Hello:

Hi friends! Just checking in, sorry I haven't been around the past few days. I'll be back with new posts next week :) 
I really love this card by Ashkahn. Today is your day. Are there any projects or things you've had on your list for a while now that you've been putting off? If you can, put an hour or two aside and just work on that goal you've had on your mind. I have plenty of them, and I really need to just sit down and focus to get them accomplished!
If you're a business owner who works out of your house, I came across this article that has some simple & helpful tips for being productive when you work out of your home. The Treehouse Blog has another quick read about the key to being productive :) and lastly, the energy project has this cool interactive site where you input what is important to you and it gives you little tips you can do throughout your day for more balance in your life, pretty cool!
See you next week!

Photo Class:

A couple month's ago I took a black & white photography class at Irvine Fine Arts Center. You really gotta love Orange County & give props to Irvine in particular for having a place like this. They're all about the arts. There's not a lot of stuff available like this in Orange County so I think it's pretty cool they value old school arts like photography & letterpress. They have a full darkroom set up. They also offer printmaking & letterpress classes (they have a legit letterpress studio as well) and lots of other fun stuff. 
Anyway, I was on yearbook in junior high and we developed all our pics for the yearbook. (wow, those were the good old days!) I also remember developing a lot of photos of this guy I had a huge crush on. My friends took my camera on a church trip we all went on and took a bunch of photos of him. (I was way to shy to even talk to him let alone take a photo of him!) Yea, looking back, that was probably really creepy that I developed photos of him, haha. My high school also had a darkroom but I didn't do much developing. Definitely did not appreciate it by then, seeing how digital was coming in and that was the latest and greatest.
All the chemicals! Developer. Stopper. Fixer :)

All the contact sheets getting washed above!

I kind of snuck in this class because it was a summer teen class. But when I emailed the teacher asking if they'd possibly open an adult one, he told me to just sign up and mark my age as a teen. so I did it. I really wanted to take it! I definitely didn't pass as a teen (when I walked in, the teacher asked me if I was a parent! yikes. lol) but it was funny being surrounded by these really young people! It seems like so long ago that I was once so little like that! (well most were taller than me, but they had such young faces)


Prints developed!

I totally recommend taking this kind of class to everyone - it is so cool to see the process and it is so fun to watch your print develop right before your eyes. Better than a polaroid ;) If you're interested in taking the class, I suggest emailing them and asking for them to start a black&white photography class for adults! I am sure they would if enough people showed interest. If you're not in OC, try looking at your local community colleges for classes and darkrooms. If you're familiar with developing photos, I'd even look into high schools to see if you can rent the darkroom out or something. 

poppies for grace:

I got a this lovely submission from Bria - and immediately had to post it! The products from Poppies for Grace are so beautiful and I especially love the photo styling for everything. Poppies for Grace has now expanded shipping to usa and is offering 15% off all orders! Just use coupon code: "hellousa" at checkout! I will leave you with more pretty pictures to inspire you today:

washi tape notebook:

Ever since I was in college, I've always kept some sort of notebook with me to write down "to do" things from day to day. So for the latest notebook, I purchased one of these simple Mead notebooks and got some new Lotta Jansdotter washi tape (don't you just love the yellow one?) and decorated a new notebook for myself!

On the inside, I always try to make a calendar for the upcoming months.. Someone saw this one time and said I was ocd! But I just try to be organized!

I used some of the decals I designed (that I had at the craft show) and put one on the front and one on the inside. I am really loving these decals :)

That's it! A very simple + quick afternoon project. If you're overwhelmed or just need to get a little more organized, I totally recommend keeping a notebook with you. I know there are lots of organization/productivity apps on smart phones now and days but there is something awesome about writing things down the good old fashion way ;)

a rooftop dinner:

So a while ago, Lillian invited us to go to Mexico on a little weekend getaway. So we planned the date and headed down. We turned off our cell phones and went for a fun weekend of relaxing, enjoying the ocean, board games, super good food, and a fun little photo shoot. Here are the pictures from our rooftop dinner that we had!

Lillian has been to this place before and mentioned that we should bring some fun props and have a rooftop dinner just because the roof has an ocean view and it's beautiful! I of course was totally on board and we each packed some vintage treasures. Well, more like a suitcase of vintage items ;)

We brought our bubble machine (last used at our engagement shoot!)

Glad we could put it to use again. But bubbles are quite tricky to photograph!

Couple behind-the-scene shots ;)

note: bird is not a prop, it's totlly real! I think it wanted our bundt cake ;)

Caught Mardy in action, tea pinky up and everything!

My Nicholas, so cute.

Hurray for friends & funny faces. Except I'm not really

sure what face I was making in this shot.

Everytime I look at this photo, I think to myself "were we really there

with the ocean right in our view!?" it was so beautiful!

Do you like our flowers? Funny story about that. Lillian mentioned the community we were at had really pretty flowers. So we decided to do a little flower picking for our shoot. I mean, flowers really add such a different element to a table setting. So Lillian & I walked around, each with a pair of scissors in our hands, and snipped flowers to make our arrangements. We had the boys follow with the ball jar vases and frowning/embarrassed faces. It was a pretty funny sight as they walked really far ahead of us. But Lillian and I both agreed at that the flowers weren't being enjoyed by anyone anyway - at least we can really appreciate them and put them to good use for our dinner! Right? right!

So that's it! You can see Lillian's photos at her blog here! I hope you enjoyed and are inspired today. I totally encourage you to create your own fun dinner setting. Just gather some friends and go at it. We had a blast and it was fun to just be creative and see the outcome.

Lofts:

Today I am loving LOFTS. Specifically where there's a small area above for a bed or secret hide out. Did you ever see Hansel and Gretel (Faerie Tale Theatre Version, classic!) The kids go up to their little bed above and ever since I saw that movie, I've wanted a space like that. So I went on a search for lofts, and there are so many marvelous ones out there. I'd love to live in any of these! Maybe one day I'll get to live in a loft like this. Until then, I'll just look at pretty pictures and watch Hansel and Gretel and dream of one, someday. ;)

via home-designing.com.

via dornob.com

via imgspark

via trandland.net

via house beautiful

via apartment therapy

via flickr

(this is totally like the hansel and gretel one!)

via dwell

(thanks Lauren Elise!)

via nytimes

(thanks elle!)

Source unknown for the rest of the images, please comment if you know it! :)

a (free) pocket calendar:

UPDATE: 133 addresses have actually been received. Sorry friends, free calendars are all gone! You can still get a calendar (semi-free) if you want one, read the info below! :)

---

I designed these pocket calendars a little while back and just got them in the mail! I decided I'd offer a little holiday cheer / pif (pay it forward) and send 75 100 of these out to my lovely readers, free of charge! That is, if 75 100 people even want one ;) Want a calendar? Just leave a comment on this post and then go to this form and fill out the information!

Calendars will be mailed out as soon as possible, just in time for the new 2011!

Free calendars are now all given out! If you still want a calendar, there are 2 options for you! Option #1 - You can get one by sending me a SASE! (self-addressed stamped envelope) Send a sase to: oh, hello friend | po box 1134 | la habra, california | 90631 or Option #2 - If you don't want to send a SASE, just pay postage cost of $1.00! (sorry friends, was .50 cents but paypal fees are outrageous and I was only getting .19 cents after fees!) Use the buy it now button below:

Calendars are also available to international readers too! I'd just need the postage costs, $1.50! If you'd like one, click the 'buy now' button below, be sure to leave your correct mailing address!