It's a Penguin Life

I've been working on a new blog URL and potentially a new name for quite awhile now. I know, I haven't even started the wedding recaps and I'm already onto another blog (#6, holy what?!?!?). When I started this one, I had hoped to keep it for the rest of eternity, documenting our lives and such. The current name and URL makes total sense. But, I didn't thinking that people outside our friends and family circles would be drawn to it for various things. Hi, blog friends. Please stay!

Anyways, I have become increasing uncomfortable with our last name being in the URL of the blog. It's one thing to sprinkle our first names about, but to include full names just doesn't sit well with me. That's my paranoia shining through. I would link up some examples of other bloggers who have come to the same realization, but I'll refrain for privacy reasons =)

Without further ado, I give you our future blog name...drum roll...It's a Penguin Life. Why? Well, Jake LOVES penguins. And I am an enabler. We Jake has a growing collection of stuffed penguins and they have a tendency to find their way into trouble around the apartment. I have come home to things like this:

please excuse the crappy phone picture.

Yes, that is a penguin holding 17 mylar balloons with a shell lei on it's head. This is only the beginning of how crazy we actually are. So in addition to the regular blog posts, I'll also include some penguin escapades. The new site isn't up yet. I'll keep you posted on when the switch over will happen.  

What do you think of the new name?

Expensive tools need not apply

Forget the tripod I've been hemming and hawing about for well over a year now. I hardly use the one I borrowed from a friend anyways. I should save myself some money and learn to use diffusers and reflectors properly like Aran showed in her food styling course. Check out Taylor in the photo below, what tripod?

via Taylor Takes a Taste 

86 days until my sabbatical. But, I'm not counting.

May 2012

Bah! I meant to have this posted on May 31st, but I totally failed at that didn't I? Well at least it's technically the first full week in June.

My friends and their families have been keeping me busy with cupcake orders the last couple of weeks. I kicked started May with a bridal shower order for 5 dozen cupcakes.

Follow me on Instagram @hungc.

We attended our first wedding of 2012 (we were invited to 4 - at least for now). I don't know about Jake, but I got a huge kick out of seeing the props from the photobooth at our wedding reused.


Congratulations to the newlyweds!



Steampunk Festival 2012! Every year, our town hosts a steampunk festival. I remember wanting to check it out last year, but we must have been out of town or doing something wedding related. It was small, but there was a lot to see. A full day of people watching if you will. There was also an abundance of tiny top hats and goggles! I had to restrain myself from buying a tiny hat that I'll never wear.

Blimp!

I had my first photoshoot! Our friends asked if I would be willing to take 6 month photos of their darling baby girl. Um, YES OF COURSE! I'm still blown away and humbled that they trusted something so precious to me. After spending half a day together, I ended up with 606 photos! We had to stop because I ran out of space on my memory cards. 

The money shot, taken either during a diaper or clothing change (right).

Cross eyed babe! (left)

Baby M and I hanging out during her playtime.

Such a beautiful family! We <3 you!



For the last month, I had been frantically working on a baby blanket that I can FINALLY talk about. Let's start with the inspirations first. This colorful combination used for wedding ceremony decor caught my eye. It was pretty perfect since the mom-to-be was trying to decide between either a grey/yellow or a grey/red scheme for the nursery. The aqua-teal color added a nice punch and was gender neutral enough that I felt it would be safe to run with.



Ceremony decor via Style Me Pretty.

Following mom-to-be on Pinterest was also helpful. I was able to see that she was gravitating towards chevron patterns. So I started looking for a chevron baby blanket pattern and came across this beautiful blanket by Good Knits:

Chevron Baby Blanket by GoodKnits


Put the two together and TA-DA!

Baby Y's blanket! Guess I didn't take any shots of the whole blanket.
Red Heart Soft (red, grey, and aqua) and Vanna's Choice Baby (yellow) resulted in a super soft blanket.

Everything but the Cow:30 day DF and GF challenge

My tummy troubles flared up recently. In other words, I look 5 month preggers and feel like my stomach needs a release valve. I'm not sure if it was brought on by all the French food I ate on our honeymoon or one of the [many] times I slipped up and didn't take my Lactaid or maybe it's something else.

I was inspired by two amazing women and their self control. Amanda went completely grain free for 30 days, never cheating once. Aran works with constantly with food and doesn't even bat an eyelash when it comes to passing up food that contains gluten. It probably helps that her health is dependent on it.

After seeing the two of them in action, I knew that I could do better for my own sake and decided to challenge myself two fold:

• First, I am going completely and absolutely dairy free (DF) for 30 days. I cheat and eat yogurt (yogurts with natural cultures have minimal to no lactose present) or pop a handful of Lactaid and call it good. After 30 days, I will try introducing raw cow milk into my diet. I read somewhere that lactose intolerant individuals have done well with raw milk.
• Secondly, I am going gluten free (GF) also for 30 days. I haven't read Wheat Belly yet, but I think the jist of it is that consumption of today's massed produced grains leads to inflammation. Hmmm, could this be the root cause behind my bloated belly?

Wish me luck.

April 2012

Hi everyone. I'm so sorry for being away so long. I can't thank you enough for your patience!

Whew, what a whirlwind April was:

We finally went on our honeymoon! We spent a week in Bora Bora (Tahiti). It was GLORIOUS. I will have to do an ultra long blog post to tell you all about our adventures getting there, being there, and the trip back. Let's just say, there was never a dull moment.

Rainbow after a rainstorm.

Three days after getting home from our honeymoon, I was back on a plane and headed for Boulder, CO. I spent three days in Boulder at a crafting retreat called The Makerie. Much like Bora Bora, I will have to do a separate posts to tell you all about how it changed my life and introduce you to some new friends I made.

Crafting books galore!

Are you exhausted after reading the previous two paragraphs? Things didn't stop there. After the retreat, I came home and made cupcakes for a baby shower and then jetted off to VT for a surprise bridal shower.

The bride was very surprised.

**All photos by me**