grace loves the beatles.

#febphotoaday

2012-02-10T06:51:00.000-08:00

if you're on instagram, i'm sure you've heard of #janphotoaday or #febphotoaday. there's a theme every day, and so you post a picture to ig with that theme! it's super fun. i started the january one but then actually pretty much failed. i think that it was too close to the end of my 365, and i just needed a little break. : ) but, i'm doing the february photo a day and haven't missed a day yet. pinky swear.

the woman who created the febphotoaday said that she'll be making the themes for it every month! it's going to be so fun to follow along with it, and i'm going to try to participate as much as i can!

here are my first 5 pictures!

[1] your view today. yep. if it was more accurate, it probably would've been my binder and a desk, but no pictures in class, sorry 'bout it.

[2] words. stack of books on the mantel!

[3] hands. i love these colors! too bad the polishes are crappy. :\

[4] stranger. hah! this is so awkward. i took a picture of this guy out the car window. i hope he didn't see me!

[5] ten am. i helped with charlie's sunday school that morning!

to see more of my #febphotoaday, follow me on instagram! @gracieisabel!

saturday sunflare // the paper mama selfie challenge

2012-02-04T19:07:00.000-08:00

whew! it's been almost a week since my last post. honestly, i've just been doing other stuff. schools, you know. edumacation. it's kind of important.

today it hit 60 degrees! hallelujah! um, excuse me. didn't we have like 30 feet of snow, like, a week ago? i rolled up my jeans to capri's, which is a tradition when it hits the big six oh. but then i got cold. ha!

i also hadn't picked up my camera in, i don't know, a week. since my 365 ended i've been taking pictures, but i haven't felt as inspired, ya know what i mean? i'm going to read a few photography & editing tutorials, stalk a few pinterest boards, the like.

anyway, today i jumped outside to take a few selfies and some of charlie, because he's cute. and then i asked my mom to come out because hello, it was the golden hour and there was fabulous light & sun flare for portraits!

linking up the above photo with the paper mama's selfie challenge.

here's a little "currently" for you:

obsessing over: nail polish. ironically, my nails aren't painted right now... anyway. it might be getting a little unhealthy. but don't worry, i'm buying the cheap stuff, not the fancy schmancy $10 a pop.

working on: my photography. like i said, i've feeling a little uninspired lately...

thinking about: the monday that i have off for semester break! thinking about going to ikea... hmmmm.

anticipating: new york! i am so freaking excited! i even made a countdown on my igoogle.

listening to: taylor swift. looove her.

eating: um a lot of sugar. hah! that's what saturdays are for, right?

have a fabulous weekend, friends!

clothes

2012-01-29T00:00:00.000-08:00

i don't know why, but i've been getting into fashion a lot lately. it's kind of on and off, i think. sometimes i don't really care at all, and sometimes i'm going mall shopping whenever i can, online shopping (but not purchasing!) daily, and obsessing over my fashion pinterest board. right now it's the latter.

i would wear everything in this little collage that i made. i feel like my style is kind of all over the place! ha! i feel like a lot of the things above wouldn't exactly be in my price range... that's why forever 21 is my best friend. ;)

what's your favorite store?

charlie is two!

2012-01-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

my baby brother is two today! i shouldn't actually call him my baby brother because he's actually a toddler, but saying "toddler brother" is just weird and i have a feeling i'll call him baby brother forever.

he has been requesting "donees" (donuts), "bloons" (balloons), and "birday hat on my head" whenever someone mentions the word "birthday" or "two". he is pretty excited. sure takes after his auntie!

i'm not sure how i feel about him being two. i love watching him grow up and talk and make friends and be a kid, but part of my wants him to stay a little baby forever!

i love love love love you charlie and i am so happy you're my little bro.
happy second birfday, big boy!

xo

let's reflect

2012-01-27T21:54:00.000-08:00

oh hey there. i'm actually still alive! & well! this week has been really stressful/busy/great. how can a week be stressful & great, you ask? well. the stressful part was that there was a rat living in our garage. yes. you heard me. A RAT. NO ME GUSTA. it was living in our garage and coming in our house at night. ew. i don't want to talk about that too much because it grosses me out so you can read about it here and here.

it was great though because i had a good week after the rat was... ahem. dealt with. (sorry, rat.) i had, count 'em, ten hours of community service to do before the end of first semester that i was kinda stressing about. i had a few friends over and we baked and took the cake pops (oh my heaven) and cupcakes to the firemen/retirement home.

in other news, tomorrow is charlie's second birthday! ahh! i don't want to get all sappy and "you're growing up so fast" but i just love him so much and there's no way he's two already. i'll save my sap for tomorrow, on his birthday. you're welcome.

last thing, pinky swear. i'm entering a photo contest at my library, and i'm stuck between the two pictures below! which one do you like better?

have a great weekend!

week via instagram!

2012-01-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

well, i have been pretty MIA this week. which is ironic, considering it snowed seven and a half inches and i sat on my butt on the couch all day long for five days.

[1] i rearranged the shelves in my headboard!!

[2] snowmegeddon came true. 7 inches!

[3] squishy cheeks ♥

[4] i love him! he'll be TWO in just a few days!

[5] my HALF BIRTHDAY DESSERT!

[6] gone.

[7] yeah. my week.

[8] the snow slowlyyy melted...

[9] babysitting saturday morning!

[10] ♥ colbie!

have an awesome sunday, y'all!

list on a snowy tuesday

2012-01-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

001. it's supposed to snow ten inches today. TEN. not kidding. i'm giddy. but i also know that if the forecast turns out to be true, being snowed in here is going to get real old real fast.

002. have you heard of the show on abc, once upon a time? oh my. it's literally so good. my family & i record it on sundays and everyone watches it monday night! ah! i wish it was on every night. ♥ i think i'll do a post about my favorite tv shows, soon.

003. guess what, my room is still clean!

004. if anyone is wondering, i got the polaroid floral-y frame from irocksowhat! my mom & i have been reading her blog for a long time. she's a really talented blog/graphic designer, and she posts freebies literally all the time. i think i'm going to print a few of the prints for my room! they're so cute!!

005. ♥ i got misty.

k, that's all for today, folks. if the weather man decides to be right, and it really does snow 10 inches, i'll probably be blogging a lot. ;)

room.

2012-01-16T19:53:00.000-08:00

i posted a room tour in november. ok, holy different room, batman! it has changed so much. i rearrange my room a little too often. ;-)

i kind of love my new dresser. it was my great-grandma's!

xo

PROJECT 365 = COMPLETE!

2012-01-16T19:44:00.000-08:00

today i posted day 365/365. (!!) i started it january 1st of last year, but i had a few days to make up. all i can say is that i'm so proud of it and it's an amazing feeling that i accomplished this. i had so much fun with it. but, at the same time, i'm really glad it's over! i have an idea for a photo project (not year long project or anything, haha!) that i'll probably do tomorrow. but y'all will have to wait and see! even you, mom!

day 365/365. whooo!

snow.

2012-01-16T09:22:00.000-08:00

yesterday, i woke up to a white blanket over everything outside! it was so beautiful. i was in a little mid-winter funk, and the white just turned everything around for me. i absolutely love the snow. not the playing in it, very much, mostly just looking at it.

(these were all taken at kelsey's house, by the way.) (:

gracely designs

2012-01-15T20:49:00.000-08:00

i've gotten a few new followers recently (welcome, friends!) and plus, i haven't really been talking about it lately. i have a blog design blog! did you know that? i design blogs. i love it, it's really fun for me!
with the holidays & new year's & everything, business has been slow! but now, i am itching to do one (or six) blog designs. check out my site and order if you're interested. i charge $15 for header, button & signature. installation is an extra $5. check it ouuut!

xox

pinterest love.

2012-01-14T13:37:00.000-08:00

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |

nail polish

2012-01-13T21:37:00.000-08:00

sinful colors : boom boom (851) // rimmel london : steel gray (270) // sally hansen mint sorbet (340)

i have really been getting into nail polish recently! until i was about 10 i was not allowed to paint my nails! maybe this is a common rule among mothers, i don't know, but when i was 8 all i knew was that all of my little friends were dancing around with their pretty pink fingernails and i was only allowed a clear coat. i was deprived. kidding ... kind of.

my nails are always painted now! now, i'm of course going to jinx it and become to lazy to ever paint them again. psht. whatever.

anyways, these are my 3 favorite colors of the moment! pretty sure you can get them all at target or drugstores for under $5.

disclaimer: i was not contacted or sponsored by any of the above companies to endore their products. pinky swear. i just really love these colors!

strawberry/pineapple/orange smoothie!

2012-01-11T21:38:00.000-08:00

okay! i don't usually do recipes on my blog but i made this today and it was reeeally good. like, really good! i love smoothies, but whenever i made them they don't taste very good. i don't know what it is, but there's always something weird-tasting in it. like last week, when i made a banana smoothie with vanilla protein powder. gross! i still shutter everytime i think about that nasty thang. or one time i made a berry one with yogurt in it. ew. too sweet.

but i did not lose hope! i asked my mom to pick up frozen fruit at the store and she brought home the "tropical mix". i whipped up this little smoothie after school and it is the best one i've made, i think! it tasted like it's from jamba juice, but not $4 a pop.

i just added the frozen mix (that has strawberries, mangoes and pineapple). i'm sure you could use not frozen if you had all of those fruits. then i added a splash* of milk, and a splash* of orange juice (then a little more.) it was super good. then i added a fancy umbrella straw, then took it out because who drinks smoothies with straws? not this gal.

oh, and i added extra orange juice and it almost tasted like an orange julius. i reeeally like orange juliuses. (juliuses?)

have a great thursday! (almost friday...)

*i hate it when people say "splash" of something in a recipe but i couldn't think of any other way to explain it.

kindle fire!

2012-01-10T00:34:00.000-08:00

i mentioned this in my links to love post, but, i got a kindle fire! i just love it! i got just a normal kindle from my grandma for christmas, and then we found out that our neighborfriend was selling hers because she was buying an ipad. i ran over to her house to play with it, then came home, returned my kindle and bought the kindle fire! you guys, it is so cool. there's books (duh), music, video, apps, and web browsing! last night i curled up in my bed with my kindle fire and read through my google reader. the web is super fast, which is not what i expected! the only thing is that it's really hard to blog from, which isn't really that big of a deal to me.
if you're debating whether to buy it or not, i would say absolutely yes! i am super impressed!

new york, new yooooork

2012-01-09T16:45:00.000-08:00

via

i am going to new york in a few months with my grandma (or nanny) for an early birthday present! you guys, i am so excited! it is a few months away but i am already thinking about where i'm going to go, what sights i'm going to see, what i'm going to wear (lolz. kidding ... kinda.) i'm a huge vacation/traveling fan! the whole shebang! (even the flying part... that just stresses my mom out but i secretly love the airport!)

so, we're going to manhattan for a week. we've already decided that our few days are going to be PACKED with shopping and sight seeing galore! the list below is the places that we're FOR SURE going. but we want to go to even more awesome places. so, tell me ... have you been to manhattan? what was the coolest place you went while you were there? please tell!

chelsea market
century 21
world trade center memorial
FAO schwartz
grand central station (for lunch!)
trump towers
public library
s'mac (a really awesome restraunt with a variety of fancy mac and cheese! mac and cheese is literally my favorite food. well, second to donuts)
central park
empire state building
staten ferry (to see the statue of liberty)
soho
today show (yes, we are going to go wave in the cold and get on tv!)
st patrick's cathedral
rockefeller center
met museum of art
moma
broadway show

we are going to be pretty busy!

xo

links to love ♥

2012-01-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

♥ the kindle fire! i got one yesterday. ;)

♥ if i ever cut my bangs like this, i'll know how to blow dry them.

♥ wouldn't it be amazing to have this?

♥ this adorable kindle fire case! i might have to own it.

♥ i stumbled upon this list this week and made a little list of books to reserve at la bibleoteca. i'll probably do a good reads list in the future!

♥ i want these uggs in grey or chestnut.

♥ this yummy recipe. looks super easy and delicious!

what links have you been loving this week? spill it!

project 365

2012-01-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

as you probably know already, i did a project 365 for the year of 2011! i remember someone left a comment (i don't remember who...) asking about my project 365, if i "cheated", etc. i started typing the email to respond, and then got distracted or something (haha big surprise) and then when i went back i COULDN'T FIND THE EMAIL. so here's a post! i thought this might be helpful to those who are embarking on a 365 this year!!

yes, i did cheat on my project 365. probably more than i should have. but you know what, i just took double the photos that i should have the next day. there were a couple situations where i was ten or twenty days late in posting the 365s, and i was just frustrated and didn't want to go back and look at the dates, so i just didn't post the pictures in order on my blog or flickr. i think, for the most part, i took a picture every day.

so, some tips? take your camera with you. you can't take pictures with your camera on a desk at your house! a lot of times i took my camera wherever i was going, but didn't see any good photo ops, so i didn't take any. that's fine! i made a padded insert for my bag so i could take it with me, without it getting squashed. (tutorial, anyone?) that really helped me. :)

if you're on the fence about doing a 365, i would say do it. i promise you, you won't regret it! (: and another thing, if it seems a little too daunting, you could always do a project 52 (taking one picture each week!)

day 276

so, are you doing a 365 this year? leave your link in the comments! and good luck!

xxo!

memories, dreams and reflections

2012-01-01T13:34:00.000-08:00

i didn't do this link up over at ashley sisk's blog last year, because i hadn't kept my pictures very organized in 2010. (i'm ashamed.) i promised myself that i would do it this year, though!

me : yes, that is me. doing a cartwheel.

i love you : gosh. i just love this picture. and him. (i love you too, camden. but you don't pose for pictures very well.)

still laughing : you can read about the cake here!

winter wonderland : we had snow in late february this year! there hasn't been any snow yet this season, i'm hoping it'll come later like last winter!

birthday : charlie had a totally chill, laid back DONUT PARTY for his first birthday! if you didn't know, donuts are my absolute favorite food.

friends : charlie & seth are BFFL's (best friends for life!)

i was inspired : i was inspired by pinterest to make some fabric bunting for my room! it was really easy, and it looks great. (it's still up in my room.) you can find my tutorial here!

spring fever : i remember it raining so much this spring!

travel/vacation : we went to palm springs this year for spring break, and it was amazing! gahh, i just love me some vacay.

summer days : i love going to whidbey island in the summer!

a day in my life : school! (i really don't like the coloring in this photo... but i couldn't find another!)

all smiles : their smiles look a little painful ... haha! i told them if they did a nice one they could do a funny one...

autumn harvest : pumpkin guts!

home/family : geez, i love my family!

celebrate : oh, hai. there's me, just getting my celebration on.

let's do it again : i would really love to go to northwest trek with clare & sean again! it was really fun and i got some great shots!

i miss you : i love my cousin sam! she lives a couple hours away, so i don't get to see her as much as i want to. i miss her when we're back in our own cities!

beautiful : washington is just so dang beautiful.

dress up : here's my momma & dad all gussied up to go to a formal birthday party! do i have good looking parents or what?

macro : i don't really take that many macro shots, i realized...

holidays : the holidays are all about getting excited over the christmas cups at starbucks!

my favorite : i had a hard time picking my favorite photo, but i chose this one! i love everything about it!

don't ever change : don't ever change, charlie pete! stay your little two year old, rubber band wrist-ed, baby voiced adorable self forever, kay?

just because : these ones are from my flickr! i like them, but they didn't fit into any other catergory!

hopes & dreams : (this picture is super random.) i hope to become a better photographer, maybe purchase some new gear, and experiment with different tecniques! i hope to stay more organized in all aspects of my life! i hope to eat healthy and excersize, so it becomes a habit! i am looking forward to my new york trip and taking a lot of pictures on that!

this post also doubles as a nice trip down ugly watermark lane!

2012 -- a list of resolutions

2011-12-30T19:28:00.000-08:00

i've always been a big fan of resolution's ... but i've never really written a solid list for the new year's! this year, i've complied a short little list of resolutions that will be relatively easy to accomplish!

eat healthy, & exercise. so this is pretty much on every one's resolution list, am i right? i'm not going to write down some crazy diet plan, but i just want to eat a little healthier this year. you know, not feeling like i'm eating crap all the time. and, in terms of exercise, i went on a run last week with my dad, and i think with a little more practice, i will be able to run farther distances and maybe it'll be something that i'll get in to! i might be doing a little post on this in the future! ;)

drink waaaater! this kind of fits in with the above, but i want to drink more water. i pretty much never drink water with my meals. i just drink milk. fat free, but still, not as good as water! i think i'm going to buy a fancy water bottle at target (haha, it probably won't actually be that fancy) and use it!

read a book per week! and, read before i go to bed, instead of surfing email/blogs/pinterest/facebook/youtube. after all, it is part of my homework to read 20 minutes every night ... it would be easier for me to do that if i had a specific time that i read every day.

make my bed every morning. i think that making your bed just looks your room look so clean. and it will make my mom happy! : )

that is pretty much it. pretty mediocre resolutions, right? but i'm going to really work hard to do these. and who knows? maybe in 2013 i'll laugh at how easy my resolutions were!

here's to a great 2012!! (it looks/feels so weird to type that out. so futuristic!)

talk to you NEXT YEAR! HA!*

xoxo
grace

* that wasn't actually that funny.

instagramming.

2011-12-29T11:50:00.000-08:00

top row:
[1] camden can text on his iPod touch now, and it is so adorable!
[2] ahh alligator in the shower! lolz jay kay, it's just a toy.
[3] wearing my favorite jeans & favorite socks
[4] new shoes that santa got camden & i! (he got all black old school vans.)

bottom row:
[5] charlie always comes in my room while i'm still sleeping, then sits in this chair.
[6] we put all of his blankets and stuffed animals in his crib with him! he loved it.
[7] my piggy bank is so full i can't put any more moneys in it! i need to go to coinstar.
[8] new stuff from my mall trip with a friend!

here are some of my recent instagrams. i kinda took a little break from instagram, now i'm way inspired again and posting a few pictures a day! you should follow me @gracieisabel. and leave your username in the comments, because i really need some new people to follow!
i'm not going to post for a few days, because i'm going to go have a fabulous time at my cousin's house, for part of the remainder of my winter break! but i'll still be insta-gramming.

xox
grace

q&a sesh.

2011-12-27T12:52:00.000-08:00

just a little background ... a long time ago (early november) i asked for people to leave me questions in the comment section for an faq page! but, i decided that this isn't really faq, because it stands for frequently asked questions. i don't think once is frequently. ;) so i'm just turning it into a little q and a sesh so everybody's questions still get answered!

what got you into photography?
i'm going to have to give that credit to my lovely mother! she got an SLR, and i got a leeeeetle jealous. so i saved up, and bought my own! i've always been into photography, but i think getting a nicer camera is what really got me into it!

what is your favorite song by the beatles?
oooh. hard, hard question. i think i'm going to say eight days a week, which has been my favorite since the age of three. but i'm also listening to more of their music, and finding songs that i've never heard and really like!

why is it so hard for you to keep your room/bathroom clean?
ha. this was asked by my mom. my room and bathroom are actually spotless right now!

why did you start a blog, and do you have one main goal or purpose with it?
i started a blog because my mom's friend ingrid suggested it, and my mom thought it was a great idea! i was actually really confused by a blog, so my mom just thought it would be a good creative outlet for me, i guess! now, i think my main goal or purpose isn't to get followers or pageviews or likes or whatever, i mainly just blog for me. cliché, i know.

what do you use to edit your photos?
i currently use lightroom 3 to edit my photos, and adobe photoshop elements 8 for all of my design work.

what do you call the carbonated drink (pop, soda, etc.)?
i call it both, i guess! i've never really thought about it. ;)

do you have any advice for bloggers that want to start incorporating sponsors into their blog?
yes, yes, yes, YES! i would say be very organized and strict with yourself. i wasn't that way, and it just ruined the whole thing for me, and kind of stressed me out! and, i messed up a few times, which is never good! so i would say keep track of everything in a notebook or word document or something. you'll thank me!

what do you want to do as a job when you're older?
i would really love to stay a blogger and photographer. (i know, that's going to be one old blog!) i would probably want to be a full time photographer, and blog on the side. i'm not sure if that's really what i'm going to want to do when i'm all grown up, but for now, that sounds pretty great to me.

does it ever feel hard for you to balance blogging and real life?
it has in the past, but now i feel like i have a pretty good balance. :)

what is your favorite part about blogging?
for me, it's the creative outlet! this is my blog, i get to post whatever i want, and it's just crazy to me that 301 people read it!

how many siblings do you have? just your two brothers, right?
yeah, just camden and charlie. :)

how do you like being the oldest child?
i love it, actually! i love being a role model for my brothers, but it's a little daunting sometimes, because, you're their ROLE MODEL! haha!

what's your middle name?
my middle name is isabel. most girls i know acutally hate their middle name. i love mine!

do you like popcorn? ;)
yes. um, i love popcorn.

what kind of camera do you have?
i shoot with a nikon d3100, and i have an 18-135 lens, and a 50mm f/1.8 lens. (whoa, nerd alert.)

what's your favorite color?
right now, i'm loving teal and grey! and also that kind of light, vintage-looking blue. soo pretty.

favorite blogs?
some of my favorites are click and capture, busy bee lauren, young house love, the beauty department, and lindsy doesn't know how to relax. (lindsy's actually the one who i shot that wedding with. she's super awesome!) you can see the list of all of my favorite blogs here.

lightroom tips?
i'm actually not a pro lightroom-er! so, sorry, i don't really have any good tips. but my favorite website for presets is presets heaven! they're all free and there's some pretty good ones!

are you studying web design?
nope. i'm in middle school, so i don't really get to choose my classes, haha! but yes, in the future, web design or graphic design is something i'll definitely be interested in!

what is the inspiration for your blog designs?
i look around at web designer's websites, and blog designs i like, to get a little inspiration, but i never will copy their designs! it really bothers me when people steal my designs!

favorite musicans (besides the beatles?)
i love taylor swift and andrew belle!

favorite candy?
i pretty much love all candies. sometimes i'm in the mood for chocolate, and sometimes fruity stuff. i'll say three musketeers and skittles!

rain, shine, or snow?
all of them! i love that i live in a place that has four seperate seasons.

best thing about target?
that they have everything! if i had to choose one store to shop at for the rest of my life, for everything, it would defs be target. they recently remodeled my target so there's pretty much a whole grocery store in it. and, they keep my target really clean, so that's nice, too.

if you could live anywhere, were would you live?
i would stay here, in washington! i think if i were to have to move somewhere, for a job or something, i would choose somewhere sunny (palm springs, anyone?) but i'd always come back. ;)

favorite movie?
this changes all the time! i love the movie elf (duh). i also like napolean dynamite, but it's getting a little old now (gasp, i know.) and i saw the movie beastly recently and that was a really good one!

favorite number?
thirteen. it just appears in a lot of ways in my life!

favorite "thing"?
well, of course i'll say my family & friends. but for material things, i'll say my d3100. :)

favorite drink?
i love soda (sprite, actually) but it's so bad for you, it's like crap for your body! so i try to steer clear of those. i really love strawberry lemonade, and in the summer, i like to walk down to a place near my house and get frozen strawberry lemonade. mmm, it's so good.

what's your favorite type of jolly rancher?
blue raspberry, but then your mouth turns all blue & it's so embarassing! so watermelon or cherry.

how often are you taking pictures every day?
i'm supposed to be taking pictures every day for my 365, but that doesn't happen all the time & i make up the days later. i feel like it's kind of defeating the purpose of my 365, but i still think it'll be an accomplishment when it's over.

what's it like having a mom who blogs?
it's awesome! we can talk about other blogs, share photography and design tips, and i think it's just a really great thing we bond over!!

thanks to everyone who asked the questions! whew, that was a lot. ;)

xo
grace

sam & i on christmas eve

2011-12-26T14:19:00.000-08:00

these pictures totally crack me up! we are just really hilarious. and attractive. (see the third picture down.)

christmas!!

2011-12-26T14:05:00.000-08:00

christmas was amazing. well, in my life so far, i've never really experienced a christmas that wasn't amazing!
christmas eve, my cousin samantha, her family & my mimi and papa came over for dinner, presents and church! we usually go to church for christmas eve, but this was the first time my church had a legit candle lighting service. i was a little nervous about camden + fire around me, but it was all good. ;) it was so beautiful to look all around and see the sea of twinkling candles!

in the morning, we woke up and opened presents. christmas morning is pretty much the only morning of the year that i wake up and can't go back to sleep. haha! at seven, we all got up and went to open presents downstairs! from my mom & dad, i got a beatles poster for my room, a beatles t-shirt, and super cute wallet that i've been wanting for a while, and $50 to target! then, my mom and i ran to starbucks to pick up one of those boxes of coffee, then ran back home and had some of her family come over for brunch and presents.

for dinner, we went to my nanny & jim's house. my great grandma and grandpa, nanny and jim, aunt clare and sean, sean's mom and dad, my uncle lars and his girlfriend, and my cousin nick were all there! whew. that's a lot of people when you type it out. we had deeeelicious prime rib, baked potatoes, green bean casserole, and dinner rolls.

i'm a little sad that christmas is over! but now i get to start planning my manhattan trip for the spring, which i'm so excited about.

how was your christmas? what's your favorite part of the holidays?

xo

charlie blogs

2011-12-25T13:14:00.000-08:00

charlie got a leapfrog laptop this morning. when you press the purple button, it says "new blog entry!"

i love it.

how are your christmases going? every year, i forget how fast it goes!

i'll post more christmas morning pictures later. ;)

xox

grace

fave 365's of the year / 2011 in review

2011-12-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

you probably know that january 1, 2011 i started my project 365! and january 1, 2012 is very near, meaning my 365 is coming to an end.

i thought it would be fun to pick out my favorite day from each month and share it with y'all, and also just a little bit of what was going on that month!

look how wittle and baby-ish charlie was! he had just turned one and got this awesome tunnel that was amazing to him.

we threw a kick-butt surprise party for my lovely mom and had to get a kick-butt cake to go with it! if you haven't heard the story, my dad got this caterpillar (wanting it to be the cheesiest/awesomest cake) and then changed his mind and asked for a camera, and for it to say "oh, snap!" like her blog, and then she snapped. but they kept the camera and added an apostraphe-s to the end of the "oh snap" making it even cooler than it would have been, obviously!

we took an awesome vacay to magical palm springs in march! this is my mimi & papa's dog, cinder. she's pretty much treated like a human. ha! the trip was amazing, and even though we go every year, this one just stood out. i won't tell you how many times we went to get froyo on the trip, but i'll tell you that you can't count it on your hands.

samantha came home with us after a volleyball touranment in the area and spent the weekend with us! it was fun. i love her. and camden did some awesome tricks on his razor. then he fell down.

it rained in may. a lot. i feel like the "april showers bring may flowers" was reversed this year. i went on a lovely shopping trip & panara run with my nanny, and we went to the logan's house for a weekend while my dad ~~kicked butt~~ placed 90th in a road bike race with over 500 people!

school got out (woot, woot!) and we took a trip to whidbey! and took many rides on our little boat! (this might not only be my favorite picture of the month, but my favorite of the year. for realz.)

we celebrated fourth of july, my birthday, and i ate this. july is my favorite month fo sho! (uhm, maybe acutally tied with december.)

in august, we took yet another trip to whidbey, this time with our good and hilarious friends the simlers! i also went to camp and had a great time, and had some fabulous guest posters while i was gone!

september brought school once again. that's about everything exciting that happened in september!

i got my new camera! ahhh! i'm in love with my d3100! you can call me concieted, but i really like this selfie!

charlie got some new fire boots that are hilariously big for him and make him walk funny. and i spent an amazing thanksgiving with some of my favorite people, my girl cousins! then, i had another thanskgiving that i got to spend with some more of my favorite people: my grandparents and aunt!

we set up the tree and i laid on the floor to get some christmas tree bokeh. christmas hasn't exactly happened yet, but i'm sure it'll be awesome, just like every year. ;)

so, how was your year? doing something like this is so fun ... i can really see how my photographic style has changed from january to december!

xoxo

christmastime. (+ a playlist)

2011-12-19T21:20:00.000-08:00

christmas is coming and it's coming quick, my dears. can you believe that it is five short days away? and if you're counting 'till christmas eve, that's four? holy smokes. (don't know where that came from, i never say "holy smokes" in real life.) christmas is just seriously THE BEST time of year. i finally have all of my gifts (well, not all, but most) bought and wrapped and placed neatly under the tree, all of the holiday decorations up, and school is finally out tomorrow after a long, painful month of christmas anticipation. whew.

to get everyone in the christmas-y mood, (since there aren't enough christmas posts clogging up my google reader as it is), i took some festive pictures and assembled a little christmas playlist for your viewing/listening pleasure!

ok, so not really christmas-y, but i like this one. sorta. ha.

mmm, baklava. i try to not eat too much of it because there's ~~about a stick of butter per piece~~ a lot of butter, but boy it is hard! you can find the recipe here.

christmastime. by grace drechsel on Grooveshark

[it's no secret that i love christmas pop.]

on copycats

2011-12-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

haha. super random picture here!

i've been meaning to type this out for a long while, because this has been something that has really bugged me since i started blogging (well, actually blogging, you know?) and that is copycats. i didn't want to call anyone out on it by personally emailing them, so that's why i wanted to do this.

yeah, we all know. nobody likes a copycat. they're just not as cool as the person they're copying from, no matter how hard they try. and get this: we notice. well, i notice at least. this hasn't been as much of a problem as it used to be. or maybe it just kind of stopped bugging me as much as it did. i've had people steal things i said, exact post ideas/post titles (this actually happened to me that someone posted the same post as me on the same day, with the same title and everything), and one time, someone actually used the exact same blog design that i used to have, like when i was "done with it". annoying.

when i'm looking at a blog that is obviously copying someone with their blog design, pictures or anything else, you know what i'll do? i click out. becuase if they copied that, how do i know that everything else isn't copy/pasted from other bloggers?! it's just really not fair to the people who spend a long time on their posts, photography, blog designs, witty things they say, you get the gist.

i guess what i'm saying is that if you're copying from me (or anyone else, really), please stop. not cool, dude. instead of copying, you could maybe spend a little more time on your posts/photography! you'll get more readers doing that, anyway.

* i'm not trying to be harsh or single anyone out by doing this post. i'm so not mad! just a little reminder that copying's not cool.

** bonus points to whoever can tell me how many times i said "copier" in this post. hah! cause it was a lot.

getting work done.

2011-12-12T18:52:00.000-08:00

we're pretty classy over here.

linking up with touch up tuesday *, communal global, & sweet shot tuesday.

* for editing, i just ran CoffeeShop's Toasted Coconut action (found here) and ... that's it. i didn't adjust or anything!

and then, she {snapped} giveaway!

2011-12-11T19:35:00.000-08:00

so you know my mom, right? (what? you don't? are you crazy? click here.) well, she's pretty much awesome, and not only one of my favorite bloggers, but also one of my favorite people. she doesn't think that she's crafty but actually she's uber crafty and makes super cute camera strap covers, and sells them in her shop.

today, she is being very generous and has offered to give away one of her camera straps to a lucky GLTB reader!
and, to those who don't win, if you're still interested in getting a strap, when you email her be sure to mention that grace loves the beatles sent ya and you'll get $5 off your purchase.

seriously, if you don't have one of these straps, you're missing out. all of her friends & family with SLR's have them and basically, it's just what's cool.

here are some of the straps currently in le shop:

(the bottom two are my personal faves.)

now you really want to win. i understand.

mandatory entry: follow this blog publicly via GFC, visit the shop then leave a comment telling me what strap you would get if you wanted.

extra entries:

- be a public follower of and then, she snapped

- like GLTB on facebook

- like and then, she snapped on facebook

- blog/tweet/facebook about this, and leave the link!

the winner will be announced on dec. 17th.

good luck!

sunday thoughts

2011-12-10T21:18:00.001-08:00

it's been quite a while since i've done one of these lists. but i just love them ... a great way to get all of the thoughts in my head organzied.

one. i strung the christmas lights (seen above) around my curtain rod for a little extra holiday flair in my room. do this, please! it was literally $2.50 (i bought a strand of lights with 50 bulbs at big lots!) and i love it. it's magial. ha!

two. i really really really want it to snow. like, super badly. i heard this kid on the bus on friday say that there was supposed to be snow next thursday ... i was in a happy mood all day, then i went home and got on the internets to check if it was true ... and, negative. but there is rain, so maybe?

three. my computer is still messed up. gah. it's so painful. currently, my mom is reformatting everything. (i'm blogging from my dad's laptop.)

four. i went carloing at the old folk's home with my church group this morning. (kelsey & megan included.) it was so awesome! i love to sing (even if i'm not the best...) and i just love old people. that sounds a little weird, but honestly. i think we all do.

five. i've been pinterest-ing it up lately. follow me, yo.

peace out.

xox

how i curl my hair - updated!

2011-12-10T08:05:00.001-08:00

so, i did this video a while back in the summertime (oh how i miss you, summertime.) but everytime i watched that video i just got annoyed with myself for being so awkward! so i took down that video and decided that i was going to make a new one. (spoiler alert: kiley might use this video in one of her posts!) so, here you go.

here are the products that i used in this video (and where you can buy them, if you're interested, you know.)

+ conair instant heat 3/4 inch curling iron (again, i took the clamp off to make it fancy.)
+ tresemme heat tamer spray
+ garnier fructis anti-humidity hairspray
+ i didn't mention it in this video, but sometimes i'll use the garnier fructis root booster to add a little extra body!

and here is the tutorial for how to take the clamp off!

xox, lovelies!

iheartfaces - feet

2011-12-06T17:19:00.001-08:00

urgh.

2011-12-04T21:28:00.001-08:00

so.
my laptop is being reeeeeeeeeally annoying. (I'm blogging from my iPod, by the way.) sometimes it will let me check my email or Facebook for like 2 seconds, then freeze up and I have to control + alt + delete. I've restarted, restored, scanned, downloaded, the whole nine. but my stupid computer won't budge.
I'm hoping to have it back up & running ASAP, but I have enjoyed the little computer break (even if it was only for a day and a half.)
here's what I did this weekend:

- went shopping 9 to 5 on sat... literally 9 to 5. we went to William sonoma, nordstrom, macy's, IKEA and target. whew. my feet were sore.

- drove 45 mins to puyallup to buy a headboard on craigslist for $25

- went grocery shopping

- painted and sanded that headboard, then my mom came in and told me I wasn't doing a good job, so she took over then I went and made some potatoes.

pretty good weekend, huh?
hopefully my laptop is up and running very, very, very soon.

xo

what's on your christmas list this year?

2011-12-01T17:50:00.001-08:00

these posts are so popular this time of the year, i thought that i should do one! here we go.

one. new phone! i like this blackberry, but it's pretty pricey. i also like this one.

two. yongnuo speed\light! i acually don't have my own speedlight. i just used my mom's for the wedding that i shot. i would be a little worried about buying lenses/flashes from a brand that i don't know (what the heck is yongnuo?) but it's reviews are 4.5/5, and there's a lot of them.

three. taylor swift's world tour life speak now cd/dvd! ahh i love taylor swift! i went to her concert and it was amazing.

four. "naked" pallate by urban decay. this is really popular, apparently, and it looks like really great, natural, colors.

five. forever 21 gift card! well, actually, any clothes place gift card. i love to shop, what can i say?

what do you want for christmas, loves?

xoxo

grace

i also wouldn't mind an ipad. enter the give away here.

november sponsors

2011-11-30T18:59:00.001-08:00

i mentioned last month that november would be my last month for sponsors! if you missed that post, well, november was my last month for sponsors! in short: i just don't feel that it's right for my blog right now. i'm trying to "simplify" blogging a little bit, and work a bit more on what my favorite part of it is: the actually writing part of it! also, at this point i'm not really benefiting from the sponsors. please don't take this the wrong way; i think that sponsoring is a fabulous idea for some blogs. just not mine right now!

anyways, here are my fantastic november sponsors!!

blog

blog // flickr

blog // other blog (she's also selling a nikon 50mm f/1.8 lens ... click the first link for more info)

blog // twitter

shop // blog

website // facebook

blog

xoxo

happy wednesday, friends!

grace

when words fail, music speaks

2011-11-27T13:24:00.001-08:00

via

here are some of my favorite tunes as of late.

first up ... andrew belle.

i absolutely love his album, the ladder. probably my favorite of the moment! his music is a little slower and not as upbeat as some others, but ohmygosh. love every song on this album!

taylor swift.

obvi. she will forever be a favorite!

adele.
some people love adele, and some people hate her voice. i love her, though!!

what are a few of your favorites? please leave a comment! i love finding new music!

xox

thanksgiving

2011-11-25T19:12:00.001-08:00

how was your thanksgiving?

mine was pretty good, if you're curious. i really love food.

especially thanksgiving food.

we didn't really do anything the morning of turkey day ... well, my mom hit up old navy in the morning, and left me with charlie. then, we went to my mimi + papa's for turkey din din.

this morning, we woke up early (7:09 to be exact) to go BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING. oh dang, i love shopping. my cousin claire came along! we went to the mall and target.

then we got home, drove claire back to seattle and went to patagonia. then came home and decorated the tree / house. woot, woot!

because i love black friday so much, i'm offering you (yes, you) $5 off a gracely designs order. check it out!

xoxoxo

grace

linking up with your story over at aspire.

pinterest love

2011-11-23T21:25:00.001-08:00

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

pssst ... have you ~~fallen into the addicting trap called pinterest~~ got a pinterest account? follow me here + i'll follow back.

wordless wednesday | bowling

2011-11-23T20:55:00.001-08:00

we were bored on our day off, so we hit up the tower lanes. (uh...a little ghetto.) we played two games. i came second to last in both games, and i was told i had bad form. whatever. i know that i'm a fabulous bowler somewhere inside.

linking up with :

abc's of thanks -- a link up

2011-11-23T17:58:00.001-08:00

well, it's that time of year again when we all get together, eat some good food, and link up to the abc's of thanks at finding joy.

a - apples in any shape or form.
especially in chips ... with cinnamon. and sugar.

b - books
i've just recently re-discovered my love for reading. i just finished city of bones, which was definitely a good one.

c - chocolate
the first 2/3 were food ... coincedence? haha. i love chocolate. i seriously ate so much of it today ...

d - dad
oh i love my dad! he is just so fun.

e - email!
how would i keep in touch with old friends? or thank commenters? duh.

f - food.
srsly. food is a must. and sometimes i take it for granted.

g - george.
curious george, to be exact. he can hold charlie's attention for 5+ episodes.

h - hobby
my hobby is blogging and photography. not everyone has a hobby, and i'm thankful that i do.

i - inspiration board
it helps keep all of the inspiration swirling around in my head organized.

j - jesus!
so happy that i have Him in my life.

k - klondike bars
especially the reece's kind

l - learning
they aren't kidding when they say you never stop learning.

m - my room
i'm glad i don't have to share it!

n - nikon d3100.
i love you.

o - oranges
yum.

p - photography
uh. this is pretty self-explanatory.

q - quiet ~~blogging~~ time.
i really like quiet time.

r - rachel
[ also known as mom ]

s - seasons
i love that in washington, we have four seperate seasons. another reason why i'll never leave.

t - today
i'm thankful for today.

u - umbrellas
they come in handy when i have to walk to my bus stop and it decides to dump rain.

v - vintage camera
i just recently got some film. i use my SLR more, but i just think my vintage is so cool.

w - winter
um, my favorite.

x - xylophones
that's all i got.

y - youtube
a very good passtime.

z - zooey deschanel
copying hannah.

linking up with finding joy.

apple chips + tumblr

2011-11-17T17:54:00.001-08:00

it's thursday.
a mediocre thursday, actually.

except i made apple chips.

and got a tumblr blog.

you can find it here. follow me if you feel like it! and, if you have one, leave your link in the commets so i can check it out. i'm currently following two blogs.

xoxo
grace

p.s. hope is the winner of the harry potter giveaway! email me at gracie(dot)drechsel(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize!

faq page

2011-11-16T16:20:00.001-08:00

i'm thinking about putting together a little faq page. would you guys mind leaving a question for me in the comment box? it can be funny, serious, random, or not, i don't care. i just ask that you keep it appropriate and not too personal. this is the internet, after all.

ask away!

xoxo

p.s. and since publishing a post without a photo would make me really uncomfortable ...

d + r wedding

2011-11-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

so.
on thursday, the wonderful and talented lindsy agreed to let me come along to the wedding that she was shooting on saturday. (you can see her photos from the big day here.) i was seriously so excited! i had a blast, and i think it was a really great experience! i hope that more second shooting is in my future!
here are a few pictures from yesterday!

i had so much fun! and would love to do this again sometime!

xox

grace

giveaway : harry potter and the deathly hallows, part II

2011-11-11T19:50:00.001-08:00

something you might not know about me is that i love harry potter. literally. love.
and i'm pretty sure you do to. because, you know, it's awesome.

if you're not a harry potter, fan, this giveaway isn't for you. because i'm giving away a dvd of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II! you heard that right!

so. i saw this movie with my dad after my birthday dinner in july. he isn't a big fan (well, let's rephrase that. he isn't a big reader) so it was hard to follow for him, but i swear it is amazing. the perfect ending to an awesome series!

anyways, do you want to win??

mandatory:

comment and tell me what your favorite book and movie of the series was! i would say my favorite book was the prisoner of azkaban, but my favorite movie was the goblet of fire.

extras:

follow GLTB and comment telling me you did so.

"like" our facebook page and comment telling me you did so.

blog, tweet, or facebook, and comment for each thing that you did. (don't forget to include links!)

the winner will be announced a week from today, on the 18th.

see you then!

xoxo

grace

authentic people blog party

2011-11-11T18:19:00.001-08:00

i seriously have been so excited for this blog party at rear window! it's the first day. you should really go link up if you haven't already.

that, my dear friends, is me. grace. i am a sister, daughter, friend, student, photographer, blogger, and shopper. in that order.

here are some of the questions i'm supposed to answer.

what is the geekiest/nerdiest/weirdest thing about you? this isn't actually that weird, (i'm sure i could come up with weirder) but i have a small obsession with office supplies. i am so antsy to buy all of my school supplies, and i always have to stop by the office isle at the store. haha!

if you could live in a fictional universe from any book, movie, or television show, what would it be? i would love to live in the modern family world. seriously. they are just all so dang funny.

little or big, practical or frivolous, what is one of your favorite items in your house? well, i think this is going to have to be tied. i love my inspiration board in my room, but i also love my dresser, with the books + my vintage camera stacked on top.

do you like animated movies? if so, what is your favorite? well, with my two year old brother, all that's ever on are animated tv shows and disney movies. but, i think they're all right (well, the ones that we haven't watched literally 947 times.) i love the animated cinderella, and i'm also a big fan of shrek.

what is your favorite thing to get at starbucks? so, here's the deal. i had one too many pumpkin spice lattes, and i think i might be over them for the season. call me weird, but since they don't have plain apple cider (they have caramel apple cider ... which is too sweet for me) so i just have steamed apple juice. mmm. some times i put apple juice in the microwave at home... haha. but, if i'm feeling fancy, (and have six bucks to spare) i'll get a double blended decaf coffee frappucino. yes, that's my favorite.

what is your favorite pizza topping? great, now i'm really hungry for frappucinos and pizza. ha! i would say pepperoni and pineapple.

waffles or pancakes? pancakes all the way. yum!

do you like to play games? if so, what is your favorite? yeah, games are ok! i really love scrabble, apples to apples, and monopoly (when it doesn't last 4 hours, like it usually does.

have you ever dyed your hair? no, but i've thought about it. and still am thinking about it. i think i want to go lighter, but i'm not sure. i'll have to think about it for a few more ~~years~~ weeks.

do you make your bed every morning? haha, no. but i try! i do try.

do you like carpet, tile, or hardwood floors? i love hardwood, and i think it looks so good! but, i have carpet in my room.

what is your favorite condiment? barbeque sauce and sweet + sour are tied. mmmm. i like me some dipping sauce.

what is the last thing that made you laugh? my mom's road rage. hahahahaha!

so, that's it! please leave a comment and introduce yourself, so we can be bff's! i'll be checking a few blogs in the linky!

xoxo
grace

thankful

2011-11-11T11:07:00.001-08:00

via

with thanksgiving literally just around the corner, paige is hosting a little link up where you share what you're thankful for. i thought i would participate!

- my family. (cliche, i know.) but they are amazing. and they always make me laugh.

- my friends. ohh, my friends.

- to have such a great hobby. i know that a lot of other girls my age don't really have a hobby, or a passion, like i do. (which is photography, if you're new here.) and i'm glad that i get to use this hobby every day and do what i love.

- my country and freedom.

- my religion. i'm so thankful.

- the little things in the day that make me happy.

- my d3100.

- food and water. sometimes i take these things for granted.

there was my little list. won't you play along?

xox

grace

snap + share

2011-11-07T21:36:00.000-08:00

hola, hola!

i totally spaced on updating the vote-off last week! what the what?! so, it's still the same one from two weeks ago. do you know what this means? it means that we're alllll winners! yay! *collective confetti-throwing and "celebration" starts playing*

anywaaaays ... here's the winners from this week:

imagine

kinga.lydia

rise and fly

here's my "snap" for the week:

inspiration board | before and after

2011-11-07T00:34:00.000-08:00

if you're a faithful follower of Grace Loves the Beatles, you might remember my post on my inspiration board. i try to change it every season, you know, so i don't get too bored of it. i thought that i would do a little before and after for the summer/fall to winter change!

before

after

dang. my after looks a little boring compared to my before! haha! whatevs, i'll just be adding more and more things to it as i find stuff that gets me "inspired".

do you have an inspiration board/folder/filing cabinet?

grace

room tour

2011-11-06T11:29:00.000-08:00

so, my mom has this series on her blog where she posts parts of our house and talks about it. (she did a post about my room and you can read it here.) i thought it would be fun to do another one on this blog! because a) even though you should, i don't think all of you read and then, she {snapped} and b) my room has changed a little bit since then.

i love re-decorating and re-designing and re-arranging my room. it's the only part of the house that is completely mine, and i can do whatever i want to it (well, not whatever i want. but close.) i love changing things up so i don't get bored! in six months, i would be very surprised if my room was the same. : )

here's an overview of the whole room. it's pretty small, but i've moved my bed since my mom's post and i really like the before + after. it looks a lot bigger now, with the bed pushed against the wall.

the duvet, comforter, quilt, body pillow, bedside table, and lamp were all purchased at target!! (i think you'll see a pattern here...) the sham pillowcase is actually from my old duvet cover that i bought at IKEA for $10. the bedskirt ... i have no idea. haha! the endless summer poster was bought at big lots and the frame is from michaels a few years ago. and, i made the inspiration board!

the curtains were bought at IKEA, the dresser is from some furniture store in tacoma, and i made the pom pom a super long time ago. i was probably five or six when i made it and it has been in my room all this time!

here's my desk, where all the blogging happens. ha! not really. i like blogging better sitting on my bed or the couch with my laptop on my lap.

the desk was from target, i have no idea where the chair is from, the audrey poster + frame are from target a few years back, and the "pray" sign is from tj maxx. oh, and the organizational baskets are from target.

this is my bookshelf. sigh. i love to read.

i'm not sure where the actual bookshelf is from.

i forgot to get a good picture of the top shelf, but it's a silhouette (not of me) and my name spelled out. i got the silhouette from target. there was another one in the package, and they were supposed to be bookends, but the other one was in pieces, so i got it for supah cheap! and the letters i got for my birthday a long time ago. :)

lastly, here's my closet wall. i made the bunting, and you can make your own, too! tutorial is here. the mirror is all wonky because it was $5 at target. it drives my mom c-r-a-z-y but i don't really notice it. : )

and, that's it! as i said before, i'm sure it won't be exactly like this in a little while. but i like it a lot for now.

so, what do you think? have you ever done a room tour? (link to it if you have ... i love reading them.) if you have a smaller room, what are some ways you make it seem bigger?

happy sunday!
xoxo

grace

saturday

2011-11-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

weekend links i love

2011-11-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

- this hilarious video! oh my gosh.
- mini apple pies, whaaat? i will defs be making those in the near future.
- this pretty way to store cocktail rings.
- this how to make a stop motion video. i want to do something like this soon.
- how to make a silhouette! looks super easy!
- this header. dang. i wish i thought of that.
- this playroom. sigh.

kay, i think i'm going to go make some mini apple pies now.
xoxo

thursday evening

2011-11-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

i really like thursday evenings, actually.
you know the weekend is coming soon, but you don't feel like you're "wasting" it. (or am i the only one who feels this way?)

this week has gone by incredibly fast. it doesn't feel like friday to me. oh wait, that's probably because it's still thursday.
this school year has been a lot tougher (school-work wise) than last year. my teachers are a lot stricter and more organized than my old ones. which i really like, actually. i like having a homework schedule and a set date for when my assignments need to be turned in and being required to take notes. but still, who wants to sit at home and study? well, i guess i better get used to it because i have a few years of school left in my future. ha!

okay so that was my little rant paragraph about school.
tgif!

xo
grace

touch up tuesday

2011-11-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do sort of an artistic edit on this one, instead of just a clean edit. I adjusted the white balance, ran the Who Is Wolf Retro Style preset, and turned the exposure way down, since that set of actions always bumps the exposure too far up.

linking up with touch up tuesday and show off your shot

snap and share

2011-11-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

so, hey.
sorry this is a day late ... i haven't had the time to get this post up!
the winner of the vote off is tilicum daily photo! congrats!

here are my three favorite link-er up-ers from last week. (p.s. thanks for all who linked up! i had a hard time choosing this week!!)

the kiehl chronicle

reflections : a photography blog

snaps of our life

here's my shot this week!

( i really like this one that i got of the fire pit at the halloween party! )

annual pumpkin carving partay

2011-10-30T21:10:00.000-07:00

every year, we have a pumpkin carving party at my auntie margaret's. it's a lot of fun!! the food is always so good. (traditons = hot apple cider and bombtastic chili.) there's a carving contest too ... with prizes! (certificates, haha!)

camden, the seven year old, carved it all by his slelf. it was ten times better than my sorry little pumpkin (and no i will not show you a picture.) oh, and by the way, he didn't leave this cute pumpkin alone. no, he couldn't hold back and had to squirt fake blood all over it like last year.

my auntie and her boyfriend, sean.

ew. (and see that little finger? i didn't notice until i uploaded. ha!)

miss tula, pretty much the cutest chicken i've seen in my life.

chili fixin's.

snack bar! whaaaat?

all (not really, probably half) the pumpkins! (or "pump-me's" if you ask charlie.) i didn't get a chance to get a shot when they were all out and lit up. bummer.

late night artco run

2011-10-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

thursday night, my mom and i took a "late night" artco run. i put late night in quotes, because it wasn't actually late night. it was 7. but, it's been getting super dark out earlier, so it felt like late night.

i got some fluff to stuff a little decorative pillow! i bought some super cute fabric at jo ann's, originally going to make a framed necklace holder like this one. but i decided to make a cute throw pillow. i've been super crafty, so soon i'll be doing a post of everything that i have been making, and you can see it there. :)

and, i also got these cute little magnetic vingtage-esque frames for a buck a piece. can't get much better that a buck!

oh, i love artco.

i think i'm going to go sew something now.

xoxo

grace

p.s. go enter the giveaway at i believe in unicorns for a holiday hair ebook! there's three winners chosen!

weekend links i love

2011-10-29T11:30:00.000-07:00

- olivia's interview on adoption. i'm so excited for her and her family!
- these cute bookmarks, here and here! i will obvi be making some.
- my mom updated her shop, and i am totally in love with all of the purdy new camera straps!
- paige's tutorials. i've been feeling really crafty lately, and her tutorials are so nice!
- this blog design. LOVE ♥
- this collaboration.
- i love kuler! basically, you put in a word or phrase and it generates a color pallate.
- this look inside a graphic design studio. i don't think i would mind being a pro graphic designer. :)

october sponsors! ( + now accepting november sponsors)

2011-10-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to share with y'all my October sponsors! They are one of my favorite group of sponsors I've had. (:

Hello. I am Paige. A 15 year old homeschooled teen. Follower of Jesus. Daughter. Sister. Blogger. And owner of Pink Lemonade. I love my family and friends more than anything. I love crafting , shopping, cooking, thrifting, and sewing!

blog // shop

Hi There I am Beatrice; I am a young Australian born artist/blogger that is fulfilling her passion in the United States. Right now I sell items I make in my etsy shop, but my real dream is to one day own my own line of clothing!

My blog is a place I write about my life, my passions of clothing style, recipes, and a couple other things I enjoy. So stop on by!

blog // shop // twitter

I am Rachel. A mother, wife, and bargain shopper extrordinaire. I love taking pictures. It's impossible to have too many shoes or handbags. If there was an Olympic Event for bargain shopping, I would take home the gold. I can be hilarious, and sometimes offensive. I'm not sarcastic. AT ALL. Stick around and I'm sure we'll be friends.

blog // shop // twitter

Seventeen year old senior in high school. I love taking photos of life, writing books, and so much more.

blog // tumblr // twitter

At Innovative Fitness we work with the complete person. We develop a customized training regimen specifically targeted to your fitness goals. Our programs combine body assessment, nutritional analysis and goal-specific exercise to take you to the next level of performance.

website // facebook

We started Shabby Apple because we saw a need in women’s fashion that was not beingmet. A need to make women feel feminine and beautiful for what they wear, not whatthey bare. We offer flirty, stylish dresses a woman can wear just as comfortablyin the office, at a family dinner, or on a date. Shabby Apple is a fashion companyfor women, by women, and of women.

website // blog

Aren't they awesome?

So, do you want to be included in this group for November? It's $5 for your purdy little button on my sidebar for a month, plus you get featured in a post like this. I also accept sponsor swaps! Email me if your interested or if you want any more information.

And an announcement : November will be my last month doing sponsorships. Maybe I'll start them back up again later, (most likely), but for now I don't think that's what's best for this blog! Thanks for understanding!

Now go email me!

xoxoxo

snap and share

2011-10-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

Why, hello there!
Welcome to this week's Snap and Share!
The winner of the vote-off was our typical life. Congratulations! Your photo was beautiful!

Here were my three faves from last week! It was so hard to choose this week, they were all so good. (All 24 of them! *high five*)

moments and impressions

tillicum daily photo

photo life site

Don't forget to vote on my left sidebar!
Here's my snap this week:

[my momma's pretty wedding ring :)]

diy : easy bunting

2011-10-22T17:30:00.000-07:00

Today I came with my mom when she went to JoAnn's to get some fabric for her camera straps, and as soon as I saw all of the fabrics I remembered all of the projects that I had wanted to do. So, I went kinda crazy. (Haha, not really.) But, I got three different fabrics, 8 pieces of felt, some grosgrain ribbon for $8.41. cray cray.

Anyways, I wanted to share this tutorial with you! I know it's all probably stuff that you could figure out on your own, but, you know, maybe this will inspire you to get your fabric scraps out and make some bunting.

So, I used two fabrics for my bunting, and I only did three triangles of each, because I just wanted it to go over my closet doors. I got 1/3 of a yard and I had a ton of extra ... I could probably make nine or ten triangles with what I got.

So I cut out the size that I wanted my triangles to be on cardboard. Then, I ironed my fabric flat (folding it the hot dog way). Then, I laid my cardboard cut out on it so that the top lined up with the fold (so that when it's un-folded, it makes a diamond shape.)

Next, I made a major mistake. I was trying to make these "no sew", so I tried to use liquid stitch. DISAPPOINTMENT. It did absolutely nothing. So, I gave up on that.

Then, I put the ribbon as seen above, folded it again, and then tried to hand sew the ribbon to the bottom layer, thinking that it would be easier than dragging out the old sewing machine. Wrong again, Grace. That took too much work for me. And then when I messed up and would have to start over on that flag, I gave up on that idea.

So I just sewed a zigzag line at the top with the sewing machine. Worked like a charm. Why didn't I do this in the first place?!

I was going to sew the edges together, too, but that seemed like too much work (see a pattern here?) and so I just ironed them flat. I think it looked better than it would have if I stitched them together and you could see the stitching!

Here's the finished product! I think it turned out really good!

If you try this method of bunting, please post pictures and link to them in a comment so I can see!

And, if you're curious, the other fabrics that I bought were for some headbands that I'm going to make, and for one of those framed necklace hanger thing-a-ma-bob's that are floating around pinterest! I'll for sure post pictures when I'm done!

xoxo

grace

weekend links i love [v2]

2011-10-21T20:31:00.000-07:00

- this pretty picture of yummy blueberries

- this helpful list of cute printables!

- the sharpie website.

- everything that jess designs

- my new d3100. LOVEEE.

my memories -- review and giveaway

2011-10-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

My Memories is a digital scrapbooking software that is really fun and easy to use. Personally, I'm not a digital scrapbooker, so this wasn't exactly the most helpful to me, but I know that some people are really into the scapbooking hobby!

pros
- it's really user-friendly and easy to use. i didn't have any instructions on how to use this, and for the most part, i was never really confused.
- i like how everything in the window (screen shot below) is laid out, so you can see everything you can do (backround papers, photos, text, etc)

- in the software, there's a lot of already installed papers and embellishments, which is nice if you don't want to pay the money for the scrapbook packs!

cons
- unfortunately, if you want any scrapbook paper stuff beyond what's already downloaded, you have to pay for it. it's not terribly unreasonable, but, you know, no one likes paying extra money.
- i don't like how you have to save your project in an "album", and how you have to create and "album" to make a new project.

So, it sounds pretty cool, right? well, I'm also hosting a giveaway for a free download of My Memories!
To enter, just leave a comment telling me what your favorite scrapbook paper pack is from my memories! For extra entries, follow Grace Loves the Beatles, and "like" our page on facebook.

I'll announce the winner a week from today on the 27th!
Good luck to all of y'all!
xo!

* update : the winner is mary ann!

guess what came in the mail today?

2011-10-19T17:51:00.000-07:00

My Nikon d3100, obvi!
I loveee it. A lot.

linking up with black and white wednesday, wordless wednesday but with words, and hump day hollah

snap and share

2011-10-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

Hola!

The winner of last week's vote off was Naptime MomTog. Woot, woot! I loved your picture ... that little doggy was so cute!
My favorites from this week's were ...

crinkle photography

our typical life

then along came the boy

Don't forget to vote for your favorite on my left sidebar!

Here's my photo for the week. If you didn't see the last post, I scored this baby at a garage sale for ten dollars! I can't wait to get film for it!

Here's the basic rules for snapping and sharing.

-the photo you enter must be PG and taken by you

-please try to comment on at least one other entry... getting comments is fun!

-either use the snap and share button below, or link back to this post. the more the merrier!

-remember to specify which photo you are entering.

yesterday in instagram pictures.

2011-10-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

Since I'm currently SLR-less, I've been taking a lot of pictures with my Instagram, because, you know, it's hard for me to not take pictures at all. So, here's everything that I did yesterday. It was a pretty lazy day. ;)

[1] i babysit for this little girl and her big brother every saturday morning, and usually i bring them back to our house so charlie has a friend. whenever she walks through the front door, she heads straight for the piano!

[2] i got my school picture taken and id card on friday. evevn though we never buy them, (hello, two photographers in this household), they still are on my id card. they just never turn out! grrr.

[3] we went to the bookstore in the morning, which was a total nightmare. whenever i wouldn't let him rip the pumpkin decorations off of the wall, or pull all of the books off of the shelves, he would scream like a banshee. and he thought running as fast as he could in the OPPOSITE direction of me was hilarious.

[4] i picked this baby up at a garage sale! ten dollas! i think i'm going to buy film for it ... if i do i'll obvi totes blog the pictures!

[5] camden likes his TV. i think he was watching zeke and luther. his fave show. ha!

[6] my mom and i stopped by starbucks to pick up our pumpkin spice lattes, then went thrifting! we hit up the goodwill, and then treasures and thrift. i got this cute dress for my halloween costume (the wicked witch of the east! yes, the one who was killed by a house.)

[7] then, we went to the new chamber's bay park! it's pretty much a super cool park.

[8] ugh, weekend homework. good thing i got it all done last night! (while my mom was watching this terrifying/ stressful/ freaking scary horror show that i couldn't handle ... )

how was your saturday?

blog designz

2011-10-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

I've been really busy with blog designs lately!

Want your blog designed by moi? Go here for more info. :)

xoxoxo
grace

weekend links i love [v1]

2011-10-15T00:34:00.000-07:00

It's time for the very first Links I Love! Yahooo!
Come on. Let's be real. It's cool and you know it.

- this live adele video. some people love adele's music, some people hate it, i'm neutral, but i think it's so cool how she filmed this in her home.

- this pinterest meme that destiny is hosting. i'm going to participate one of these days.

- this blog design. so simple and pretty!

- this new youtube channel. i love ashley's blog and was excited when i found out she had a youtube channel now!

- this pin. hit the pin on the head. (i'm a nerd, couldya tell?)

- this website. i'm never ever right.

vlogging with charlie

2011-10-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

Untitled from Grace Drechsel on Vimeo.

touch up tuesday

2011-10-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

before

after

This is a really old photo from June ... I just randomly selected a photo to touch up.

First, I opened it in Lightroom, and in the "Quick Develop", I clicked "Auto Tone", and that brightened it up a lot. Then I bumped up the Blacks and Contrast to make her eyeballs and eyelashes pop a little more.

Then, I had to get rid of that dang hair on her cheek. I'm not handy with the clone tool in LR, so I opened it up in PSE and used the Spot healing brush.

That's it!
xoxox

grace

linking up with touch up tuesday

introducing : weekend links i love

2011-10-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

I might have mentioned this before, but I've been looking for some sort of series or weekly post to do. And, I know the "Links I love" type of posts are super popular right now ... so, introducting ...

Woot, woot!
Every weekend (probably Saturday) I'll post a few of my favorite links from Pinterest/Tumblr/Blogs/the rest of the interwebz. Sounds fun, right?!

Are you excited? The post will be up on Saturday. BE EXCITED.

shooting in manual

2011-10-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

While I'm anxiously awaiting the UPS guy to show up at my door with my new camera, I'm currently camera-less (I sold my d40x today! Woot, woot!) I still wanted to post today, but I obvi can't post the pictures I took today, so here we go: how to shoot in manual.
It sounds intimidating, I know. And when you finally get around to turning your SLR from auto to manual, it can be a little daunting. But once you get the hang of it, you'll see a big improvement in your photos!

First step: ISO. I saw a post on Shabby Blog about how ISO are little worker bees, flying around and gathering your light for you. (Cheesy, I know, but this is what helps me.) If you have 100 bees, it's not going to gather very much light for you. If you have 1600 bees, it's going to gather a lot of light for you. See? Easy peasy.

Second step: aperture. Aperture is a little more confusing. It's how big your shutter opens up. So, you would expect that a bigger number would make it open wider, right? Wrong. It's the other way around. Take an f/1.8* and and f/13*. An f/1.8* will open up wider, which is more ideal for lower lighted places.

Third step: shutter speed. Shutter speed is how fast the shutter goes off. The smaller the number, the faster the shutter goes off. a 1/200 shutter speed will open and close slower than a 1/6000 shutter speed, and ultimately, let less light in.

That's about it! I know there's super in-depth tutorials about shooting in manual, but this was just a brief one. I hope it helped a little. :)

I'm certainly not an expert, but if you have any questions, leave a comment, and I'll do my best to answer them.

happy tuesday everyone. tuesdays are happy because they aren't mondays! remember that.
xoxox
grace

it just so happens that jaymi is hosting a photo tip link up! i'm linking up to photo tip tuesday today.

excitement

2011-10-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

Guess what?

So, today I was thinking about what I was going to buy with my money. (I had aquired quite the wad between blog design and babysitting). And then, I saw on someone's blog that they bought a new camera. I began scanning Craigslist and Amazon and Ebay for a great deal. And I found one! I got a Nikon d3100 on ebay for an awesome deal! I'm so excited you guys. A lot of bloggers I know have the 3100 (like Kelsey and Kiley) Good thing it's coming with super fast shipping or I might go crazy.

p.s. linking up with show and tell.

snap and share

2011-10-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

The winner from last week's vote off was sboeshaar! Congrats, Steph! (:

Here's my three favorites from last week. Don't forget to vote on the left sidebar.

naptime momtog

and then, she snapped

purple dessert photography

Here's my shot for the week.

Here's the basic rules for snapping and sharing.

-the photo you enter must be PG and taken by you

-please try to comment on at least one other entry... getting comments is fun!

-either use the snap and share button below, or link back to this post. the more the merrier!

-remember to specify which photo you are entering.

instagram lately 10/6

2011-10-06T21:39:00.000-07:00

I love Instagram! If you have an iPhone/iPod Touch, get it right now. (It was actually #1 on my list of favorite apps.)
My username is @gracieisabel. If you follow me, please leave a comment with your username so I know that it's you! I made my IG private and now I only accept people that I know in real life or through my blog. (:

[1] my cozy slippers and peacock socks!
[2] charlie is a TV head. whenever there's a tv in the room, he points to it and grunts.
[3] i got my glasses, thanks to warby parker!
[3] new flats! i just realize that i have two pictures of my feet in the same row. awkward.

[4] roasted red pepper soup! the best!
[5] me and miss annabelle lee at macy's while our mama's shopped.
[6] i was so happy to go back to school after the strike! so happy i took the time to curl my hair. (:
[7] well, at least they all have helmets.

xoxoxo
grace

snap and share

2011-10-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

my three favorites from the week were (top to bottom) sboeshaar, live love travel, and {my} perspective. Vote for your favorite on my left <<< sidebar.

Here's the basic rules of snapping and sharing...

-the photo you enter must be PG and taken by you

-please try to comment on at least one other entry... getting comments is fun!

-either use the snap and share button below, or link back to this post. the more the merrier!

-remember to specify which photo you are entering.

[here's my shot for the week.]

thanks, nikon

2011-09-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

Remember how my lens was broken?**

Well, turns out it was covered under warranty, and I didn't even need the reciept! I got a check in the mail and it said Total : $0.00. Man oh man was I happy. I was expecting it to cost a hundred bucks and take three weeks to fix, and it got here today, a week and a half later! I lucked out on this one. And when it came back today and we opened it up, my mom pointed out that it looked like her lens ... all shiny and polished and new. Hey, thanks Nikon!

** sorry, I couldn't for the life of me find the post that linked back to that whole story, so I'll just summarize it here. My 18-135mm was making a funny noise one day -- it still worked, but when I was focusing on nothing (say, the sky) it would make this really obnoxious screetching noise (and I really hate obnoxious screetching noises).

p.s. also, please go enter THIS giveaway. you could win a pair of Toms! and donate to breast cancer research!

fall fashion week, day five.

2011-09-28T20:20:00.000-07:00

linking up with fall fashion week

[ sweater : forever 21 -- jeans : aeropostale -- boots : macy's ]

Here we go, last day of Fall Fashion Week! yee haw!

Now go link up, kids.

waterfront walk

2011-09-28T00:34:00.000-07:00

fall fashion week, day four.

2011-09-27T19:17:00.000-07:00

linking up with fall fashion week

[ dress : forever 21 -- leggings : ross -- flats : macy's -- belt : forever 21 ]

I orginally bought this as a summer dress (actually, I went shopping with my cousin Lexie and she bought it for my birthday), and then I got home and I was like, "Ohhh this is short." So I saved it for a winter-y dress with leggings and a belt. And you guys, this belt is my favorite! And guess how much it was? Two fiddy. No joke.

touch up tuesday

2011-09-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't linked up to touch up tuesday in a while ...

If you didn't know, I've sort of abandoned PSE for a while and have been editing all of my pictures in Lightroom 3. I just feel like I can do all of the things I can in Photoshop, but quicker. (Don't worry Photoshop, I won't forget about you... I still need ya for my blog design.)

For this one, I just boosted the Blacks, Contrast, and Vibrance, and then ran the Whoiswolf Cold Steel preset (from Presets Heaven.) Aaaaand ... that's about it!

Link up to Touch up Tuesday at Paper Heart Camera if you're cool!

xoxox

grace

fall fashion week, day three.

2011-09-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

So, this is embarassing, but on the first fall fashion day the linky wasn't working, and on the second day, I guess I just got sidetracked, so this is the first day I'm actually linking up to Fall Fashion Week, but you can see my first two days here and here.

[ grey tee : target -- jeans : aeropostale -- fake ked's : target -- scarf : old navy -- bracelets : gift from aunt clare a few birthdays ago ]

The scarf and shoes were mega (in Camden's words) discounted and super cheap. The shoes are from Target daily deals, which you should really check out if you haven't already. The scarf was a thrice clearance-d Old Navy scarf that was a super pretty color, but way too long and had this weird lace-y stuff on the ends. I cut off the lacy part and sewed it in a circle, like an infinity scarf. I love this, and it was really easy, even for a sewing machine-challenged girl like me (although I'll admit, I did have a little help from my crafty mom.)

xoxox

grace

snap and share

2011-09-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

snap and share is back!

Last school year, I always had my photo challenge posts really organized, always done the day before, etc. I'm going to try to get into that habit again because I really enjoy doing snap and share!
I'm considering having no themes, just linking up whatever photo you like. It's kind of hard to think up good themes that aren't too specific and aren't too "been there, done that." what do you guys think? I'm still deciding, but there will be no theme this week. : )

Here's my shot this week.
Please link up because people who link up make me smile!

[ I made a new button for Snap and Share but Photobucket is being rude right now, so if you use buttons when you link up, please right click and save the below button to your computer, otherwise just link back to this post. :) Thanks ]

mini moo cards

2011-09-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

Guess what I got in the mail today?

Mini moo cards!

They're half the size of business cards, which is nice. And, say you get 100, you could have a different design on each one if you want. That would be super great for photographers, dontchya think? I just made a few designs on Photoshop, and so I have about 20 of each.

These will be super great for when people ask me about my blog design. On the back, they have both my blog design link and this blog link, plus my email. You can either upload another picture for the back of the card, or just design it on Moo like I did (their fonts weren't bad, see here).

I'm pretty happy with mine!

I think if you want to get business cards these would be a good choice. ;)

Later, gators.

disclaimer: I was sent these cards from klout perks, but I was not required to review them.

fall fashion week, day two

2011-09-25T14:41:00.000-07:00

linking up with fall fashion week: day two

[top : yours, mine, and ours -- jeans : aeropostale -- TOMS : nordstrom's (gift) -- tank top : target]

Fall has officially begun, people! The temp is sixty two and it is really windy. I'm so excited for the new fall clothes!

So, the blog yours, mine, and ours (one of our September sponsors, holler!) has this thing called Swap or Shop. she's super amazing at finding perfectly awesome clothes in thrift shops, freepiles, etc. I found this top in there and bought it. This is the first time I've worn it and it's so cute.

september twenty-fourth, two thousand eleven

2011-09-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

Today, when I glanced at the date on my screen, I literally said out loud "Holy bajesus September is almost over!"
Because seriously, pretty much every month flies by but this one went super fast. Unnaturally fast.

linking up with fall fashion week and stepping out saturday

[shirt : H&M -- shorts : aeropostale -- flats : macy's]

Have you guys heard of Emery Jo's Fashion weeks? I kind of wish I came up with this ;) I'm going to be participating this week!

You should, too. One link-er up-er is going to win 45 free dollars to Modcloth. (!!!) Yes, please.

because it looks like there's still a few days of summer left

2011-09-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

linking up with this or that thursday, show off your shot, project alicia, and live every moment.

sponsor GLTB for the month of october

2011-09-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

Sponsoring is cool! and pretty cheap, too. for $5 a month, you get a 230 x 80 px button on my sidebar, and get your links and bio in a sponsor highlight post. Doesn't that sound fun? I also do sponsor swaps (where I sponsor you and you sponsor me for a month), so if you're interested in that please contact me and I'll let you know if I think we're a good fit.

So, EMAIL ME if you're interested!

abc's of yours truly

2011-09-19T13:09:00.000-07:00

I've been wanted to do a post like this for a while ... here you go. :)

age? twelve.

bed size? twin.

chore you hate? dishes. ugh. gross.

dogs? no dogs.

essential start to your day? breakfast! (duh.) breakfast is my favorite meal.

favorite color? either teal, coral, or grey.
gold or silver? silver. unless it's a bronze-y gold.

height? 5'7

instruments you play? piano.
job title: student, photographer, and babysitter. i love two out of the three of those jobs so i guess i'm in good shape!

kids? nope. see "age".

live? washington.

mother's name? rachel.

nicknames? gracie, gracie-grace

overnight hospital stays? nada.

pet peeves? people who lie to your face. ew.

quote from a movie? "well, will you do me a favor then? will you bring me some chapstick?" "no." "but my lips hurt real bad!" "just ask the nurse, i know she has like five sticks in her drawer." "i'm not going to use her's you sicko!" [from napolean dynamite]

right or left handed? right handed.

siblings? two brothers (camden and charlie) and a sister Mina in heaven.
time you wake up? on weekdays, 6:15, and on weekends, usually in between 8 and 9.

underwear? yes .... ?!

vegetable you hate? onions. ick.

what makes you run late? when i have to leave RIGHT NOW to catch the bus and my phone is upstairs.

xrays that you've had: just my teeth. and i despise them.

yummy food that you make? i'm more of a baker then a cook. and i tell ya, i make a mean banana bread.

zoo animal? well, the sharks. and i think the monkeys are hilarious.

p.s. could i get a facebook page like today? thanks guys. ;)

p.s.s. to anyone who wants to use this idea, have at it. i certainly didn't come up with it! but, please don't just copy and paste and leave my answers there. thanks! :)

ten of my favorite iPhone apps

2011-09-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

or, well, iPod touch for me.
I love these kind of posts because I'm always looking for new (preferrably free) apps.
[pea ess ... these are in no particular order.] except for #1.

1. instagram [free]. this is really my favorite app. i love photography, (if you can't tell), but i don't always want to lug around my SLR, and phone photos are... icky. instagram makes them looks all vintage-y and pretty, and it uploads them to your "feed", and people can "like" and comment on your pictures!

2. pinterest [free] . it's no secret that i love pinterest ... ;) this app just lets you pin on the go. i think i would like it more if i had an iPhone and I could connect to wifi anywhere, so when i was waiting for something i could be pinning ... but still, it made it into the top ten.

3. talking carl + [$0.99] this app is seriously so amazing. it records your voice and replays it for you in a squeaky, annoying and 100% hilarious way. and oh em gee charlie pete loves this app SO much you guys.

4. pandora [free] pandora is a FREE app that is like a radio. you give it one song or artist that you love, and it creates a playlist for you. amazing. i love.

5. ihome + sleep [free] the alarm clock that is installed in your phone when you buy it is okay ... i mean, it works fine. but if you want to wake up to your music, you have to pay $1.29 for each song. with this app, you can choose to wake up to any song in your music. cool, right? and, you can change different settings and it's really fun to play around with. highly reccomend. :)

6. fooducate [free] you scan the barcode of any food item in the your house and it gives it a letter grade. this is so cool! it has actually helped me eat a little healthier ... like, if i'm picking a snack, sometimes i'll scan a few and see which one has the highest grade.

7. labelbox [free]. labelbox can put cool labels on your photos before you upload them to instagram, facebook, etc. just got this one and it's one of my faves.

8. fruit ninja lite [free] seriously, who doesn't love fruit ninja? anyone? good. because fruit ninja is the bomb.

9. words with friends [free] words with friends is like scrabble for the iphone. you can play with your facebook friends, and i think maybe yahoo/gmail friends? i could be wrong though. anyways, please go get this app.

10. bejewled blitz 2 [free] and last, but not least, bejewled 2. you'll get it right away if you go download it. come on, it's free. and addicting.

hope these helped for any of you who have iphones and love free stuff!

** disclaimer: i wasn't asked or compensated in any way to promote any of these apps ... just sharing some of my faves. :)

lightroom 3

2011-09-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

hey hey hey!

guess what?

I got Lightroom 3! so far, all I know how to do is import, export, use presets and adjust the stuff on the right, (like exposure, brightness, recovery, contrast, yada yada yada.)

Is there anything important I'm missing? please comment if there is!

xoxo

grace

linking up with wordless wednesday but with words, naptime mom tog, project alicia, and the paper mama.

shabby apple

2011-09-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

Have you guys heard of Shabby Apple? I bet you have, beacuse their dresses are ca-yoot.
I'm now an affliliate of theirs (yipeee!)

[I have this dress and loveeee it.]

Look around the Shabby Apple site, and if you see one you like, please click the button below (or there will be one on my sidebar) when purchasing to help me out!
Thanks a billion kiddies!

[the button is being annoying ... but if you click there it will still work.]

a list.

2011-09-12T19:56:00.000-07:00

[1] I was walking home from school today when a puppy came up next to me and jumped on my leg. OHEMGEE this was the cutest dog ever you guys. He followed me home and my mom thought he was cute, so he stayed in our backyard until Camden got home and we walked him around the block next to ours to see if he saw his owners. He did.

[2] Some people have been sad that I'm moving my 365 to my Flickr. I updated that post and so you can read my "disclaimer" (haha) at the bottom.

[3] Like the new design? You guys, I think this one might be my favorite. If you're wondering, I get all of my fonts either from Kevin and Amanda, or Dafont (mostly dafont.)

[4] My school district's teachers are going on strike. That's right, STRIKE. so no school tomorrow for me. Yipee. (Can you tell I'm NOT excited? Because the number of days they're on strike gets added to the day that summer starts).

xoxoxo
grace

three six five changes.

2011-09-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

I've been in ... sort of a blogging funk. Have you noticed? I used to post usually twice a day, and now usually every three or four days. I guess I've gotten bored of the same post, over and over. You know, three or four pictures catching up on my 365 and then a little explaining paragraph. Every time!

I'm moving my 365 to my Flickr. Every day I'll post my picture labeled with the day. And over here I'll be doing different type of posts (fashion, etc) and post more of my photography, without having to worry about labeling them or whatever. I'm trying to think of some sort of series to do (like a weekly post about something.)

If you're doing a 365, do you use your blog or your Flickr, or something else?

** just clarifying, I'm not going to stop posting my photography. actually, i'll probably still post the 365 pictures here, too! but I'm just using Flickr as a way to organize them, because I think organizing them like I'm doing is going to be different if I'm expanding what I write about. And, I've you're still really sad, my Flickr is public, so you can check back and see the picture of the day every day, here!

a list

2011-09-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

253

252

251

250

[1] My mom bought the f/1.8 50mm from adorama and so I've been using her old 35mm. but now I don't think she likes the 50 and wanted the 35 back. so, I'm going to look to see who is selling them for a good price. (if you see one for a screamin' deal, please tell me!) My point is, I took all of the pictures above with the 35mm, and um, it's awesome.

[2] The picture with the full moon and the picture of Charlie eating a waffle were both editing using this. (It's originally from the daybook, but I couldn't find the link to the actual post.) It seems so complicated, but it's really not. It's great when you need a pop of color.

[3] School has been ... good. you know, it's school. now, we're actually doing work instead of reading the handbook (who's idea was that to read the handbook all day long for the first few days, anyway?)

[4] i'm reading The Help. it's good so far (I'm on page, like, 12.)

kay. i'm pretty sure that i'll remember something i forgot to add and go back to edit this. but, you know. whatevs.

xoxoxoox

grace

labor day weekend

2011-09-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

249

248

246

saturday:

early rising for crack-of-dawn babysitting, followed by shopping with my mom and my grandma (this is where i was stopped by a follower!). then the monners came over for dinner. and we ate blackberry pie. and it was bombdelishtastic.

sunday: watching tula in the morning and going to target. as i was getting her out of the car, i asked her, "tula, do you want to go to target?" she responded in her cute little two year old voice: "not really."

then we went to the ranier's game. (see above). my pictures turned out all un-focus-y. i'm sending my lens to nikon pretty soon. AND, new lens news, my mom ordered the fixed 50mm, and i'm going to buy her 35mm!

monday:

intertubing with our friends on their boat. their boat was NICE. i want a boat.

don't forget to enter the Innovative Fitness giveaway!

innovative fitness -- giveaway

2011-09-06T18:54:00.000-07:00

Look to your left! We have a new sponsor!
Innovative Fitness is a personal training studio located on Regents Blvd in Fircrest, WA. It's owned by family friends, Jesse and Katie.

So, here's the deal. Innovative Fitness wants to win the best in Western Washington vote for best personal trainers. It's a big deal. And, I know this may be a pain to you guys who live across the country and have never heard about Innovative Fitness before, so we've decided to make it a little giveaway. (Well, actually a big giveaway.)

Up for grabs are three month-long ad spots on Grace Loves the Beatles, and two headers via Gracely Designs. AND, if we get over fifty votes, added to the prize list will be a $50 Visa giftcard to spend on whatever your little bloggy hearts desire.

But, we have to get fifty vote entries to have the Visa card win-able!

Here's what you do. THIS IS MANDATORY: Click here to go vote for Innovative Fitness, and please vote in BEST PERSONAL TRAINERS! Then, come back here and leave a comment telling me which email address that you voted with, or your facebook name if that's how you voted (for verification purposes). And, just for fun, if you want to you can also tell me in that comment what your favorite excercise is. I like spin biking.

If you really want to win, you can get another entry by clicking here and go "Like" their facebook page. Then comment saying you did.

Then, if you really really want to win, blog about it! Help me get the word out so that my friends can win! Please include a link to this post.

That's SIX prizes. It would mean so much to Jesse and Katie and the rest of Innovative Fitness to win this.

The winners of the ad space, headers, and (hopefully) the Visa card will be announced October 1st, so you have a lot of time to vote and enter!