Sometimes, when you’ve been working on the same project for several years, it gets a little.. well.. maddening! At least, that’s what started to happen for me. I think anyone with a creative side needs to take on half a dozen projects at the same time to satisfy whatever it is that makes them nuts when they’re not being creative. At least, that’s my theory. This has been a very interesting summer for me. I have found my way and lost my way about eight times. I have thought about where to take myself and my career until I thought my head was going to explode. I have walked around aimlessly searching for answers. The funny thing was, the answer was so painfully simple: do more of what you like! Then I thought, “okay, so what are a few of my favorite things?” 1. Searching for great products. 2. Writing about them and sharing them with others. 3. Design blogs. 4. Dogs! That short list led me to my newest undertaking; a contributing editor for one of my very favorite design blogs Dog-Milk!

What’s really cool about this (besides everything!) is that I get to be a part of a design blog that I love doing work that is just fun for me. Dog-Milk is the sister site of Jaime Derringer’s very successful Design-Milk blog. Design-Milk is one of the first design blogs I started reading years back when I was fresh out of art school and looking for some inspiration. I’m so excited to be contributing posts her way at this point in my life. Speaking of posts, my first one went live yesterday! Based on the incredibly cute and hilarious Hipster Puppies blog, I decided to do a roundup of great products to help your pup get this of-the-moment look. Go check it out!

The best part about this, is now that I have something new to focus some of my energy on, it has really inspired me to get back on track and move into a cool new direction with LAMA. It is a direction that is right for me and hopefully for everyone involved. I’m looking forward to sharing what that is soon. So, to wrap up, I guess the biggest lesson I’ve learned this summer is to decide what you want to do, and then be the person who does it.

Yesterday, my recent interview with a Interviewher was posted on their very cool and very beautiful site. Interviewher is dedicated to sharing the stories of successful women who have “self-started their own business ideas and trends.” I was incredibly flattered when I was contacted by them last month for this interview about how I developed LAMA. It is quite an extensive interview covering topics such as how I got started, challenges that I have overcome as a business owner, and point by point advice on how to start your own successful online shop (this would be a great read for anyone thinking about taking the plunge into e-commerce).

Thank you again Interviewher for inviting me to participate in this fun interview. It was a great way for me to reflect on the journey I’ve been on for the past couple of years and share what I’ve learned with other aspiring business women.

Interviewher is always looking for awesome women to interview so if you’re interested in sharing your story, be sure to contact them here and let them know who you are.

.. a little weekend project I took on. I called it Succulent Sunday! After scoring the yellow vase from a roadside vintage shop on Saturday, I went a little cactus crazy. I have to say, it was the most fun under $40 I’ve had in a long time and now my home is cactastic!

I don’t usually feel this way about most Mondays…

… but I’m going to see Lady Gaga tonight!! I’m checking out this afternoon to meet up with some girlfriends to get ourselves Gagafied for the concert tonight. Happy Monday!

**poster via**

I’ve been a little wedding obsessed since my engagement last week. I can’t help it. I love weddings! The thought of planning my own is beyond exciting. Being the detail oriented person I am, I’ve already started thinking about the stamps I’m going to use on my invitations. Through my investigation for the perfect stamps, I came across zazzle.com. Zazzle has a huge selection of stock image stamps and also allows you to customize your own. Always thinking about work, I decided to check out what llama stamps they had available. To my delight, they had some of the oddest llama themed stamps I’ve ever seen. Without further ado, here’s a little llama humor from me to you…

I’m a sucker for a great pun.

Oh, you didn’t know Mona Lisa owned llamas?

This one is just awesome.

Llamas would have made this painting a masterpiece.

There are so many things wrong with this. I’m going to start by calling the grammar police.

I love how majestic this one is. It makes me feel peaceful… *sigh*

Wow. I don’t even know what to say about this.

I kind of think I’m going to stick to the option to customize.

Happy happy Friday!!

After living in the clouds for much of the summer (particularly this past week), I’m ready to hunker down and get some serious work done. Looking down at my to do list, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. Where do I even start?!

Looking at this illustration by UK artist Thereza Rowe, I guess sometimes you just need to choose a task and “make a start.” Mondays are a new beginning…

This has been a BIG week in my life. So big that it’s been nearly impossible for me to focus on anything else (forgive me for being so slow to answer emails). On Tuesday afternoon my wonderful boyfriend took me for a hike to our favorite spot here in the East Bay and he proposed! Eeek! I’m engaged!! I think my face has frozen into a permanent smile. Seriously, it kind of hurts. Oh well, I’m getting married!

My incredible fiancé (that’s the first time I’ve ever written that!) slipped the most beautiful ring I have ever seen onto my finger. It’s a vintage turn of the century victorian flower head ring. Knowing how much I love antiques, he thought this ring would be perfect. He certainly hit the nail on the head. Thank you Doyle & Doyle for having the most exquisite collection of antique engagement rings!

Not to forget my typical favorite Friday llama image, yesterday I was curious about llamas and weddings. After a quick Google search of “wedding llamas,” I found the most hysterical video of an English couple who had some surprise llama guests show up on their special day. Apparently the bride’s sister in law thought it would be a great idea to rent some llamas to celebrate the groom’s Peruvian heritage. According to the newscaster, the couple “Peruved” their love and will have “a future full of llama love.” Haha! (Friends and family, if you’re reading this, someone please bring some llamas to the wedding!!)

Happy, happy Friday!

I’m taking the day off from blogging to head out and celebrate a VERY special occasion. All I can say (until I’m done making a million phone calls) is that I couldn’t be happier! On a side note, I wanted to wish my very best friend Miles the LAMA shop dog a happy birthday! Miles is six years old today! He’ll be getting a doggy cupcake and a new squeaky toy to drive me nuts with. Happy birthday Miles! I love you!!

I hate Mondays. I loathe Mondays. I detest Mondays. I every synonym of hate you can possibly think of (or dig up in a thesaurus) Mondays. On days like this when I’m feeling particularly unmotivated to tackle most tasks, I often spend some time searching the web for a bit of inspiration. I find that the combination of great words and beautiful images are just the thing I need to kick me in the pants and get me back on track. Over the weekend, I came across “16 Rules” by UK based designer Anthony Peters of Imeus Design. His perfect blend of wit and wisdom are just what I need to get me motivated on this particular Monday. I hope they work for you as well!

Check out the rest of Anthony’s rules here.

Today I thought I would deviate from the usual Friday I’m In Llama pic to something a little different. I realize that it’s been a while since I’ve mentioned my best friend and business partner extraordinaire, Miles the LAMA shop dog! Last Thursday, Miles and I were whisked off for a surprise weekend getaway in Lake Tahoe. We had the most amazing time! I finally got around to uploading all of my photos this morning and I thought I would share a few here. I often like to put a series of pics together and create stories with them… just some one or two line captions to add a little narrative to the images. I think it’s a fun way to remember an event. Below I put together one of my little picture stories. I call this one, “Miles vs. The Pine Cone.” Enjoy!

Miles the dog hasn’t been to the lake since he was a puppy. He was incredibly curious about his new surroundings.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, his daddy fished a pine cone out of the water. All to familiar with “fetch,” Miles eagerly anticipated the throw.

Not thinking much of the water, Miles casually stepped through the sand to retrieve his “ball.”

Until the water (that he had not thought much of) touched his paws and stopped him dead in his tracks.

“Oh my gosh! What is this liquid under under my paws! It’s like a giant bath!! How am I going to get my ball?!”

Not wanting to admit defeat and put an end to his favorite game, Miles (because he’s such a smarty pants) quickly figured out that at a certain point, the water slips away leaving his pine cone exposed.

Seizing the opportunity, Miles quickly leaned in and went for the grab.

Successfully taking the pine cone into his underbite, Miles quickly backed up before the dreaded giant bath water returned.

VICTORY!!!

After ripping his pine cone to shreds…

Miles declared this THE BEST DAY EVER!!

THE END.

Happy Friday everyone! Have the best weekend ever!