reBIRTH

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Commandeering the blog reigns here, to send another message of rebirth. (Didn't we do this last year?) Rebirth, rejuvenation, invigorate, stay hydrated. It seems I have a cycle, dear readers, to suffocate in June. But alas, what can you do? I did, I read a self-help book. (It made me feel less crazy - bonus.)

In lieu of falling prey to any more inspirational gurus, I call to you - it's summer! Don't fight your urges! This season do two, if not three, or all of the following: (Enter your own list here, or feel free (!) to follow along with my list below.)

Learn how to do something you didn't know how to do before, but pretended that you did.

Finish that project that you keep telling yourself is almost done, but it's not.

Get. in. the. car. and drive. No, really.

Eat better.

Skip the sunburn, buy the sunscreen.

Get the play station, or the smart phone, or the net book, or whatever piece of technology that you've wanted but have continually talked yourself out of for the last year.

Walk the dog.

Keep your eyes open.

Turn off the TV - it will all be there come winter.

Call your friends, they miss you.

And when you're done with all that, read more (look at the pictures!) about Julius Gerhardt, mastermind of the wildly freeing outfit above, HERE.
PPS. Still working on that mad-unvieling, but you know how these things go...it's taking longer than expected...await with bated breath....

uh...where have YOU BEEN?!?

Woooooo - the WHIRLWIND of the last month! Where have we been? Its hard to remember, but a little run down and mash-up:


We celebrated a birthday, with YUM cupcakes from Whipped. (Following a WOW, sweetest of the sweet, birthday scavenger hunt.)

then ... summer ended,

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Wouldn't these stars & moon watermelon be B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L at a romantic summer end picnic at dusk with all of your best friends, favorite family, and every gorgeous person you see on the way to the bus? (just sayin')

And SCHOOL STARTED!

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And it was time to get organized, (and finally finish unpacking!)

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Oh, yeah, and there was an exhibition to hang at local gallery Grizzly Grizzly.

No biggie.

I gotta go comb my hair.

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I want the red one.

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We'll see you again soon & consistent.

Lot's of Wednesday Work piling up around here that we are dying to share....

DEFY Monday: Summer Refresh

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Okay, so summer has been here for a bit. We've done the thing. Sweat the sweat, drank the drink, got out of town a bit, with more getting-out-of-town to get got.

I don't know if you've heard about the East Coast heat wave, or maybe these are just the good old dog-days, but my anticipation of summer has turned into some dirt-encrusted heat exhaustion.

I need a new pair of cut-offs.

So I am taking inspiration from our temperate climate July fly the cicada, in an overnight transformation molting extravaganza make-over this guy goes from tree dweller to flying the skies. Brand-new and free, a breath of fresh air in the bogged down days and nights of heavy humidity.

A ruler straight nod to the coming fall? I am not saying get serious yet, this cicada bug does not - known in a classic Mexican mariachi song, romantically, as the one that sings until death.

I am just saying - take a shower!

I am going home to put my slip-ons in the washing machine and to shorn myself a new pair of jean shorts.

Learn more about cicadas, here.

And for more transformational art, check out Cicada Magazine, with works like the one below from Sam Bosma.

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How's that for sporadic? Oh you get the picture, now get out there and DEFY Monday.

DEFY MONDAY: Summer of Cupcakes

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Cupcakes are all the craze these days. From specialty boutiques to cupcake trucks popping up all over the city - cupcakes are being made for every occassion, birthdays and holidays, in lieu of big wedding cakes, even golf themed for father's day.

This DEFY MONDAY I am thinking about next Monday, our first Monday in our new house (sure to be in shambles) and a bank holiday to boot. I won't have to work, so what am I going to do - how are we going to make the fourth of July extra special on the 5th?

Cupcakes.

Always a fan of humor, I love those shark and beach cupcakes from Martha Stewart pictured above, and these ice cream cupcakes below.

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On the Martha Stewart site, you can see corn on the cob cupcakes, bug shaped cupcakes, flower cupcakes - you name it. I don't think you need Martha Stewart though, just a good standard cupcake recipe to start, and a big crazy wild imagination. Go crazy with that frosting! (G-G-Go crazy...)

Or keep it clean, simple and delicious.

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As for humor - check out Cake Wrecks, a blog dedicated to when "cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong."

There post for today? The cake pictured below, with a description that reads:

"that's baby Bigfoot on a BBQ, surrounded by beer bottles and a bonsai tree."

WTFudge?

Check out more, here.

Wednesday Work: Brainstorm Print and Design

Summer is coming!

We love this silkscreen print, Sunny Surfing from Brainstorm Print and Design. This duo keeps their designs witty, colorful, and detailed, just the way we like it.

Not even a rainy day like today can keep me from dreaming about weekends at the shore. Not so far away since Spring days seem to turn over like the pages of a good book.