Today is my last day at DownEast! :) I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited. I am suuuper excited...but at the same time, pretty nervous! Still haven't found anything, mainly because I haven't been totally looking all the much.

So. Till I find myself a job that I absolutely LOVE I will be freelancing my little heart out as well as continuing with painting new works of art and prints to sell. I am really excited and can't wait to get back to painting animals, flowers, and people! Have a great weekend friends!

To end.... some pictures that I find so sweet and inspiring from the Historical Picture Library found via Corbis. :) 

I can't get over this picture from 1934 below with the little girls riding burrows on the beach... is soooooo awesome! If I see correctly, two of the burrow's names are Tom and Eli?! :-[) lol 

Saturday, Jesse and I got back from camping in the Uintah's with his family. It was so much fun and inspiring as always. I am always in awe with the amazing beauty Utah has to offer. There is a boardwalk [shown below] that wraps around the entire Muir lake,where we camped. My sister in law Heather and I walked around this twice...that in itself was so much fun.

Hot tip for a good night's sleep. Forget the air mattress...stick with foam pads!!!! You will be so much warmer and most likely won't wake up with major back pain. Heather and Kyller's [Kyller is Jesse's brother]  dog Tessa was seriously just another camper. At night when we all gathered around the camp fire, she snuggled up in a blanket in Heather's arms and listened to us tell stories. It was sooo funny watching her. It made me miss my own two dogs I had while back in New York. 

All the Barrus men brought up their motorcycles so we could go on some rides. Riding through the mountains is a completely different experience than riding in the city or on the freeway, especially with a group of friends! 

Everyone fly fished on Muir lake but there were hardly any fish biting I guess because of summer coming so late. However, Jesse did catch an albino! Regardless of the lack of fish biting... It was so nice and peaceful to be on the lake, fish, watch Jesse and his brother's fish and get some good reading in. 

I love this magazine! Have you ever read it before?

This post is in response to a reader's comment asking about finding love, how I knew Jesse was the one and how to attract the best man possible.

Finding love the right way - Part 1:

Finding love seems to be so easy for some and much more difficult for others. There has been a handful of times where I have asked myself the question "will I ever find that one?" This was said after my first marriage which started young [I got married the first time at 20] and lasted only 5 years. I knew I shouldn't have gotten married, even on the day of. The most commonly denied red flag in regards to relationships is the one that was waving sooo gallantly on the day of the marriage. I ignored it for so many reasons that I thought I could overcome just by getting older or by officially living together would make all the relationship muck going away.

After my divorce I really started to think a lot about how I even ended up marrying my ex-husband.  I remember in one of our many fights after me telling the ex that I was leaving, he saying that I was going to repeat a lot of my same behavior in every relationship after ours. It freaked me out.  Me and my ex's husband was very bi-polar. Bi polar because the communication between us was extremely frustrating. He being born and raised in Japan and the both of us look at issues and seeing them completely different... many times because of the cultural differences by just being raised in two different countries and two extremely different types of families.  The ex was a pretty selfish husband and was always entitled to many things. I think this was because he was deemed as the "golden child" in his family, by being the oldest son and being the most academic. He has an older sister and younger brother to whom I adore and were sooo sweet and kind to me every time we visited Japan. This included his parents as well who did everything in their power to make sure my stay was always comfortable. I couldn't understand how such loving parents and siblings could produce a child who was constantly so self serving.  At the same time, I kept wondering what it was about me that attracted me to this guy in the first place and how I missed some red flags and ignored many others.

Going into our second year of marriage, PBS had come out with a new show called Frontier House. My brother Paul [who was living with my ex and I for awhile] watched this new show every single week. We were hooked! It is to this day my very favorite tv shows. It is about 3 real families who move to Montana and live as if it was the mid 1800's. That is all I will say. You just have to buy this season! I cried a lot when watching this show. My reason for crying was because of Nate Brooks, and his dad and brother. They were the best examples of what a real man is. All three of these men were best friends with each other and the most compassionate and endearing men you may ever see on tv. How Nate treated his wife on the show will melt your heart, and how he treats his neighbors too. I remember thinking every time I would watch this show how I wish I could be married to someone like Nate and that my ex would never in a million years do the things he does. Example: I was sooo sick with my period one morning...sitting on the toilet crying from all the pain [my periods will often feel like the flu] there was no medicine in our apt. and I had asked if my ex could run to the deli to get some for me. He said no and that I needed to be prepared for things like this. No, we had not gotten in a fight and he was trying to get back at me...that was just him. I always had to be prepared for things like that.... that is just one of the many hundreds of stories I have like that. : /  anyways.... back to Nate Brooks. I was in love. I was in love with that type of man.

I actually have to go to work now and then when I get home I am off to the mountains to go camping for the weekend. I will be back on Saturday with TONS more to talk about. See I thought I could do an easy quick post on this reader's comment of mine. But the more I kept thinking about everything I had to say I realized that this will have to be broken up into parts. So I wanted to start everyone off with what truly helped me start the journey that led me to Jesse, and that was Frontier House. If you have $20 - buy it on Amazon...or watch as many of the clips on youtube as possible. Just so you can at least understand what I am talking about when I refer to the Brooks men later on.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Nate and his wife.

The three families

Yesterday I put in my two weeks at DownEast. It is time to start a new chapter in my life, but more importantly...to actually work on what it is I love. Designing. I quit without a job lined up.... some people would say that is stupid, but the more I kept thinking about it the more I realized that I just need to take that leap of faith and cannon ball into the unknown. Funny thing is, normally this would have freaked me out last year or years prior but I honestly feel at peace with the situation. However, Sunday night I confess I was a little stressed and my mind was racing and I had the stupid song "people power in the disco hour" running over and over and OVER again in my head a million miles an hour. I wanted to shoot myself!!!! I finally fell asleep around 4am.

I would like to give a little shout out to my online friend Denise Holmes for two reasons:  1. because through some emails we have written to each other she mentioned quitting her job and taking that leap into illustration. Her work is fantastic and so her. I really admire her style, aesthetic and illustrative grace if there is such a thing. 2. Last week I received a wonderful and sweet package of printed goodies from Denise....Thank You Denise...it made my day so much! xo

One of her little dog postcards I framed and hung in our little work in progress hallway. :)

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Lastly, I received a comment by a woman named Tia Maria. This is what Tia wrote:

can you write a post about finding love and how you knew jesse was the one? i know this is probably too personal but i am a single girl who hasn't had any luck in finding the one. i am on a path to improving myself...by being more involved in my own interests...but not sure what else i should be doing? i seem to be attracting guys only interested in a short term relationship, if you know what i mean...i respect your opinion. 

Tia, I just want you to know that I have been working really hard on this and trying to provide you with the best possible answer. I will do a post about this later tonight. I had to go back and revisit a lot of things that I watched and read over the years that has helped me specifically dating. I think these materials will help you as well! :) 

p.s. I really appreciated this comment and knowing I may be able to give you or anyone else some helpful advice makes me feel good inside. xo

Ruby has some AWESOME motorcycle helmets! But they are um...*cough*...500 pounds and up... :/

Soooo...since I can't afford one of those right now, I can however.. afford to listen to these songs [albums below] over at Collette. 

One song in particular I am really digging from there is:  Kalumpung a Kalimku by Morane.

 Morane - Kalumpung a Kalimku by piv 

  

I love hanging handmade woven baskets on a wall, and how it turns an ordinary object into a work of art. This photo from Elle Decor is so inspiring, mainly because of all the different designs you could study every day. What a dramatic statement you could make in your entryway with something like this! It would even be neat to make a gigantic pendant light to go above one's dining table.

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Recently stumbled upon these few items over at Etsy. Trying to decide if I could pull off wearing these goggles when I ride with Jesse on his motorcycle...leaning a little towards yes..but something inside of me says it might be too much. yay/nay?

Victorian Steampunk Goggles  - via:  Umbrella Labratory:

Such a great idea! Inspired to make one of my own. My only beef with this one is that the reflective isn't big enough. : /

Petal brite reflective orange flower zipper pull - via:  Piggy Flowers  [funny name, huh?!] :-[)

No I don't have a baby....but I do have a bunch of dolls..... :-[) JUST KIDDING! Anything tiny with a great print will always win my heart. :)

Organic baby shoes - via: Growing Up Wild

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Lastly, I am almost done listening to the audio book "The Power of Small : Why Little Things Make All the Difference" - I LOOOOOOVE this book! If you like to be read too, like self improvement tips, and love learning new factoids...you will dig this book! 

I was going through my "Tasha Tudor's Favorite Stories" book earlier this morning and came across The Bremen Town Musicians, by the Brothers Grimm.  I love this story and the classic picture of the rooster, cat, and dog all standing on the donkey. For fun, I just google imaged Bremen Town Musicians and came across this picture [that I oddly like] found via Crappy Taxidermy. <- Have you been to this site before?  If you don't like taxidermy, I would suggest not going to this blog.  It isn't necessarily disgusting but just more on the super weird/eerie side.  There is no one specific author, all the different pictures are submitted by random people, just like how it's done on Awkward Family Photo.

Happy muggy Friday! I cannot believe the humidity that has taken place here in Salt Lake City, due to all the rain we have had this spring/early summer. I do love though.. how our street and the surrounding neighborhoods feel so much like Portland, Oregon!

I just learned of this French textile designer Paule Marrot  [ 1902 -1987 ] via Fibercopia.  Her work is so inspiring. :)  pictures taken from Birds of Ohio.

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and I just watched this trailer over at A Cup o Jo --- I can't wait to see this! :)

I just saw this cute video segment on my [okay get ready, this is tricky] step brother-in-law's wife's blog! PHEW! Ali, was asked to do a styling segment on Salt Lake City's Studio 5 this past week. She has a really great eye for color, fabrication, and scaled proportion. What I also love about this segment is seeing my darling mother-in-law, she is the 4th model. If you have a second, pop on over to Ali Henrie's blog "with an i.e."

Good morning: :)

Some things to share --- aren't you in love with the Ursa Major 2011 fall/winter collection by Kate Jones?  All pieces shown are 18k [my favorite] and 18k vermeil. I love the idea of photographing the jewelry on top images, such as these.

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The Good Hood Store has so many items I want. This bag on the far left and striped backpack in particular. 

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I spend a lot of my free time designing prints. These were created about 2 months ago...

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And listening to Shinichi Osawa. I love his "Disneyland Mainstreet Electrical Parade" video, see below.

Yesterday was my 30th birthday! That's right, I was born on the 4th of July!  :-[)  I am not one of those people who hates getting older. I love it. I am actually looking forward to when I turn 40, 50, 60 etc. Have you ever heard this saying about wine: "it gets better with age"... I think the same for people. I love reflecting back and seeing the differences between 20 year old Roxy and now 30 year old Roxy. Emotionally, & spiritually they have changed drastically...but mentally...I am still the forever 19 year old at heart! :)

For my birthday Jesse got be a body form!!! Ah! Soo excited when I got it! I am really stoked to finally start having the designs in my head crystallize.. AND it is sooo nice to get back to designing clothes like how I did in school. Draping fabric, walking away for the day, coming back to see if it is something that works or is just a mess-mess is one of the things I miss about school.

But back to turning 30... for me it  has been something that I have been preparing for over the last year. Since January, I have been working really hard at obtaining a more simplified life. Getting off of Facebook was one of those major steps for me, and ironically I don't even miss it. Getting rid of a butt-load of *things* has also helped with simplifying. My goal by the time Jesse and I move into our own little home here soon is to have hardly any tchotchke items, a small amount of books [I am trying to utilize the library more rather than buying] a small amount of clothes, shoes, jewelry [keeping only my staple items] letting go of the many craft materials I own, etc. I thought I would miss a lot of this stuff that I have donated to the D.I. so far. Like facebook...I have not missed any of it one bit...which means I must not have loved/needed it that much. : /

This photostrip of Jesse and I was taken this past Friday at our buddy's reception. It makes me laugh every time I see it because of Jesse's face in each shot. He [Mr. Jesse Lee Barrus ] will always be my favorite gift I have ever received.... :) Here's to turning thirty [glass of seltzer raised in the air] and for getting older!

It is Saturday, and the last thing I should be doing is blogging. BUT, I just came across Karen's site The Art of Doing Stuff and had to share it with you before I forgot.  Karen is hilarious! I want to be this lady's best friend. Not only is she freaking funny but super creative!  In this video below, she opens her doors to the public and gives a mini tour of some of the things she has made in her home. * enjoy *

Disclaimer: This post may tip towards cheesy. :-p

Oh happy day - happy FRIDAY! Gosh, Happy JULY!!! Today is a special day because one of my "bike" buddies: Josh Dewey.... is getting married today!  This picture is of me and my bike buddies. It was from our road trip the four of us took to Washington 2 years ago. Josh is second from the left.

I don't know if I ever mentioned on my blog of how I came to meet these guys. Well, when I moved to Salt Lake City June 2009, I moved here not really knowing anyone. I knew my sister, and a couple other people back from when I lived in Utah when I was 17 & 18....but really, I was starting all over again.

 My younger sister let me move into her apt. which was near Liberty Park. I brought my bike with me from New York and that is how I got around everywhere, on top of walking and riding trax [our above ground rail system] I had been going to my singles ward [a Morman church term] and hadn't really clicked with anyone yet, which meant I was still hanging out by myself. This went on for 2 months. Overall it was fine, I actually have a lot of fun hanging out with ME lol...but I was starting to get lonely.

One Friday evening at the end of July, I went on a bike ride around downtown and then up by the University of Utah. I remember flying down 9th south and then all of a sudden balling my eyes out, this then caused blurry vision. So I stopped, got off my bike, and then cried for a good 1/2 hour on the curb. Ironically [timing is the best] my best friend Ken called me to see how I was doing out here. I balled a bunch of undetectable sentences to him. "Ken, I don't have any friends" was the premise of our conversation. "Just be patient Rox, you'll make some friends soon. Don't you remember your Sophomore year? This was the same conversation we had when you started your second semester. And then guess what happened, 2 weeks later you because friends with Sarah [Hermez] and Robert. They are some of your best friends now. You will meet people you click with, just be patient". So fast forward to Sunday, that evening we had a Singles Ward gathering at one of the member's houses. I rode my bike there and  when it was over as I was getting ready to leave, the first counselor in my Bishopric of that ward stopped me and said for me to let he and his wife take me home in their car since it was dark and late out. I laughed and said to Dave [my counselor] "No way, I gotta go on my usual Sunday night bike ride!" Well, because they felt somewhat like my parents I guess, they asked about my route which I mentioned to them, and then I took off.  It had been about 10 min into my bike ride going east on South Temple [the most beautiful street to ride your bike on in Salt Lake] and all of a sudden I hear some huffing and puffing and what sounds like really crazy vibrating tires? I look a little behind me and I see this guy trying to catch up to me. He finally catches up and slows his pace, he says "Nice night for a bike ride, huh?!" I totally laughed and responded "yeah, not to bad" thinking the whole time "what the crap? ;-[) bahahah lol" Then, his friend came cruising along and said what's up as well. For about a min or two... [it was short] we were chatting about dumb things..and then all of a sudden these two guys said "Well, this is our street, take it easy " not in unison of course but you know what I mean. So then I said "yeah, take it easy" BUT THEN...

Out of nowhere this comes to me: "ROXY, don't be retarded... see if these guys want to be friends with you, they are super funny...WHAT ARE YOU DOING???!!!" So as they were riding away and crossing over South Temple towards O street, I yell out to them "HEY!.......ughhhh WANNA BE MY BIKE BUDDIES?" They turned around and came back laughing hysterically and asked "What?" :-[) and then we pulled over, got off our bikes and I proceeded to tell them how I don't have any friends and  asked if they ever wanna ride bikes together sometime. Ten minutes later, Dave & Juidiith Clawson come driving up. They pull over, roll their windows down and say "Hey Roxy....how's it going?" They have thee hugest grins on their faces. I said it was going well and then told them I just met these guys. I couldn't remember their names they had just told me..which turned the situation into something pretty awkward. But it all worked out. ;-}

That summer of 2009 was one of my funnest. We rode bikes all over Salt Lake, and Josh and Trevor [the blonde one in the photo] introduced me to many of their friends. Timing is such a funny thing and always knows the right time to enter my life. It has been 2 years since I met these guys and they are some of my closest friends out here.  I know our path's crossing was not an accident. I think my favorite thing about these guys but specifically Josh is how high their standards all are.  I was sooo used to being around guys in New York whose morals [if any] were super low and didn't care at all about what they watched, listened too, how they treated girls etc.  I am always impressed when I hang out with the Dewey brothers and Trevor. They helped raise my "standard" bar and I really believe that that then helped with me becoming a person that Jesse would be more attracted to both mentally & spiritually.  Today josh is marrying Emilie [I wish I had a pic of her, she is DARLING!] and I cannot be happier for the both of them! They are so exceptional and are such a fun couple to be around. The best thing [aside from family members] is when your friends marry someone you really like, someone that you will also want to hang out with. This makes lifea lot easier and way more fun!

Congratulations Josh and Emilie! Jesse and I are excited for you guys to enter the world of "Team FUN!" lol

Here is a video that another bike buddy of ours: Riley, did of Josh. it captures his personality perfectly.

Josh Dewey Five Favourite Things from Riley Pack on Vimeo.