Take A Bite

Usually after the Fourth of July, it seems like summer is on the downhill slope. The good thing about working and not having to go back to school is that I can really end my summer whenever I want to. That being said, I'm instating summer all year round!!!

I've had a little summer to-do list on my phone for a while now, but haven't gotten around to checking many things off my list. With my "never ending" summer I have all the time in the world to get my to-do list done. On a more real note, I want to start actively checking things off the list!

1. Make a killer homemade ice cream recipe, like this one!

2. Practice my grilling skills, this one utterly failed last night so I have some work to do.

3. Rent bikes and ride around town. We have this little bike rental program in OKC and I have yet to take advantage of it!

4. Make s'mores. Fancy or classic, it's just a summer staple.

5. Re-instate Wine Wednesday. We had all the plans in the world to do this every week during the summer. It's happened once...

6. Visit the farmer's market to pick up a week's worth of produce.

7. Take a mini vaycay to SoCal. This one is possibly in the works! It may not happen until the fall, but then again, my summer is never ending:)

8. Make a picnic and enjoy it in the park.

9. Take a food photography class. Brit+Co has one for $20!

images 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

I'm a big list maker. I'm one of those people who writes something in on my TDL after I've already done it, just so I can cross it off. Productivity drives me! Writing this post was on yesterday's to-do list, check! Happy girl to get that done. Stay tuned to see if I get everything checked off my Summer TDL!

Annie

I signed up the second I heard Lauren was coming back for another round of her Blue Eye Brown Eye Calligraphy workshop! I had such a blast the first time, I couldn't wait to "advance my skills" and learn the basics of uppercase letters and using color ink.

We got to use neon pink ink (and take it home) which was pretty much reason enough to want to take the advanced class.

The first thing Lauren taught us was how to mix our own gouache. Gouache is what colored calligraphy ink is called. it comes out of a squeeze bottle about the thickness of paint. You then water it down and mix it to get the perfect ink consistency.

Here is Kat stirring vigorously at her gouache. The class was filled with some new faces and some familiar faces from my first class. We all had similar interests in art, blogging, workshops, paper goods etc. I had a great time chatting away with the other creatives in the class.

Before Lauren started teaching us uppercase, we played around with the colored ink and refreshed our memory on lowercase letters. I'm so mad I've been so busy and haven't had much time to practice. I am making a promise to myself from now on to practice at least once a week. I don't want to lose the skill now that I've finally started learning.

I'll be honest I got a little frustrated in this class. I was having a bad writing day and couldn't ever get my letters flowing. I also kept getting globs of ink all over my paper. I'm determined to keep practicing to get my letters up to speed.

Lauren was such a great teacher and encourager. She kept calling me "famous Annie" because she has had so many people in her classes know me. I had so many people ask me about the class after the first time I took it, so I loved being able to refer them to Lauren to have their own chance at learning! Besides calligraphy she had great advice for starting a business, networking and working hard to get what you want.

And now for a quick peek at some of the goodies at Chirps & Cheers (the host of the class). This store seriously puts me in the best mood every time I visit. Partially because of the amazing products, but mostly because of the owners, Sweet Sami and my shop mom Susan!

Now I'm off to practice my writing.

xo annie