9.18.2012

a {pretty} 4 years!

Hi dears! Long time no see! I'm just popping in for a little announcement. Today is Pretty {much} Art's 4th Etsyversary! That's right, it has been 4 years since we started selling our pretty art on Etsy.

To celebrate {and to show our amazing fans and friends some love} we're offering 20% off in the Pretty {much} Art shop, now until the end of the month. Enter code 4YEARS upon checkout to score some prettiness. Click here to shop! And, as always. thank you all for your amazing support!

8.07.2012

a pretty picture {of Precious}

A co-worker of my dad's gave this poem to him last week after we lost our beloved Precious. I wanted to share it with you. Because, if any of you are going through a similar loss, I want you to know that I've chosen to believe this poem. I believe it with my whole heart.

The Rainbow Bridge
Inspired by a Norse legend.

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
When their time on earth is over and done.
For here, between this world and the next,
Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.
No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,
Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.
They romp through the grass, without even a care,
Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back.
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.
For just at that instant, their eyes have met;
Together again, both person and pet.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past,
The time of their parting is over at last.
The sadness they felt while they were apart,
Has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with a love that will last forever,
And then, side-by-side, the cross over... together.


8.02.2012

{goodbye} pretty Precious

Look at that, a day later and another blog post. No need to get too excited, however. This isn't a happy post...

In loving memory of our cat, Precious. We always joked about how annoying she was, but the truth is, she was dearly loved. I still can't believe she's gone. It hasn't hit me yet. No longer will she leave her "welcome home" present of poop in my brother's bedroom. No longer will she jump up on my lap completely ignoring the laptop there, or sneak her way onto my mom's computer chair – she just loved to distract us from our work. No longer will she meow wine at my dad for minutes on end until he breaks down and looks at her, giving her the invitation to cuddle. See what I mean by annoying? But she was also a sweetheart. She chose us as her family, and I think she knew that she'd forever be a part of that family. RIP, baby girl.

8.01.2012

A July wrap-up {in pretty pictures}.

Goodbye July. I was this close to writing June there. Seriously, where did July go?! I guess that's what happens when you spend every spare minute of the month working. I've been tackling a lot of freelance design work lately. But I did get a chance to cross a few things off of my summer to-do list. Check it:
Sit Stand on a dock on a lake.
✓ Drink a Bud Light Lime.
✓ Wear the maxi dress I bought weeks ago.
✓ Go to an outdoor movie.
✓ Go to an outdoor art fair.
✓ Eat more popsicles snow cones.


Alright, so I didn't get that much accomplished. But I'm giving myself until the end of September to finish this list. So we'll see... Some other things I did this month included:
Celebrating the birthday of the two most youthful 99 year old twin sisters I know.

Getting to see my beautiful cousin Katelyn. 

My dad picked up this camera at Goodwill for $3.15. No joke. I plan on trying it out tonight - provided I get some design work done first. When did I turn into such a workaholic?

Speaking of becoming a workaholic, I swear to you all that I wish I could blog more. I'm just not one to want to wear myself out. When I can, I like having some downtime. Not that I'm making excuses. I just wanted you to know that these little monthly wrap-ups may or may not {I'll try for not} be the most you see of me in the future. See you in September.


{images via : my instragram}

7.11.2012

pretty wishin' {summer to-do edition}

I know, it's already July! But I always feel that, in order to truly enjoy summer it needs to be packed full of things to do. No weekend wasted. There are so many things that, when you live in snowy Wisconsin, you can't do just any time of the year. That said, here are the summery things I've done this summer:

Gone fishin'.
Gone boatin'.
Swam in the lake.
Swam in a pool.
Ventured a bit into a forest.
Sat on a dock. – Although it was just on a pond in my aunt and uncle's backyard... that doesn't quite seem to count, does it?
Paddle boated.
Had a cookout with the family.
Read a book outside.
Took pictures of fields and flowers.
Got a sunburn.
Went to a parade.
Went to a baseball game. – My brother's.
Sat around a few campfires.
Ate s'mores.
Ate a popsicle.
Got ice cream at the new ice cream shop in town. – More times than I'd care to admit.
Discovered a new {rather seedy} little bar. Where I:
    Had my first shot of whiskey, and
    Learned how to play the stomp fiddle. – No joke.
Got caught in the rain. – And my mom and I sang Harden My Heart as we walked {rather quickly} home. We had just seen Rock of Ages in theaters. We amuse ourselves.

Now, for the wishin' portion of this post. Here are the things I still need to do this summer:

✓ Sit on a dock on a lake.
Fish off said dock.
✓ Go to an outdoor concert. – I will be doing this come time for the fair. But I envy the people who seem to go to outdoor concerts and music festivals all summer long.
✓ Eat fair food. (Corn dogs, cheese curds, mini-donuts, ice cream, and much more – check!)
✓ Drink a Bud Light Lime.
Go to a Brewers baseball game.
Discover a new used book store. – And by "new" I mean one I've never been to before. In case that was confusing.
Visit a large museum.
✓ Wear the maxi dress I bought weeks ago.
✓ Go to an outdoor movie. – Luckily this should be getting crossed off the list in a few days!
✓ Go to an outdoor art fair. – Luckily this should be getting crossed off the list this weekend!
✓ Take more walks.
Go on more bike rides.
Eat more popsicles.
Stay at an RV resort. – A summer tradition we always save until the end of summer.
Write a postcard.
Finish my summer reading list.
Go to a bonfire on a beach. – This one will not happen for me. I do not live anywhere near the beach. However, when I think of summer I picture a group of teenagers having a bonfire on the beach, like in the movies or on Laguna Beach. I think it needs to be added to my bucket list.

That should keep me busy until the end of the summer, but if you can think of anything I should add, let me know!

{images via : my instagram & my mom's instragram}

7.10.2012

pretty reposted {7/11/11}

Hi friends. Earlier, I was going through some old blog posts. This one was written one year ago tomorrow. It's a little crazy how clearly I remember this moment. How relaxed and at peace I was. It's a good thing to remember... to be truly grateful. 

{a pretty} sunday rainy sunday

Life's little loves...
It is early. Far too early, in fact, to be awake on this Sunday morning. Some part of me woke up this morning thinking that I should get up and enjoy today, the full day, no matter how tired that may make me. I awoke, however, to find it raining. And dark. And a perfect day for sleeping in. Yet, as I sit here, coffee in hand, the distinct sound of rain smacking the earth, I'm truly grateful to be awake in this place. Everyone else is still asleep and the house is entirely still. The rumbles of thunder are low and soft, like even the rumble is afraid of waking the world. I know soon that the sounds of my waking family will fill the house. That tomorrow I will go back to work and chaos, and life will resume. But for now, I am simply enjoying the calm during the storm.

{via : we heart it}

7.06.2012

a {pretty} weekly wrap-up

What? What is this? Yes, friends. It's a weekly wrap-up. I'm as shocked as you are.

Pretty neat things I discovered this week:

A cute and crafty votive DIY. – I'm thinking about making one of these to store my makeup brushes in. Although that thought makes me think, "I couldn't possibly be that crafty... could I?" And for some reason I think "could I?" in a sly Dennis the Menace or Kevin McCallister like kid voice.

This bedroom. – I love it. {via : Lovely Clusters}

This is a hopscotch rug. – And I want it. For exercise.

Katie's baby shower invitations. – Just beautiful.

Pumpkin muffins. – Two ingredients, cake mix and pumpkin. Hey, I could handle that! My mom has had "pumpkin" in the Scentsy burner at our house for the last few days. How cruel. What I wouldn't give to be curled up with a blanket watching Practical Magic right about now. A chilly autumn day with the scent of pumpkin in the air. Eating one or five of these...

Best of the 1990s Problems. – Oh how I remember the problems of the 90s! My personal favorite, "Someone's on the phone, I can't use the internet." Yup.

21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity. – Grab a box of tissues and remind yourself that sometimes people can be just awesome.

I wanted to share with you another Sara Bareilles song this week. I'm picturing this song playing during the end of a Vampire Diaries episode next season. You know, right after someone dies and two of the characters are consoling each other by making out? I miss that show.
Bright Lights And Cityscapes by Sara Bareilles on Grooveshark

7.05.2012

A June wrap-up {in pretty pictures}.

So, you know how I feel about how my June went. June didn't turn out to be what I was expecting. But, I wanted to share with you some instagram pictures from the month anyway. After all, it wasn't all bad!

June started out with a parade on a beautiful day and a cold lemonade.

I voted... for the other guy. And that's all I'm going to say about it.

My friend made me this bracelet and mailed it to me. Just because she was bored. So sweet! {Tutorial found here.}

The flowers in my parents' garden began blooming.

Lastly, this is the little cutie that I called mine... for about five days. It's amazing how much I miss her.

The truth is, July is never a great month for me. It's too hot {as I'm sure you're all aware of right now.} Summer starts to get monotonous. My co-workers all take their vacations in July, making it a rather stressful month for me. Still, June wasn't what I expected so maybe July won't be either ;) I had a great 4th of July out on the lake yesterday. Surely that's a sign of good things to come.

{images via : my instagram}

7.03.2012

{pretty} confessing

Confession time...

In the last two weeks I've watched the movies, Stay, Drive – which may be one of my new favorite movies, and Crazy Stupid Love. I'm developing a rather significant crush on Ryan Gosling. Move over Jake Gyllenhaal??

I had to wikipedia Stay after I watched it because I didn't understand the ending. It then seemed obvious. I then felt stupid.

I'm still not over the fact that my stray kitty, that I knew all of 5 days, left me {story probably to come}. Thinking about her still makes me irrationally sad, and sort of angry that she was in my life for such a short period of time.

As cheesy as it sounds, I now appreciate my own cats more, knowing that this could be the last summer I have with them.

Once this summer is over I know I'll be kicking myself for not getting out and doing more. Yet, staying at home with my laptop {a.k.a. Ryan Gosling on tumblr} and air conditioning is all I can seem to bring myself to do.

July is one of my least favorite months.

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday and I didn't get her anything. Except to say, happy birthday, mom! I love you!

Yesterday I had to tell one of my co-workers, who hadn't heard, that I'm not moving and am, in fact, staying at my job. It made me feel a little bitter.

We have the day off work tomorrow for the 4th. I wish that wasn't what's making me feel so insanely happy. One day off work in the middle of the week. What a tease!

I really liked the movie version of Rock of Ages.

The fact that I have no girlfriends to see Magic Mike with makes me realize just how many friends I feel like I've lost in the last few years {not that I ever had a ton}. I'm suddenly feeling extremely lonely... even friendless.

I'm trying desperately to think of something that could make this post more light-hearted and witty. My blog has been nothing but a downer lately. I swear my life isn't this sad! Yet... I'm having a hard time.

As you've probably noticed, blogging is changing for me. I'm finding it difficult to post posts of random pretty pictures and things that really don't relate to my life. I realize that posts about my seemingly bummer of a life may lose me some followers, but they're all I have the energy for right now. I hope that changes soon.

{image via : Poli Sci Ryan Gosling}
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