the great outdoors

This morning i woke up at 6:30. This may seem pretty normal to everyone, but it's a couple hours earlier than i usually get up at this point in my life and it's been the loveliest morning. There is something about watching the world wake up and hearing the birds sing that gives me a peaceful, happy feeling. i think i'll be doing this more often. maybe i'll take my camera and go for walks as the sun comes up. these are things that i wanted to do when i had my 9 to 5 job and always used to sigh and dream about the lucky people who got to do whatever they wanted every day. i haven't taken advantage of my situation this past year. but, i still have this summer before school starts. better late than never.

Anyway, so this weekend, i'm headed up to blue ridge with ben and my family and i can't wait to get up there. we've got plans to hike and kayak, and maybe even fish. as long as the rain holds, i think we'll be outside most of the time. outside in the woods is my absolute favorite place to be. i'll have pictures on monday.

i've got a few more pictures of new handbags that I want to share. The first one is the camel fabric with a gorgeous purple organic lining. There is a fully lined interior pocket.

Then I got stuck. I made this huge bag (it was really long but not that wide) that tapered into a narrow opening. Once I finished, I realized that it wasn't at all functional. Because the opening was only about 6 in. wide, it was like a black hole. You'd never be able to find anything in there. And I'd just spent an entire afternoon working on it. So I cut it up and salvaged what I could. It's cute, but because of all the cutting and redoing, it's not sellable. So I'm keeping it for myself. it's also got a fully lined interior pocket.

The last thing I want to share is from my friend Grant. He gave me a birthday gift this year. The funniest bday gift I've gotten in a long time. I absolutely loved it....

I haven't had a barbie since elementary school. She's a ballerina barbie, complete with pink tutu. Now, don't think there's anything wierd about her pose. She is posed with a banana, but that's simply because her arms stick out all strangely, like she's supposed to be holding something. The only thing close by was this pretty rotten banana. It worked. We thought it was funny. Thanks Grant for the awesome bday present and card!