on them, and vintage thread (only on wooden spools though).

8. what's your favorite childhood memory? trips to home depot with my grandpa. he is a woodworker among many other things (gardener, homemade wine maker, honey bee farmer - and he's 84!). when i was young, he would pick me up on friday nights and we'd go to home depot together to pick up whatever odds and ends he needed to complete his latest project. afterwards, we'd stop by zackk's yogurt and i'd get a plain frozen yogurt with tiny tarts on top :) i love my grandpa!

ok kiddos...here are my 8 questions for you!

1. what was the first cd you ever owned?

2. boxers or briefs?

3. what five things would you need to survive if stranded on a deserted island?

4. what's the riskiest thing you've ever done?

5. what's your favorite girl scout cookie?

6. what's your number 1 guilty pleasure?

7. where did you go on your very first date?

8. in the song, yankee doodle, is he calling the feather or the horse "macaroni"?

and the 8 people i'm tagging are...

1. erin

2. margot

3. katie

4. danielle

5. tiffany

6. lehua

7. vivs

8. ashley

i tried to pick folks who hadn't already been tagged by someone else. if your name isn't listed, please feel free to play along and leave a link in the comment section to your answers!

hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

em

it's time for another yard sale!

round three brings some pretty big ticket items...

first item:

$28 plus $10 shipping (because of size and weight)

modular wire shelving. the two by two version shown sells retail for $44.99, but i am selling a two by 3, which has two more cubes than the one shown. some assembly will be required.

scrapbook paper organizer:

$30 plus $10 shipping (because of size and shape)

this bad boy retails online anywhere from $60-$75 dollars. this is in near perfect condition :) some assembly will be required.

i'm also selling some of my older paintings. these next few items have been adorning various walls in my home for a while, and it's time that they found a new home.

abstract landscape, 3 pieces:

$70 (see bottom of post for shipping info)

photos do not do this piece justice. each canvas measures 16x20 and are meant to be displayed together.

wes anderson inspired:

$40 (see bottom of post for shipping info)

this pieces was inspired by the wes anderson film, the darjeeling limited. my living room walsl are definitely going to miss this one! it measures 18x24

just blue:

$40 (see bottom of post for shipping info)

this piece measures 30x24. it fades from a light grey/blue at the top down to a rich deep blue at the bottom.

if you're interested in purchasing any of the items listed, follow their links to my etsy site. if you purchase a painting, use the code "emjay's yard sale" in the note to seller section and the shipping cost listed on etsy will be refunded to you.

for those of you who are local, a 5 dollar delivery fee will be charged instead of the shipping charge.

xo!

em

monday, monday

in case you were wondering, usually:

but this monday, it's being downright mean. some time between going to bed last night and waking up this morning, my brain tricked my body into thinking it was 74 years old, when it is, in fact, only 24. i am seriously paying for all the deep cleaning, weed pulling, home renovating projects i did for 16 SOLID hours yesterday. i think this calls for a late afternoon nap, don't you?

i mean, i deserve a reward for yesterday's productivity

:)

happy monday. promise to have something a little more fun later today or tomorrow :)

xo

em

ps, ask me a question over at my formspring :) it's up to you guys to make my next Q/A post interesting. mix it up a little :)

pss, i have "monday monday" by the mamas and the papas stuck in my head. it seems to be on a never ending loop...

bibbity bobbity boo

this is me today, sans the fairy godmother and prince charming. i'm clean clean cleaning the heck out of every room in the house today. complete home organization was one of my summer goals, and the prospect of some potential house guests throughout the next couple of weeks has kicked my procrastinating butt into overdrive.

hope everyone had a lovely weekend :) enjoy the last little bit before it's gone...

xo

em

happy friday :)

via weheartit

my sentiments exactly

happy friday :)

em

formspring questions answered! (finally...)

via weheartit

ok, so i have to admit...i kind of forgot i had a formspring. and when i remembered, i felt really bad because there were quite a few questions in there and a lot of them were months old. but now that i have remembered, i'm planning to stay on top of it! from here on out, once a month, i will address all the questions here on my blog :)

so for this month, i'm playing a little catch up...but luckily, there were a LOT of duplicate questions, and oddly enough, all of the questions besides 1 were about my hair. haha, so here you go:

question #1: do you dye your hair? if so, what color/brand do you use? you're color is beautiful!

well thank you :) i'm sorry to disappoint you, but my hair color is au natural :/ but i do have one pointer...if you plan to do your hair red, and you want it to look natural, have a professional do it! red is the hardest color to do yourself :)

question #2: do you have a boyfriend?

haha, funny question. no, i currently do not have a boyfriend. i have been on my own for only a year, and only officially single for a month. not to say that i'm ruling out the idea of a relationship right now, i'm just not jumping at it either.

question #3: i saw your tattoo pic on elsie's site and tracked you down because i love your hair. how do you style your hair? and how do you keep your bangs out of your eyes? thanks for the tips in advance!

well first, i'm flattered that you cared enough to "track me down" :) hehe. to answer the first question, it's kind of both complicated and simple at the same time. first, i only wash my hair once a week. at most, twice. my hair is naturally curly, but because of the weight and length (it's also VERY thick), it ends up usually only with a tight wave, rather than the ringlets i had as a little girl. when i wear it straight, i wash it, but do not condition it. i then blow dry it and flat iron it. easy peasy! that's generally how i wear it in the winter. during the summer though, there's entirely too much humidity down here for me to try and fight the curl, so i let my inner carrie bradshaw shine and i embrace the curl, frizz and poof that come with it. this is even easier...i wash it, condition it, and that's it! either way i style it, i like it most on day's 2 and 3. :) the answer to your second question is...well, i have on idea. my bangs are pretty thick, so they kind of support themselves so to speak. also, when i get out of the shower, i immediately blow dry my bangs, no matter which way i plan on fixing the rest of my head. that way, the bangs are set in stone, and i don't have to worry about them drying all funky. for that, i just dry them to the side. :)

question #4: i love your hair! what are some of your favorite hair products/tools?

again, thank you for the sweet compliment! :) nine times out of ten, i let my hair go the way nature intended, and i don't use tools or products other than a blowdryer. however, when i do decide to spend more than 5 minutes on my mop, here are some of my go to items:

1. revlon flat iron...it's old and wonky, and only cost 20 bucks at walmart, but it works better than any expensive one. i promise. i also use a fat one...not one of those teeny skinny ones.

2. revlon curling irons...i have them in like, 4 sizes. i use them for when i feel like dressing up :) i tend to use the 1 inch the most. i curl my head all over, in layers, then run my fingers through them to loosen them into pretty, sexy waves

3. garnier fructis wonder waves...this is a curl/wave enhancing spray. i like to spray it very liberally as soon as i get out of the shower. it helps define waves and control frizz

4. redkin glass 01 smoothing serum...i use this on my hair, whether straight or curled, to smooth flyaways and such. great product.

5. john freida sheer blonde spun gold hair balm...this product, sadly, was discontinued a few years ago. i was lucky enough to have a backup. unfortunately, i'm almost out and i've yet to find a hair wax that works as well. :( but i've found some on ebay...it's just expensive! anywho, i use it in my bangs to flatten them after they're dried and to set them in place, and to give my hair some definition, depending on the style

phew! well, i know that was a wordy post, and for those of you who couldn't give a lick about hair it was probably a boring one too!

ok, i have another month to rack up new questions :) if there's something you'd like to know, ask me in the formspring box in the left sidebar...i'll do another formspring post at the start of july (that is, if i have any questions in there :) ) i encourage you to be open and as forward as you care to be! :)

xo

em