(image by Uppercase Magazine)

I had a fantastic time socializing with friends and making new ones! The panels were all fantastic, but a big wake up call at the same time. To sum up my experience at Alt; here are a few things I learned, some good times that I had and the cool people I met.

• THINGS I LEARNED •

• Break out the good stuff (but not too much). Keep posts simple, unique & attention-grabbing.
• Include personal narrative & personality, but make and keep boundaries of what I’m willing to share.
• Be more aware of news (I should probably read drudge, but I never do) and current trends
• DON’T SIT ON IDEAS – I can always improve on them later
• Facebook is something I need to embrace, not avoid
• I need to figure out what I want to achieve from this blog (I’m a little aimless sometimes)
• I need to fix my about page
• Re-writing my media packet is a must
• I need to talk more with my brother (I don’t call him nearly enough & he’s a patent attorney)

While attending the various panels, I started a little to do list of the things I should change & improve on my blog & for you, my dear readers. The list is 3 miles long now. After the first day of sessions I felt completely broken: My blog sucks. My life is a mess. I’m not stylish enough. I’m not creative enough. I don’t have enough time to do any of this.

The second day was a whole new world. Each session was more inspiring than the last. That second day helped me build more confidence that I can do this, and many bloggers that I look up to are also in the same I’m-not-good-enough boat.

• GOOD TIMES I HAD •

Wednesday night I enjoyed some fantastic sushi with Pinhole Press. I had great conversations with Jensie & Melanie who I sat next to. It was a great & personal way to get the Alt Summit festivities started. Wednesday night I partied with fellow teachers and met designer pal, Angie, for the first time ever. I got to meet Natalie, Timothy and joke around with the reps of Mail Chimp. They gave out hand crocheted monkey hats at the social & you better believe I grabbed a handful & plan on using them for Felix’s 1st birthday. I do believe we will be going monkey-themed this year.

(image by Justin Hackworth)

Thursday night was the Winter Whites party. Since I taught a panel in the morning I was able to get my hair professionally done by She Lets Her Hair Down (Josphen was too adorable), so it didn’t take much to get all dolled up for the party.

I wore an off-white top (courtesy of ModBod, LOVE it!), necklace from H&M, earrings from the thrift store, belt from Grandma Newton, bracelets made by me (and one by my dad), floor-length skirt handmade by me, shoes from Amazon.

I had originally bought a white dress from Asos, but it failed miserably as it was practically see-through. Funny enough, I saw a girl wearing the exact dress that didn’t work on me, but it worked on her! I felt like too much of a dork to go up to her & tell her it looked fantastic on her. Oh well.

The Friday night parties were absolutely nuts. So many photo booths & fun treats. I believe I collapsed from a sugar rush at the end of the night. I wore a turquoise dress from Asos, pink belt from Asos, red patent pumps from Target, earrings from the thrift store & bracelets from Target. The Uppercase living party was a hoot where we made beaded necklaces. We finished the night at the Method + Smilebooth party where they had some classic hip hop jams & we got a little crazy with our dance moves. Super fun times.

(Image by Gala Darling)

Saturday was more of a restful day with sewing, printmaking & calligraphy. It even started to snow! I had a great time at Eva’s printmaking class & made some really fun prints that I plan on hanging around the house. I need to get on that! The calligraphy class went really well & both Jill & I were just floored at how quickly everyone picked up the pointed pen! Great times.

• THE PEOPLE I MET •

My roommies were fantastic. In previous years I’ve lived close enough to the Grand to just drive home at night. This time I had to drive 40+ miles each way, so I decided I’d rather spend that commuting time sleeping or socializing (it ended up being the latter). I had an absolute blast getting to know my roomies better. Nikki, Katie and Mica are so fantastically inspiring, beautiful and talented! What a fun group of women to be associated with!

It was an absolute thrill to meet Kathleen. She’s so real and witty! Jessica, Gala, and Jessie were all on the same fashion panel. I loved how passionate they were & how transparent they were willing to be at the Q&A section. There needs to be more of that in the blogging community! They’re all super adorable, too. At the Printmaking class I met my blog crush, Merilee, who turns out lives practically next door to me! We’re totally going to be BFFs now.

There were so many fantastic people that I met at Alt, I’m trying to sort through all of their cards/sites & add them to a Pinterest board for you all to see & visit. It’ll probably take a million years to add all of them on there, but I’ll try to get them on there.

Did you go to Alt? Tell me, what was your favorite moment of the weekend?

14 comments Add to delicious ]]> http://melissaesplin.com/2012/01/i-have-a-new-altitude/feed/ 14 http://melissaesplin.com/2012/01/my-favorites-of-2011/ http://melissaesplin.com/2012/01/my-favorites-of-2011/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:52:36 +0000 Melissa http://melissaesplin.com/?p=7007 I’ve spent some good time this last weekend reflecting on the year. Boy, it’s been a doozy. I was marveling to Chris at how much we did this year & he said, “What are you talking about? Every year that we’ve been married has been like last year.”

Oh come on! Last year was totally huge.

Here’s a little list of my favorite moments and projects (by category) of last year:

• A D V E N T U R E •

Welcoming Baby Felix into our family was my favorite adventure of the year. Not the labor, not the post-partum, not even the being pregnant part. Just Baby Felix. I would love to forget the pain & discomfort child bearing brings. I’m so happy to have my two kiddos here with me, safe & sound.

• A R T • 

I’ve not done much by way of actual art this year, but sharing my fashion sketches in my refashion posts have been a lot of fun.

• C A L L I G R A P H Y •

I might be the most proud of the way this little Thank You freebie turned out. Now that our printer is working again – I’m planning on printing a bunch of these out to send to neighbors, friends & family.

• C R A F T S • 

Making these little leather sandals for Penelope had to have been my favorite craft project all year, if not of all time. I’m pretty proud of how they turned out & She loved wearing them this summer!

• D E S I G N • 

Working with Megan Nielsen on her rebranding was perhaps my favorite design project this year. I had a fantastic time working with her & I’m so in love with each & every one of her patterns!

• D I Y •

My DIY photography backdrop was a stroke of genius in my opinion. It solved a lot of issues that I had with the brass fixtures & ugly carpet in my previous studio. I just put it up in my new studio to cover up 2x4s & plastic-covered insulation.

• F O O D •

David Lebovitz’s Idiot Chocolate Cake is perhaps the tastiest thing to tickle my tastebuds this year. Well, besides Ruby Snap’s cookie of the month in April: Billie Ann. Mmm. SUGAR.

• F R E E B I E S •

Jill & I worked so hard on this party suite. I think Jill’s name cards were my favorite part of the suite.

• P H O T O G R A P H Y •

This has to be my favorite photo of 2011. I love Felix’s scrunchy face!

• R E F A S H I O N •

This has to be my favorite refashion of the year. I still wear this skirt all the time. I’m over at Yellow Brick Home talking about why I love it so much.

• S E W I N G •

I’m so proud of how this swimsuit coverup turned out. I ended up dyeing it & I wear it all the time as a regular top.  It took FOREVER, but it was so worth it! Look at this project is getting me excited to get back into the sewing swing of things.

• T H R I F T Y •

I found this killer Arthur Umanoff chair for $8 at a local thrift store. I had no idea what it was before (or even after) I bought it, I just knew that I loved it. It’s inspired me to know a little bit more about history’s fantastic designers.

• T U T O R I A L S •

I had been planning on sharing this tutorial for the magic braided bracelet with you for some time (over a year at least), but just didn’t know how to explain myself. I was proud that I actually sat down & did it.

So there you have it, my proudest moments of 2011. What were yours? Do you have favorite tutorials/projects that you’ve found? Leave links (links to other blogs encouraged) in the comments below!

When does he not have his tongue sticking out?

The above pictures are straight out of the camera: 1250ISO, f/4, 1/80

I pulled out my camera yesteraday for some sweet pictures of Felix while Penelope was enjoying her “quiet time”. He’s becoming more & more mobile these days which is both exciting and devastating. I like my chubby bump on a log, but it’s so fun to see him grow & change. He’s still nowhere near sitting up by himself though. That behemoth head of his & his lack of motivation has really held him back. He’s still an excellent cuddler & I’m loving every minute of it. I’ll be so sad to see that phase go.

This picture is straight out of the camera: 2500ISO, f/3.5, 1/100

Felix is such a charmer. He loves any attention that’s thrown his way! See him “crawl” in the video below.

I love you baby Felix. You’re my favorite son ever.

If you live in Utah’s Wasatch front, I’ve got two sales you don’t want to miss! First one, my sister-in-law Shelley, and her sophomore Industrial Design class at BYU made lamps & they’re selling them to the public. These lamps are killer! Hello, bottom left lamp! You’re going to be mine. All lamps are $20. Seriously, you can’t pass this up. Be sure to spread the word along to friends & family that might be interested. I believe they’re only offering 15 of each design. You can find them selling the lamps outside at the Gateway Mall – at the main intersection by the parking garage by Gap, J.Crew & Abercrombie.

The second sale is American Craft’s annual Scrapbooking sale. I like hitting this up every year for gifts for my mom & for packaging for Christmas. I went yesterday & found some fantastic deals on ribbons, trims & paper bows for giftwrapping! If you’re thinking about buying the CUTUP, they have a few available at half the price. You’ll want to get in on that if you’ve been thinking about it. Directions and details in the image below.

. . . And there’s one more I almost forgot!! The Bijou Market is this weekend, too! I’ll definitely be stopping by to check out the goods from 5th & Hazel, Annily Green, Ashmae, Livy Love Designs and more!

Well, as you can tell, progress on moving in is much slower than I had anticipated. Last night Chris set up the big computer, so I’ll actually be able to get some design work done. This place is fantastic, but the studio is going to be a giant project as it is in the unfinished basement. I’ll be posting videos of my progress periodically.

I’ve never posted a picture of our kitchen. Most of that is because I’m not a fan of the ’90s oak cabinets with brass fixtures (not my style), but the other part is because of the kitchen table. I’ve not been satisfied with any of our kitchen tables from day one. The first table we ever had was one that Chris & I refinished just before we got married. It was okay, but not worth moving to California after we finished college. We ditched the first table & upgraded to a pub-style black rubberwood table with stools. I believe we spent something like $250 for the table & 4 stools.

The second table was fine, but I wasn’t a fan of the boston finish or the random “drain” notches on the table top. It wasn’t very kid-friendly, either. It was then that we moved back to Salt Lake. We settled in our place & I absolutely didn’t like how the table was always competing with the counter tops in the kitchen/dining area. I got rid of it. I think I sold it for something like $150.

To replace the black pub table, I found a cool little vintage table for $25. Chris didn’t like it from the very beginning. It was a laminate top, so it was easier to clean up & I didn’t care so much if Penelope smacked abused the table. I bought orange chairs from Annie for $20. I’ve always liked the chairs & I think Chris likes them just fine. Finally, just before Felix was born, we got rid of the table. Sold it for $25.

We used a Lifetime folding table while we decided what we wanted to do. I found a simple & fairly cheap DIY project over at Stylizmo for making a farmhouse-style modern table. We went for it. Fail. We bought cedar planks; but turns out they hadn’t dried out so by the time we assembled, sanded & painted, the slats shrunk leaving uneven breaks between the planks & some really gross cracks in the paint. The wood was too lightweight, so the table always wobbled & it was the absolute wrong size for our dining space. Much too wide & too long. I ended up making Chris take it apart. I started sanding the top to fix it all, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it. I repurposed the purchased Ikea legs for my studio desk & the wood is just sitting in our garage. I’m sure I’ll find a great purpose for it somewhere.

Now we’re using a table that we found on the side of the road back in our California days. I was originally using it as a desk in my studio, but now it’s our dining table. It’s got tons of scratches & nicks. You can see a chunk taken out of the bottom left corner. I’m tempted to rehab it, but it’s a bit small for having family over.

So there you go. Table fail. We’ve now decided that we’re going to invest in a grown up table. Sometimes the saying “You get what you paid for” is so true. So what are our plans? I’m still not entirely sure, but I know this much – I’m planning on powdercoating the chair legs. I painted them white a while back & they’re looking really ratty. I’m thinking orange or yellow would look fantastic. I just have to figure out how to remove the legs (they’re attached by rivets). It’s looking like that will cost somewhere around the ballpark of $200. It’s more than I’m wanting to spend, but I know that getting them powder coated will make the color last longer & look infinitely better.

As for our future table, I’m on the fence on whether I should DIY it or not. I’ve been madly pinning potential tables to Pinterest. Angela suggested I look into For Me, For You’s DIY table with hairpin legs. It’s pretty brilliant. If we were to go that route, I’d invest money into a nice, thick piece of solid walnut or something similar. Maybe find some reclaimed wood. Chris & I have talked a lot about what we want in a table & basically we’d like the same table my in-laws have. I’ll have to take pictures sometime. It’s absolutely a stunning teak modern table surrounded by 8 white tulip chairs. Gorgeous.

I’m sort of in love with this Fresno Modern Walnut table. Aren’t those lines just spectacular? It’s out of our budget, but pretty close to what we’re looking for. Ahem, I mean I am looking for. I’m looking for a table with unique angles. Have you seen what’s at Ikea recently? Great, but BORING. Check out my tables pin board for all of my favorites.

What do you look for in a table? Do you have any suggestions on where I should go for one?

Remember how I posted about this delicious flatbread technique over at Rhodes blog? Well I shared it over on Simply Modern Mom with a few adjustments. I make flatbread sandwiches using this technique at least twice a week. It’s soo good I can’t get enough. Check it out & go make yourself some Rhodes flatbread right now.

I make yarn pom poms for decorating our tree every year, but this year is going to be different. Check out Skip to My Lou for how to make killer jersey pom ornaments using old t-shirts. Heck, use this tutorial to accessorize your hair. I know I’m going to.

Last night was the best night out I’ve had in a long time. Jill, Libby and I drove to UVU to listen to JESSICA HISCHE (my design/lettering/illustration icon!). She was so inspiring, transparent & approachable. Honestly, I’m more thrilled about meeting her than I would be if I had the chance to meet Heidi Klum. She’s way awesomer. (No offense, Heidi, you’re still cool, it’s just Jessica is cooler). I hate my expression in this pic; it’s a little scary – but you see my excitement?!? It was a dream for Jill & me to actually meet her. So much talent right there. Seriously. That woman can letter circles around me. Also, I’m way jealous that she & her husband live in San Francisco. So jealous.

What are you up to this weekend? I’ll be teaching another calligraphy class – can’t wait!

I was playing around with my white balance settings & showing him photos every once in a while. After I showed him the first set of pics, he said something about being bald & went back to playing with Felix. This time, he was singing a song – a song that he made up. Eu sou careca – I am bald. He’s hilarious.

Little did he know, I was capturing his goofy moment on video. HA! That’s the best part about having a DSLR with vid capabilities! He thought I was slowly framing my image, but I was recording every bit of that funny song of his.

It’s been a really long time since I’ve shared pictures & info on baby Felix, I thought I’d share a few stats with you. He’s a chunk-monster! AKA the Feli-monster. He’s 20lbs (95th percentile), 28 inches long (off the charts for his age) & his head. . . oh his head is WAAAAAAAY off the charts. He’s got the average size head of an 18 month old, which explains his difficulty sitting up. He still hasn’t reached that mile marker yet. It’s getting a bit frustrating that he still wobbles in his high-chair, but he’s getting there and I’m more than happy for him to take his time. I’m just glad he’s not like my younger sister was and walking at 7 1/2 months.

Also, this video makes my heart melt. I still need to remember to shoot horizontally when I’m in video mode, but you get the idea. He just lights up whenever I talk to him. Do you see that cute gaping smile at the end? He’s got me wrapped around his tiny little finger.

THANKS!

Note from Chris: Thanks for the patience as the blog has been up and down all night. I made the mess and I get to clean it up. I’m going to bed now, but I’ll be back at it tomorrow.

engagement photos taken by my mother-in-law

We had been dating maybe three months when I was talking to him about finding roommates for the next year (my previous roommate situation blew up in my face). As I was thinking aloud, I told Chris I could room with his sister, Lindsay; she was cool. It was quiet. For a second, I thought: Well I guess he might not want me to live with his sister. Afterall, if we broke up that would be pretty awkward. Then Chris looked at me & said, “I was kind of hoping we could be roommates next year.”

We had known each other for 4 months before we went on our first date, but after that everything flew by pretty quickly. We said I love you after a month, we talked marriage at three, he proposed at four, he went on a two & a half month internship in Arkansas at five & four days after he got back, we were hitched. It was all just under a year of meeting each other.

It didn’t feel that fast because we are perfect for each other. Have you seen the Adjustment Bureau? We watched it last weekend (loved that movie, btw) & that’s what our courtship felt like. We were just meant to be together.

Wedding photos taken by Sarah Faubus

Chris, I love you. Thanks for being my husband of five years. Let’s make it another 65, mmk?

dress details here

My brother-in-law just got back from a two year stint in Honduras, so most of us Esplins were in Phoenix to celebrate his safe return home. Chris couldn’t get time off work, so he held down the fort & let me galavant off to Phoenix on my own. Chris’s sister, Shelley, flew with the kiddos & me out to Phoenix, which was HUGE. It was the first time I’ve flown with two kiddos & everything went surprisingly well. I didn’t have a companion on the flight home, but we fared remarkably well considering our flight came in at 11pm.

While we were in Phoenix, we went swimming, killed a scorpion, went shopping, watched movies, ate lunch with friends, watched bob’s burgers and helped organize my youngest sister-in-law’s bedroom. Felix spent most of his time in the arms of an aunt, uncle or grandparent and Penelope spent most of her time bossing around Molly the dog. It was perfect.

We got back to a clean house (which we have now destroyed, sorry Chris!) and my new camera! I’ve spent most of the morning playing around & reading the instruction manual. Seriously, I suggest EVERYONE should read their camera’s instruction manual. It doesn’t matter what kind of camera you have, just learn all of its ins & outs. You’ll take much better photos once you do. Promise. I’m about 90 pages into the manual & have about 210 to go, but I feel like I’ve improved immensely since I started reading. I’ll definitely be reading it through a few times.

With all of my enthusiasm, I took this opportunity to shoot some pictures of the nearly 5 month old Felix. He’s getting so big & animated now, I just love it. During our vacation, he discovered his hands & started rolling over! It’s so exciting! Now I need to teach him to hold up that behemoth head of his.

Taliesin West

I’m in Phoenix for the next couple of days visiting with family & would love to meet up with you if you’re in the area! Camberley and I want to get together for lunch sometime Monday or Tuesday. Who’s with us?! Anyone’s welcome to join us, just leave a comment letting me know you’re interested in coming & I’ll email you the details.

Happy weekend!!