Art & Design of Kelli Murray

 The 52 Project – a portrait series of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013 

Rylee’s wearing:  Happily Ever After Tee by Peek / Knotted Turban – The Pink Ruffle / Leggings from Target, hand stamped

It was the most beautiful day on Saturday.  The perfect excuse to go down to the Oceanside Pier and enjoy the sun with the fam.  We are starting to really feel the coming of summer here and it makes my heart happy!  Just imaging all the beach days with Rylee, trips to the ice cream shop, evening bike ride’s….weekends at grandma’s pool.  *sigh.  Summer is my season.

Have I mentioned how much I am loving this age Rylee’s at?  (i’m kidding, i know i’ve said it about a thousand times).  I don’t know what it is about 18 months, but all of a sudden her speed of learning has been put on a fast track.  It seems that everyday she is shocking me with a new word.  Yesterday it was blender….and this morning I caught her saying “oh shoot” as she dropped her apple on the floor. ha! WHAT!!?  It’s crazy what a little copy cat she is turning into.  It really makes you think twice about what you are saying and doing as a parent!

Sorry I have been a little absent lately.  I have been working like craaaazy.  But so glad I have weekends like this one to unwind with the ones I love!  Happy weekend friends.

Fringe Sweater – c/o Sheinside  //  Tights – UO  //  Boots – Dr. Martens  //  Sunglasses – c/o Epokhe

So it’s 2 AM as I am writing this post.  Do you ever feel like you are running a million miles an hour and can’t catch a breath?  That’s about me right now.  It’s good things…promising opportunities, new exciting projects, website re-designs (ahem, mine!)….but boy is it taking a toll on my shut eye.  I want nothing more than to press pause, but I won’t let myself.  I can’t stand to see opportunities slip by.  So here I am.  2 AM and finally getting to my blog.  Husband sawing logs in bed and baby sleeping for what has been 6 hours now.  Let me tell you.  The girl is averaging 13-14 hours a night.  If I could insert an emoticon it’d be that one with the two hands lifted to heaven (hallelujah, praise the Lord, dream baby, my hero).

Truth be told, I have been having the baby-sitter debate often as of late.  Should I….or shouldn’t I?  For now, I haven’t committed to the idea, but it’s been on my mind….a lot.  I have the best mom in the world who lives 20 minutes away and will watch Rylee at the drop of a hat….but I can’t expect her to live her life around my schedule.  As wonderful as that sounds.  Sometimes I just feel like I need ONE MORE DAY.  One more day in the week devoted solely to “catching up”.  To answer all my emails, to tie up loose ends, to clean the house!  Common ideal world, where are you hiding?  Anyway, I’ll keep you posted as I wrestle with the idea of a sitter and chime in if you have any thoughts or experience or “there, there’s”.

All this busy talk is reminding me of this post Anna of In Honor of Design wrote a bit ago about how she has committed to going to bed at the same time as her husband, every night.  For some reason, it keeps popping in my head and convicting me of my own unhealthy sleep habits.  I can’t remember the last time Sam and I went to bed at the same time.  Shamefully, it was probably pre-baby.  I am realizing I am opening myself up to some judgement here….but it’s the honest truth.  We still love each other, we just don’t fall asleep at the same time.  But I wish that wasn’t the case.  My “work time” is the 5 hours after Rylee goes to sleep for the night.  It’s when I feel most creative, and really, the only time I have to focus, distraction free.  Sam wakes up at an ungodly hour so he’s always in bed by 9:30…..so you can see the dilemma here.  But it can’t be this way forever, can it?  Well, it shouldn’t.  I do think having a sitter for a few hours a couple days a week would help in this regard, but I’m also challenged to just “let it go” sometimes.  To leave my to-do list for the next day (however scary that might be) and snuggle in with my hubby more often.  I also loved Jodi’s post on the topic of time efficiency as well.  I guess a lot of us are dealing with the same struggles!

Photos by Erica

 The 52 Project – a portrait series of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2013 

One thing I love about this project (52 project) is that it pushes me to document our everyday life.  And it’s also a gateway to share a bit more about my family, so i hope you don’t mind!  It used to be that I only brought my camera with me if we were going somewhere out of the ordinary…or if it was a holiday or a special occassion.  But remembering that I have want to capture a new portrait of Rylee each week, reminds me to take it with me almost everywhere.  To capture not just the special moments, but the simple ones too.  One of our favorite things to do as a family is go to the beach.  We are beach people.  I’ve grown up with it, so to imagine not living near the coast is kind of uncharted territory.  We love every part of it.  The sun, the water, the sand….even the burn indicating you’ve stayed too long (or perhaps that’s just me).  It’s one of those places that I always feel God, and where I am constantly reminded of the beauty of his creation.

As I was looking through my camera to see what I captured from our day at the beach yesterday, my heart melted all over the floor when I saw that last one of Rylee sitting on Sam’s lap.  Sam’s not a regular member of this blog because he’s not big on getting his photo taken.  Most of the time I wish it wasn’t the case because I think he makes for a pretty good looking subject.  I might be bias, but I think he’s a babe. But it’s also something I ironically really love about him.  He is simple and genuine and never wants to make life seem fabricated or contrived.  Which, let’s be honest, happens a lot in the blog world.  Whether intentionally or unintentionally, we show our best sides and hide the ugly parts.  But i’ll tell you right now that even though I share mostly what is “pretty” here, our life is far from perfect.  We face challenges just like any other couple, we fight, we make up, but most importantly, we love.  At the end of the day, we know our love for each other will overcome any hurdle we face.  And I don’t just love him….I really like him.  There’s a difference, you know.  He makes me laugh, he encourages me, and he’s my very best friend.  I’m lucky he’s mine…and Rylee is lucky she’s his.  There is nothing sweeter to me that seeing the two of them together.  It’s no secret she’s a daddy’s girl through and through.

So, I just had to share! Is this not the most amazing one year old birthday party you have ever seen!?  My friend Tori of Sitting in a Tree knows a thing or two about throwing a good party.  I was so excited when she asked me to design the invitations for her daughter Lucca’s one year birthday.  I just knew it was going to be amazing.  Winter wonderland theme meets flora and fauna!!?  Yes, please!

…yes, that’s my daughter trying to swipe the deer from Lucca’s cake.

Just to gush on Tori for a minute: she is one of the sweetest and most creative people I know.  Aside from being a creative genius herself, she has been one of the biggest supporters of my work, really, since the very beginning.  I remember meeting her for the first time at an art show I was a part of.  An art show she actually curated.  I’m not even sure how she knew about me or my art, but I remember just being really excited for an opportunity to showcase my work.  It was back in 2006 I think, and only the second real show that I had ever done.  From Tori, came countless commissioned projects and referrals.  And I think she is the person that has purchased more art from me than anyone else in history!   I’ll forever be thankful for that.  And i’ll always remember her being a part of my “beginning”.  Not to say that I have made it by any means.  But we’ve come a long way…..and i’m glad that today we are still a part of each others lives….supporting each other in our creative endeavors and celebrating new life in our little ones!  That Lucca Valentine is to die for.  Anyway….all this to say….I’m really thankful for friends like Tori, and all the people that have encouraged me and supported me over the years.  Including a lot of you readers who I know have been keeping up with me for a long time!  I so appreciate you!!

Photos by the amazing Studio Castillero.  A whole lot more can be found over on 100 Layer Cakelet

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In other news….have you heard? Google is saying goodbye to google reader! More info can be found here. I’ve actually never used google reader myself, but I know it’s the go-to for a lot of people to keep track of their favorite blogs.  If you happen to be a Google Reader user, I’d suggest switching over to Bloglovin.  It’s clean, simple and easy to navigate.  You can follow me here!

Dress – Kelli Murray Dress c/o Modcloth / Platform Sandals – Zara / Hat – Free People

I’m so happy to be featured as Modcloth’s Blogger of the Moment this month!  This here is my Namesake Dress! Yup…it’s named after me!  You can get it here.  It’s not a print I would typically pick out for myself, but I’ve kind of fallen in love with it.  Perfect for Spring!

I put together all of my favorite Modcloth items here, and you can read my full interview on their blog here.

Thanks so much for the feature Modcloth!