31 December, 2010

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.


28 December, 2010

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.



24 December, 2010

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}





21 December, 2010

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.



16 December, 2010

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.

09 December, 2010

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.

07 December, 2010

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.