Cheeky Lemons

Our Shutterfly holiday cards!

2010-11-16T09:08:00.000-08:00

What are our holiday cards going to look like this year? Well... just almost like this! Thanks to an oh-so generous offer from Shutterfly (Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly, just follow the arrow à http://bit.ly/sfly2010), we'll be sending out personalized photo cards to all of our friends and family members this holiday season!

While the attire for our holiday photos still hasn't been finalized, we at least have a great wardrobe ensemble picked out for every family member. And yes... we are totally sticking to a color theme for ease and unity in the pictures. I guess it actually really closely resembles our engagement photo outfits... and since those turned out so nice, I guess we aren't really taking a risk this year with the first "3 member" family portraits.

If you're looking for the perfect holiday card this season, look no further than these fabulous photo cards from Shutterfly! In fact, they have photo cards for pretty much every occassion, even birthday invitations!!!

This is a sponsored post and I will be receiving 50 Shutterfly cards for my time. This has not influenced my post or opinion in any way.

writing just like martha

2008-02-08T21:39:00.001-08:00

so now that Martha Stewart Living's monopoly on the lovely typeface Archer has expired, I've found myself wanting to "literally" transform my world into the pages of a magazine. Suddenly my chore lists and calendars and groceries have such an elite appeal... it's pathetic really.

flickr fun

2008-01-31T18:13:00.001-08:00

pure flickr genius (courtesy of OrangeBeautiful)

yet another monkey

2008-01-29T11:02:00.000-08:00

I'm not in a baby-kick quite yet... but this wall art might get me there:

Mr. Lemon's nickname is Monkey (his Ultimate nickname that is... it started as "Money" until people thought that was too suave a name for him, so they added a K and it fit perfectly... but I digress)

I'm also in love with the rest of the series from Spot On Square (cow/bunny/mouse/pig) but I'd wonder how to incorporate them into decor. But at $45/tile, maybe they don't have to work... maybe I can just hang them up when no one else is around and take them down for company! :P I mean, the pig would look great hanging in the kitchen!

lazy weekend

2008-01-27T17:45:00.001-08:00

So we've just had ourselves one heck of a lazy rainy weekend. We escaped the apartment yesterday to run some errands, and I indulged myself in a silly domestic treat. I'm seriously the last person in the world to go ga-ga over cleaning supplies, but I've realized just how much I missed using my favorite scented product:

I'm not sure if anyone else in this world bought Victoria Secret's special luxury laudry care, as it went in and out of stores within months it seemed, but I did. It had this amazing scent as well as the power to make all of your softest clothes rival your cuddly blankets. I obviously didn't buy a lifetime supply of the stuff, so when it was gone, I cried and went back to my normal not so fun Snuggle stuff or whatever.

Fast forward to 2007 and I get a sample of Downey in the mail, I use it, and the memories of those VS days come flooding back. Mr. Lemon starts complimenting me on my perfume (um... it's not me.. it's my shirt?) and I get hooked on a closet smelling of Vanilla and Lavender. Awesome. I gave up the indulgence upon our nuptuals, but a trip back to Target yesterday convinced me that I needed a pick-me-up... and suddenly laundry folding day was much more pleasant. Thanks purple bottle. I <3 you.

"Are you Kim?"

2008-01-22T22:46:00.000-08:00

I heard a knock at the door around 4:40pm, and opened it to find a woman holding flowers.

"Are you Kim?" she inquired.

"Why yes I am! Thank you so much!" I replied, and closed the door. I must admit that I skipped back into the apartment, so much so that Memphis got excited and jumped around my feet. My elation quickly dropped though, as I looked down on the card addressed to "Maxine." Uh oh. I opened it up to a "Happy Valentine's Day Nana! Love Sarah" message and realized that the flowers most definitely weren't mine. And they were not only NOT mine, but I was now depriving some grandma of her VERY EARLY Valentine's day gift. Boo.

I mentioned the flowers to two friends over the night, and everyone told me to enjoy them as if they were mine, and I'd call the florist in the morning. I mean, even if they are red, there is a gorgeous protea in there!

I thought the story would end there, but it went on along while I had dinner with the lovely Cathy tonight. I had turned my phone to silent while I was at dinner, yet when I checked the phone at 8:30pm, I had 10 missed calls and 5 messages.

Oh dear.

I listened to the messages, all from my mom, and I was a bit scared to call back. Her tone of voice was worrisome and I honestly expected to hear bad news. Instead, she asked if I had talked to Mr. Lemon and if I had received flowers today.

I guess while I was enjoying dinner, poor Mr. Lemon was scared to death that I had gotten a crazy "It's time for us to break up" flower arrangement (or something like that) instead of the Calla Lillies that he had sent. Poor guy. He had gotten the call from the florist, since Maxine had received the flowers and called them on their error. When he couldn't get me on the phone, he called my parents to ask if I had mentioned the flowers at all. He let his imagination run a bit wild on this rainy day... when all he had to worry about was a note to Grandma. Silly boy.

But I want my lillies. Now. Blegh.

decorating everything

2008-01-21T19:54:00.000-08:00

I love changing my computer wallpaper... especially on my desktop computer due to its wraparound monitors that are almost always showcasing my latest fun pattern. In college I loved to show off the latest photos of friends and such, but lately I've been drawn back into using fun wallpaper patterns.
Currently, my favorite grab spot for wallpaper is PBTeen.com. They change the patterns seasonly, and they've always got fun girly prints to brighten up your computer.

football food

2008-01-20T12:51:00.001-08:00

I'm home alone (with Memphis) all bundled up and settled in for a day of football. In preparations for the glutenous holiday known as SuperBowl Sunday, I splurged and made myself some cheese fondue and artisan bread for the occasion. Of course I have a couple beers in the fridge too, but I that may cause a testosterone overload for us gals in our little apartment.

I'm going to miss football weekends... perhaps we'll replace them with more ski trips up the mountain.

art from odd places

2008-01-19T12:47:00.000-08:00

As I start to envision the decor of our eventual "house" I find myself finding art in the oddest of places. We've already got a bit of art and photographs to start with, but I seem to keep leaning towards work that masks the real subjects in an artsy way.
For instance, I found this amazing program cover on eBay for my favorite team (and it's Mr. Lemon's favorite color orange!):

Or how about this for a kid's room? (Hidden DL icon)

Mr. Lemon would adore this:

At this rate my craft room is sure going to be full of "stuff" on the walls! Now if we only had a real room to put this stuff up in!

Daily Cotton Candy

2008-01-17T15:25:00.001-08:00

Could you even imagine having a little bit of cotton candy to enjoy everyday?

This machine melts your favorite hard candies and turns them into cotton candy! If it wasn't $159, I might have one in my ordering queue already... but maybe if I'm lucky it will become the chocolate fountain of the 2008 or 2009 holiday season. Can you imagine how popular this would be at dinner parties?

Resolution Time: Cleansing the boxes

2008-01-17T07:06:00.000-08:00

I'm keeping my mailboxes clean this year, and that includes my email box as well as my physical mailbox.
I had 3291 unread emails in my gmail inbox on January 1st, 2007. I've since thoroughly cleansed its contents of all unread messages, unsubscribed myself from the hundreds of unnecessary lists that barrage me each day (and that I obviously never read), and archived all but about 100 emails. Everyday I archive what I don't need to immediately respond to and I can proudly say that there are NO unread messages in my inbox this morning! BooYAH!
As for my physical mailbox... that's a bit harder. However, I just happened to hear about catalogchoice.com this morning on NPR and figured it might be the answer to my catalog problems. [Can I even begin to tell you how I loathe getting the Wine Enthusiast catalog every 2 weeks, since not that much seems to change from season to season for grape lovers. And all because we ordered a mushroom log as a gift last Christmas...geesh!]
The site is operated by the Ecology Center and simply allows you to opt out of specific catalog mailings. My fingers are crossed that it will work and I won't have to shred as much paper in the future. Next on the list... opting out of those ridiculous credit card offers!

a new old look

2008-01-16T19:57:00.000-08:00

I want this hat.
More importantly, I want a cute short haircut to go with this hat. As some will remember, I had the hair model cut of death a few years back where my locks were reduced to mere inches. Well, after the wedding was over, I was asked time and time again by friends and relatives about when I was cutting my hair short again. Despite it being a crowd favorite, I have also been yearning for a cute change for my boring hair.
Sadly, I know of no stylists in the area, and my hair salon of choice for the past 9 years is 350 miles away. Perhaps I'll risk new scissors in the next few weeks on the advice of some yelpers or maybe not.
In either case, I'm buying this hat.
p.s. use SHOPSPRING to get 20% off thru the 22nd

Wedding Dress Options

2008-01-16T19:09:00.000-08:00

This summer, I have to plan what I'll wear to OTHER people's weddings... which will be an interesting assortment of locales and settings.

My pal Meagan is getting married in New Mexico in August in a church/backyard garden affair, and I'll be a member of her "house party." That means I'll need to keep cool in a fabric that breathes well but also looks great with the smoking tan I should have by then. In keeping with the colors of the affair, my dress options are limited to pink, cranberry or light green. Now pink just happens to the color of choice in my dress collection, but why not have an excuse to buy something new and pretty?

This dress happens to come in the BRIGHT BERRY color shown which got raving approval
from both Mr. Lemon and the future bride. Now I just have to wait for it to go on sale before I jump in and get it... oh bother!

Flat Footed

2008-01-14T10:42:00.000-08:00

I love how J. Crew has truly embraced the flat as an accessory season after season. I'll ignore their annual attempt to bring back the espadrille but I must say that I appreciate that the store is one of the only ones out there to embrace my body size/shape.

Mr. Lemon's new alphabet

2008-01-11T09:17:00.001-08:00

I've been trying to figure out a way to buy this poster for some time now. Yet, with babies far off in the future, I couldn't really buy it and stow it away without feeling bad. Yet I found the solution when I showed it to Mr. Lemon tonight and he asked me to order it for his office. I hadn't even thought of that! What a perfect poster for him!

So, with only $36 and $5 shipping from the UK, our alphabet poster is on its way!

Craft Logging

2008-01-10T20:54:00.000-08:00

I've decided to keep a record of everything I create... it's a new year's resolution that I hope to carry on into the future for as long as I can. I got the idea from my letterpress class, when one participant had a simple notebook filled with one of every card she had ever pressed, and the notes and details on the colors and fonts of each project.
My version is a simple 3-ring binder and glossy inserts. I'll keep my planning sheets for each project along with anything else that was involved in the project (i.e. photocopies of the art I used for GOCCO) and perhaps one of the pieces of work that wasn't super perfect.
I'm actually quite excited to have a real craft diary!

Gifting on the mind

2007-10-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

With Halloween here today, I've decided to start thinking about all of the holiday gifting that we'll need to do in the upcoming months. I must say that I've found that sticking to a theme and replicating it with personality for my friends has worked wonders in the past. It's so hard to find good gifts these days if you're not made of money, so I make mine instead. And this year... I'm following through with an idea I couldn't execute last year.
I'll be using my trusty Gocco and some etching creme and my fingers are crossed for a wonderous result! And since most of the gifts will be sent via USPS, I'm investigating the best ways to present and package the gifts. I'm thinking that my paper shredder, some velum and Martha Stewart twine or ric-rac will do the trick!
Don't you just love holiday planning?

20 x 200

2007-09-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

You really can't get too much for $20 these days. Heck, we wanted to decorate the apartment with some picture frames and we could only buy 3 frames that we liked for $21...

I love scouring etsy for amazing prints and fun things, but here's art that's even easier to find. Every Tuesday and Wednesday at 2pm, new art is posted for sale on 20x200, and each edition has 200 8x11 prints available for $20! If you're really enamored with the work, you can buy the full size for $2000 or the 13x19 size for $200.

A wonderful idea, and great eye candy for the soul every week.

my first etsy items

2007-09-16T22:16:00.000-07:00

So I went ahead and made some of those photo-notebooks this weekend, and I've added them to my Etsy shop. Listing is only the beginning, as I won't be a bonified "real" etsyian until an item actually sells.

My first experimental notebook used a couple of photos from Amsterdam, and the cover featured the oldest house in the city (built in the 1520's I seem to recall).
Then I printed up some photos at Costco (gotta love their online system... makes a weekend trip to the store that much better when you don't have to wait an hour for the photos!) and made some cute sets from some of my favorite non-commercial photos:

I'm really digging the giraffe right now... and these adorable little Boston Terrier ones that have yet to be created! My shop should be nice and full tomorrow... after I find someone else to cut the paper instead of my tired little hands!

2007-09-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

I got a little crafty yesterday in my jobless lull, so I decided to make a long overdue "Thank You" present for a friend. Mrs. Bee @ Weddingbee.com granted me my wish last year and anointed me last year as Mrs. Lemon, the crafty and blue/gold obsessed 7/7/7 bride. WB made life a lot of fun while I was planning my wedding, and it still is something I'm very proud to be a part of. So, I made this little kitschy thing out of felt and I hope she'll like it!

2007-09-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

I'm searching the house for cool 4x6 photos and dragging my papercutter from the craft box to make some of these beauties this afternoon. Photojojo has a great video tutorial on how to make a reclaimed notebook from two photos and a stack of paper. The genius behind the tutorial is the lovely Judy of five and a half. I'm so happy that someone who creates such beautiful things is passing down to art to others!

2007-09-11T23:27:00.000-07:00

If only I had a good profile, then I'd get my mom a silhouette necklace of moi for her birthday (Happy Birthday mom!). But somewhere around age 15, my nose got its trademark Lewis bump and my shadow has never been the same. Mr. Lemon dislikes his profile as well... so I guess this little gem that etsy seller luckymebead is selling will not be purchased by our family. It is a glorious idea though... and the chalkboard display is just too precious.

2007-09-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

I habitually add flavors to my H20 in any way that I could. In college, it was adding a little bit of lemon/lime Gatorade mix to each bottle of water or perhaps a bit of NesTea. Not enough to actually create the other beverage, but enough to take away the bland taste of water. Then they came out with individual bottle mixes, which was still way too much flavor for my taste buds.

And then... came the wonders of the Pur Flavor Options filter.

We bought ours two weeks ago for the new apartment and are currently enjoying 8 glasses of raspberry water each day. Peach is sitting around in the cabinet waiting for its turn. At $50, it's a bit pricy to start, but much better than paying $5 for silly little powders that dry up much too fast for my conservative use of them. Mmm... berries.

2007-09-06T19:39:00.000-07:00

During the relocation/moving process, my mom left me with some cooking tips to help me along as the new domestic goddess of Northern California. Well...they are not exactly hers nor are they quite Top Chef level, they are quality recipes and tips from our Apple Pie Queen, Martha Stewart.

The little "Everday Food" magazines are great digest level size, and are filled with lots of great/simple weekday menus and lots of colorful photos. In fact, I'm now faced with the dilemma of how exactly to store the recipes... should I just tag the pages or cut them out and store them in a binder? Oh the decisions...

Either way, I'm signing up for a subscription before I'm tempted to pay $3.50 at the grocery store for the latest edition.

2007-08-29T18:45:00.001-07:00

I fell in love with Peter Lik's artwork when I went into his Lahaina gallery and was mesmerized by the presentation of his work. Let's just say I'd die if could own and display one of his panoramic prints in my home... especially with a frame like that!

Alas, the funds for my art collection are currently lacking, so instead I may just invest in the IKEA print of his artwork:

2007-08-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

I guess what you wear influences your purchases on some days. I went to Bloomingdale's in search of a new wallet, and due to my wardrobe choices (pink tank top/pink flip flops of the J.Crew variety), I walked out of the store with a new pink clutch. Well... maybe the fact that it was 40% + 15% off helped a bunch... and that it's final price of $40 fit perfectly on my $50 gift card. Hmm....

Hobo International 'Lauren' Double Frame Clutch

I left Bloomie's to pick up my necklace at Intuition, and even received some fun little pink goodies in my shopping bag. Nothing I'd spend money on, but hey... free is always good!

2007-08-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking this would be too good of a souvenir to pass up before leaving Los Angeles. It's the "Magic Castle" necklace from the Kidada for Disney Couture line... and it's just too precious not to grab up. They're sold out online at most boutiques, but I just called and they've got one at Intuition and they've graciously said they'd hold it for me. What am I going to do when I'm not 2 miles away from stores like this???

2007-08-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

I'll be changing my name at the DMV office in only an hour, and my photo from 7 years ago will be going away with my name. *sigh* So in an attempt to save my youth, I went in search of some tips to making my photo the best it could be... and thank god for Tyra Banks devoting a show to just this issue. Her tips are as follows:

1. Posture: twist your body away from the camera, but keep your face looking forward.

2. Pose: get your entire body into it. If you pose from the toes up, you’ll be able to see the difference in the final result even though it’s only a headshot.

3. Bling: wear long earrings and let them show through your hair. This will add sparkle and shine to any picture.

4. Hair: make it look like you have more hair by parting it down the middle and bringing it forward on both sides. This will give you a full, sexy look!

5. Relax: try not to let your nervousness show. Relax your mouth and part your lips a little bit.

6. No Blinking: close your eyes for three seconds before taking a picture. This will ensure that you don’t blink when the flash goes off.

Hmm.... before and after photos will be posted in 2 weeks time, to see if I won!

2007-08-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

When I was younger, my brother used to bring me knit slippers with leather bottoms everytime he visited Central America. So when I saw these at Nordstrom the other day, I couldn't help but try them on!

Darn me that these Uggs happen to be the most comfortable shoes I've tried on in forever. They're not extremely flattering on my size-10 feet, but I still may grab a pair just for lounging and post-gym shoes.

2007-08-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to be a part of a neat photographic experience on July 29th in Laguna Beach known as a "Trash Bash" where former brides prance and play around in their wedding dresses after their wedding day. The event was sponsored by trashthedress.com, which despite the name, simply encourages brides to enjoy their dress in unusal places... usually involving water. I went to take part in the fun with a "substitute" dress, but still had an amazing time. If you're thinking of holding onto your gown in the closet forever and ever... I'd highly recommend this style of photoshoot for one last day of glory in the white!

2007-08-09T11:29:00.001-07:00

I'm obsessed with 3191 and its utter genius of simplicity. Two photos from two women who live 3191 miles apart everyday. I yearn to be as diligent with my camera as they are.

2007-08-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

Happiness.

My husband seems to think that just the mention of food will make me happy... and sometimes it does. But in general, a lot of things make me smile and fill my life with joy.

I just finished a marathon 9 months of blogging about all-things-wedding, and now I'm going to move onto all-things. I'll be practicing my cooking, relocating to a new city, looking for a first home, starting a new career, taking lots of doggie walks and being a wife... and that's all in the next six months!

Which is why Haagen-Dazs' banana splilt ice cream makes me so happy. It takes me back to the age of 12 and the first day I tasted my grandma's "banana split pie" dessert. Pure enjoyment of the easy life.