Category Archives: personal

Jan 27 2014
7 Comments
personal

on turning 30

turning-30I know I have been gone a while–a very long while. I wish I had a good reason for staying away from this space, but the best I can do is to admit that I needed the time away as I was going through a “thing”. I know I’m being vague but that’s only because even I can’t even begin to explain to you-let alone myself-what it was that was wrong with me, except I felt down all the time and for no good reason whatsoever. I’ve attributed part of this strange slump to turning 30, right before my birthday I started panicking and by panicking I mean, getting really drunk with a friend one night and crying into my beer about how terrified I was about my upcoming birthday and how I hated the thought of leaving my 20s behind. How pathetic is that? I was THAT PATRON, crying IN. A. BAR. Not my best moment. Luckily after that, I started getting my act together and realizing that I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself, pick myself back up and look at the wonderful life I had and start appreciating what I had and what I had accomplished. Essentially, I needed to grow up.

So, I humbly come back to this place with a new perspective and hopefully some maturity. Oh, and guess what? I turned 30 and it wasn’t even half as scary as I expected, in fact, I think I’m gonna really enjoy my 30s.

May 29 2013
4 Comments
personal, travel, vacation

new orleans

new-orleans

Last week, I took a much too short trip to New Orleans to meet up with two of my favorite ladies in the world. Long story short, we met in college when the three of us were part of a collegiate club, went to New Orleans back then to participate in a conference and had such a great time that we swore we’d return someday and after some drunken text messages one night, the plan was set in motion, we were going back.

A couple of days of poolside naps, good food, yummy drinks and sharing hilarious match.com stories went by way too fast but it was exactly what I needed. I cannot wait to go back and to hang with my gals again sometime in the near future.

May 22 2013
2 Comments
instax, personal, photography

instax / 1

instax-garden

I finally got my hands on an Instax camera and was super excited to take it with me on a walk to the train because I’ve been dying to take some pictures of this lovely garden, a mere block from my house.

Apr 09 2013
3 Comments
personal, photography, shopping

steven alan spectacles

steven-alan-eyewear

glasses by Steven Alan

I think we can all agree that Mondays can be rough, right? Yesterday, I woke up early to be productive but due to bad weather and a poor transportation decision actually ended up being late to work, couple that with some godaddy server issues, and a killer migraine, this particular Monday was shaping up to be pretty shitty. That is, until I opened an e-mail stating that one of my favorite brands, Steven Alan, now carries eyewear, yipee! I know it’s silly, but I am in the market for some new spectacles and am so pleased that I’ve got even more options, good options to boot.

Sometimes all it takes for a crappy day to get better is the possibility of a future shopping opportunity.

Apr 08 2013
4 Comments
fun, personal

practicin’

practicin

I hit a bit of a road block as far as work this weekend, I attended a work-related seminar on Saturday which took up most of the day, Sunday was spent getting trying to catch up on things I missed Saturday and fighting a pesky cold. So, I decided to walk away from work and practice what I learned at my Dabble calligraphy class. I did some cheating though and used some charcoal instead of a calligraphy pen.

That is how productive I was this weekend, how about you?

Apr 03 2013
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personal, personal series, photography, spring

a spring study part two

a-spring-study-3

photography by the one and only Anni Compton
florals by Elizabeth of Asrai Garden
styling by Dennise Saxton and Anni Compton

a-spring-study-4

I’d like to take my profession of love for winter back because this spring project has got me real excited about nice weather, pretty dresses, flowers and sunshine, lots of it. Winter, I love you but I think you and I should take a break… it’s not you, it’s me.

Apr 02 2013
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personal, personal series, photography, spring

a spring study

a-spring-study-1

photography by the one and only Anni Compton
florals by Elizabeth of Asrai Garden
styling by Dennise Saxton and Anni Compton

a-spring-study-2

So, I’ve dusted the cobwebs off this blog of mine and I bring you a fun little Spring shoot Anni and I worked on last week. We knew we wanted to work with florals again since we had so much fun the last time around. When brainstorming of what to pair with florals, I realized how fun it is to start digging through your closet at the start of a new season. Florals and pretty clothes, what a pair! A huge thanks to Elizabeth Cronin of Asrai Garden for providing the beautiful flowers, if you live in Chicago or are ever in the area, you have to stop by Asrai Garden, it’s the loveliest little floral shop on earth, I’m sure of it.

Stay tuned, I’ll be sharing a few more shots tomorrow…

Mar 08 2013
3 Comments
dabble, fashion, personal, sewing

wardrobe revamp

dabble-wardrobe-revamp

Yesterday a small group of women gathered at this lovely place looking for some tips on hand sewing and mending clothes. This Dabble course, taught by the super sweet and talented Kandy Christensen was very laid-back and super helpful, after Kandy taught us how to properly sew on a button, it was like a light bulb went off, we all shared that wonderful a-ha moment. The combination of sewing, drinking and eating was surprisingly a great combination as well, as you can see from the photos, we had some good grub to nosh on whilst learning.

I look forward to taking some further lessons from Kandy and finally put to use that awesome sewing machine my husband bought me for Christmas. Up first, this pattern that I’ve been dying to make, hopefully in time for summer.

Feb 27 2013
3 Comments
personal, winter

snowed in

snow-day

Chicago got a whole lot of snow yesterday, it was great, especially since I got to enjoy it from the comfort of my home, as you can see from the photos above, I didn’t even make it past the front porch. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of work to catch up on so I was very productive, it just so happened none of it led me past the front door. I’ve already been hearing rumblings of “I can’t wait for spring” and “I’m so done with winter”, but me, I’m perfectly content with this weather.

Feb 25 2013
8 Comments
dabble, knitting, personal, photography

yarn lady, here

dabble-dennise

As promised, I am sharing with you the awesome photos I walked away with after the Dabble product photography class, aren’t they great?! We were told in advance to bring a few items to photograph and knew I just had to bring my newly-finished speckled hat. If you haven’t seen it yet, Hannah, the lovely lady behind Hetterson designed this gorgeous hat pattern for Frolic, and it was honestly the most fun I’ve had knitting. My husband says it’s his favorite thing I’ve knit and I’d have to agree with him. Thanks so much for sharing this gem Chelsea and Hannah!

I also brought my WIP to photograph, this is the start of my first set of mittens, wish me luck!

dabble-dennise-2

I gotta say, it’s gonna be hard to photograph my knitting projects at home now, I may have to enlist Erika and her studio’s help for all my knits, uh oh, this hobby of mine just became really expensive.

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