I heart to do lists!

Sometimes, you gotta adapt... y'a know? The list I made for things to do this summer has taken on a life of it's own and will never get accomplished. I keep adding on projects and contests and stuff and I felt very overloaded last week. Because school is so stressful, I really can't afford (emotionally really) to have such a stressful summer. So, with that in mind, I have created a new list of 10 things that I would really like to get done before I start classes on August 22. I have had a wonderful summer of meeting new people, reconnecting with old friends, pictures, food, and birthdays... but I don't think it is wise to spend my last days stressing and being ill-prepared for the fall semester. I have taken into consideration various projects I have going and slimmed down the list to what is reasonable.

1. Reading List- finish Love Wins by Rob Bell and The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies. If time permits, write a book review for the blog.

2. Operation Simplify- There should be no reason that I can't accomplish all the items. Honestly, this is a necessity for living like a normal human being.

3. Finish the 30 for 30 photo challenge

4. Blogging- get the blog fully operational, organized, with the graphics, etc. that I want

5. School Prep- complete any assignments that can be accomplished before class actually begins

6. 101 in 1001 days- accomplish at least 3 items of the list UPDATE: 2 things done... I guest posted and participated in a book swap. 

7. Clean off computer hard drive, email, and organize pictures

8. Finish scanning pictures for the photo collage that I promised my dad I would finish forever ago

9. Finish painting the mural that I started for my Dad for Father's Day

10. Finally, get my eyebrow ring changed!

image from here via Pinterest

What things are must-do's on your summer list???

Quotable Wednesday: Shining Like A Lighthouse

image from here

Who's Ready For Fall?

Here in Phoenix, it is a million degrees. Not really, but it feels like it. I am not a warm weather person. I am actually not a cold weather one either. My favorite time of the year is fall. Now that I live in Phoenix the fall is still pretty warm but it is cooler than summer temps. I will always miss midwestern falls, but living in the Southwest doesn't keep one from enjoying all things fall.

Here are some of my favorite fall inspired pins from Pinterest. My crafty mind is already working away... so many fun ideas to file away for future reference. And layers.... I am so excited for fall fashion again.

image from Sweet Something Designs

image from here

image from Corner Paint

image from here

image from here

Random Mumblings

This week has been quite intense and instead of stressing myself by posting, I just focused on making it to the weekend.

Well, Friday is here people so I want to do a little post to catch up for the week.

CRAFTY THINGS
Firstly, I have some fun crafty things to share with you all. My sister's shower is rapidly approaching and I wanted to have some cake plates for some of the various goodies I have planned for her, but I didn't want to spend too much so I went to the dollar store, got three plates and three glasses. Using super glue (you can also us epoxy), I simply adhered the bottom of the glass to the bottom of the plate and viola! A cake stand.

sorry for the poor phone pic.. it's the only one I took!

Later in the week, I wanted to make a painting to reflect some goals that I had made for myself recently. They were... always respond in love, believe in miracles, and pray without ceasing. I divided the canvas into three sections and used sticky letters to spell out the phrases and then painted over the letters. The idea was that the letters would then stay the white of the canvas. Well, I just didn't like it and after various attempts to fix it, I simply painted the canvas purple. The cool thing is that you can still see the outline of the phrases if you look closely. I still wanted to include the most important phrase to me, so I simply hot glued letters to the canvas. Just a little reminder hanging in my kitchen of the truly important things in life.

my goals

painting over the letters

like many things I do, fixing something I don't like

the final product. simple reminder!

BLOGGER MEETUP
The lovely ladies over at Fancy Road House had a Christmas in July party on Thursday and it was soooooo much fun. We made Christmas garlands, ate yummy food, and just generally hung out with other bloggers. Since moving to Phoenix a year ago, I have had a hard time finding new friends, but I have met some amazing ladies lately and I hope that some of them will become great friends. We could all use more great friends in our lives right?

This is a picture of my garland. I really like how it turned out. I also made some fun rosettes that Rosemary showed me how to make. I actually think I am going to make a wreath with them. I have some purple yarn I have been trying to use up so maybe I will wrap that around a wreath and glue on the rosettes and call it a day!

Christmas Candy Cane Garland with jungle bells and buttons

rosettes destined for a new wreath

This weekend I have to be out of my apartment as they clean up some mold damage caused by the apartment above mine leaking into my walks. Yuck! But I am glad they are finally taking care of it. So I get to stay at my dad's which is kinda fun cause I don't feel like I have to be cleaning and whatnot. I will be packing up my Kindle and some craft stuff and hope to have a productive and relaxing weekend. 


Hope you all do the same and I will be back on Monday with lots of treats.

Quotable Wednesday: I've Got A Feeling

image via Pinterest from here

Friday: The Musical Version

I will be doing none of the things in these songs. Unlike Katy Perry, I will not be drinking and having a party with Kenny G. However, there might be some 80s music and/or outfits. What can I say? I love the 80s. As for Ms. Black's rendition, I will neither be riding in the back seat of a convertible because I prefer to be buckled up for safety, nor will I be attending a party with what appear to me to be 12 year olds.

My Friday will involve cleaning, reading, and otherwise being a hermit. Maybe I will write a song about it... I am sure it will be a hit.

Awkward and Awesome

Guys.... life has been so cool lately, that I feel like I only have AWESOME things to share with you...

Awesome
-- girls night out. or rather in, in my case. it involved fruit salad, grilled cheese, oreos, apples to apples, and some ridiculous discussions. and a new inside joke. and I love inside jokes, they make me feel cool.
- random lady who is doing food demos at Target asking me how I manage to wear a belt with a shirt and not look like a whale. I am pretty sure she was complimenting me, but who really knows?
- getting stuff done off the to do list. I feel like I say this a lot, but to me it truly is awesome.
- lunch date with some amazing Phoenix bloggers including Kayla, Camberly and Kayleigh, and Lydia along with Melissa all the way from Salt Lake City. It was so much fun to meet some new people and such creative ones to beat.
- my friend Emily is back from her class in Redding, California. I am sad that I don't get to see her until Saturday, but then we will be having an awesome reunion complete with ice cream and fun stories.
- guy who held the door open for me on the way into work... good to know there are still some good ones out there.
- the gigantic thing of Red Vines by dad got me from Costco. Awesome cause they are yummy, not so awesome cause my stomach hurts after I ate a lot of them.
- Clearance sales at Target. cheap stuff for my sister's shower? yes, please!
- crossing another thing off my 101 goals in 1001 days list... 30 pictures for 30 days with Rosemary Watson! I love her blog and she is a fellow Phoenix area dweller. See my pictures here.

my AWESOME best friend. I miss her!

C'mon people who I know read my blog (all 5 of you) what are some Awkward and Awesome things happening in your life???

Quotable Wednesday: A Symphony

image from here

30 for 30 Challenge:Nearing the End

tank, jeans, and earrings from Target

shirt from The Limited

shoes from Walmart

I am almost done. Believe it or not, I have kept to my 30 items and while I have not documented them all here, I have tried to give a little taste of my adventures.

I have such mixed emotions about this shirt. It is polka dotted so obviously I love it but it has this weird bottom and it quite flowy so I always wear it with a belt. I am still on the fence about it... we will see what the future brings for it, I guess.

I have had lots of fun remixing my closet but I keep eyeing my purple maxi dress and I can't wait to wear that baby after Friday's final 30 for 30 outfit.

Something else I have learned about my closet is that I have too much black (duh), lack some basic pieces, and that I need some more unique pieces/accessories. As I continue to grow in my style, I am so excited to finally feel comfortable in my skin.

I feel like I have finally grown into myself. That my style is beginning to express my inner personality and that I have the guts to wear whatever I want, even if the patterns don't match, dang it.

Tip Me Tuesday: Clothes Separators

Bear with me people. I know there seem to be lots of baby themed things lately, but I promise next week I will get my act together and show some of the other fun stuff that I have been doing.


I saw this idea for closet divider from the lovely Ashley Ann from Under the Sycamore. You can see her original post and instructions here.


1. I started with 6 letter "o"s that I got from hobby lobby. Because the bar that the dividers are going on can be removed I didn't have to do anything else, but I imagine you could cut a slight opening in them as well.

2. Paint the backs of the O's. I forgot to do the sides and inside edges until after the paper was on and it was kinda of a mess so make sure it is completely covered.

I just used paint from a leftover sample I had purchased a while back

3. Trace the letter onto paper for the 6 O's. You could do this before or after you painted depending on how patient you are. I used craft glue but you could also use modge podge to adhere the paper.

4. Add details. I didn't purchase a single thing other than the O's for this project. I used scraps of paper, leftover ribbon, and leftover thickers for the numbers. I really don't think you can go wrong with the decorating-- I just kinda went for it. My only goal was to make each one look different.

5. The original instructions said to put modge podge over the top of the paper once you were done decorating but I skipped that step because my dividers had lots of 3D stuff on them.

6. The finished product:

7. The divider on the clothing rod. So, if you put all 0-3 months clothes between the 0 and 3 divider, all 3-6 months clothes between the 3 and 6 divider, and so forth. With the amount of clothing my sister is accumulating for my future nephew, she is certainly going to use these.

Once again, this is a great project to use for anything. It doesn't have to be for babies... if your closet is anything like mine, it is dying for some fun organization like this. 

Fashion Flashback

One of the most important times of my life was when I studied abroad in France during my junior year of college. So hard to believe that I came back over three years ago. Most days, it seems like just yesterday. The style that I picked up in France still influences me to this day, although recently I have had to incorporate more color into my all black wardrobe in order not to die in the Phoenix heat. Lots of things that I wore in France, I still wear but as my style has evolved so has the outfit. Some things, however, only seemed to work in France, sadly.

I know that I wore lots of cool outfits in France, but not all of them were captured. Here are some of my favs though...

Nice, France

London

in my dorm room modeling my new hat

Paris, France

Nice again?? I don't remember. 

London

Sometimes I really miss my style from back then and just the general lifestyle of France, but I am also quite enjoying my current stage of life. It is always fun to look back, but we can never forget to enjoy the moment and also look forward.

Two for One: A Recipe and A Outfit

This is one of my favorite outfits so far. I am seeing a definite trend of mine this summer... thrown up hair with short dress with a belt. Have to have a cardigan for the cold office and some cute shoes. Hasn't failed me yet and I am quite enjoying my style evolution.

One of the things I really wanted to do this summer and is part of my 101 goals in 1001 days is trying new recipes. Thursday, I made twice baked potatoes. Now, I know this isn't hard but I generally stick to recipes with like 4 ingredients. Twice baked potatoes take some time and involve lots of ingredients, but I must say they were quite yummy. 

The recipe I used was something I pinned on Pinterest and was originally from a site called The Girl Who Ate Everything.

Here's the recipe with some of my adaptations. One of the cool things is you really can't go wrong. I didn't really measure any of the amounts of butter, milk, or sour cream and it turned out great, so just relax and have fun.

ingredients: 

4 baking potatoes
8 slices bacon
1 cup sour cream
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper as desired
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
8 green onions

1. Bake potatoes. You can bake them for 1 hr on 350 degrees but I just microwaved them (or rather my sister did). 

2. Cook bacon til crispy and then cut into crumbly pieces.

yummy bacon

3. Once the potatoes are done and cooled for a bit, slice them in half and scoop out their insides into a bowl. Make sure to leave enough of the "insides" to help the skin keep its shaped. 

halved potatoes

4. Chop the green onions and combine with the cheese and crumbly bacon bits. Add half of the mixture to the potato insides along with the sour cream, butter, salt, pepper, and milk. Be careful not to add too much milk (you don't want the mixture to be runny).

green onion, cheese, and bacon mixture

5. The original recipe called for mixing with a hand mixer but I did it by hand and it was just fine.

beating the potatoes with sour cream, butter, milk, and the bacon, cheese, green onion mixture

6. Put the potato skins in a baking dish and scoop the potato mixture into the skins. Cover the tops with the remaining cheese, green onion, and bacon mixture. 

all ready to go into the oven

7. Cook for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

8. ENJOY THE YUMMYNESS!

The Final Product

It was so yummy. I just wish my salsa wasn't expired so I could have put some of that on top too! 

Have a great weekend everyone! I am off to have tons of fun and work on Operation Simplify!

Awkward and Awesome: Picture Time

Awesome: Yes, that is Doogie Howser. He apparently grew up and became Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother.

image from here

Awkward: I don't think this really needs any explanation.

image from here

Quotable Wednesday: How True Is This?

image from here

Awkward and Awesome: Revisited

Do you guys remember this Awkward and Awesome where I mentioned the weird faces actor make when you pause. Well, at the time I did not have a good example but while watching Charmed on netflix my computer decided to stop streaming at a pretty awkward moment. I managed to get a quick screen shot of it.. enjoy and hopefully you laugh as hard as I did.

Tip Me Tuesday: Easy Baby Shower Decorations

I have babies on the brain (and weddings too actually)! My litte sister is pregnant and planning for a wedding for next summer so there always seems to be some type of planning going on around my apartment. Her shower isn't for two more months but I wanted to get a jump start on making little touches that will make it an extra special day.

I wanted to make decorations that could also double as nursery decor and I came up with this little craft.

Step One: Buy an inexpensive frame or use an extra one you have around the house. I bought mine for 2 bucks off a Target Clearance Endcap.

Using what ever color scheme you are desiring, cut a piece of 4 by 6 paper for your background.

Using a template, piecing, or drawing, cut out the animal or other image you want to go on the background. I chose an elephant because my sister's shower and nursery are both jungle themed. I chose to use a template from Martha Stewart, but you can also find them on many scrapbooking sites.

Once you have cut out the pieces, adhere it to you 4 by 6 paper background. I chose to outline mine with a black felt tip pin to give it a pop but it all depends on your color choices and your preferences.

And the FINAL PRODUCT. I loved little elephant in the frame, but I thought it needed a little extra something so I got glued a couple buttons on the frame and viola...



Now, I have a cute table decoration for her shower and she can take it home and use it in the nursery! How cool is that?

The best thing about this project is it can be used for any type of party or even for a simple gift for a friend.

Freedom

30 for 30 week in review

Guys! I finally have some pictures to show you! Are you excited? You should be. No outfit pic for today cause I am working from home and am in my comfies but here are the four outfits that I wore this week.

Now some disclaimers on these pictures. Firstly, I take horrible pictures. Secondly, these were all taken after working all day so I tend to look a bit rumpled. Other than that, I am super excited to be rocking some fun outfits and thinking of new combinations I hadn't before.

OH! I also forgot about this pic from the WAY beginning. It was so hot that day I just wore shorts and a tank and threw on the denimy-y shirt when I went out to run a few errands.