I need a vacation...

Matt and I booked our trip to New York for the end of March. We'll be staying in the Chelsea district for 3 nights and checking out the New York version of Spam a Lot. Needless to say, this trip is much needed. Work has me slightly burned out. It's a lesson for next year not to schedule 2 events within 1.5 weeks of each other. Especially one that requires so much intricate detailing as the Santa Cruz trip.

And seriously, after today's experience with the TSA, I don't want to fly out of Orange County for a very long time. They probably have us flagged as a security risk now. For those that will be flying out of SNA anytime soon, the red buckets for carry on items are BAD. Don't use them.

Anyway, since I'm mentally exhausted, a vacation would be a good thing. Luckily after the next two weeks, I won't be as bogged down as I was within these last three. And the added responsibility of my classwork isn't helping either.

Tomorrow is a day off, thank goodness. Granted I'll be sitting with Matt to do our taxes with a professional, and then getting my eyes dilated, it's still a day off that won't require too much thinking.

Did I mention I'm burned out?

What Your Latte Says About You

You don't treat yourself very often. You find that indulging doesn't jibe with your very disciplined life. You can be quite silly at times, but you know when to buckle down and be serious. You have a good deal of energy, but you pace yourself. You never burn out too fast. You're addicted to caffeine. There's no denying it. You are responsible, mature, and truly an adult. You're occasionally playful, but you find it hard to be carefree. You are expressive and friendly, but you are never pushy.

What Does Your Latte Say About You?

Veronica & Jim - invitations

*Note: important information has been changed to protect the couple from the wacky people on the internet. Though, a last name like "Whitesnake" might be kind of cool... in the 1980s. But I digress.

I helped redesigned/relayout this email-only invite recently for Veronica and Jim. Since it wasn't your typical print and mail invite, I was pretty excited to work with them. They were pretty happy with the result.

Pocket full of nothing...

Have you ever noticed that women's pants, unless they are casual pants, do not have pockets? I roamed through Macy's, Target, and a variety of boutique shops and cannot find a good pair of suit/dress pants that can hold my insulin pump. I struggled a bit this weekend to find a pair of khakis that had pockets AND were short enough to not drag all over the ground without heels. The sad part is that I need something a little dressier for work related purposes and prefer to have pockets in my pants.

Is it because it's automatically assumed that we'll carry a purse around? Or that will stuff everything we own in a suit jacket pocket? The worst is the sorry attempts at a pocket; where the pocket is actually only about 2 inches deep so my pump protrudes out like some strange tumor in my hip. (The wire tubing doesn't help the matter either.)

I also have a problem with PJ pants not having pockets either. But my biggest concern is the dress pants. Especially since the belt clip pump look really disrupts the flow of the outfit. *sigh*

Our Pro Photos are in!

After a couple months of waiting and confusion, we have our digital negatives back from our photographer. We are happy with the results and invite you to take a look.

Full gallery

Givin' it up

I realized today that Lent starts on Wednesday, which means I have to give up meat on Fridays, as well as some vice that has become uncontrollable. In more recent years, it's become harder to give up things because I've either a) already given them up or b) couldn't have them to begin with. For example, I could give up going out to lunch every day, daily Starbucks runs, or a weekly dose of retail therapy. However, we've been so broke lately, I haven't been able to do either of these in quite some time.

I can't give up meat, carbs, desserts, fried food, cookies, etc. because I rarely eat these items anyway due to my diet or can't give it up because my doctors will advise me to change religions. (Don't even get me started on fasting...)

I don't play online games. I rarely have time to Nest anymore at work. I don't text message. I'm fresh out of ideas.

I just want something simple to give up. None of these "change the world and outlook in 40 days" kinds of goals. My priest gave up playing Hearts on his computer one year. Something simple. Something I can actually remember to give up.

Suggestion box is open, kids.

Shirley and Jody - Save the Dates

So since this blog was meant to showcase some of my stationary work, I thought it might be time to actually post some of my work. So here is the first one up to bat: save the date concepts for my high school gal pal, Shirley, and her fiance, Jody. Both wanted a vintage looking card featuring a record player circa the 1950s. But nothing too stuffy. So I came up with a fun little card they can send. They are still deciding on the colors though. The green is a little more classic looking, but the burgundy is part of their color palette.

Handbag Hell

The task of finding a basic black handbag proved to be quite a challenge. I visited about 5-10 different stores with a variety of styles and prices, only to settle on a simple black tote from Target.

Why?

One reason is that I have a hard time justifying throwing down a mortgage payment for a designer purse. Granted they'll last through a nuclear war, but I'd feel guilty for putting on the bathroom floor on accident, or letting a cheap pen or my glucose tablets spill all over the insides. And let's not forget trying to stuff it in my carry-on luggage at the airport.

The other reason I was so picky was because my last purse had enough hardware on it to power a small computer. I didn't want to make the same mistake. Typically, those with all the bangles, clasps, and fancy doo-dads put an extra 5 pounds on my shoulder. Since I already carry around a small arsenal of diabetic and beauty supplies, my shoulder doesn't need to suffer much more.

With that in mind, I found a slightly larger, but very plain, $30 tote with lots of pocket space. My goal is to not fill it so that it no longer closes. Hopefully my shoulder will thank me.