photo diaries ⁂ my 30th birthday, cat pics, thrift haul, paper mario thoughts

Hello my sweets!! Long time no photo diaries!! Here's a lil collection featuring some pics from my 30th birthday party, lots of cute cat photos, and a cutie thrift haul heh. Unfortunately, I didn't get too many more pictures from my party (even tho I haven't looked at the photos on my powershot yet) but trust me, the powerpoints were SOOOOO good -- I do think my fave as the one about the Denver International Airport Conspiracy :') I didn't get photos of like half of them bc I was comfy on my couch and my phone was far away and I wanted to be a good spectator!!

• my cake was very cute but I feel bad cause Ares ordered it but the bakery messed up the design and got it mixed up with another customer, so he was able to get a full refund, but it wasn't the Vision he intended. it was yummy tho!!!

• got this gorgeous tree window shot on a long walk with some friends

• the majority of May rewards have been shipped off! I will also say -- there was a small pile of April sticker sweetie envelopes that were hidden from me, and I found them upon packing the May rewards, so for any sticker sweeties missing your April rewards, they're on the way now and I'm SOO sorry

• unfortunately, I didn't have enough May holo fairy stickers -- I thought that I had ordered enough, but I think more folks joined the sticker tiers than I anticipated?? Or maybe I misplaced a sleeve of stickers somewhere between the studio and the apartment, cause I was a shocking 70 stickers short. Regardless! I've ordered more, so I'll be able to send off the remaining May rewards when I return from a little family vacay I'm taking this weekend

• been playing the shit out of the Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door remake for the Switch (which was one of Ares' presents for me hehe), and I'm really happy that they put this dialogue back in about Vivian -- canonical trans icon :') my beloved <333

• also, the remake is BEAUTIFUL but there are a couple visual design choices that I'm a bit meh on. for example:

  • why are all the floors so shiny? they feel like they're made of laminated or wrapping paper or something, they look polished, and it really throws me off sometimes.

  • all the UI has this strange glare on it, like there's a perpetual light shining on it from the upper left corner, and maybe it's the neurodivergence but it's very very distracting to me and honestly doesn't really...fit the vibe of the paper-y theme, to me at least. and this is an unpopular opinion!!! apparently!!!! according to the subreddit, at least

  • I loved the UI in the original game, how it all looked like washi tape, or torn paper -- there was something very charming about the flatness of it :((

  • here's the original 2004 battle HUD (heads-up display), with the new 2024 one following

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  • I get that it's less crowded and maybe reads a little better, but I miss how cut-out everything looked ;o; I will say though, the way that the sets pop up for each battle is really magnificent. honestly, my only gripe about this remake is some of the UI stuff, the VERY VERY shiny floors, and how quiet the audience is!! okay i'm done now, i'm getting off my soapbox

• I did get myself a purple Gamecube as a birthday present to myself, which is the color Gamecube I had as a kid :') the color is a bit more faded than I'd like, but honestly, it still works which is the most important thing! so now my console collection is rounded out, and I won't have to use my Wii to play my beloved Gamecube games~

• so many good cat pics of the girls being cute and sneaky in various spots -- this was pepper's first time jumping in the dresser drawer, the angel. and if I am sat down for even a MOMENT, pepper WILL find a way to climb on top of and lay down on me

• when I was working on finishing off my entryway gallery wall and table, I hit up Goodwill to try and find some planters/vases, and I found quite a few gems -- these GORGEOUS little farm vignette plates (which might be decorative plates?? I have one displayed in my cabinet and the other on my shelf for potential eating), a very cute small vase (loved the florals on this one), this really pretty bespoke tray?? would this be called a tray??, and then this very pretty kinda Tuscan-y type vase that I put on my mantle :') Again, not sure what this design style is called but I really like it, it speaks to my grandma design sensibilities

• I'm so so happy with how my entry way has turned out -- I think it's just busy enough, and the fake flowers I got from Michael's also helped to fill it out~

happy Wednesday!! Ares and I are headed off on a little Barton family vacation this weekend, as I said -- I'm actually hoping to get some plein air done!! we'll be surrounded by tress and things, so I'm bringing along a tiny gouache palette and my small square sketchbook, and we shall see how it goes :')

Also, in playing so much Paper Mario, I'm just..SO charmed by the item design in the game, and I want to make an icon set that is just different Paper Mario items, and I wanna outline them in white, so they kinda look like stickers :D I'm also thinking of adding a couple of my own designs (like folders) but want to style them so they look a little more like the in-game items. Look!! At these!!!

these are the original Gamecube sprites, but there's just something so charming about the art style, I've always loved it. There are also some "special" items, like the Shine Sprites, or dungeon keys, that are also very cute :')

okay!! that's all!! love you lots, hope you're well xx