Photos, school, and happy mail

July was a great month for photos. I still have a couple of days left, but I'm so happy that I've been able to commit to most of the photo-goals that I set for myself. (Diptych kinda fell through, I guess...again...if anyone wants to diptych with me for August, shoot an email to bekkabess@gmail.com. Because I really want to complete a whole 30 days. Third times the charm, right? And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, look here.)

School is less than 3 weeks away (or, five days away if you're my husband). I love back to school shopping. I went to the store to buy makeup (because I just realized that I ran out at the end of May...I don't wear much makeup in the summer). And I came home with all of this:



Yes, there are 750 drinking straws in that photo. Because we do a lot of hands-on design activities in my classes, and the only straws that I can find around here are bendy. So when I saw these (not bendy AND colorful) at Meijer, I got all giddy and bought three bags. Something tells me I'll be back for more...

Oh, and here's some happy mail that I received the other day from the oh-so-fantastic Amy Lapi! I won a giveaway on her blog, and she sent me all these nifty things!



She also sent me one of her prints. Given my love for Starbucks, I'm pretty much thrilled. :)
And just to put in a plug for her, you can find all of her fabulous prints here.



Also, a new challenge will be posted tomorrow over at These Are a Few of My Favorite Things. This one is my favorite so far...yes, I know that we've only had two. I have a feeling the phrase "my favorite so far" is going to get a lot of use with these challenges. :) I'll be back later to share my layout.