Following in last month’s footsteps, it is time for a peek into my July!

Right now in life, I am:

MAKING lots of things. Many work projects happening, website re-design included. Also logo and lettering projects. House projects and painting rooms too. We made this new tufted bench/coffee table this month from a base we found while shopping in the French Quarter when my friend Tonya was in town. (picture of us below)
COOKING homemade gluten-free Blackberry pie (with a few raspberries thrown in too) using my GF pie crust recipe here. The first fruit pie I think I’ve ever made, actually. 
DRINKING always water, and a root beer float on occasion.
READING Almost Amish: One Woman’s Quest for a Slower, Simpler, More Sustainable Life still. Also finishing The Nesting Place book (LOVE this) and I’ve started the second book in the Anne of Green Gables series.
WANTING to finish the new gallery wall in our living room and get everything hung. We painted the walls in there last week (only after 3 years of wanting to!).

LOOKING back on lots of pictures and memories and moments from this past month. 
PLAYING a whole lot of Castle episodes. I started watching Castle a couple years ago, about 4 seasons into the show, so I decided this summer it was finally time to go back and watch all the seasons I had missed and get ready for season 7 that starts this Fall! I’m so obsessed!
WASTING a lot of time watching 6 seasons of Castle, lol! But I’m enjoying it, so is time really wasted?
SEWING, well CROCHETING a baby blanket for a gift. 
WISHING for a more quiet and relaxing August after all the craziness of July. So much travel, vacation, friends, and family.

ENJOYING where I am. 
WAITING on the perfect fabric to make new curtains for our living room. (and the right pieces to finish up our gallery wall in there, and the time to build a new tv stand and to re-finish furniture… projects are always waiting!)
LIKING exploring so many new places this month and revisiting favorite ones.
WONDERING what I’ll paint next.
LOVING snacking on cherries. I love summertime!
HOPING to finish up several work projects soon! My plate is overflowing!

MARVELING at the beauty of the United States. Such a diverse landscape from coast to coast.
NEEDING to Let it Go.
SMELLING raspberry wine at Arrington Vineyards in Nashville (photo above), the salty sea air of the California Coast (photo above and below), and the sweet and delicious smell of homemade blackberry pie filling.
WEARING my usual. Patterned shorts, floral tops, colored pants, neutrals, summer scarves. Always wearing my gold watch.
FOLLOWING lots of artists. Like Teil Duncan and Emily Jeffords.
NOTICING lots of things from my travels. The colors, the people, the environments, the landscapes, the diversity of weather, to name a few.

KNOWING that you only get one life to be happy in.
THINKING about this. “I just want to make pretty things and get enough sleep.”
BOOKMARKING untranslatable words.
OPENING up my creative endeavors by trying out more hand lettering projects. See here and here.
GIGGLING at ???. I feel like this month I was a little too anxious to laugh enough. Put that on my to-do list for August. More giggling.
FEELING thankful for wonderful opportunities, for travel, and for grown-up sleepovers with childhood best friends. I needed those long, catch-up, best-friend chats. (Thanks for coming to New Orleans, Tonya!)