I was so fortunate to take some portraits of the Copp family a couple weekends ago, on a gorgeous November afternoon at Green Hill Winery. The venue was absolutely beautiful and we picked the perfect day to catch Virginia’s fall foliage in its prime! This family is full of warmth, silliness, and fun, which was such a pleasure to photograph.
projects
DIY Berry Basket
Hi there and happy Friday! It’s been a roller coaster of a week, so I’m glad the weekend is finally here. Spring always takes forever to get here, but when it does finally arrive, it ignites with a fury and steamrolls into summer. There is always so much to do and so much I WANT to do, and at the end of every day I end up saying “there just isn’t enough time.” I have to say though, even after long days at the office I’ve been managing to stick to a basic workout routine during the week [big win for me!]. Working out even when I’m tired has dramatically increased my energy level [weird, I know] and has given me a much needed confidence boost. And I need both energy and confidence in huge doses right now with the amount I need/want to accomplish!
By basic I mean I am still no fitness pro [or even close], but I’ve gotten to a point where I exercise at least 3 days a week. On Tuesdays I join a small group that does Zumba together at work, after work, and interchange that with the Shirlington running club, also on Tuesdays, that I joined last fall. I have also picked up barre classes with a friend who is training to become an instructor, and the classes are free which helps my bottom line [literally]. And then there’s my at-least-once-a-week visits to the industrial building in Springfield that hosts the largest dance party workout class I have ever experienced: Kazaxe. Kazaxe has become my favorite part of my routine because it’s not only a great cardio workout [trust me, you sweat constantly] and endorphin booster, but it’s become a social gathering with some of my closest gal pals. And what could better than getting your twerk on with your closest friends?! One of those friends has recently started a fitness blog, which is amazing and you should follow along!
With all of this extra energy I have been pushing myself to keep my crafting going. Something I had been really wanting to do is to create a berry basket from clay. I already had extra Sculpey from my clay planter project, so I dedicated an afternoon a couple weeks ago to making one for my newly redecorated bathroom. I followed the basic steps from the post from A Beautiful Mess, tweaked it a bit, and voila! My very own berry basket. It took me a bit longer than I expected (about 2 hours), so I ended up only making one. I painted it black to match my sea glass and black decor in the bathroom and I think it feels right at home on the shelf. They are perfect for any nick nacks or do dads you have lying around… I started with q-tips and it’s now it’s holding three nail clipper kits, previously without a home [don’t ask me why I have three]. I’d love to make another to have on my bedroom dresser, leave the white clay color, and then paint the bottom gold!
Jackietara
Life is [hectic, but] beautiful
Where have you been all my life?! Well, my answer lately is “working late in a deserted office” or “cleaning and organizing my apartment.” It’s that time of year when everything speeds up, double time, and I feel like I’m standing still with the world around me whirling around me like a twister. Despite everything going on in my life, I feel restless and an urge to clean and purge, to start anew. It must be something about spring that just gets you going.
My most recent projects have been redecorating my outdated bathroom and creating a gallery wall above the couch in the living room. Somehow I took on both of these projects at once. Just a quick trip to home goods with a couple gal pals, and I was in deep. I finally got rid of all of my navy towels, shower curtain, and bathroom accessories that I’ve had since college [it was time for them to go] and replaced them with a new sea glass motif. Even more exciting, I got rid of our terrible “over the toilet organizer” from Target and replaced it with a hanging basket, which makes our tiny bathroom seem so much more roomy [trust me, it’s the little things]!
The gallery wall project is something that has been in the back of my mind for at least a year. We two lonely photographs on our wall that were just begging for some company, so I watched A Beautiful Mess’ gallery wall tutorial and got to it. I was also inspired by their DIY art collection blog post and decided to mod podge and paint an empty canvas – what a great outlet for my pent up energy! Although these projects took up a significant part of my weekend a couple weeks ago, they made me feel incredibly accomplished. I’m not normally that “handy,” so it was a good feeling!
I can’t say enough how happy I am it’s finally spring. My list of projects is quickly growing [so I’m glad I got to check two off my list!] and I’m itching to be outside as much as possible. Sunday brunching, here I come!
Jackietara
Love Notes
I hope everyone had a marvelous Valentine’s Day, whether you celebrated with your beloved, best friends, or by your lonesome [with a great bottle of wine and chocolates I hope]! February has turned into a crazy month, with Valentine’s weekend as the mid-point of craziness, so T and I decided to have a cozy night in. We picked out a couple of lobsters [whom I naturally named Larry and Beatrice] from the Maine Avenue Fish Market, a.k.a “The Wharf”, in Southwest DC and tried our hand at preparing them ourselves at home. It was quite an experience cooking a meal of two 3-pound lobsters, complete with an escargot appetizer, a bottle of bubbly [followed by a bottle of our favorite red wine], and a homemade bread pudding. It was definitely a decadent night, but if you can’t indulge on Valentine’s Day, when can you?!
To share my love with family and friends this year I wanted to make my own cards. In the past I have mailed cards with my own drawings, collages, and paintings, but life has gotten in the way of me hand-making cards in the last couple years. But not this year! All of my spare time the week leading up to the big day was dedicated to creating little love notes and I was quite pleased with the turnout. The only supplies I needed to buy for this project were the paper cards and a cute “handmade by” stamp from Michael’s that I fell in love with [how appropriate]. I had the watercolors, pencils, and pens already at home!
If you already craft at home, making cards can be easy for you too! Even if you don’t consider yourself an artist, there are plenty of alternatives to drawing: like making a collage from magazine photos; using stamps and/or making your own [check out Poppytalk’s DIY Buffalo Print]; or a mix of mediums [check out A Pair & A Spare’s DIY Watercolour Valentine’s]! Did you craft anything for Valentine’s Day this year? How did it turn out?
Xoxo,
Jackietara
Jackie Tara 
