Steppin' Out Saturday 2-27-11

top: Lauren Conrad @ Kohls

jeans: Express

shoes: Gap

It's another working weekend BUT I still went out to celebrate one of my best friends birthday! We celebrated with beer and cupcakes. It was wonderful :)

Letting my nerd flag fly

My love for Disney movies is probably pretty apparent given the title of this blog. I grew up pretending to be Ariel in the swimming pool, trying on my moms shoes as if they were all glass slippers, reading fairytales, and calling my dad prince charming. I suppose I just never outgrew it.

I still watch Disney movies. I saw Tangled in the theater and was not accompanied by a child. I cried during Up and Toy Story 3 (and own them both on blu-ray). But my all time favorite has always been Beauty and the Beast (obviously). A daddy's girl who loves to read and lives in France, who shoots down the town jerk and falls in love with a beast turned prince. What's not to love?

So you can imagine my excitement when I saw the previews for Beastly.

Ok I admit they could have come up with a better name but still. It's a modern day Beauty and the Beast so it must be wonderful. Plus Neil Patrick Harris is in it. And Mary-Kate Olsen plays the witch/spell caster/something evil-ish looking.

I am probably more excited than I should be. I will be in Key West next weekend when it comes out but when I get back I will be dragging the hubs to see it! Anyone else crazy enough to want to see it? oh, just me?

Adventures in threading

I had absolutely no desire to ever have my eyebrows threaded. After a horrible waxing experience in high school (which resulted in barely there brows) I haven't let anyone near my poor little eyebrows. I have been completely content just slightly plucking them when they began to grow wild.

That is until today.

After a deep tissue massage with my bestie we headed to the mall for some retail therapy. In the midst of shopping my bestie casually mentions that she would like to go check out the threading place and get her eyebrows done. After a long side eye from me we went and sat down in the waiting room.

We watched a lady get her brows done and she didn't flinch a bit. Then she moved onto the upper lip. After in depth discussion of our flattering upper lip fuzz we both decided the upper lip was a must. As I sat in the chair and told the threader that I only wanted my lip done not my eyebrows she pretty much begged me to do my brows as well (were they really that bad?). She also offered me a huge discount. I caved.....

Although my eyes watered like crazy it really wasn't that painful. No worse than plucking! And the result? Fantastic! They look great and it's supposed to last at least a month! I definitely think I am going to be a regular.

How an iphone snuggie is born

First there comes an idea. Sometimes those ideas come from my brain and sometimes they come by request. This particular idea came from a friend. She wanted a camera snuggie for her grandma whose black lab recently passed away.

I start by googling images of a black lab. I'm looking for angles that would clearly depict a black lab (which is difficult considering he is all black). Finally I come across an image that I think will work. Then it's time to draw that image in a way that will translate well to felt.

I take that image and cut it into a template to trace onto the felt and cut out the pieces.

The next step is to pick a background color. In custom orders they sometimes pick their own colors but in this case my friend trusted me to pick something I thought would look good. So I tried a couple different colors.

I didn't like the way the red made the charcoal look. The light blue had a more subtle look and didn't hide the definition of the lab. Once that decision was made I cut out the background and sewed on the black lab. This is where I add all of the details that really make the characters come alive.

The edges of the snuggie are the finishing touch and then voila a camera/iphone snuggie is born!

This was one of my favorite custom orders. The meaning behind it inspired me and I wanted to create something that as just perfect for her.

I just love making these :)

"Backyard Creatures"

That is what I titled a photo album on my computer that is dedicated to my obsession with all things living/passing through our backyard. Weird, I know.

I blame the fact that I have always lived in a house with a fenced yard that backed up to other houses or buildings. So now that our house backs up to a lake and an open field to the side I am just amazed at all of the creatures we see out our sliding glass doors.

I am deathly afraid not a fan of birds but if you recall, here and here, a certain momma duck and her babies warmed me up to the idea them living in our backyard. Since then numerous types of birds have come and gone as the seasons have changed. I try to snap a picture of any that will let me get close enough.

Then there are the unknown amount of turtles that for some reason I find fascinating. And Goliath (who I think is part turtle, part loch ness).

can you tell who goliath is?

We have deer that run through our backyard and eat our flowers and ducks who lay eggs against our porch. Just when I thought I had seen all of the wildlife our home had to offer this little guy appeared....

And soon after his arrival two of his buddies joined him. Three otters just chillin' in our little lake. Coolest thing EVER!

They must have come from a bigger lake nearby but as far as I am concerned they can stay forever. Too flippin' cute! Just one more picture, I promise!

My obsession has now worsened. And the eight year old inside me is squealing with joy.

Steppin' Out Saturday 2-19-11

dress & belt: target

shoes: american eagle

purse: nine west @ macys

jewelry: brighton

nail polish: sally hanson in "commander in chic"

(in love with this polish, I will have to get a better shot later)

Shape Up

The temperature is supposed to be all the way up in the low eighties tomorrow and continue to stay up there through the weekend. You know what that means right? Sundresses and bathing suits. Let me just say that my body is so not ready for that!

If you look at the pictures from the bridal shower I just threw you may notice that my skin is a horrendous lovely shade of stark white. I could give Casper a run for his money in a "paleness" competition right about now. And when you combine that with the five to ten pounds of holiday weight I put on (and seem to keep adding to...) it is not a very pretty picture.

So today I busted out my Shape videos that promise a "bikini body all year long". In college I would do these videos everyday for a week or two before spring break and it would work like a charm! Then again I also ate dorritos a bag at a time paired with a mountain dew for breakfast and never gained as much as a pound. So I guess there is no guarantee it will produce the same results as it used to but it is worth a try.

My goal is to eat a little better and do these videos every other day until my best friends bachelorette party (which happens to be in the Keys, meaning I will be wearing all of those things I am not prepared for!). I have two weeks... maybe I should make that video everyday.

Vday at it's finest

The hubs and I had a wonderful Valentines Day. We set a ten dollar limit for gifts and since we were both working all day we decided on takeout for dinner. Since the hubs gets home before me, he picked up the takeout and this is what I came home to:

Candlelit takeout. Wine for me. Beer for him. A romantic comedy on the tv. Sweet Valentines day gifts (all of which involved chocolate!). Perfection.

And of course we couldn't leave out our pups!

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

To My Valentine,

I love you even more than ice cream.

And I love ice cream a lot.

Love,

Your Forever Sweetheart

Steppin' Out Saturday [Bridal Shower Edition]

If you have been reading my blog over the past few months than you know that my best friend is getting married! She is wonderful and deserves lots of celebration so yesterday we did just that. We showered her with lots of love and lots of presents :)

(the bride in the middle with her matrons of honor on each side)

what I wore

top: Lauren Conrad from Kohls

black under shirt: AE

jeans: Express

shoes (you might see in other pictures): Dillards

earrings: forever 21

the hostesses and our lovely decorations

(sign from Define Your Space)

And you can't have a shower without a few games. We wanted to try something a little different since everyone has played toilet paper bride a million times so we made up a new game and I think it went over really well!

We had the guests split into five groups and each group was given a small cake and lots of decorative goodies. They were supposed to decorate the top layer of the bride-to-be's cake and they turned out so cute! Everyone got really into it and had a great time!

Before:

During:

After:

Winners:

(that's my Momma there on the end)

We are headed to the Keys in a few weeks for her Bachelorette Party Weekend and then a couple weeks after that is the wedding! So be prepared for lots of pictures!