being silly at staples.

There's just something about going to an office supply store that gets me and Jonathan all giddy on the inside. Go ahead, laugh it you want...but it's true. For me, I think it has something to do with the sentimentality of getting new school supplies every fall growing up.

Well, last night we went to Staples...and we were like two little kids in a candy shop.

Yeah...it's okay if you pretend like you don't know us the next time you see us. I think it'd be totally understandable...

BUT, in our defense--we did go there with a purpose: to buy me some new black pens. And we sure did find some awesome pens at that.

a season for everything lovely.

One of my favorite things is experiencing the change in seasons. Spring, summer, autumn, winter. Each new season brings a new set of possibilities...and potential memories made. When asked which time of year is my favorite, my answer is all of them. I am equally excited to see each season arrive...full of potential and overflowing with opportunities. It is exciting, to say the least.

As spring slowly comes to a close and the summer months are upon us, I look forward to these things:

• cookouts on the grill {husband makes the best grilled chicken!}
• taking naps in my hammock {which we just bought a stand for, so we can actually use it now...yay!}
• the smell of freshly cut grass.
• the feeling of sunshine on my shoulders and in my hair.
• sipping fruit tea with husby as the sun goes down and talking about our present and our future together.
• fireworks.
• picnics in the park.
• summery music {i.e. the beach boys, the beatles, jack johnson, etc.}
• my wildflower garden blooming.
• fairs and carnival {i have a thing for cotton candy and ferris wheels}
• buying fresh flowers and quality produce at the farmer's market.
• painting my nails bright, fun, colors!
• taking lots of photographs in the lovely weather.
• going to the drive-in movies and munching on yummy treats.
  
• husband's senior recital.
• husband's graduation.
• our two year wedding anniversary.
• vacation together.

{photos taken in 2006 during "the dating years" at the fair}

What are some things about summer that you are looking forward to?

our wonderful weekend {in pictures}

What a wonderful weekend we had! Friday night was date night, and is always a treat. We started out by going to Taco Yaki {which we affectionately refer to as "Yucky Taco"...although it is not yucky and they do not serve tacos} for a yummy Japanese dinner. After we were full from dinner, we went to Starbucks and talked over coffee. And then drove around our wonderful town looking for new photo op spots for me to take portraits at. And we ended the night by cuddling watching the latest episodes of The Office and 30 Rock. Wonderful night.

And, here is our weekend {in pictures}...

Jonathan never orders good coffee. He always likes mine better. I tell him he should just let me order for him. :)



Mmmm...iced vanilla coffee. Love it.




Saturday afternoon I got to hangout with my dear friend Lauren. She was house sitting and we hung out by the pool talking about life and all that goes with it.



Saturday evening I got to photograph Thorne and Laura, one of my favorite couples of all-time! Here is a sneak peak of their shoot...believe me, there are much more to come. We had a lot of fun!



Sunday morning my wonderful husband led worship at our church {I'm so proud of him.} Jonathan's mom and step-dad came and visited us and we went to Tony's in downtown Chattanooga for some delicious italian! It was great getting to see them.

This weekend I also weeded out a spot in my backyard and planted a wildflower garden! Ahhh...I have always wanted to have one of these and I am so-very-excited about it! I'm just hoping that the seeds grow with no complications {I keep running out there every few hours to make sure the soil is still moist.}

How were your weekends, my friends? I hope you all enjoyed this absolutely gorgeous weather we're having!

i opened my own etsy shop!

Remember that little project/surprise that I've been working on? Well....here it is! I have now officially opened up my very own Etsy shop {named with love, tiffany} to sell my original hand illustrated cards. :)

I've been working on this for a while...coming up with inspiration for new card designs, buying supplies, creating the illustrations by hand, setting up the shop, etc. It has been very fun and very exciting!

I would absolutely love it if you checked out my shop and told everyone you know about it! :)

withlovetiffany.etsy.com

Tell everyone you know to come to me for their greeting card needs. I also accept custom orders, so if there's something you would like...just let me know!

Below are just a few of the card designs that are for sale in my shop. I'd love to hear what you guys think.

{photos by me}

all cards pictured can be purchased at withlovetiffany.etsy.com

i like making cards.

i guess it has something to do with my love of snail mail and for all things handmade, but i love making my own cards and stationery. ever since i was a little girl, i loved making cards for people i loved.

here are some of my latest creations:

{click on image to see larger view}

i've thought about possibly opening up my own etsy shop and selling some of these, but i'm not sure if i'll actually get around to doing it.

in the meantime, i'm enjoying creating things with my hands and sharing them with those i love.

what about you? do you like homemade cards? do you like to make your own?

writing letters.

I love handwritten letters. Snail mail. Mail art. Packaging. Pen pals. etc. etc. etc

Tonight I wrote to a dear friend of mine who lives far far away, and it was so refreshing. I think that letting people know that you care about and love them is so important.

I want to write letters more often.

evening walks.

Recently husband, Max, and myself have been consistently going on walks after dinner each night. We have been walking on our local greenway...and we love it! It feels so nice to wind down after a day of work by taking a brisk walk in the lovely weather we've been having. We've been walking at least 2.5 miles each night, and it has been great.

It's also so fun to see Max's reaction after dinner. He has learned that when we start cleaning up and doing dishes after dinner, that means he's about to go on a w-a-l-k. He gets sooooo excited about this. He'll run back and forth from us to the door, jumping up and twirling around.

It makes me smile. :)

my dear friend lauren.

One of my dearest friends, Lauren, and I went out into the lovely spring weather {yay!} today to take some pictures. She was kind enough to be my model for the day. And I think she did such a great job!

Thanks for a fun, photo-filled afternoon Lauren! :)

See the rest of the photos here.

happy hands and feet!

Today my boss, Carrie Workman {I just love her!}, and I got together for a little staff meeting. To start things off, we went to a local Mexican restaurant for some yummy chicken nachos. We love our chicken nachos!

Then, we went to get manis and pedis. What a treat!

This is Carrie, my wonderful boss. We had a great time chatting about life and work and future plans for the biz. We love our jobs and working together.

The pedicures tickled quite a bit. We couldn't help but wiggle a little in our seats. At least we didn't kick our lovely nail technicians...although they said that has happened to them on several occasions!

During the manicure, we got to dip our hands in hot wax. It was the weirdest thing, but felt very nice. The hot wax was very relaxing, and it helped warm us up since it is so cold today! I did however feel like I was about to be shipped off to a wax museum. Our hands looked kinda creepy.

Needless to say, today was a very good day at work! And my hands and feet are very happy. :)

Thanks for such a wonderful staff meeting, Carrie! :) Also, everyone should check out her blog at: www.carrieworkman.com/blog and her website: www.carrieworkman.com

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.

the weekend adventure {part 1}

This past weekend Jonathan and I got to go away for the entire weekend together! We traveled to Gatlinburg, TN for some much needed R&R. We had so much fun, and took so many pictures that I couldn't possibly share them all with you in one post. So, I'm going to do a series of posts to retell our adventure!

Here's me and husby all ready for our fun road trip!



To start things off, we got some McDonald's for our two hour drive to Gatlinburg.
We hardly ever get fast food, but were craving it today for some reason.
It had been over 4 years since we had been to McDonald's to get something
other than iced coffee.




Jonathan was very surprised to find out...I had never had a Big Mac before.
So since husby was raving to much over the Big Mac, I just had to get one.




Husby love the Big Mac.



Tiffany loves the Big Mac.



The Big Mac is very messy to eat. Especially while in a car.
But it was yummy and I now cannot say that I have never had a Big Mac.



{stay tuned for part two of the weekend adventure.}