i love instagram, you guys, a lot. so when printcopia offered me an 8×10 canvas print to review, i was so excited to discover that their website allows you to upload photos from your own instagram account. the process is painless and streamlined and extremely intuitive. i chose this photo of jp and ramona looking like twins, and eagerly awaited my canvas print’s arrival.

 the delivery was speedy and the image appeared exactly the way it did on the screen (i HATE it when you preview images, only to print them out and they are blurry and awful and misaligned. i’m sure it’s user error but i still grumble at whatever program or printer did it). the only thing i wish i had done differently was to have the image wrap around the edges. however, printcopia offers you that option OR whatever freaking color you want (seriously, a color wheel pops up. the one that gives me anxiety bc there are so many hues and shades and choices).

you can see the final product here, in my frame cluster.

i love it. look at those two peas in a pod.

now through the end of october, printcopia is offering canvas-print-loving blog readers 50% off their orders, plus standard shipping! how great is that? just enter the coupon code: BLOGLOVE2012.

printcopia offered me an 8×10 canvas print in exchange for a review of their product. while they did not ask me to write anything but my honest opinion, they did ask that i link back to them with “canvas prints.” because i found their product favorable i had no qualms of introducing you all to them. i will always be completely honest and transparent in any sponsorships and exchanges i participate in. thanks for being amazing readers. 

 

Tagged with:
 

this past weekend, my parents were staying in our home during their visit for ramona’s birthday. we took advantage of the fact we had in-house babysitters and got away for an early four-year anniversary celebration.

  • we started with drinks and small plates at charcoal restaurant
  • then moseyed over to the clyfford still museum, where we had the galleries all to ourselves
  • afterward we headed to squeaky bean’s new location (go there now!)
  • we planned on ending the night at williams & graham (and should have as it was late and i had had plenty to drink)
  • but after one drink there, we then went on to a  friend’s house warming party

my parents had ramona sleep down with them in the guest room in the basement. technically, it was our first night away from little miss bean! i hurt the next day as going to bed at 1:00 AM and waking up at 6:30 is not my forte. those heavy-drinking, late-nights are not (or should not) be in the cards for this mama. but knowing that ramona can successfully sleep away from us is good news to me! i’m not eager to cart her off every weekend but sometimes, well you know, sometimes parents need a break.

jp and i love to celebrate special occasions by splurging on good dining experiences. here’s where we’ve dined for our previous anniversaries:
1st anniversary: root down (before we worked there!)
2nd anniversary: schwa
3rd anniversary: trattoria stella
 

i am so so so excited to announce a new giveaway!

my friend, paul michel, is a brilliant denver artist who has designed a collection of hand drawn greeting cards and illustrations, under the shop name mountain versus plains. his greeting cards are funny (omigod so so funny), irreverent, sometimes crass, quirky, and always so well-done. his illustrations of notable denver buildings are simple but spot-on and really capture the bones and personality of each place. i plan on commissioning him for a portrait of the powerdriver family in front of our little denver farmstead.

sifting through his collection had me laughing out loud to myself. i’m confident the same will happen to you. (p.s. please click through to his etsy site to get MUCH better photos of his awesome work. my diptich-ing does them no justice).

right now paul is doing a series of 33 cards in 33 days over at his facebook page and on his instagram feed (@mountainvsplains). it just started but these are two of my favorites:

paul has generously offered up three greeting cards AND a framed print (of winner’s choice!) to one lucky reader who comments on this post answering the question paul has for you all: suddenly the city of denver finds itself overrun by thousands of ravenous twenty-foot tall hamsters. what do you do? where do you go? (don’t worry if you’re not from denver; creativity and imagination are encouraged!)

this giveaway is running through july 31st and the randomly-picked winner will be announced in a blog post august 1.

BONUS!: extra entries can be obtained by liking mountain versus plains on facebook AND following his feed on instagram (@mountainvsplains) (which you won’t regret bc it makes for a daily chuckle). just leave an extra comment saying you’ve done so (and make sure to leave your instagram handle, please).

ADDITIONALLY!: paul is offering A Denver Home Companion readers 15% off in his mountain versus plains etsy shop through the duration of the giveaway. simply input promo code olliesvintage15 at checkout.

 

if you haven’t heard about them by now, well, then, i just need to introduce you to this fabulous denver band, the lumineers.

i found out about the lumineers bc i used to work with neyla, the adorable, kind, intelligent and incredibly talented young woman of the band. the band was just getting started (or at least her role in it was) and soon enough, she was often gone on tour. they were a hit wherever they went. their well-known song (and my favorite) is Ho Hey. do yourself a favor and watch it right now right here:

recently they performed on the late late show with craig ferguson and i was tickled pink. not only was this band i love getting some prime time showing but i could also point to the screen and say: “i know that girl!” 🙂

to my friends in chicago, NYC, LA, mpls, pdx…hell, everywhere in the USofA: check your local venues and definitely go see them when the lumineers make a stop in your town.

to check out their new, full album you can stream it for free here. noisetrade is offering a free download of their EP. also, please consider buying their album and supporting these great indie muscians.