Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

  Last Sunday Matt and I took off for the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is about an hour South and West from Norman. I was completely impressed and amazed that this existed in Oklahoma. I am so used to the flat lands that we live in, but this was far from that. 

The large rocky hills made made me think I was in New Mexico. I think the tallest one is in the 1,000 foot range.

  

  There are also roaming buffalo and long horn cattle. We didn't get very close to the buffalo but we had a few cows wander pretty close to us.
The day was beautiful and warm. About an hour into our hike we noticed the sky was turning hazy and by the time we got out of the hills the view was very "apocalyptic" like! The wind was insane! I would say the gusts were up to 40 mph. All in all it was a beautiful day trip! I highly recommend checking this out if you are a local or traveling through Oklahoma. There were quite a few shorter trails to hike, we chose the 5 mile loop which was one of the longer ones but made for a perfect hike! After the hike we strolled through Medicine Park which is an old historic resort town that has been restored. I wish we had more time to spend here but we had a dinner date with friends in OKC. I think we will go back for another day trip soon!
  We met our friends at their new house, which is amazing and made me totally jealous! I want to own a house. It was built in the 20's and is absolutely perfect!

From there we went to Republic Gastropub at Classen Curve. This was a new restaurant for Matt and I. I am trying to eat a new restaurant every time we visit OKC (which isn't that often, or not as often as you would think b/c it is only 30 minutes away). We all ordered a different beer and a couple of appetizers. Matt and I shared a Reuben with french fries. All in all the food was really good, a step up from pub food. The beer was good too. It was a little over priced for me to return but I am glad I got to check it out once. The design of the interior is pretty fantastic so that was nice to see. Again, if you find yourself in Oklahoma City, check out this gastropub, definitely worth hanging out in the modern space. And, Anthropologie just opened in the same shopping center!!!

Testing posts from my phone...

I'm debating on whether or not to take my lap top to Tucson this year. Pretty sure I can just blog about my journey from my iPhone. So here's a test.
Happy Sunday!

Coral

  This lovely image popped up on my facebook feed the other day and I have to say I am in love with ALL of it! The image is from Ylang23, a jewelry store based out of Dallas. Coral is by far one of my favorite colors as well as a color that flatters my skin tone and hair color.

 And this little beauty is the dress I will be wearing to the Dallas Museum of Art's exhibit, "The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk." 

I found it yesterday at , Unlabeled, where you can also find Bella Vita Jewelry!

I'll check in next week and tell you all about my trip to Dallas Market. 

Have a great weekend!! xoxo

Pantone Spring 2012 Colors

  

 The folks over at Pantone have selected some stunning colors for Spring.

I am especially excited about "tangerine tango," "cockatoo," and "margarita! And, one of my all time favorite color combinations; "solar power" (gold/yellow) and "sodalite blue" (navy/royal).

What colors are you looking forward to sporting this Spring/Summer? I hope you enjoy some of my favorite color combos and styles from the Fashion Color Report.

Vintage Earring-palooza!

  Yesterday I spent the day sorting and organizing all of my vintage baubles. I also took the opportunity to make some cute new earrings out of old charm bracelets and broken clip on earrings. I priced these items low! The sale will only last another day or two then the prices will go up to full price. I hope you enjoy some of my first designs of 2012!

Sold

Sold

$20

$30

$20

$20

Sold

$20

$25

Earrings - 1st Design of 2012

  I am dying to get back to my normal schedule of making jewelry like crazy. But, I have to do tedious things like sort receipts, end of the year numbers, and inventory before I get to be creative again. 

I did get the studio back in working order! It sure feels good. I will post some pics next week when I get it looking good. I had it all cleaned up then got all my end of the year paper work out so now it is a mess again! 

But, good news!!! I was able to hire a helper and she starts next week. I am really excited and relieved to know that I have back up. I have been getting really overwhelmed with all the work I have needed to do. 

  I did sneak in a little earring design this week. I had been thinking about the style in my head for a few days so I just HAD to sit down and make them. They didn't work out with the first bead I used but then I put these Czech glass drops on and they worked like a charm, I even had a facebook giveaway and got some great feed back. I was a little unsure about the design at first but from the looks of the comments on facebook they are a go! They will make their debut on my website as part of my Spring/Summer 2012 collection and will be available in 5 colors.

  As far as my "goals" go... I have still been sticking to them. Made it to the gym 3 days this week and hope to go at least one more day and maybe even a yoga class too. We had an overnight guest on Wednesday so I didn't cook, nor did I cook last night and probably wont all weekend (well much). We have another round of company coming today! We are very excited to host our friends from Little Rock this weekend.
 I have ridden my bike to work every shift this week... today is gonna be a killer though. I think the temp will only be in the 20's. And, I read a few more chapters in my book. I hope that you all don't mind that I talk about this on here. It really helps me to stick to my goals if I can talk about it. :)
Have an wonderful weekend!!!

Productivity

  Yesterday was awesome! I woke up early and went straight to work on my Studio. It pretty much took me all weekend to get things in a working order and yesterday I worked on sorting and organizing materials that were on my work table. Little, tiny, pieces of jewelry... everywhere! It's insane. You would think that I would just clean up behind myself when I go from project to project but that isn't so much the case.

  I had to stop around 9:30 in order to get ready for my "real job." So I rode my bike (one of my New Year's goals-- ride bike more!) to work. Did my waitressing thing then got off early, which couldn't have come on a better day! 

I used to like to get up really early, like 5:30 early, to go to the gym but I have found that I prefer to work before the gym. So now I have been going in the afternoons when I need a break from work. Anyway, all that being said, I made it to the gym after work (stuck to another goal-- exercise).

  After that I was starving! I ran to the grocery store to grab some fresh veggies for our dinner, which was tacos. Cooked dinner (one more goal-- cook more), had one margarita, probably ate a little too much but we have a hard time passing up tacos. Then, showered and got ready for bed. I even stayed up long enough to get over the first wave of being sleepy and then proceeded to read my book until about 11 (another goal-- read!!). 

It felt good to stick to my goals. I haven't been exercising or eating right and I think my body hates me for it. I am tired and sluggish and just unmotivated. I find it hard to run a small business, hold down a part time job and be good to myself, my husband and our dog. Life is all about balance and it is easy to lose sight of that. Here's to finding it and keeping it!

The book I am reading...

Part of my order from Cool Tools arrived last week. I haven't had a chance to play with any of it but hopefully I will asap! My kiln should be here in a week or so ;} eeeekkk!!!

On the books for today... 

-Figuring out my trip to Tucson... this girl has a plan ticket but no one to share a room with! Know anyone going that might want to share a hotel room? Please let me know.

-Cleaning up the last remnants of the "Big Rearrange" of 2012.
-Make some earrings! --most excited about this! I haven't made jewelry since before Christmas.

-Probably a little book work.

-Exercise and cook dinner :)

Happy Day to you!