Monday, August 22, 2011

Princess for a Day (and a Weekend.....)

Sorry this is already a bit delayed, but since the move, I wasn't able to find my camera cord until yesterday.

Thanks to wonderful family and friends, and especially thanks to Vance, I had a great birthday!! Cookies and treats were brought to me by neighbors, co-workers, and family, and my adorable husband made me feel like the luckiest woman alive.

Aug 11, 2011 started with me waking up in the morning feeling like P Diddy. I went into the bathroom to start my daily routine when I found an adorable note perched up on our metal stand.  It read:


Next, when I was going to grab my purse to head out the door, I found this:
In case you can't read it, the last part says: P.S. You're a hoot! :)


For the past year I have had an obsession with collecting owl jewelry, and this one will definitely add to my collection! He gave me 2 other way cool owl necklaces for Christmas last year as well.

Then, as I was actually at the door to leave, this little treasure was waiting for me, hanging from the door knob:


 Isn't he so sweet and punny? :) He knows me so well!

What a cute boy! AND you know what he did next? He visited me at work with this gorgeous bouquet of flowers! Which I brought home and it certainly made for a lovely centerpiece in our kitchen/dining room.


I love my sweet man :) The evening continued with dinner from In-N-Out Burger (don't normally like that place but for some reason it sounded super good), and our friend Lexi joined us.  Lastly he gave me a long shoulder massage when we got home. And he hates giving massages, so that is how I know he must really love me!


Sounds like a good birthday, right? Well that's not all. 2 days later, after a fun, hot day of boating with Vance's family, and after witnessing a lovely wedding ring exchange of my dear friend Jeanette and her new husband Julio, Vance appeared to have one more trick up his sleeve in honor of my 25th year of life. He took me to see Josh Groban, live in concert at the Energy Solutions Arena in SLC!

Our JG tickets :)


Us waiting in line to see Brother Groban (as we like to call him). Vance WAS wearing a tie and it looked much better than this un-buttoned get up, but he was dying of heat and had to take it off :( Sad day

I look exactly the same in this photo as the latter one. But honestly, I could not get a good picture of us, and sadly, this one is probably my fave of the evening. Vance's yawn does NOT depict how he truly felt that night. He LOVED it, just like I did!


Let me just say.....Josh Groban was incredible! Speaking from experience now, he sounds just as amazing live, as he does in his recordings. I had constant chills, as he sang his songs new and old. He was hilarious and so entertaining as well! Not only is he gifted with a beautiful voice, but he has a great sense of humor as well.  And can also tickle them ivories and play a mean drum as well. It was a magical evening!

I would like to give a special thanks to Vance for being such a sweet and thoughtful husband, and another thanks to Josh Groban for using his talents the way God intended him to :)

Joshy lighting up the stage with his awesomeness.

Other fun gifts and wishes from family & friends included:
• Handmaid earrings, and a home cooked meal and cake from my mom
• Gift cards for gellato, a 12 pack of Coke, and peachys (my faves!!!) from my dad
• Cookies from my neighbors
• Treats from co-workers,
•  .....and more treats from Kirk (Kirstin)- hey, I love treats!!
• a handmade card from Ali
• a hilarious phone call from Jessie and Jeff
• a sweet note from my brother and sis in Prague
• Delicious dinner in Ogden, 600 thread count sheets for our California King Sized bed, socks,  and yet another adorable owl necklace from my mother-in-law. I think it is safe to say, my collection is complete!
• And many, many birthday wishes!!! (sorry if  I forgot anyone or anything, my brain is currently tired)

Thank you everyone for a terrific Birthday weekend! This little Anni lady feels very special and loved :)



Monday, August 8, 2011

Foto Fun :)

I (Annika- just assume it's always me writing these posts) am currently taking a beginning photography class to learn how to used my company's DSLR camera. I must say that I am not very good at technology, and a lot of the technical terms fly right past my ditzy little head. Luckily format, cropping, and composition remain the same wether you are a painter, graphic designer, or a photographer, so I can at least compose a photo somewhat (thanks to the millions of hours of classes and projects).

I am not great, but I have had a lot of fun with the class assignments we've been given. I've learned a little bit about how to set the camera up for a short depth of field, and also how to set it up properly for slow motion. Now, if only I can figure out how to take an excellent product shot of an adorable plush animal for work....

Here are a couple of the pictures I took last week. I've decided the theme is "I looked out the window, and what did I see?" since they were all taken around the yard.






I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to finally take some photography classes. I see painting and photography going hand in hand. I've always just used my point-shoot camera to help reference ideas I want to paint, but I honestly think that learning photography is only going to help improve my painting skills, just like learning how to paint and create compositions has been helping me with photography :) Isn't it great how that works? Why only limit myself to one aspect of the art world when I love them all? After all......

No matter what form it comes in! :)

While I'm at it, here are a few pictures I really enjoyed that I took with my point-shoot camera 2 summers ago when touring Europe with my brother and sister-in-law. I took hundreds, actually probably thousands of pictures while over there, and captured just a few that I rather enjoyed and thought were charming or turned out nicely. I have quite a number of 8x10s that I'm selling for $4 a piece (while supplies last) so let me know if you are interested in purchasing any of them :) 

European Froth
Rooftop Fairy Tale 
Rustic Hill

The Bees Knees

Laundry Day

Croatian Romance

Shutters and Strings

Italian Hallway

Your Carriage Awaits
Thanks for letting me share! Until next time :)