There was a home improvement vibe in the air this holiday weekend because Liz was getting busy working on her house too.


Paper lanterns. At least I ripped out the pre-existing ghetto exposed Hobby Lobby one.

And yes, that is the beginning of my admittedly meager Christmas decorating. I need some lights, stat.


Finally. Though I still love the propped up layered look.

...Trail of Dead poster by Lure Design.


Complete! My room is a total sexy sleep cave now. It's all browns and greys and woods. It actually looks better without natural light, but my camera is a bitch about things like that.

Not sure if the theater seats will stay there but I like them for now. And I haven't kicked them, yet. So that's good.

I also got new silky organic cotton sheets and firmer pillows. And hung one of my Marc English posters in direct view of my sweet-dreaming face.


Here is the Marc English poster she's referring too. It's actually split up into two separate posters and Liz has them both in IKEA Ribba Frames.

• Labels:
• Liz's First Home


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So, you know the guest bedroom I keep on talking about? I finally got started on it this long holiday weekend.



I have the trim and windows painted with a fresh coat of white and this evening will get started on the walls.

While I was busy painting Jeremy was weather-proofing our home. We have 27 eighty-year-old windows that are drafty - so it was quite a task.


Our windows are so old that they have the rope/pulley system. Unfortunately, you can feel wind coming in through these old pulleys - so Jeremy sealed them shut with Big Stuff foam (not recommended - it got ALL over the place). We'll be touching everything up using X-acto knives and paint.



Our home kind of became a war zone but it felt nice to give the place some love.

• Labels:
• guest bedroom
• House Stuff
• Painting
• Weather


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Scooty Boot's new favorite hang out. Probably because Jeremy put a new garbage disposal in this weekend and Boots wanted to claim it as his own. He's like that.

• Labels:
• Kitchen
• scooty boots
• tile


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The lights on Automobile Alley (Broadway between 13th and 4th) are amazing. About a 1/4 of the store fronts have sheets of lighting like this - I'm hoping the rest join in.

• Labels:
• Christmas
• Holiday
• Lighting
• oklahoma city


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• That Quentin Tarantino makes the best movies
• That men can be feminists too
• Never throw the first punch but if you do it had better be a knock-out (I've never thrown any punches)
• How to play chess
• How to wish on a fish's eyeball. When I was a kid after he'd catch a fish he would make me touch the fish's eyeball and make a wish before throwing the fish back into the lake.
• That peanut butter and bacon sandwiches on toast are delish
• That doing something you love that doesn't make you rich is okay. And that working a job you don't like so much but makes you a LOT of money is okay too. But never ever work a job that you hate and doesn't pay enough.
• My sense of humor (a little crass, morbid, and dry)
• When I was a kid in gymnastics he told me that if I did the splits every single day that I would always be able to do the splits. This method of practice applies to a lot more than just doing the splits.
• My sense of superstition (I'm a little superstitious that by writing this post my dad is going to die. In fact, the other day I asked my dad if I could take his picture for this post and he told me that if I took it it may be the last photo I ever take of him. So I just dug up one from a few years ago instead.)
• My love for taxidermied dead things.

You can read my dad's blog, Old Fish and Such, here.

• Labels:
• Family
• Holga
• life


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You guys might know that my brother was the officiant for Jeremy's and my wedding and legally bound us together back in March.

It looks like that gig got him some more business.





What a rad wedding. You can see more pics here.

• Labels:
• Donny Vomit
• wedding
• wedding officiant
• wedding photography


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• How to drive a stick shift (on a 1973 VW bug)
• That you can buy four times as many clothes at the thrift store.
• That chocolate is kind of the best thing ever
• How to read
• That being a non-conformist is hard but worth it (I was a total weirdo but she was right - it was completely worth it)
• That sometimes life ISN'T fair but sometimes that's part of life
• That a home-made Halloween costume is the best
• A DIY attitude towards everything
• That being tan isn't worth the wrinkles and cancer that follow later in life
• That David Bowie is totally hot (we watched a lot of Labrynth)

Next up: Things I Learned From My Dad

• Labels:
• Family


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There's nothing sweeter, right!?

Mister Scooty Boots shown wearing Soft Paws in Touch of Fall Combo. Photos by Jeremy.

• Labels:
• scooty boots
• soft paws


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I didn't get nearly as much done today as I had anticipated. I had delusions of grandeur that included: deep cleaning the entire house, giving myself a manicure, baking cookies, going for a jog, showering, watching a few movies...

So I didn't really get to any of those. But I did clean my room.


It's that time of year when I get to switch out the lightweight comforter for the goose-down comforter. I know you're not supposed to wash them but I threw this in the wash (hot water and bleach) - AND I threw it in the dryer.


It's also that time of year for black tights. These hang to dry - over the door, obviously.

• Labels:
• beds
• house cleaners
• House Stuff
• Master bedroom


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I've have been going full force at my job - it's the kind of busy that turns you into a workaholic. The kind of busy that consumes your nights, weekends and every spare thought. The kind of busy that leaves a very patient husband munching on cereal for dinner every night.

I was working on two very large projects at the same time - one of them was producing and art directing three commercial shoots to be filmed in one day.


Watching my hard work come to life made it all worth it. And by hard work I mean everything from deciding to paint the studio cyc (the background) a VERY "Decisive Yellow" (Sherwin Williams), to spending a Saturday with my creative director buying wardrobe for 9 actors, to designing and checking in on my props being built in a warehouse by a very talented man who smokes cigars and drives a Harley every single day.


This was the moment I was working so hard for. I almost cried as I arranged a bunch of green 8s in a big orange trashcan because it looked SO. DAMN. GOOD.

• Labels:
• graphic design
• set design
• Work


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Wouldn't these look great paired up in our striped hallway?





Photos by Mrs. Limestone and available for purchase here.

And speaking of, I just found out my brother is coming home in January.

• Labels:
• coney island
• Donny Vomit


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I am in love with this Polaroid set by Chi on Flickr.

• Labels:
• Photography
• Polaroid


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I dream every single night - and there are some dreams that slip away the instant I wake up and some dreams stay with me for years.



Dreams are never quite as interesting when you describe them and can bore your audience to tears - but a dream I had about my nephew floating from a hot air balloon in Nova Scotia stuck with me. I thought I'd present it as an illustration.

• Labels:
• Art
• dream
• illustration


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It is fascinating to me how we only end up with the friends we have, the family we have and the people we fall in love with simply by being in the right place at the right time.

After going on a vacation with Jeremy last summer I had this idea to map out every single place we've ever lived, when we lived there and how we wound up where we are now.


Blue = where Jeremy has lived
Green = where I have lived
Yellow = places we've been together

There will be a more graphic version of this - something a little more Feltronish or a little more Subway Mapish (but with an element of time involved) - this is just part of the process of getting there. It could even go back further and become a family tree of sorts.

Oh and this is the whole world.

The world I want to see. All of it.

Which brings me back to my guest bedroom moodboard / inspiration:

I really want a map wall mural and some tacks to do some old-fashion tracking of where we've been and where we're going.

Also, since creating this particular moodboard I've broken down the guest bedroom elements into something that is a little less theme-y (which I think makes the room look a little too juvenile here). Check that post out here. Though, I do still want a wall-sized map or two of the US and of the whole world.

• Labels:
• maps
• travel


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I don't typically do stuff like this here on J&K but I feel guilty about not being around lately. I have been so busy that I haven't had much time to be inspired or to document my inspiration.
But I do have time to answer questions.

So I'm opening up this post to answering any questions you might have. Questions can be directed at Jeremy and/or I. It can be about anything. I will answer in the comments but questions may inspire an entire blog post.

What do you want to know?

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It's been a little quiet on this blog as a result of my crazy-busy life at my job. The good news is that it's mostly fun stuff - like designing sets and props for a commercial shoot.

I was going to take yesterday (Veterans Day) off with Jeremy to paint the guest bedroom and clean out the office - but work was calling my name, so I went in. So, Jeremy took the day off - but he started it bright and early - he made me coffee and sent me off to work.


Then he did what any man does on his day off. He got up on the roof.


Jeremy finally installed this turbine vent as a gift last Christmas (romantic, right?) because the one we have squeaks and drives me crazy.


And he cleaned out the gutters. By the way, the house next door (to the right in this picture) is vacant. The place is gutted and falling apart - the owner will come over every month in the summer to mow but otherwise has nothing to do with it. Apparently, he's gotten in fist fights with my other neighbors when they suggest he sell the place.

But back to Jeremy's Day Off... as he was raking leaves off the front porch he came across this:

What is that? It isn't!? YES IT IS.


A black widow!

Thank you, Jeremy, for getting so much done around the house. And thank you to all of our veterans for your service.

• Labels:
• House Stuff
• spiders


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I've made a commitment to replacing my current cleaning products (as I run out) with green, earth-friendly products.



The packaging alone makes it worth it.

• Labels:
• Fall Cure 2009
• green cure 2009
• house cleaners


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Thanks, everyone, for all of your amazing comments on my last post. Keep them coming - reading everyone's dreams and risks and words of encouragement is inspiring. It makes me so thankful for this blog community I've become a part of.


Right now my big dream is seeing the world - all of it - with Jeremy and our family. Whether it's the family (and friends) we already have or the family we create.

But I have a few little day dreams too... things like:
• Deciding on a Friday night to pack up the car and go camping for the weekend
• Kayaking
• Hiking up Pike's Peak
• Wall papering the guest bedroom
• Growing my own vegetables
• Screen printing
• A new outfit from the clothes I already own
• Getting snowed in again
• Rock climbing on a real mountain

You've shared your big dreams. What are your little (more achievable) day dreams?

photo credit: Wisconsin Historical Society

• Labels:
• Inspiration
• life
• weekend to-do


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I feel like Jeremy and I are in this somewhat awkward phase where we're just young enough to dream big but starting to feel like we're old enough that time is running out. Together we feel brave enough to take on the world... but we also feel grounded right where we are.

Life has been throwing us questions and finding the right answers are damn near impossible. I'm just trying to sort through it all and find a little bit of clarity.

What is your shoot for the moon dream? What's the biggest risk you've ever taken on?

• Labels:
• life


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Liz introduced me to TOAST.





I want to curl up in every single bed featured in their catalog.

• Labels:
• beds
• sheets
• Weekly Window Shopping


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Jeremy recently told me that he feels like our water is stinging his hand when he does the dishes. And then he noticed a buzzy feeling in his fingertips one day. I thought he might be having a stroke or something but it turns out our water is electrified.


Jeremy brought home some tools from work (he's an electrical/software engineer) and tested it out.


It turns out we have close to 60V of electricity in our water!

It was a blast making all of my friends shock themselves last night and debating the side effects of drinking electrified water.

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Our office always has a Halloween dress-up day. This year the theme was Mad Men.


We had fun dressing up but this could be any Monday for us - Joan inspires us every Sunday night to look fabulous the next day.


The art department sisters.

We also celebrated with a pot-luck lunch and martinis in the afternoon. Though, I missed the martinis - I had to run off to a photoshoot because I'm a real-life Mad Woman.

• Labels:
• halloween
• madmen
• retro
• Work


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My brother, Donny Vomit, is going on tour with a burlesque act - Pretty Things Peepshow.



He asked me to design a new logo for merchandise and create a label for his self-made mustache wax. His only requirement was that his logo include his signature handle-bar mustache.


I thought including a signature on his signature would be a nice and personable way to get his name in there.

I also threw in some tags for him to use to organize his merchandise by size. Overall, it was fun to work on a little side project for him. If he stops through your area definitely catch his act and tell him hello for me!

• Labels:
• Donny Vomit
• graphic design


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I had a really hard day yesterday. It was the perfect storm of little things adding up to a big teary meltdown.

I knew a couple of things would cheer me up including (but not limited to):
• Sweating it out. Nothing to work out some stress like a hard run.
• Sweats. When I'm sad I just want out of my clothes and in my favorite pair of sweat pants.
• A bath. When Jeremy caught wind of my hard day he asked me what I needed. When I told him a bubble bath I came home to just that. And wine. And music. And 85% dark chocolate. And candles. And a new Pottery Barn catalog. My mind was blown.
• Soup. I knew some home-made soup would hit the spot.


I pretty much used the same recipe as last time but added potatoes and kale to the mix. I paired the soup with some cheesy bread to make the perfect comfort-food dinner.

Today is a new day and I have some fun design stuff to show you guys later. Stay tuned.

• Labels:
• soup
• veggies


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