Last March, I had the pleasure of working with Erin of Artsocial and Lexy of The Proper Pinwheel on an amazing project they called Eat Drink Create.  This was a night of tasty snacks, pretty crafts and fun times with local bloggers at West Elm Denver.  It was so much fun to film their event, and to put together the video showcasing their loveliness.  They picked the best crafts!  So much color & texture makes for a happy camera.

Pop over to Erin’s post and Lexy’s post to hear all about it!

And while it seems like forever ago that I made the announcement, the time has finally come to launch my business website!  Major thanks again to Kate for the awesome logo & branding and to Melissa for all her copy-polishing ninja skills – they were both an amazing help to me and I’m so thrilled with the end results.

I’d love for you to hop on over and check it out!  Some awesome updates (including a few awesome projects that are in the works) will be coming in the next few months, so keep an eye out.  Also, you’ll notice a handy new button for Evergreen Lane over on the sidebar, as well as a “Work with me” tab at the top of the page.  So – if you’re looking for someone to help you tell your small creative business story, get some video content up on your blog, or even make sense of your vacation footage, now you can hire me!

Hooray!  Thanks for following along on this journey with me – I know that there are plenty of exciting things to come (including, but not limited to, more travel-inspired videos on this blog!) and I appreciate all of your support.

So, what do you think?

Filed in:Life | Video
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  • RochelleApril 23, 2013 - 3:53 pm

    This is so awesome!!! I’m so excited for you!ReplyCancel

    • Annabelle MintzApril 23, 2013 - 4:26 pm

      Thanks Rochelle! I really appreciate it 🙂 I’m pretty excited too!ReplyCancel

  • LouiseMay 24, 2013 - 4:37 pm

    I’m a lil’ late cuz I took a small blogging hiatus, but Congrats Annabelle! The site looks amazing & that vid for Eat, Drink, Create was beyond adorbs!! I only wish I was there in person to see it all, live! I wish you the BEST of luck w/ Evergreen Lane Prod & the blog! “Move Beautifully” is such an inspirational tag line xoReplyCancel

  • Annabelle MintzJune 3, 2013 - 10:41 am

    Thanks so much Louise! It has been a crazy journey, but I’m so happy 🙂 You know, Colorado is always a great place for a vacation!ReplyCancel

Colorado has been playing with my heart this spring.  We’ve been going back and forth between sunny loveliness and bitter snowy cold.  I am so over winter and very jealous of all those people in the rest of the country posting pretty spring flower photos – none of that over here yet, folks.  It’s supposed to snow (again) tonight and tomorrow.  Oh my soul.

1. This was one of the better days – I did a photo shoot out in the park with two beautiful ladies graduating from high school, and went back later for a hike.  Good day.

2. This was one of the not-so-good days.  I keep my fingers crossed that if it’s gonna snow, maybe at least I’ll get a snow day and be able to stay home from work – but no such luck so far.

3. The perfect storm of “I can’t make up my mind” weather systems created these immense icicles over my covered parking spot.  That longer one on the right was just short enough so I could drive underneath.

4. I am sick of every single sweater, pair of pants, and boot in my closet.  Fortunately, my mom sent me this cozy new blanket of a sweater from Urban Outfitters, so I’ve managed wearing that one over and over every time it snows.

5. Things that make me happy, no matter the weather? Lunch dates with my favorite guy, and thai food.  This was a great combo.

Promise I’ll stop talking about the weather soon (my twitter feed lately has been a bit embarrassing), and I realize that Colorado’s awesome weather needs to be paid for sometime of the year – so March and April it is.  Everybody who lives here I’m sure is thankful for all the moisture we’ve been getting, because we all remember what happens when it gets hot and dry for a few years in a row.  So, I’m down with moisture.  All I’m saying is that if it snows (or even thinks about snowing) in May, I quit.

Hope that wherever you are today, you are enjoying some lovely springtime and that snow is a thing of the past!

{ Images by Annabelle Mintz }

Filed in:Life

I posted this photo on Instagram last week, in lieu of my usual Happiness posts, and this week I’m still thinking it.  Some things are so simple to say and so hard to believe, don’t you think?  It is quite simple to let circumstances or what other people say/do or don’t say/do determine your mood for the day.  But the more I grow, the more I learn that adventure & happiness & our general life mood is determined more by our own decisions than by all that external stuff.  And oh man, some days I feel way farther from that simple truth than others.

We’re all going to have easy days and hard days.  We’re all going to have times where everything goes our way, and days when nothing seems to.  We’re all going to see incredible dreams fulfilled, and face incredible disappointment.  Happy doesn’t have to be a roller coaster of good days and bad days.  Happy doesn’t have to follow me when I’m traveling to far away places, and doesn’t have to stay there when I return to the constancy of home.  I’m learning that happy isn’t an extreme emotion.  And that life, in itself, is the greatest of adventures.

I think happy is a simple appreciation for who you are, a calm confidence in that identity – whatever surrounds you.

I think happy can be a constant contentedness.

That is, if you choose it to be.

{ Image by Annabelle Mintz }

 

Filed in:Happiness
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  • Susan MedynApril 18, 2013 - 3:22 pm

    I love this message. Want to sing it, but would prefer to hear you sing it!ReplyCancel

    • Annabelle MintzApril 18, 2013 - 5:43 pm

      Thank you Susan! And perhaps you’re right, there might be a song in the making there 😉 I really need to get on that!ReplyCancel

  • bebe piesApril 18, 2013 - 4:53 pm

    Wonderful post! Very good point that happiness is being comfortable and appreciative of the self.ReplyCancel

    • Annabelle MintzApril 18, 2013 - 5:44 pm

      Bebe – it’s a different definition than I have internalized for most of my life, but I guess that’s why we keep growing 🙂 Thanks!ReplyCancel

  • PurnenduJuly 23, 2013 - 6:03 am

    Hey, Annabelle,

    I like you – and do believe that being happy is personal choice.

    The living with happiness is state of mind and choice – and it is made simpler by day dreaming.ReplyCancel

My sister and I had a free morning to spend in Austin, and we decided that after a run on the Hike & Bike Trail, we would make our way over to the flagship Whole Foods in downtown Austin.  It seems a bit strange to make a grocery store one of your vacation destinations, but I’ve heard great things about this particular store – Austin being the place where Whole Foods got started, after all.

I may also be known to make Trader Joe’s runs when I’m anywhere that happens to have one.  What can I say?

I think you can learn a lot about a person by what they pick up at the grocery store – and you can probably tell a lot about me by what I chose to take photos of.  Crazy awesome floral section? Huge beer cooler? Cookies? Bright colors?  Tea bar? Yup.  These are my priorities, folks.  Ok, so the beer photo was more than likely so I could show my husband.

Emphasis on the flowers and cookies.  I’m not a hard person to please, really.

Also, loose leaf tea bar?  Please, and thank you.  As if I didn’t already want to shop at Whole Foods (but alas, those $$$, yo), I’m pretty glad I won’t be living in Austin if ONLY for the reason that I won’t be tempted to visit this place all. the. time.  That would definitely mean no more $$$ for me.

The prepared foods section was the main difference, really, between this Whole Foods and any other – aside from the thing just being bigger.  It was almost like a food court, with different places you could visit – a taco stand, fresh juice/smoothie bar, coffee & tea bar, etc.  There were also crazy gelato flavors like carrot cake, blue cheese walnut & cucumber lime.  And did I mention cookies?  This place was huge!

Sister & I grabbed some fresh juice – actually it was my first experience with juicing and it was pretty delicious!  Mine was the orange one (pictured at top), a mix of ginger, carrot, orange & apple.  Abbi picked Pretty in Pink which had pomegranate & a bunch of berries & coconut water.  Mmmm – I could probably get on this juicing bandwagon.

If you’re visiting Austin and you want to get as close to what grocery stores must look like in heaven (except – everything would be free there, because it’s heaven, obviously) then you should definitely check out this monster-sized flagship Whole Foods.

{ Images by Annabelle Mintz }

Filed in:Everyday Adventure | Travel
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  • ErinApril 10, 2013 - 11:38 pm

    I discovered Whole Foods in New York when I came to the States last year. One word: amazing. So I totally agree it should be on a holiday to do list!ReplyCancel

  • LouiseApril 17, 2013 - 8:42 pm

    I didn’t even know they had a FLAGSHIP Store! how cray! You got me w/ the gelato & the cookies….delish!!ReplyCancel

    • Annabelle MintzApril 17, 2013 - 10:10 pm

      Louise your comments are making me laugh, thank you 🙂 and right? gelato and cookies will make most things more awesome, so this WF had it going ON!ReplyCancel

  • Heidi GayleJuly 17, 2013 - 4:53 pm

    Great photos! I have no bias whatsoever to Whole Foods either 🙂 You should come photograph me in my store in Whole Body. You would make us all look GREAT and incredibly artistic!!!ReplyCancel

  • bpSeptember 7, 2013 - 6:11 pm

    I get all kinds of happy feelings when I go through a good grocery store like Whole Foods. I am actually bummed I didn’t think the visit the one in Austin! Had no idea it started there! Love all the pictures, and want to stick my face in their displays every time!ReplyCancel

    • Annabelle MintzSeptember 9, 2013 - 9:41 am

      bp- right? that place is hard to resist. If you’re ever in Austin again you really must check it out, it’s even more crazy than the photos can really portray haha. There’s a reason I usually avoid that grocery store, as it likes to sneak all my money away! But it is definitely a nice treat every now and then 🙂ReplyCancel

My goodness was the last week of March something else or what? Good thing I spent the first week of April with a great deal of stillness, because all that going was getting a little overwhelming! But nevertheless, there were some very lovely moments that I’m thankful for.

1. Participating in Eat Drink Create with Erin and Lexi – so. much. fun – this was an amazing opportunity and I’m so glad they gave me a chance.  The awesome video is in progress, ladies!

2. Launching my new blog at last! It was a tremendous amount of work, but it is totally my happy place now and I’m so thankful that everyone seems to have made the switch from .com to .org! Also, crazy in love with the map illustration on the about page.

3. A little birthday happiness from some dear friends who know that flowers are the way to my heart – so much sunshine to enjoy.

4. Thankful for the weekend I got to spend with my sister in Texas, surrounded by these lovelies.

5. Spring seems tremendously far away from Colorado some times (and I think we’re supposed to have another big snow this week) but I’m thankful for a few days in sunshine and green trees to (hopefully) tide me over until the season decides to show up here.

6. When in Texas, eat Texas-shaped waffles, obviously.  It was as delicious as it looks!

Also – find me on Viva Bang Bang sharing some of my favorite things, it was a fun little interview – go check it out and the other awesome creatives that have participated in Brittany’s 5 4 3 2 1 series.

{ Images by Annabelle Mintz }

Filed in:Life
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  • LouiseApril 17, 2013 - 8:45 pm

    I’m jealous u got to go to Eat Drink Create…but soo happy for u too!! And I’m lovin that texas waffle!!…can u tell I’ve got sugar on the brain?! heheReplyCancel

    • Annabelle MintzApril 17, 2013 - 10:09 pm

      Lousie HAHA thank you! I wish you could have come – I think a visit might be in order for the next one? They are the place to be! 🙂ReplyCancel

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