I realize it’s mid-June and to most people, it’s not exactly calendar season. But for me, I just want a change of scenery. Since I can’t write on my Rifle Paper calendar (thou shalt not deface any Rifle products with messy handwriting…everyone knows that), I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own. Here’s how I did it:

S U P P L I E S

• Watercolor paper
• Watercolor paints
• Ruler
• Paintbrushes
• Number stamps (mine are from The Curiosity Shoppe, which sadly appears to be closed!)
• Cup for water

To begin, I (roughly) measured out the lines for my calendar squares and then ran my paintbrush right along the edge of the ruler. I should preface this by saying that I am NOT a perfectionist. I have little interest in making everything look uniform; I just want to have fun creating and get things done. Plus, watercolors don’t exactly lend themselves to clean lines. The more freeform, the better!

Once I have the lines and month name painted, I gather my number stamps.

To stamp with watercolors, I simply paint the rubber stamp with the paintbrush and stamp directly onto the paper. Easy peasy.

I decided to go with a light paint color so I can eventually write over the date without competing with the overall design.

Let dry and let the planning begin!

This past weekend my brother graduated from college with a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering, so we spent the better part of Saturday exploring the Cal Poly Pomona campus (beautiful!), taking tons of photos (740 to be exact…lord help my hard drive!), and celebrating Andy’s hard-earned accomplishment (heyyyy, brother). It was a reminder of the good things in my life: lots of walking under the California sunshine, big camera + empty SD card in hand, quality family time, an opportunity to wear a new dress + a giant hat, lots of laughter, exploring a new-to-me place, and a chocolate chip Pizookie for good measure.

Not only is my brother a whip smart, hilarious, human calculator, but he is also one of my best friends. Cheers to all your successes, Andy!

(Again with the dress. I know.)

1. I like very spicy food. Spicy to the point of sweat + tears.
2. I am a terrible movie-watcher but an excellent reality TV viewer (not sure what this says about my taste levels…?)
3. I often think about going back to school to become a psychologist.
4. I can never decide whether I want to spend the last few minutes of my night browsing Instagram or reading. (IG usually wins.)
5. My biggest celebrity crush is Michael Cera.
6. I want to visit all 50 U.S. states.
7. I already know the titles of the books I want to write.
8. I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
9. I’m introverted often to a fault. Alone time is KEY.
10. Not quite sure what I would do without podcasts while I work. My new fave is The JV Club.
11. I love love love coffee. Partly for the taste, but mainly for the ritual of it.
12. I never screw the caps on water bottles tight enough, so at least once a day I encounter a giant water spill in my purse.
13. I send myself multiple e-mails daily. (P.S. This blog post was composed entirely in an e-mail.) (I literally e-mailed this sentence.)
14. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.
15. I love dancing. Aside from the actual marriage thing (oh yeah, that), I am most excited about dancing ALL NIGHT LONG at my wedding.
16. I aspire to be an amazing cook one day. I should probably get over my aversion to measuring + doing dishes first…
17. Occasionally I feel a strange sense of longing for my Utah days. I could never live there again, but it sure is fun to visit.
18. I always feel self-conscious about my legs when I wear shorts, but I’m trying to get over myself this summer. (My sentiments exactly.)
19. I can’t begin my day unless my bed is made. There’s just no way.
20. All I want to do is make things with my own two hands. All day. Everyday.

So of course, it was only a matter of time before I made my own to-do list form! I like to print these on the back of scratch paper or anything that I have lying around – no need to bust out the fancy cardstock! You can download these lists HERE. Enjoy!

P.S. If you’re looking for an inexpensive pen with great flow + the ability to erase (mind-blowing, I tell you!), I highly recommend stocking up on the Pilot FriXion!

I can’t even tell you how long it’s been since I made a mini book on the road, but after making one again for our SLO trip this past April, I am officially back onboard. As someone who is genetically-programmed to take pictures of ev-er-y-thing and collect every last bit of memorabilia like it’s my job (well, it kind of is), a mini book is an ideal landing spot for all of those treasures. Not only is fun to consciously seek out moments worth remembering, but it’s also a blast to set up shop at a hotel room desk after a long day of exploring + collecting (not as fun: cleaning up said hotel room desk before checking out).

For this trip, I used a Carte Postale 5×7 journal since it was the perfect size for a weekend adventure. Before leaving for SLO, I embellished the cover with a few Carte Postale supplies + my typewriter. Easy enough.

One of the main things that I love about this album is all of the pockets! I love having designated places to house my memorabilia + Instax photos before I figure out where they will permanently end up. Oh! And pockets also make great storage for supplies or scraps that I want to make sure I use on my pages. #pocketsforthewin

I brought this waterfall pack with me because it has everything I need (labels, letters, journaling spots, and die-cuts) all in one nicely-packaged place. This is key if you want to scrap on the road without schlepping your entire craft stash to your destination.

Mini books need not be fancy! I like to keep my pages pretty minimalist partly to avoid too much bulk, but mainly so I can finish the book before I run out creative steam. You know how it goes.

You can read more tips and see additional photos of my book here and here!

As someone who has lived far away from family + friends, I can attest to how wonderful it is to receive a care package in the mail. My mom used to send me the best care packages filled with magazines, my favorite candy, and the occasional Starbucks gift card (thanks Mom!) to make the distance between California + Utah feel a little bit shorter. And even though I am now back in California, I still have several friends that live out of state, so I am always looking for opportunities to send a little happy mail their way.

The key to care packages is that they don’t have to cost a lot; it truly is the thought behind the gesture that counts! In fact, one of my favorite things to do is to “shop” my own supplies. I have waaaay more stamps, pencils, twine, washi tape, and envelopes than I’ll ever know what to do with, so I pass them along to someone who can put them to good use! And of course, with all these fun supplies comes the opportunity to create fun packaging. I especially love adding descriptions to my items (i.e. “15 yards”) with Martha Stewart’s Crafts Your Own Stamp Set..

There are no rules and you don’t even need to send the package to a distant location. It might be fun just to drop a box off on a good friend’s doorstep to make their homecoming a little bit sweeter. Happy mail for the win!

HOUSE No. ONE | ELISE

The first house I got to crash for a night was Elise’s. Oh man, this girl is a force to be reckoned with. I’ve never met anyone who is quite as efficient as she is (much less, at nine months pregnant!), and her beautiful home is an excellent example of that. Plus, her style! Girl’s got style for days. Here’s her daughter’s adorable nursery that I had the pleasure of shooting:

HOUSE No. TWO | SARAH

The next amazing house belongs to my good friend Sarah. I had been hearing all about and seeing tons of amazing sneak peeks of her gorgeous new home for months, so to actually visit it in person (and spend the night in her luxurious basement!) was an absolute treat. Her home is UNREAL (although I simply refuse to give up my campaign for her to move to California!).

See more photos of Elise’s nursery here and Sarah’s house here!

As someone who is perpetually fifteen (twenty, twenty-five…) minutes behind schedule, I rarely have the opportunity to really take full advantage of the airport setting. I’m usually trying to race through security, grab a bottle of water, and get onboard before my plane leaves the runway. Okay, so maybe it’s not that bad (most of the time), but it’s not often that I get to wander through an airport and take a moment to breathe before takeoff.

On Friday morning, I had an early flight to Salt Lake and was pleasantly surprised when the usual weekend rush at LAX was nonexistent. In fact, I was able to get through security in less than three minutes – victory! So I went over to Coffee Bean and picked up coffee + oatmeal (that came with steamed milk – heaven!) and sat down to enjoy my meal. I can’t even tell you how nice that was for a change. Especially since it meant I could avoid the always-futile juggling act of lugging my carry-on suitcase, my laptop, and a large cup of hot coffee down that narrow aisle to my seat (lord beer me strength). Once it was time to take to the skies, I opened up my laptop and got to work! I edited photos, I composed a blog post, and I reveled in the fact that I could be so productive at such an early (read: 7am) hour! There’s something to be said about having to remain stationary for an extended period of time that really allows me to focus and get things done.

On Sunday when I was flying out of SLC, I had to get to the airport extra early to turn in my rental car and on top of that, my flight was delayed. But you know what? I didn’t mind it one bit. Salt Lake has a fantastic airport with plenty of tables, comfy chairs, and outlets coupled with a wide selection of dining options (including coffee! and alcohol! go utah!). I was more than happy to get my standard coffee + oatmeal and find a table where I could take advantage of the several unscheduled hours I had before me. It was kind of the best thing ever.

If I could hang out in that airport at one of the tables overlooking the runway, I would do it every single day. Ahhh, I love flying.

So being the obsessive person that I am, I did a little interneting and found these photos and interesting set design tidbits from EW:

This walk-in closet is just an extension of Mindy’s amazing bedroom (seriously, you’ll have to watch the show just to see her headboard!). I love her colorful wardrobe + the line of boots below the window sill.

Obviously I’m obsessed with the craft space. According to the set designer, this little nook was constructed to feature ribbons + other embellishments that Mindy’s character would pull from to create a card or decorate a box or pot. And I’m really digging the sofa + pillows at the end of the bed…! LOVE.

Since Mindy’s character is more of a restaurant-goer than an actual cook, the production designer gathered real menus from various NYC eateries and clipped them to the refrigerator. I love how colorful and real this space looks!

P.S. If you haven’t already, you MUST read her ridiculously hilarious book!

Sundance was one of the first places John and I discovered upon our move to Utah in 2010 and it completely bowled us over. In fact, it STILL bowls me over every time I visit. I spent this past weekend in Utah and on Sunday, my good friend Sarah + her husband Mike took me up to Sundance for an amazing brunch at The Foudry Grill.

After breakfast, we spent a little time shopping (I’ll take one of everything, please!) and wandering around the resort. Just being amidst the trees + the mountains felt so refreshing. One of these days, I want to rent out one of the cabins (or yurts!) and wake up and breathe in that crisp alpine air with a hot cup of coffee in hand. Heaven.

From there, we jumped back in the car and went for a scenic drive through the Alpine Loop, stopping along the way for photos. This time of year is an absolute dream in Utah. The temperature is no longer too cold and not yet too hot and it feels amazing. I’m so glad my trip happened to coincide with the perfect weather!

If ever you get the opportunity to visit Utah, I highly recommend stopping by Sundance. Not only does the resort have so much to offer (including Full Moon lift rides!), but the idyllic drive through Provo Canyon to get there is worth the trip all on it’s own!