happy new year

happy happy new year 

sweet friends!!

this year has been a year full

of love, tears, joy,

dreams, creativity & 

some disappointment. 

and i love celebrating and welcoming

in the new.

i love what new means:

 having been made or come into being

a short time ago; changed for the better; 

rejuvenated; not previously experienced or encountered

i am so excited to invite the new

into my life. even if it isn't perfect.

and i cannot wait to apply the things i 

learned and ways i grew in 2010 

throughout this upcoming new year.

but i thought reflecting on

2010 would be an important step 

in entering the new year.

and

it was so good reminding

myself of my beautiful life.

even with the pains & disappointments.

so here is a list i made

reflecting on 

my 2010

• purchased our first pet & addition to the taylor family, rudy {our pet chinchilla}
• began disregard{en}, despite fears and the unknown
• started working on pieces for disregard{en}
• blogged consistently.  most of the time.
• started working at anthropologie to potentially move toward 'prop styling'
• realized anthropologie was not going to get me where i wanted to go
• wrestled with figuring out what what & where i want to go
• found peace in the midst of that wrestling. sometimes.
• invested in some really sweet relationships
• was on a pilot for a reality show
• sold my first seven furniture pieces for disregard{en}
• started dreaming up selling pieces at the flea market with our sweet friends, the johnsons, in 2011
• found some good music
• drank some good wine
• forgave
• watched madmen, lost and friday night lights
• celebrated our first anniversary as a married couple
• reflected on our first year, set new goals, made healthy steps toward discipline within our marriage and individual lives
• befriend our neighbors
• acquired some great free furniture finds
• laughed
• was creative {sewed, glued, sanded, cut, sawed, painted, sealed and dug}
• sewed a lot of curtains and pillowcases
• re-decorated our living room. three times.
• re-decorated our guest room
• drank a lot of margaritas
• trusted
• made some delicious meals and ate them with dear friends and family
• took walks down the path near our house
• cried
• made some really great connections for disregard{en}, now i just need to follow through with them
• went to mexico, ate really good lobster, almost adopted a stray cat we named 'shakespeare'
• successfully welcomed and enjoyed a few house guests
• read 'east of eden' together
• ate a lot of mexican food
• defeated our poor drainage in the backyard. for now.
• planted vegetables and herbs in our garden
• redeemed our backyard and patio
• got my first dutch oven
• grilled on our new barbeque
• successfully deported, without killing, two squirrels {both lived in the roof of our bedroom. one even got in. twice}
• traveled to san francisco and ate our way through the city with good friends
• enjoyed time with family in newport during the summer
• drank homemade cappuccinos almost every morning
• painted the kitchen and re-tiled with free tile found on craigslist free
• drank some good beer
• survived my first holiday season working retail
• received, printed and framed our wedding photos
• celebrated marriages, birthdays, babies {not ours} and anniversaries
• baked the best buttermilk biscuits with honey butter
• spent wonderful time with our families, including a trip to kansas city & arkansas
• grew in communicating, trusting and Loving with mr. amazing

i cannot wait to incorporate

some of the experiences on this list

with some new ones.

i hope you enjoy your 

new year's eve

friends.

i cannot wait to share the beauty

of life with you in 2011.

stay tuned for some new year's

resolutions. a few personal and 

a few for 

disregard{en}.

                .jessnicole.

poor man's gard[en]

this is the last poor 

man's gard{en} of

2010. 

and i cannot believe it.

jonathan and i just got back from

a sweet post-christmas christmas

with my mom's side of the family.

here are a few photos of our gorgeous

trip up to the sierra mountains.

the view on our way up...

and the views on our way home today.

i also promised i would share

some photos of our homemade

gifts we gave this year

to our family

and some close friends...

homemade gifts.

and homemade cards.

our homemade limoncello

by mr. amazing.

it fermented through the entire

month of december. 

in the taylor kitchen.

and our homemade soy burgamot

candles, paired 

with french vanilla & peppermint

loose leaf tea.

and of course i had to decorate

the jars. i couldn't help myself.

and jonathan made these

tags describing each part 

of the gift.

so there you go. 

the gifts were honestly super

easy to make. i think i am going

to take on candle making as a new hobby.

seriously.

any fragrance requests?

haha

i might have a post featuring a 

'how to' in candle making.

sound good?

hope you are enjoying your week

after christmas. 

and preparing for 2011.

it's going to be a good year.

i just know it.

                 .jessnicole.

merry christmas eve

merry christmas eve 

sweet friends!!

we already opened 

a few gifts. couldn't wait.

thought i would share...

paper doilies. free.

my husband knows me so well.

&

get ready for some fun posts

about jamming, pickle-ing & curing.

yes.

oh, 

and i am so proud of us this year.

we made all of our gifts.

i took photos. 

stay tuned for a post-christmas

christmas gift post. wow.

great wording.

merry christmas 

to you all.

i hope you enjoy the wonderful

holiday with people you love.

and are reminded of 

an amazing story 

of hope & the promise of

beautiful redemption.

              .jessnicole.

                  {and, mr. amazing}

poor man's gard[en]

the lovely rain

has made it nearly impossible

to enjoy our garden.

except for picking some fresh 

{& very wet}

herbs to cook with...

but i love the rain. 

and, am going to enjoy 

working on things inside our home

while the pouring continues.

here is one photo and a

 quick glimpse

into our newly decorated guest-room

& what it is beginning to look like...

i told you. a quick glimpse.

there is a theme and feel

we are going for. can you tell?

once the holidays are over 

we will find time to finish this

room up and show you! and i cannot wait!

on another note,

i cannot believe it is almost christmas.

this year went by quickly!

this week's blogs might be a little

sparse as i am working crazy

holiday hours and finishing up

christmas gifts. 

but i am very much

looking forward to sharing creativity

with you after the holidays.

i hope you are enjoying your 

lovely december tuesday.

stay warm & dry! 

{wherever you are} 

                            .jessnicole.

two in one...

because i did not

have time to post on tuesday

for 'poor man's gard{en}'

i thought i would include them in 

my post today...

so here is this week's

poor man's gard{en}: christmas decor

stage two 

{and final stage. i think...}

our mantle.

our christmas books.

out to read.

{and my trees. finally finished. 

the ones that took forever.}

i love christmas.

and i love decorating for christmas.

and i love cooking for christmas.

and making gifts.

it's perfect. 

i hope you are all enjoying preparing

for the wonderful holidays.

and here is today's

'lost & found'

the lovely & simple,

mabel

when she was lost

and now that she is found

a really simple clean up. 

she just needed some sanding

and staining.

thank you again cindee for 

the lovely piece.

mabel is going to fit so nicely 

in our bedroom. 

and this is the other side

table i worked on.

she is going to be 

another perfect addition

to our bedroom.

a lost photo

and a found photo

another simple fix.

thank you debbi & phil

for the wonderful addition.

we love it.

i'll try and post some photos

once the two new pieces 

are in their new home.

next to our bed.

have a lovely evening.

see you tomorrow friends.

                   .jessnicole.

lost & found

today's lost & found

features

an old wooden frame and shelf.

once the two were lost

now, found

some fun new additions into the

disregard{en} family. 

you can purchase these and 

my other items, 

here. 

have a wonderful thursday dear friends.

                    .jessnicole.

poor man's gard[en]

well, if you ever read

my blog, even the 'every-once-in-a-while' read, 

you have probably noticed my extreme

lack of blogging.

it has been a crazy month.

actually, make that a crazy few months.

now that i'm working a 'real' job 

it has made it really difficult to actually

find time for the things i enjoy doing...

but no excuses. i am going to be much more disciplined.

even if i am working a full forty hour 

work week this week. eek! {i rhymed}

although, i might ask for some grace every now and then.

and, there are going to be some exciting changes

with disregard{en} within the next few weeks

 so stay tuned!

but to recap you on the last few weeks, 

i enjoyed the most delicious thanksgiving meal

with beautiful family 

{all with williams-sonoma or family recipes}, worked mucho, 

got sick, watched & became addicted 

to 'friday night lights', 

worked on some fun pieces for friends, 

cooked, baked, got a little 

discouraged & overwhelmed with life

{you know. a few of those days. but i 

have a better perspective now}, and got our christmas tree!

so not that this recap 

makes up for the lost time, 

but i hope it helps a little...

and, i know this will help.

our first stage to decorating for christmas.

i plan on finishing 

{with the help of mr. amazing, of course}

this upcoming weekend.

here are some photos to show you 

what we have been doing

in the poor man's gard{en}: indoors.

our tree!!!

it smells gloriously amazing.

{yes, mr. amazing has already

purchased & wrapped some gifts. he 

continues to live up to his name}

and, my advent calendar!

{i made this with my dear

friend julie. ours are perfectly unique

with a hint of the same materials. you 

should see hers. 

it is gorgeously detailed...}

our manger scene. 

all you need

is jesus and a sheep.

and, a few things completed during stage one

free wood cuttings

{i got them when we got our tree. 

they are perfect. i cannot 

wait to decorate with all of them}

and, last but not least

{better not be since it

is taking forever}

my styrofoam christmas

trees. still in process, of course.

i love christmas. 

i work a ridiculous amount of hours this week,

but i am hoping to have a 

'lost & found' and a 'free{day}'

this week.  

see you then sweet friends!

                     .jessnicole.