Set up Shop

I just finished setting up my Etsy shop! It was fairly painless. 

Check out my shop cocolemon.


First I had to brainstorm on the name. I wanted something chic and stylish but also fresh. So CocoLemon it is! Plus that one wasn't taken as a few of my other combos were. Cocolime for example. Which I am actually glad about because I could not stop singing "You put the lime in da Coconut..." all night last night! 


But I like CocoLemon! It is rich and juicy! 


Here is a sample of what I am offering in my shop. 

They are travel baby wipes cases that I have covered and embellished with hot fabrics and trims. I have seen these at baby boutiques and even purchased one in the past for one of my friends. She asked me if I made the one I gave her at my baby shower. I said no, I didn't, but I probably could. So I decided to make a few for my sister-in-law who is about to have twins. I had such a good time doing it I thought, what the heck, I am going to set up shop! 

So I did! I love doing crafty creative things like this. It keeps me inspired! It is therapeutic sometimes. To just get lost it the craft and then voila! you end up with a gorgeous creation!

Not Me Monday

So this week I did not come down with a wicked cold. I was not out of commission for two days. I did not lay on the couch and refuse to let anyone in the house except for my husband. My sister-in-law did not bring me a very much needed care package with medicine, magazines and orange juice and I did not have her leave it on my front porch. I did not hunker down and pretend I wasn't at home when our neighbors came by to buy our old fridge. Not me.


I did not have a "deadline" on Friday to get some shower decorations done for my brother and sister-in-law's baby shower 5 states away. I did not need to get the package in the mail by the end of the day. Of course I had not procrastinated on this until it was down to the wire. No. Not me. Never.


I did not set up shop at the kitchen table with my kleenex boxes, hand sanitizer and giant glass of fluids and work through the sickness.

I did not power through the day self-medicating with Sudafed non-drying sinus (the miracle pill), Mucinex, Zyrtec, nasel spray and alternating Tylenol and Advil. 

 

Throughout the process I was not having fun even though I was ill. I do not find great joy in making things. Not me ever. 

I did not break out my interior design drafting/model tools. They are now not being used for completely different purposes than they were originally purchased for. However I do not think this is wonderful. Why not?

These are not the first nephews on my side of the family. We are not all very excited. 

I did not get the package in the mail on time. I was not super excited and happy to contribute even though I will not be able to attend the shower. 

I did not go right back to the couch after I got back from the post office. Nope not me.

Apple Paltrow Move Aside

I have a new love. It weighs next to nothing, measures a little over 13" wide and has skin of stainless steel.

Anyone guess yet?

Yes, it is my new Apple Macbook pro! I love it. It is exquisite. The day it arrived on my doorstep I rejoiced. I knew I could give it a happy home and that we would grow to be great friends.

Okay but seriously this thing is awesome. I am having so much fun getting to know the programs and I am super impressed so far. There are so many people that have always sworn by Macs and now I know why. I have hopped over to our HP a couple of times to download files to transfer and I am all disoriented on it now! Funny since I have used that computer every day for like four years!

The packaging was even exquisite. Minimal and crisp.

I just thought this was funny.

When I turned it on it was like watching HD television for the first time. You never knew that what you were watching (regular TV) was all that bad but just try and watch a football game now in non-HD. It drives me crazy! All blurry like there is dust on the camera lens.

                                        

But this screen is awesome. My pictures look better, movies look better, even this blog looks better! Just kidding. Oh and not that I need to disclose this because I have never been paid for anything that I have written - but no, the huge Apple co. did not pay for this endorsement of their computers! Just thought I would put that out there lest I be attacked by some blog police. 

Oh and if you thought this was actually a blog post about Apple Martin-Paltrow I apologize, but here is a sweet picture of Gwen's daughter to appease you.

                                        
I love my Mac! Call me Apple Fuhrer! Now I just need an iPhone and an iPad. It seriously is an evil empire. Making you fall in love with their products. Damn you Steve Jobs!!!

Just kidding, Love you! Muah!

                                      

Not Me Monday - Hurley edition

We do not have an extremely sweet pug-mix dog named Hurley. He is not a very loyal dog and he does not follow us around everywhere we go. He is not always by our side watching everything we do from brushing our teeth, to making dinner, to watching TV.

My husband and I did not go over to some friends' house this Saturday night and we did not get home very late in the night. We always come home at a reasonable hour and get to bed at a decent time! My sleepy husband and I did not go about our normal routine of going to bed and locking up the house.

We did not wake up late the next morning. We did not look around and realize that Hurley was no where to be found. This is not extremely unheard of and a strange occurrence in our house. We would not expect something like this from our other dog Roxy who is not more of an independent dog who is not known to sneak off to rooms to sleep all by herself. Roxy was not sitting in our bed acting like nothing was wrong.

We did not hop out of bed and frantically start calling Hurley's name. We did not open all of the doors in the house and we did not find Hurley in our front spare bedroom. He was not chilling on the futon wagging his tail. He did not follow my husband into that room the night before and my husband did not close the door not realizing that Hurley was still inside. We would never lock an animal in a room and not realize it.

We did not feel very guilty. I did not lavish him with attention for the rest of the day because I felt so guilty. He is not a dog and he was not safe and unharmed what-so-ever. He was absolutely not unaffected in any way. But I did not still feel horrible. Nope, I would never treat my dogs like they where actual children. No way. I know that they are not children! I know that Hurley will be fine and will not grow old with feelings of abandonment. Of course not.

Of course.

Cinco de My-OH!

So I am sitting at the dinner table this Wednesday evening enjoying a delicious and creative meal with my husband. I was a little proud of my new creation for Cinco de Mayo. I had planned out the menu for the week and had Stuffed Bell Peppers on the menu for the evening. But being the ever-festive I wanted to make something Mexican. Opening the fridge and doing a quick assessment I found all the makings to create my wonderful creation.

Mexican Stuffed Bell Peppers! I know the name isn't that creative but I was still proud.

I simply took some leftover taco meat from Monday and substituted it for ground beef in my normal Stuffed Bell Pepper recipe. I also subbed the salsa for the fresh tomatoes. Topped it with some taco sauce and cheddar cheese, whipped up a side of guacamole, and viola! I accomplished my Mexican feast and I was met with praise for my efforts.

So as I was sitting there I thought "I should write a blog about this, but no it isn't really design related, but who cares it is still creative, but I wanted to try and focus the blog more on being about design, but ya' know what? this is me, this is one of the things that I love to do, cook and be creative, break the rules a little, YA I am going to break my own rules and just be more myself in the blog! That is what I am going to do!"

So that was my Cinco de My-OH!

My life is what I want to write about. I think that who I am and all of the different things that I love is a huge part of what makes me a good designer. It is all the aspects of my life combined that fuel my creativity. I am not one dimensional. There are many things that I find inspiration in. So I am going to share all of those things.

Cooking, books, traveling, entertaining, preparing to be a mother someday, and of course design!

So from now on I will not tie myself down to one subject. It just doesn't work for me. I am multi-faceted and I want to share it!

Let me know if you want the recipe that sparked this epiphany!

Adios!

The joys of traveling

This has probably been the longest stretch of time in the past 5 years that I have not traveled anywhere by plane. You really get out of practice. I used to travel, at least for a day trip, once a month or so. Weird. I am having a hard time packing.

Thank goodness for Southwest still letting you take two checked bags with no fee. Dear God tell me that has not changed in the last few days and I haven't heard about it yet.

Just checked - Bags still fly free! Thank you my sweet Dallas based company!

I have picked up a few things along the way that make flying more comfy for me. Here is a list of what is in my carry-on bag (which is pretty much always packed with the basics)

-1 large and snuggly blanket that never leaves the carry-on so it is dog hair free (this was especially important when I traveled for work and I was usually wearing black).
-neck pillow - I prefer the ones with the micro-beads from Brookstone. The cotton filled and (shiver) inflatable ones are just not acceptable. If the pillow is too firm my head ends up being pushed forward and I look like a chicken trying to get comfortable. A neck pillow needs to be soft enough that you can sink back into it but firm enough to offer support.
-ear plugs - a must for drowning out that child with the ill behaved parents who sat behind you.
-good book/magazine - because the emergency reference card can only hold your attention for so long.
-yummy smelling aromatherapy lotion - I sometimes just rub a little right below my nose for a soothing effect. It also helps when some rude person brings stinky food on the plane. Or there is just a stinky person near you. Smell violations are sometimes inevitable so be prepared!

Also essesential for traveling is a light weight jacket that is easily shedded and stuffed away if not needed. Slip on shoes for security line ease. If possible wear socks with those shoes so you don't have to walk on the dirty carpet.

And of course your photo ID. Which for some reason I always panic right when I get to the airport "do I have my license?" It has been ages and ages since I ever went anywhere without my license but I still have this fear that I have gotten all the way to the airport without it.

So what are your traveling secrets? Anything that I can use for my upcoming trip?

Bentley Brooks Design

The website is finished! It will go "live" sometime today!

It is still a work in progress. I need some more pictures but it is at least completed.

So check out http://www.bentleybrooksdesign.com/

I will be anxious to hear what you think.