Craftin' and gamin'

After sewing an insane-lady amount of clutches and doing a Spring update for my shop,
I've decided to sit back and enjoy life as the weather is getting warmer and Chicago-ens are becoming more cheerful!
I figured this is a well needed break until I get into insane-lady-sewing-mode again. Which, I'm assuming if I'm feeling this good next week, it will happen then.

I finished a painting for a parents the other week.
It's a copy of an original photo that I found at their house. I liked the sepia and unfocused look it had.
Plus, who doesn't love camping?


This past weekend, we went to a Sox game for Lauren's birthday. It was a blast. Best weather of the year so far and Sox won! I have a million pictures but most of them are of me, Jill, and Lauren... making it seem like we're obsessed with each other. haha! I promise we're not.
We just had a few beers and well, you know what happens after that.


AND OF COURSE,

I've been giving myself manicures left and right because warmer weather = cute nail polish in my life!
This lasted me, oh about... 5 hours. Ha.

simple valentines day

As you know, today is Valentines day. Even more exciting, today is Monday! Every Monday, James and I have off work together so we normally always do 'couple' things... but today was especially couple-ish.

First, we ventured to the Science and Industry Museum where we explored, pressed buttons, learned (a little), but mostly pressed buttons and enjoyed the hands on activities. We also saw a film about the Hubble space craft in Imax that blew both of our minds.


Then we went to get Chicago style hot dogs from a little joint in Hyde Park for a snack. It was delicious. After we filled ourselves a bit, we went thrifting. I found a canvas to re-paint and a bunch of dresses. I have to sew in 3 of them to fit me better, but that's the fun part!


We always go to this thrift store so we were pretty much in and out. Normally, we go straight to the knick knacks... and then we split up and go our own separate ways. That's when I find myself in the dresses isle for about 30 minutes looking at, literally, every single dress. After we rummaged around, we went to the grocery store to collect items to make pasta and some delicious sweet wine. Dinner was sooooooo good. I love cooking with James because we do it together so well.


Yesterday we stopped at this one thrift store on the north side. We found this amazing Japanese Minolta vintage camera. We loaded it with film today and tried to test it out, we found out it didn't work. Bummer. That said... all these photos were taken with my iPhone in Instagram or regular mode (then edited in picnik).

I hope everyone had a great day, Valentines day or not! It shouldn't put anyone in a damper because it's just another day. :)

Snowpocalypse!

It's a snow day today!
I don't know if everyone has heard about this crazy blizzard we were supposed to get hit with. Well, we've officially been hit by it. Besides for going outside to take these pictures, I've been cabin fevered in my apartment since 2pm yesterday. Well, that's a lie. I went outside at 5pm to drive James to the L-stop and it took about 45 minutes for me to drive 2 miles there and 2 miles back. FOUR MILES!!! 45 MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!! We stocked up on ramen, ice cream, milk, and eggs because everywhere on the news, they were telling us it's life or death and to NOT leave your home. This morning at about 9am, I was notified at that the salon I work at was closed for business today, including every other business in Chicago. I screamed with excitement because all I kept thinking about how I just wanted to face plant myself into the snow. I then fell asleep, until about 12:30pm and did not move from my bed until 3pm. Maybe a little too late? SNOW DAY!!!! We then ate breakfast, watched a few cheesey 90's movies, and started to get ready for our snow adventure.

That's all the exciting things I did today (besides apply that face mask). Here are the pictures we took!


Stay warm!

recent photos.

Click on photo to make it larger!

Recently I've been...

• We recently found our new favorite place, the Music Box theater. It's a movie theater that was showing The Illusionist (french animated film. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE. It's amazing and so, so inspiring). It had the most romantic decoration and I felt like a 5 year old in a candy store.
• My squirrels have a new home. A little wooden house that hangs on my knick knack wall!
• My handsome boyfriend was given a haircut. He then shaved down his beard. Have I mentioned how much I adore this man?
  
• I've been playing with clay and creating little creatures. The octopus (shown) has tragically broken in the middle of a pillow fight. No one said adults can't have pillow fights! Another can be made, it's okay.
• Cheeseburger has been becoming more and more of a lovable cat. She just needed some time to get used to the home but lately, she's been jumping at the sides of my bed, onto my pillows, off onto the floor again, proceeds to run onto the hardwood floor in the hallway (slipping everywhere), and running in my roommates bedroom. Odd cat, I tell ya.
• Our laundry machine has been out of order for the past few weeks so we went to the laundry mat, where I continued to have fun with my instagram (iPhone app).
• Our home has been set up cozy so we can hibernate from the snow blizzard of 2011. Living room and bedroom now have candles lit and dim lights. Mmmmm... cozy. The Chicago winds have blown the snow to completely encase my car, which I can see where it WAS from my living room window.

Just in case you missed it, Bird Trouble had a shop update this evening. It includes some of my most favorite items that I've created. I hope you enjoy it!

That is all for tonight! It's time for me to dig myself into a bunch of blankets, watch some cartoons, and possibly do some sketching. If you're in the Midwest like me, be safe the next couple of these crazy snow days! If you're in the sun, don't forget to think about us while we waddle like penguins in this snow.

Welcome 2011

Hello to all my readers! New and old, I'm sure most of you don't know much about me.
Well, let me re-introduce myself to you...

I'm Alexz! I'm on the left. The other brown girls (tee-hee) are my two good friends. You'll see them around here from time to time.

I live in beautiful and historical, Chicago, IL in the United States. Despite it's unbearable cold winters, it's an awesome city that is still growing like crazy.
I'm originally from the northwest suburbs but as I grew older, I craved moving around but ended up moving back here to my home city.

Not only do I run this blog, but I also run a business called Bird Trouble.
It consists of handmade items from yours truly.

Some other random things you should know:

• I go thrifting, a lot... thus, collecting a lot of random knick knacks.
• I am obsessed with squirrels.
  
  • I own a cat named Detective Bacon Cheeseburger.
  • I am, without a doubt, happily with a very creative, handsome, hilarious bearded man.
• I like to cook and I like to take pictures of my food.
• I love home design, redecorating, refinishing, and drooling over homes.
  
  • I love my city but I also constantly get nostalgia of traveling, or getting away.
  
  I hope you enjoy my blog!
  If you're an old reader, be sure to check out the new blog look.
  
  I figured since it's a new year, it should be a new look! You'll notice a lot of changes around here starting this week. For the friends I have linked on my blog, I might contact you for a different link image. I'm going to try to get the blog to look more fresh and organized.
  
  Other than that, I've made some new year resolutions for Bird Trouble (and myself, personally) that I will announce in a few days. For now, I'd love to hear your feedback on the new look!
  

Winter recap.

Christmas has passed but winter is still here.
I hope everyone is staying warm... unlike myself! Chicago is blistering cold but it's only going to get colder.
My Christmas was wonderful and spent with family and loving people. My best of friends gave me extremely generous gifts. It makes me so happy to have such close friends who know me so well! I hope everyone else is having a wonderful holiday season!

Here's a short recap in pictures.

Let's talk about...

Right now, I'm laying in bed with my space heater directly aiming at my face. I have my Mozilla opened on the right side of my screen and then I have 'Into the Wild' playing on the left side of my screen. If you haven't seen this movie, I highly suggest it. It'll make you think a lot. I always reminds me that materialistic items aren't the most important things. It also make me want to pick up and go.

I've been working a lot lately and have become a busy bee like everyone else this holiday season. It's been a countdown for me this year. Normally, I'm just excited for it to pass but it's different this year. Everyone has been in a holiday spirit around me and being home around my friends has made a difference too. My boyfriend, James (I apologize for not talking about my wonderful, inspiring, sweet boyfriend but yaaaaa' know, it's personal. Before I end the parenthesis, I will tell you...I can not describe him. He's not like anyone I've ever known.), loves Christmas and always whistles Christmas songs. I think it's just because I am truly happy. Maybe finally?

I'll let you in on a little eye candy and some descriptions about what else has been going on lately.

I'm not sure who follows my twitter but if you don't, you missed my "OMG WE JUST FOUND A 7FT PRE-LIT FAKE CHRISTMAS, FREE, IN IT'S BOX, AND IN AN ALLEY". Our something new Christmas tree's lights are all mostly working and I've added my finishing touches. It's remarkable on how it makes our apartment feel like home.


The seeds that I planted have flourished! They're growing so fast and delicious looking. My basil is now just starting to come out too. I'll have to transfer these to a bigger pot soon.


I've done some collaging with fancy striped tape and placed them into my pretty red frames.


We did a craft show the other week. I had plenty of eye catching features to pull in customers... and have them say "wow, look at that cute gnome!"... and of course to get them interested in my items. ;)


I filled some simple looms the other day. My goal is to enter them into the shop by this weekend. They'll range from $8-$15 as of right now.


And last, a new purse design! This is for a certain someone. I'm not going to mention who because it's a Christmas gift. Anyway, it's a simple tote bag with a multi-purpose pocket on the inside. The fabric is a match of two vintage fabrics and a vintage table lace sitter that was cut onto the front. Also comes with a key fob on the inside! I'm super excited about this design and can't wait to make some for the shop.

Next blog post: Recent thrift finds! I can not wait to show you guys. I've found some of my most favorite items as of yet!!

Sometimes we go...

Sometimes we go out for breakfast....

Sometimes we go record shopping...

Sometimes we walk around....


Sometimes we go to the circus...