“Not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Our family’s B+B, El Primero Hotel has been busy this summer. Today marked the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup for 2011, here in Chula Vista, CA. Several athletes from the competition stayed at our hotel this weekend + a couple fellas from Australia checked in on Sunday to start practicing on the track. I really enjoy being able to meet new people through our family business. I love it even more when they come back to stay with us!!!

Hmm, I have a few photos from tonight’s dancing fun at McP’s Irish Pub in Coronado! It was a very sparatic move on my part, seeing as though I left the hotel at 11:15pm to dance for the band’s last set! I had a lot of fun + Tommy Price & The Stilettos were rockin’ as always ^_^ 

My friend, Jeff, Has been mentoring me + fine tuning my “waddle”. I can’t do a lindy swingout to save my life, but he’s got a lot of faith in my dance. It just fuels my desire to be great at it. ^_^

gLoVeS + KiSSeS,

Katie Lee

HeLLo LoVeLieS! This morning, I was checking out some inspirations via my Craft Gawker app (to create a username or if you can’t download an app, just click Craft Gawker to check it out!) + I came accross a post by Live & Enliven. I advanced to this tutorial called “Turn Old Paperbacks into Custom Hardbacks” by Ohdeedoh. The title is self-explanatory + I much prefer hardback over paperback books. The idea to print on fabric by an inkjet is new to me, but I’m really excited start refreshing + customizing my books with my own designs!

Individual Photographs by Ohdeedoh

gLoVeS + KiSSeS,

Katie Lee

HeLLo JiTTeRBuGs! Last night I went swing dancing for the first time in ages. On Wednesdays, The Firehouse Swing holds classes + dances at the Queen Bee’s Art + Cultural Center, in North Park. This Wednesday’s festivities included live music with the Zzymzzy Quartet + Shay La Vie, along with a *black + white* theme. Moe was kind enough to take me to the store to find a black + white dress, since I don’t have much of a closet anymore (Thanks, honey!). I really enjoyed seeing all my old friends + meeting new dancers! This time around, it was like riding a bike. I was so nervous, but my feet must have great memories when it comes to swing dancing ^_^ I forget how much fun I have + what a great workout it is, as well. Next week is the start of a new set of classes, including East Coast Swing Basics + the California Routine (which I’m excited to learn!). Moe + our friends, Josh + Sammie, will be going too, so it makes it doubly special!!!

Dress purchased at Forever 21
Oxfords (last year) courtesy of Steve Madden

gLoVeS + KiSSeS,

Katie Lee

iT’s a NeW MoNth, JuNeBuGs! The summer is here + there’s no sign of a beach body on me! Ugh! Maybe with the new swing classes coming up, I’ll have something going ^_^ Well, I have ventured onto yet another form of visual expression through the land of Photoshop. It’s just as addicting as every other source of creativity I’ve come across. There is so much to learn + I feel like I’ve been at it for days!!! Anywho, I’ve actually made my own digi washi tape with different strips, patterns + colors (Yeah, I patted myself on the back for those!). The scallop medallion was a free download from Pugly Pixel, who’s definitely made the whole learning process fun! So check out her site! There are lots of places with free fonts, downloads + tutorials, as well. Meanwhile, I should check my purse to see if Taetumn has opted to snag a few dollars!!!

Turorials + Free Downloads available at Pugly Pixel
Stripes Made at Strip Generator
Photos + graphics edited with Adobe Photoshop

gLoVeS + KiSSeS,

Katie Lee

GooD MoRNiNg, SuGaR PieS!!! I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! I know I’ve been on an art journal rampage that past few posts, but i like sharing the projects I create. So, there! ^_^ Sunday was a very low-key day for me. I went to work at El Primero Hotel (our family B+B), located in downtown Chula Vista, ‘cos my niece, Skylar, had a ballet recital that afternoon. Since the hotel is family run only, someone always misses out of a gathering. I really wanted both my parent to watch her performance, so it was a no-brainer! We were fully booked for the weekend due to the Junior Olympic Softball Championship in town. Yay! I opened an email mentioning that the B+B had received a 2011 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Award!!! How exciting, right?! ^_^ But I’ll tell you more about the hotel some other time ‘cos I’m starting to babble!

Moe took me out to the Fashion Valley mall yesterday (Memorial Day). It was nice + mellow. I was guessing families + friends spent their day at the beach or park somewhere in town….So, yay us! We went to California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) for lunch, split the Grilled Veggie Salad + had our own entries. I love that salad! It’s so tasty! We trekked though a few shops like Sony, H&M, the Windows Store…Of course, no shopping venter visit would be complete without a sit down at Brookstone (oh, you know you do it too!). Hee³!  After hitting a few more stores, we went home + relaxed.  I wanted to take a nap, but I was really excited to start doodling away!   

gLoVeS + KiSSeS,

Katie Lee

 Hiya, CuPCaKeS. The journal entry above is close to my heart, so that explains the fuzzies. I’m going to do my best to salvage + grow a friendship that I always believed could stand the test of time, but that is all I’ll be divulging (tears would get the best of me!).

Later this evening, Moe took me out to get some food. MMM, pretzels! Then, we went over to B+N to check out the Moleskine notebooks. I would like to use one for an art journal, but I decided to finish this book off first instead of transferring pages. I’ve still got a lot of trial + error to go through with this whole art journal thing. But I’m having a lot of fun making my mistakes!

gLoVeS + KiSSeS,

Katie Lee

gLoVeS + KiSSeS,

Katie Lee

Aaaaaaaah! Here’s the second entry from yesterday ^_^ I think I’m going to switch my canvas to a Moleskine or an old book (Upcycle!). I also need to find a new pen or marker to get the job done. In any case, I’m having lots of fun + I’m so glad that the Bruins are goin’ to the Stanley Cup Finals! I love hockey!

gLoVeS + KiSSeS,

Katie Lee

HeLLo PeoPLe!!! Here’s a look at my first attempt at art journaling (I have another entry from today, but I’ll save it for the next post!). I scanned it + I’m not quite sure if I like that over taking a picture, but I’ll do more entries + figure it out. I’ve never done anything like this before, but I was always curious to give it a go. Since I’ve started doing paper projects, stamping + whatnot, I haven’t been drawing at all. I used to draw all the time. How else was I to get through classes? ^_^ So, this was more of a kick in the butt for me to start developing that part of my life again. I’m known by friends + family for the more anime style drawing, but I really want to melt other textures + styles with my own. I would like to be less of a perfectionist + let the art just be. Now that have other forms of creativity under my belt, it will me interesting to see what I can contribute everyday.

gLoVeS + KiSSeS,

Katie Lee

Love Ava

Love Skye

HeLLo, JiVeRs!!! I’m still experiencing all of yesterday’s symptoms + a bit more, but I found some cute things that made me smile this morning. On Tuesday, my nieces created adorable cards just for me. I wonder if they came with a cure for my ooginess??? I should get back out of bed + tackle today’s grueling schedule. Haha! What??? Yes, I took my shower + brushed my teeth earlier! Give me some credit. I’m not that gross! ^_^

gLoVeS + KiSSeS,

Katie Lee