Road Trip!

I need to be packing! I'm so sleepy though and have no motivation. It's hard to pack for a road trip when you are limited on space in the car. Especially when you have to pack for camping/hiking/some nice outfits/sitting in the car/cold weather. That's a lot. There's going to be a lot of re-wearing stinky hiking clothes. :)

Our route this time (we've done the cross country road trip before) is going to be:
Atlanta to...
Independence, MO to...
Mount Rushmore and Badlands, SD to...
Yellowstone National Park, WY to...
Grand Tetons, WY to...
Jackson Hole, WY to...
The Salt Flats, UT/West Wendover, NV to...
Yosemite National Park, CA to...
our ending destination of San Francisco

I'll leave my bf and his buddies out there and fly back for a summer in Atlanta.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of our last road trip across the US.

Entering Estes Park, CO
*short brown hair, can you believe it? big change from the long blond hair I have now*

Hiking through Rocky Mountain National Park, CO
*so, so pretty and Boulder, CO is a really cool city*

Arches National Park in Moab, UT
*this was my favorite part of the trip, this park is gorgeous*

Hoodoos in Bryce Canyon National Park, UT

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Hoover Dam, AZ

Las Vegas, NV
*everyone should go to Vegas once in their lifetime*

Los Angeles, CA

Santa Monica, CA

Cross country road trips are lots of fun. If you ever get the chance to drive across the country I highly recommend it. I'll be out of touch for the next two weeks while I'm out of town, but I'll be back with lots of pictures and stories to share!

Toodles,
J Squirrel

Lady Gaga Cover

I'm sure you guys have seen this...but if you don't, check it out. Sooo good!



Maybe he can play at my wedding? Oh wait, I'm not getting married yet. Boyfriend, that's not a dig at you. :)

Nighty Night,
J Squirrel

Happy Birthday...to me!

Well, yesterday was my birthday...and it was a lovely day! Warm, sunny, no clouds in the sky. I don't know what it is...but it is always nice on my birthday. My mom and I were talking about it recently and we can't remember any year where it was cloudy, too cold, rainy, or anything but nice. It's kind of weird...but awesome at the same time!

I started out the day at work with a visit from 6 day old Balin. :) Oh, I just want to eat him up! He's sooo cute! Look at those socks. So big. Hehe.

Balin

I then left around lunchtime to meet up with two of my BF's for a birthday lunch at Sun in my Belly. If you live in Atlanta/Decatur and haven't been, it's fabulous and you must go!

BF's Jane and Sam

Me and "my" flowers

Aren't those pretty flowers?! Jane and Sam "got" them for me....and by that I mean that they told me to pose with the flowers on the table and pretend that they got them for me. Ha! Such good friends.

On another note...I made the skirt that I wore on my birthday! What do you think?

I followed a pattern for it which was a bit harder than I thought it would be. I'm happy with how it turned out though. After lunch I ran some errands, took a nap, then went out for dinner with my boyfriend. He kind of looks like wolverine.

He took me out to Leon's. Such a yummy place and one of our regular spots to hang out in Decatur. Try the french fries, chickpea salad, the veggieloaf, and the Peruvian Punch. Yum, yum, yum. (Oh, and I didn't eat all of that last night)

All in all, it was a lovely way to celebrate my birthday and I'll be celebrating til the end of this weekend. Thanks to all my friends and family that love me. I love you all too.

J Squirrel

Glāk Love

J Fox and I are loving our personalized necklaces we just got from Angelyn of Glāk Love. She's a local artist here in Atlanta and makes these awesome necklaces from film negatives. Some of the negatives she uses are up to 25 years old!

(Photos from my Hipstamatic iPhone App)

Each necklace is individually cut from different film negatives which makes them truly unique pieces of art. In my squirrel, I can see part of a person standing against a brick wall. J Fox has the Sistine Chapel in the nose of her fox. Cool, huh?! While J Fox and I both have larger pieces of film negatives in our necklaces, Angelyn also creates beautiful, dainty necklaces like this one:

(Photo by Dorn Brothers Photography)

Such a sweet necklace. Check out her Etsy store for more of her necklaces and photo boxes. If you're a local you should stop by Heliotrope on May 28th for an art show with Angelyn, her Glak Love Necklaces and photo boxes. The art show is in conjunction with Fab Friday and the Decatur Art Walk. It should be a fun, fun evening in Decatur!

Toodles, J Squirrel

Modern Fiber Lab

I am absolutely, most positively, loving these necklaces and bracelets right now! I found out about them earlier this year at the craft fair that was up in the Cobb Galleria. (Can't remember what it was called) The artist is Sonya Yong James and her company is called Modern Fiber Lab. Her booth was the first one that stood out to me because she had these great wooden walls...think office cubicles made of birch, with modern, interlocking hinges. The bright colors in her work just popped off the light color of the wood and drew me in.

These necklaces and bracelets are hand embroidered felt mixed with sterling silver pieces.

This last one is a bracelet.

Not only does she make this really cool jewelry, but she also makes gorgeous throws, vessels, and art pieces from felt. I would have loved to walk away with one of her pieces, but unfortunately she's just a bit out of my price range...maybe she'll have a sale? A girl can hope.

In the meantime check out her work on Etsy.

Toodles,
J Squirrel

Baby Balin

My friend Michelle had an adorable little baby boy this past Friday. He's soooo precious! He's got blond fuzz on the top of his head and his skin is so, so soft. I've taken care of a lot of kiddos in my lifetime, but I always forget how tiny they are when they're newborns. I tried explaining my excitement about holding little Balin to my boyfriend, but I'm not sure he gets it. I might have been squealing a bit on the phone when telling him, so maybe he just didn't hear me...or maybe it's because he's a boy. Either way, Little Balin you are adorable and I can't wait to hold you again!

Congratulations Michelle and Happy Birthday!

Love you!
J Squirrel

Hipstamatic App

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. I've been having fun playing with my new iphone app: Hipstamatic. The app adds a filter to your iPhone camera which makes the photos look like they were taken back in the 1960's with a cheap camera. I like old stuff, so the old photo look is appealing to me. :) You can change the lens, add different flashes, and use different films to get different looks for your photos. Pretty cool stuff for only $1.99.


It's been an exciting and busy weekend for me (more on that later), so for now I'll leave you with a few photos from the Atlanta Botanical garden.

Toodles,
J Squirrel