Busy busy bee!

   That's me!  A busy bee lately!  The orders seemed to be flying in for a while... which is wonderful, and is keeping me busy.   A short weekend trip to Atlanta for Mother's Day weekend (literally in Atlanta for 24 hours, the rest of the time was spent on the road driving to and from ATL).  After the Atlanta weekend, we were gearing up for vacation.   This included working longer hours Monday through Wednesday, finishing up the open orders I had, doing laundry, packing, some pre-trip pampering (pedicure), and getting the dogs ready to drop off with our friends for the trip.
   We had a very early Thursday morning flight to Chicago that week.  LOVE Chicago!   We stayed in the city for 4 nights, close to the river.  Lots of walking, eating pizza, stopping at other recommended eateries, a Cubs vs. Sox game at Wrigley, date night dinner, shopping, sightseeing (architectural boat tour, Navy Pier, Willis (Sears) Tower, John Hancock Observatory, Milennium Park & the "Bean," etc)...   WORE my feet out!  But I do enjoying walking when we visit the "big" cities.  You get to see cute little shops, restaurants, and other little unique places you may miss in a cab ride.   We also took the "L" train a few times too!
   The weather was a complete temperature mixture while we were there.  Highs of 71, 84, 90, 93, and 65!   From 60's to 90's in a few short days!  We were intending for a break from the Florida heat, but it seemed to follow us for a couple days.   We also spent most of one day outside of Chicago, meeting my cousins and their families for a little get together and dinner.   Overall, a great trip, and I can't wait to go back!

   Even this week has been crazy busy so far.  Got home Monday from the airport around 6pm - unpacked and took a little nap (tired!), work Tuesday, then went to visit my mom in the hospital (She had surgery on Monday morning - almost 1.5 hour drive each way, but worth it!), work Wednesday, then had some friends come stay the night before they left for a trip to Indy (we are dog sitting for them, since they just dog sat for us), work today, laundry, cleaning & working on orders...   A few picture below from Chi town (maybe I went a little overboard... hehe!)

    I have a few more orders to finish up this week.  Planning a movie date night on Friday, then to visit my mom on Saturday, outlet shopping, and pool/hang out with friends the rest of the Memorial Day weekend!  Also, I cannot post during the day now (blocked at work :(  )  so I have to put more of an effort to post after work (like now - late night :)  )    I hope you have a wonderful, fun filled (or relaxing) Memorial Day weekend!

New new new!

Monday was a busy one!  No post yesterday (sorry), but I was quite busy at work, and then working on some new orders once I got home.  I did get to post a few new items in my shop!  Pictures at the end here  :)    Saturday I went to my parent's house to clean for my mom, headed back home, showered up and met up with friends at Amigo's for their Cinco de Mayo block party.  Had a great time there, then we headed to a friend's to grill and celebrate once more for my boyfriend's birthday.  We had some friends stay this weekend, so we wrapped up with a short trip to the beach Sunday - it was a hot one! - then some relaxing at home.  Sunday night we watched the last two episodes of "The Amazing Race" (one week behind, and the finale!)   I'm realizing the shows we watch are coming to the season end, and we'll soon have nothing new to watch, but the positive is, it will give me time to do other things (Etsy, gym, play with my dogs...)

I finally got a hair cut today, much needed. I just figured out it's been 3 months since my last cut!  Getting ready for a busy weekend for Mother's Day.  Don't forget to show your Mom your appreciation for her!  I'm hoping to visting the Paper Source store this weekend - almost 100% sure I will!  Trying to get all my open orders finished and shipped by this Friday.     I'll also be working on a new custom banner, which I will add to my shop in the next week or two.   As always, any phrase or name can be made into a banner, and everything in my shop is customizable! (Is that a word?!)    Looks like it's about to rain here, so I'm going to step away from the computer for now.  Enjoy your evening!

Finally Friday!

Happy Friday to all!  I hope you have some fun plans this weekend!   Dinner last night was delicious!    We had all kinds of things to eat.  This restaurant's menu changes frequently, since they use mostly fresh local ingredients.  We had calamari, lobster pasta, filet mignon with potatoes gratin, and some red wine.  We came home and I had a surprise small Publix chocolate ice cream cake waiting in the freezer! We had a little bit of that for dessert.  After we were done with cake, I finished the favor bags, and cut some more cardstock for future banners.  Here's a couple photos of the bags:

We did watch Revenge (Yay!), then off to sleep after a little time on the computer.  I was going non-stop this week it seems (SUPER tired today), so I was definitely ready for bed - especially since it was later than I had planned.   I dropped off the lemonhead favors this morning (I usually ship, but she is pretty close to where I live and it was easier than packing and shipping, plus the party is tomorrow), and came to work.  

Tonight we are going to a concert, and then we'll be busy all weekend!  Sometimes you live for the weekend, and sometimes you're happy to have the structure of the work week.

One last thought (feel free to comment!): Do you think that people who are born in the evening are "night people" and those who are born in the morning hours are "morning people"?  Personally, I was born at 5:31 pm and I would definitely say I'm a "night person", as is my boyfriend, who was born at 7:05pm.  Are you a morning or night person, and what was your birth time?

Have a wonderful weekend!

2 days til Cinco

Third day in a row!  I'm definitely going to try and post more frequently here.  I can't promise it will be everyday, and most likely I won't post on the weekends, but here's to a good start!   Just two days away from Cinco de Mayo celebrations, today is also my boyfriend's birthday (Happy Birthday!!).  Cinco is probably my favorite of the "non-traditional" holidays (like St. Patty's day).  I love Mexican food and margaritas!  Looking forward to spending some time with friends who are coming to visit this weekend too.

After visiting our friends and their adorable new baby boy (their first child), we stopped for some dinner, then went home and I finished an order, and finished two new banners.  I also stayed up to make a birthday card for my bf, which I am not too experienced in card making, but I'm trying :)    (Photos below of the card, and the lace design on my two new banners!)

  I used a pearly pink ink for the lace design, on my shimmery white cardstock, and black letters.   Love this one!  Once I get all the photos uploaded and edited, I will list these in my shop, and add new photos here! (Pink Pups Designs on Etsy)  Sorry if the photos are a little dark - I used the camera on my phone.

On tonight's agenda:  Taking my bf to dinner for his birthday, finish favor bags order, and relax! I hope there's a good show DVR'd that we can watch (like Revenge. Another favorite!) I would still like to make some new banners, confetti, tags, etc to add to my shop.  I just need some spare time.  Maybe I will put my shop in "Vacation mode" and work on this!

Anyone have some exciting plans for the weekend?  I'll probably post tomorrow too, so check back!  Have a great Thursday!

Happy "Hump day"!

Ah, Wednesday.... the day of the week you get a little excited because you know Friday is much closer!  Well, in the case of most of us who work Monday through Friday that is.  On my drive into work this morning (in some slow moving traffic due to road construction) I saw a cute baby alligator, sunbathing on a local golf course.   So cute!  I love animals.. most of them anyway!  If you haven't read my profile on Etsy, I have two dogs - a yellow lab/german shepard mix (Ginger), and a chocolate lab (Jazz).  Both are female, and I refer to them as "My girls" or "The girls" often.  They are my two favorites of course!

Last night I tried something new for dinner.  I made chicken and used one of the new Kraft Fresh Take mixes (Italian Parmesan).  It was yummy!  Served them up with some green beans and a baked potato (half for me, half for my boyfriend).   He loved it, says I should add it to our "Menu".  We have a few foods we like a lot that I try to make once a week - chicken fajitas (or taco salad, but lately it's fajitas), sushi (spicy tuna roll to be exact) with a side of steamed edamame, and now italian parmesan chicken.  :)   Try it sometime!

While eating dinner, we watched The Biggest Loser finale. We watch that show every season.  It's crazy to see how much the contestants change in the few months they are with the show.  Congrats to all of them!

 Plans after work today include: quick gym workout, picking up a few groceries at Publix, then to visit our friends and meet their new baby!  After we get home from that, I need to finish my favor tags & bags for an order, package up some banners to ship, and start on a new order (just got a sale this morning!).  I also started on 2 new banners for my shop: "Gifts" and "Engaged" using my new lace looking stamp. I think shoppers will love that lace one!   I plan to write a post tomorrow, so I'll add more upcoming plans then!  Have a great day!

It's been a while....

WOW!  So sorry it's been so long between posts!  I really love reading other blogs and should realize I need to post more of my own! Things were a little crazy earlier this year.  Trying to get my taxes done for the first time as a shop owner on Etsy.  (I caved and hired a local CPA to help with this.)  I'm hoping next year I can figure it out and file on my own.   I closed my Etsy shop (PinkPupsDesigns) for a while around February so I could work on tax paperwork, get my home office more organized, and create some new items.   Didn't get to far on the creating side, but that's still at the top of my list. Next up are banners that read "Engaged," "Save the Date," "Gifts," and "Celebrate".   Any suggestions of a banner phrase you'd like to see?  I'm always open to new suggestions! 

 The hardest thing is working on new items, taking good photos, and editing the photos... ALL before I can post as a new item for sale.   It's a little more difficult since I work full time during the day.  (Which is where I am now, eating lunch at my desk and writing a new post!)   I am very much looking forward to an upcoming vacation!  Last real trip we (my boyfriend and I) took was to NYC in November 2011.  That was a blast! So much to do and see, and also got to spend time with my college roommate and her boyfriend.  They also came to visit us recently and we went to Animal Kingdom and the beach while they were here (this equates to a mini "staycation" for us!)  We also got to spend a couple days with my niece and nephew around Easter. My oldest brother brought them here for spring break.  They are 6 and 8 years old, so we took them to a waterpark.  Those two LOVE to swim! 

Well, I will try to keep up the posts!  I have some banner orders and favor tags to work on this week!  Then we have some friends coming to visit this weekend for Cinco de Mayo and to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday (May 3rd!).   More beach time coming I believe!   Have a wonderful day! :)

P.S.- You can also find me on Twitter (Twitter page) and Facebook (Facebook fan page).  New followers and "Likes" are always appreciated! :)

Happy Friday!

Just wanted to wish you a happy Friday!  Date night tonight, then I'm looking forward to catching up on some rest this weekend, and hopefully spending a few hours at the pool getting some sun!  (It's supposed to be about 80 degrees here!)   I'm also planning to get a bit more organized in my home office and make a couple new items.   I'm going to start offering invitations, save the dates, etc. so I've started a couple samples of those.  Now I just need to print them and assemble so I can post photos!    Hope you enjoy your weekend!  :)

"Vacation"

Just a heads up... I will be putting my shop in "vacation mode" for a while so I can get some things done.  Since my Etsy shop is my "second" job and is part time right now, I need to use my time after working my day job to focus on making new items, and getting more organized.  I feel I've had some time this week so get started on that, but I would be a bit less stressed if I can get it all taken care of, and get my shop back up and running and FULL of new items! :)   Hope you'll understand, but feel free to send me a Convo on Etsy if you need a custom item in the mean time!   Thanks!

Shop name change

So, after a lot of consideration (and hours of self-debate) I believe I will be changing my shop's name in 2012!  I will definitely post an update about this, as well as changing the name on Etsy.   Etsy will automatically redirect my old shop name to my new shop for 45 days, so hopefully that will help. :)  Trying to add some new bits to my blog.. stay tuned!

Welcome

Finally starting a blog...... this may take a while :)