What a day today was! I have a secret for you, but cant tell you yet…. I know that you’ll like it though! In the meantime, I thought that I’d share a couple of really (cant stress that enough!) early drawings I did for DeMarco Designs! This was done before the idea and possibility of starting my little shop ever entered my mind and I was just making cards for family and friends on occasion….drawing things with black sharpies, still something I love doing!!!

The first was part of a design for my nephew’s b-day party and the second was a starting sketch for a moving card for T & I, shortly after I had found out I was pregnant with J! I later put ‘us’ into the back of a moving truck with lots of cute stuff… if I find a copy I’ll be sure to share it!

We have been so busy around the house… between packing up orders and working on custom stuff…. our new (very pretty) wood flooring needs installed and lots of other fun stuff like that… well, no, not really fun… but it will be *so* nice once done!
I am not sure I will have time to host my famous July 4th party …. which I am so sad about. It is my favorite thing every summer and we usually have a great time! With tons of yummy fruit, swimming, giggling and fire works! I am still holding onto a tiny string of hope that I will be able to do it, but things just aren’t slowing down for me…not even for a moment…

In other news, I’m super excited that I have finally found a laptop bag that I LOVE! It’s from Abbi New York! I really had wanted the “dylan” style, but it’s not the right size for my laptop…still, this one is really super gorgeous!! Take a look at all the other pretty stuff here! You wont be disappointed!

I have been working on so many things for the shop in between all the stuff mentioned above and I am feeling a little bit frustrated & upset with myself for not being able to get more done…

I know it’s bad when I find myself wishing I could sleep faster!…

I have lined up so many new and exciting things including but not limited to: t-shirts+baby clothing, canvas wall hangings, dishes and much more that I can not mention just yet! *wink, wink* and everyone I’m working with…..

they’re all just waiting on me!!! :O

I am so excited to get all the wonderful products in my hands yet have been unable to finish getting all the files prepared and to the right people! I wish God would send me an assistant to pack up orders and help with all the crazy email!

How does everyone else do it!?? I feel as though I’m always so behind, and this is only SHOP related! I dont even want to get into other area’s of my life that need more attention.. I have so many things that are so close to being ready but seem so far away because I know my time limitations

Not to mention, the packages I have been putting together for some very very sweet ladies (you know who you are)…those are about as over-due as an update at the shop that is still sporting a ’spring’ theme’!!! How awful!!

I have a sneaking suspicion that I may regret this post in the morning…I dont mean to complain so much… all of this fits into my category of ‘good problems to have’ — I know this is true, and I know this to-do list pile-up will clear out soon enough and everything WILL get done that NEEDS done…. I know these things…I do. I just need reminding on days like today when my brain will not stop thinking about everything I’ve got to do….

I need reminding that what I really need more than all of these things is to go play dinosaurs with J, read a book together and maybe surprise Ted with some homemade brownies and a long overdue love letter telling him how deeply I love him, how grateful I am for his life and how sorry I am I have been so pre-occupied lately…..

infact…I think I will go snuggle up with my sweet Ted right now. …and just breath….. softly into sweet & happy dreams….

I will leave you with a peek into my digital ’sketchbook’ some doodles that will soon become things I hope you’ll love… until then, sweet & happy dreams to you as well…

PS- I just threw that pic of Conan and Christopher in there because it makes me happy! I hope you enjoy it as well! maybe all I need is a little more cowbell…

Hello! We are off for our vacation today! I am very excited and really need some time to just be and hang out with my boys! This year has been incredibly busy and both T and I have been a pretty drained the last couple of months.

For J’s last day of school we on a field trip to the zoo! It was super fun, and I was very aware of how much I genuinely enjoy hanging out with him, he’s such a nice kid to be with!

This photo came out so amazing!!! I’m not a great photographer, the elephant was so great looking and stood very sweetly for me! She had the sweetest face, very humble and content looking, which sadly is not an look you get from zoo animals often, but she was really beautiful and we really enjoyed watching them.

Then there was this guy, also very sweet, but, without the contentment that the elephant had… he seemed lonely and a bit bored with the hundreds of kids running around staring at him… Actually, looking at the photo’s it would appear that the situation would be reversed, but in person it seemed to me that the elephant was happy and the orangoutang was a bit sad…

Here’s one more with J and the elephant and totally unrelated, J with his Illan (from Top Chef) inspired hair cut! We love it but for some reason, my MIL seemed almost horrified at it!

Next is the goodie tin we put together for J’s teacher to thank her for a wonderful year! She’s a really amazing woman & teacher, and I felt so glad to have had the opportunity to get to know her and learn from her. She’s really really amazing so we tried to put together a really nice gift for her! The vintage inspired sugar tin is *so cute, and we filled it with See’s candy, stationery & a custom crystal paperweight made by yours truly! …And of course J and I both wrote her letters thanking her for all the love and care she poured into the kids over the corse of the last year! My letter was quite long and mushy, J’s was a little less so but still pretty darn sweet! We also got to meet his new teacher for next year and she was very very kind!

And last but not least, we hit a few yard sales a couple of weekends ago and scored some really great stuff including a neat suitcase, a handmade chair from Spain and these little cuties!

They were only a dollar a piece and I absolutely adore them and cant wait to find the perfect place to hang them!!! Well, my husband just came in and let me know that the truck & boat are all packed up and ready to go so I’d better say goodbye! I hope everyone has a lovely week and I will be back all too soon with lots of pictures and a re-newed mind! Enjoy!
xoxo, Mariah

Hello again!

I have to break this ‘one post per month’ phase, I have so much to tell you! So, for my lack of posting and as the title suggests…I’m going to try to make it up to you with a great long post full of what I hope will be fun pictures!

Things are cooling off now and I have so much to share with you! First off, progress on the new office …which I always try to refer to as a studio b/c it sounds much more creative and charming, but in the end the word never rolls out quite right and I end up always referring to my studio as ‘the office’ or if I’m saying it out loud, I cant help but say, ‘the offive’ —- followed by a horrible impression of Michael Scott impersonating “Harvey” -his computer-

“you ruined a funny joke-you. get out of my offive.”

anyway, it was coming along very well and then against my better judgment, I chose the flowery doors that you see in the following pictures….

…and I really love flowers, but I usually only love the real or paper variety….and these well, the fact is, I have a lot of stuff to go in there, and it’s all clean and organized, but it’s also very colorful and comes in a variety of shapes and sizes…so, that alone, even set up in an organized fashion, makes the office look busy…but busy in a good way…and the flowery doors, put it over the top..not in a good way.. so ..we are going to exchange them soon to just plain clear glass.. (I dont like the frosted b/c I like to see what I’ve got in order to be more efficient while working! *whew* I thought my husband was going to throw me out the window when after the 2 hour drive to get them, plus assembling them for me.. I told him that actually, I should have gotten the plain ones, but he was sweet… isnt that the best kind of spouse?? …he knows me and he loves me still… I must remember to love him that true and hard if he’s ever as…shall we say…trying, as I am can be! I really do feel blessed to be his wife, still after nearly a decade…I am so in love with him. Which leads me to my second subject… I have been a mushy, emotional wreck the last 2 (maybe 3) weeks! Part of the reason being that our son was finishing up 1st grade, and I’ve just been so so proud of the young man he is becoming! When I was making my new little giraffe characters, I got side-tracked and made a little illustration that I printed out and wrote a big long letter to go with for my little guy. Here’s the drawing:

I know all this mushy stuff sounds so cheezy…I know, I do…. it’s just going fast as everyone warns that it will…. he’s such a fun kid to hang with, he gets our jokes and we get his… he’s got such a quirky sense of humor and I totally adore it! …and my goodness how he reads! He can pick anything up and read it (well almost anything!) Books he’s never seen before he’ll just pick up and read aloud to me while I work or before we go to bed! It’s such an amazing thing to see your child grow into such a capable and extra-ordinary person….

I barley have time to find new books to read together! We get through them so fast now and seriously it’s one of my very favorite parts of our day! He is old enough now (at 6) to be into all the really great books! Recently, we’ve read Moby Dick (which I had never read before) Indian in the cupboard (so so much better than the movie, which we rented after reading the book together) The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane ( a wonderful book!). We usually read the adapted versions of all the kid movies coming out too, we just finished ‘Ratatouille’ which was cute and are excited to go see the movie when it comes out at the end of the month. Those are usually pretty fast reads though…. currently we are in the middle of a book my husband loved as a kid (well, I think he was in jr. high when he discovered it) called Hatchet. It’s sort of a kids version of that movie where tom hanks was stranded on an island but much much better! I highly recommend it (thought you may see fit to ‘edit’ a few parts as you read if your child is young!) I’ve really enjoyed it so far!

Anyway, now that summer is here and school is out, I need books! If anyone has any suggestions of chapter books modern or classics, that a boy (and his mom) would enjoy please do email me or comment here! I am debating Treasure island or Journey to the center of the earth (one I loved as a kid!) for our next adventure…but I need more suggestions! With school out, we should be able to get through one every week or so! We’ve pretty much read every ‘Magic tree house book’ and he’s a bit beyond that level now…so please help!!

One of the best things about living where we do is the fruit! While my very favorite fruit without a doubt are pomegranates’, I love all sorts of fresh fruit! I love to throw together fruit salads with whatever looks good, my favorite combo (when pomegranate’s are not in season) is as follows:

I chop/mix together kiwi, strawberries & blackberries then squeeze on some juice from an orange or 2! It’s so so good and cool and refreshing when it’s hot out, and the kiwi’s add such a nice little crunch! And though certainly not as good for me, I tend to drink a lot of my ’special cocktail’ when we have such nice weather ;P Though not pictured, we also like to add a few blackberries in the bottom of the glass before you start and that is yummy too! You can make your own very quickly and easily, see steps below!

Well, now I’m getting a little craving for a small bowl of the watermelon I bought and cut today, so I’m off, but before I go, one more treat for you! It’s not the best photo, but here is a peek at the super cute plates coming to the shop soon! This was the first proto-type and it came out really really lovely, what do you think!?