Studio Pebbles

Where I Hone My Genius

While most men in the U.S. were sitting on the couch, beer in hand, watching the Superbowl on February 5, 2012, my man was building me a new office! 

After pinning an extra large batch of inspiration, we went to work to create a standing height desk and shelves along one wall in my office. My desk and gear and supplies used to take up the entire room, but now we are down to this and the closet...the rest of the room is Maggie's Playroom (will share when it's finished, work in progress).

There are some issues, but it's 90% ideal. I shouldn't have bought the barstool... defeats the purpose of "standing desk" but the height keeps the items I am working on out of reach of Little Miss Grabby Hands... and since her toys and books and desk are in the room, she's not interested in my stuff very often. 

oooh...clean...it never looks like this! :D 

 Some info: 

• The shelves were free. They were offered by a client of John's who was renovating and we were so very lucky to get them. The system is by Rakks, but we cut a piece of 20" wide MDF for the desktop. 
• The barstool, rug, round side table and the white boxes are from IKEA. 
• The chevron and teal blue containers are from Target. 
• The image in the frame on the desk is from this pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/3518505928704856/ 

Since taking this photo, I have moved a few things around...the clock is now over by the photo printer and the file sorter is between the lamp and my laptop so I can have files close on hand and stay organized. I bought some vertical file folders from Martha Stewart for Avery at Staples and they work great, but that thing is so full, it's bursting. 

I am contemplating filling the back wall behind the desk area with pin boards in-between the vertical rails. For now it's fine without it, but I have a lot of stuff I like to keep in front of me, and I am running out of room on the desk. 

The other half of the room, as I mentioned before, is Maggie's playroom- it's still under construction/organization, so I don't really have finished photos to share, but you can sneak a peek of it here in this photo of her stamping: 

She's a busy little bee. :D 

...so...did I mention I finally got an iPhone?...

I am obsessed with my new lovely. It proved to me, in one fell swoop, that money really can buy happiness. I now use it as my primary camera, and I can't imagine very many situations where I am not satisfied doing just that. The DLSR is nice for some situations, but it's big and heavy and I hate hauling it around. I love Instagram, and I love how Kelle Hampton does a photo dump...so here is mine: 

1. New haircut.
2. Making oversize fabric flowers for a Moms Group "Pinterest Party." 
3. Wearing said oversize fabric flower. 
4. Maggie sleeping on our way to Grandma + Grandpa's house. 
5. Maggie and I on the Seattle/Bremerton Ferry. 
6. Maggie decorating cookies with Grandma.
7. Family picture with the Easter Bunny.
8. Maggie delivering a beer in her new apron and chef's hat. 
9. Riding on the "horsey" with Grandpa.
10. Pushing her baby in the stroller with her purse in hand...just like Mommy! 
11. My KONY 2012 activism kit. 

Life actually looks interesting for a change! 

And with that, I am going to put on my KONY 2012 T-shirt and crawl into bed. We'll have to save some of the interesting for another day. Let me know if you have questions about the desk set up, and I will be happy to answer! 

Smooches.
-Jen 

 

Getting Things Done

Tap, Tap, Tap...

Hello out there!! 

How is 2012 treating you so far? 

Mixed reviews from us at the Pebbles house. Q1 was filled with some smiles and some frustrations- worked on a rebrand for my friend Kelly's photography business, got snowed in and lost power for almost a week, then headed up to Canada for another wonderful trip to Whistler (of which I maybe have 4 photos), back for a week full of cleaning and reorganizing, and then our whole family was down with the flu. From about Valentines Day, until Maggie's birthday, we've all been varying degrees of sick. BLECH!!

March was a bit kinder to us, and April is looking up so far. 

We have a 2 year old now. If you have or have ever had a 2 year old, then you know of which I speak. Life is very, well, let's say...rich with experiences!  I love being a Mommy so much, and I remind myself 10x a day just to keep sane. :D 

When I can, I have been sneaking in some designing here and there...March had me working on a project for a friend, who is a member of the Junior League of Seattle. They are hosting an event in June called, "Touch-a-Truck," which is free to Seattle families and kids of all ages. There will be all kinds of construction trucks, service vehicles and emergency responder vehicles for kids to explore! I designed the branding for this years event, and produced some posters and information packets. 

Here is the sponsor packet: 

and the poster: 

It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. So glad I had the opportunity to volunteer! 

2012 has also included a lot of focus on living simpler and healthier lives...thwarted by weeks eating comfort food while fighting our flus...but everyday is a new day and for me, losing weight and finally healing my hormore issues is at the top of my list. I will go into more detail in a later post, but this week especially has been off to a good start. 

I have so much to share...(and it's funny, because before I sat down to write this post, I was thinking that life has been busy but unproductive lately...however, now that I think about it, it's actually been really productive. Amazingly productive in fact! So productive, I acutally have enough things to blog about that I am going to save them for the next post, or two or three!! YAY!!) 

• We re-did my office into a shared playroom/office.
• We had a little family birthday party for Maggie's 2nd Birthday.
• I got an iPhone.
• I've had Laser Hair Removal :)
• I've worked on some fun design projects.
• I took a Typography class.
• etc., etc., etc.... 

...Most importantly, we've added a day of daycare for Maggie so I can have a more productive schedule to get things done. And to keep my eye on the prize, as a reminder, I made this print for my wall:

Which you can download and print for your wall if you would like :
(personal use only please) 

I'm so glad I have the time to blog again, (well, at least the time today) because I have been away for a really long time and I miss it and feel guilty about not posting more often. I don't like it when things get left hanging, as most things do, in my life of many interruptions, so hopefully now I can be better about being consistent and offering something of value to my readers. I don't need to post everyday, or make them too long, or whatever I do that makes it too hard to keep up- simplify and get things done. That's my motto for 2012. 

Until next time...
Love + ((((hugs))) + World Peace!