"Marion By Natalie" skirt, two ways.

so, about a month ago, i was watching "Sonny with a Chance" and i fell in love with one of the skirts that Sonny wore in one of the scenes. of course, the skirt was too short for me, so i screencapped the image, and sent it to my crazy talented friend Natalie, asking if she could make a more modest version for me.

you see, Natalie just opened up her own online shop called "Marion By Natalie". She is an amazing seamstress, and so creative and talented. I just KNEW she could make me a skirt that would fit exactly what i wanted. i was so excited to receive my "Sonny Skirt" in the mail today! thanks Natalie! I love you!

i decided to showcase my skirt two ways. this first look is how i would wear it to run errands, or to go on a date with tedward:


i love how the black pencil skirt poking out, with the fuller skirt on top. so cute! and so comfy!

i paired it with my new tee from "dressing on the side" and a fedora from ROSS.

the second look is how i would wear it to work. in fact, i will be wearing it to work tomorrow!

tuxedo button up, with a hair clip made by me :)

PS...my mom highlighted my hair today. i am eternally grateful for this.

stay tuned for a spotlight on the fabulous natalie!

in the mean time, please visit her shop, because it is full of awesome!

thanks nat!

this is what lauren did today:

while watching the Law & Order SVU marathon, i busted out these:

and drew these:


what did you do today?

i hope it was a happy one!

progress

for the past few months i have been insanely stressed out.

i haven't had a chance to relax since probably christmas time.

sadly, all of my stress and obligations have kept me from doing some of my favorite things:

1. decorating. our last apartment never got decorated. pathetic, huh? basically all of our decor stayed in boxes, so when we moved again, we really didn't have anything to pack.

2. spending time with ted. this makes me sad. i have spent so much time working on editing photos/making headbands, that i kinda neglected him. i think he hung out with the playstation more than me...and that is my fault.

3. reading. i love to read. i would rather read a book than watch tv/eat/nap...basically anything else that is self indulgent. i want to read again.

4. pilates. i feel the best about myself when i do pilates every day. i love how it tightens my muscles, and i love how relaxing of a work out, it is. i miss doing it daily.

this week, i decided i am taking a break from photography and the busy bee shoppe, for the summer. it's like the adult version of summer vacation! i see it as basically the same thing. when i was growing up, i loved school. i loved seeing my friends each day, and i loved learning. but after a while, it started getting tedious, and i ached for my break off, in the summer. the summer was spent swimming, running around in bathing suits and "play clothes" and eating a lot of otter pops and bologna sandwiches. it was the perfect amount of time of relaxation, to actually make me MISS going to school. and sure enough, august rolled around and i was DYING to go back.

that is what i need right now.

i need time to relax my brain, and to be creative.

i need time to make this wonderful home we live in, into something that is purely ted and lauren.

i also need time to REALLY miss taking photos, and designing accessories.

i am really excited about this :)

so last night i did this to our kitchen wall:

that's what $73 dollars worth of printed photos at walgreen's looks like when you don't listen to your mom's advice of printing multiple orders over time, to save money.

i am insanely happy and inspired by this wall.

i then started on this wall:

i am excited to see what i come up with, for the rest of this wall arrangement.

basically, i am just excited for this summer.

and i am excited to be creative.

dude. duuuuude.

so, tonight tedward and i went and saw this...

and i quickly remembered why i was obsessed with jake gyllenhaal in the 8th grade.

like, whoa.

did anyone else fall in love with his super dorkiness in "October Sky"?

well..you should see "Prince of Persia"...because he is the hotdiggity hottspice.

but seriously, besides and eyes, biceps and serious abs...the movie was awesome.

ted and i both enjoyed every moment of it, and i have a girl crush on the female lead.

she was also in "Clash of the Titans" (which i loved) and i basically hold her on the same pedestal as my numero uno girl crush, Camilla Belle.

go see the movie, please. and then let's discuss how awesomespice it was.

the end. and you are welcome.

face family photos...

a few weeks ago, my family had our pictures taken by the lovely, and talented Beka Lowe.

the last time we had our pictures taken as a family was at my wedding, so we were in dire need :) we all LOVE how the photos turned out.

i planned the color scheme, and helped coordinate outfits. i really like the how the colors look with our location. i'm definitely printing a bunch for the walls :)

shabby apple giveaway!

um. have you SEEN the Paris line from Shabby Apple? it basically slayed me dead.

and i died a little more when Shabby Apple wanted to partner up to have another giveaway.

and was COMPLETELY slain when i found out the dress i would be giving away, is my favorite.

isn't the "Oh La La" just, GORGEOUS?!

i love the red and white stripes.

i love the flattering cut of the dress.

i love how parisian it is!
basically i am having a love affair with it.

and since you guys are the bomb diggity bombspice...

one of you gets to win my favoritest favorite dress EVER.

all you have to do is:

1. tell me what your favorite movie of all time is

OR

2. who your favorite actor/actress, is.

easy right?

you have until monday at 7:00 PM, to enter!

in the meantime, please swoon over Shabby Apple's dresses with me...

busy bee giveaway!

remember when i asked you all to suggest restaurants we should go and taste? well, ted and i made it a goal to try every restaurant that was suggested. one of the suggestions was Romeo's Euro Cafe in Gilbert. we invited ty and sierra along...

it was very tasty, and a very cute atmosphere...


only complaint? they were kinda weird about requests. such as, "can i have no thousand island dressing on the sandwich?"..."no."....um, ok then. but other than that...it was yummy :)

after dinner we ventured on over to Bookman's. if you haven't been to Bookman's you need to get yourself over there! it's a 2nd-hand bookstore of pure awesomeness. they even have a little cafe, now. it's way awesomespice.

it's basically tedward's favorite place in the world.

the end.

just kidding! i have a giveaway for you. i know, right? happiness.

this giveaway is for all of your cute expecting moms out there!

when Moody Mamas contacted me, i was so excited because way cute celebrity moms, like Heidi Klum and Jessica Alba love their maternity clothes and wear them! i'll have you know, Heidi Klum is my homegirl, and pretty much she is a fashion goddess. so, basically what i am saying is, i am jealous i can't win the Moody Mama giveaway.

you can purchase the pretty Moody Mamas dresses/maternity clothes on their site, or on Target's site! I am pretty much in love with all of the dresses. do you think i could get away with wearing a small maternity dress if i belt it around the waist? haha :) but seriously, this site has slain me dead.

one lucky busy bee lauren reader has the chance of winning an "it's a boy!" or an "it's a girl!" rhinestoned tank top. and all of my readers can get a 30% off discount when using the promo code {MMDiscount} on their site!

all you have to do is comment whether you want an "it's a girl!" or an "it's a boy!" tank :)

You have until June 8th to enter!

busy bee lauren covers current events {2nd edition}

1. that time i told demi to never trust those eyebrows.

for those that haven't been near a tv, a radio, a computer screen, or a pre-teen in the last 24 hours: joe jonas broke up with my homegirl, demi lovato. i called it from a mile away, ya'll. a freakin mile away. wanna know how i knew he would break up with her? his eyebrows. you can NEVER trust a man with a pair of caterpillars plastered to his forehead. it just reads, "danger". other signs of danger, are shiny suits, and tendencies to wear forever 21 girl pants. but, i will give him the benefit of the doubt and just blame the eyebrows. the big rumor is that he had his DAD call demi and do his dirty work. YES, Papa Jonas broke up with demi, for Joe. while demi debunked this rumor, i think she was just being a class-act. or she was too embarrassed to admit that she actually dated this dude for like...2 seconds. that's how long it lasted, right?

 

but it's okay. because demi has sterling as a co-star, and according to him, he "is miserably single" and "a relationship guy". demi...look, he is even holding a guitar, looking emo, and DOESN'T have crazy brows, a sparkly suit OR girl pants on. GET ON THAT NOW.

 

 

fyi...when i googled "sterling knight" this picture of tom welling was the first to pop up. i was confused.

speaking of tom welling...

 

2. ten is too many seasons.

did anyone else watch "Smallville" back in the day? i watched every single episode until season 5. apparently they still made the show after season 5? i just figured that if Lana and Clark couldn't be together, then the show should basically just die. but no...they kept making more episodes. and even the directors and producers realized it was a crap-shoot, so guess who directs and produces it...the actors! *facepalm*. please stop. and spend more CW money on Vampire Diaries.

 

 

speaking of tv...and lots of seasons...

 

3. LOST should keep going until i die.

i'd just like to say, that the series finale was perfection. i cried multiple times. it ended without answering a lot of questions, but i liked that. i would have been pissed if they answered EVERYTHING. the great thing about LOST is that a lot of it is left for us to speculate and debate and ponder. that is why it is great tv. it leaves us thinking. also, i'd like to point out, i have been an AVID Jack fan from the very beginning. while others talked smack, i stood by my man...and after the finale, i'm proud to say i am a Jack fan. i will miss watching him on the show...

 

 

but most of all...i will miss my favorite character of all time: Desmond Hume.

dude.

 

 

on a completely random note:

 

4. this book is good, even though it sounds lame.

remember when everyone was reading twilight, and you didn't want to tell them what it was about because you were embarrassed for your life and how ridiculous you were for reading a book about vampires and werewolves? that's how i feel about this book. i would tell you it's about faeries, but you would make fun of me...oh wait. yeah, not really embarrassed. read it!

 

 

but seriously...let's discuss these current events.

1. should joe shave his eyebrows?

2. should demi date sterling? (just say yes...)

3. did you ever watch smallville and wonder why clark looked 30 when he was "15"?

4. do you love desmond? back off...he's my boyfriend.

thanks are in order.

thank you tedward for picking me up chicken soup from costa vida, when i was really sick.

& thank you mama face for doing household chores for me, and even getting us dish soap, because i was too sick to do anything.

it's the little things that make you realize how blessed you are.

i'm grateful for the lovely people in my life!

sunday morning.

this morning i made me a bowl of vanilla almond granola, with fresh raspberries and skim milk.

when i walked over to the sink, to rinse my bowl, i spotted the fresh peaches from my mama and dad's backyard peach tree...


so i washed them. and then sliced them all up.

after that, i put them in a sauce pan, with a package of raspberries and a handful of blackberries. i sprinkled some sugar on top, a 1/2 cup of water, and a splash of real vanilla. after simmering for a little while, i poured the fruit in a cake pan.

i took a package of yellow cake mix and sprinkled the dry mix on top. then poured about 2 cups of sprite on top of the dry mix. i baked it at 350 for 35 minutes...

and then i ate it. and it was yummy. basically the best thing in the whole world. it was pretty much the zac efron of peach cobblers. basically. and while i was on cloud 9 from the cobbler, i seemed to step on a shard of glass.

so tedward had to do surgery on my foot. yes, that is blood. no, we don't know where the glass came from.

the end.

this post doesn't have a picture, but it's funny.

so, i missed three days of work this week. that is like, a whole lot of work missed. like whoa.

i very literally couldn't leave the sofa for three days. if i did, i needed a bit of assistance, because it felt like i was going to collapse and my head was going to fall off. it was terrible. i was basically pumped with tylenol, gatorade, and had an ice pack glued to the side of my face. basically i was hideous.

 

 

so, yesterday i finally mustered up the strength to get my carcass off the sofa and go to work. wanna talk about how i almost passed out in the shower? yeah, me neither. so i got ready and i went. the 8 hour day was a complete hazy mist of haziness. i remember being tired after i lifted a stack of manila folders. and my ears hurting when talking to a yapping customer on the phone. but most of all, i remember the horrible, splitting headache i had ALL day. apparently my body didn't like being in the sitting position all day. it wanted to be back on the sofa, surrounded by 6 pillows, 3 blankies, a 64oz of gatorade watching 7 hours of Law and Order: SVU. mmm...bliss.

 

 

so, to keep the migraine away, i took tylenol every 4 hours. i vaguely remembered my mom's voice booming into my brain's loudspeaker saying, "now, remember not to take more than 8 tylenol in a 24 hour period...or you will DIE!" or something foreboding like that. who knows?

 

 

so let's count how many i had taken:

 

7:00 AM - 2 pills before i left for work.

11:15 - 2 pills before lunch, because the headache hurt like a freakin...i dunno the word.

4:30 - 2 pills because i was going to die.

7:10 - 2 pills because i was going to throw up from the pain of the headache.

 

 

it was 11:45 and i was crying and sobbing and BEGGING for ted to give me tylenol because i NEEDED to sleep. but all ted said was, "i hid the tylenol. you can't have anymore." and i basically wanted to beat him up, but all i could do was lay on my bed and flail about like a beached whale. "YOU ARE SUCH A MEEEEEAAAANY" yes. all i could come up with was "meany"...i am original, obvi.

 

 

so i spent the entire night in horrible pain. and ted spent the night on the sofa because i told him if he came within 5 feet of me, i punch his face into his butt. and now i have bags under my eyes. and i still have a headache because i couldn't find the dang tylenol this morning. but do you want to know what i DID find this morning?

 

 

as i went to the computer to turn on pandora to listen to some tunes as i got ready, i saw that google was pulled up on the screen. in the search bar, this is what was typed:

 

 

"how to tell your wife she can't have anymore tylenol"

 

speaking in tongues.

i like to think of myself as a knowledgeable person. i feel well informed in many things. i know that the length from your elbow to wrist is the exact measurement of your foot. i also know that if your eye ball happens to fall out, you should pop it into a glass of milk, because the enzymes will keep it in prime condition, allowing the surgeon the ability to reattach the eyeball into it's socket. then there are times in my life that remind me that i am, in fact, a human being, not the superhero of useless facts that i strive to be!

 

i am faithful member of the LDS church. as members, we don't believe in drinking coffee. there are many people that question why we abstain from drinking coffee, and the best answers i can come up with are:

 

1. we are asked not to, so i listen.

2. coffee has caffeine in it, and we don't want to put anything in our bodies that will cause addiction.

 

with that being said, i am a fool when it comes to coffee. hopefully this has sufficiently set the stage for the following story:

 

 

a few weeks ago, i entered a Starbucks for the first time in my life. yes, i am 22 and i had never been in a Starbucks before. i didn't really see the point because i don't drink coffee, and i'd rather buy hot chocolate from QT for under a dollar. well, i walked in with a friend, and as she ordered her drink with grace, i squinted up at the menu and felt my brow start to perspirate. i feltmy knees buckle as i stuffed my hands in my pockets. basically, i was panicking. i had NO idea what to order or how to order whatever it was that i was going to order. my turn to order came way too fast, and as i approached the cashier, i said, "um. i'll have a hot chocolate....um, yah." and he looked at me. and i felt awkward. so i added. "and yep...that's it. hot chocolate." and he still looked at me. and i felt like i had forgotten to put on a pair of pants that day. with a quick glance to make sure that my booty was covered. i added one more thing, "um...how much?" and he said, "i dunno yet. what size?" um. DOH. i knew there had to be some mythical special sizing language that i was not learned in, so i did the only thing i could think to do...i pointed. i pointed to a cup that looked like a legit size for carrying my choice beverage of chocolatey goodness. the cashier's eyes followed my pointed finger, and upon registering the size, he said, "tall?" and i said, "yes i am." *facepalm*

 

 

what i want to know is, where do people learn the lingo?! half of the beverages that people tell me to order aren't even on the freakin menu! where do you learn? who schools you in the ways of the Starbucks? do you just make up a drink in your brain and tell them what you want and they make it? if i told them i want a white hot chocolate with sprinkles and unicorns and brownies surprises with a little touch of zac efron, they would make it? Starbucks gives me gray hair.

 

 

PS...the next time i went into a Starbucks, I got a yogurt parfait. it was easier.

fever

i haven't had a fever in like 8 years. seriously...i thought my body was incapable of having a fever. so, yesterday when i was shaking with the shivers, but burning at the touch, we found out my temperature was 103. dude...that is CRAZY. i totally forgot what it felt like to have a fever. it's AWFUL! so i have been laying on the sofa...pretty much watching a lot of crappy tv. things i have watched today:

1. What Not to Wear - hello...this show pissed me off. the lady pretty much threw out EVERY piece of black clothing that this poor lady owned. she is fool! black is the bestest.

2. Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars - the main guy in the movie was cute, but such a jerk! he made me want to push a puppy, he pissed me off so bad. haha!

3. 16 and Pregnant - why can i not NOT watch this show? i love/hate it.

4. Most Unique McDonalds - yes. there is an actual tv show. it was pretty enlightening.

so, please excuse me while i lay on the sofa some more.

but before i go...can we please discuss how excited i am to see this movie?

i am pretty sure zac efron is a unicorn. because he is too pretty to be real. hahahaha!

weekends.

weekends in our house look like this:

homemade buttermilk pancakes for dinner...

i make the homemade blackberry syrup, and tedward makes the pancakes.

and then we watch "16 and Pregnant" and laugh at the foolishness of the teens.

don't make babies, kids. you are a baby, yourself!

a little decorating...

turns out i have 11 bird figurines. and that isn't counting the owls.

organizing photos for my polaroid display...

wishing we had 100 dollars to spare so i could buy a pack of film. sigh...

marveling at how many times i have to clean the random mirror above our sink.

apparently it will be a battle with the water spots.

lunch with girlfriends at costa vida...

and loving kelci's little ashlyn...

finally framing this hilarious portrait of tedward and i.

i guess it looks like us. what do you think? we got it done in disneyland in december...

editing lots of pictures...

and making it through by listening to The Kooks and eating a rice krispie.

you gotta do what you gotta do.

eating healthy, protein packed breakfasts after a tough work out with mama...

and enjoying how much light comes in our dining area.

what was your weekend like?