Saturday, February 28, 2009

this is just too cute.

This video is just too cute.

On a similar note, Jonathan and I will be an aunt and uncle any day now! Jonathan's sister Julie and her husband Kenny are having a baby girl...Kate! We are very much looking forward to her arrival. She's the first baby in the family, so this is very exciting. :)


Friday, February 27, 2009

replacing rhonda.

So this is Jonathan, not Tiffany as is usually the case around here. Just thought I'd point that out before I begin, now on with it...

I'm one of those weird people that names inanimate objects that happen to fall into my possession. I've got a wall of guitars behind me all named things starting with the letter 'E' for some reason. I had a little old beat up red Honda Civic hatchback that I adoringly referred to as Edna, and most recently a white 1991 Honda Accord my wife bestowed the name Rhonda upon. It was fun, we called it 'Rhonda the Honda'. Silly, I know.

Well for those that don't know, last October, a sixteen year old kid that had been driving for only two weeks decided to broadside poor Rhonda with his full-size Nissan Titan truck. And after a bewildering 180o spin through the street, over the curb, and into someone's yard Rhonda's time had come to an end and the endless search for a replacement began.

Well, not so endless.


*cue dramatic music and awesome announcer voice*

It is with great pleasure that we introduce to you our new, yet-to-be-named, 1996 Honda Accord LX.

have a lovely weekend.


{image by me}

I hope you'll have a lovely weekend, friends! Relax, sleep in a bit, make a big Saturday morning breakfast, and enjoy time with those you love. In the meantime, here are some things I found interesting this week...

Why lenses are the real key to stunning photos. {and why I really need to get a new one.}

Some adorable paper goods from London. {I love love love.}

Quality Time: How To Find More And Some Ideas On How To Use It. {definitely one of my major love languages. I heart quality time with those I love.}

McDonald’s Big Mac Special Sauce recipe. {I have a new found love for the Big Mac...soooo...I was thrilled to find this. It is pretty yummy too!}

This photography/social experiment is so intriguing! I am tempted to do something like this myself. {how fun, albeit somewhat scary, would it be to see the results?}

A craft tutorial for a door organizer. Two things that I love: crafting and organizing. Might have to try this one someday.

I hope you'll enjoy these links and have a lovely weekend, friends.

xoxo

days like these make me happy, because i get to wear my rainboots.

Days like these make me smile, because I get to wear
my polka dotted rain boots.



Getting to wear my rain boots somehow makes any dreary day
just a little bit brighter.



Max, on the other hand, doesn't like the rain at all.
Maybe if he had some puppy rain boots he would feel a little differently about that.

{all images by me}

Thursday, February 26, 2009

i love my husband.






i am so proud of my husband and all that he does.
he makes all days sunshiney.
and brings me my favorite ice cream when he knows i want {no, need} some chocolate.

i love you, husband.




dr. horrible.

Okay, if you haven't watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog then you simply must. The songs from this have periodically been stuck in my head since this past summer. And Neil Patrick Harris is amazing in it.


{image from drhorrible.com}

"Laundry Day" is most likely my favorite scene, since it is the song that most often gets stuck in my head {don't say I didn't warn you!} So, here it is for your viewing pleasure:



To watch the full musical, go here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/28343/dr-horribles-sing-along-blog

Please do watch it...because it is hahahahilarious.

Hope you're having a happy Thursday! :)

i heart photo booths.

I really love old fashioned photo booths. You know, the kind that print out photo strips as opposed to little sketches of a picture of you {and all the other crazy stuff that modern photo booths have now.} I think photo booth strips are so full of life, personality, and love.



We found this little photo booth in Gatlinburg, TN during our recent mini vacation there. Unfortunately, we didn't have any loose change to actually use it, but we did enjoy taking pictures of it.

Back at Christmastime I had the itch to have some photo booth strips on our fridge, so we decided to make some of our own. Luckily I found this template and was able to use it to make some lovely photo strips in Photoshop {you should make some too! they're so much fun!}



These are now hanging on our fridge. They make my heart dance.

{and if you look closely, you can see that Max wanted in on the photo strip action too.}


Wednesday, February 25, 2009

max and his photoshoot.

I love taking photographs. And I love our puppy Max. So, whenever I feel the need to pull out my camera...Max is always there as a willing model. He really does quite a good job posing for me.

Although his attention span can be rather short sometimes.

Here are some images from Max's photoshoot earlier today:






I think they should make an America's Next Top Dog Model.
And Max would surely be the winner.

what i sometimes do during my lunch break.

I am not a huge TV watcher {as I mentioned in this post}, but often on the days that I don't go into the studio and I work from my home office I like to take my lunch break an hour early...to watch the Rachael Ray Show.



I just love her show!

Reason #1: She has amazing recipes that I love to try! {we have definitely found some new favorites as a result of my occasional watching of this show.}
Reason #2: She is funny and spunky.
Reason #3: She often has ideas for inexpensive decorating, fashion, beauty, etc. It's very helpful when you live on a budget.
Reason #4: It sometimes gives me a good break to my day. I often make the mistake of not taking a break at all. I sometimes catch myself working straight through my lunch break, and at the end of the day I am just bushed. Taking a break is good for you and good for your productivity {I have to remind myself of this!}

I also love how they post clips from the episode directly on their website...you know, for those days I'm out at the studio and can't take my Rachael Ray break. :)

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

husby's birthday celebration adventure.

As you all know, this past weekend was husband's birthday. On Saturday we celebrated a day early with a Jonathan & Tiffany fun day!

WARNING: there are a lot of photos in this post.




I decorated the entire house with Happy Birthday messages all over.



In honor of husband turning 24, I blew up 24 balloons and placed them all over the place!
And Max loooooved the balloons {you can see just how much he loved the balloons here.}



I also made him 24 birthday cards!



Bright and early Saturday morning I surprised husby with a homemade breakfast of stuffed french toast with berries complete with orange juice and coffee.
I just love big breakfasts on Saturdays.



Apparently husband thought it was too early in the morning
to take pictures with a flash. "SO bright!" :)



For his birthday present I gave husby an outdoor fireplace!
Because men make fire {safely contained fires, that is.}



Me and the birthday guy! I lurrrv him.



For lunch we ate at Beef 'O' Brady's and got a free appetizer {my chicken quesadilla}
with the purchase of an entrée {husband's wing basket!} {I love restaurant deals and coupons!}




After lunch we went to our favorite place for a frozen treat...SMOOTHIE KING!
Mmmmm...nothing like a dessert that is good for you!



Because husby loves guitar and all things music, we went to a couple different
music stores for him to try out some new acoustics {if you can't tell already,
I like taking pictures of my husband. He's my favorite.}





Toys 'R' Us was our next stop. We were in search for a good action figure,
but were sadly disappointed with their lack of selection. But it was still fun browsing the aisles
of toys and being kids again.



Next up: THE MOVIES! We went to see "Taken", and it was SO good!
And there was this scary cardboard cutout {below}, but husband made it
not-so-scary and more funny so I wouldn't have nightmares. :)



After the movie, we went to Ruby Tuesdays {with a buy one entrée
get one free coupon} and got salad and yummy steaks....mmmmm...

To top the day off, we went home for some birthday cake!
I made an Oreo Fudge Ice Cream Cake!
And husband had sparkler candles. I have always wanted to
make a cake with sparkler candles on top. :) Although I have to admit
I thought I may possibly burn down our house...there were a lot of candles! :)




We had a very fun day together. I love my husband
and enjoyed getting to celebrate him all day long.


looking forward to springtime.


I love all of the different seasons of the year. And I think God knew what he was doing when he created the different seasons...he created them with people like me in mind...I love a good change in scenery.



It's cold out this morning, and I don't mind the cold. But I am looking forward to springtime because:
  • I want to plant some wildflowers in my garden.
  • Cookouts are my favorite.
  • Laying on a blanket in the park reading a book is priceless.
  • Going for walks after dinner with husband and Max and it still being light outside will be oh-so-nice.
  • Sunshine and warmth.
  • Skirts and flipflops.
  • Spring showers {which means getting to wear my polka dotted wellies!}
  • Hammocks {we bought one in Guatemala last spring, and I can't wait to actually put it up and get some good use out of it...YAY!}
Those are just a few of the reasons I'm looking forward to spring.

What do you love about springtime?

Sunday, February 22, 2009

max and the red balloon.

There are quite a few balloons around the house right now, because in honor of husband's 24th birthday I blew up 24 balloons. {I will share more of the birthday celebrating experience later.} At first Max did not know what to think of all of these balloons that were about his size...but he quickly grew to love them, as you can see from this video that I captured with my phone:




He has entertained himself quite a bit with these balloons. {I've definitely watched him closely though, because I didn't want him to pop one and accidentally choke on it or anything.} But he has actually become quite clever...whenever he wants to relocate a balloon, he picks it up by the tied end and moves it like it's no big deal at all. I was quite impressed.

happy birthday, husband.

happy birthday to my amazing husband.

i am so blessed to get to spend all of life with this wonderful man.

i am so glad you were born, husby! you are very loved.


{photos by me}

p.s. husband and I had a wonderful celebration yesterday. i will fill you in later.


Friday, February 20, 2009

birthday freebies.



For birthdays, husby and I try to be as frugal as possible {although it is hard at times...especially when one of your main love languages is gift giving.} We try to not go overboard. One thing that has always helped me in preparing for husby's birthday is coupons and birthday deals! Last year on husband's birthday we went to the Zoo, ate at Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch, went to the movies {and got soda and snacks}, and had a nice italian dinner and dessert at Provino's...all for under $40. This was made possible by the wonderful coupons and birthday deals I had been saving up and researching the weeks prior to his big day.

In preparation for husband's birthday this year, I have also been doing quite a bit of research on any birthday deals I can find {some of them are valid a week before and a week after your birthday as well!}

My suggestion is that any time you sign up for a birthday deal, don't use your main email account. I have set up a yahoo account just for these purposes. Because normally when you sign up for any deal a restaurant has, they will automatically put you on their email list...and that can be kind of annoying.

Here are some of the birthday freebies I have found:
  • Friendly's. Free ice-cream cone {good for one month.} --> this is one of my favorite restaurants, but we don't have one in Tennessee.
  • Moe's. Free burrito on your birthday.
  • Baskin-Robbins. Free 2.5 oz scoop of ice-cream on your birthday {good for one week before and one week after your birthday.}
  • Cold Stone Creamery. Free ice-cream {good for one week before and one week after your birthday.}
  • Provino's will give you a free meal AND dessert on your birthday {when you show I.D., no sign up or coupon needed.}
  • Outback will giveyou a free dessert on your birthday {no sign up necessary.}
  • Red Robin will give you a free burger on your birthday {good for one week before and one week after birthday.}
  • And did you know that DisneyWorld and Disneyland give you free admission on your birthday?!
Well, that's all I have time to share for now. Hope some of these deals come in handy for you. Now I'm off to finish getting ready for the rest of today's festivities!

Happy Saturday!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

have a lovely weekend.


{photo by me}

I hope you'll all have a very happy weekend. Any exciting plans? Sunday is husband's birthday, so we will be birthday partying it up for the next couple of days. It will be marvelous. Celebrating the existence of those you love is oh-so-much-fun!

Looking for some ideas on what to do this weekend?
Whatever you end up doing this weekend, I hope you'll have a lovely one.

ninja cat.

Here's a video of a ninja cat to make you laugh:

max and the drive-thru.



Last night we took this little guy with us when we went on our search for a yummy frozen treat. Our first stop was Smoothie King {our absolute favorite}, but they were already closed. So, we then went to Dairy Queen instead {and because I still somewhat resembled a red balloon, we went through the drive-thru.}

This was Max's first experience going through the drive-thru, and he really didn't know what to think. When we rolled down the windows he continuously sniffed the air, smelling the scent of burgers and icecream. When the little voice on the speaker came on asking what we wanted, he stood still and his ears perked up as he listened intently. And when we finally drove up to the window and the lady leaned out to get our money and give us our blizzards, Max lost it. He started whining like crazy while doing his little tail-wag dance. You see, it drives him crazy if people don't say hi to him. He loves making new friends, and I'm pretty sure he has this complex and thinks that everyone is supposed to love him {because that is normally the reaction he gets from people. When we're on walks, almost everyone stops and pats him on his long back and says he's "soooooooo cute."} When someone doesn't say hi to him, I'm pretty sure it hurts his feelings.

And to top that off, he didn't get any ice cream.

I feel guilty, and will have to make it up to him by playing hide and go seek or tag with him later. And yes, he does play these games...but that's another story for another time.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

today I feel like a red balloon.

Today I feel like a red balloon.


Why you ask? Because in the middle of the night I had an allergic reaction and now I'm all red and puffed up. Not quite sure what caused the reaction, but I sure would love to find out so I can avoid this thing for all eternity. This is the second allergic reaction I've had in the past month and a half. Weird.

On the bright side, I suppose being able to relate to a red balloon isn't all that bad. Look at the red balloon...isn't it just so cheery? Yes, red balloons make me smile.

Now I'm off to spend some quality time with my dear friend Benadryl.

With love, Tiffany

this makes me really happy.

I can't help but smile while watching this.


BOOMBOX from Ely Kim on Vimeo.

I really wish that everyone would break out into dance like this in the middle of a normal day in normal places. I have this dream that one day life will be like a musical. How could the world not be a happier place?

Monday, February 16, 2009

the weekend adventure {part 3}

Sorry I am so late in putting this up.
I have been bad at keeping up with the blog lately.

Here are the rest of the pictures from the weekend adventure to Gatlinburg.
{you can see all of them here.}






we had lots of fun {we heart mini-golfing and ice skating.}
and I love my husband a whole lot.