JULY

This July has been a complete whirlwind. The month kicked off with my art show. I had 15 pieces of my newest style using gold leaf and epoxy on display the entire month of July in the Vine's upper gallery.

The night of the show, we had an absolute blast. We met so many amazing people, and obviously had a copious amount of Pinot Noir (it is also a wine bar after all). But the coolest part of the night was the ending. After the show, Myself, Chris and his cousin, Pat (who is from Chicago and practically lives in our basement because he visits the lake so much), stayed afterward to hang out with the owner of the Vine, Craig Sturdevant. We drank a lot more wine as he brought out bottle after delightful bottle, and talked about the future of the Vine. He had just lost his most recent manager, and the Vine was in a critical state. It needed updating, social media/website management, and gallery operations. After a quite lengthy discussion and brainstorming session, Craig asked me if I would be willing to help out. With a very enthusiastic yes, I agreed to take over their website, social media accounts, and the art side of things! I built them an entirely new, modern website to reflect the trendy, metropolitan vibe of their incredible space.

I love web/graphic design. It is my next favorite thing to do besides making art, taking pictures and eating. Ha. I'm such a loser, I already know - so please don't remind me! Also, if you are on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, please do me a solid and follow and interact with their accounts. I need all the help I can get! It gets lonely out there when you're only talking to yourself day in and day out:(

Ok so that has taken up a lot of my time so far, as you can tell. But on top of that, it was also my kid's FIRST BIRTHDAY on July 18. Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that just 365 day prior to July 18, 2015, I had an 8lb 11oz human fall out of my body? I mean. This tiny (well maybe not so tiny at the time...) human is quickly growing into a bigger human. And it is flying by so incredibly fast. Since I've started staying home with him and working out of our home, I feel the time is flying by so much faster. It can't be stopped. And I feel an even greater amount of pressure to pursue my passions and make the most out of this time while I can, so I won't regret it later in life.

After his party, I was a whirlwind of emotions. We had a Where the Wild Things Are themed party, which was very woodland/nature themed to keep things a tad grownup/classy. I've neve been a fan of bright colored,cheesy kiddo stuff anyways, and that just wouldn't reflect the vibe I wanted for our party. We ended up having to rent tables and chairs because it quickly grew into such a big event, with around 50 people RSVP-ing and coming to the lake from all over Missouri and Illinois. So it kind of turned into mini wedding reception. It was also a bit more of an adult party, with a margarita stand and all :) My good pal, Destyni, took photos of the event so hopefully I can post those at some point. All in all, it was an amazing time, but INCREDIBLY overwhelming to plan and throw together. I'm not even slightly joking when I say I felt like I was planning my own wedding all over again. But it was so incredible to see all of our friends and family, and we're so grateful everyone could make it down. We had no idea so many people would be able to attend and for that we are so happy.

I'm also planning paint and wine nights at the Vine, beginning August 5th. These will be beginners painting classes (with wine of course!), held every first Wednesday of the month. Getting nervous, but excited for that newest adventure. More to come...

Next up on the agenda, I've been getting ready for a big, important art/photography project, collaborating with an interior designer/furniture restylist from Kansas City, the incredible Shawna Hampton from Love + Home Interior Design. I found her website on Houzz and fell madly in love with her furniture restyling. She finds vintage pieces and reworks them into a modern/glam/glitzy amazeballs wad of awesomeness, wrapped in a bow of eat your heart out. They're so swoonworthy they will make your heart skip a beat. On a whim, I contacted her because I just had to see if she would be interested in collaborating. And thankfully, she was more than excited about the idea (I breathed a sigh of relief from the moment I read her first email--as she seems to be just like me!).

So Chris and I are going to Kansas City this upcoming weekend to work with her. Originally, we had planned an interior design styled shoot here at the lake. She was going to bring all of her swanky, amazing furniture and interior designy stuff in tow, and we were going to have a photo shoot of her work plus mine in a gorgeous lake view mansion. But when the mansion fell through at the last minute, we found ourselves scrambling to come up with a last minute alternative location here. And we were already both so busy. Then Shawna had an awesome idea (thank God!)...she has a new storefront in KC in the West Bottoms. Think old, vintage buildings with amazing, industrial style brick and concrete. Rich, delicious photo goodness. The store is owned and operated by Goldie and Myrtle's, and we are so grateful they are letting us shoot in their interiors! So Friday night my mom is coming down to watch our little guy, and Chris and I are heading up to indulge on some KC bbq, booze, and artsy fartsy. MY.KIND.OF.WEEKEND.

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Oh and we had some folks looking at our house this month, so that's been a pleasant nightmare of cleaning, home repairs, and the like. Like I said, this month has been a whirlwind.

Ok, that's all! Have a fantastic coffee filled Monday.