Lazy/Rainy Sunday

So, what better day then today to do a blog post? It's a lazy Sunday, and it's raining. No wait, it's cleared up... no wait, it's raining again. Yep, welcome to the NW!

Yesterday I spent the day with a good friend Tayler who was gracious enough to help me purge my 2nd bedroom for a new roomy that's moving in at the end of the month! It was a LOT of work... she is amazing, I don't think I could have done it without her. One HUGE trip to goodwill be taken today, and that is going to be one BIG tax write off next year!

So much is on my mind right now, so many things I want/need to do! I'm feeling like I should make a list so I don't forget anything... In no particular order:

1. empty 2nd bedroom for new roomy (in the process)
2. family photo shoots for friends (3 booked next weekend, 1 the following!)
3. edit Jacoby pics (hoping to finish some tonight)
4. goodwill run to drop off my car FULL of stuff
5. carve pumpkins with friends
6. post a tutorial on how I made my headboard
7. go on a date? (haha, currently nothing planned)
8. celebrate dad's birthday (which is today!)
9. buy my new iMac!
10. continue to work on health & gym workouts... (lost 14lbs so far... and continuing)
11. make some new jewelry
12. work on jewelry website
13. work on photography website
14. buy a new camera bag (or patiently wait until Christmas)
15. build a newsletter
16. build a few giveaways for website launch!
17. start planning jewelry open house for december
18. look into a photo session for myself!
19. organize my studio (Tayler has offered to help again.... YAY!)
20. go to a movie (feels like forever since I've been)
21. connect with friends I haven't seen in a while
22. love on Bentley (ongoing and ongoing and ongoing...)
23. frame a bunch of pictures and build a photo montage in my living room
24. clean my carpets
25. make more ducks & beaver jewelry
26. make some jewelry to bring in to Avenue 5
27. wash my car
28. go to a concert
29. do a total makeover on my bedroom closet (might have to call Tayler for this one too....)

I think that seems like enough to keep me busy for a while!

Here are my dream camera bags... by Kelly Moore. And I can't even begin to decide on what color I want! These are just my favorites. I want one so bad! But my mom thinks I should hold out until Christmas.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! Oh, and I see the sun reflecting on the building outside. Gorgeous! Oh wait..... literally in the time it took to write this, it went away. Boo.

XOXO,

Elena

Tweet tweet, poke, blog, wall... what??

I can't believe it's been over a month!  Shame on me.  But I've been having a ball, so I hope you'll forgive me.  Camping, boating, photography...  so much fun stuff to do, SO little time.

I'll try to make it short and sweet.  I've been overwhelmed with inspiration this past weekend and I'm trying to roll with it.  I could easily run scared because there is so much going through this brain of mine...  It's exhausting.  But instead, I'm getting super excited and trying to get connected to the world out there!

In a previous post, I mentioned joining Facebook.  And to be honest, it was a really great decision!  I honestly feel much more connected to so many people in my life that I might not have the opportunity to connect with otherwise.  It has kept me closer to family, good friends, co-workers, even long lost school friends, and others that I have met along the way. The best part is getting to see/hear/read what's going on in others lives without being intrusive.  People post what they want others to see and it's great to be able to catch up on your own time.

Another great thing with Facebook is "Facebook Pages" for businesses. What a great way to get a fan base started and find other business you love too!

Anyway...  this is getting long already, geesh Elena.....  Long story short, Monili Bella has joined Facebook AND Twitter!!

I can also honestly say, I think the website is FINALLY coming along!  So I am envisioning some fun stuff coming up in the near future.

If you would like to connect with me on either Twitter or Facebook, you will now see some new widgets on the right hand side of my blog, feel free to give them a click!

Cheers everyone!

Elena

Baby it's cold outside!

Man, it is COLD!  The snow is still here and it's very frozen outside.  And still no sign of letting up.  I had to walk across the street today to get some dishwasher detergent and I don't think all the scarves in the world would have kept me warm.  My heart was even shivering and I was bundled up pretty good.  I guess with the wind chill they say it feels like 15 degrees!  Dang that's cold for around here.  

Anyways, my friend Amanda I ended up venturing out last night for the Sarah Bareilles concert at the Crystal Ballroom.  And let me tell you it was WELL worth it!!  She's got to be one of the best (if not THE best) female vocalist I've ever heard.  You can really tell a lot seeing someone live.  Here voice was so pure and amazing.  It's really indescribable!  She even sang Silent Night and the whole ballroom was silent and she sang it slowly and with so much soul.  I would love for her to come out with a Holiday album.  That would be amazing.  In case you haven't been to the Crystal Ballroom, it's a pretty cool place to watch a concert.  The ONLY downfall is that it's standing, but some concerts you want to stand anyway. Here are some pics. It's so beautiful inside, by day and night.




What it looks like with a packed house (This is not the Sarah Bareilles Concert)


This is a little better shot so you can see the stage.

The only weird thing, was last night they had this big area gated off around the stage. I've been to a few concerts there and had never seen this before. It must have been a VIP thing or something. BUT there weren't even that many people in there and it felt like a waste of space. Still I felt like we were pretty close. There were only a couple people in front of us before the gate. Did I mention the people that were in front of us were tall with big heads? Ha ha... Or at least thats what it seemed like. Thankfully I kept finding the spots in between heads so I could see the stage.

Oh, and getting there and home was an adventure in itself. We decided to take the MAX down there so we wouldn't have to worry about driving & parking. I'm glad we did, the streets were really slick last night. So we parked at the MAX station across from my house and hopped on the train. Getting there seamed pretty easy, we got off downtown and walked about 5 blocks to Henry's where we ate dinner. Dinner was delish, we splurged. And my 2 lemon drops were quite delightful as well.

On the way home was when the fun began... We hopped on going west, not knowing that the train we got on stopped at 170th/Elmonica which was ONE stop before the one we needed (go figure). So we had to get off and wait for the next one. The trains usually come pretty fast, but it might as well have been an eternity last night! It was SOOOO COLD and WINDY! There were about 15-20 people that had to get off when we did. All of us were trying to shield ourselves behind the ticket stands... but it still didn't help that much. Amanda and I were so freezing, we started huddling together and were laughing so hard... then we couldn't stop laughing and well, it just turned into hysteria! The people around us started laughing at us too. We sounded like giddy school girls. This one guy even offered us a sweater he had in his bag to wrap around us. How sweet is that? He had less layers on then we did!

Anyway, it made for a VERY fun night. The concert was amazing and the ride home was pretty fun, despite freezing our booties off.  Here are some pics of us.  I charged up my camera for last night and then totally forgot it on the counter when I grabbed the tickets....  Lovely.  So I had to take the pics with my phone which isn't great... But it's something.

Amanda and I waiting at the MAX station on our way to the concert.

Us patiently waiting for the first act.

Speaking of the first act, I almost forgot to mention how good they were!  I was really impressed.  They were called Raining Jane.  There were 4 girls and they were all filled with so much talent!  They sounded great live and the 3 girls who sang had amazing voices.  I also loved that they had different instruments.  One girl played the Cello in a few songs and the drummer was drumming on this metal box (I don't know the technical term) but the sound was awesome!  If you want a little listen... Click here.  Enjoy!  

Pumpkin Patch

Wow... I didn't realize how long it had been since my last post! Shame on me... BUT I do have a really good reason! I've been putting hard wood floors in the main floor of my house!! Pictures and details to come very soon. I'm waiting for the dust to settle (literally) so I can get my house put back together and take some final pictures.

But that's not what I'm writing about today. I wanted to share some pictures from our Pumpkin Patch adventure! My boyfriend and some co-workers of mine along with some cute kiddlings ventured out to Krugers Farm to do the annual hunt for the perfect pumpkin along with the much anticipated corn maize adventure!!

The Corn maze was fun, lots of kids running every direction... I was almost dizzy. See below for the actual maze.

The maize was super fun, watching all the kids run around frantically trying to find all the clues.  I ended up ducking out early due to starvation and thirst.  But I was in luck because they had lots of amazing food!!  Including fresh corn on the cob which I had and it was delicious!  My favorite had to be the carmel apples though, they were so HUGE!  I couldn't finish it, but was so happy when I realized that later at home :)  The carmel was some of the best I've ever had, the only thing was that there was so much carmel it was hard to get through to the apple.  The fresh hot apple cider was to die for as well.

I had fun snapping pictures all day, it was the most perfect weather you could ask for!  I think it actually got up to 70 degrees that day, October 26th.. that has to be some kind of record here in Portland?!

Here are some of the pictures I shot that day.

This is one of my favorites, she was really making way on the carmel apple!  

This is Blue, I was amazed at how much kids can eat!  And not to mention all the chocolate chips on it also, talk about a belly ache.

This is my 'lil Lexi.  She's the daughter of some very good friends of mine.  She's too cute and had a blast that day, especially the hay ride!  She got to sit on my lap the whole time.  She loves her Auntie Lena.

Another shot of adorable Lexi.  I love the pumpkins in the back.

And last, my friend Carrie and her niece.  Too cute!

Fun stuff to come in a future post.  I have been taking lots of pictures in the process of my remodeling.  It's turning out pretty fabulous!  I can't wait to share.  

Race for the Cure

So maybe I was missing you...  Or just craving to do a new post.  But I just couldn't stay away tonight!  And then I realized that I never got to write about Race for the Cure this year.  It was pretty awesome, hard to get up so early, but well worth it.  I'll let the pictures do the talking below.  All I can say is that I was proud to take part... the best part is, my company paid for my entrance fee, and guess what??  My company was THE largest group at Race for the Cure this year!!!!  That's pretty HUGE!  Raising at least $16,250 in entrance fee's alone, not to mention donations probably made.

I had to take a picture of the Columbia Store as we were walking by!  

Yeah Columbia!!

Sooo many people...

Look at who joined us!

How cute is this??  "For my Gam Gam"


They walked like this for a while... He was strong!  

These are the lovely ladies I got to walk with!  Me taking the picture.

So, that's my wrap up of Race for the Cure.  I loved walking with my friend, her mother and my mother.  What is it about mom's that makes them talk non-stop? Well, I guess the daughters can talk and talk too.... Fun times, my favorite part...  sneaking out before the end of the race to go grab breakfast at Kell's (a great Irish Pub in Portland!)  If you haven't done it (the race, not Kell's, all though you should do that too.....), you should do it next year.  It is very inspiring, and you will be surrounded with strong, caring individuals all for the same cause!  Pretty Rad!