Off Topic (or What I Did On My Summer Vacation)

I just remembered that I was gonna bore you guys with some pictures from my gorgeous trip to Maine!

We stayed in a cabin on a lake and there's this long-winded story about how my dad's parents built the cabin, but then lost it to other family members, blah blah blah.

Pictures!

The lake:





Josh and his summer beard taking me for a row:





Another cabin on the lake:




Damselfly:




Josh out rowing again:




Bumble bee:




Us:




Dad is really excited about his lobster, the Florida Gators, and the Tampa Bay Rays:




This is a real place:




This is a real place, too:




At the lobster co-op:




Steamers at the lobster co-op:




Moonrise over the lake:




You may now return to your regular life.

Robot In Bloom Paper Flower Jewelry Debuts Today! (or I Finally Updated My Etsy Shop...)

In a minor flurry of activity, I updated my Etsy shop today to include a few pieces of paper flower jewelry I've been working on...

Enough talk.
Pics or it didn't happen!



Trendy Pink Paper Flower Ring




Ivory Gardenia Ring




Pretty Pink Paper Flower Ring




Orchid-Colored Paper Rose Ring




Lime Green Paper Poof Dangly Earrings

Frogs!!!! (or Post-Tadpole Distraction)

I ask you this:





How is it possible for me to get any work done today when these adorable baby frogs are hopping all over my rainy back patio??






So cute it hurts!

My Favorite Photographer (or Kasey Marsh: Cool Gal Extraordinaire!)

So I thought I'd take a moment to acquaint you with my favorite photographer, Kasey Marsh. Kasey owns Monkey Tree Photography here in Houston and is definitely one of the most excellent people I've met since moving here.





As you can probably guess after seeing the Style page at RobotInBloom.com and previous blog entries, I met Kasey when we hired her to photograph our wedding.

It was funny, actually - Josh and I had met with a pretty big handful of photographers before we found her, but none of them seemed quite right for our wedding. I liked the name of her business and what we saw on her website, so we made plans to meet her at a local Panera. We talked for a few minutes, flipped through her sample albums, did the whole photographer-bride-groom-discussions thing, and Josh and I tried to play it cool. We're not ones to make snap decisions, especially on something huge like our wedding photography.





Acting like ultra-savvy business people, we told her we'd think about it and let her know. We got just outside the front door, literally stopped, turned to each other, and said, "So, you wanna go with her?"

We waxed poetically and excitedly in the doorway for about 20 more seconds about how much we liked her work and how she was a great mix of confident and laid-back. She seemed like a great fit for the mood we wanted for our wedding. And her work looked like she'd catch all our special details and shmoopy expressions.

We walked right back into the restaurant and dorkily said, "Can we sign a contract with you right now???" blowing all our steely negotiating cred right out the window.





Her work was excellent and she was a total pro. She somehow managed to blend into the day, while also successfully wrangling guests for the formal shots. Honestly, I barely remember her being there - which I guess is actually a compliment in the wedding photography world!





After the wedding, I opted not to have her create an album for me. One part control freak, one part confidence in my design skills, and one part wanting waaaaay too many images and pages than is feasible for a flush-mount album, I decided to have a go at designing my own album through Blurb.





I'm incredibly glad I did it that way because I caught the album design bug!

I had so much fun designing my own album, I decided I wanted to do something, anything like that. No more secretarial drudgery for me!

But, I didn't know where to start, and my mom suggested I contact Kasey to see if she could offer any insight into that world.





Kasey's help and generosity was a total bolt from the blue!

She met with me, looked at my album, and asked if I'd want to use her computer and her software to help her with her workflow.

She taught me all sorts of things from the software to running a business. She's given me insights on running an art-based/creative business that you really don't get in regular "How To Run A Small Business" by I.M. Boring* books at Barnes and Noble. Not to mention she's totally relaxed and funny and fun to hang out with!

(*Not a real book, but could be.)





Now, though, I'm on my own feet. I have my own office, and she's recently leased a fabulous new space in the middle of Houston's hip Rice Village.

Her new place looked great for the open house, and I'm really looking forward to her upcoming Fancy Facebook Ladies' Night.

Butterflies (or Flutterbys)

A few weeks ago, my husband and I took a little trip down to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Though this place is practically a second home to us, we have somehow managed to bypass the Cockrell Butterfly Center every single time.

Huge mistake.

Upon receiving free passes from Josh's mom, we figured we'd finally give it a shot. (If it's free, it's for me, right?)
I'm so glad I'm a cheapskate because words really can't express how beautiful this place is!



A three story waterfall serves as a centerpiece to the rainforest under the massive glass dome. This lush rainforest provides a home for tons and tons and TONS of butterflies!





You can't not find a butterfly at this place - they're everywhere! I don't think there's a square foot that's not occupied by at least 2 butterflies at any given time. I think my previous butterfly garden reluctance was due to another garden I'd been to many moons ago and my 7 year old self was highly disappointed when the butterflies were basically nowhere to be found. A let-down indeed.

I was especially lucky that day, though - one landed square on my head!



He was a cool guy...



We hung out a surprisingly long time before he had to go. He said had to meet his publisher for coffee and then get his kid from daycare. He was a sweet guy.



Anyway, if you're ever in Houston, this is the absloute best place to go. You won't forget it!