nicole’s classes – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Décor August 29, 2014

Floral Fridays: Tulip Love

Week two of my Floral Arranging 101 with Nicole’s Classes has come and gone, and the homework assignment was to create a wild English garden arrangement. Our instructor’s example (see top photo) is literally to die for. I want her talent! Like I said last week, the local Durango flower and vase options are very limited, so I couldn’t produce as fancy an arrangement; however, I chose a bold colored tulip as my focal flower and ran with it.

I absolutely adore tulips (second favorite, to peonies, and runner-up to garden roses). I dug into my wedding pinboards and found some of my favorite tulip bouquets and arrangements. They also make for the perfect desk decoration – I’ll be sharing my favorite office spaces next week! I can’t wait.

Lastly, the winner of the BABYBJÖRN Carrier We giveaway is Vanessa W. Congratulations! Make sure you enter the BabyLit giveaway by midnight tonight and use code ‘Isla’ to receive 40% off at BabyLit.com. Have a wonderful weekend!

Tulip Floral Inspiration

Decor August 20, 2014

Magenta Florals

I just completed the first week of my Floral Arranging 101 class, and I am addicted. Our homework assignment was to create a hand tied bouquet, using primary, secondary, and filler flowers, with additional greenery to give it texture. We had suggestions for which flowers to use, but the local Durango grocery store’s floral department is not the best, so I went out on a limb with my selections. My mom told me about April’s Garden after I had already made my bouquet, so I’ll head there next week.

I’m very amateur in the world of flowers, so I bought The Flower Recipe Book to help me. I’m so excited about this purchase – not only does it help with the arranging, it’s also the prettiest coffee table book. I highly recommend you buy it if you’re interested in flowers.

Lastly, the Milk Nursingwear giveaway ends tonight at midnight. Make sure to enter today!

My absolute favorites – as mentioned here

I love a pop of magenta in a bouquet and have shared some of my favorite wedding arrangements below (all sourced from Style Me Pretty). What is your favorite pop of color in a floral bouquet?

Baby August 19, 2014

Week 5 in Durango

Week five has come and gone, and ohmygosh, I am not ready to go back to the ‘real world’ (i.e. Texas). However, I do miss everyone like crazy, and cannot wait to hug all of my family and friends. This past week flew by in anticipation of one of my best friends, Kirby, arriving on Thursday. I managed to run every day this past week, clock between 13,000-20,000 steps every day, enjoy short hikes to the top of a nearby mountain in the mornings, continue my Illustrator 101 and Floral Arranging 101 classes, work on the blog (some fun giveaways coming up soon!), and spend lots of time with Sasha, Belle (our dog) and sweet Isla. We also hiked the 6 mi. trail of the Animas Mountain together for the first time – Sasha and I did it last Labor Day when we were visiting (see photos here).

As you can tell from the thousands of photos below, I love taking pictures of Isla’s cute face, because I know I won’t have as much time to once we are back in Houston (and because she cannot yet tell me to stop).

In case you want to keep track of our Colorado sabbatical, you can also read about Week 1, Weeks 2 and 3, and Week 4.

Isla being sassy in her Carter’s Romper (similar here) – that last face kills me – her personality is shining through

Pretty in pink (and white!)

Cheesin’ it up

Hot pink is my absolute favorite (similar bodysuit here)

Someone was none-too-pleased with us taking photos before she got to eat ‘lunch’

Bows on bows on bows (buy dress here) – and Sophie the Giraffe making an appearance (and Isla loves her hands if you can’t tell!)

I swear this isn’t a hunger cue, Isla just adores her hands (praying this is ‘self soothing’!)

Kisses from her ‘Tata’ and (the much dreaded) tummy time (similar outfit here)

Saturday mornings are for PJs and superman time with dad

Her hair is seriously out of control, but I love it

Isla’s little Gap peplum top and leggings

This was taken after five minutes in her new heaven – i.e. the Skip Hop Treetop Friends Activity Gym… she’s enamored (this is a GREAT baby shower gift)

Loving the views from the top of the Animas Mountain – Isla loves the view from over my shoulder (her favorite holding position)

Vegan ice cream at Cream Bean Berry – my one true weakness!

Isla LOVES (eating) this lovie!

A sneak preview of my first homework assignment from Floral Arranging 101 (more to come tomorrow!)

Three weeks left! Have a great day. xo

Baby July 21, 2014

Nikkor 50mm f/1.8g Lens

I recently signed up for the Photo 101 class with Nicole’s Classes, and my first homework assignment was due yesterday. I absolutely love taking pictures and I have a nice camera (Nikon D5000) that I’ve used on Auto for far too long (i.e. 7 years), and recently decided that I need to learn about all of the features. My friend, Danielle, pointed me to these 4-week online courses and I’m already obsessed. I start my next set of classes in one week – Illustrator 101 – and then will begin Floral Arranging 101 two weeks after that. I can’t wait!

As of last Monday, I only had two lenses, but quickly after starting the courses, I decided that I needed a 50mm lens with a low f-stop number. I did online research, and ended up ordering the Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.8g lens on Amazon. I am obsessed. Seriously – I don’t know how I’ve been taking pictures without this portrait lens!

I’ve included some of the photos from my homework – which included changing ISO, f stop numbers and doing a ‘day in the life.’ I chose to make Isla my model (no arguments from her) – the day included three outfit changes. She’s a puker!