how cute are those cards?!? the one on the right is a sun conure, just like miss dinosaur toes! i told micaela that when i have cards so beautiful, i set them aside and wait for the PERFECT opportunity to use them, because they're far too beautiful to send to just any ol' person!now that i've gotten the feathers out of the way, here's a public service announcement, if you will...
have you ever found yourself assuming or inquiring as to a woman's pregnancy status because of her age, time in a marriage or relationship, or the fact that she's hungry for something specific or just in general? well, i'm here to tell you that it's rude. apparently, being a 28-year-old married woman who is not expecting is socially unacceptable, and warrants those assumptions, questions and comments. it gets real old. for example, here is a typical conversation i may have with someone on any day of the week:
me: "i'm hungry. i'd like mexican"
rude person: "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE HAVING CRAVINGS, YOU'RE PREGNANT!!!!!"
the fact is, anyone, men included, can crave a certain type of food, or just be hungry, and it doesn't mean that person is pregnant, it means that person is human and wants to eat. i was talking with someone recently who is a few years older and has experienced the same thing, and we agreed that it is no one's business, and no one's right to ask about pregnancy. what if i wasn't able to have children? what if i had one and gave it up for adoption? what if i was pregnant and lost the baby? none of those things have happened to me, but one of them has happened to her, so she's even more sensitive to people's prying.
i didn't mean to write a book, but i swear i have to deal with sort of thing several days a week, and i can purposely be a bitch and tell people that i DO NOT want to be asked about it anymore, but for some reason, they never listen. women in long term relationships without babies are not sideshow freak acts, we're simply a. not ready for children, or b. not going to have them. okay, rant over, but be sure not to be one of those people that constantly makes assumptions!
i know the last two pairs aren't boots, but i want them just the same. sources: 
Can you believe everything she sent me? And I also got a cute beaded elephant bracelet in the package, but I forgot to photograph it (even thought I set it out for that very reason). I'm sure you can see why I feel a little spoiled right now! Side note, do you feel weird about posting pictures of yourself? I do. Okay, so as if that wasn't enough, that's not all I received! The sweet and beautiful 
While I'm on the subject of gifts, remember how I begged you to help Chris and I out with the 
Carrianne K.! Carrianne, please 
The gallery is split into two buildings, so to direct traffic to our nice, AIR CONDITIONED building, Sarah was kind enough to make funny signs to get the shoppers attention! The next picture is of my pita-and-coca-cola-stuffed self on the way back to the parking lot after dinner. Out of all the nicknames I've picked up along the way, I think "Finch" is my favorite. 
At first I had nothing but spiders...EVERYWHERE! Luckily they've seemed to move on, but now my yard has been overtaken by grasshoppers, and by the looks of the picture above, I'd say I can expect a lot more. This couple kept me company while I was resin casting the other day on my deck; they weren't shy, either.
First, I'm going to need a 
Just for kicks (pun not intended at first), I thought I'd share a tangible thing I wouldn't mind owning. Cotton candy pink vintage 
I'd like to tell you that the room above is my own, but it's not, I used the picture from Dwell Studio's site. I may or may not have a problem with making my bed everyday, and you may not be interested in seeing the rumpled pile that is my bed. However, I remove my pretty new duvet before we go to bed at night so as not to wrinkle it up!
One last thing before I sign off for the night; I've been so super busy getting things ready for the event that I've really slacked off on blog reading and commenting. Don't take it personally, I really do miss you, and to make up for it, I'll be doing a giveaway for you lovelies in the next week, and I can't wait to get back to my regularly scheduled blogging relationships!
The first thing we did was went through the woods looking for the perfect branch. My advice would be to get one from a recently fallen or dead tree, but not one so dead it'll break from the lightest touch. If you get a green branch, you're going to have to set it aside for a few days and let it completely dry.
A little underwater camera action, and of course the infamous hand heart. What can I say, I heart swimming! I haven't been practicing my handstands for a while, so could only walk on my hands for a few steps before I flipped over. A few years ago I got so good I could walk on my hands half way across the shallow end!
We brought Flojo out to the pool with us in her travel cage, and if there's one thing she inherited from me (besides her love of eating), it's her love of playing in the water, so we set the hose to mist and let her flap and shake until her little birdie heart was content!
Now, onto the pond story. So the pond is really quite large, and a nice, relaxing addition with it's gentle waterfall, pretty goldfish and lush water plants. Having said that, it's also the place where I could have been viciously murdered by a copperhead. On Sunday evening, I was feeling sort of irritated (thanks, PMS), so I decided I'd go sit by the pond and watch the fish and the frogs while I switched back from monster to human. We'd been told that snakes occasionally visit the pond to eat the goldfish, and at first I had my guard up, but since I didn't see any the first few days, I got comfortable... big mistake. So I was sitting there looking around when I noticed a copperhead to my right poking its head out of the water watching me. I told Chris a couple days before that, as he was going back in the house, and I was walking around the pond by myself, "if you hear a scream, either I fell in, or I saw a snake." So I started screaming and basically made one huge record-breaking long jump from the pond to the house and told Chris, "A SSSNNNAAAAKKKKKKE!" So he went outside thinking he'd use something to sling it into the woods, and he realised it was a deadly copperhead. So yeah, I used dirty language and refused to visit the pond again. Ever.
I'd said something to Chris about getting sparklers so we could have a little celebration, so after we finished dinner on Saturday night, he surprised me with regular sparklers, and a kind called "morning glories" which changed colors as they burned. He was a pro and spelled his name, but I'm really not sure what I was doing in that picture!