In a perfect world I wouldn't be required to be a morning person and getting into the office for 10:00 a.m. would be a viable option for weekdays. In fact, a 2:00 p.m. to midnight shift with dinner as my lunch hour would probably suite me just fine.

All weekend I woke up early to try to get things done and all day I was tired. I tried pumping myself with caffeine, but I just kept yawning. Sunday night when it was time for bed I was finally awake -- uncaffeinated, but feelings awake and alert. Dang it. I forced myself to go to sleep because I knew that staying up was the wrong choice with Monday morning looming in the very near future. But, the truth of the matter is -- I am an night owl.

Actually, I find this idea true for many creatives. Is it a right-brain thing?

In the spirit of Black Friday I thought a 'No Buyers Remorse' post would be appropriate.

If there is one thing I'll never understand about David, it's that he doesn't drink coffee. Regardless, he appreciates it for two reasons - One, because it smells amazing. Two, because I'm just nicer after a cup or two.

1. Community Coffee Hazelnut Private Reserve is my new obsession. As it brews it smells exactly how coffee should smell (which is oddly a really hard smell to explain besides just saying it's coffee without that odd, farty smell that sometimes accomponies the brewing process). If you are a coffee lover, you should give this Hazelnut blend a try. You won't be sorry. I found this new roast at Rouse's Supermarket and at Target.




Every workday I make a go-cup of Community and grab a

2. Luna Bar for the commute into work. This Peanut Honey Pretzel is my preferred flavor. Maybe its a candybar for breakfast, but this girl is not a morning person so I have to give myself small joys to ensure I make it to work before lunch. This bar is one of those incentives and even though it's "for Women" David enjoys the occasional Luna Bar as well.
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I believe in spending money on personal products that I use daily, primarily makeup. So when I find myself at the cash register at Sephora with a $60 receipt that only has two items on it, I don't let it bother me. But sometimes life gets a little crazy and I find myself really needing mascara and no time to make it all the way to the nearest Sephora. So I find myself at Walgreens on my phone, google searching the, "best drug store mascara".

3. L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes in black-brown was what I settled on buying. It's the first drugstore mascara I've ever used that is still doing its job at the end of my work day. It applies wet and can clump your lashes if you don't do it with a little patience, but when I slow down and make sure to shimmy my hand a little I can avoid that clumpy-separated look. Next time I need mascara, I will be repurchasing this cost-effective lash enhancer, no questions!




In my first installment of No Buyers Remorse I recommended an Amazing Cosmetics undereye concealer.  When Sophera didn't have my shade in stock I settled for another brand and continued to bounce around a little until I found

4. NARS stick concealer. I found the perfect shade for me and this little stick makes putting on concealer something I almost look forward to. It's goes on really light but has wonderful coverage. I leave my makeup bag in my car way too often, but I'm happy to report heat and cold hasn't hurt its integrity. I will be purchasing this concealer again and because of it's dry application I recommend this one over my previous recommendation.

In my perfect world I work with a creative team of people who bounce ideas off of each other to achieve finesse and success. Let that success be a graphic, a portfolio, a table layout at a party, or an entire branding strategy. The team would consist of the perfect meshing of minds -- creatives and practical thinkers, alike. In my mind its made up of mostly women, but I suppose a few good men would add a healthy level of balance.

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This post inspired by Molly Ford.

"Because the only thing anyone can really have all of is one thing: all of the happiness you can possibly suck out of your own specific life, using the cards you’ve been given and the hands you’ve decided to play."

Copy and Pasted from thefrisky.com  

ON RELATIONSHIPS: You don’t deserve anything better than you give. You don’t deserve anything in life. This is hard to hear, I know, but life sadly, doesn’t work that way. And you especially don’t deserve to be with someone who is incredible, and amazing, and on the top of their game, if you aren’t as well. Here’s a difficult exercise: think about your ideal mate. And then ask yourself if you possess the qualities that your ideal mate possesses. I’m not saying you have to be the person you want to date, but I’m saying you should always be working to be the best version of yourself possible. And if you’re not, then how can you possibly expect to find your ideal? If you want someone amazing, you need to be amazing, too. It’s that simple and that hard.

It's That Simply and That Hard.

Saturday I received a text message from my sister stating she needed pictures of her family -- tomorrow. LOL And naturally, I jumped to the occasion. It required some car-pooling, but gave me a wonderful excuse to avoid chores for the weekend. :)

Aprel, my oldest sister, had a baby on Thursday morning. By Sunday you can't even tell she was pregnant except now there's a little nugget in the house that coos and fills up your heart with love every time you hold her.

Luckily, she has a fab sister that doubles as a stylist for her other babies for the photo shoot. :) And I wouldn't have it any other way. I gush about how amazing her kids are to everyone I have the chance to. I'd take any one of the, or all of them, for my own any day.

The point of all of this is to share a few of the pictures. They are "raw" pictures (except the first one). Completely untouched by photoshop. Partially because we were in a rush, but also because I was pretty pleased with how they all looked without editing.

Enjoy -

I would like to announce the beautiful arrival of Calais Marie Bindewald. She's the newest member of my sisters precious, little family and my fifth niece.

Being an aunt is one of the purest pleasures in life. I'm so blessed to have such amazing nieces and one hunkin precious nephew in my life. Their little faces just light up every time I see them and the way their little eyes watch and learn... it's amazing to get to be an example to the little munchkins.

Today, November 15, 2012, I get to be an aunt for another wonderful time. I can't wait to meet little, bitsy Calais.

Little Baby Calais,

You are one lucky little girl. You have one of the best mom's anyone could ever wish for. I hope that your sister, Graci, is as good a biggest sister as you mom has been to all of us (your aunts) for all these years. She's an amazing woman, sister, and mother, so thank God for her often! You also have four of the best siblings your could ask for. I'm sure you and Brookie are going to be the best of friends. I can't wait to find out what she ends up calling you, I'm sure Calais isn't the easiest thing for a two year old to say. I'm so very glad your dad was able to be home when your mommy went into labor to have you. She was so worried he would still be working offshore. They all love you so much and you are so blessed to have such a hardworking, light-hearted and loving family. You are the reason the whole family will give thanks this Thanksgiving Day -- which is only a week from today, your birthday. Welcome, little miss, I can't imagine this world without you.

With love,
Your Aunt Jenny

In my perfect world you would not have to pay for things that could be labeled as responsibilities. New tires for your car? Free. Gas? Free. Cleaning supplies around the house? Free. Utility bills? Free.

I'm not asking for hand-outs. I'm just saying I work hard for my money and when $500 goes to new tires on my car it makes my stomach turn.

If I could have it all my way, I would have the gift of words.

The irony is that I love writing, but I am not blessed with the gift. My eyes don't like it and still as a 20-something, I don't prefer reading or writing.

I denied this to myself for a very long time, but I've come to terms with it. Now I focus on mastering the art of captivating people with short passages and images. Nonetheless, I admire the gift of writing because when it is done simple and well it really is one of the more beautiful ways of expression.

Mark Twain once wrote:

I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English - it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it..

..don't let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them - then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.  

When I read this, it changed me. The truth is, if someone can relate they will find it fascinating. If it's just fluff, people can't read past the words to feel anything. This took me a very long time to understand.

Many people have this gift. I, on the other hand, try to mimic their form and do my best.

I would have graduated college with a BS in Web and Graphic Design. Why?! Because it’s absolutely fascinating how code works together with graphics to make online experiences. It’s like event planning on the web for an event that happens every day.  Of course, I dabble in web design now and can hold my own, but it’s nothing compared to understanding how to create instead of just adapting to the tools that I have available. 

In a perfect world today I would be editing pictures. I could sit at in my house, at my desk with a warm cup of coffee, Sam in my lap, lights low with the rain in the background, and just edit pictures all morning.