IT'S FRIDAY

1.  A very nostalgic place that reminds me of being a kid is     the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk. Wonderland, skee ball, putt-putt, salt water taffy, Rita's Water Ice, Kohr Brother's ice cream, riding bikes, hermit crabs, and (although not on the boardwalk) Ward's Pastries; such sweet memories of family summer vacations as a kid.     .

2.  If someone really wants to show me how much they love me      they would do something simple but sweet and thoughtful; or make me veg chocolate chip cookie dough. Both would work  .

3.  Lately I've been wondering a lot about      the future of our country. Scares me  .

4.  When it comes to saving money I am       not too bad; I like to travel and shop, but i'm pretty thrifty and try to make a point to save when and where I can   .

5.  I'd prefer     a skirt and cute heels    over    pants and flats    any day!

6.  I wish I knew how to make       cool photographs; I'm so envious of artsy photographers, what an awesome profession  .

7.  I'm just waiting for      the perfect house to fall in my lap. Probably not going to happen that easy, but a girl can dream, can't she?      .

MOM: SURPRISE!

You're iPad case is waiting for you when you get home.

I've become quite the sewing machine (hah, no pun intended) in my 'in-between-jobs-then-houses-so-i'm-squatting-with-mom-and-dad' days. It's quite neat actually.


My siblings and I all have a quilt that my mom handmade for each of us as babies. Who knows with four kids when she had the time to do this (and be done by the time each of us turned one years old), but she's super mom so I don't ask questions. 


A few months ago when the mom and I were talking about our baby quilts and brainstorming about possible quilts for my niece and nephew, I realized that this is something, a tradition I guess, that I one day want to pass on to my kids, but with absolutely no idea how to use a sewing machine I don't think I'd get too far or my kids would be graduating college by the time I finish hand-sewing the whole thing.


So the mom sat down with me to teach me the lay of the land, everything she knew, and we started my first 'practice' quilt. And so began my love for the sewing machine. It's super easy to use and being able to make your own things rather than buy saves so much money! I've cranked out a couple iPad cases and an iPod pocket (all made from discounted scrap pieces at the fabric store).

Want one? Email me, kara.denholm(at)gmail(dot)com. I'm taking orders! Any excuse to keep sewing :) I can't guarantee that it'll be the exact fabric you want because I get to pick it, but I can guarantee that it'll be cute...(and free!)

I'VE HAD MY EYE ON IT

For so long now I've been drooling over a Nikon Digital SLR camera. So expensive, but so amazing. I went from [wanting] the D80 to [wanting] the D90 over the past couple years, to April of this year when I decided I was finally going to break down and treat myself. But I still couldn't bring myself to actually purchasing the darn thing! I think I was afraid of buyers remorse, or afraid that I had to be some super duper photographer to warrant spending the money on it.


But that is not true, and if I'm still in love with the camera after two years, then it's totally worth it. So Saturday night I became the proud new owner of the Nikon D5000.

I'm sooo excited; it's amazing and I don't even know how to barely use it yet! I'm excited to find a beginners photo class and even more excited to start 'Photo Hikes' with my sweet friend Jaime.

TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL