the tales of a tumbleweed

Covet Vl

2012-03-03T09:32:00.001-06:00

{Loving Tennessee via Two Sarahs}

We we supposed to be in Tennessee right now looking at our new house and visiting friends but with the terrible weather, we didn't think it was all that safe to drive out there until next weekend. So instead of being on thew road, we are in the studio hard at work, we have 36 open orders in our etsy shop, 3 pending wholesale orders and several samples to finish up in the next week, so that's what our life is full of right now. I thought I would take a break and share a few of the things I am coveting right now. It's kind of all over the map, but I am kind of all over the map. That's just the way things are. Enjoy!

{dying over this pillow via Winter Petals}

{I just bought this via Dainty Squid}

{I love this via The Future Primitive}

{Bear leggins via QooQoo}

{It's the end of Self Love Month, but I am keeping the button up on my sidebar because we all need a little reminder to love ourselves via Amy Morby}

{a little pig via The Wheat Field}

Happy shopping!

xo,

Beca

Our Spring 2012 Collection

2012-03-02T08:12:00.005-06:00

+ C L U B M A S T E R S +

Our newest collection of clubmasters are bold and classic, a fierce variety, but true to our style and our tastes. Be on the look out for a few more styles to come. We love clubmasters and are happy to have them back in the shop! Also, one of these styles has a very special story behind it, you can read more about it here.

+ T W O & T H R E E T O N E S +

A new selection of two tones and three tones leaves us aching to make more variety and relationships between unexpected wood types. Here are a few to give you just a taste of what to expect next!

+ T U R Q U O I S E & C O R N E R S +

And the star of the show, the coveted Ebony with turquoise inlays. We have had a number of pre-orders for these beauties and only a few left for the season before we switch it up and introduce some new wood species with the turquoise. Think mahogany, cherry and redwoods like tulip and amboyna. We also have a few new wood species for our corner accents. I have to say that by far, the mahogany and maple glasses have been one of our biggest sellers and its because they are gorgeous!

I hope you love our new collection as much as we do! We can't wait to keep introducing more styles and keeping our shop fresh and new for the upcoming summer months!

xo,

Beca

February Donation Check In

2012-02-29T23:54:00.003-06:00

{keep calm and stay gold}

We are so very, very excited to announce that we had 52 orders in our Etsy shop in the month of February, and as promised, we donated $1 for every single order!! It is such an incredible feeling to press that "donate" button on the 1st day of every month. That brings us to a total of $110 so far this year! If you want more information about Save the manatee Club, you can visit their website and even make a donation of your own!

Also, tomorrow is the official launch of our spring line. Check back for all of the styles that have been listed and made available, and of course, keep your eye on our shop, because we still have several styles that we haven't finished yet that will be released a little late. Of course, you know us!

xo,

Beca & Doug

Orange Herb Baked Chicken

2012-02-29T17:03:00.003-06:00

I am going to just come right out and say it, I am NOT a good cook. I have stated this before, and everyone laughs at me, but it's true. I can bake a cake in my sleep, decorate it with my eyes gouged out, all while stirring caramel and piping mousse. Just kidding, but really, traditional meals escape me. I cried and cried on Valentines day because I wanted to make heart shaped pancakes and sausage and grits for breakfast for dinner, and I just messed up everything! Thankfully Doug took over and it was perfect, but you get the picture.

So today, I got a wild hair. We rode bikes to the corner store and I asked Doug what he wanted for supper. He said chicken and rice. I got some chicken thighs, rice and fixins. And then total panic set in. What the hell do I do with it!? I guess some kind of baked chicken would be good. The last time I made chicken it was a whole baked chicken, and it was pretty good, but I had help from the sis. The time before that was fried chicken and waffles and the chicken was terribly undercooked. Anyways, I found arecipe for lemon chicken that looked good, but I don't have lemons, and Doug doesn't like lemon, so I opted for orange and basil. Topped with orange infused bread crumbs (doesn't anything infused sound awesome?) with rice and topped with a zesty peppery orange sauce.

I am not boastful, and if it sucked, I would say so. But hot damn, this chicken was so good! I am so proud of myself for not burning it or under cooking it. It was white and baked through. The flavors all came together and life is good. Until your 80+ pound bulldog jumps on the counter and eats two entire chicken thighs, bones and all. I don't blame him though, it smelled like we up and moved to heaven for an hour.

We have been working all day, and are about to pull an all nighter. we have about 20 pairs of sunglasses we have to get in the mail tomorrow, so we're cutting it close. I also started packing a little today, taking things off the wall, and boxing up the knicknacks. We're going to Tennessee this weekend to look at our new house (cross your fingers) and visit friends.

Hope you have a good leap day! Happy Wednesday!

xo,

Beca

A Closer Look

2012-02-28T12:20:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I forget I have so many tattoos. They have just plain become a part of my skin, a part of who I am. That's probably the reason why i don't feel the need to show them off, or talk about them, because I forget they're there. Today, while I was taking photos outside, I thought I would show y'all a few little close ups of what I see every day.

Don't they look different when they are in bits and pieces? I love the way my tattoos look, I wouldn't change a single one of them. I especially like black lines and little details. I guess you could say it's kind of my thing. Do you have tattoos? Tell me about them!

xo,

Beca

Covet 5

2012-02-27T22:39:00.006-06:00

{I need these via Bark Decor}

{Jackalop via Danny Brito}

{Some must haves via Modcloth}

{A favorite via Peg and Awl}

{Have you seen the new Easter cards from Quill and Fox? I got this one for my Dad.}

It's getting late and it's been a really long day, so I hope you enjoyed this shortened version of my covet list. I have a box of orders to finish in the morning and ship in the afternoon, and then do it all over again. We're heading to Tn on Thursday, so if I am a little absent, it's because I'm one busy bee! Happy Monday!

xo,

Beca

Something Special // Fawn's Turquoise Clubmasters

2012-02-26T20:07:00.004-06:00

This season, we're doing something extra special with our collection. Doug is using a very special collection of Turquoise to create a mosaic of sorts to the fronts of our classic clubmasters. Our friend Sid, a jewelry maker in Tucson, gave us a mason jar full of turquoise from a shop he had in the 1970s with his wife, Fawn. His beautiful wife passed away about 2 years ago, and in her memory, we named these sunglasses "Fawn's Turquoise Clubmasters."

They are a bit more rustic and handmade looking than our veneer glasses, but they have so much character and life in them, we are in love. It has been such a treat to introduce so many new styles and creations for this season, I have a feeling we won't stop creating new styles as the season goes on.

We will definitely be able to make several of these, but supplies are limited! We would love to know what you think!

xo,

Beca & Doug

PS, here is a photo of Sid and Doug from our last visit to Tucson. I know I've shared it before, but here it is again.

11 Things

2012-02-26T12:45:00.006-06:00

I love these things. They remind me so much of old LJ days when surveys and questionaires and all that jazz were at their prime. Did I ever tell you I had a Live Journal for years and years. I guess it was my introduction to blogging. So anyways, I guilted my friend Kaelah into tagging me so I could do one of these too! Here we go.

There are five rules:
1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.
3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you've tagged them.

1. I hate, like absolutely can not stand, the sound of people eating in movies and on TV. It is like nails on a chalkboard. Remember that movie Four Brothers, the Thanksgiving scene, I had to leave the theater because it was so bad.

2. When I was a kid, I had a terrible lisp+stutter. I was in speech therapy for several years, but when I get really excited, or nervous, or angry, they still come out. Just like my accent. I lost my southern accent as a kid because of the therapy, but it'll be back, give me a few more months living in the south. Also, my last name has 2 s's in it, how terrible that was for little lispy me. Also, I wonder why they chose the word "lisp" to describe it. It just seems cruel to me.

3. I love old country music. I hate new country music. But old country gets me every time. I love Loretta Lynn, John Prine, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Conway Twitty, and folks like that. If I have to listen to modern music, it's hip hop, Bonnie Prince Billy or Low, but if it were up to me, it would always be old country.

4. I am a hugger. I'm sorry if you meet me and you are not a hugger, you will get hugged. I can't help it. We may have the awkward hug/handshake at first, but trust me, you'll get used to the fact that I hug everyone.

5. I don't like having things on my hands. By things, I mean sticky or gooey or textured stuff like icing, clay, glue, or anything else that has a weird texture. It really really bothers me. Paint doesn't, neither does ink, but anything I can feel, I have to wash my hands right away.

5. I love having natural eyebrows. I had my eyebrows waxed once and after a day or so, realized how much I hated the way they looked and was happy when they grew back in. I know having sculpted eyebrows does something for your face, or makes you look more put together, but I just cant part with they way mine look. They are one of my favorite features.

6. I am not a cat person. I think they're cute, and I'll probably get another kitten when we move to TN, but I am more drawn to dogs. I can't really explain it. Since our kitty acts more like a dog than a cat, we get along really well. I think it's because I got attacked by our family cat when I was a baby (I still have scars from it,) it shaped my feelings about them as an adult.

7. I am probably the messiest person you will ever meet, until you meet Doug. We love making messes. I kind of want to be better about putting stuff away, but then again, I've always been messy so it doesn't bother me so much. Sometimes I dream of having lots of storage and everything in it's place. Someday. (ps. I'm not dirty, just cluttered and messy...big difference, just to be clear.) I'm like a teenager when it comes to the way I maintain my house, everything out and in clear sight. I also know where everything is, even in the mess!

8. I can count on one hand how many times I have worn heels in my life. I hate it, I feel weird. I mean, I don't really like wearing shoes, period, but heels especially. I may get over it some day, but who knows.

9. I have super thick hair and if I don't brush it for one day, I get gnarly dreadlock type knots in the back and underside. I love growing my hair out long, but having to spend a half hour brushing it out drives me crazy. I also have to use two boxes of hair dye, just to dye my roots. I have A LOT of hair.

10. In my lifetime, I have taken Korean language lessons, Arabic 101 in college (which I dropped out of when they teacher told me the highest grade I could get was a C) 4 years of sign language which I still am pretty conversational in, and half a year of Spanish, which I also dropped out of, because the teacher was such a dick.

11. My Grandpa on my Dad' s side used to call me Becala as a nickname (when he still knew who I was) and a few years ago, Doug's friend Jesse started calling me that too, without knowing it was a childhood nickname.

+ Kaelah's Questions +

1. Do you believe in astrology? Why or why not? I think I believe in anything greater than you or I. I don't know much about astrology, but I think it's fascinating.

2. If you could teleport to any time and place, where would you go and why? Georgia or Tennessee in the 1930s. The world was moving back then an even though it was hard times, the country was beginning to define itself and all of the modern inventions we cherish so much today were brand new back then. Also, I would want to have a farm.

3. What are the three closest items to you right now? A mason jar of Coca Cola, Ollie with his had on my feet and a stack of Black Apple post cards that I just got done writing on.

4. If you had a spirit animal, what would it be? I have had this conversation with Carla, and I really would love if my spirit animal was a Okapi. Half zebra, half horse whose closest relative is a giraffe. Awkward and beautiful.

5. What is your earliest childhood memory? My earliest childhood memory is snow in Georgia. And wearing a puffy suit.6. Where do you hope to see yourself in 5 years? Maybe building a house in Chattanooga, owning another storefront/country store, with more animals.

7. Have you kept in touch with your childhood best friend(s)? Kayley was my best friend growing up and now she's married and a hoop dancer in the circus. I'm so proud of her. We used to tell everyone we were sisters. 8. If you had to describe yourself in 5 words, what would they be? Awkward. Loyal. Southern. Kind. Honest.
9. Describe your idea of a perfect day: Where would you go, what would you do, who would you do it with? Travelling in our van, with Doug, anywhere really, is always the best days. We love to adventure and discover new places, take photos, eat good food. Those are my favorite days.
10. What kind of "weird" foods do you like? (They could just be weird to your friends/family, kind of like my pickle sickles!) I could eat beets every day, for every meal, in every form, but Doug's mom makes the best pickled beets in the world. I have been obsessed with them for the past few months. I also love salt and vinegar potato chips. A lot of people don't like them but I love them.

11. Do you collect anything? If so, what? I tell people I collect collections. I love having multiple similar items. Skulls and animal teeth, leather wrapped deer figurines, stacking dolls, vintage towels, old pet photos, saints and relics, and coffee mugs.

+ My Tags and Questions +

I tag Danielle, Cal, Dizzie, Elizabeth, Chels, Amyand Toni.

1. If you had to put 3 things in a time capsule for future generations, what would they be?

2. What is one skill/craft you wish you could perfect?

3. If you had to describe yourself in senses, how would you smell, feel, color, taste, etc?

4. How do you take your coffee or tea?

5. What is your favorite junk food/go to snacks?

6. Describe the wall in front of you. What color is it, what's hanging on it?

7. If you could keep any animal for a day, without fear of getting maimed or killed, what animal would it be?

8. Have you ever sewn anything? If so, what was your best project?

9. Who in your family do you think you are most like?

10. It's Sunday afternoon, what do you wish you were doing?

11. What was the first blog you started reading regularly?

Happy sunday!

xo,

Beca

For the Ladies + New Packaging

2012-02-24T23:26:00.003-06:00

We have a new style now available in our shop; a women's round cateye frame in Teak wood. We will soon have several other wood species available but Teak is so pretty. I love this frame because it's dainty and soft, with purple tinted lenses and such a unique shape. They are available in limited quantities here.

Also, we have been experimenting in some new packaging. Before, we would put the glasses right into a cloth bag, but once you take the glasses out, they have lint and other fuzzes on them, so now, after we clean them, we seal them in a plastic bag, and then place them in their cloth pouch.

Once they have been tucked away in their pouch, we wrap them in bubble wrap instead of popcorn (ugh, hate popcorn!) and we got shipping tubes from Uline to mail them in. We recently found out that if we ship in the flat rate boxes, they actually take longer than first class, because they wait until the bin is full before they are shipped.

I am really liking the way the product comes together. It's simple, eco-friendly, and complete. It feels good. I think I may actually stick with this for a while. But you know me, always changing things up.

Have a great weekend, we're heading into town tomorrow. I can't wait to get out of the house for the day. A much needed half day off. What are your plans for the weekend?

xo,

Beca

What I Wore // Skirts and Stripes

2012-02-24T19:54:00.003-06:00

Y'all know how self conscious I am. If you don't know, now you do, but inspired by my sweet friend Amy's self love revolution, I finally did another What I Wore post. It took me all month to do it, but here it is, and maybe I'll just try to do a what I wore post once a month, and not die of embarrassment, since it's only once a month. Maybe. I said maybe. So here it is. This really is what I wore today.

I promise I wore shoes, kind of. Just for my walk to the post office, the same post office that's only open for like four hours a day. That I have to walk through the woods to get to. I wore rain boots, I kid you not. But, I told you, I hate wearing shoes, and I decided that I'm not going to put shoes on so you think I wore cute boots or heels all day, when I just didn't. I work at home, why should I wear shoes?

{Glasses//Tumbleweeds, Sweater//Ross, Tank//Target, Skirt//Vintage, Belt//Vintage-borrowed from Doug, Necklace//Gift from my step-mom.}

Soooo, that's that. I am by no means a style blogger, but I thought maybe y'all would want to see what this girl wears in a fishing village in northwest Florida. Most people out here wear camo and white rain boots. And the occasional jean jacket or cutoff shorts. It was about 100 degrees here, with a million degrees humidity, so you better believe I didn't leave that sweater on for that long!

Stay tuned for some new presale styles released in our shop today and a blog post about our new packaging coming later tonight or tomorrow!

xo,

Beca

Pokey Little Puppy

2012-02-23T22:02:00.002-06:00

I am a worrier. Last night I had nightmares all night about customer service and feedback and today I noticed the bags under my eyes that have been slowly getting darker and bigger this last month. I tried to quit drinking soda, but that was the worst three days of my life, so I'm off the wagon and fully caffeinated again. I appreciate you all and hope you're having a good week. And now, back to work.

xo,

Beca

Spring Collection P R E S A L E

2012-02-22T14:48:00.004-06:00

This afternoon, we release three presale listing in our etsy shop {stay tuned for more work on our big cartel shop, I am still trying to find a happy medium...} We are releasing a classic two-tone, an amazing clubmaster inspired by my friend Danielle, and the coveted ebony and turquoise. I don't know how much of the turquoise ones we can make with round accents, so now is the time to get your orders placed!

We really wanted to use more of our favorite woods for this collection, our first real comprehensive collection. We have so much gorgeous mahogany, in three different species, and you better believe we'll be including Cherry, Walnut, Zebra, Tulip Wood and Wenge in a variety of styles. We will also be introducing some new clubmasters and women's styles, but those will have to wait until March to be revealed. Top secret!

{Mahogany & Bubinga Wayfarers}

{Mahogany, Ebony and Poplar Clubmasters}

{Ebony & Turquoise}

For our blog readers, we wanted to offer a coupon code for 20% off all presale purchases!! Please use the coupon code SPRINGLOVE upon checkout to receive your discount. And lucky you, all orders placed in the next week will be shipped on march 2nd, first thing in the morning!

I'd love to hear your feedback about the three listed!

xo,

Beca

More Than You Bargained For

2012-02-21T20:43:00.006-06:00

Buying handmade isn't just about buying a product. If that was the case, why bother, just get it at Target and be done with it. Buying handmade is more than supporting small businesses. You buy memories when you buy handmade. I once had a customer who bought a pair of Birds Eye Maple sunglasses from us for her Dad for Christmas. He used to be a Birds Eye maple dealer, and she remembered it being in her life, and knew her dad would love them.

I live for moments like that. I also love buying handmade. I am much more patient with turnaround time because I know I am buying something from a person, not a factory. I am more careful with what I receive. I cherish it more. Whether I have the item for a month, a year or just the in between moments before I gift it, I remember that somebody made this and I love it even more.

We have learned so much this past year. That having a business that grows A L O T in a very short time period will experience a lot of happy customers, and a few not so happy ones. You will put your heart and soul into what you make. You will experience lulls, and you will experience swells. Sometimes you don't sleep for a week, and sometimes you cant seem to get motivated. BUT, at the end of the day, you made something and someone else gets to create memories with that something. And that is why we do what we do.

{via Lippincott Soap Co.}

I recently bought this bar of soap on Etsy and when it came in the mail, it brought so many memories. When I was a teenager, I used to visit my Aunt in St. Petersburg in the summer. We would visit the Dali museum and then go shopping at this kitschy store where they sold chocolate soap. I'm not a big fan of eating chocolate, but I love the way it smells and I love smelling like chocolate. I love when a product brings more than what you pay for; memories. Those summer visits to St. Pete are some of my favorite memories.

{via Sketch Inc.}

My Mom and I don't talk often, but I miss her terribly. One of the things I will always associate with her is my nesting dolls. I had a set as a kid, and at Christmas time, my mom would put a $20 bill in the smallest one. It's a good memory. My Mom and I haven't always been at odds, but sometimes life happens and everyone makes a choice. Sometimes we choose to ignore the obvious, and sometimes we don't speak up when we should. It's a shame. Handmade nesting dolls would be a great gift to create good memories with.

{via Mother}

I want nothing more than to be domesticated. When I see an apron, the possibilities are endless. I want to be neat and organized and cook fantastic meals and have an eat-off-the-floor clean house. I want to have a functioning washer and dryer, pay bills on time and be overall responsible and still run a business. I want to wear an apron, and not get paid for it.

{via lovejules}

I hate wearing shoes. Kind of in a hillbilly way. I could go my entire life without wearing shoes, and not be bothered. But, since I live in modern times, although not in a modern place, I substitute bare feet for a collection of worn moccasins, slip-on Vans and my black rain boots. I have always been this way. I will wear my shoes into the ground before I give in and buy a new pair. I love shoes, I just hate wearing them.

{via My Roots}

I was born in Decatur, Georgia. I am southern. I may have lost my accent while living temporarily in the west, but I'm not a Yankee. I believe in hard work, being kind and being truthful. I know that it has gotten me in trouble, saying exactly what I feel, but I never intend to be ugly to anyone, I only have good intentions. That being said. We should all focus on being positive and kind this year, and maybe I need to hold my tongue sometimes, maybe we all do.

{via iadornu}

My Dad does archery. He used to take me with him when I was younger. Although my favorite part was retrieving the arrows them, I love every aspect of it now. One of my goals for 2012, as soon as we have our house set up, is to set up an archery target and practice more. It's such an amazing release.

Why do you buy handmade? Do you create memories, or relive them. I would love to hear about something you bought that brought back memories or reminded you of some life lesson!?

xo,

Beca

A New Addition

2012-02-19T15:02:00.004-06:00

Doug and I have been planning, organizing, experimenting, and staying up late into the night working on a new addition to our little brand. Don't get me wrong, we love making sunglasses and as long as their is a demand for them, we will make them. But, we are restless gypsy hearted folk who are always looking for new projects and new adventures.

I would love to introduce you to our newest addition. There will be many more coming, but each will be one of a kind. We have been collecting vintage kitchen wares and collecting felled trees for the past few weeks {along with slaving away to fill all of our sunglasses orders!} We will be adding wooden spoons and a variety of other kitchen utensils to our stock.

You can purchase this piece of finery in our shop, which will be filling up as we approach March 1st and our newest collection of sunglasses is released. We would love to hear your thoughts!

xo,

Beca

Our First Festival Booth

2012-02-18T14:57:00.002-06:00

And we didn't sell a damn thing. Not one. And it's not like everything wasn't beautiful. It was, but the cousin I was sharing a booth with barely sold anything either, just to friends. I, of course, felt totally discouraged at closing time. I wanted to cry, but Doug told me something really important. "At least you tried" he said. And I did, that's true. i did try. But it just wasn't our crowd. I haven't a doubt in my mind that when we open up shop in Chattanooga, everything single item will fly off the selves, but here in Steinhatchee,

However, I did have time to take a lot of photos of our first booth and I took plenty of breaks to get lunch with Doug while he wasn't filming the races, and wander around. I'm a bad shop-keep, but we shared a booth so I had someone to watch over everything the few times I left.

After an early morning and a long, long day, I am so ready for a nap. Have you set up a booth before? What were your experiences? Even though I have owned an entire store front, I realized today I don't like having a booth, but maybe I will need to give it another shot.

xo,

Beca

The End of the Road to Nowhere

2012-02-17T21:57:00.004-06:00

We live in Dixie County, Florida. And one thing Dixie County is known for is drug smuggling in the 60s and 70s. The Road to Nowhere is a paved, yes you heard me say it, paved road that goes to absolutely nowhere. It just ends. It goes across the bridge where we crab to endless salt flats and marshes. Rumor has it the roads were paved in the seventies so that smugglers had a road to bring drugs into the county.

Nowadays the road is used for hunting, crabbing, shooting and drag racing...and adventuring!! We drove down to the end the other day with our .22 to go shooting and romping in the muck. It's so quiet out on the flats; eerie. We set up some broken beer bottles and other little targets to shoot at. We weren't the firsts as there were shotgun shells and casings scattered at our feet.

The air out on the flats is different than anywhere else in the swamp. It's open and empty. Every time the tall grass rustles you never know what it could be. We saw a bobcat this time. Only for a flash.

Out here, where we don't have a movie theater, or a shopping mall, you find that the world gives you just about a million ways to entertain yourself. What do you do when your away from town, or an escape from your city life?

xo,

Beca

Isaiah Toothtaker + MURS // New Video + Tumbleweeds Sighting

2012-02-17T10:39:00.004-06:00

Isaiah Toothtaker - Hyperbolic Chamber Music from Мишка Bloglin on Vimeo.

This totally made my day. I finally got a chance to check out our friend Isaiah's new video "Hyperbolic Chamber Music" and not only is it a super good video + song guess what we discovered?! MURS is sporting a pair of Tumbleweeds Clubmasters! We made these custom for Isaiah almost a year ago with Javelina tooth inlays in a dark ebony wood. Isaiah let MURS wear them for the video and we are so so hyped! You can see more from Isaiah HERE and HERE.

We're bringing Clubmasters back in a big way for spring, so be on the lookout so you can get a custom pair too!

xo.

Chris Hall sings Abner jay

2012-02-15T23:22:00.003-06:00

Chris Hall sings Abner Jay from ChrisHall on Vimeo.

I am so excited to share a new video with you from one of my very best pals, Chris Hall. He is an amazing singer/songwriter.guitar player in Tucson and actually lived with Doug and I for a while in San Diego. This video is filmed by Jenni Shick and is incredible. Enjoy!

You can find more info on Chris at his Facebook page, or follow him on twitter.

xo.

River Bike Ride

2012-02-15T16:57:00.003-06:00

Since Doug fixed my bike (it's been out of commission since we moved here) I haven't wanted to drive anywhere. At all. I just want to ride my bike, which is great since I have been so unmotivated to actually use Weight Watchers or work out. But there really is something special about riding a bike, especially here since it's so beautiful.

I like riding on the few paved roads we have out here, I'm not super great at off road biking, but it's still really fun to do skids down the street our house is on. The river is really close so after we rode to the post office, the hardware store and the little corner store for dinner, we rode down to the river and watched the pelicans fly.

Do you have a bike? Do you ride it often? We're going to make dinner at Doug's Mom's house and then get back to work. It's been a busy week for us already.

xo,

Beca

A Boy's Cake

2012-02-15T09:49:00.002-06:00

It was Corbitt's birthday last weekend and I got a chance to make a grave digger cake for him. He was pretty happy to say the least. I did a chocolate cake with cookies and cream filling, and a chocolate butter cream arena. It was a lot of fun and came out pretty good! I think so, at least.

xo,

Beca

Sea How Much I Love You

2012-02-14T13:20:00.004-06:00

Happy Valentines Day, friends. I got this card for Doug from Cartoules Press. We're planning on making breakfast for dinner and watch scary movies tonight. I can't wait!

Today has been a busy work day and isn't quite over yet, but I certainly found a minute to play with my giant puppy on the porch. It's been raining off and on today, so a play date on the porch kind of called for a goofy photo shoot. I love this little (big) guy so dang much. He's my other Valentine today! (Don't tell Charlie or Monster...)

xo,

Beca

PS. The winner of the super bundle is miss Polly Davies. Please email me at tumbleweeds.shop {at} gmail {dot} com to collect your amazing prize pack.

My Kitchen

2012-02-13T21:17:00.002-06:00

I thought, while I have the motivation to, I would share a little of my kitchen. I spend a lot of time in this space and it isn't, by nay means, a magazine-shoot worthy space. it's cluttered, and functional, and as old as the house we live in. But it certainly reflects me and my style.

Do you spend a lot of time in the kitchen? Is it minimalist or is it cluttered and hodge-podge like mine?

xo,

Beca

Ebony and Turquoise // Spring 2012

2012-02-13T10:17:00.002-06:00

We are finally starting to photograph some of the styles we have been working on for our Spring collection. We're not even close to releasing the collection, but I wanted to share a few little photos with you from our morning shoot. What do you think??

Hope you're having a great Monday. I have a cold, again! I feel like I spend 50% of my life with some kind of bug. I'm working through it though!

xo,

Beca

Covet IIII

2012-02-13T00:05:00.001-06:00

{I just like bows via With Care}

{Is it my birthday yet? via PupandPony}

{Something gorgeous via Moorea Seal}

{A few things I would kill for via Free People}

{Some new products via Camp and Quarry}

{An old favorite via Michael Sieben}

{I would keep this Pendleton if we weren't beginning to downsize via ebay}

xo,

Beca

Self Portrait Sunday

2012-02-12T12:18:00.002-06:00

I hate photos of myself. I just do. I guess that makes it hard for me to be a good blogger, right? Well, I'm trying to take more photos of myself and be more comfortable in front of the camera. Because everyone should love photos of themselves.

Can you spot my new hair clips from Lost Cabin. I got them in the mail yesterday and I LOVE them! My glasses will be available in our shop on the first of March.

Also, Doug got me new sneakers yesterday. I love Saucony, Since I was a little punk in high school, I loved Saucony, so when I saw these yesterday on the way home from my grandparents house, my need for sneakers kicked in. I know, I know, they aren't fancy awesome running shoes. We're trying to save money right now though, so $50 Saucony's will be just fine for bike riding and dog walking. Better than my Minnetonkas or vans slip-ons.

I'm getting ready to power clean the house, and then go to Corbitt's 4th birthday party. I was up until 2 making his cake last night. I'll share photos of the perfect boys birthday cake tomorrow.

How was your weekend?

xo,

Beca

Deuce and a Half

2012-02-10T00:46:00.002-06:00

One of the greatest things about living in a small town, is that you can pile 5 people into a deuce and a half army truck and ride around town to go put bait in crab traps. It's just one of those things, nobody bats an eye.

I wonder what you did today?

xo,

Beca

My Sunshine Room

2012-02-09T01:04:00.003-06:00

I meant to post this a few days ago, but like I said, busy busy busy. But finally, I get to share with you a few little snippets of my favorite place in the world to spend time, to work, to eat breakfast and to work on projects. Our sunshine Florida room, AKA the front porch. It's not quite the wrap-around like the Georgia house I grew up in, but it's pretty wonderful coming from a house with barely a front stoop to a house-length long screened in porch.

It's nothing really special, and it certainly isn't fancy. There are a lot of skulls and horns we have found in the woods, our bikes, rain boots, and tools. It's an all-purpose room of sorts and I love it. You really can tell a whole lot about people by their home and I hope I get a chance to share more of our little house here in the swamp while we're here. I'm not cutesy when it comes to home decorating. I like rustic nature and strange. I like skulls and teeth and wooden plaques and religious iconography. You'll see more of that later.

ALSO, Doug agreed to make a video with me for the blog next week, SO, we wanted to know what ya'll want to know about our business, sunglasses, and about us. We would love to hear your questions and be able to answer them here!! So, ask away!!

xo,

Beca

A Sleep Deprived Check-in

2012-02-09T00:34:00.007-06:00

It's been non-stop busy, busy around here, as you can see by the wall of orders behind me in these photos, my sleepy sleepy eyes and the constant flow of hot coffee + monster kisses. We are finally starting to get caught up. It took us a good month, but we're working 12 hours a day, sometimes more, and I am still loving it.

I am so excited with the incredible response to our giveaway! There is still a few more days to enter, but seriously, it's the raddest prize pack imaginable, so be sure you get a chance to win!

Hope y'all are having a great week so far!

xo,

Beca

Seven Days of Soup // Day Three // Cream of Broccoli

2012-02-07T13:39:00.002-06:00

Today is unofficially day three of my seven days of soup. I fooled y'all though, you thought when I said seven days of soup, they would be consecutive, but if you know me at all, you know I make my own rules when it comes to blogging. Yesterday was technically day 5 or 6 or something like that, but we'll call it day three and be okay with it. You can see day one and day two for other recipes and soup-related things.

Last night I threw together the best soup in the world. Cream of broccoli. Although the sweet potato soup was out of the world, cream of broccoli is kind of a staple and hard to mess up. Butter, garlic, cream, broccoli, celery, sharp cheddar cheese, soup stock and spices. That's it. Mix all the ingredients together in a big soup pot, and cook on high for 10 minutes. I put half of it in the food processor, mix together and serve. It's really good in a bread bowl, but I didn't feel up to making bread too, but when I have time, that's what I usually do.

It's comforting, and chock full of veggies. A great winter soup! Have you ever made cream of broccoli? Do you love it or hate it?

xo,

Beca

A Valentines Day Giveaway

2012-02-07T10:21:00.005-06:00

Hooray! It's a Valentines Day handmade giveaway! I am so excited about this! Valentines day is just around the corner and whether you expect a dozen roses and a diamond ring from your love, or plan on getting a pizza and a bag of candy hearts with a good romance movie, I wanted to offer another way for you to treat yourself.

The first prize you will be winning is the amazing "Love you Long Time" print from my dear friend Amy Morby. Amy is hosting a month long self love revolution, and you should pop on over and take a peek at what she is up to and start celebrating yourself during this month of love!

And the second part of this amazing prize pack is the newest treasure from the ever so lovely Susannah of Susannah Bean. The sweetheart headband is gorgeous and I can tell you right now, I want one for myself.

The third, yes third part of this amazing giveaway is from one of my favorite people in the entire world. Danielle from Dinosaur Toes is offering a pair of her hammered brass hoop earrings with ruby berry beads. These earrings are handmade in her studio and I can attest to the quality of her work, as I own a handful of pieces that I have had forever and still look like the day I got them!

And lastly, you can win this pair of sunglasses from us!! A red frame with our darkest ebony wood veneer. A beautiful match and perfect for the upcoming spring!

Here are the details! You must be a follower of this blog to enter, whether it be GFC or Bloglovin. You have until the 13th of February to enter. The more times you enter, the better chance you have to win!

Ways to win:

1. Leave a comment telling us your favorite way to treat yourself. Make sure you leave an email that we can contact you at.

2. Tweet "Im tweeting myself to a giveaway on @tumbleweedsshop blog for Valentines Day http://www.talesofatumbleweed.com/2012/02/valentines-day-giveaway.htm" Please leave a separate comment with your twitter handle and letting us know you tweeted.

3. Like Dinosaur Toes on facebook. Leave a separate comment after you do with a way to contact you.

4. Visit Amy's self love month and leave a comment saying you visited the blog.

5. Lastly, take a little tour of Ms. Susannah's shop and favorite your most loved item in her collection. Leave a comment linking up to your favorite item!

The winner will be announced on the morning of the 14th, and one of you will get the best V-day prize pack ever! Good luck!

xo,

Beca

Valentines Day Red Velvet Cake

2012-02-06T18:42:00.003-06:00

There are few ways to make a red velvet sweeter, but adding two drops of red coloring to the cream cheese frosting to make it slightly pink is one way! I felt like making a cake this afternoon when work was done, and since Doug loves red velvet, that's what I made, and just in time for valentines day.

I wanted to make a 10 or 15 layer cake, but I ended up only making 7. It was really awesome, I ate just a few bites. I'm about to walk out the door to go make dinner at Doug's mom's house. Back to the seven days of soup. I'm making cream of broccoli for day 3, I hope it comes out good.

xo,

Beca

Fanning Springs

2012-02-05T17:41:00.002-06:00

It's Sunday, and now that we live in God's country, we don't work on Sunday. Just kidding, we still work, but we took a little drive through the woods and ended up at Fanning Springs. We ate fried green tomatoes and walked through the woods looking for treasures.

I found a dog skull (sad,) a deer skull and a deer leg with the hair and hoof still attached (we left that in the woods though.) We also brought home some wood to make some sunglasses displays and stopped by the flea market too. I found another paint by numbers and bought some strawberries. Doug got too many treasures - fishing lures, an antler knife, and some other dude stuff.

We're headed over to his mom's house to watch The Slums of Beverly Hills and eat pickled beets for dinner. I know we have a full night of work ahead of us, so it will be nice to hang out for a bit.

How was your weekend?

xo,

Beca

A Little Happy

2012-02-04T22:30:00.002-06:00

Today was rough. We worked all morning to get our valentine's orders shipped, and then I took the afternoon slow and easy. It really is the little things, like making homemade soft pretzels, writing postcards to friends and reading a new book that make me feel so much joy, especially when I am feeling super crappy.

What's making you happy right now?

xo,

Beca

Homemade Apple Butter

2012-02-03T20:34:00.002-06:00

Sorry folks, no soup today. I'm not going to lie, today was our day off (and by day, I really do mean day, since we're working a full night) and I just didn't feel like making soup. We had to go into town this morning at 7am to pick up the puppy for the weekend, and needed to get new tires, go grocery shopping, and run a few errands while there. "Town" is about 45-50 minutes away from where we live, so when we go into town, we really go into town and get all of our ish done.

So in lieu of today's soup, which would have been cream of broccoli, I want to share with you one of my favorite things in the entire world. Apple Butter. I think apple butter is the best comfort food spread ever. Of course, you can buy apple butter in most grocery stores, but really, that $3.75 can be spent on a bag of red apples instead. Just add in a few cups of sugar (or sweetener) and cinnamon to your liking, and bam! Cheap alternative to other butters for your toast or muffin.

Here's the deets. 6-7 apples, sliced and de-seeded. Leave the middles out, of course, that wouldn't taste all that great. Throw those apples in a slow-cooker / crock-pot with a cup of sugar, a cup of water and let them cook on high for about 12 hours. Make sure you stir them every few hours so they don't stick or dry out.

Your apples should be browned and cooked through at this point, so for the next 4 hours, cook them on low/warm adding sugar and cinnamon to taste. At 16 hours, toss those cooked babies into the food processor and puree the heck out of them! You can jar it and keep in on the shelf, or put it in the fridge and enjoy it for a week or so.

I am getting back to answering the 10 million emails we got today. We are in the middle of some really interesting, to say the least, business negotiations and I am feeling all consumed by them. Happy Friday.

xo,

Beca

COCO-A

2012-02-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

The last time we dropped off an order for MCASD, the shop curator took us into the back room and showed us this little treasure. I knew I should have gotten it then, but we were saving up money to move and I was afraid that if I got them they would break while we were on the road, so I passed. What a mistake.

COCO-A makes the prettiest chocolate sets and I am pretty sure I'm going to treat myself to one of these antler sets asap. I love them so much I just had to share. You can get them here if you so feel inclined.

xo,

Beca

Save the Manatee Club

2012-02-02T17:46:00.004-06:00

{via Zen Threads}

This year, we decided that we want to give back. I have been scouring the internet for an organization that I feel strongly about donating to, and after having little to no success finding a good hunting dog rescue, and feeling leery about a few others, we came across the Save the Manatee Club here in Florida. I instantly knew this was the one I was looking for. I grew up coming to Florida several times a year and visited the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park with my family often. I have super fond memories of the sweet manatees.

We are so very excited to now donate $1 for every order placed in our shop. At the end of every month we will make a bulk donation to SMC. In January, we had 56 orders, and hope to double the amount we can donate for February! It doesn't take a lot of money to give back, and if you don't have the money, you can always donate time! 2012 is the year of giving back in any way you can!

{via Pat Rose}

Follow @savethemanatee on twitter or check out their website for more information on how you can help. You can also adopt a real manatee and you get a photo of them, and an option to visit them in their habitat! If you have never seen a manatee in real life, you should, because they are so gentle and majestic.

xo,

Beca & Doug

Seven Days of Soup // Day Two // Sweet Potato

2012-02-02T15:29:00.002-06:00

Today is day two of my seven days of soup project, you can check out day one here. I didn't have many plans for this soup, all I knew was that I wanted it to have sweet potato in it. Doug also requested some kind of meat. I took a peek at a few recipes online, but none of them really appealed to me so I just made it up as I went along. I spent $8.62 at the store for three sweet potatoes, a package of Georgia Boy Smoked Sausage, celery and carrots. I had cream, chicken stock, apples, brown rice and cinnamon at home.

I sauteed some garlic over butter, added about 2 cups of chicken stock, 2 cups of water (which may have been a little too much) and 3 cups of carrot, sweet potato and celery puree (with cream). I let that simmer for a minute while I chopped up sweet potatoes, celery, apples, and carrots. I threw those in the pot and let it cook for a good 45 minutes. I threw the sliced sausage in a frying pan with chopped apples and cinnamon, cooked it until it browned, and put that in the pot too. Lastly, i added brown rice and let is cook for another 10 minutes.

I can honestly say that this is the best soup I have ever had, in my whole life. I am about to go grab another bowl since I ate the first one so fast I burned my mouth. Also, I don't know if you can see my new pretty tea towel that I got as a Christmas gift from my sweet friend Danielle. She knows me and my love for dogs a little too well. I will probably end up being one of those old ladies with a million dog figurines around the house. Much to Doug's dismay, I'm sure. ;)

I got a new book today, The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf and I am excited to take a break from work to start it. I'm not going to do any more book reviews though. That last post stressed me out, and I don't think anyone is all that interested in hearing my opinion on books any how. That's fine with me, I'll stick to what I think I'm best at blogging about - cake, dogs, sunglasses and swamp adventures. Also, I keep trying to do outfit posts but it just isn't going to happen. I hated doing them in the past, and I'm just not a fashion blogger. That's that.

Hope yall had an excellent Thursday. I have to wake up super early to pick up the puppy for a weekend puppy-sitting adventure and I still have a full nights work ahead of me.

xo,

Beca

Book Review // The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing

2012-02-01T20:00:00.000-06:00

I recently finished reading The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank and before I share with yall my opinions of it, here is a quick synopsis. The book is centered around Jane and snippets of her life from being a 14 year old on the Jersey shore, to being a 30-something in the big city looking for love. It weaves in and out of her life, from her time spent with her brothers older girlfriend, to a teeth clenching weekend spend with her boyfriends ex, to a tumultuous relationship with an older man, to her final adventure with the supposed man of her dreams and two imaginary book authors misguiding her courting.

Honestly, the collections of stories left me wanting more semblance of a novel. And two random short stories thrown in the mix about a woman with cancer and a man who impregnates two women, were nothing short of confusing. I kept waiting for it all to come together. In the final story, the narrative voice changed so drastically that it felt like a completely different book. The title of the book didn't make sense until the last chapter and the last chapter was my least favorite.

I'm trying to be kind, because I have already heard that several people I know liked this book, so if you liked it, please don't take this personally, but it drove me crazy that there was no real story line. I wasn't rooting for Jane to find love, I was just annoyed that she was in a relationship with a crappy guy, and that she had a crappy job, and that the book was more about the relationship she has with her father and brother than anything else. If that's the case, don't make a book about relationships. Make it a book about a semi-normal family.

The only thing I really liked about this book was the way it was written. It is easy to read and draws you into the world the characters live. It took all of three evenings to read, in short moments and it wasn't unenjoyable, it just left me wanting a lot more and not really wanting anything at the same time.

Have you read this book? Did you love it or hate it? Why?? This is my first real attempt at a book review and I always try to stay neutral about things that may hurt someones feelings, but I want to be honest too. I hope I wasn't too harsh.

Happy Reading!

xo,

Beca

Seven Days of Soup // Day One // Vegetables and Rice

2012-02-01T12:24:00.002-06:00

Today is day one of my seven days of soup challenge. Each day this week, I will make a different soup for lunch. We are trying to stick to soups using only ingredients around the house. If we don't have the ingredients, I can spend up to $10 a day to get the ingredients, but the less money spent the better.

Day One // Vegetable and Rice

Day Two // Sweet Potato

Day Three // Cream of broccoli

Day Four // Russian Beet Borscht

Day Five // Split Pea

Day Six // Carrot and Lentil

Day Seven // Corn Chowder

Today I made a mixed vegetable, brown rice and Greek yogurt soup. I used a tomato base, added water and lots of vegetables including squash, potato, carrot, corn, broccoli, and cauliflower. I mixed in garlic powder, salt, pepper and basil until it tasted right, cooked it on high for almost an hour, added brown rice and Greek yogurt and cooked it another 10 minutes until the rice was done. Topped it with a spoonful of Greek yogurt and enjoyed!

Whats you favorite kind of soup? Do you make it often? I would love to hear more about your soup making experiences! Now it's back to work for me.

xo,

Beca

Dress to Impress

2012-01-31T08:51:00.003-06:00

We were recently given an opportunity to be part of the Dress to Impress project. The best part is, taken from Suz's website is that "All donated items—from shoes to handbags to jewelry—will be donated to Dress for Success® of Southern Maine, a non-profit organization that provides women in need with suits, accessories, and a great big confidence boost to help in their own career development." We were so excited to partner up with dozens of other companies, including L.L. Bean, for such a great project.

Jump on over to the website and take a peek at all of Suz's stylings! I am sort of dying over todays look, the final look of the project, because those L.L. Bean boots are screaming my name.

We are also taking on another cause to donate to, once it is finalized, I'll fill yall in with the details!

xo,

Beca

Handmade Bowie Knife

2012-01-30T15:37:00.003-06:00

+ D O U G ' S H A N D M A D E B O W I E K N I F E +

Despite common belief, we don't just make sunglasses, although sunglasses take up so much of our time that we don't really have much free time to work on new projects. However, when we went to the ace hardware this morning, I talked Doug into getting a blank blade to start building a handle around, since most of the work needed to be done today was my work. I got busy, and Doug started digging through our wood pile to find a good piece of cedar to use. It's hard to believe that the knife started as just a
Bowie Blade
and became something so incredible.

The handle started out looking like this gnarly piece above, and as I passed in and out of our sun room working on frames and packing up orders, and what looked like nothing, started slowing turning into something.

Doug is insanely creative and within a good hour, the handle was already taking shape and looking all kinds of beautiful. I took some photos of the final product. What a sight to behold. And of course, our house smelled like little bunnies all day because of the cedar.

My friend Danielle sent me those pretty beads a long time ago, and I have been saving them for something really special, and this knife is really, really special. I feel like this is something that we can keep forever.

I spent all day today working in the shop, puppy-sitting and doing taxes (ahhhh) and all three of those things give me something to share. First of all, despite anything that I have written that seems like I am down on working right now, I love what we do. I love the final product and I love our company and the business morals we stand by. I am not so great at communicating with customers, but you have to remember, I get a dozen emails a day about our shop, if not more, so I am getting a lot of practice.

Secondly, having a puppy around a few days a week (we watched Kaida aka poptart while Mo was at work today) is really fun but it makes me appreciate my dogs so much. For example, today Ollie was running around the front yard, we still don't have a fence and up runs these gnarly big dogs, and Ollie was a perfect gentleman. He listened, and ran inside, and he didn't mess with the other dogs. I was beaming with pride. After the incident with Poptart...er, Kaida, the first day we had her, I have been a little worried about Ollie. He's a good boy, but i want to be able to trust him.

And third, doing your own taxes when you own your own business is insane and I am glad that they are done, but I am exhausted. Totally and completely exhausted!

It's past midnight and we are actually going to bed early tonight (er, earlier than normal) so have a good Monday night! I should be back with part one of our home tour tomorrow! The Florida room aka my front porch aka my favorite place in our house!)

xo,

Beca

Run for your Life

2012-01-30T11:32:00.002-06:00

+ M O T I V A T E +

I've kind of been crazy for getting healthy lately. Not in a "I only eat green food and run 100 miles a day" kind of way, but in a Weight Watchers (I lost 6 pounds!) and getting out and romping through the woods kind of way. And I am not going to lie, if I could wear my rain boots every where, I would, but it just isn't practical. Especially for bike riding and dog walking and the like. I've been spending a lot of time perusing the internet for women's athletic shoes that are great for running and I though I would share them with y'all because I know I am not the only one who needs to be smarter about running shoes.

Puma Geselle Stud Shoes

Keds Champion Wooly Sneakers

Nike Air Pegasus Trail Sneakers

I have so many favorites, but I could die a happy lady if I had those three shoes. And maybe I would be more inclined to run, walk and bike rather then trench through the swamp if I had a more diverse selection!!

What shoes do you use for working out? Why do you love them?

xo,

Beca

Sign Painting

2012-01-29T22:14:00.004-06:00

Doug and I helped his sister make a big, giant crab sign for the fiddler crab festival coming up next month! I didn't do any other construction, but I did the lettering and the banner! I've never made a sign before, so it's pretty darn cool.

{Kaida helped dig the fire pit for our house today, too. She's a great helper!}

What do you think of our neat crab sign!?! Oh yeah, also, we're having a booth/pop-up shop at the festival and I'm pretty stoked. It's actually a pretty huge festival and I'm excited to be a part of it!

xo,

Beca

The Steinhatchee Falls, A Puppy & A Birthday Cake

2012-01-28T22:59:00.005-06:00

We took a break today to go digging in the falls for fossils, teeth and other treasures. The falls may be one of my favorite places in Steinhatchee now. It's so pretty. We plan on shooting our lookbook here in February.

I was also informed that this "town" we live in isn't even an incorporated town, so it's really just a village. Isn't that crazy!? I love it!

Also, you may or may not know by now that we rescued a puppy in a thunderstorm last week, cleaned her, de-fleaed her and found a permanent home for her with Doug's amazing Niece. She came to visit today with the puppy (who she named Kaida) and in a week, this little pup already looks world of different.

And last but not least, I was asked to make a birthday cake for Doug's second, or third, cousin's 1st birthday party. I made a big 18" round cake and a little mini for the baby. I had a lot of fun making them. I was asked at the party this afternoon to make a monster truck cake in a few weeks, and that will be a blast! Sorry for the crappy photo, I accidentally left the camera at home.

Hope you had a great Saturday! We have a full day of work tomorrow, which I am actually really looking forward to!

xo,

Beca

Recent Junk Store Finds

2012-01-27T15:50:00.002-06:00

I've been infected with some awful stomach flu for the past 2 days, and today I was able to drink a coffee without puking, although lunch was another story. I'm pretty drained, but I did muster up the energy to edit some photos from the other day.

Paint by Numbers Impalas $4 // Paint by Numbers Deer $1 // Vintage Hat Collection $6 // Moving Cards $.10 for 10 // Stamp Kit $.50 // Vintage Ray-Ban Sunglasses $1

We have been doing a lot of junking lately. Nobody seems to know what they have out here, or at least don't care much for what we think is special. We got a pretty 1940s pharmacy bureau today that will be my next project. Well, I'm back to bed. I keep trying to work and keep messing things up, so I am giving in to the sickness and just going to sleep.

What have you found lately?

xo,

Beca

Covet III

2012-01-26T09:01:00.002-06:00

+ THE WRITTEN WORD +

{via Quill and Fox}

{via Somethings Hiding in Here}

{via Knot and Bow}

{via Lilimandrill}

{via Hello lucky Press}

xo,

Beca

SWEETHEART SALE

2012-01-25T20:53:00.002-06:00

From now until February 3rd, all zebra wood sunglasses will be $50 for valentines day!

Happy love!

xo,

Beca & Doug

Scratch and Sniff Sticker Fun

2012-01-25T12:08:00.002-06:00

Four years ago, Doug came to Florida to visit his family, we had only been dating for a few months, but I missed him so much, and when he called to tell me he got me a little present, I was stoked, to say the least. I picked him up at the airport and on the car ride home, he told me to check his carry on. In it was a sealed pack of vintage scratch and sniff stickers. Strawberry Pie to be exact. I knew at that moment that it was meant to be. I used all of them, stuck them to everything that I owned, and they reminded me of him all the time.

Last night, we went for dinner at his mom's house, and his sister pulled out three more packs of those same stickers, but in hot dog, cheese and fresh air scents. I lost my shit! They are so neat, I wanted to share with all yall the different ways you can use vintage scratch and sniff stickers, if you're ever lucky enough to get your hands on them!

+ STICK THEM TO YOUR DOG +

+ STICK THEM ON YOUR BOYFRIEND +

+ WRITE A LETTER TO A FRIEND +

+ SHOW A TREE SOME LOVE +

+ MAKE A BOOK MARK +

+ DON'T FORGET YOUR TOOTHPASTE +

+ SAY HI IN A FUN NEW WAY +

This little break from work put a smile on my face and I hope it put one on your face too. I have so much work to do today, but there is always time to goof off with stickers. Get your own HERE, HERE or HERE!

And if you're really wondering, the hot dog stickers do not smell good. They don't smell like hot dogs either, but they're still really fun!

xo,

Beca

Stars, Spring, and on Being Overwhelmed.

2012-01-24T23:36:00.004-06:00

+ SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE +

{The original source to this is broken, so if you took this, rad!}

Since our move, I have had to adjust to a number of different feelings that I am not really accustomed to. We really do live in the middle of nowhere. The only noises I hear at night are distant gunshots, and stray dog barks in the dark. It is quiet and when I walk out onto my front porch into the night air, and look up, the sky is larger and heavy with thousands of stars I never knew existed. I wonder now how a person goes for so long not knowing each and every one of those stars exist.

We have become overwhelmed with our small business. I know that it is just about every small business owners dream that their business "blows up" and they have too much to handle, but I can only be 100% truthfully honest, it's really hard. I have been living with a constant knot in my chest, and the stacks of shipping boxes are looming. I said daunting earlier when describing how it feels to be this overwhelmed. I am scared we will never catch up. And not only that, but we have had back ups with all of our suppliers. It takes about a week longer than before to get EVERYTHING. And well, i'm just not used to it. So adjusting has been a slow process. I keep asking for understanding from customers, and I keep saying hurry to our suppliers, but today was a little too much.

I think it's safe to say that I am not the only one. I have been with Doug long enough to read him, to hear his silence, and we sure are working hard to keep work from smothering us. Working to work. I am excited to focus on our spring collection, in which we will be more concerned with unique, ready to ship pieces, rather than made to order items. It will be a game changer.

I just wanted to share some thoughts. I am here. I am full of worry and a heavy heart, but I am here. We are working. The stars are so dang bright.

xo,

Beca

Giveaway // Cateye Sunglasses on Amy Morby's Blog

2012-01-24T16:05:00.002-06:00

+ G O O D L U C K +

Pop on over to my pal Amy's blog to win a pair of our cateye sunglasses. They will be the last pair of zebra cateyes we will ever make, at least for a while, as we're releasing some new cateye styles in the spring!

SPRING 2012 COLLECTION // Sneak peek

2012-01-24T11:11:00.001-06:00

+ S P R I N G 2 0 1 2 +

I know that it's vague, but here is our announcement for our 2012 spring collection. Let's just say we are focusing on the natural world. Dark woods and turquoise, women's shapes, more diverse styles and limited collections in a range of prices. You will see what you don't expect and there will be, of course, many of our most popular wood choices like mahogany and walnut with a breath of new life put in them.

I have included a button below for you to share. We are anticipating March 2nd as our release date, but that is subject to change. I can't wait to introduce a whole line of ready-to-ship items and not just sunglasses, although, of course, our wooden veneered sunglasses will be the focus.

B E B O L D

2012-01-24T10:27:00.003-06:00

We made a new pair of zebra wood sunglasses for the shop, and they are available, ready to ship TODAY! They are made in a patchwork style and are pretty bold! Perfect for spring!

You can find them here.

Also, come back later today for a little sneak peek of our Spring 2012 collection.

xo,

Beca

Six Tips to Making the Perfect Quiche + A Trusted Recipe

2012-01-23T13:19:00.004-06:00

+ Q U I C H E +

I love making quiche. It's easy and healthy and can be made with about one million different ingredients. But, in the past when I have posted photos or blogged about quiches I have made, people ask me about my crust recipe, how to bake the quiche through and how to spice it. I thought it was about time I shared a few of my simple little secrets to making the perfect quiche.

A quiche is a savory egg pie...an omelet with a crust. This morning I made a broccoli cheddar quiche, a staple in this household. To start, you need a good solid pie crust recipe. Pie dough can be daunting. But don't immediately go for the packaged pie crust when you can just as easily make an amazing pie crust yourself.

+ P I E C R U S T +

For a really flaky pie crust, you only need four ingredients. Sour cream, salt, butter and flour. To make one pie crust:

2.5 cups of all purpose flour

8 oz of sour cream

8 oz (or about 2 sticks) of unsalted , softened butter

1 TSP salt

Put all of your ingredients in your food processor and mix them until they form a ball. Flour your ball and knead briefly to combine all ingredients fully. Gramma says that a few chunks of butter are okay because they will just melt into your crust when you bake it. MOST IMPORTANTLY, chill your pie crust for at least 20 minutes before you roll it out. If you dont, it won't retain it's shape and you will get one melty mess on your hands.

+ I N G R E D I E N T S +

Quiches should be easy!! I know, that is so counter-intuitive to baking and cooking, but really, they should be so gosh darn easy it hurts! A simple throw together meal when you have a hodge podge of ingredients in your fridge and a hungry houseful of skateboarders (usually my case.) This is my go-to quiche recipe is easy, and it's also tip #2!

5 eggs (or 8-9 egg whites)

1.5 cups of heavy whipping cream

About 2 cups of cheese

2 cups of bulk ingredient (today it was broccoli, but this is where you can get creative)

pinch full of salt and pepper. Be generous, it will balance out the sweetness of the cream.

Whisk together well and pour evenly into your already rolled out pie crust. Tip #3, I always add slices of cheese to the top of the quiche to give it that extra oompf with a sprinkle of pepper to the crust. Tip #4; you can make your quiche healthier by using egg whites, but don't skimp on the heavy cream. It is what makes your quiche full and balanced. I suppose you could use half and half, but I don't think it's the same.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. If your quiche is still jiggly in the middle, it needs more time. I like my crust extra crispy so I don't cover it, but you can cover the edges of your pie with tin foil to keep it from getting to crunchy. Tip #5, rotate your quiche from the top rack to the bottom rack after about 15 minutes. Since heat rises, you quiche will bake at a lower temp and be solid all the way through with out drying out.

And lastly, tip #6, if your quiche seems on the edge of being done but your knife just isn't coming out clean, turn your over off, leave the door shut and let your quiche slow bake for 8-10 more minutes! Viola! Quiche!

A few other helpful hints, if you took your quiche out of the oven too soon but didn't check it until it was sitting out for a while, you can always pop it into the microwave (if you used a glass pie pan like me, which I suggest anyways,) and nuke it. The eggs will bind together and you won't get a runny quiche!

A few awesome quiche combos: Chicken sausage, pear and brei // broccoli cheddar // roasted red pepper and feta // mushroom, tomato and swiss // Broccoli, spinach, basil and mozzarella.

Back to work for me, happy baking!

xo,

Beca

A Review of our Littles from Lisa of Good Knits

2012-01-22T21:58:00.004-06:00

+ So here is a little secret +

A long time ago, I wanted to learn how to crochet a heart. I wasn't into blogging much yet, I had a blog but it was just a private place for me to write. I googled "Cute Crochet Project" and managed to stumble across Lisa's blog Good Knits. I loved all of her projects, and although I love crocheting, I am not very good at it so it was nice to see someone not in their 90s so good at crocheting (and knitting.)

Flash forward to November of this year (and this is still a secret from Lisa, so don't laugh!) I received an order for a pair of mahogany sunglasses and when I saw who the order was from I sort of totally fanned out for a second. I'm not going to lie, I was even more stoked to get an order from Lisa than I was to get an order from a star of MTV's The Hills. I'm 100% serious.

So, a few weeks ago, Lisa posted a little photo on Twitter of her sweet child wearing those sunglasses, and a light bulb went off. I have been trying to get some reviews of our baby glasses because, well, it's just kind of out of our realm. Do they fit. Are they cute? Are the durable? Are they worth the price? Those are the questions I ask myself, but since I am childless, I don't have that mothers perspective.

Well, Lisa was happy to oblige and you can check out the little review she and her little one did of our baby sunglasses on her blog!

xo,

Beca

A Photo an Hour - January Edition

2012-01-22T14:37:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I did a photo an hour. Or more like a photo every few hours, since I spent a lot of time working and on the phone with AT&T. {The worst internet provider of all time, but we don't really have any other options out in the boonies.} So here is a peek at our Saturday.

8am Cinnabon Coffee

9am-11am Dealing with AT&T

12pm dressed (bag // Dinosaur Toes)

1pm A walk to the Post Office

2pm Visiting Doug's old stomping grounds

3pm A late lunch of homemade Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

4pm Working

5pm-8pm More Work

9pm Watching Shutter Island

11pm The most insane bubble bath of my life, like an out of control washing machine.

It may be kind of a boring, slow life. But I love it! What did you do yesterday? Do you post A Photo an Hour blog posts? I would love to see them! Link up to me in the comments!

xo,

Beca

Welcome to Steinhatchee

2012-01-22T09:15:00.002-06:00

I am sure at some point you're going to get sick of me posting photos of the woods and the swamp, but my dear sweet friends, that's just about all there is to look at out here, and it sure is prettier than looking at freeways and buildings. I haven't had a chance until now to share a little about the place we are currently living. We ARE still moving to Tennessee, but made a last minute decision to stay in Steinhatchee, Florida for a few months to be closer to our families and get a lot of work done.

Steinhatchee is pretty small, and for comparison, it is a quarter of the size of the high school I went to in Phoenix, a whooping 1200 people. There is an ace hardware, a jiffy gas station, Maddys grocery store, a post office (with quite erratic hours) and a handful of bar/cafes. Oh and there is a Hungry Howie's Pizza with wifi. We're talking big city! Steinhatchee is a fishing town, and hunting mecca. There are more hunting dogs than people (more on that later) and it is just about as beautiful as you can ask for out here. I spend most of my time wearing rain boots and when we're not working on sunglasses, we're tromping around the woods.

Our road isn't paved, we don't have trash pick-up, or mail delivery. There is a closed down fish market across the street, and lots of stray animals. It's been really neat so far experiencing an entirely new place, so opposite from San Diego and Tucson, and I love it. I can't wait to share more of our adventures in Steinhatchee, and then Chattanooga!

xo,

Beca

Quiet as Mice

2012-01-17T17:33:00.002-06:00

I am so sorry for my silence the last week or so. We made it to Florida and are settled in our new temporary home, but we are so far out into the woods that it takes the rest of the world a little longer to get to us, including the internet. We should be up and running in a few days, but until then, here is a mini update. This is where we live.

Have you missed me? I've missed you!

xo,

Beca

Our Day in Pensacola

2012-01-07T00:25:00.001-06:00

+ B R E A K F A S T +

This morning, Doug and I woke up super early and took the boys for a good walk to the docks. They love Florida already and I do too. I've never been to Pensacola before, I am kind of in love. It was so heavy with fog this morning and it felt so nice to just hang out with the pups. Doug's Mom is severely allergic to dogs, so they can't stay in the house, and lord only knows those boys of ours are spoiled rotten, so you can imagine how sad they are to have to stay in the back room. They have been extra excited to go for walks.

Doug's stepdad wanted Krispy Kreme, so we took the car down to the corner store and got donuts for breakfast. Normally I would have eaten a few, but I only had one. I'm trying, friends, I am trying so damn hard. But I had my cup of coffee and one lemon donut and I felt good. I have been really good about entering in my meals into weight watchers, it helps there is an app. Please excuse my broken phone screen, I dropped it, AGAIN, and Doug hasn't had time to fix it yet.

+ J U N K I N G +

I never thought I would say this, but I am all junked out. I cant go thrifting again, even if somebody paid me. Doug's mom and cousin took us out, and boy, oh boy, they thrift like it's a sport, and I think we went to about 15 stores today. I left every single one of them with a bag of stuff. I am going to dedicate a post to it next week once we have internet set up in our house. I miss thrifting in the south, it's a whole new ball game. YAWL have no idea.

+L U N C H +

We ate lunch at The Oar House, which you can imagine made Doug and I giggle. Regardless of the name, it was really good. I had a crab cake burger and fries, which were perfect. After lunch we did a lot more thrifting, laughing and driving around Pensacola. Doug and I leave tomorrow morning for Steinhatchee and will finally be home, at least for a month or so. I can't wait to get settled and back to work. It has been so very nice spending time with Dougie's mom and family.

What does your weekend look like? If you blog about it, leave me a link, I would love to read about your adventures!

xo,

Beca

Covet II

2012-01-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

So many lovely things to C O V E T in the interworld right now.

{I just couldn't help myself. Rebekka Seale}

{Pendelton, you have such pretty prints.}

{Bueno Bueno antler key necklace, I die.}

{Plum Patchwork, from our shop. I want a pair of my own!}

{Lisa Congdon}

{Old Made Good Gold Antler}

What are you coveting right now?

xo,

Beca

Gypsy Blood

2012-01-05T21:24:00.004-06:00

This cross country moving adventure has been nothing short of amazing. Despite leaving San Diego with a slightly bad taste in my mouth, I have really good memories from the time we lived there, and no matter, when people move on and do other things, it can only be for the best. I am so thankful that Doug decided to move us south and so far, my goal to be more positive has been successful. I am really trying to avoid all of the negativity that can seep into our everyday lives and stay as positive and thankful every moment of everyday.

After we visited Tucson, we headed east and didn't really stop for more than an hour until Houston. Once there, we made the big decision to grab a hotel room and spoil ourselves for a night. This has been kind of a vacation, anyways. We worked up until the 24th, and I am itching to get back in the workshop. We have SO MUCH to do! Looks like Saturday morning we'll be able to get back to work and I am thankful for all of our customers being so understanding. WE LOVE YOU!

Alright, Back to Houston. I didn't really like Houston the first 10 minutes we were there, it reminded me of Phoenix, but as soon as we got away from all the concrete, I liked it a lot more. It's pretty and old. We stayed at the La Quinta, on the suggestion of my pal Danielle, since they are 100% pet friendly with no deposit or crazy contract. They didn't blink an eye when we came in with three dogs, and the rates were pretty affordable. We ordered a pizza and watched cable TV, and it felt so good to do nothing at all. Speaking of pizza, I joined Weight Watchers the day we left Arizona, which was kind of stupid to try to start WW on the third day of our road trip, but at least it was able to show me how horrible I ate on our trip. BUT, since we got into Pensacola, I have been doing really good!! I may keep up with the progress on here, if you're interested. We'll see.

After a very comfortable night in Houston, we woke up early and met up with Brandi and Kelly of Bueno Bueno for breakfast at a little cafe called Brasil. It was really good, and Kelly and Brandi just may be the sweetest, genuine girls ever! I'm glad we may the time to get the best waffles in the world with them!

{I can't for the life of me take a good goddamn photo, so just pretend I am as photogenic as those girls!}

The rest of the day was pretty monotonous. We drove through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida in one day, and it was kind of a blur. Most of the photos I shot were of the dogs being super cute. I have to say, not to brag or anything, but our animals have been exceptionally good during this trip and mostly sleep during the car ride. They get really excited when they get out of the van, and run like crazy, but besides that, no car sickness, no craziness. The only problem is that the cat peed on a few pieces of vintage clothes, but whatever, we'll just double wash them. Life with the cat, right?

We stopped in this little tiny town on the border of Texas and Louisiana at a crazy flea market. One of the sellers was sitting next to a big ol' box marked "CD;s" and he told Doug to take a peek in the box and see the CD's he had for sale. When Doug opened the box a big, giant fake snake jumped out at him. I have never seen Doug jump so high before.

We had a waffle for breakfast, and then at 10pm, found ourselves at a waffle house in Pascagoula, Mississippi where the employees smoked cigarettes at the back booth and gossiped about work related drama in deep southern drawls. It was wonderful. Can you tell how tired we were? Seriously exhausted.

We're now in Pensacola at Doug's Mom's house for the next day. Dougie is fast asleep and I am on my way. It has been a long, exhausting journey, but really friends, it has been the beginning of the most exciting adventure of my whole life. I couldn't be happier, and am looking forward to the rest of 2012. The last 5 days have taken the cake.

Thanks for sharing this journey with me and sticking around for 2012.

xo,

Beca

Guest Post // Danielle from Dinosaur Toes

2012-01-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

Hi guys! Beca had asked me to do a guest post on how i get motivated to run, and really, my motivation is these three simple things: shoes, health, vanity.

Shoes. I know it may seem weird to find motivation in something as boring as running shoes, but there's a reason! for months and months i ran in a pair of new balance running shoes that i'd had since the dawn of time. or, more precisely, since about 9 years ago. i know that running shoes should be replaced a minimum of once every 5 years depending on usage, but staying true to my cheapskate nature, i couldn't bring myself to get a new pair of shoes until the soles fell off of those. i noticed after i'd run that the tops of my feet would hurt, especially when i'd take a step, and it felt as if someone was dropping a bowling ball on my feet. a few weeks later, when the pain had gotten even worse, i started to see this bruise appear from my toes almost up to my ankle, spanning the entire width of my foot. my sister the nurse swore to me that i had metatarsal stress fractures, and that i HAD to stop running for a while. i did, and i didn't like it. enter The Shoes.

i decided that if i wanted to run at all without ruining my feet, i'd need a new pair of shoes. if you've ever looked for running shoes you'll know that there are about 1,592,308 different pairs to choose from, so i really didn't know where to start. just as i was starting to feel deflated because everything was either too expensive or not stocked in my size, i saw them. The Shoes. i tried them on, jumped around, jogged on the treadmill in the store and knew that those babies would be MINE! when i say that i feel like i'm running on a cloud, i'm not exaggerating. my running shoes are so comfortable and such a good fit for my foot and neutral pronation that i really want to run! and i feel like i can go further!

health. beca and i have a shared love for deep fried food and coca-cola (i think it's because of our southern nature) which we discuss at length, and i'm not afraid to admit it. i know it isn't the healthiest guilty pleasure, but i also know that i include physical activity into my life to burn it off. in addition to sweating off my french fries, i also like to work on sweating off excess body fat. i'm in close contact with a couple of people who've remained stagnant for so long that even something as simple as walking across a room leaves them breathless and gasping for air, and i refuse to let that be me. whether i jog a half of a mile or three and a half miles, i feel a great sense of accomplishment because i know i'm doing something beneficial for my heart, my lungs, and my vitality in general.

vanity. i'd be lying if i said that i didn't want to look hot - for my husband, as well as for me and my self-esteem. while i know i'll never have a smokin' hot and toned supermodel body, as long as i can stay in shape enough to continue wearing my favorite bikini, then i'm happy.

i was on the track team for several years when i was in school, so i learned a few things between sprained ankles and screaming coaches. if you're thinking about starting to run, here's some info that may help you:

1. when you start, don't try to set records. it's more about building your endurance that winning races. start off running at a comfortable pace for just a couple minutes and then follow that with a brisk walk. each time you run, try to add on 30 seconds or a minute to your running to build your endurance.

2. figure out your foot type, and whether you're an underpronator, neutral pronator, or overpronator and find a pair of shoes that will work with you instead of against you. seriously, this will make all the difference in the world.

3. don't just start running! be sure to stretch for a few minutes before you start as well as after you finish. also, there's nothing wrong with walking for a few minutes to get warmed up a little before you start running.

4. don't run everyday. if you run more than 3 or 4 times a week it can be harmful to your body, so on your days off, either relax and recuperate or try crunches, jumping jacks or other bodyweight exercises.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks Danielle! We all need a little inspiration in the new year! You can visit Danielle's blog here!

xo,

Beca

PS, I wanted to share my favorite running commercial. It makes me laugh every time!

Tohono O'odham Swap Meet // Tucson

2012-01-03T22:03:00.002-06:00

I knew that when we started making plans to move across country and would be going through Tucson that we had to make a stop at our favorite swap meet. The Tohono O'Odham swap meet is on West Drexel and Westover, on the south side of Tucson, and I kid you not, I have never left this place empty handed. EVER.

+ S W A P M E E T +

+ O U R F R I E N D S I D +

I am mostly happy about getting to visit with our friend Sid. He is a pretty incredible human being who I have missed more than most everyone in Tucson. We met Sid by being regulars to his little shop at the swap meet. He has all kinds of amazing treasures, jewelry making tools and oddities. For some reason, he took to us and we took to him. It was a weekly treat to visit Sid at his booth while we lived in Tucson.

This last visit, I picked out the incredible ring in the photo above. I can't remember what kind of stone it is, but it reminds me of a paint by number sunset and I love it. Sid also gave me a beautiful necklace his wife, Fawn, made in the 70s. Doug left with a silver and Turquoise ring that Sid made many years ago, and a jar full of Turquoise bits for marquetry. We got to visit with him and his daughter, and leave with treasures, as always. If you visit the Tohono O'Odham swap meet, be sure to find Sid's booth, it's the one with the school bus!

+ F O O D +

Our favorite lunch after the swap meet in Tucson is Guilin on Speedway and Country Club. It's healthy Chinese food, and just about everything on the menu can be made vegetarian or vegan. I always get Mongolian Beef, but you know, I am a creature of habit.

Hope you're enjoying the guest posts so far. There are still a few left. We are currently in a little hotel in Houston for the night. We are both itching to get back to work. So much to do! But don't worry, if you have a pending order, it will be in the mail early next week!

xo,

Beca

Guest Post // Danielle from Just About Anywhere Pt. 2

2012-01-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

Hey, welcome to the second part of my roadtrip from S.F. to D.C. with my mansy, Andrew, and our two cats in our 1984 Chevy Cavalier. So at this point we're in the middle of Texas. After stopping in San Antonio we didn't want to stop again until we got to New Orleans.
We did go through Houston which was big and shiny.

This building with the windows did pop out at me from afar. I decided if I were forced to live in Houston, I'd have to live there.

We drove and drove and drove. The landscape went from flat and dry and dust devily

To lush and swampy...

Louisiana! Somewhere neither of us had been before.

We stayed in New Orleans. Note, if you're driving across the country with pets and want to stay in a semi cheap hotel that doesn't have crazy pet deposits/rules, La Quinta Inns are the bessssst! The one in New Orleans was reasonable, super nice and kind of posh. Like my mom would stay there it's so dang clean and modern.

We stayed near the French Quarter where we hung out the night we got in. It was alright, I'm not huge on crowds of drunk people though so we kind of called it an early night. It was nice being able to carry cups of booze around in the streets though!

The next day we went through the garden row and ended up in what I guess is like the college town part. I can't remember what the neighborhood was called but it was really cute with lots of little boutiques, cafes and non drunk tourists.

Downtown reminded me of SF with it's cable cars, palm trees and mix of old + new architecture.

We also drove through the area that had been affected by Hurricane Katrina. Not to get all political but it made me pretty sad and angry that even after so many years, people are still totally homeless and displaced because of it.

At some point we had to continue our way up the east coast. Not without a pit stop, this is our car with our luggage and skateboards piled up!

Went through Mississippi and Alabama and stopped in Tennessee where Beca and Doug are moving to!! Chattanooga!! Almost ten years ago I had spent a night in Chattanooga on tour with the band I was in and loved it sooooo much that I made Andrew promise to stop there. I don't seem to have many photos but if you're in Chattanooga you gotta find the Stone Cup for nice people + good coffee. It's in a cute part of town (again) with lots of little shops and boutiques and this thing!

My only regret is not going to Dollywood but 1) it was really expensive and 2) we figured out how to sneak in but didn't know what to do with the cats :( I'll just have to go visit Beca and make that happen!

The trip is almost over I swear. From TN we went to visit Andrew's sister in Lexington, Kentucky. I love Kentucky and have spent a lot of time in Louisville but never Lexington. We had a good couple of days off from driving, hiking with his nephew and taking pictures of things like this MANOWAR street sign!! They're one of my favorite bands so that sign made me pretty happy.

Hiking!

Old things in the woods!

From Lexington, our last place of rest was umm somewhere in West Virginia. Where it snowed (in late March) and Andrew had to drive in it for the first time ever (he's from SF).

The rest of our drive was uneventful and looked a lot like this:

Oh east coast ...

Thanks for reading and thanks to Beca for letting me share so many photos! If you want to see more, you can view the whole set on my Flickr ... Beca, I hope you, Doug and the doggies have a safe and fun trip!! Can't wait to be on the same coast as y'all.

Guest Post // Danielle from Just About Anywhere Pt. 1

2012-01-02T08:00:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone! This is Danielle/Dizzle from just about anywhere and I'm stoked that Beca asked me to guest post while she's travelling across the country (to move closer to meee!). The first thing I thought of was my own road trip with my mansy and our two cats in our 1985 Chevy Cavalier wagon from San Francisco to Washington D.C. It was my first but hopefully not last drive across the country and sooo much fun. I'm really excited to see the pictures Beca and Doug will have from their trip and wanted to share some of mine with y'all. This is the first half of our trip from S.F. to San Antonio. Hope you enjoy it!

We stopped in LA first to visit some family but have no pictures. I would like to say you should totally go play the old pinball machines at Choke moped shop if you're ever there.

From there we drove and ended up stopping in Needles, CA on the edge of California and Arizona. It was a super tiny town with abandoned motels and amusement parks.

Then headed to AZ because my mansy wanted me (and the cats) to see the Grand Canyon before we left the west coast.

It was the prettiest hole in the ground I've ever seen.

We stayed in Phoenix across the street from a jail and a strip club in a seedy motel where I had to prop the chair up against the door cos it didn't lock. Oh the life!

Uhh no offense to Phoenix but this "we buy gold" sign was the highlight of our trip.

I slept through New Mexico and have no pictures unfortunately. My mansy says it was really pretty :(

Went down to El Paso where we found nice people, decent coffee and pretty architecture. Plus we got to see some SF painters up on freights!

Our cat, Shekwafae taking a peek at the scenery.

I think we plan on living here some day.

I kind of really loved driving through west Texas, totally different landscape from what I grew up on in D.C.! I want to drive through Texas again but next time in an El Camino blasting metal with a ciggarrette dangling from my mouth. Maybe a big hat too...

You may be asking why we went through Texas instead of straight across. We had to stop in San Antonio to visit my mansy's momma!! We stayed for four days, relaxing, doing touristy things like the River Walk and driving around a lot just looking at neighborhoods. We found great coffee i+ nice people in Elmos Park at a shop called Elmos Perk.

We went to the Alamo but the inside wasn't open when we were there. Note the iced americano on the windowsill. Yeah, just so you know that is NOT okay!

The dude in the middle is the one who informed us of that.

Here's another place we want to live one day. I really love old abandoned buildings.

And cute victorian houses.

Driving across the US you see a lot of this

But only in Texas have I seen this!

Come back to see the second part!

The Kitschen

2012-01-01T20:51:00.000-06:00

I discovered that Jes, an old friend of mine, and one of my past baker girls has a new little etsy shop that is worth a check out - it's called The Kitschen and it full of super rad cake stands and vintage kitchen wares.

Take a peek and happy baking in this new year!

xo,

Beca

Guest Post // Chelsea from Walk With me Darling

2012-01-01T16:22:00.003-06:00

Hi there, we made it to Doug's Dad's house in eastern Arizona and are posting up for the night. We spent the last few days in Tucson in our old house, which is empty now, and had a pretty wonderful visit. I hope yall are loving the guest posts. I had this scheduled up to post yesterday, but for some reason it didn't, BUT it's too great of a guest post to pass on so here it is, a little guest post from my great pal Chelsea.

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Hello, friends! I know there will be a lot of New Year’s Eve parties this weekend. If you’re anything like me, you want to do everything you see on Pinterest and throw the best party New Year’s Eve has ever seen. Well, let’s face it. That’s most likely not going to happen on my non-existent party budget and all of that free time I already don’t have. So I’ve rounded up some simple party ideas:

1. 2. 3.

I think the best ideas when throwing any sort of party is to just pick a few ideas that you love. Be realistic- know your budget and time limitations. From there, just remember to enjoy it! I hope everyone has a safe and fun New Years!

-Chelsea

A Day in my Four Legged Life // Vol. 3

2011-12-31T08:01:00.000-06:00

Hi! I’m Penny and my mom is Stina from Honewild. At least, I think that’s my name. Mom also calls me Pie, Noodles, The Crazy, Pennerson… I hear people say I might be a Min Pin, Pug, Dachshund or Chihuahua cross. Mom explains to strangers that I am a “Rescue” and Dad tells them “It’s a Dog.” They also call me a sausage, bat ears and little brown dog. I think I might be having an identity crisis.

Anyhow, I’m here to tell you all about my exciting day a few weeks ago! I got lots of yummy food from everyone. It all started at Dad’s parents house on Sunday night. I always get good treats there. I stood below the big guy and yummy things fell from the sky.

The next day I didn’t want to get up. Mom said I had a “turkey hangover.” She flashed a bright light at me when I was cozy in my kennel and then after asking me to get up a few times she dragged me out. Brrr.

After going outside to go potty and eating breakfast we went upstairs to Grandma’s. Josie and I got more treats and I rolled around on the carpet, showing off.

Then we went downstairs and I napped in my favourite bed under the coffee table (I am hidden! No-one can see me! It’s great!) until mom put Josie and I in the big crate and went away. I jumped into the middle of the bed and curled up before Josie could She didn’t notice at first cause she stood at the front barking and crooning like she always does when Mom goes away. Then she came and slept in the bed too and it was cozy. I like being cozy. Then I fell asleep.

Mom came home and then Dad did and I snuggled with him on the couch while he killed zombies on the TV. Those shows aren’t very exciting, there are no dogs or anything, so I napped some more.

Then some people came over and I could smell lots of food smells and I got really excited. All four of us went upstairs again but Dad had us on leashes cause he says we can’t jump on Great Grandma cause it will hurt her. This made it a lot harder to find out where the smells were coming from or to get anything that might fall from the sky in the kitchen.

Finally after all the people ate and had talked a lot we went downstairs and Mom made our dinner. Then she put it down and made us wait until she said “break.” This is very hard and I shake because I am so excited about dinner but I waited until she said it and then I ran to my dish and ate as fast as possible. I beat Josie cause she eats really slowly and I tried to eat the food she bumped out of her dish but mom told me not to. There are lots of things I’m not supposed to do but it’s hard to remember them all, especially when I’m excited.

After dinner and going outside I was really tired from being so excited about people and food and new smells so I went back to my favourite bed and napped until bedtime. Then mom kissed me goodnight and put me in my crate. I wonder what we will do tomorrow? I hope there is more food.

Licks & tailwags,

Penny.

Guest Post // Amy from A is for Ampersand

2011-12-30T20:44:00.000-06:00

Hey Tumbleweeds champs! My name is Amy, and I run a little blog by the name of A is for Ampersand. Beca and I just so happen to be two die-hard van girls, so today I thought I'd tell you a little bit about life in my 1984 Westfalia Vanagon.

My lova Mitchell and I bought this van during our first year of being hitched. When we met we realized that we each had a lifelong dream of owning a Westfalia, so when we got married, it became a priority to purchase one--more important than a house, babies, or all that other lame married stuff. :)

The Westy comes equipped with a full kitchen, including a stove, fridge, and sink. It sleeps two on the bottom, and once you pop the top, a bed folds down from the top to sleep 4 total. It's kind of like heaven, and we try and take her out on camping trips all summer long.

This past summer we went to a Westy meetup called Syncro Solstice. We met up with about 40 other Westy owners in Moab, UT and partied it up Westy style. As Becca knows, van people are something else, and we had the time of our lives geeking out over Westy mods, including solar panels. Someday our Westy will have solar panels--mark my words.

Believe it or not, Westys are fully capable of going off roading, and we took our Westy on her very first excursion. Even though she's mostly a total piece, she made it. And for any van nerds out there, here's a little video of our off roading trip. Even if you're not a van nerd, you might appreciate the hilarity of 40 vans from the 80s with their pops topped in the middle of the desert. It was a damn good time.

Thanks for letting me visit today and share with you a little piece of the van I love so much. And if you've ever thought once in your life about buying a Vanagon, by all means--MAKE IT HAPPEN! I promise it will be the best decision you ever make.

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Thanks for sharing, Amy! I have been meaning to do a little van tour of my own for all of you to see what our beast really looks like. Right now it's packed to the brims with all of our loved possessions. Be sure to take a peek at my Amy's blog, it's a pretty wonderful place.

xo,

Beca

Best. Christmas. Present Ever.

2011-12-28T19:03:00.003-06:00

Doug got me a violin for Christmas, something I have been asking for for a very long time. It is beautiful and old and the perfect starter for a musically challenged soul like myself. One of the things I have always wished for is to be able to play an instrument, since I was a kid, but just never had it in me to practice hard and be successful at it.

Now that I am an adult, I think I finally have the willpower and interest to be good at it. I mostly want to play fiddle style, but need to learn the basics first.

I am kind of embarrassed to post this video, but it will be funny to look back on when I am actually good, so please don't make fun of me!! This is the first "song" that I learned to play this week. I've only had it for a few days now, but have been practicing my hand positions and these little rhythms. This one is called Huckleberry Pancake.

Oh my gosh! PLEASE don't make fun of me! We spent most of today finishing up orders that were placed before the 10th, and packing/cleaning. After a rude call from my current landlord, I want nothing more than to be out of this house! I just have little to no patience for greedy people, and putting up with it for over a year has been enough, thank you. We are excited to get on the road. I have a bunch of awesome guest posts lines up, and a few scheduled posts from me too, so don't worry, just because I'll be on the road, doesn't mean this space will be quiet.

We're heading to go eat some dinner and then back to packing up the van! I just can't wait until tomorrow night!!

xo,

Beca

Our Tumbleweed Holiday

2011-12-26T13:17:00.006-06:00

This holiday was pretty unconventional. We usually do the tree/presents/Christmas morning type holiday but because we have an almost empty house, it didn't seem appropriate to go all out for Christmas. I kind of missed it, but next year when we are settled and not in the middle of moving 2400 miles, we will go all out for Christmas. I didn't really celebrate Christmas growing up after my parents divorced, so I absolutely love it now. I love everything about it. Especially giving presents. I'll do a blog post tomorrow about our presents, they were pretty good this year! We just didn't wrap them or anything. Ha!

So, this year, we were so lucky to have Doug's Dad and Stepmom and her sister and husband come visit us for the holidays. It was really special having family in town and getting to play tourists for a few days. We ate so much food and went to all the cool spots in town, including the cliffs, our favorite place to take visitors. I shot this super short little video, and think it's pretty magical to look at...

+ T H E C L I F F S +

+ F O O D +

We did a lot of eating out this past weekend. Probably for the best since we don't have anything to eat in our house except Ramen and left over pizza, and all of our dishes are packed away. It was pretty neat going to the San Diego staple restaurants before we moved. If you are ever in San Diego, make sure you visit Phil's BBQ, Tower Two, The Fish Market and Anthony's Fish Grotto and The Waffle Spot at Kings Inn.

+ T H E M U S E U M S +

We went to the Maritime Museum and the Midway Museum while the family was in town and we got to take a little boat tour of the bay, visit ships and subs, and go on the Midway Aircraft ship.

It was really a wonderful few days. We didn't do any work, we ate A LOT of good food, and on Sunday, Doug and I spent Christmas together going to the movie theater, our yearly tradition, and eating cheese pizza and pumpkin pie in bed. I learned my first song on my new violin (Doug's Christmas present to me, more on that later) and we had such a relaxing weekend, I feel so refreshed and ready to get really busy moving/cleaning and filling the last of this years orders.

How were your holidays? Tell me all about them! I loved reading about your Hopes/dreams/goals for 2012 in my last post. Hope you have a great Monday! I'll be back tomorrow, or later today with photos of my new violin! :)

xo,

Beca

Holiday Gift to You - New Blogs to Follow

2011-12-24T21:27:00.004-06:00

I, for one, am already totally wiped out, and it isn't even Christmas yet. I have about one million photos to share from the last few days visiting with family, but I don't even want to touch them right now. I just want to sit in bed with a few treats, watch TV with my super rad boyfriend, not even think about working, and share with you some of my new favorite blogs+bloggers. A gift, from me to you.

Lisa from Let's Move to the West Coast is a newbie to San Diego, a photographer and has a really sweet blog that's brand new to the blogging world and to my blog-feed. I'm excited to hear more about her adventures in SD, since it seems like just yesterday that we moved here. Hi Lisa!

I feel stupid for not knowing about Rebecca's blog Manzanita until a few days ago. I spent a good hour looking back through her blog and loved every moment of it. She is talented and smart, and I like both of those qualities. Plus, we share a name. Go team! Hi Rebecca.

Another aptly named blogger (do we see a trend here?) Rebekka Seale, has a pretty blog called Dear Friend that I have spent some time scrolling through recently. It really is a magical place, this blog. Plus, her artwork is amazing. Hi Rebekka.

Hope you have fun following some new blogs, if you don't already! We're getting ready to quit for the night, and I'm excited for our Christmas tradition of going to the first showing at the movie theater tomorrow! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and all that jazz.

xo,

Beca

(PS All photos belong to their respective blog owners)

New Years Resolutions

2011-12-23T00:13:00.003-06:00

This has been a big year for us, and 2012 is looking pretty exciting already, and it's fun to make lists and stay accountable to dreams, plans and goals. Which is why I am blogging about 5 of each of those. Some are trivial, some are big, some are just plain, well, plain. But I lead a simple life. That is except for the random texts from old friends informing us that our glasses may have been spotted on MTV! It was too hard to tell if they were ours, Doug says he doesn't think so, but I am open to the possibility. Anyways, here is my little list of New Year Resolutions.

- D R E A M S -

1. Styling my home in a way that I want it, not for roommates, not because we're broke and have to take what freebies we get, but because I want to love the space we live in and it's us.

2. Set up a screen printing table/space so that I can print bags and boxes for Tumbleweeds and maybe expand a little bit. I have always loved screen printing, but never had the space to do it in.

3. Build a box garden. A big one. I was able to grow tomatoes, egg plant, strawberries and basil here in San Diego, but I am hoping for a better spring/summer this year. I want corn, pumpkin, melon, peppers, jalapenos, tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, and more! And I want a peach tree. Good Lord, I want a peach tree.

4. I want to go to Dollywood, I want to finally go to Niagara Falls, and I want to visit my Grandparents. I want to travel more.

5. I look forward to spending time with some amazing friends that I have met through blogging who live on the other side of the world right now, but pretty soon, will be a stones throw away. There are more of you out there, I'm sure! Let's be pals.

+ P L A N S +

1. Move to Tennessee, safely and set up a home for ourselves. We have been living in houses together for a long time, but I want to live in a home. We both do.

2. Bring family into the mix. Doug's sister is amazingly talented and we really want her to be a part of our business. It will benefit us all.

3. We would like to expand our business. More stockist, more collections, and more styles/options. This is a slow process, but we are looking forward to the challenges and journey.

4. Re-Open our store-front. Simple as that.

5. Weekly webisodes. I don't want to say anything else now because we have only just begun talking about it/writing down ideas, but it involves collections, and us, and you.

- G O A L S -

1. Be more positive. I don't have a carefree, easy background. I grew up always thinking the worst, and have experienced a lot of negativity. I am trying really, REALLY hard to be positive, not only for us, but for the people around us. I have a lot to learn, and a lot of room to grow, but I would like to be more positive and supportive.

2. Walk our dogs more, which in turn will help me with my goals of losing weight.

3. Cook more real meals at home. We eat out so often, not because I am lazy or rich, I'm just not a good cook. I can bake with my eyes closed, but cooking is a whole different world.

4. Shoot more videos. Work on the documentary. Put my five year college degree to use.

5. Grow my hair down to my waste again. I cut off all my hair about 5 years ago to cut away a sad part of my life, and because I was angry. I miss having long hair. I miss being able to do fun things with it. I don't miss the rats-nests, but you have to take the good with the bad.

With a new year, there will be room for success and room for failure. There will be happiness, and there will be frustration and room to grow. There will be a future, and I can't wait.

What do you have planned for the New Year? Anything spectacular, or just simple things like me?

xo,

Beca

Play Date with Patrick

2011-12-22T17:45:00.002-06:00

We love nothing more than our coffee + play dates with Patrick and Chelsea. We are certainly going to miss them once we get out to Tennessee. Monster loves Patrick, and they are too ridiculously cute together.

I better get at least one of these play dates in before we move. I am so happy to have met Chelsea and her little family while in San Diego!

Do your pups have play date friends, too?

xo,

Beca

Covet

2011-12-22T02:19:00.003-06:00

I covet things. It human nature. Here are some of them.

{DrCraze}

xo,

Beca

Swap meet Treasures

2011-12-21T14:13:00.005-06:00

Last weekend, we went to Kobey's as usual, and I found some pretty treasures. i know we're moving, and I need to stop buying stuff, but I can't help it. I have an addiction. Plus, I couldn't pass any of it up, such good deals!

I got this backpack for $5, and I am pretty excited to turn it into my travel backpack.

I have a small collection of these little music boxes. I found this one for $1.

Y'all know I love stacking dolls, and have about 20 sets now. These are the smallest dolls in the three I got last weekend. I found the first two sets for $1 each, and Doug bought me the last set, which is a gorgeous green XL set for $15. I usually don's spend that much on them, but since it was a gift, I'm not complaining!

What have you found recently?

xo,

Beca

Getting Organized for 2012 with the Boy Girl Party Agenda

2011-12-21T00:34:00.004-06:00

I've talked about Susie from Boy Girl Party before, mostly because she's an awesome person, but also because she is an incredible artist. I love her work, and she was one of the first Etsy sellers I bought from when we moved to San Diego after scrolling through the local section. I purchased the Fox Recipe Cards and the Octopus To-Do list for our friend in Rhode Island as a late Christmas gift, and Susie sent me the sweetest email telling me we were practically neighbors!

Now, I am pretty good at e-window shopping, and when I saw the 2012 agenda, I knew I needed it, big time. Boy am I ever happy I got it, it's not ever 2012, and I've already filled up the back section, and started using the calender for upcoming events in 2012. And lord knows I am going to need a lot of help staying organized this upcoming year, my head is already spinning with all the plans we have.

It's not hard to love since it's just about the cutest thing I ever did see. It's full of little cuties and I am head over heels for Susie's handwriting. I also got some of the Hummingbird recipe cards for a Christmas gift and I know the recipient, an avid cook, will love them.

If I were you, I would hop on over to Susie's shop (or Etsy shop + Facebook) and check out more of this amazing woman's work and get some goodies of your own. See what good comes from me shopping local and you reading my blog?!? Magic, I tell you, magic!

xo,

Beca

***EDIT, after writing this blog post, I discovered that the agenda I have is currently sold out. It's THAT good! But be sure to keep checking back in Susie's shop to see if it will come back into stock.***

Planning Future Projects + Last Days

2011-12-20T19:18:00.004-06:00

I wanted to share a little sneak peek at a project I have been planning and will be able to start in the new year! I am just too excited to not share a little. I love animal ephemera, and for those of you friends who have sent me old photos of animals, you already know that I am kind of bananas about vintage photos of any kind of pet. I don't want my collection to just sit in a box, or even to just be displayed in the house, so in the next few months, y'all will see where I'm going with this.

We got all of our Christmas orders shipped today and get to spend the next few days getting the rest of our orders out and finished a wholesale order. That means we have about 50 pairs of sunglasses to make before Friday, then Doug's Dad and Step-Mom get here for the holiday weekend. The days are getting shorter and if you can just imagine a whiny little me saying in the awful voice " I dont wannnnnnnna work annnnnymore." Then you will know how I feel. Good thing I love my job.

All foot stomping aside, we're off to do some thrifting and get dinner before we get back to work. Also, thank you baby Jesus and Netflix for Malcom in the Middle. We're addicted!

xo,

Beca

Rainy Day Yellows

2011-12-18T14:51:00.002-06:00

I have been begging and begging and begging for some rain boots for over a year now. So, this year for Christmas, Doug got me my new beloved black industrial rain boots. You should know by now that no matter how hard I try, I'm not a girly girl. I didn't want polka dotted boots, or pink ones, or even some other nice neutral color. I wanted black. Military issued rain boots, and that, my friends, is what I got. We're having a gypsy Christmas this year, so we already gave each other all of our presents. I'll share my new baby later this week. The best Christmas present I have ever received, EVER!

I'm also thinking about getting new glasses (or rather a new style of glasses that Doug can veneer for me) so I am testing out these frames and I want to know what you think? I am not sure yet if I like them, but we made a pair for our neighbor in this style and they look amazing with prescriptions in them, and I'm kind of stoked to do the same. So, what do you think.

Rain Boots : xmas present from Doug via Army Navy Store, Leggings and Dress : Target, Scarf : Thrifted

Tonight is the last night for us to finish up order for Christmas. It has been a long, long few weeks and as much as I just want it to be over, I am happy that we accepted the amount of orders that we did and I am happy that so many people will get to enjoy our sunglasses for the holidays. I'm sorry to everyone who had to wait, and I'm sorry that we only do these to order, but next year will be really different because we plan on starting to prepare for the holidays in September. Maybe August, heck we may even start as soon as we get to Tennessee. I kid, but really, i cant say enough how thankful I am to every single person who bought a pair of sunglasses from us, who shared a link, pinned us on pinterest (which I still haven't figured out how to use....) used our product in a treasury, blogged about us, or just plain sent me nice tweets during the crazy nights. I want to give you all a million hugs and gifts for being so supportive!

(via QuillandFox, possible my new favorite print shop!)

Well, Monster just threw up in his mouth and ate it, Ollie is determined ot knock over my coffee, Doug just left to film skateboarding (hopefully it's not too wet outside) and I am 100% grossed out by the state of our house, so I'm going to get to work and drown out the absurdity of this half packed, messy home with some Malcolm in the Middle and MORE COFFEE!

xo,

Beca

PS, we got rid of our old bed last night, and let me tell you, three dogs and cat trying to squeeze onto a full size futon with two grown ups, it was a circus. But, I am thankful for living, breathing portable heaters and the snuggliest animals in the world. Travelling 2400 miles with all of them in the van will need it's own blog post! Life of a full time stay at home dog mom. ;)

A Day in my Four Legged Life // Vol. 2

2011-12-16T08:00:00.003-06:00

Hello! I'm Rae from Say It Ain't So and I'm so excited to share what a day in the life of my pugs is like. If you read my blog (or know me in real life) you know I am an animal lover and love talking about and taking pictures of my pets! I'll let Phyllis and Priscilla take it over from here:

we start our day waking up in our room. don't bother coming in here if its still dark outside. we won't even get up from our bed. after 9 am is ok. first thing, we go out in the yard to do our business, then it's time for breakfast and our supplements!

the cats creep on us and watch us eat. they are so weird. we try to be their friends but they usually just run away.

after our breakfast we help with any chores that need doing. phyllis usually supervises, and priscilla loves to help with the laundry. she will lay on each item after you fold it so that it is really flat! it also insures there is a nice coating of pug hair on everything in the house. so very helpful.

when our people leave for work, we take up our posts on the couch. we take our job of guarding the house very seriously. we assume our loud snoring is what keeps the robbers away. every once in a while we'll get down from the couch if we spot a more comfortable looking place to sleep. but usually we stay put.

if it is still light out when our people get home, and it's between 60 and 75 degrees out, we get to go on a walk! we love it! as soon as our harnesses come out we flip out and bark until we get out the door. we like our neighborhood because we get to meet lots of people and bark at the bikes going by.

after about two blocks phyllis sits down and refuses to go further. it is hard when you only have three legs and you have to hop everywhere!

by the time we're back home, we are both being carried. pricilla has arthritis and bad knees and sometimes a lady needs a little assistance. Then it's time for dinner! make sure you get it to us quick or we might have to howl at you.

then it is time for our favorite part of our day. once our people get home from work they sit on the couch with us for the rest of the night. we nap on and off, rip up our toys, and get wrapped up in blankets until it is time for bed. phyllis prefers to be propped on a pillow, while priscilla likes to be smashed in a tiny space in between two people. it is a hard life we lead.

if you want to see more of phyllis and priscilla you can always check out their tumblr. yes, i am a crazy pug lady. and proud of it.

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Another perfect day in the life. If you have a pet's life you want to share, please shoot me an email at tumbleweeds.shop@gmail.com.

xo, Beca

A Quiet Minute

2011-12-15T11:17:00.002-06:00

It's nice to take a moment when the house is still quiet and I'm not quite awake yet to just sit, drink a cup of coffee, respond to emails at a slower than normal pace. We are finishing up all of our orders today and tomorrow. I am pretty happy that this week is coming to an end. I could dedicate an entire blog post to the things I learned and the things we will do differently next year.

I hope that I can be back to blogging regularly next week.

xo,

Beca

New Tattoo

2011-12-13T23:24:00.004-06:00

I haven't gotten tattooed in probably a year and a half. Not because I don't want to anymore, but because we moved to San Diego, didn't know any tattooers and have been pretty broke for the past year. So, it was really rad when Molly introduced me to Jasmine at Buju Tattoo. The tattoo shop is the most inviting and comfortable shop I've been in. I love Staring Without Caring, our favorite tattoo shop in Tucson, and this place reminded me a bit of it. I wish I took more photos of the entire shop, but you can go check it out.

Like I said, it's been a good while since I've been tattooed, and it wasn't as bad as I remember. I don't mind getting tattooed, yeah it hurts, of course, but I have a pretty high pain tolerance I guess. I've wanted to get my lower fingers tattooed forever, but I just didn't know what I wanted, and as soon as I got my heart set on "dog mom" I couldn't stop thinking about it. I'm super happy with how it came out and would go see Jasmine again in a heart beat.

Doug got tattooed too, and his looks pretty neat. It says "Don't raise crows. They'll peck your eyes out."

So that's what we did on a little break today. We are nearing the end of this crazy week, and I can't wait for Saturday, because it's Doug's birthday!!

Have you gotten tattooed lately? If so what? And what are you doing to stay sane during this crazy week?

xo,

Beca

Featured: The Huffington Post

2011-12-13T00:07:00.003-06:00

Today, not only were we spotted on the lovely miss Kaylah's blog, The Dainty Squid, and featured in the gifts under $75 section of Etsy Finds, we played a little part in the Huffington Post Holiday gift guide for 12 gifts to give your new boyfriend. Pretty cool huh?

Pop on over and take a peek! We're pretty hyped. To say the least!

xo,

Beca & Doug

This is Tired

2011-12-11T18:00:00.003-06:00

I have been losing my mind exhausted. Our lovely neighbors dog howled all night long, I got a little overnight food poison bug, and our heater broke. So to say the least, last night was a pretty awesome end to a pretty ridiculously lousy day. Today has been better though and we're getting settled in for the night to make lots and lots of sunglasses!

Necklace // Sadie Designs. Velvet shorts // Forever 21. Boots // Thrifted

xo,

Bec

Gift Certificates

2011-12-11T00:20:00.002-06:00

Today was the cut off date to get your sunglasses for the Christmas, but if you missed the chance, you can still get a gift certificate to gift for Christmas. Let your loved one choose their own pair of sunglasses to start the new year off right. And don't worry, if you need to place your order a few days late, it may still get to you in time. We're working so super hard to get orders out!!

xo,

Beca

It's the Little Things

2011-12-09T13:10:00.002-06:00

Matching socks on a cold morning. Those are the things that matter.

xo,

Beca

A Peek Into the Chaos

2011-12-08T23:19:00.003-06:00

Just a little peek, into the chaos of today. Packing, packaging orders, working on glasses and more packing. All in a days work.

xo,

Beca

Final Holiday Sale

2011-12-08T02:24:00.003-06:00

Well folks, this is the last hoo-rah. A kick in the pants of Christmas, for all you late bloomers, busy bees and last minute planners like me. We are offering most of our sunglasses at a discounted price for the next 2 days. When a style is gone, it's gone until after Christmas. We will relist all of our styles after the 25th (since we will be stocking up for the move so we have sunglasses on hand.)

You can get our red and black his & hers set for only $95.

You can get our rainbow patchwork sunglasses for $60. There are 3 listed, so snatch those up before they sell out!

And finally, you can get our coveted Pee Wee sunglasses for $62.00. American Walnut is on sale for these two days also, for $62.00 and the lovely zebra wood is on sale for $60.00. There are also 3 available of the zebra's!

I hope you're not tired of me hyping up our sunglasses! I love them so much, I want to make sure they are available to make anyone's Christmas / holiday season amazing and sweet! Plus, we need all the extra sales we can get for this big move!!!

Share the love!

xo,

Beca

Busy Bees

2011-12-08T00:15:00.005-06:00

We have been kicking ass and taking names. I swear, I never expected such an amazing response to our sunglasses for the holidays. I was hoping for 2 or 3 orders a day, but we're booked solid. I had to cancel our booth at a holiday bazaar in Alpine and have pretty much gone into what Doug calls hibernation. Black leggings, grey sweatshirt and warm boots. I have to get back to work, but wanted to share a little from my last few weeks.

1. One of my last days at the shop. 2. Monster is a spoiled brat. 3. Sunglasses 4. New shoes 5. Ollie

Our shop is closed now and we have so much to do to get ready for the move. We put our deposit down for our new house today and are busting our sunglasses like no other. You only have 3 more days to get your orders placed for Christmas.

How is your holiday season so far?

xo,

Beca

Today, oh Today

2011-12-05T02:40:00.002-06:00

Today was hard. It was exhausting; mentally straining. I had an appointment set up this morning for an estate buyer to come make a bid on the contents of our store. It just wouldn't be realistic for us to pack up an entire shop and truck it to Tennessee, nor would it be a good value of our time to try and sell it all piece by piece before we left. We have so many orders to fill that our time needs to be spend carefully, and after a really unsuccessful sidewalk sale on Saturday, i made the tough decision to sell out. Buy out. Whatever you call it.

It broke my heart, every single piece they packed into boxes and loaded onto the truck. I wasn't really ready for it to all happen so fast and I know some things that we would have liked to keep were taken away, but it's all stuff and if it doesn't fit in the van, it's not coming with us. That's the truth of it.

I feel relieved and I feel sad. I think the things we sold are worth a lot more than what we got for them, but you have to take a hit because 1. you are selling the lot and 2. they are doing all the work for you. At the end of the day, I feel good about it and I am happy we can focus our energy on the sunglasses and packing up the house for the rest of the month. Countdown has started, we are moving in 27 days.

Doug took a quick little video on our new camera using the same method as the photos in my last post. The light leaks and color temp make it look like film also. I'm pretty in love.

Shawn came out to SD today and is staying the week to help out with orders and keep us sane. We are thankful.

xo,
Beca