fotografías

while i don't have the budget for a sweet and fancy smartphone, i do at least have a phone with a camera in it! so i thought it would be fun to participate in an instafriday! here are some pictures from my life over the last couple weeks...

[1] starting the weekend off right with a cup of coffee and the new ikea catalogue  [2] not just regular old brownies... turtle brownies  [3] my latest borders bargains  [4] we like to call them beer rings. you know, like tree rings, they let you know how long your beer's been sitting there  [5] i had a craving for chicken wings this week. fortunately we live in western new york (:  [6] sending off lanterns [just like tangled!] at my friends' wedding  [7] no words necessary

[books]

i love reading. even more than reading, i love buying books. as sad as i feel about borders going out of business, i've been taking advantage of all of the final sales and have been able to get a few books i've wanted for a while... and some i didn't know i wanted yet. (:

this week's inspiration workshop prompt from gussy sews is inspiring books. i knew i wouldn't be able to pick just one book to write about, so i decided to share my favorite book designer with you. allow me to introduce the work of coralie bickford-smith:

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i find her book designs gorgeous. she has designed covers for many classic books, and i. want. them. all. what an amazing collection to have! here are some of the individual covers:

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i am so in...

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in the words of rachel zoe... i die! i dream of owning a home with a library/study, filled with these stunning books...

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...and an adorable puppy (: i find her work so beautiful. and hopefully someday soon, i will own some!

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focus

lists. i love to make them. i love to cross things off of them. but the in between part - the doing? that can be my least favorite part. i recently went through a few weeks at work where my task list got longer and longer with no end in sight. at those times where there all of a sudden seem to be a thousand things that need to be done yesterday now, i succumb to feeling overwhelmed very easily.

there are usually many things i wish to accomplish in my evenings, too - cooking dinner, doing laundry, blogging, cleaning, reading [harry potter!], crafting, spending time with friends and my stud. and for some reason [just the way i'm wired, i suppose] when i feel like i'm trying to fit in too much, i give up in a sense and end up just spending my time on the couch watching hour after hour of reality tv on hulu.

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my focus jets around in so many different directions. i don't remember feeling this overwhelmed by options when i was younger. the older i get, the more it seems is available to me. the internet alone has made this possible in infinite ways. [pinterest, anyone?] i become a little panicky and frantic, allowing myself to think here, then there, open this, then start looking at that, begin reading here, then looking there.

and after a little while, i find myself exhausted. and having gotten nowhere.

contrary to popular belief, it really isn't possible to multitask well. i can't give something my all, unless i am all there. 100%. undivided. focused.

i've found this to be so true in my writing. before finding and being introduced to countless blogs out there to read, or pinterest images to be inspired by, or shows of all sorts to watch, i simply got into my groove and wrote. i spent time thinking. i wrote for more than 20 seconds before clicking to check my facebook or my twitter feed. before becoming distracted to find that perfect picture to go with that blog post. i don't think these are bad things, in and of themselves. but i have to pause at times and question what i am sacrificing in my writing, in the working out of my thoughts, in the reflecting and refining of my heart? am i losing a piece of who i am by allowing everything around me to infuse with what's inside of me?

i believe in some ways i am.

i need to create those spaces for myself. those spaces for Him to speak to me, not the internet. how am i to hear what He wants to do with my life when i'm busying myself looking at others? how can i create when i'm spending my time looking at things already created?

inspiration is a beautiful thing. but if all i do is find inspiration but do nothing with it, i become nothing more than a bystander. i watch life go by around me, without ever embracing and living my own in abundance.

i want to give myself focus. to be pure and true to myself. to hear from Him. i want my eyes to be solely and only on Him. when i do, the details, to-do's, the pulling and pushing fade away, and what is truly important comes to the surface. and from there i am able to see with clarity to do the things He wants me to do.

i lift up my eyes to the hills-
where does my help come from?
my help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth
[psalm 121:1-2]

linking with sweet casey here.

from montezuma to homer

my parents came to visit a few weeks ago because they wanted to visit their oldest daughter they'd heard about a 50 mile garage sale held annually in the finger lakes region. a 50 mile stretch from montezuma to homer, new york! they said it was a practice one for another one that crosses state lines across the mississippi.

i was pretty excited about the idea. in the last few years, i've really come to enjoy seeing what other people have treasured and now consider trash. (:

we did a little bit of yard sale-ing around my neighborhood friday and stumbled upon a church rummage sale. and ohmygoodness were we starting out right! rows of tables lined with tons of stuff... and the deal of the day was to get a plastic bag, fit as much in as you can, and pay $2. here's what i came away with for $2!:

after that success, we were ready to do some serious damage in the finger lakes on saturday. an early start, a little bit of a drive, some starbucks and we took part in our first miles-long garage sale! i went with a budget and a list of things i was hoping to find, including burlap, vintage frames, wooden crates and ceramic animals. i came away with nearly everything on my list:

i got these scraps of fabric for free! can't wait to use them on some yarn wreaths!

these guys are just waiting to be spray painted! ;)

there was so much to take in, and some folks had some really amazing finds. if you were in the market for a vintage motorcycle, you would have had plenty to choose from! [i'd love to have gotten one for my stud, but my budget was a bit too small for that!]

and then there were the things that made you go... huh?!

but my favorite find of the day was something that wasn't on my list. and i was so excited when i saw that the prompt for this week's inspiration workshop was vintage. i fell in love with this piece of luggage the moment i saw it. it was marked make offer. i'm so terrible at that; luckily my mom is a pro! well, $7 later i came home with a piece of vintage hartmann luggage.

i love the leather and the pattern inside. it's in such good condition, too. and i think it's so fun that it has someone's name in it!

the whole day was, in a word, crazy. there were literally miles upon miles of homes, churches, etc. selling all kinds of things. what seemed like hundreds of cars moved in packs [herds?] along a road that had a very small shoulder on either side. oh, and restrooms? practically non-existent. we had to travel for about 45 mins and get off the yard sale road just to find a porta-potty! where we also saw this:

um, ew. however, from time to time, the road would open up, and we'd catch a glimpse of lake conesus.

with my success in finds and the gorgeous views, i'd say if this was a warm up for a cross country adventure,  i can't wait for summer 2012! [are you in, mom and dad? (: ]