"Beauty is skin deep. A tattoo goes all the way to the bone" -Vince Hemingson

This isn't the super best picture of it because I was sitting at an odd angle, but for now it'll do. I finally got my tattoo done in October and I love it. It encompasses the literature geek in me. It's obviously an ampersand and a semicolon. It might just look like punctuation but to me it's a reminder to embrace myself and learn to accept that I am not perfect be honest with myself. The ampersand represents me, always going, trying to figure out what's next, loud, impulsive. The semicolon is a reminder to pause, breathe, enjoy now, think about it and try to reign in those knee jerk decisions. And surprisingly, it didn't really hurt. It felt like someone was painting on a sunburn.

"Go in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined." -Thoreau

I think of my grandmother sometimes, about how she's been in the same house for 50 years, almost, ivy crawling , weaving half a century into a blanket to keep each brick warm. How every single corner is literally a memory, of the five children she raised there with my grandfather, the gerbils that ate the curtains, the stairs where her cat would race up each night, only to come back down and take each step with my grandfather as he slowly made his way up to bed . Each squeak of a worn floorboard tells the story of a family, my family.

My own memories are scattered their too. Often I think of Sunday brunches, weeknight dinners, playdoh, backyard barbeques, sticky midwest summer afternoons spent with my cousins in the green turtle sandbox, basement floods, spotted dogs. Of the Christmas Eves I spent bent under the tree playing Santa, our large group fitting snugly on couches and sitting on the floor leaning against each other's knees, swimming in a glittered sea of wrapping paper.

Credit: Tumblr

I've lived on the west coast for the past 17 years and in San Diego going on 7 years now (!) but it still doesn't feel like home. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to pick up and move. The pulls the roots from the sandy soil and shake with freedom and fear. I want to wake up somewhere and just know I want to stay and stay long enough to find the ghost of a fond or familiar memory slipping up through the crack under the door or swimming in the dishwater.

I felt that way when I was in New York City. I thought about how fabulous it would be to hand Harper Central Park and snow and The Met to add to her home. I also thought about the backyard we wouldn't have, the noise, the cold and how it would even out, to live somewhere I was passionate about, that I could fall in love with every day. To be that example, for her. It's not that I'm unhappy with where I am, I'm unhappy with who I have become. I have always prided myself on being loud, passionate, intelligent, creative, and assertive but lately I find myself a timid kitten, the last one in the box, too scared to chase my own tail, none-the-less my dreams. At what point did I become so apologetic? Scared to want , try, to fail, to fall and maybe to succeed?

Credit: Tumblr

" There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents...and only one for birthday presents, you know." -Lewis Carroll

A couple of weeks ago Harper celebrated her half birthday. This semester my dear baby brother Spencer has been graced with two class free weekdays and so we decided to venture out into what's left of San Diego's wilderness on a sweet, sunny Wednesday. We ended up watching the airplanes land at the airport from Balboa park. Spencer sketched a tree, Harper napped, I pretended to draw something that was supposed to be a leaf.

Harper,
I can't believe we are already halfway to your birthday again. Time swiftly slides on and just as quickly you are engaging with the world around you more daily. Your tongue is starting to translate things from baby to kid, slowly but surely. I find it strange to hear real words slipped into your normal babble. Your new words are Sadie, shoes, eggs, bye, bird and most importantly Harper. My goal for this week is to get a video of you saying it because its so sweet. You love to help me water the flowers, have picnics in the park, push Woody in the swing, jump in puddles and marvel at the rain, play with glow sticks in the bathtub (although you've recently discovered taking showers, which you think is rain) and drink out of a real cup (you've got this down about 80% of the time). You are really enjoying the zoo and the monkeys and orangutangs are your favorites. When you see ducks you quack and when you see dogs you yell dog (which sounds more like gog, but we know what you mean) stick out your tongue and pant. You pretend to sleep and snore and love making blanket forts. You have become fast friends with your piggy bank, Euro, and love finding change to put in. You've started letting us read all the way through a book before you take over. You bring so much sweet baby love into our home. I can't imagine a place without you in it anymore.

And don't forget to enter to win a set of spring coasters from our most recent etsy artisan!

"You are the music while the music lasts." -T.S. Eliot

This is 2011 summed up in the best way possible, with someone else's words.

We Are Young by Fun.


Won't Turn Back by needtobreathe


All Good Things by The Weepies


Human by Charlene Kaye


You've Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman


Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles


Alright by Supergrass


Last Friday Night by Katy Perry (covered by the cast of Glee)


I Was Born a Unicorn by The Unicorns


The Girl by City and Colour


Sea Green, Sea Blue by Jaymay


Evening Kitchen by Band of Horses


Still Alright by Adam Merrin


Anchor by Mindy Gledhill


The Garden You Planted by Sea Wolf

"Wine is sunlight, held together by water." -Galileo

We are the Ikea poster children. When Le Hubs moved to San Diego, we raided the place and surprisingly the vast majority of it has survived 2 moves since then (minus one coffee table that Scout took out by running into one of the legs full steam). In fact I was recently quoted saying "Everything is from Ikea, in fact, it'd be easier to name everything NOT from Ikea.... I'm not from Ikea."

What's that have to do with Etsy? Well, while we love Ikea for their inexpensive furniture, the tables are notorious for being susceptible to water damage hence the need for coasters. Which is how I stumbled upon RED BIRD INK. And lucky for all of you, you can win a set of these daffodil coasters (pictured below) to protect your furniture, Ikea made or otherwise. Details are available at the bottom of the post. For those of you not lucky enough to be the big winner use the code ADJECTIVES at check out for a 15% discount (valid until Friday February 17))

1.What’s your story?
Hi, I’m Julia B Farill an artist/designer/mother living and working in Decatur, Georgia. I grew up in the woods outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. I love spending time with my family, cooking eating and traveling. I love rearranging the furniture in my house.... several times a year my husband comes home to a new layout. I also enjoy hunting for vintage treasure at thrift stores and yard sales. I had one fish, two cats, two rabbits, five birds all before I turned 12. As a kid I loved to catch and play with crayfish, salamanders, lizards, snakes and turtles.

2. When, how and why did you decide to make what you make?
I went to art school after high school, then made a little detour into landscape architecture, then back to art and design with Red Bird Ink. I decided to get into paper after I designed my wedding invitations. Our guests really liked them and I started getting requests to do more. I've always loved stationery, different types of paper and pens so I think it was a natural path to take.

3. What inspires you?
Plants, landscapes, contemporary and historic cultural curiosities and the natural sciences.

4. Other than Etsy, where else on the web can we find you?
I also have website www.redbiridnk.com, a supermarket shop redbirdink.supermarkethq.com a facebook www.facebook.com/redbirdink. You can also find me in a few boutiques across the country and abroad.

5: What is your creative process?
I get inspired to create all the time. Mostly by plants, podcasts and people. I’ve got tons of notebooks with sketches and ideas. So my process usually starts with a sketch, original photograph, or a few. Often I research whatever I’m inspired by... ferns, daffodils, knitting, quilts.... Wikipedia is amazing. I like to know as much as I can about what I’m working on. Next, I sketch some more and choose materials. Then I take those sketches, scan them in and create a vector image of my design. The next step is getting film made of the design. Then we create plates with a homebrew plate burner my husband built. Or sometimes we hand cut plates with a razor blade. Then we set up the press, cut our paper, mix our ink color or colors and register the design. When the pressure, ink and layout are all perfect we get printing! We repeat these steps for each color. Then we let the pieces dry and make our final cuts. If the design requires a die cut, perforation or creasing then each piece goes back through the press again. We love to experiment, so, when strange things happen we like to think about how we can use that effect in future designs. Then we package and send our little ones out in the world to be enjoyed!

6: If you had to pick something to come back as in your next life, what or who would it be?
Hummmm. Tough question. I've really enjoyed my life so far... so I'm not sure I'd want to be something or someone else for a whole lifetime, but I'd love to be a bird for a day. The idea of flying through the air, landing on a branch and watching whats below sounds really fun to me.

7: What profession would you like to try for a week?
I feel lucky to be doing my dream job right now! But I'd love try a few other things for a week just for fun... maybe a personal trainer, crane operator, scientist, elementary school teacher, or jazz singer.

8: What food could you eat every day?
I do drink coffee or tea every day! I could eat fruit all the time... particularly watermelon, pink lady apples, cantaloupe, pineapple and cherries. I also LOVE toast.

Wanna win a set of springy daffodil coasters? Here's how.
be and follower and comment here with your favorite book of all time along with your email address. The giveaway ends on Friday February 17th at 11:59 PST.
For extra entries you can...
1:Follow me on Twitter.
2:Follow DTA on Facebook.
3:Blog about the giveaway.
4: Tweet about the giveaway and link to the tweet.
Make sure to leave a separate comment for each extra entry.

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." -Confucius

credit: just so much fluff