wishlist

Happy Sunday, everyone! Is there anything better than birthdays? I really don't think so. Mine has rolled around once again, and so far it has been pretty magical. I spent yesterday canoeing down the river , and checking out a local castle with some pretty amazing friends. Then on today's birthday agenda, I'll be celebrating with my wonderful husband and family over dinner and cake. I'm such a lucky girl to have these people in my life as I usher in year number 28!

Just for fun, I scanned over my Pinterest Wishlist and pulled some of  my faves into a round-up.

:: click on the image to enlarge ::

1. I've wanted one of these pull down classroom maps for years. I keep imagining how cool that would look over the piano in our dining room. This particular map comes from Hoof And Antler on Etsy.

2. I can't help it, I've been hooked by the classic bookishness of the Sperry trend. I found this pair on Zappos.

3. I have a small watch collection. I tend to regard them as a rather practical accessory... until I need to buy a new battery for them, anyway. Most of mine come from Fossil, like this one, of course.


4. I like just about everything by the Etsy seller, Spectacle Ala Maison. This leather scaled cuff is stunning, as well as her many other leather goods.


5. I really don't have a ton of uses for a backpack, outside of the occasional travels, but I can't really resist this Roxy Great Outdoors Mini Backpack.


6. What can I say, maps and globes intrigue me! While I don't have any yet, I'm planning out a collection.


7. I have totebags coming out of my ears hear at Hopscotch Headquarters. I, however, would make room for one more for this awesome Paige Tote with adjustable handles.


8. I've put roller derby aspirations behind me, but I would still love to have the chance to go fast and look good while doing so in a pair of Wickeds!


9. I'm loving the cheery color palette and eclectic charm of this Jones Patchwork Quilt from Urban Outfitters.

harry potter and the last chapters

Every once in a while I offer you a glimpse into my closeted nerdiness. This, my friends, is another one of those times. You can look away if you like. It's kind of embarrassing, but here goes:

I am a huge Harry Potter fan. 

There, it feels good to get that off my chest.

I can try to justify it, but there isn't really any excuse for it outside of the fact that I'm a massive dork. Yup. So much so that I am battling the crowds and next-work-day-exhaustion to go to the midnight premiere of the final movie tonight.

So bear with me. I've pulled together a fun Harry Potter themed round up.

::via threadless:: 

(I own this shirt. But wait it gets worse)

 ::by mikey burton via fast company:: 

 ::via me (yes, this is me and my buddy at Universal's Harry Potter Island of Adventure. Told you it got worse):: 

 ::via john tibbott via Quick Brown Fox:: 

 ::via http://ryandarling.tumblr.com/:: 

 ::via wee little stitches on etsy:: 

::source unknown, but if you do know, please fill me in and I'll give credit where it's due::

lately...

I think I've been living the past couple of weeks in fast forward. It seems like just yesterday I was watching the fireworks explode in sparkly grandeur over the Great Miami River. Was that really almost a week and a half ago? In addition to celebrating America's 235th birthday, I've organized and executed the Swap Meet at the Century, joined a super rad Crossfit gym, participated in an intensive training program at work (which is cutting into my evenings), had a pretty serious medical scare (boo), and have started following a gluten free diet (more on this sucky development later).

I have hardly had time to read any blogs, let alone write in my own. You can't see me, but I have a serious sadface on right now. As a half-assed substitution for blog posts of any substance, I bring you my Instagram posts from the past couple of weeks! In case you're interested in sharing, my user name is "Yellowberry".

When I'm in meetings I have to doodle. It focuses me, and keeps me from suffering from projector-induced meeting narcolepsy. So in my training, I've been doing a lot of doodling. Like so:

We had a garage sale, which turned out to be more hot and sticky than it was worth. Can you believe no one bought this poster for $3.00?

Waiting in an Emergency Room gets very boring. Veeeeeerrrry boring. Good thing I had my iPhone on me!

I had a particularly challenging training session today, and the hubbs knew it. This is the super sweet note he left me at the bottom of one of my work sheets. Nothing like a sweet Star Wars reference to get you ramped up for learning how to be a fearless (corporate) Jedi!

Back to School time is pretty exciting time of year to the notebook designer. Weird, right? Here's a couple of patterns I worked on that hit the shelves this past week.

That's my crazy life as of late. I've missed you. Been up to anything awesome?

melvin the machine

Sometimes I feel like the tiny little marble at the beginning of a Rube Goldberg machine. Just dropped off somewhere with the purpose of being a catalyst for better things. Rolling along with little inkling to what happens next—flames, paint splatter, art, and smashing suspended rubber tires? It's a strange kind of analogy, but I'm in a strange kind of mood today. It fits, I think.

I give you Melvin the Machine. It's the prettiest Rube Goldberg-like contraction I've ever seen. Of course it's Scandinavian.