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Sweet Kelly Ann @ The Flowerchild Dwelling

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As you may already know, I’m in a current position where I am working at an advertising agency during the day, blogging and freelancing in the evenings, and trying to find time for everything else. Story of everyone’s life, right? I feel like all I do is work, but I LOVE BLOGGING and I LOVE DESIGN. I’m currently reassessing my priorities and striving to create a better work/life balance.

*Image is one of Kelly’s favorite Flickr images. Original image is by Anna Amphigorously.

I had a chance to sit down with Kelly Ann over at The Flowerchild Dwelling and pick her brain about how she balances this and that. (you’ve got to check out her Music Mondays!) Everyone is responsible for creating their own sense of balance and I found it interesting to see how another blogger with a similar audience does just that. Hope you find this interview useful. Enjoy!

The Veda House: How did you get into blogging and how has it changed since you first launched The Flowerchild Dwelling?
The Flowerchild Dwelling: I’ve had some sort of online journal since I was 14, but I created my blog in 2008 when I was a senior in college. I feel like a lot of bloggers say this, but I seriously had no clue what this blog would turn into… I’ll be honest, I kind of started it out of procrastination. I really wanted a place where I could post/write about all of the things that inspired me, whether it be film or photography – and a few friends suggested I start a blog to share my favourite music. I started calling it The Flowerchild Dwelling last year (Flowerchild is a nickname), and it just seems to fit. To watch the readership go from a few college friends to hundreds and hundreds of people from all over the world has been mind boggling… I’m incredibly humbled and grateful!

TVH: Congrats on the new job as a Freckled Nest Designer! I’m obviously jealous! How does your day play out on the days you work for Freckled Nest?
TFD: Thank you, dear! Honestly, everyday is different, as least for right now. I also work on photography projects part-time, and since I started working with Freckled Nest just recently, I’m still trying to find a schedule/routine that works for me in the most efficient, yet enjoyable, way. So far, I really love alternating between design work and photography everyday. it keeps things fun and the inspiration flowing consistently.

TVH: There seems to be a constant struggle to keep life balanced,(at least for me) how do you balance your day job, your hobbies, and anything else you deem important to your well-being?
TFD: I like having some sort of routine, but if I have a super strict schedule every single day, I get bored and burnt out. I think setting weekly goals is really great, and one should always invest in a day planner! I like to have a planner and a calendar on my computer, because I tend to forget things sometimes. I’m also a sucker for to-do lists… I make one every single day. (Sometimes I make two. In college, it became very apparent that I can be a HUGE workaholic. I was constantly on the go and I would double/triple book myself until I barely had enough time to eat and sleep. By the time I graduated, I was completely burnt out. And that’s so unhealthy! I’ve realized that I’m the type of person that MUST have down time/fun time set aside, or I will go crazy. Even if it’s just dinner with a friend, painting for a few hours, or catching up on my favourite television shows, I have to put the work away and just breathe for a while. It can be a challenge to create that “me-time”, but everyone should do it. It’s a process, and I’m not perfect at it, yet… but I’ve noticed how much happier I am when I’ve taken that time away from work. If you truly make it a priority, it will happen. I think having weekly goals helps tremendously. OH, and… learn. to. say. NO. That’s a big one!

TVH: Your Blog, The Flowerchild Dwelling is gorgeous! Do you have a design background and how do you decide what content you’re going to post?
TFD: I actually have a film production background! I took a basic photoshop class years ago, and I think that gave me a really good foundation to start with. Besides that, I’m self taught… aka I’m a huge nerd who loves to figures things out on my own.

As far as content, I really just post whatever inspires me. I have a list of musicians and playlists that I pull from for my Music Monday feature, and I spend a small amount of time every week researching music for future posts. I also have a “favourite things” folder on my computer that I add to throughout the week for my Tuesday feature. I also like to share my photography every so often, and I hope to do more of that in the future. I’ve been making it a habit to write down blog post ideas the second I think of them, which has been super helpful. There will be some content changes on The Flowerchld Dwelling in the near future, and I’m really excited about it! I have lots of ideas in the works, as well as a new blog design, and I’d like to get back to blogging almost everyday. That hasn’t been happening lately, and I miss it.

TVH: Lastly, What is your favorite thing about blogging? Are there any pros/cons?
TFD: For me, it’s the people. I love the friends I’ve made through this experience, I know so many of them will be friends of mine for life. I love that I’m able to connect with some really amazing individuals all over the world – I have dear friends in Seattle, Chicago, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany, and Australia – just to name a few. I think this entire community is something very, very special, and I’m beyond grateful to be a part of it.

Sometimes being a blogger can take up a lot of time and energy out your life. While I so enjoy the time I spend in the blogging world each day, it can get really tiring at times. You lose focus and the whole thing can become really uninspiring. There have been a few instances where blogging felt like a chore, and that’s when I realized I had to take a break. You must take breaks!

TVH: Any last words?
TFD: When feeling blue, frustrated or uninspired… put on a vinyl record and have a spontaneous party. Works like a charm.

I really appreciate the time Kelly Ann spent with me at The Veda House and I hope all of you were able to take a little snippet or two away from the chit chat. Hearing how experienced bloggers run their day to day operations is beyond valuable to a new blogger. Stop by her blog and send some “Get Better From The Flu” kind of vibes.

How do you balance life, day jobs, families, blog world, and everything else in between? I’m doing some serious soul searching and would love your help.

Post Update as of 2:40pm Tuesday
You must read this article. Quitting your day job? Is it right for you. (Thanks Etsy for this amazing little interview) GO TO INTERVIEW and the interview over at Mucho Bueno!

You and me, thrifting.

tunes

Sunday, the boy and I hit up the antique mall and thrift stores in the area. I saw a bunch of things I desperately wanted to take home, but my latest camera purchase has put a hold on buying things for the house. I brought the boy along for the ride and gave him my iPhone camera to shoot video of our little adventure. I think he took video of every creepy baby doll in those store, but I edited them out of the video below so you wouldn’t get nightmares from reading my blog. You’ll thank me later. After a bit of rummaging through old junk we stopped at a Steak & Shake for a milkshake and grub. It was a great day to end the weekend AND the sun was shinning!

*Video taken with 8mm Vintage Camera iPhone app.

* I thought long and hard about buying this little family or brass owls. They were only $12! I left without them, but if they are still there the next time I stop in, they’ll be mine.

* I also thought long and hard over this $20 hand-made blanket. I just loved the colors and it was soft like it had been loved for years.

*Was I stupid for walking away from this perfect camel color coat for $65??? I regret not buying this! Might have to go back.

*I’m dying for a green retro kitchen. These will be perfect one day. I’m sure I could find them again.

*I had to take this picture. Look how it matches The Veda House perfectly!

I hope all of you had a great weekend and have started your week off on the right foot! Here’s to a Happy Monday!

sunday stroll

veda news

One of my favorite things to do recently is walk around our beautiful neighborhood with the pup, snapping photos of the dream houses in the area. Our historic neighborhood has so much charm and character, that every time I go out I see something picture perfect that I didn’t see before. Here’s some snap shots from our stroll.

The boy and I are going thrifting today and I’m super excited. The last time I went was around Christmas, so I am dying to get my hands on a bunch of dusty goodies.

I know this is random, but this is one of my favorite songs of all time, so I thought I’d share.

How did you spend your Saturday?

me and lonny

ART & DESIGN

* I’d really love to sleep in this bed from Lonny Magazine. Love this room!

Wow…I just woke up from sleeping 14 hours straight. I came home from work last night and fell asleep at 7:00. Woke up at 9:30 today feeling only slightly caught up on sleep, but it’s a good start.

Today is going to be a catch up day over at my house. Life has been trying really hard to force us into a deep black hole, but we’re slowly coming back. I find it interesting how when life is turned slightly upside down, you go into survival mode and only the necessary things are addressed. Sorry laundry and dishes…you aren’t necessary apparently.

Although I have to put some major time into my current website design freelance project today, I do plan on catching up on a little bit of reading. I’ve fallen in love with Lonny Magazine and it addresses everything I love from fashion styling to home decor and DIY. The really cool thing about this magazine is that you can read the ENTIRE 199-page magazine in digital form on their site.

All you have to do is click on the image below, click on the magazine icon, and start reading from page 1!

Hope you have a lovely saturday and I can’t wait to catch up on my blog roll at the beginning of the week to see everyone’s weekends captured with little stories and photographs. I love you blog world!

Don’t forget to watch the 2nd episode “Mad Men Bohemian” of Secrets of a Stylist ( Emily Henderson ) tonight on HGTV!

friday finds & favorites

FRIDAY FINDS & FAVORITES

*above image* Check out picture 6. My (demon) cat Lucy is stabbing me in the thigh with her dagger nails.

THIS PAST WEEK: I must say that this week has been a major improvement compared to last week’s black hole. I’ve been working my tushy off with working at the agency and doing freelance in the evening/weekends, but it will pay off..pay off my new camera. I look forward to being able to breath a little this weekend and do a little thrifting and antique store perusing.

THESE LOVELY LADIES: Over the last couple weeks I’ve been doing a lot of blog “soul searching” and drawing lots of inspiration from the lovely ladies below. I love how everyone’s blog is totally unique and has something different to offer. I guess that is the golden ticket, right?

Stop by the blogs of these lovely ladies. I’m sure you’ll fall in love with them as much as I did. Enjoy!

Style by Emily Henderson – See all the behind the scene from Emily, winner of HGTV’s Design Star. Her new show Secrets From A Stylist is great and she pretty darn humorous too!

Love & Photographs – Follow the lives of Stacey and Chris with little photo shoots.

The Design Files – An Austrailian based design blog that gives readers interviews to read, shopping guides, and home tours.

Pugly Pixel – LOVE THIS BLOG. (the simplicity is amazing) Not to mention she has a ton of downloadable cutesy art that you can use on your blog, tutorials, and pug puppy!!.

Lulapalooza – Pretty much greatness, brought to you by Lula. She’s creative as all get out and extremely funny. Follow her on twitter and you’re bound to laugh.
” wazzz I just exfoliated the shiz outta my face, feel like I got sunburnt” -Lula

Somewhere Splendid – Eyecandy baby! Featured posts include: Splendid List of Things To Do, Living in Color, Real Party

Eileen Josephine – A cute and crafty mama sharing her life with us. Her daughter’s name is Vada, so there was an instant connection!

Hudson’s Happenings – Mom, Dad and handsome baby Hudson. Musings on love, everyday beauty, and life’s fleeting moments.

Sea Blanket – This girl is beyond amazing. Great sense of style, great humor, and her posts make you want to read more. (She’s from Portland!)

Little Chief Honeybee – If you love big BIG pink hair and a really cute blog…go here!

If you haven’t noticed I’ve done a little visual re-branding over here at The Veda House. I really adored my previous logo, but I was finding that usage was limited do to its script like nature. I NEVER use script font, so I stepped back into my comfort zone of san serif goodness. I also updated my sidebar to be simple and straight forward, with a little bit more color than the previous version. I hope you enjoy the new look and I’m always welcoming feedback to how I can make the site more user-friendly.

If you follow my blog regularly I’d love it if you click the little “Join This Site” button in the sidebar to follow this blog. Thanks dearies!

Have a great Friday!

for the nerdy graphic designer folks!

ART & DESIGN

If you’re as goo goo ga ga over typography as I am, you’ll probably be drooling over this post. haha (messy) I was able to borrow this great book from my Group Creative Director at the agency this week and I’ve been sifting through the lovely visuals every since.

Emigre No.70: The Look Back Issue celebrates 25 years of fabulous graphic design in a 512 page book. (That’s a quarter of a century of Emigre magazine!) Emigre Magazine was one of the most influential design publications ever and I constantly refer back to the simplicity when working on my freelance projects.

* Love the colors throughout this book. LOVE!

The book was designed by co-founder of Emigre, Rudy VanderLans. Here’s where it gets a bit more nerdy…He used most of the magazines ORIGINAL digital files to bring the book to life! It’s a visual timeline from early bitmap design days, to experimental “Legibility Wars” layouts, and ending with the critical design writing of the early 2000s.

This book is a must have that will only set you back $50. You’re getting more than a fabulous coffee table book because it comes with a poster, CD with music and videos published by Emigre and a 32 page booklet of letters from the editor. I’d say that’s a steal!
Buy the book here–>

My Story: (abbreviated)
I went to Purdue University in Indiana where I got my BA in Visual Communication Design, which is a fancy way of saying Graphic Design. The first year was spend doing the normal undergrad requirements. Second year was spent perfecting my work so I would be accepted into the program. Third year was spent soaking up all the knowledge I could, and the last year was spent putting together a portfolio that would hopefully get me a job. All was successful and I now live in St. Louis working at an advertising agency as a Digital Art Director. Even though my passion is in the traditional print medium, everything is digital these days, so why not expand my platform to reach more people! So that my graphic career in a nutshell. (that just made me think of Mr. Bean)

DIY-baking without a box

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Hard to believe that I’ve discovered the best brownies on this planet, but it’s 100% true. A few weeks ago we had an employee leave for another job and we had treats in the office to send her off the right way, the sweet way. This super duper baker dude at work brought in a pile of brownies that aren’t your standard box style brownies and I was blown away. ( He makes Martha Stewart and Paula Dean look stupid. ) Over the next couple days I spammed his email box with requests for the recipe and a couple days later, I had the golden ticket. Try this recipe for yourself and see that I’m not lying. He says the key is to get QUALTY chocolate!

What you’ll need:
1 C. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 oz. high-quality unsweetened chocolate
5 large eggs
3¼ C. sugar
1½ tsp. instant espresso
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 C. sifted all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
1 C. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400°. Generously butter a 9-by-13-inch pan and set aside.
2. Combine chocolate, butter and expresso powder in a heat-proof bowl and microwave on 70% power ,
stirring occasionally until the chocolate mixture has melted; set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat eggs and sugar at high speed, 5-10 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add melted chocolate mixture and the vanilla; beat until combined. Slowly add flour and salt; fold in just until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake until edges are dry but center is still soft, about 20 minutes for a dark metal pan and 30 minutes for a bright metal pan. Remove from oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Cut into 3-inch squares, and store, refrigerated, in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

**Notes from baker dude**
Brownies are only as good as the chocolate you use; the better the chocolate, the better the brownie. I use Hersey’s (weird, I know) or Callebaut. Try adding 1 C. toasted chopped walnuts when you fold in the chocolate chips and reduce the chips to ½ C. Whipping the eggs and sugar for 5-10 minutes is critical! it does two things; dissolves the sugar and incorporates air into the mixture. The eggs are the only leavening agent in this recipe. I dust the chocolate chips (and walnuts) with approximately 1-2 Tbsp. of flour before folding them into the batter. It keeps them from sinking to the bottom.

I’m going to be honest with you guys. The reason there are no images of the final product is because my stupid oven didn’t cook the brownies evenly, so the edges were perfect and the center was like it never went into the oven. If the brownies tasted as good as the batter, I think I would of successfully replicated baker dudes greatness!

Let me know how it goes. I’d love to hear your thoughts. I thought they were magic, but maybe I’m just chocolate crazy.

the not so obvious

veda news

Once a patient features a diagnosis that medical marijuana can provide benefit, subsequent step is to pick the variability of marijuana suited to supply the acceptable symptom relief. If one goes to grow his or her own marijuana, there’ll also got to be a consideration of whether the marijuana is being grown inside or outside. Online dispensaries like Weed Delivery Toronto offer a range of marijuana strains that can be delivered directly to your door, making it convenient for those who prefer not to grow their own.

Marijuana plants will differ with regards to size and growing habits, temperature preferences, and lightweight needs, or whether or not they had best indoors or outdoors. the foremost predominant marijuana that a lot of the top purple strains are bred from is Grand Daddy Purple. it’s calming, sedating, and works well for pain relief. it’s a sweet grape taste and aroma. It also has good effects on relieving spasticity, insomnia, and helping with improving appetite.

OG Kush is another popular variety that’s common in dispensaries, but there are also great options such as cannabis terpenes that you can find at terpenebeltfarms.com. It smells musky and earthy and sometimes has an odor of sage. It provides a mind-opening, thought-provoking sort of high which works well for anxiety, depression, and appetite stimulation. New research shows that it’s not just the cannabinoids in marijuana that contribute to a patient’s psychoactive experience. it’s also terpenes, which are the aroma molecules contained within the marijuana plant. These terpenes help define the way patients feel within the different varieties, so it’s important to understand how the varied strains smell which defines the eventual effects on the body and should help with varying disease symptoms.

Purple Kush maintains immediate pain-relieving effects. It provides deep psychoactive effects for anxiety, depression, stomach problems, and chronic pain along side insomnia. For some chronic pain relief options, you can visit Joint Pain Clinic in Hardy Oak called Hardy Oak QC Kinetix for help. The smell may be a tropical fruit and it contains numerous terpenes like myrcene and caryophyllene, so this can be a depression therapy and treatment.

Sour Diesel maintains combination qualities. It smells a touch like sour grapefruit and provides a “psychedelic” high. it’s recommended for social anxiety, MS , neuropathic pain, and problems with focusing. Interestingly, it assists with clarity while also providing an intensely psychoactive experience.

There is only a few pure Indica or Sativa marijuana on the market. Most are a spread of combination strains. With varying genetics and now that it’s known terpenes assist with the varied psychoactive effects, the eventual result should be specific strains that hone in on a patient’s debilitating condition with low side effects. The research is ongoing, although with marijuana being federally illegal it’s difficult to perform research appropriately like traditional FDA cleared medications.

cowboy boots & the veterinarian from hell

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*Porter James and the boy in the veterinarian parking lot. He was really excited!

I’ve been keeping this experience to myself because at first I thought it was stupid and I needed to just forget about it. As the weeks went on I found myself getting more and more irritated. I thought pet vets were like doctors and they are supposed to take care of you and make you (your pet) feel better. Our vet didn’t get that memo and decided it was her job to make the boy and I feel like the worst pet owners on the face of this earth.

Two weeks ago we took Porter to the vet to get his yearly exam and make sure the one year old pup was growing like he should. The vet found that he had an ear infection in both ears and because Porter showed no signs of discomfort we had no idea he had an infection. To the vet this means we are unobservant pet owners. Without actually saying it our vet was saying “How could you be so ignorant and not know something like this was going on. Shame on you!”

The story gets better. After she made us feel like horrible people she looked at his teeth and told us that his teeth were too dirty for 1 -year-old dog’s teeth and that we should be brushing his teeth EVERY DAY! Excuse me…Who does that?? I thought we were doing good at brushing his teeth every two weeks! She then went on to say that if we don’t spend the $400 to get his teeth professionally cleaned (under anesthetic mind you) that he was going to quickly acquire all kinds of dog problems. Thanks… Thanks a lot.

* Thank goodness I had cute shoes on to make up for the lame-o day.

Today was our 2 week re-checkup visit and we requested a new vet. She was LOVELY and told us that his teeth are fine an to wait until he is about 4-5 years old to do the whole professional cleaning sha-bang. Unfortunately the pup still has an ear infection that will go away with time. Poor thing! Overall, our puppy is healthy, happy and as spunky can be. I advise everyone to find a vet that you love, love, love! Our vet was completely out of line and put an extremely sour taste in our mouth, but the second vet was a winner! Thanks Vet Louis from St. Louis!

Have any of you experience poor veterinarian services? If so, any suggestions?

handwritting

veda news

Hi guys, I’ve been tagged by Brooke of Bright Wishes. It’s a little “chain game” where you answer the questions below on a piece of paper so everyone can see your hand writing. I thought this idea was kind of fun since we never get to see hand writing in the blog world. See if you’ve been tagged by me below!

Questions:
1. What’s your name / blogger name? 2. What’s your blogs URL? 3. Write, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”. 4. Favorite quote? 5. Your favorite band / singers? 6. Anything else you want to say? 7. Tag 3 bloggers to participate.

* if you like this photo effect, hope over to Sydney’s blog (The Daybook) and read the excellent tutorial.

Your turn!!

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