Laura’s Muses

Ever since Chris introduced me to Steve Pavlina’s blog, I’ve been a regular lurker. At the beginning of January, he started a 30-day trial period of eating only raw foods. Everyday, his entry details exactly what he ate, along with pictures. I find myself there each day, and have recently noticed that I’ve developed a strong craving for fruit. I’ve always enjoyed fruit, but now it’s like “I MUST have a piece of fruit, NOW.” One day at work, I was craving fruit so badly but the closest place that might have some was Panera. The thought of their fruit salad almost disgusted me because I figure they probably didn’t have the freshest fruit and I worried that they put sugar in it. Not that I have ever cared about whether there would be sugar sprinkled over fruit or added to the juices, but the thought of fruit not in the completely raw state just turned me off. It was very odd. Needless to say, I’ve been going a little fruit crazy at the grocery store and find myself eating fruits I’ve seen pictured on Steve Pavlina’s blog, like tangelos and a lot of apples. Today for breakfast I finally made one of his ‘green smoothies’ which is just spinach, water and bananas. This is pure bliss, I tell you.

Steve’s 30-day trial ends in a few days, so I am interested to see if my fruit craving will dwindle or remain strong. I am hoping for the latter because I’m enjoying eating fruit very much, probably more than I ever have.

Photo credit: fruit at the canberra show by justinKnol. Some rights reserved.

Justin Furstenfeld’s voice just does something for me. Pair that with the instrumental talent of the rest of the members of Blue October, and I am smitten. Truly, they are one of the great bands of this generation. Unique, heartfelt and genuine lyrics, which are extremely important to me in music are set to identifiably original music and brought to life to lead you on a journey through emotional ups and downs and all-arounds. Sometimes soft and sweetly subdued (Come In Closer, Black Orchid, 18th Floor Balcony), and other times hard and brash and all up in your face (Razorblade , X Amount of Words, Sexual Powertrip), these guys bring the truth of relationships-specifically those of family, love, and friendship- that make us human. They do it so simply, so purely that I almost feel like they have written these songs for me, as a soundtrack for my life. Each song stands alone; there is not one song that depends on the others on the album to make sense to the listener. They know not “fluff.” I first discovered the genius of Blue October when Hate Me was released to mainstream radio around two years ago. Since then, I have acquired all of their albums and have not found a song that I dislike yet. A sincerely amazing band, Blue October has proven that they prefer a fan base that appreciates them for their true talent, and has shown that they will continue to repay them with only such.

Check ‘em out.

Photo Credit: Blue October SG1S6182 by: jimmyE photography. Some rights reserved.

At the end of last year, I was cranking out new designs like crazy, some of them holiday inspired as you’ll see. I was also hired by a friend of mine to make some invitations for her upcoming birthday this summer, so I created some different designs for her to choose from. Since this is probably going to be a large post, I’ve kept the images at thumbnail size, but if you click on them you will see the full size image. Enjoy!

First, a nice bright, spring-y gatefold style invite. The colors hint at a more casual affair, and inserts would just lay loosely inside.

Next, a warm bronze themed invite in a 5×7 single fold style. The enclosures are captured in a matching ribbon. A nice vellum overlay accents the actual invitation card.

Handmade paper made by a local artist is utilized in this simple, earth-y pocketfold invite. The color palette remains neutral, with metal eyelets acting as functional accents and rounding out the elemental theme.

A romantic December wedding in a snowy locale deserves this elegant wrap style invite accented with a sparkle-y snowflake. Inserts lay loosely inside the wrap.

Continuing the winter theme, a Christmas inspired, smaller pocketfold invite is charming and warm with its Christmas tree accents. Delicate snowflake details continue the theme on the inside.

Next, some sample invitations for the afore-mentioned friend. Since it will be a summer event in an area with a beach, I used bright colors and playful patterns to convey the casual, fun feeling of the celebration. Here are two pocketfold style invites…

…and below, two invites with the pocket tucked on the back of the invitation.

A creamy vanilla petal fold invite with a colorful wrap that is cut from the same paper as the inlay. Holiday ornaments and a silver sparkle pattern give the impression of a fun, funky event.

Lastly, a nice elegant silver-striped pocket that features a square window cut-out that shows off the bride’s and groom’s names, enhanced by a contrasting red lining and a snowflake detail. The streamlined design stays low-key with a response card that is attached with a single silver brad.

So it’s that time of year again…the beginning! I’ve decided to blog about my resolutions so that I will be more encouraged to stick to them. At least, that is the hope.

At the top of the list, along with 98% of the population in general, I’m sure, is to get in shape. Chris and I have decided to undertake this together, and have established a plan that works around our very different schedules. I have no excuse, as I rarely have to be at work before noon, not to mention the fact that I only work four days a week. While that time off is not exactly “free time,” I definitely have ample opportunities to take a long walk or hit the gym.

Next is to get my finances in order. I am terrible, horrible, awful at managing money and I need to stop expecting God to fix it just because ‘I tithed more that 10% this week’, or ‘gave $50 to such and such charity’. I need to be the one to undertake this and I am sure He has things He wants to show me and teach me in the process… Luckily Chris has signed on, yet again, to help me out with this.

Once those two are underway, I can concentrate my attention on getting my business off the ground. Chris is working on the website right now, but it will be a little while before it’s finished, so I have no excuse not to be working on resolutions 1 & 2 in the meantime.

Re-connecting with friends and staying connected is fourth on my list. I’m just really bad at returning phone calls and making time to hang out with friends. Laziness and not wanting to be outside of my comfort zone are the main reasons why I let things like that slip…but I need to be more diligent about reaching out and keeping up my end of the friendship.

I also need to work on lots of spiritual stuff, but I won’t go into that here only because I haven’t quite ironed out the specifics yet.

That’s pretty much the list… Friends, wish me luck with mine, and know that I’ll be praying for you and yours!