yellow tuesday

Spring is slow in coming this year, and I find myself craving anything bright and sunny to brighten up the grayness around me.

I'm not usually a yellow person, but something about seeing something yellow makes me smile, like it must be saturated with sunshine.

 I thought I'd share photos of yellowness I found around the interweb. enjoy and be happy!

gray day's aren't all bad

Today was really gray and cold. Ezra worked and I had the day off. I really had no drive to do anything.

We've both had colds all week, and the apartment was a mess, and there was laundry to fold, but I didn't feel like doing anything! Even though we are going on a date tonight, it is soo far away!

 I put on some 50's doo wop music, which usually gives me a little energy boost, and it helped a little, I got through cleaning. Then I ate a sandwich, and had to have one of those cute cupcakes Ez brought home last night from work, They were seriously so cute! but eating it must have sent me over the edge cause I was nauseas right after for a while. I moped around and grumbled for a while, then told myself I had to do something constructive! So I made this collage

  It's something I started a while ago then dropped when my creative juices ran on empty for a while. wow. I feel soo much better! I want to create and design and make and craft and whatever you want to call it! I feel.... Well,  I don't know what I feel, but not nauseas! Funny how something little can brighten your day. How finally doing that thing you have been putting off can give you such renewed energy! 

 Sometimes you have to force yourself to do something. To pick up something you left off, or start something you've been wanting to do. Or spend some time talking to Jesus. You know you you like doing it, you know it will feel good and be good for you, but for whatever reason you are hesitant. But you have to say to yourself  "after you do this, you will feel all sunshiny inside! You will probably get out of that funk! You will feel good afterwards!" Yep, sometimes talking to yourself is ok :)

ps that poem on the collage is"trees" by Joyce Kilmer. looove it!

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.

kitchen gadget crushes

I just have to share some kitchen gadgets I've been daydreaming about lately. I cook, but I want to love cooking. I find myself drawn to kitchen gadgets in stores, I probably get that from my mom. Some are cool, but some seem like a waste of money as I think "I could just do that with a butter knife.." BUT these adorable gadgets are perfectly useful would make anyone passionate about cooking!

measuring spoons from anthropologie

whale cutting board

this was a Urban Outfitters, but I can't find it on their website

cutest measuring cups ever!

i LOVE this butter dish!

also from anthropologie

tea towels make me smile :)

Rachel Ray "lil huggers"

OK- I think I like the name and the color more than the item itself...

lil huggers! so fun to say!

gadgets I'm wanting right now: a cupcake holder for taking snacks to sunday school

cake decorating kit

pastry brush

kitchen goody I just bought today: deep dish pizza pan!!

How can I control my life when I can't control my hair?

I recently stumbled on this website, naturallycurly.com. It's all for curly people! While there, I read about a book called Curly Girl about maintaining curly hair. The method is referred to as the "no-poo" method, meaning "no shampoo." Now I know what you're thinking...."eww gross! no shampoo?! really, Ashley?" That's exactly what you're thinking, don't lie!

Let me rewind and say that I have had curly hair for most of my life, and I never really knew how to maintain it. Most people don't have curly hair, or don't have hair like mine, so they don't know that proper way to take care of it. I spent my life brushing with the wrong brush, using too many styling tools, washing my hair every day because it was frizzy the next day, touching it too much, and using the wrong styling products. Over the last couple years, I've learned to appreciate my hair and found that if you love your hair, it will love you back!

I've stopped washing my hair every day, threw away anything that resembled a brush, bought a wide-toothed comb, discovered leave in conditioner, and have developed a routine that works for us (me and my hair). I try to stay away from heating products because I feel that they destroy hair, though I have a straightener I use maybe once every 2 months. It is just very hard to keep frizz down and my hair just goes wherever it wants every day. It's crazy unruly!

Anyway, the curly girl method is built on the idea that shampoos contain sulphates and silicones that rob hair of moisture (something curly hair doesn't have a lot of), and that curly hair is so porous that shampoo doesn't really rinse out. So, instead, you're supposed to cut out shampoo entirely and only use conditioner the way you would shampoo. My kind of hair can go for a few day's without being washed anyway, it's actually better for it.

So, I gave my hair a final washing with a sulphate-free shampoo, as per the instructions, and a couple days later I washed with just conditioner. I didn't notice much of a difference, and I know it will take a few weeks for my hair to get used to it. What I did notice is that my hair kind of felt the way it does when I don't rinse conditioner out all the way, like there's a greasy build up. Maybe I'm not supposed to use a leave in conditioner? Is it conditioner overkill? I know it will take a while to find what works for me. I feel really good about the changes I'm making in this area :) I hope it works out well for me!

Let me just close by saying that I'm not vain about my looks or anything, I don't want anyone to think that. I just feel like I have something about me that is different from a lot of people, and I have to maintain that the best I can. Also I want to look good. Also this is my blog!

ok that was mean-sounding, sorry!

sweet things

I think I got a little bored with blogging for a while. I had to step back and think of what this blog means to me. The very title puts pressure on me to write every day, when I actually created this blog to post things I made. More of a way to catalog things for myself than to share the every day of my oh so exciting life with friends and family. It's not that I don't have time, I have plenty of that. I was just going through a little funk, and it was all a little personal, but it's all sorted out now. I'm ready to start afresh and do things with myself. Some "just Ashley" things that I've been wanting to do.

So, to ease myself back into blogging, I'm going to make it easy on myself and share some little joys I find are sweet and meaningful to me (in no particular order....)

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” Robert Brault

How my husband and I never eat dinner at the table, we eat in bed or on the couch while watching a movie or an episode of something.

citrus-scented things

sleeping in a cute nightie

those times when everything is clean and done and you can just lie back and read a book

hot chocolate even in the summer

the tea set my husband got me

how the bus stop is literally right in front of my apartment and right outside my work

playing a song on repeat all day

dark chocolate

getting something I've secretly always wanted

soft pinks

fog-makes me think of Humphrey Bogart

dressing like a classic movie star

flower wreathes

collections

pilates

fresh food

So, what about you? What little joys make you feel good? do share!