Boutique Branding

I rarely integrate work projects onto this platform, but as a designer, I hardly ever see the work I do in action. Once branding is completed and websites are set up, I usually don't hear from clients again. 

So, I was elated when one of my clients from Australia sent me pictures of her brand new finished boutique. She had her logo laser cut on a piece of round wood for her storefront sign and vinyl decals placed on her windows.

I could not stop talking about how much fun it was to see it all come to life!

Here is a glimpse into the branding process. I'm a huge fan of anything made out of pure wood, and incorporating simple, modern, hand-lettered fonts was the perfect way to contribute to the homemade ethos of the store.

I can't get over how darling this boutique is. Stitch Piece Loop is located in picturesque Noosa Heads and stocks jewelry, toys, fashion, accessories and housewares just to name a few.

Now I just need to take a trip to the land down under so I can visit the quaint boutique in person.

Spring Break in the Desert

We took a quick trip to the desert for Spring Break. It seemed kind of funny to be leaving a vacation destination to go to another vacation destination one state over. But it was nice to visit family and enjoy our typical Arizona activities. I especially appreciated the break from housework and homework and I desperately needed some undisturbed time to catch up on work.

We have our Arizona routine down; bike rides, daily pool dips, dinner on the patio, trips to various playgrounds and an afternoon at the Fairmont. 

Nash officially reached the 42" mark which meant he could go down the gigantic water slides.

He was just a tad excited about that.

Blake and Nash were little fish in my parents' backyard pool.

It took a lot of convincing to get them out of the water, but I loved the chats they had while drying out on the lawn chairs every evening. 

Crew napped during most of pool time but he loved eating outside.

No trip to the desert would be complete without visiting the world famous fountain. 

Crew was over the moon about the ducks as usual. We picnicked by the lake and he thought it was the funniest thing in the world when we fed the ducks some leftover bread.

We could barely pull him away to eat once he locked eyes with those ducks.

The splash pad happened to open for the season the day before we drove home, so we made sure to get our fill.

I wasn't sure what Crew would think of it because Nash did not love water spraying at him at this age. But Crew dove right in with pure joy.

Somehow Finn didn't end up in any pictures besides the ones with the beach ball, but he didn't skip a beat as his normal, smily self during his first trip to the desert. 

We never really stray from our typical activities at Grandma and Grandpa's house. There's no need to switch it up when we have a good routine down pat. And it wasn't too hard to leave, knowing that we were headed back to more nice weather, pools and the ocean. 

Celebrating Crew

Two year olds are fun to celebrate. I'm not sure if Crew really knew it was his birthday or not, so he didn't expect much. He was elated to find a birthday banner and a few blown up balloons when he woke up. He exclaimed, "Wow!" over and over while kicking around balloons.

He opened a few small presents and couldn't have been happier.

Especially because he has been on a train kick and his presents contained some building tracks.

He sat right down and got to work.

We spent a quiet morning at home while we waited for Blake to get out of school and then we geared up for the Happiest Place on Earth. Crew was ready to party with his shades and his pretzel.

The boys and I have been planning Crew's birthday for months. We wanted to have a Disney day that was completely centered around things that Crew would enjoy. Our first items of business were picking up his birthday pin and obtaining a bubble gun. I think we could have left right then and he would have been happy. He has had his eye on those bubble guns each time we've visited.

We headed to Toontown to walk through all of the character's houses. Crew wanted nothing to do with Goofy so Blake and Nash had to sub in. 

We went on all of the train rides that Disneyland has to offer and took a little boat ride through Storybook Land. Don't let that serious face fool you - Crew was exclaiming "Choo-choo!" nonstop.

We topped off the outing with some cake pops by the wishing well.

Crew was most interested in the ducks as usual.

He was not a fan of Blake swiping his bubble gun.

There's that possessive two year old face where everything is "mine."

It was so much fun having these brothers along. They were such good sports about making the day all about Crew. They talked to him in high pitched voices, making sure that he was noticing all of the magic.

But next time, they informed me that they want to go on the "fun" rides.

We went through two containers of bubbles and called it a day. We met up with Troy for dinner and everyone crashed on the way home after a day of no naps and pure fun.

Watch out world, Crew is two.