Sunday, November 28, 2010

White Christmas














I, unfortunately, did not like any of the shots I took of the whole tree. Oh, well! I hope you enjoyed my tree, and other decorations, as much as I do! Who know's what movie is playing on my TV in the last picture?

Ciao!

Holiday Spirit

I have been such a slacker blogger. I have no excuse. Nope! 

I just set up my Christmas tree and all my holiday decorations in my new "house".. My parents basement. It's pretty cuuute! I am excited to decorate it even more when I actually move in. 

Here are a few inspiring pictures of what my future Christmas tree will look like. I LOVE Christmas, it's my most favorite holiday ever. I have a little tiny white Christmas tree but I need a big one. For the last 3 years I have been buying shatterproof vintage inspired ornaments. My tree only holds a little over a third of them. I'm sure I will find more this "day-after-Christmas" shopping trip as well. I can't wait to have a tree that holds them all!











 All pictures via desire to inspire or weheartit.com

I'll post my little baby tree sometime this week, maybe even today!

It still hasn't snowed, and it's almost December.. I live in Iowa. Shocking! Can't say I'm disappointed, I hate snow. I know it will snow before Christmas so feel free to hold off until then Jack Frost!

Ciao! 

Thursday, November 18, 2010

When Life Gives You.. Poop.

Life didn't really give me poop. But it still seems as though life just won't stop giving me these little reminders that "Hey, NOTHING is perfect." I suppose it good to keep in check but there are some things that I'd just rather not get.. shitty.

Last year in August was my first time living in a real place (( Not a dorm )) away from my parents. My Dad gave me a wooden spoon, offering me the piece of advice that not only could this spoon aid in my cooking, if someone tried to get fresh in the kitchen I could hit them with it. This was hilarious to me and I shared the story with all who saw me and my spoon cooking together.


Somehow.. I have turned into an avid wooden spoon fan. It is as if this spoon is the perfect utensil and my Dad has taught me exactly how to care for it. The Number One Most Important Rule If You Break This Rule You Are Dumb And You Are Screwing Up The Magical Wooden Spoon is DO NOT LEAVE THE SPOON WITH FOOD ON IT WHILE NOT COOKING. Such as; in a pan filled with water and taco juice. THIS WILL CONTAMINATE YOUR SPOON! It WILL absorb the flavor of what it is left in and you WILL BE PISSED YOU LEFT IT THERE!  Well.. I understand that not everyone knows Rule Number One. So when I found my precious left in a pan filled with the above contents the day after such tacos had been cooked I politely explained Rule Number One to my roommate. Hmph. Clearly she didn't hear me.. Or see my PASSION. I found my spoon again sitting in.. ugh... Hamburger Helper. Needless to say I dealt with that situation a little differently. 

This story is getting lengthy.. LONG STORY SHORT.. HER DOG ATE MY EFFING SPOON! I cried.. I weeped.. I called Mommy at 11:00 at night to express my sorrow. So, the next day I decided there must be a way to keep my spoon around.. And that is how I created this DIY. Now I realize you probably don't all have chewed up wooden spoons lying around.. But the flower might be fun to make by it self to attach to something. Or maybe you want to go buy a wooden spoon at Goodwill (( I bet it smells.. yuck )) and fashion your own Wounded Spoon Flower.


[1] Chose a wire that is pliable but holds it shape
[2]Cut several lengths of wire between 4 and 9 inches (( I made about 20 ))
[3] Make a loop with each piece and twist the ends together

[4] Begin attaching loops in any order you'd like to each other using long pieces of wire
(( This is sort of a hard step, but once you get a couple together you will get the hang of it ))
[5] Eventually this will create a large ball of wire in the middle

[6] Wrap your spoon (( or whatever )) with green florist wire.
[7] Additionally I wrapped hemp string around the handle of the spoon.


[8] Attach the flower to the spoon using either wire.


As you can see I also weaved some ribbon through the petals.

Tada! I hope someone makes my wire flower! If you do, take a picture!

Ciao!

Keepin' Things Simple

Ooopps! It's been a while. But I have lots to tell you now so if your procrastinating something right now you're in luck. 

This is what I am wearing.. Right now! I haven't taken outfit pictures in a long long time. As you saw in my last post I'm asking for a tripod and remote for Christmas, which will, I'm sure, lead to more of those. You can see my pretty new room in the background. Unfortunately I have to leave it, but they just keep getting better, so the future is bright!

[shirt] an Italian brand that I can't read while it's on my body.. [skirt] goodwill; hemmed [belt] goodwill [tights] Wal-Mart [boots] Wal-Mart (( the ones I wear all the time ))



I have been curling my hair a lot recently. The kind of curls where you just wrap your hair around the barrel of the curling iron.. Does that actually have a name? Either way I love how my hair turns out when I do this. The 2nd day after you wash your hair is always such a great hair day. For those of you who just said "Ew, no. My hair is so greasy!" There is hope! If you want to wash your hair less it's a marginally annoying process, but so worth not having to wash everyday. It's even healthier for your hair! 1st you must suffer through a couple days of greasy hair. Just do it over the weekend, and dig our all your cute hats. I can go 3 days without washing my hair.. my sceret.. it's actually not a secret.. Which is the 2nd step, dry shampoo! I am an old school girl so I use Psssssst Instant Spray Shampoo. I can only find it at Walgreens, and it's about $5 for a bottle.

My Mom can remember this being around when she was a kid. Matt's Grandma told me she used to use it when she was still finger waving her hair (( Ah! I LOVE HER! )). It works, trust me. However I do caution you that sometimes you get a rogue bottle that seems to just randomly spray in crazy directions and ends  up all over your mirror. I have also tried the TRESemme Dry Shampoo.


I did not like it. For those of you who have not used a dry shampoo, you can either get them in the color of your hair, or, like both Psssssst and TRESemme, white. They come out in a sort of powder that you let sit on your hair for a couple minutes (( to absorb the oil )) and then you just sort of toss your hair about, or use a brush (( I'd recommend a bore-bristle bush .. I use a fake one, works fine. Don't spend $100+ on a hairbrush or you need to stop reading my blog cause you're dumbbb )) The thing I didn't like about the TRESemme brand was that it left my hair feeling really dry and dull in color. Yuck. 

There's my little review on Dry Shampoo. When I get a real job and have cash to splurge on something I am trying the Bumble & Bumble brand. It's $35 for a 4.4oz.. Yikes. But it is a colored powder and I am so curious as to how a professional dry shampoo works in comparison. If you already use dry shampoo, what brand do you use? Why do you like it?

Alright I'll be back with another post shortly!

Ciao!


Friday, November 12, 2010

All I Want for Christmas..

is just a few things.. Actually this is just a few of the things..

Katie's insanely awesome plush taxidermy fawn. Fingers crossed she has them in her shop by Christmas.

Eye shadow pallet, and brush set from E.L.F.

Tripod and remote for my camera

A memory chip for my BlackBerry

Regina Spektor's Live in London DVD

My sewing machine fixed.. My Mom wants to start quilting so she needs her's back!

I LOVE Christmas. I love giving, and receiving, and wrapping, and tag writing, and all of it! I'm sure I will post a couple Christmas lists. Hehe.

It's Friday and I am off to work. I am going to have all my favorite little girls color pictures for the Red Velvet shop!  I'm spending another weekend at home. It's much better than being at the condo alone, even if it is a bit costly and putting tons of miles on my riiide. Saturday Matt's band is playing a house party, so that makes it double worth it! I can't wait to cuddle Nic by the fire.. But can we just skip the fire all together?

Enjoy your weekend!
Ciao!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Foodie

Have you ever seen a picture of food and honestly began to drool?










Kristen of The Kitchen Sink is pretty much the my most favorite food photographer. Although she mostly cooks recipes created by others.. I'm still amazed by her. And get this... She's a lawyer! I can hardly get my lazy self to cook and I don't do .. anything. Ha! What an inspiration. I have made the above pretzels (BEST EVER!) and I plan to make a bunch more of the recipes that appear on her blog. Okay, I'm hungry now.

Ciao!