dashing through the snow

leggings? check. skinny jeans to fit inside my boots? check. sweat pants over my jeans? check. snap-leg wind pants over my sweats? check. a pair of ankle socks? check. a pair of knee high socks? check. a pair of regular socks? check. yoga tank? check. cami? check. long-sleeve shirt? check. long-sleeve t-shirt? check. thick hoodie? check. wool coat? check. scarf? check. hat? check. snow boots? check. sleds? check!

it may seem a bit extreme, but this is what i found myself wearing to civitan park a few days ago. maybe i should start from the beginning ...

first of all, happy christmas! i am so sad that the holiday season will be over after tomorrow. i love! this time of year. i really don't think i would mind at all if it lasted all year. i've been so sad to see the trees and garland come down.

this christmas was a lot of fun. on christmas eve we got a big snow storm! it was wonderful! i felt bad because a lot of people's travel plans had to change ... but at the same time i was thrilled to see the snow. it even had a magical effect on travis. he loved having a white christmas.

i must get better about taking pictures again. i used to have a camera permanently attached to me ... and now i can't remember the last time i took pictures with my camera.

we spent time at my family's and travis's family. we went for an evening sled with my family on christmas night. we all bundled up {all of us being my mom, dad, sierra, travis, justin, lindsay and me} and headed out to civitan. there were a few other people out there, but we were able to scope out the steepest spot and sled to our little hearts' content. lindsay had never been sledding before! i couldn't believe it. it was so much fun. we were all frozen by the end, but it was definitely worth it. we headed to travis's parents' after that where we thawed by the fire and watched a christmas story.

the next day we went sledding again. this time is was justin, travis, sierra, teddy (lindsay's brother), and me. we didn't stay as long this time, but we still had a fabulous time. like lindsay, teddy had never been sledding. it was so funny to watch his reaction each time he went down the hill.

i hope that you all had a wonderful, safe christmas!

"and there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. and lo, the angel of the lord came upon them, and the glory of the lord shone round about them: and they were afraid. and the angel said unto them, fear not: for, behold, i bring you good tidings of greay joy, which shall be to all people. for unto you is born this day in the city of david a saviour, which is christ the lord. and this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manager. and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising god and saying, glory to god in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." luke 2:8-14

Random Catch-Up

I'm "taking a page" out of Megan's, from Tales of the Trees, blog.

01. I LOVE Christmas time.
02. I have been listening to Christmas music since October.
03. I have no idea where November went nor what happened to the first half of December.
04. Christmas is next week and I do not have one single gift for anyone.
05. Travis's uncle, Jim, made it home from the hospital last night after having been there for weeks!
06. I'm attending my first ever Ugly Christmas Sweater Party tomorrow and I can't wait ... but I don't have a sweater yet!!
07. Connor is almost fully crate trained!
08. I need a new website for notablynoted.com. The one I have is beautiful, but buggy ... and let's face it, no one likes bugs.
09. It's official! I get to go to Hawaii this summer!
10. I wish I had my own home to decorate for the Christmas season.
11. We still don't have a tree at my parents' house, but are supposed to get one this weekend.
12. Travis's sister will turn 21 in 18 days!!
13. We leave for our cruise in 16 days!!!!!!!!
14. All Travis and I can seem to think about lately is our cruise. We all need a vacation!
15. I'm excited for the cruise, but sad to count down to it because that means Christmas will be over.
16. I'm having a lot of issues with the notablynoted blog on blogger and am getting quite frustrated with it.
17. I have lots of work to do and need to get back to it.

Happy Christmas!

oh my goodness!

what a horribly depressing post my last post was! and to think that's what you have had to look at each time you visit our blog. i'm so sorry!

life is still hard ... but i'm not saying that it's "bad." it's just incredibly hard.

this is my favorite time of year and i feel like it is passing so quickly. i can hardly believe that it's the ninth of december. i know we should keep christmas in our hearts all year 'round, but i really do wish that the holiday season lasted longer, with all of the wonderful decorations, the delicious smells, and the fun parties and get-togethers. of course, i suppose if it lasted all year i wouldn't really appreciate all that this time of year brings ... though i find that hard to believe. i don't think i could ever get tired of christmas. i should have been an elf ...

tonight i am feeling much better after several days {weeks} on the verge of a nervous break-down. i want to make sure that i am enjoying life, however, and am remembering to count my many blessings each day. that i make the most of what i have.

how are things in your world? be on the lookout for a fun giveaway for notably noted on a favorite blog of mine. if you are interested in hosting your own fun giveaway, let me know!

why. is. this. happening???

i am posting a blog at 12:30 am when i have millions of other things to do because, well, because i have millions of other things to do so naturally my computer would crash. again. i have several other stories to post, and have the drafts for those posts ... but tonight {this morning} this post wins. earlier in the week my laptop crashed. travis set me up on a old desktop and transferred all of my files for me. tonight, the desktop crashed. i have so many orders to fill for notably noted {yay!} ... and now no way to fill them {aggghhh!!!} i can't remember the last time my laptop crashed. or any computer for that matter. actually, my laptop has never crashed until now. and i don't think i've had any serious desktop issues since college. why. is. this. happening? i am trying to remain calm. no tears have been shed. but this is getting ridiculous. i mean it. never have computer trouble and now, in a time when i desperately need them, they are all shutting down??? what kind of horrible things have i done to reap this kind of karma? i'm sorry for all the negativity, i just really don't know what to do. i have orders that are supposed to be delivered tomorrow. no way that's going to happen now. seriously? seriously?? i am starting a new business. i want to put my best foot forward. not my late, rushed, not all pulled together foot! please pray for me. i may lose it.

no time to say hello. goodbye!

in case you missed it, i published a post below about our friends tom & lina getting married.

so, i really should not be sitting here writing this post at 1:19 a.m. ... yet here i am. i needed a quick little break from all of the work i'm doing to remind myself just how busy i am! haha!

i hope that i will look back on this week in a couple of years and think "whew, i'm glad that part of it is over," while looking out the picture glass windows of my quaint little shop in a fabulous shopping center ...

don't get me wrong. i am having a fantastic time. despite the hustle and bustle and never feeling like i will have enough completed by the time my first trunk shows roll around this week, i am having so much fun. i can work into the wee hours of the night as i've mentioned before, but for the most part i don't mind.

yesterday i had a hard time concentrating. i had not gotten out of the house the previous two days and i think i was getting a little bit of cabin fever. even though i had a list as tall as i am to complete, i couldn't focus the way i needed to. i got out yesterday evening and headed to the pool hall with my sister. her godmother was in town, and they were swinging by the pool hall to say hello to our family. we weren't there long, but i appreciated the change of scenery.

sierra, lindsay, and i left the pool hall and headed to sonic while the guys stayed to play for a few more hours. we got the house and i attempted to work, while lindsay attempted to study. i showed off my latest designs and samples that i'm pulling together for the trunk shows and it was reassuring to hear lindsay's feedback. i love what i'm doing, but i get nervous that other people won't think the same.

tonight, tomorrow, and part of the day tuesday will be spent finishing up my list that i just finished writing out {with 30 items on it} + 15 products i have to photograph for the website and the catalog {i wish i had the incredible talent of jennycollierphotography.com!} + finalize and have the catalogs printed. i also have a shipment of packaging ordered, and i'm so nervous that it won't arrive in time. i have a backup plan in the case that it doesn't get here ... but that will create a whole lot more work. cross your fingers that it arrives on monday!!

if it sounds like i'm complaining i'm not. really this blog is for me to look back on. to remember the mountain of tasks that i had and also the fun that i'm having ... despite getting only 3-5 hours of sleep. i can only imagine what tomorrow night will be like as it will be my last night before the show.

i also got some unfortunate news today. edmond, the town in which i've been pining to open a shop, got a speciality stationery store. boo! they've not had one up to this point. i think the town is so quaint. it's a place i can see travis and me living. and i even have the shopping center picked out. i just have to have the backing to move forward with a store front. i'm so sad that someone beat me to the punch. i've been hoping and planning to have a shop there for several years now. this of course doesn't mean that i can't still open a shop in edmond ... but it would have been nice to do so without any competition.

okay lovies. i must bid you adieu for now. have a terrific week!

i found another moment.

okay, so maybe i am procrastinating. i've been going non-stop, as i mentioned in my last post, and this morning, i am feeling a little sluggish. not a good thing since i have to work in tulsa for sixbyte tomorrow and friday. i figured a short break for a blog post wouldn't be the end of the world, however. so here i am. writing to the blogging world.

i'm super excited because megan at tales of the trees posted my logo her blog yesterday. there is supposed to be a post about notably noted in the future, too. i'll keep you updated. i'll be doing their christmas cards, and i think they'll be a lot of fun to work with.

anyway, there is work to be done and my fiance is calling me, so i'll say goodbye for now.

these are a few of my favorite things.

i am so behind on my updates {as i know several of you have noticed}. i have been working away like a little worker bee the past few weeks. it doesn't ever seem to slow down ... but that's a good thing. and i really like what i'm doing, so i really don't mind. i just wish that i could make time slow down {and that i could keep working at a neck-breaking pace}. my brain is chock-full of years and years worth of ideas of what i want in my store. i just have to make it all happen now.

i've been having a ton of fun, though. if you keep up with my facebook at all, you know that i've been playing christmas music already ... and have been since the beginning of october! travis tells me that it is waaaay too early, and i had a few other critics on facebook; i am loving it though! it's so cheery and it really does make me feel like a little elf as i work away on all of my designs and product lines.

i have three trunk shows in the upcoming week, so i will be working furiously this week and monday. and i don't imagine that i will really slow down next week since that's when all of the shows are. i'm really excited and nervous all at the same time. i hope people don't hate my stuff!

you probably won't see much of me again for the next few weeks. know that i'm thinking of you though! i'll post again as soon as i can find a moment.

notably noted.

i really need to get a notably noted blog put together. i just don't know if i want to use blogger for it, or if there is another platform that would be better. any suggestions? i would use it much like my facebook page. i would post new designs that haven't hit the website yet, etc. what else do you think people would find interesting? receipes are always good {and we will offer recipe cards} but i want other fun content besides my latest designs. what do you think?

below are some of the 6x6 note pads that we will offer. there will be more to come, but they're fun, so i thought i would share.

tomski & lina.

our friend from sixbyte, mister tom skrzypiec {yes, that's really how it's spelled ... try pronouncing it!} got married! tom is from poland and is quite the world traveller. he married his long-time sweetheart lina. lina is from syria and tom recently took a trip to visit her. they travelled all around europe. while they were there tom proposed! we knew that he was going to, so we were super excited to see his facebook post that she had said yes.

two days after they got back from syria, travis got a phone call from tom asking him to come to the wedding ... that afternoon! travis of course went. it would have to be one of the few days that i stayed in muskogee instead of working out of tulsa. i couldn't believe that i missed it, but we were very excited for them.

we had a fun office lunch at michael fusco's riverside grill later in the week. travis and i gave them a fun romance gift basket with champagne, candles, and a fun picture frame for their bedroom. i only mention it because the look on both of their faces was so touching! they were genuinely surprised to receive anything. we wanted to make it as special as possible for them since they didn't have any of their families here for their wedding.

the entire week was a bit of a celebration. we had champagne at the office two different times! tom is such a great guy. after his wedding he was simply glowing. we couldn't be happier for the two of them.

first TU home game of the season.

well, these pictures posted in the opposite order of what i had intended, and i can't get them to move ... so we will just go with it. i don't want to reload everything.

believe it or not, until recently travis had never been to any kind of live sporting event since a high school football in the sixth or seventh grade. i had been trying to convince him that we needed to hit up the TU football games this year. when i was in college, i very rarely missed a game, especially if it was a home game. i was thrilled when travis called me one afternoon to tell me his boss had gotten us tickets to the first home game of the season.

travis was a little unsure of it, but by the end of the game he was saying it was something we would have to do again.

i love football season!

the cake lady strikes again with her fabulous {gag} customer service

this is a follow-up that i posted on facebook regarding the cake lady. i'm really frustrated that this event took place a week ago, yet it is still coming up, and this lady is continuing to shock me with the way she does business.

Earlier this week a reader of the previous note I wrote, copied and pasted the note and it's comments and sent it to the Little Cake Company letting them know they were horrified with the customer service we received and couldn't believe that a business owner would treat their client in such an unacceptable manner. This morning the following email was forwarded on to me from this reader. It is an email she received in response to hers. (I have removed the emails of the sender and receiver simply because I'm not sure what kind of information of others' I am allowed to share on Facebook without their permission); if you doubt the validity, I am happy to forward the original on to you. Please keep in mind that this is an individual was in no way associated with the birthday party and has never spoken to "the Cake Lady" previous to the email she sent yesterday ... From:Subject: RE: To:Date: Friday, September 25, 2009, 8:37 AMgee, if you were going to pretend to be someone else, you should have AT LEAST changed your cadence of speech.i forwarded this letter to the facebook abuse team, as well as yahoo.if you feel you are so right, woman up and take me to small claims court, and stop these jr high antics.you might want to go to you tube first...look up judge judy wedding cake, and see what the law really says.i'm sorry you couldn't get a pink cake box cake in muskogee...i never claimed to be at their skill level...they are the best...and most expensive cake in the country.as far as the cake falling apart...i have no way of knowing how you teens handled it....stacked cakes are fragile.now, i don't want to ever hear from you again....unless it is at court.BTW....i turn down 10plus cake orders a week...been doing business here almost a decade....sorry but this won't hurt me....if anything it will help keep other scammers away.this is the last you will i will say about this.....unless i have to do something about all this harrassment....and know, that i will do something if pushed.good day

happy sweet sixteen, sierra.

oh geez louise, i am so far behind. this post is coming a little late in the game, but i don't want my sister to think that i wasn't thinking of her on her special day. almost a month ago my sister turned 16 years old. in her honor ...

sierra

s pecial. i know it sounds generic, but 16 years ago this "surprise" "sister" {both s'es} showed up in my life. i didn't know that having a sister could be so wonderful.

i ndescribable. this post won't even begin to do my sister justice. she is funny. talented. full of life. confident. bold. outgoing. so many wonderful things ...

e nergetic. waaay more than i could ever hope to be.

r adiant. the girl glows all the time.

r are. you will never find another girl like this one.

a rtsy. don't let her fool you; she can draw, paint, charcoal, and many others, incredibly well. she's also modest when it comes to her art, however. it is beautiful.

and since it was her sweet 16, i'll list 16 other things about sierra that make her so fabulous.

01. unlike me, sierra is able to play pool; she has even placed in the top three in the last few sessions of league.

02. ... loves all things bright, bold, and beautiful.

03. ... has an incredible fashion sense.

04. ... is incredibly photogenic.

05. ... is a social butterfly.

06. ... always remains true to herself.

07. ... understands what it means to be a true friend.

08. ... can't wait to live in a big city.

09. ... could be a fashion designer with the artistic talents and her love of fashion, but isn't sure this is the path she wants to pursue anymore.

10. ... has given me a glimpse into what it must be like to be a parent; not that she needs a third parent by any means. living here with her the past few months, however, has shown me how it feels to be a parent when your child is out late {with permission}, & not being able to fall asleep until they are at home safely.

11. ... used to call herself "erra reach" when she was a little girl ... a nickname that stuck with her for quite some time.

12. ... is hilarious. she could be a comic.

13. ... has a great love for music.

14. ... knows how to be a girly-girl, but can kick it with the guys any day of the week.

15. ... has brought so much joy to the lives of our family and every person with whom she comes in contact.

16. ... is just an all-around, wonderful kid sister, who is growing up beautifully.

mine & lindsay's cake baking experience.

the week of sierra's sweet 16, lindsay and i decided to try our hand at cake baking. the boys were playing at the pool hall, we were bored, and i had a kit for williams-sonoma that had never been put to much use. we stopped at hobby lobby to purchase a couple of extra icing bags and an extra tip and then headed to the house.

i had already baked the cakes earlier in the day -- two chocolate layers and two white layers. we were going to stack them and attempt to make thick layers.

what a fiasco! we had so much fun, though. i have some hilarious pictures from our adventures ... but of course i don't have them with me now. i promise to post them soon.

we decided to leave the cake baking and decorating to the pros ... you've already heard how that turned out for us. =)

do what you gotta do ... don't contact me again.

i posted this note on facebook earlier in the week. it was my first note to ever post, and i can't believe the response it got.

Is there no such thing as good customer service anymore???? We ordered a cake from the Little Cake Co. in Muskogee for my sister's very special Sweet 16 Birthday party this past weekend. We provided a picture of a cake that we wanted to mimic as well as the colors we needed: pink, white, and black as the party was a pink, white, and black party. The picture we provided used these same colors as well. We asked that the cake not look like a child's cake; that it have two tiers with the top of the cake left blank for our own topper; that one tier be chocolate and the other white. When my brother and sister picked up the cake, it was pink and royal blue(!!!) with big puffy flowers (the cake we asked for had black stripes, white polka dots, and black swirls on different tiers). There was a plastic crown smooshed into the cake that a two or three year old child would wear to play dress up. It had three tiers instead of the requested two, which would have been nice had it not been added on simply because neither of the bottom two layers were chocolate. This top tier was *covered* with multiple decorations. On top of that the cake was "painted." Instead of having pink icing all the way through, there was white icing with pink spray on the top. This became very evident when our cake BEGAN TO FALL APART while it was sitting on the table waiting for the birthday girl to arrive!!! The top tier sank into the second tier and the front of the second tier just fell off onto the table!!! When we called the shop to explain what was happening with the cake, no one answered, so we left a message. This was on the 19th. We didn't get a response until the 22nd telling us to bring back the unused cake for a portion of our money back. We explained that the party had been primarily cake and ice cream, so we had to serve the cake. There was nothing else we could do by that time. Guests were beginning to arrive. The cake was served. The next response we got from the Little Cake Company after we explained that the cake had to be served: "Do what you gotta do. Do not contact me again." Close to $100 was spent on this cake. One would expect to spend this amount of money on a custom, specialty cake. One would not expect to spend that much money on a cake that is not made to order and falls apart before the party begins. One would especially not expect to be treated in the manner in which we were. I can assure you that we will never, nor will any of our family and friends, use the Little Cake Company of Muskogee again.

i wanted so badly to email the lady the note and all of the comments it was receiving. i wanted to tell her, "just thought you should know what people are saying about your business ..." but then i was afraid that she would retaliate by attacking notably noted or something. i couldn't risk that ... especially since i've never even worked with the woman through notably noted. my dream came true yesterday, though, when andrea emailed me and asked if she could do the very thing i'd been wanting to do. i told her to go for it! she put together an email with all of the information and sent it to the woman telling her that we have a wide network of friends and she had definitely harmed future business.

i still just can't believe the lack of customer service in today's business world. my parents and i were talking and we just don't see how people get away with it or get anything accomplished. our businesses would certainly not run if we treated people in the same manner.

sierra's sweet sixteen.

i've just realized how many things truly have happened since i posted last week. much of the time was spent preparing for sierra's sweet 16 ... it was a surprise, so i couldn't really talk about it on the blog. it was a huge success. she was completely surprised, and it's so rare for anyone to be completely surprised these days.

on friday and saturday my mom and i were both rushing around like crazy trying to take care of details while sierra was in school or working at the pool hall. {poor thing had to work on her birthday, but we needed her out of the house!} she was not in the best of moods. on friday night i stayed up and wished her happy birthday at midnight. her response? a very dull "yippee." my mom did the same when she got home from the pool hall that night. again a dull "i know." i felt terrible, but knew that she was going to LOVE the birthday party.

we called the hotel while sierra was at work to confirm our setup time. thankfully my mom thought to do this because when we called we found out they had cancelled our reservation. for no reason! they had booked the room for a classroom during our original set up time. my mom kept asking why they would do this and the lady never apologized! again, where is the CUSTOMER SERVICE??? the lady just said, "ma'am there's nothing we can do about it. do you want the room or not?" my mom told her that we had no option as invitations had been sent out already and it was hours before the party. we were then told that the event coordinator would be leaving and we would have to set up the room ourselves. then we got a phoene call saying that there would be no linens for the table {when booking the reservation we confirmed that there would be} as the linens had been used for another party and were now at the cleaners! again we were told that there was nothing the hotel could do and it was suggested that we "go to the dollar store and purchase something that your daughter would really like."

my mom and i rushed around to take care of last minute errands and then headed to the hotel to set up for the party. justin and lindsay were picking up the cake {which is a whole other post in and of itself} and meeting us at the hotel to help. we were beginning to think that the party was a little cursed, and i was panicking that this special day for sierra wasn't going to work out as we planned.

when we got to the hotel, the room was filled with 12 long rectangular tables {we were supppsed to have 4 round tables} and we were told that *we* could move the tables that we didn't need down the hallway to another room and then bring in round tables from another room, too. there was no way we could use the room as it was. it was set up in a classroom style and had absolutely no room for walking and mingling, much less dancing! i was about to flip out! i am usually very nice to people who are working for businesses ... but i had just about had my fill (and this was before i had seen the cake!). my mom called the event coordinator again and told her that this was not possible, we didn't have the man-power or time to move tables and that something needed to be done! i had a raised voice and was interjecting in the background. the lady *finally* began to help us. she said, "for every problem there is a solution." my mom asked if the room next to ours that was larger and already set with round tables was booked for the night. the lady said no and asked if we would like to use it. my mom said we would not pay the additional fee the larger room cost, and the lady agreed that we would not be charged.

it seemed like things were beginning to fall into place again ... then justin and lindsay arrived with the cake. their faces said it all. i knew something was wrong before i ever saw the cake. since i'm posting another blog about it, all i will say here is that it was completely and utterly wrong!

justin set to work gently removing blue icing from the cake, while my mom, lindsay, and i set up the rest of the room. we got the candy bar set up, linens and centerpieces on all of the tables, and the cake and punch table ready to go. i finished constructing the sweet 16 banner i had created to match sierra's invitations and then away we all rushed again.

i had to pick up some oversized glasses from dee for the candy bar. i rushed in and out and headed to the house. in the meantime, justin and lindsay had taken mom back to the house so she could get ready for work. lydia would be working the pool hall, but we didn't want sierra to know. my mom had to arrive at work at the same time as usual so as not to raise any suspicions. i got to the house where lindsay and justin were waiting for the glasses that i had. they swept out and i went back to find mom dressed in black and white. (did i mention it was a black, white, and pink party and all the guests were asked to dress in those colors?)

i had called travis to ask him to bring sierra home. then i realized mom didn't have a way to work. all of the vehicles except mine were in use and not at the house. i told her she had to get in the car quickly because sierra was on her way home and she couldn't see mom dressed the way she was. we jumped in the car, i dropped mom off, and flew back home to get ready.

i had called sierra earlier in the day after getting texts and calls from melissa and travis that sierra was making plans for the evening. here's how the conversation went ...

r: hey. do you have any plans tonight?
s: not really. friend "a" has asked me to stay the night. friends "b" & "c" want to come over and stay the night. friend "d" invited me to the circus. and i'm sure you guys have something up your sleeve.
r: well i don't have anything up my sleeve, but andy's in town and can get us tickets to a movie sneak peek on the riverwalk in tulsa if you want to go. i've been to one before. dane cook's good luck chuck. it was a lot of fun. they served beer and drinks. obviously you can't drink, but they just do a lot of fun things that you don't usually get to do at a movie. do you want to go?
s: how many tickets do you think she can get?
r: i don't know. i told her you, travis, me, and her. she can probably get one more for nick {we made sure that nick be available no matter what. if there was a party for sierra, nick was certain to be at it. we wanted her to see that nick was available, again to not raise any suspicions}.
s: yeah, that's all i meant. i don't need more than that.
r: okay, well call nick and tell him because you're going to have to come straight home from work and get ready.
s: okay i will.
r: you'll also have to tell him to wear something pink, black, or white.
s: okay ...
r: they won't let you in unless you're wearing those colors. it's part of the movie promotion.
s: okay, what are you going to wear?
...

and so it continued. she invited nick. i told her that it started at 8. i wanted to give her plenty of time to get ready so that she would feel comfortable at her own party, but i also knew that we didn't have a lot of time. i told her we would have to leave for tulsa at 7:15 at the latest.

... now back to where we were. travis got sierra home and she changed clothes a million times. i hated that for her. i know for something like you're own party you want a little notice, but i had given her as much notice as i possibly could.

at 730 we headed out the door and up the street to get nick. except travis noticed that the fuel gauge was completely below empty. a quick pit stop at the gas station and we were headed back to the neighborhood to get nick. who wasn't answering his cell phone. or the house phone. luckily he answered the door. while sierra was getting nick at the door i received a text from justin, "the cake is falling apart. literally."

we got in the car. i called andrea, who was waiting on standby for this moment. as soon as she answered the phone she said, "i'm not ready yet." the plan was for us to "pick andrea up at the hotel on our way to tulsa." "not ready yet??"
a: i ripped my pink tights. i have to find something else to wear. you guys can come up to my room if you want.
r: well it will have to be all of us. we have sierra's friend with us
a: i don't want you to have to wait in the car. here's my room number. just come up. you can have a drink while you wait.
r: okay.
a: don't hate me.
r: i don't hate you. i'm just afraid we're going to be so late
a: we're vip baby

travis parked and we headed inside. there was a sign in the lobby welcoming sierra and wishing her happy sweet 16. i tried to walk in front of it while nick kept her distracted by talking to her. i acted like we were going to the elevators and then walked into the room where everyone was waiting with the lights dimmed. i walked in and then sierra did. she truly didn't know what was going on until the moment she walked in the room and everyone yelled surprise. she was showered with hugs and had the biggest smile on her face. aww success.

then i saw justin and lindsay and they showed me the cake and began telling me about the front of it just falling off.

the rest of the evening was spent at the candy bar, playing chubby bunny, dancing around, and being silly.

i didn't get a single picture on my camera {even though we took a million pictures that night}. i'll have to get the images from my parents' camera and post them later.

the party was a succes and sierra had so much fun. she finished the evening spending the night with several of her girlfriends. and the rest of us came home and crashed!

weekly update.

apparently i'm now doing weekly updates instead of daily. and i did so well last month, writing almost every single day. my lack of blogging is definitely indicative of how very busy i've been staying. {i know. i know. that's how i started out the last post, but it's true!}

the rain has finally let up {for today anyway}. as much as i've been enjoying the rain, this weather is beautiful, too. the official day of fall came on wednesday. and it came right on time. there was that fall "crispness" in the air on wednesday ... and i thought that before ever knowing that it was officially fall.

on sunday i made a trip to okc to remington park for a bridal show. andrea had invited me to go and we had a lot of fun. we visited 60 vendors in about 3 hours. our feet were killing us! luckily i had stowed flats in my bag ... but i felt guilty putting them on since andy didn't have any. poor girl. she was walking so funny by the time we headed out to the car. about 2/3 of the way through the show, we grabbed a glass of wine, and continued our trek to see the rest of the vendors. it was very important that we had our cards signed by every vendor so that we could be entered to win a $4000 reception at remington park. some vendors had left and we were worried that we had put in all of the effort for nothing. when we got to the room to hand in our cards, a very sweet woman signed the rest of our slots for us saying that she understood several of the vendors were gone. we relaxed on some very comfy couches for a few minutes nibbling some sweets before heading down to the winner's circle for the drawing. you had to be present to win the drawing and while there were over 2000 entrants, many had already left, improving our odds. we watched the funniest obstacle course race with 10 brides and their grooms competing for a honeymoon in the caribbean, and then the drawing for the reception. andy won!!! she was the first name they drew out of the hopper!!! she jumped up and down and started yelling! i was super excited for her. she's getting married in hawaii and wanted to have an at-home reception, but wasn't sure if she would be able to ... now she can! ryan {her fiance} couldn't believe it when she called to tell him the good news. after celebrating on the phone a little more, we headed out to the parking lot and decided to grab dinner.

we wanted p.f. chang's {i've been craving it} but we never made it because of a ton of construction. instead we stopped for on the border in edmond. i think we were both starving from the activities of the day. we enjoyed dinner and caught up a little more. then it was time for me to head back home.

andrea gave me the wedding presents she had purchased for me and travis saying that we had to open them on what would have been our wedding day. i told her that we wouldn't {because i love surprises and they're supposed to be for our wedding} ... but she insisted, so we shall see.

the rest of the week has been spent filling orders {yay!!!} and brainstorming new ideas. for the first time ever i think i am spending more time on the computer than travis. my sister is concerned that i am not giving my fiance enough of my attention :). apparently just being in the same room together doesn't qualify as quality time. ;) we still do a pretty good job of spending time together. it's actually kind of nice to have this huge project right now because we're sticking to a *very* tight budget and aren't often able to get out and do stuff. we've been bored for the past couple of months and this at least keeps me occupied. and i love it! not being occupied, but the invitations and paper like i've always wanted to do.

i'll always continue to come up with new designs, etc, but it won't always be this much at a time. as i've explained to my family i have to design 1800 different lines {travis would like to know how i came up with that number!} from the ground up. in the future, i'll be able to add a few designs at a time, but for now, there are many, many designs and lines to make web-ready or create, etc. many invitation boutiques carry several different lines of invitations and only do the personalization when someone places an order. i, on the other hand, don't carry any lines except my own. and it's kind of fun. definitely challenging. but also incredibly exciting and rewarding.

please help me spread the word to family and friends. the website is up and running full-force, and i update facebook regularly as well.

my dad was telling my mom that he thinks we/they should open a business that handles everything ... from invitations, to event planning, to catering, and cakes. all of it. which is what i've been saying for 10 years!!! i always wanted to start with my invitation business to get the business off the ground, but then turn it into a full-scale event planning business. so ... if it really happens, i will be completely excited because it will happen a little faster for me if my parents are helping front the money. and if they decide not to, it's definitely something i will do in the future myself. shhhh ... don't tell anyone. :)

on a roll.

oh man! things have been so crazy busy lately. i may have already posted this, but even so it just proves my point. life for me has consisted of designs, designs, designs, and i love it! getting everything on the website for notably noted is easy, but so time consuming. plus i post new designs to facebook to raise awareness and keep people interested. for every design i create i have 4 or 5 different file types. again, easy but time consuming. png files show colors true to the color i created; i use png files on facebook and any advertising collateral. the website only allows jpg, so i create a jpg file. when i put a file on the website, i don't watermark it with my logo, but when i post on facebook, i do. it's neverending it seems. but i'm not complaining. i really do love it. it's been a dream/goal of mine for so long. no; not complaining. just explaining the process.

orders have started to come in, and that's very exciting. i wish it would pick up a bit more, and hope that with the holidays right around the corner it will.

sierra's birthday is at the end of the week. i can hardly believe that she will be 16!!! it kind of snuck up on us and with my parents' business, it's always hard to have special events on friday and saturday unless we want to do it at the pool hall. i think we'll have the traditional family birthday party on sunday afternoon. my mom usually cooks and everyone comes over to the house for cake. i seriously can't belive how old she is ... and in relation how old i am! =)

mandi and i were talking earlier this week and i remember when i turned 16. she {mandi} and i were still corresponding via letters and postcards.

oh! and speaking of mandi, i think she's going to help design a line of gift items for notably noted ... but we'll save the surprise until the product line is ready to launch. i'm super excited about it though! {for those who don't know, mandi is my cousin. my mom's brother's daughter. she's one of my favorite people and the cousin i am probably the closest to. we don't get to see each other often {even though she only lives in owasso!} but i feel like we always pick up right where we left off, and i know i can trust her with anything}. i'm excited that we'll get to work together on something like this ... and who knows ... maybe a store front in the future.

elever is still in need of a new name. you'd think that since i consider myself a creative person i would have invented one by now ... but alas, i have not. any ideas? send them my way.

happy rainy friday!

oh, wait. i also wanted to mention how much i am actually enjoying all of this rain. i know a lot of people are complaining about it and ready for it to go away, but i'm loving it. which is surprising. i usually only like rain if i am at home curled up with a cozy blanket and a book. too many days without sun and i tend to get a little sour mood. right now, i love! the rain. i don't mind if it stays. maybe i could live in a place like seattle afterall ... though san francisco has still been on my heart and mind a lot lately.

okay, i really am going to get back to billing for sixbyte now. it's just so hard to crunch numbers and send out invoices when i have a million and one more creative, interesting things on my mind.

much love darlings. xoxo.

my new haircut.

excuse the poor lighting and grainy picture. fluorescent lights and phone cameras don't mix. i love my new full-fringe bangs {as opposed to side-swept}. however, it seems like i picked an absolutely terribly hairstyle for the rainy weather we've been having. i don't think my hair has been this straight or this sleek since the day of my hair appointment! i wish i had a picture of travis's haircut. it's super cute as well. oh wait; travis hates to be referred to as "cute." it's very studly and masculine and makes him look even hotter!

travis's wedding ring.

i've found the wedding band that i would like to get travis. it's a little unique, but that's what i really love about him. the ring has "battle scars" and it reminds me of the hard times couples go through together in the journey of life. the ring always remains intact. i love the picture it paints. not that marriage will be hard. {not that it won't be. i'm sure we'll have our moments}. life in general is just hard. and it's nice to know there is someone there to weather the storms with you. each ring is handmade, so no two rings are exactly alike. there are two width sizes shown below, but you can determine the size you want yourself. we will probably go with something in between these two sizes.

changes.

so you know me ... i've been waiting to post yet again until i have pictures. when am i going to learn?

this has been an exciting week, far more interesting than the rather mundane weeks we've been having. this week travis and i both got haircuts and i love them! love! them! {btw, blogger is being really weird. as i type the screen keeps expanding to make one loooooong line, instead of automatically bumping me down to the next line. weird}. but back to our exciting week. i took a picture with my phone immediately after my hair appointment, but i can't get it to send via text or via phone email. my phone is a little jacked up. everytime i try to send it, it shuts off. i've sent pictures from my phone millions of times, so i'm not sure what the problem is. i absolutely love travis's hair as well, and he keeps getting compliments on it. renata is just great. travis has never found someone whom he likes to cut his hair. renata has never let him down.

the next bit of exciting news is my stationery boutique. i have decided to launch an online campaign for it. as you know, i've dabbled in a blog showcasing my products, but didn't like it because i didn't have a website and there wasn't an easy way for individuals to pick out and purchase products. then i tried an etsy shop, but i didn't really spend time nurturing it and promoting it (which i am a little thankful for, as i've decided to change the name of my store). i have forever wanted to open a store called "cordially invited;" the more i look around, however, the harder it would be for me to have a store with that name. no suitable website is still available for a shop with that name. so travis and my family and i did a little brainstorming and a new brand was born.

notably noted.

i didn't think i would ever love a name as much as cordially invited, but i think notably noted is great. i'm very happy with it. and i was able to find the name available on all outlets that i needed (notablynoted.com + notablynoted.etsy.com + facebook + twitter). i registered the website earlier this week and now have a splash page up while i continue to search for the perfect webpage template. i don't want to wait to have one designed just for me at this time, and there are several wonderful sites already available.

in all the years i've talked about opening a store-front, i've always known that i would open it around christmas time. jen and i were talking about her photography business and my business. i was very inspired and decided that if i am ever to take the plunge, now is the time. it is right before the christmas holidays and i am hoping to get a lot of brand awareness during this time which will help with recurring business throughout the year next year.

i still plan to do the "elever" business {which has yet to re-named} but the stationery boutique is still very near and dear to my heart, and i just love doing it. my hope is that the online stationery boutique will become more of a "residual income" source while i focus time and energy on retaining new clients and promoting that business.

i've spent most of the past few days uploading my designs to facebook and will probably start my etsy shop soon. i hope that you enjoy my new designs and also hope that you will help spread the word among your families and friends.

it's not just me.

apparently travis has been just as tired as i have. the other night he was ready to go to bed at 9:00 {much earlier than his usual time}. now he's in bed taking a nap and it's not even 8:00! i'm concerned that he won't be able to sleep tonight, but he just couldn't stay awake.

i didn't take a nap under the desk like i wanted to, but around 1:30 or 2:00 travis needed to use my desktop computer, so i had to step away from my desk for a moment. i ended up falling asleep in the chair while he was working!

{yaaaaaaaaaaawn}.

so lately i've been feeling extremely tired, all of the time. i never seem to be able to get enough sleep. when i am asleep, i. am. out. there is nothing waking me up or disturbing me. travis calls me in the mornings to wake me up ... he called three times yesterday and i never woke up. he was all the way to my bed by the time i woke up. normally the sound of the door wakes me.

monday i went to work for a client! woo hoo. oh wait. i should bring everyone up to speed. i no longer have my business partner. we had not met since june and getting her to meet with me was like pulling teeth ... or something even harder and more painful. we dissolved the partnership, and i am currently looking for a new name. if you have any suggestions, i would love to hear them. but back to the client. i got one company to sign three different contracts -- i'm on retainer with them to handle their client appreciation events; i've been hired to plan their company holiday party for their clients and associates; i've also been hired to design their christmas cards and to design and create their christmas baskets that they'll deliver as gifts! a lot of fun and exciting things. i met with 6 different people in the company on monday so that i could get right to work on tuesday when the contracts went into effect. it feels fabulous my dears! absolutely fabulous!

i realize that i still have a few loose ends to tie up with my ex-business-partner. for instance she still has a key to the mailbox. i never could get her to meet me face-to-face, so i ended up mailing her the dissolution paperwork.

also, the introduction of my online stationery boutique is drawing close! i can't wait to introduce the name and website to you. if you have any special requests for any designs, let me know, and i'll get started on them. i would love to showcase them in the store.

it's only 10:17 and already another nap under my desk sounds fabulous!

agh! i love this girly-girl notecard.

i designed this girly notecard earlier this afternoon. i tend to not be overly girly, but i felt inspired, and this is what i came up with. i love it! {i probably shouldn't love my own work so much, but i felt like it was a huge accomplishment. -- i drew all of the little shapes, so i was pretty proud.} i hope you like.

weekend review.

hmm...i've wanted to blog the past few days, but i haven't really felt like there is anything to blog about. i can't even really remember what we did on friday night, but i can remember thinking on saturday that it wasn't really blog worthy.

then there was saturday. hmm ... i don't remember what we did then either. oh wait, yes i do. i started writing the next paragraph and then i remembered. we woke up, took showers, decided that we didn't want to spend the day sitting around the house. as we were discussing what we were going to do, i remembered that it was gail ferguson's birthday party {60!} at the pool hall, and she had asked us to be there. we headed to the pool hall {i said a little

"ugh" under my breath to be heading there again}. travis shot around and i messed around on the computer, looking up other stationery and invitation websites. then i started looking for a website template for my company. we ended up being at the pool hall almost all day long. we went back to the house for a little cat nap, but then we were right back up here {i say "here" because guess where i just happen to be while typing this ... }. we ended up staying until closing time. i got really into a logo design i was making, so i didn't mind. in fact, i was trying to throw touching finishes on it after my dad had shut off the power to the building. it was fun too because travis and sierra had a little crash course in all there is to learn about computers. sierra thinks she would like to know how to take a computer apart and put it back together, and also how to design on the computer.

when we got back to the house, i showed travis the web templates i had found and talked about different ideas and options.

sunday was a lot of fun for me. the weather in oklahoma right now is unbelievable! it's so mild and it's august!!! it felt more like a cross between spring and fall. my parents had gone out of town on a bike ride with a group of friends, so i dropped sierra at church that morning, and then headed back home. travis asked if i wanted to go to tulsa. even though we have to drive there all week for work, we really just wan

ted to get away. as i was sitting in the car thinking of thi

ngs we could do with very few dollars spent, i remembered that we had a gift card to the amc. we got to town, headed to the office to pick up a file that travis needed, and then grabbed a little fast food action as a late dinner. after that we went to the halloween costume shop followed by barnes and noble. barnes and noble was so crowded! there were people everywhere! we were there for about 40 minutes or so when we headed around to the theatre.

it had been ages since i had been to the amc 20 {41st and yale} and travis had never been. we decided to watch the ugly truth. oh. my. gosh. i thought i was so funny. it's definitely vulgar and innappropriate, so no small children, but hilll-arious! i laughed so hard at one point soda went up my nose. painful, but well worth it! everyone in the theatre was laughing. i know we've been watching quite a few movies lately, but it was fun to watch one in the theatre, and in a regular-sized theatre ... not the baby screens that many of the theatres in town have.

and then today. today was a good day. i got to talk to two of my good friends -- andrea and kate. did a little work for sixbyte this morning and then headed to one of my clients. it was a lot of fun to answer kate's question "what are you doing" with "headed back from a client visit." my contracts that i got signed go into effect tomorrow, so i had to get a little more information and really get the ball going. yay!

i have a feeling this week is going to be a busy week. i'm helping andy with her save-the-dates {yay!}. i have to design an email blast for one of my clients. i have to finish reconciling the accounts for sixbyte. i have to figure out the layout of my parents' pool hall website with travis. i need to take care of our books. i need to invoice {yay!} my client. i think the list goes on.

for now, i think i will sign off. i feel like my eyes are too heavy to stay awake. i better get started on all i have to do.

christmas cards.

sleigh bells ring, are you listening?

okay, so in my search, i'm running across my old designs, and getting psyched to design some more. this. is. what. i. LOVE. i love it. love. love. love it. i am still excited about élever and still believe in the company, but when i start doing this kind of design, something just comes alive in me. i can work for hours and hours, never stopping, and i never get in a bad mood. i wish there was a better way to describe it, but i love it!

i was at the office until almost 9:00 with travis waiting with him. he had to go to a client's at 9:00 {it's a dealership, and he can't do some of the updates until after they close}. turns out the lot was still trying to close a deal at 9:45 when i called to tell him i was home ... he hadn't even gotten to start yet! poor baby. he made it home a little after 11:00.

since it's so late, i'm going to bring this to a close ... but i will leave you with the designs i was talking about above. sweet dreams!

lunch with jen + christmas in august.

today started out incredibly frustrating, but quickly turned around when i met jen for lunch at mcalister's. it had been some time since we last saw one another.

it was so much fun hearing about how quickly her photography business is taking off {jennycollierphotography.com}. i just knew it would, and i'm so excited for her!

after lunch we headed over to peek-a-boo to check out their fun baby products. while there we noticed yet another store is already bringing out their christmas decorations. jen is already getting christmas cards together for her clients. i mentioned that i had cards already designed and would be happy to partner with her if she ever had a need for card designs; it would allow her to focus specifically on her photography and not have to take extra time on cards, birth announcements, etc. i told her i would get a few examples to her, and thought that i would post them for you as well.

as jen and i were talking about, you have to have product that you might not necessarily choose but will suit the needs of different customers. i've tried to include a nice selection. i'm sure i'll post more in a few days.

weekend review.

this past weekend we spent most of our time at the lears' house. on saturday travis and his dad fixed one of my parents' lawnmowers while i picked up pinecones in the yard. there were tons that had been blown down in the storm. i have several battle scars on my legs ... i was actually bleeding in a couple of places. i think those were some of the sharpest pinecones i've ever held! i also got to take a ride in dee and steve's new car. have i mentioned they got a new car? i keep meaning to. they bought it the weekend sue and the boys were in town.

they got a 2009 hyundai santa fe. there's is a midnight blue color, but i was unable to find a picture of it online. it's really roomy. it was funny because we passed steve on our way to the house. he was driving his truck in the opposite direction. when we got to the house we asked where he had gone. dee told us he had gone to "look at some tires." i guess so!

on sunday we spent time at the lears again. travis and his dad were working on a riding mower this time, but were unable to find the manual they need to work on it. we'll probably spend next weekend with them working on it now that my mom was able to purchase the necessary manual.

while the boys were tinkering, dee and i took amanda lunch at work and then we headed to look for a mother-of-the-groom dress again. we were hoping with fall right around the corner, they would have new arrivals. we didn't see anything we liked {and very few new things, really}. most of the items were from the summer that we had already passed over when we were shopping earlier this spring and summer. hopefully as time goes on, more items will come in. i really think that we need to make a shopping trip to tulsa. muskogee really has so little.

we spent time playing with connor and giving him a bath ... just to watch him get wet and muddy playing with tido in the backyard at the lears'. i can't believe how much he has grown! travis and i were just talking about that; then i came across a picture of him earlier today that made me realize just how much he really has grown. i think he may need a brother or a sister puppy once we get a place of our own.