i love me some photoshop

so i've come to the conclusion, that the reason why i don't blog more frequently, is because the things i want to blog about have to be kept secret until the event arises. case in point: almost everything i'm going to show, were each surprises-in-waiting. so now that everything has come and gone, i am now able to share.

thank goodness for photoshop :)

stacey's nursery and shower:

our dear friends, the cooks, are expecting their first child, a baby girl. stacey had originally contacted me wanting me to make their baby's name to go above the crib. once i was in the nursery, she decided that she wanted me to help her design some prints as well. 

can't wait to share what the final product (nursery) will be once baby cook comes!

and of course with a nursery comes a baby shower. all of the hosts divided up the parts of the shower and i was assigned desserts and "baby advice". i had also seen these super cute onesies on ontobaby.com and thought i'd give a little DIY a try.

below is what the onesies looked like and further down you can see what each month's ombre color was

girls weekend:

a few weekends ago, my college girlfriends (plus a few others) all got together for a girl's weekend in galveston. i had originally wanted to make t-shirts for the trip. but of course i got a little carried away.

welcome bags:

inside the welcome bags:

girls weekend t-shirts

 

girls weekend "shades" game

(pardon the language :) )

 

"i like big beaches..." beach bag

mustache koozies

mason jar sippy cups

 

other fun designs:

one of my best friends, natalie, is getting married in cabo next year, literally three days shy from josh and i's anniversary and not even a mile away from where we got married. as a crafty friend with cabo wedding experience, i offered to design the logo that went on their save-the-dates beach ball. 

so freakin cute btw!

while this wasn't my craft, josh and i sure enjoyed the craft moonshine that natalie's dad sent our way. it was an applejack cider moonshine. let's just say i'm glad there was only one jar because this was was gone in a few hours.

a while ago, i posted some inspiration and some lyric art that i created for the entry way. finally, months later it is completed! :)

leaving you with some humor of a little bit of photoshop i did for girls weekend :) 

newly turned book worm

i can't tell you why exactly, but i've recently turned into quite the bookworm. just ask the husband who is in desperate need of attention located to the left of me, who if he was brave enough, would hide my kindle, iphone, and ipad.

when i very first saw the trailer for the hunger games i wanted to see it. but for some strange reason i wanted to read the book first. the reason i say strange reason is because the last time i read a novel was about two years ago when my friend terri gave me a book for christmas.

well about two weeks later i finished the hunger games

(ps, the movie is horrible if you have read the book)

while i was finishing up the mockingjay in cabo, all of the girls on the trip were having a conversation about good book series (we were all reading) and ashley brought up fifty shades. and yes, this was literally a week before it blew up everywhere: facebook, pinterest, instragram.

no, i am not going to review it. 

yes, you know exactly what kind of content is in this book.

all, i can say is that once i started i literally spent the entire weekend after getting back from cabo stuck to my iphone/kindle and doing nothing else but reading.

so good as in, if i have two minutes to read while josh looks through his menu at dinner...

i am reading ;)

so now you've read fifty shades and the hunger games, now what?

how about a book like combines the action of the hunger games and the 'love' story of grey?

then my friends, i bring to you

the fever series

 this is probably my favorite out of all three that i have read. 

and i am pretty sure that (relatively) i read them the fastest (which was about a week)

loved this book - all 2000 pages of it.

so what's it about? if i tell you, you probably won't read it.
ok fine.
its about "faerys" and not the kind with wings that you have to clap three times for.
(in fact, the exact opposite)
just trust me and read it.

since each series i have read has been better than the last - there is a certain point of hesitancy toward any new book you try, certain that there is no way it can be better than the last.

so, i googled and googled book reviews that had the three above in their top ten list.

and apparently the black dagger brotherhood series topped almost all of them.

ok, sure... i guess i'll start a new series with EIGHT books. holy crap.
and really? why do they have to make the covers look so vampire pornish? kindle it is.

so far i am about 80% of the way into the first book and it definitely doesn't grab at you like the first three series that i read did. maybe its just me but, while faerys, post-apocalypse revolting adolescents, and bdsm didn't necessarily through me through the loop on the "non-realistic" stuff...

for some reason vampires do. 

don't get me wrong its ended up being a pretty good book so far, but whether or not you want to invest the time/money into eight books...

stay tuned :)

we are young

so again, i go over a month without writing, but for good reason. the past 6 weeks or so have been absolutely crazy hectic, so here we go... :)

first and foremost i am elated because after spending a few weeks editing and tweaking my new photography site is up! no more blogger!!

 www.danafernandezphotography.com

while we wait for our old house to sell (so we can finally buy furniture that matches) i decided i should start working on the art that i know i am going to make

here is the texas (knock-off of pinterest) art that i made to put above the couch

the other art that i made was a ralph waldo emerson quote that i saw on pinterest and loved

(this will go above the couch nook as well)

oops...still need to paint over the old signature

so on to the activities:

ashley and timmy invited us awhile back to go clay shooting. i was a little aprehensive since the last time i shot a gun was when i was nine on my uncles' ranch. and it definitely wasn't a shotgun...

to my surprise it was SO FUN. it was like playing nintendo duck hunter...but ya know

in real life..haha

the only problem is that when you shoot all day, you end up with the picture on the right.

so may and june definitely were concert months. which is awesome, since houston has had quite the dry spell for good concerts lately.

josh and i at dave (#18!)

free press summerfest with natalie and dean!

pretty lights (awesome!) and willie

natalie's concert (pinterest-inspired) hair

 lastly, this past weekend i went to austin to shoot jenny + matt's engagement pictures at the capital!

i always forget how short the drive is (2.5 hrs) and wish i made an effort to visit more often

oh and to top it off i got to see isabel again! it was great to see her, especially since she has creative friends that make tree stumps into patio tables!

 happy friday!

vacation and celebrations

well, its definitely been a while. two months to be exact. but thankfully, its because i have been super busy and even more blessed to have had a busy schedule filled with more celebrations than i can count and one fun vacation that i will never forget.

on april 30, josh and i celebrated one year of marriage together! looking back at the past year, it has definitely been one to top them all and if the rest of them are as good then i will live a happy girl :)

to celebrate our one year anniversary, we decided that we want to celebrate in cabo since that is where we were married. in addition, while we definitely had fun on our honeymoon by ourselves - we realized it is more fun to celebrate with people closest to you. so we invited three couples that we are very close to - to help celebrate with us and to spend a week in paradise aka cabo.

here are a few pics from our trip:

us on the way to cabo

our beautiful sunrise view from casa de los angelitos :)

josh and the guys went on a deep sea (marlin) fishing trip. it was the first for josh and he also caught his first marlin (apparently one can be a fisher their whole lives and never get the chance to catch one)

it was 150lbs! 

they also caught some yellowfin tuna - we had that for dinner and it was ridiculous! 

nothing like fresh caught fish ;)

Below is an AWESOME video that timmy made of dean and josh catching the marlin

(make sure to turn on your speakers)

the guys golfing on the course at palmilla. 

(also another first for the hubby)

one of the days there we went sailing/snorkeling around land's end 

(the famous rocks at the end of baja california)

me, ashley, and natalie

all of the group on our anniversary night :)

and another thing to celebrate! our dear friends john and stacey are pregnant with a GIRL!

(john is the one that introduced josh and i at college)

literally the day we got back from cabo, we were off to sean and ashley dugan's gender surprise party.

7 months ago to this date - ashley and sean lost their first son and child, royce haskell dugan 2 weeks before he was due.

just a month or so before - we all found out that they were pregnant! (and blessed with another child)

and this shower was to celebrate just that and for everyone to find out what the gender was.

before i left for cabo, i assisted ashley with some of the paper goodies for the shower.

she decorated everything with blue and pink and requested that guests wear the color of the gender that they guessed their baby would be.

below is the request for voting

this was the oh-so-cute "wishes for baby" that i designed. the guest was to take the color of the gender they though their baby will be and to fill in the blanks to sweet notes such as "i hope you learn..., i hope you have your daddies _____ and your mommies ______, etc" afterwards she collected them all and will make a baby book with all of them in their to show the loving words of friends and family :)

i also made these "team pink" and "team blue" for pictures of the guests divided by their gender votes

and now for the gender reveal photos!

this was the picture of the box which contained the color of the balloons that would reveal if it was a boy or girl. i definitely wanted to make sure to capture this next to the memorial bench dedicated to royce haskell dugan.

sean and ashley thanking everyone for their support and love :)

opening up the box

ITS A GIRL!!!!!

so incredibly happy for you too. josh and i love her so much already :)

so now on to miscellaneous things:

if you didn't know the new nike frees 2.0 v5 just arrived and was so oh so estatic to find these. i had thought i was going to have to do custom one to get my very favorite color. but was pleasantly surprise to find these at academy with my name clearly written ALL over it.

 i would like to make a note in regards to health and the paleo diet. while i was on vacation - i definitely cheated and took about 7 days off of paleo. while i hadn't really noticed HUGE changes when i started paleo. i definitely noticed them getting off it it during vacation. 

allergies

stomach sensitivity

hangover

fatigue

lack of energy

NO thank you. 

i am happily back on my feel good paleo diet and the day after i started back on strict paleo?

my 5 day allergy attack went away along with all the junk listed above.

while i was on vacation i was also honored with another ontobaby.com feature of a newborn shoot that i had taken about 2 months ago of sweet connor! 

happy dance :)

and last but definitely not least - i got in my dave tickets!!! he took last year off and is now back! 

excited for my seventeenth show with the hubs in a couple of weeks :)

happy wednesday!

paleo sweets + workout treats

not surprisingly, over the past few weeks, i have had alot of friends and family that are interested in and even started eating paleo. (yay!)

of course, with any new lifestyle change or diet - comes questions. one question that i have received quite often relates to sweet tooths and drinks. beyond water and green tea as in the paleo diet, if you look at the "basic guidelines"  there isn't much else - especially in the dessert area. 

to me one of the most fun parts of paleo is using the list of "approved" foods and finding creative ways to replace the things i and (we) loved so much pre-paleo

so if you are one of those struggling not so much on the grains and dairy part and more on craving your favorite sweet drink or slice of cheesecake - here are some of my favorite paleo approved foods/drinks that will help to stay on track.

keep in mind though - all of these should be eaten in moderation. a cookie is still a cookie :)

SWEET DRINKS:

side note: it is actually encouraged to have a "sweet" drink once in a while to keep you thirsty as only drinking water will not aid in that continuing "thirst"

coconut water:

hate coconut? me too! well, that is until i tried un-sweetened and unprocessed coconut. it is much milder than what you have probably tried. this is the brand that i have tried and they have almost a whole shelf just for coconut water now - even this past week in vegas - they now have it in the regular convenience stores near the water. just remember to get the unsweetened or "no sugar added" :)

fruit water:

so unfortunately, coconut water isn't cheap. but you know what is? home-made fruit water!

my wonderfully creative husband came up with this a few weeks ago. since going paleo, we definitely have an abundance of fruit around the house so making this is pretty damn easy.

all he did was cut and mash about 4-5 strawberries and added about 1-2 tablespoons of agave nectar (you could also use honey) and then added water! thats it! 

note: this still counts towards your carb and sugar intake so don't overdo it and still drink plenty of regular water!

nightime drinking:

well, it is friday and i'm sure some of you plan on doing a little happy hour action, so i thought i would take this opportunity to mention what the best paleo drinks are:

red wine and TEQUILA!

when i say tequila, i don't necessarily mean your standard margarita since that triple sec isn't exactly sugar free :)

BUT, below is probably the best "paleo" drink there is according to Robb Wolf (author of The Paleo Solution)

its what he calls the "NorCal Margarita"

2 shots of gold tequila

Juice of 1 lime

Splash of Club Soda

PALEO SWEETS:

Ok, now on to the good stuff. SWEETS!

Below is some AWESOME paleo brownies

you can get the recipe here: 

http://www.bakergal.com/2011/08/bakergal-chewy-paleo-brownie-recipe.html

(there is even an option for a vegan version!) 

paleo chocolate chip cookies! horray! 

hint: the semi-sweet chocolate chips from whole foods are amazing in this recipe!

you can find the recipe from my previous post: 

http://www.two-monkeys-in-a-tree.blogspot.com/2012/02/birthday-and-bachelorette-festivities.html 

trail mix bars:

ok, so from the name of these, they don't seem like "sweet treat" but they are! i used dried blueberries and they are awesome! i found myself snacking on these more than the cookies!

recipe as follow:

ingreds:

.5 c slivered almonds

.5 c pecans

1/4 c almond flour/meal

1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 c almond butter

1/4 c coconut oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp raw honey

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup of dried cranberries or dried blueberries

directions:

on a cookie sheet, toast nuts and shredded coconut until golden brown @ 350 degrees

once toasted, pour mixture in food processor and pulse until nuts are chopped (coarsely ground)

in a mixing bowl, melt coconut oil and almond butter in microwave (20 secs)

remove and stir until smooth

add vanilla extract, honey, and sea salt

mix thoroughly

fold in nut mixture and almond meal until mixed thoroughly

fold in blueberries and/or cranberries

press mixture into an 8" x 4" loaf pan (or closest size)

REFRIDGERATE for about an hour before eating

keep in fridge for storing

(ps - this makes a GREAT pre-workout snack!)

WORKOUT TREATS:

so, josh and i have been needing some good gym shoes since joining our new gym. well, at least for me, i have just been wanting some super crazy bright shoes :)

last weekend we got a notification from our gym that luke's locker had the nike frees 30% off! so we got over there right away and got us a pair! 

MUSCLE SORENESS RECOVERY:

so not saying that this will rid your muscles from all soreness after a good workout, but i am saying this makes them feel A LOT better

its called "foam roller" and the insert gives you a whole bunch of ways to use it depending on where in your body you are aching and need relief. 

josh got this for me at academy for about $40

don't want to spend $40 on some good old foam? 

you can get a similar size width of PVC pipe from lowes or homedepot and cut it down to about 4 or 5 feet. 

its cheaper AND actually works better :)

WORKOUT CLOTHING:

so, i am definitely not one to spend loads of money on workout clothes. especially, since there are places like old navy and target around. 

one item i DEFINITELY won't spend a load of cash on?

work out tops.

but thankfully target is awesome and has these! right now they are on sale for $8!

that means its only $24 for 3! usually you can maybe get 2 for that but more like only 1!

FRIDAY SIDE NOTES:

so, hands down - my favorite spring trend?

BRIGHT COLORS!!!

i get so happy every time i walk into target since that is their "trend collection" right now!

in about 2 months josh and i and three other couples are going to mexico. when i saw these at target for ONLY $12.99! I got a pair for myself and the three other girls! so excited!

can you guess which color is mine? ;)

so not only do i love bright colors but i also love skinny jeans!

so what is my new obsession? bright skinny jeans :)

white: target for $24.99

red: old navy for $24.99

coral: forever 21 for $14.50

teal: target for $24.99

blue: forever 21 for $14.50

thats 5 pairs of fun jeans for less than $125 (including tax)!

bright, cheap, skinny jeans ftw :)

happy friday!