jana's life = crazy.

WARNING: this post may be slightly, or entirely, scattered.

first of all, let me just say that i have been having SO much fun with these paintings. i love that everyone is digging the colored backgrounds! my friend shauna (go check out her blog, she is seriously hilarious) totally did paintings like this first (she was actually a major source of my inspiration - shout out to shauna!)... anyway, she was telling me that most of her clients seem to shy away from using color, as hard as she tries to talk them into it, while i have yet to keep a painting black and white, even though i sometimes suggest it. interesting? i don't know... but i do think it's cool that you guys are so colorful.

speaking of all of my colorful painting buyers, thank you thank you thank you for being so patient with me while my life is crazy.

speaking of my like being crazy, i have an important announcement:

jana is moving back to utah thursday, april 16th!

which means....

#1. if you're thinking about ordering a painting from me, now would be a REALLY good time to get on it! once school and utah life is in full swing, chances are my life will be even crazier than it is now, and i might have to do something not so fun like raise my prices - you know how supply and demand works. SO, i've decided to be really cool and let you know that if you order a painting some time in April, the price will stay the same and you won't even have to worry about silly things like the laws of economics. cool?

#2. if you're in the bay area and want some sweet family pictures, or just pictures in general, PLEASE e-mail me! i've had a few people tell me already that they want some taken before i go and i want to try to accommodate as many photo sessions as i can! so seriously, e-mail me. and we will figure something out. [please don't freak out too bad if you just can't make it happen before the 16th. i'll be back here and there this summer. i promise.]

shameless self-publicity plug over.

while i have quite a range of emotions with the whole utah move, i would say the majority of my pie graph of emotions would be 'excitement' (i hope you're picturing my pie graph of emotions. or just picturing pie. i like pie). i'm so sad to be moving 800 miles from the fabulous family that i have loved living so close to for the past year, but, like i said, i am so so excited to be going back to school and doing the whole college scene again.

to celebrate setting the date for my big move, i quit my full-time job (which i kind of already mentioned), and my last day was friday - this was actually the first job that i've ever had to put in my two weeks for. tying up loose ends at work can be kind of crazy.

did i mention i've been sick for the past week or so with some kind of cold that will just not leave me alone?

so instead of spending the weekend painting up a storm, like i had planned... i drank a bottle of cough syrup [totally kidding. more like half of a bottle] and got a few lovely ladies ready for a junior prom [wish i had some pictures]. however, i did manage to take some pictures of one of my favorite families.

here are a few i loved.

they love kung fu remember?

i love that it was ryan's idea to take pictures of just the two of them, and i love that they don't even look old enough to have 3 crazy boys and that these could pass as engagement pictures, and i love that ryan would not stop making faces and had me laughing so hard.

i love that melissa has such fabulous ideas, so that even when i'm sick and uncreative we still get a few of these awesome shots.

want awesome pictures like this? see #2 above.

oh, it's 4:30 in the morning? weird, i didn't notice. no wonder i'm still sick!

xoxo.

jana

p.s. back to pie... seriously, no one even asked for my mom's pie recipe? maybe the half-eaten photo didn't do it justice. or maybe you just haven't tasted it so you have no idea what you're missing!

they threw me a going away party at work...

and i brought the pie. actually, i brought two pies, and this is what i came home with. hooray for quitting my full-time job to go back to school next month!

i had every intention of having a fabulous apple pie photo shoot, but it was a little out of the question when i woke up at 5:30 in the morning to get them all baked up before i left for work. shout out to my brother for pulling them out of the oven for me - thanks doug! i even wanted to post a step-by-step kind of deal with my mom's fabulous recipe, but that didn't work out either. maybe if you ask me real nice i'll do it anyway :)

mmm. i wish i would have hidden a piece to have for breakfast...

xoxo.

jana

someone once asked me what kind of toys i want when i grow up.

i think he meant things like boats or 4-wheelers.


but i would rather have these kinds of toys...

a letterpress machine to make things like this

[via a cup of jo... it's her kissing wish-list - cute, huh?]

a gocco machine - a little more of a realistic [not to mention smaller] option.

a polaroid camera. i've wanted one forever and it makes me sad they stopped making them. i'm sure i could still find one - maybe i'll get lucky.


or a holga camera to take pictures like this

[EDITED: i thought of this one later and added it]

a vintage typewriter. a teal one. more teal than this.


a photobooth. not the cheesy digital kind they have in bowling alleys [don't get me wrong, i'm a sucker for any photobooth], but i want the old-fashioned black and white kind they have at the county fair. seriously, having one in my house would be the sweetest thing ever.

a beach cruiser, but not this color. maybe white. or teal - i'm all about teal lately

[i keep thinking of more random things and adding them]

a helium machine. not to make my voice funny, i hear that kills brain cells, but so i could have floating balloons whenever i felt so inclined.

[don't know where i found this picture. my bad]


hmm. that's all i can think of for now.

xoxo.
jana



i know my blog is totally lacking in the awesomeness department - i'm working on fixing that right away. don't leave just yet :)

dear first day of spring,

today...


i wished for a remote to the alarm clock so i wouldn't have to get out of bed to turn it off.

i used my brother's deodorant, so i smell like a boy. the nice kind of boy smell, but a boy nonetheless.

all things considered, i still feel pretty cute.

i ate wheat thins for breakfast even though i could have had french toast.

i'm listening to my i-pod at work. not professional, but i don't care - i'm pretty sure i'm good at keeping it concealed.

i made lunch plans with my awesome cousin. she's treating. she's the best.

and it's not even 10am yet.

so nice to see you spring. you are going to be lovely. i can tell.



xoxo.
jana

dear blackberry,

i honestly don't know how i've lived 20-ish years without you.

i used to be horrible with phones. horrible. i hardly ever had it on, or on me, and hated listening to voicemails. then suddenly you came into my life and i am a changed woman. seriously, call me, and i'll pick up. it's pretty amazing - ask my family.

you aren't pink like this little lovely, but shout out to uncle daryl who hooked me up with a sweet gray one for freeeeee.

you're totally worth the extra 10 bucks a month.

xoxo.

jana

dear irvine,

i miss you already.

thank you for the mostly sunny days, the fabulous shopping and the free hot air balloon ride.





[look close and in her glasses you can see me taking the pictures and our friends waving]


[don't let their faces fool you - i'm pretty sure i'm the only one that legitimately enjoyed myself]


it's pretty awesome that you're so close to disneyland. we got to meet up with our friend rachael at downtown disney, though it made me slightly sad we didn't actually get to play inside.







thank you for hosting rascal flatts and jessica simpson too - we kind of had a blast.

sigh.

i want to come back. i miss having the girls together and let's face it, you're much cooler than fremont.

see you again soon? i hope so...

xoxo.

jana

9 strangers and a baby.

bridget and i ran around the city and snapped some of these.

a few people said no. one said yes, though he didn't seem very happy about it (guess which one). and one guy gave me his e-mail address so i could send him the finished product.

altogether, it was hilarious. i wish i had brought a video camera along as well.

original idea by: ellen ugelstad
assigned by: nicole
with a little added inspiration from : joanna

off to play in san francisco.

happy weekend :)


xoxo.
jana

my portfolio.

i may or may not have already shared this here, but i finally bit the bullet and sent my application into the visual arts department at byu. to be completely honest, i won't be too terribly disappointed if i'm not accepted - it was more for peace of mind than anything else. there is definitely a plan b.

i applied to the graphic design and photography programs, but could only send in one portfolio of 10 pieces. here is what i came up with - i'm hoping it came across as diverse rather than scattered :)

[for the photography portions, they advise that creativity be a bigger priority than quality - so that's what i was going for]

1. madisyn


2. food critic


3. jack+nate


4. ashley


5. be mine


6. lizzie - 10x10 acrylic on canvas


7. q+a - 16x16 acrylic on canvas


8. nate - 10x10 acrylic on canvas


9. golden gate - 10x10 charcoal drawing


10. lily - 11x16 charcoal drawing



i let out a big sigh of relief when it was all sent off via fedex overnight. yeah, i'm one of those last-minute kind of girls. i'm working on it :)


xoxo.
jana

i love kung fuuuuu.

what's not to love about it?

here is photographic proof of an absolutely fantastic kung fu panda birthday party. lots of photographic proof.

the birthday boy himself.

we painted chinese lanterns.

we ate chinese food.






check out my fortune, not my horrible fingernail polish.


we played the transfer the rice with chopsticks game, but some people had more fun eating it [he totally had the right idea].

[i love the little boy's tongue sticking out in concentration]


there was a noodle slurping contest.




we opened presents. well, nate did while we watched.


and, of course, there was cake.






and you can't have a party without some cute faces...









[i hope when i multiply and replenish the earth, they turn out half as cute as these kiddos]


for a picture with 4 little ones, i thought this turned out pretty well.

but i kind of like this one better.  and no, we didn't even  need to tell them to be silly.



and this one is for you melissa.


thanks for the fantastic party and giving me an excuse to wipe the dust off of my sadly neglected camera :)

xoxo.
jana