through my lens

I love capturing stitches in time with my lens. The two things that come so easy to me when I shoot are people and food. This week has been a crazy one but now that I have had the time to look back on all the moments, they are treasured. So many of them. And I am thankful. For each and every one. All the interactions with people from all walks of life. People who come to me and my co-workers to make them beautiful. I get to capture those first moments of them leaving the salon and feeling like a million bucks. I mean just look at them! Beaming.

To be around a group of people that are doing just what I am and who are reveling from the same benefits of seeing their clients leaving feeling like a new person, to most even their lives are changed. If even for just those first three winks in the mirror. It's a beautiful thing.

I'm constantly feeling lucky to be a part of the village of creative people who I see five days a week. So many exciting things happening in the next few weeks and also lots of ideas for the future to insure that the evolution of our industry is forever growing.

Take those moments and capture them. And don't let go.

Dancing Brush

We had a gift card to Dancing Brush that we needed to use up and so we made a special visit to have some fun. Have you heard of Dancing Brush? It's an amazing place to visit when you are feeling like being an artist or to spend some right-brain time with your friends and family. We have had a few different experiences with Dancing Brush and with every visit we leave wanting to hurry back! 

Dancing Brush is located in Poulsbo. Pretty convenient for us! There is another location in Ballard. The space itself is huge, very open and inviting. So many colors and things to look at. When you walk in you are instantly invited in by the girls that work there. Super friendly and laid back. The first step is to choose from the collection of plates, mugs, bowls, and special pottery pieces. It's great because you can find things as cheap as $8 all the way up to $30. All depending on what you decide to paint. 

You get to choose where ever you'd like to sit. There are many tables to pick from, some smaller tables or longer ones if you end up coming with a group of friends! Each table is already set up for you to begin, with paints, brushes, a bowl of water, a sponge and a place mat. You don't even have to fill the bowl up with fresh water! It's all there. 

Once you've chosen the pottery piece you want, you start painting! It's so fun. There's a little ceramic tile with dots on it for you to squeeze out dime sizes of the your chosen paints. It allows kids to stay neat and to be able to stick with just enough colors rather than getting too carried away with all of the selection. This visit Sebastian picked out a Wolverine piggy bank that he's had his eye on since the last time we were in. 

There's tools at your disposal. Things like stamps, templates, screen prints, and glaze colors. You can even walk around the space to check out other peoples art work to get inspiration from. The girls who work there just hang out doing their thing and only really assist if needed. We love that about it because whenever we go it feels like it's our little art studio that we have all to ourselves. There's good music playing with other families gathered around the tables.

Sebastian had a blast painting Wolverine! He wanted to make sure that he was painted as close to the real thing so we ended up looking up photos of him on my phone to replicate the right colors. Once we were done, we gave Wolverine to one of the girls who then took it to the back where they will apply a clear glaze on it and then put it in a kiln to be fired. It usually takes about a week for the process and they just give you a call when it's all done to get picked up.

With life being as busy as it is we typically always forget so it's nice to get that call to remind us and because we do forget it's fun to go pick it up and see the reveal of the finished product.

I plan to go back one last time to make something for myself. A mug I think! I'll post an update once we pick up Wolverine to show you all how it turned out. It will be nice to visit Dancing Brush whenever we are back in downtown Poulsbo once we move! I recommend you visit it too. Fantastic way to use your right-brain, be creative and artistic and take home something that you made yourself!

Our visit was a success. xoxo

This post is not sponsored by Dancing Brush. Thanks for reading!

Who I am

I am...

+ getting more and more excited to be a homeowner. We've been (well, when I say "we" I mean me!) picking out paint for most of the house. The kitchen, dining room and living room are an open style concept so picking paint wasn't as easy as I imagined. But I think we found a pair that are going to look fantastic. Of course Sebastian had no trouble at all picking a color for his bedroom. Because we're cool like that and totally let him peruse the wall of colors and choose for himself. Why not! So, that's all said and done. Our room is all decided on as well. Which, to be honest, was a surprise because I totally thought Bobby and I were going to have trouble coming to an understanding. No. It was way easier than the main part of the house. There's also another bedroom that's going to be made into a guest bedroom, a laundry room, another spare bedroom downstairs, as well as the family room. But we aren't going to venture into doing all of that just yet. Just the main parts for now. Let's not get too crazy!! Furniture has been a different story. Furniture scares me. It's an investment because have you seen what couches are going for nowadays?? Holy Smokes. And it can be a little daunting to make such a purchase with the understanding that it has to stay. For a long time. Like, no takey backsies. It's okay though, I'm starting to realize that the furniture is going to take some time. And I'm fine with that.

+ trying not to go into a tailspin of emotion about the fact that Sebastian is going to be turning seven years old in a few short weeks. It's mind blowing to me. I can't even express the feelings that I feel. I've never been a person to say that I feel old but suddenly now that he's turning seven my age has been brought to my attention. I know, I know. I'm no where near being "old" and all and it's not really about that. It's simply the fact that my age as never even crossed my mind. Birthdays have come and gone and I've been content with it. Now that I'm going to be a mom to a seven year old, whoa, things have changed. I'm not even the slightest sure what I've just said even makes any sense. Either way, it's there. Oh you feelings.

+ constantly surprised with how overwhelming my industry can be. In a good way though. The hair industry is an amazingly creative outlet. There's so much to learn and create and achieve. It gets me so excited and I am still forever thankful that I have been able to pursue my dreams and jump head first right into it all. Not to mention that there are so many ridiculously talented people in my industry that I am regularly collecting inspiration from them. Not just within my salon but all over the world. Which brings me to social media! Holy. Cow. Am I so glad it's a tool for us to take advantage of. Otherwise I would not be able to be involved in all the great hair stylist's work out there!

+ excited to be living closer to my little sister, Michelle. I feel like she has really become my best friend in so many ways. It helps that she's matured tremendously! Boy does that help! I'm looking forward to making more memories with her.

+ trying to figure out a way so that I can do more blogging. I love blogging and can't imagine stopping or getting rid of it. It's just the time thing. Until we move and right now with the way I commute I do have loads of sporadic time to be able to write posts but it's hard to be able to carry my laptop around with me, since I do a lot of walking. It can get heavy! So, I'm hoping to maybe invest into an iPad with a keyboard. Does anyone else have this sort of problem? What do you do? Help. Me.

+ looking forward to a handful of weddings I'm going to be doing these last couple months of summer. A few of them are with Jennifer, my partner in crime at the salon and a couple that I'll be doing solo. Did you know that I absolutely love doing wedding hair and pretty much any up-do styling?! Well, I do. Can someone just land me a gig with a fashion magazine so that I could do editorial styling for all eternity. K thanks!

+ loving the new season of True Detective. Any one else out there totally hooked on it? Also the nerd in me has yet again become twisted up in the super natural world that is Teen Wolf. Oh no. Just me. I figured.

+ ready for scarfs, cardigans, pumpkin-y beverages, spending hours in the kitchen churning out baked goods without sweating profusely from every crevice of my body, and watching Hocus Pocus back to back to back. Yeah. I'm ready for that.

+ in need of the Amazon Echo. It shall be mine. I can already foresee Alexa becoming my sidekick in life. Oh the things we can achieve together!

+ finding it very stressful to have to break the news to our local coffee shop Cups that we are moving to the other side of the water. Wanda, the women who owns Cups is basically the sweetest lady in all the land. We are all on a first name basis and she knows are drinks. She gives hugs to Sebastian whenever we come in and I think she secretively gives him an extra scoop of ice cream when I'm not looking. The shop has become a huge part of our lives so I believe it's going to be the most missed thing in Poulsbo, other than my parents of course! Ugh. I'm already thinking about putting together a little basket to hand her as I quickly blurt out that we won't be regulars anymore. Tragic. It really is.

+ thankful for all the good people in my life. For my skinny boyfriend jeans that have nice gapping holes in them that keep me cool and that I seem to wear everyday lately. For my step-mom who is a very organized hoarder and who has stacks and stacks of big plastic containers that are so very helpful for packing our things in. I might forget to bring them back over the ferry. Thankful for the people I work with who keep the fire lit inside of me. Amen.

xoxo

Blackened Tilapia Sliders

These might be my husband and father's favorite thing to eat! Well, at least for the time being anyways. I mean, come on, don't they look awesome?? Just imagine how they taste.  The best part is that they are a little bit smaller than an actual burger size but not quite as small as some sliders out there. You can totally be satisfied with eating one unless you are my husband and my dad who just had to have a second one! They are done in no time at all and there is no need to heat up your kitchen this summer because you can make them on your grill.

Also these are fool proof. I bought a bag of simple sesame asian chopped salad mix. It's basically a coleslaw mix that has a packet of sesame ginger dressing that you dump on it and stir it well. I mixed my bag up before I started on everything so that it allowed the salad to soften up and absorb the dressing just enough. Another little secret is Trader Joe's Tartar Sauce. Guys, if you haven't tried this tartar sauce well, do it! It's amazing. We are huge supporters and won't ever eat any other tarter. Ever! The dill livens it up while the jalapeño gives it just the right amount of kick. You can bet your bottom this bad boy is spread on these sliders.

Blacked Tilapia: 

6 tilapia fillets (cut in half) 

1 egg

lemon to taste

slider buns 

slaw of your choice 

tarter sauce 

Spice Rub: 

1 cup plain bread crumbs

2 tablespoons paprika 

1 tablespoon onion power

1 teaspoon cayenne 

1 teaspoon dried oregano 

1 teaspoon lemon pepper 

Take the pieces of tilapia and dip in egg and then over to your spiced breadcrumbs. Once they are all coated, place them on the grill or you can fry them in oil. Whatever you choose to do. I used the grill so that I didn't have to use any heat in our house. It's hot here!! Once they are cooked until a dark brown (blackened). then you are ready to construct your sliders. Keep your grill on, we're not done with it.

Take a bun and spread some tartar or sauce of your choice. Lay a piece of fish done, next a slice or two of tomato and then another piece of fish.  For some added flavor squeeze a lemon on top! Place them on the grill for a few minutes to warm or toast the bun while heating the sliders up. Once they are to your liking all you need is to scoop some slaw right on top. 

Nothing like that cool crunch of slaw as you bite into the slider with those flavorful tilapia fillets. Oh and the tartar. All those tastes swirling in your mouth all at once! Pure bliss. Yet another fast and easy dinner to make. Great for any dinner with your family or even a big get together. Just grill the tilapia up and let everyone put their own sliders together adding this or that. Fabulous recipe for your next BBQ.

xoxo!

let's talk // life lately

Life has been quite an adventure lately. It's been so many things. Lots of emotions running through us. Sebastian is off for the summer and has finally hit the boredom stage of the program. He's done about everything at least three times and now it's trying to figure out things to keep him busy. Luckily  we have some friends who live close by and play dates are a life saver. All in all he's the same old chipper Sebastian. We're now in his birthday month, and you can imagine he's counting down the days, and you can imagine I'm over here in shock that I'm going to have myself a seven year old. Big
sigh.

The days have been super hot here. Hotter than our typically Pacific Northwest weather. We don't mind it too much however we cannot resist taking a walk to downtown Poulsbo to our favorite coffee shop, Cups, to get an iced toddy for me and a heaping cup of ice cream for the little dude.

Salon life has been a blessing. I'm coming up to my six month anniversary and for being there less than a year I'm doing pretty well! Although my schedule isn't as jammed packed as some of the senior stylists, I have a really amazing steady amount of clients in a week. I'm constantly learning and growing! When I first started out in the industry I would have never thought I could be where I am at now. Of course, it helps that I really am pushing myself to the limit and not letting myself back down to anything that comes my way. Well, because, that's how I roll as most of you already now. I hope by the end of my first year I'll be up there with all my fellow stylists and rocking and rolling.

So off to the BIG NEWS for my little family. After what has felt like a good two years but really the last few months have been the worst, we have finally purchased our first home!! We are in the beginning stages of it all. It just happened a few days ago when we found the perfect home for us and put an offer in on it. It took some fight but we did it! It's been such an emotional few days and I'm still in awe of it all. I just can't believe we are finally going to be homeowners! It's scary and exciting all at the same time. But most of all it's a relief to be able to start our new beginning in a place that we can call our own. Shout out to so many people that have been involved! Photos will be coming as soon as we close on the house.

Life is great my friends. Busy but so great! I can't wait to be on the other side of the water where we can be close to friends. Life is just going to get better and so much sweeter. 

xoxo!