Faux Comfort Food

To state the obvious, fall is here!  This is how I know:  #PSL.

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I've never been a coffee drinker.  The taste of burnt dirt was never appealing to me in the past, but since I work from home I like to spend some time out of the house around other humans, and that inevitably brings me to coffee shops.  Recently I've started to acquire a taste for plain, black coffee.  It still takes willpower to not order a cafe mocha when I approach the counter, but I've been clean for months.  Today I visited a new (to me) coffee shop in my new-ish hood.  I saw "pumpkin chai" written on their chalkboard under "Specials" and I ordered it.  Not because of the pumpkin, but because of the chai- I was expecting some decaf earthy tasting tea (like the chai tea I have in my cupboard at home).  I realized my mistake when I took my first sip of the sweet, creamy concoction.  It was a pumpkin spice chai latte!  I accidentally ordered a PSL!  Ugh.  Now I have to tell you all the reasons I love fall...  Just kidding.  :)  Once the drink was in my hand, there was no turning back. I drank the whole thing.  All 354,782 calories.  And. it. was. so. good.  

Chalkboard Fridge

Thanks to Pinterest, I've been obsessing over chalkboard paint for a while.  I've especially been lusting after a chalkboard paint-covered refrigerator, which sadly I could not have in my rental house.  Before we even moved into our new place, we painted the fridge black with chalkboard paint and it was everything I dreamed it would be!  I know, that's a little dramatic, but I was way too excited about this project and surprisingly the bf was too!  The primer wasn't even completely dry before we had the first strokes of chalkboard paint on the fridge, which I don't recommend doing.  You should always make sure your primer is completely dry before you start the next coat of paint.  :)  Here's what we started with:

Here's the almost finished product:

It could be finished, or we could put handles on it.  I'd love to buy some stainless steel or some polished wood handles to replace the boring white ones that were on it.

Living Room Paint

This week has been completely house-centric.  We only have a few days left to prepare before we move our stuff in, so we're hustling to get as much painting done as possible!  On Saturday we picked out our paint colors at Home Depot, and I was shocked when the bf agreed to go with Tropical Coral for our living room!  We got the paint mixed, and as he was carrying it around in the store a woman approached him to say what a "pretty" color it was!  Her seemingly innocent comment started an avalanche of second thoughts.  The woman working the cash register did not help the situation by telling us the color was "awfully feminine."  Yeah, I was pretty annoyed by that.  Don't judge our paint color!  Just take our money, lady!  Here's a pic of the living room when we saw the house for the first time (and no, we didn't get to keep Bambi's head).

Here's the living room now with one coat of Tropical Coral on the walls...

I'll admit, it looks kiiiind of pink in this pic, but I promise, it works in real life!  We're keeping the trim white and we have dark wood furniture that will contrast nicely with the coral.  Life is too short for white walls, right?

House Update

What a week!  I got back from San Diego Wednesday night and the bf and I closed on our house Thursday morning! It's such a relief to have the everything in place.  Since officially becoming homeowners, we haven't wasted one second working on our place.  We'll move in at the end of the month, so we have a great opportunity to paint while it's relatively empty (we've been moving our stuff into the new place each trip we make).  We literally worked all weekend and I'm exhausted!  We are thrilled with the progress we've made so far in the kitchen.  Check out our handiwork!  Here are some before shots...

 And this is what it looks like as of 8:30pm tonight...

I am such a DIY nerd.  I woke up at 6:00am Saturday morning because I couldn't wait to go to Home Depot to get paint!  We're going to spend the next three nights this week painting the new casa, then we have to leave town for the weekend for a family event, which will be a welcomed break from our house project.  Now I'm off to scrub paint off of my arms and legs and get some sleep so I can be ready to get back at it tomorrow night!

Smile!

I got a new camera!

It's my first "grown up" camera.  A Canon EOS M purchased from Amazon.  My brother bought it first and suggested I purchase one as well.  What a great suggestion from my little bro the photographer.  It arrived in the mail last week and I've been having fun capturing little bits of life with it.  I'm heading to Southern California this weekend and I can't wait to use it for my travel photography instead of my cel phone camera.  :)  Here are some of my favorite pictures taken with it so far.

Foreign Currency

The only time I complain about having too much money is on the last day of a trip in a foreign country.  If I have local currency in my wallet, I try to spend it as quickly as possible.  Inevitably, I come home with at least a few coins.  Other world-traveling friends have complained about the same thing (first world problems, I know!).  So the beautiful paper and coins sit at home in boxes and junk drawers collecting dust.  As we continue to travel, it continues to accumulate.  (Disclaimer: At the risk of sounding like an ungrateful brat with money to throw away, let me clarify that the amount brought home from a trip is typically under $20 USD.  Many times it’s under $10 or $5 USD, so barely enough to buy a couple gallons of gas or a latte!)  Like most twenty-something white girls who need advice, I turned to Pinterest for help.  Here's what they told me to do.

 

Turn coins into magnets...

Party Time!

I mentioned earlier this week that my birthday is coming.  I'm trying to take some time today to enjoy my few remaining hours as a 27-year-old person.  Isn't 27 still considered "mid" twenties?  At 28, you are definitely in the "late" twenties category.  There's no getting around that.  But I'm fine with it.  (That's what I keep telling myself.)  Candidly, I'm way OK with getting older.  I already feel it.  I can't knock 'em back on a week night and feel hunky dory at work the next day.  Plus I need more sleep and don't like hanging out in packed, loud clubs.  The older I get, the more socially acceptable it is for me to spend my weekend nights at home with a nice glass of wine alone with a friend or two.  Wait, when did I start caring about social norms?

Exhibit A.  This is me, just hanging out at home last night. 

Galentine's Brunch

I was genetically programmed to host parties.  My mom is an accomplished hostess, so is my grandmother, and several of my aunts.  Of course no one tops Aunt Arlene.  She's the most crafty person I know.  She has a holster for her glue gun.  It's that serious.

My color palette inspiration [via].

Paperless Post Bootleg

Inspired by the awesomeness of the hit comedy Parks and Recreation on NBC, my girlfriend and I decided to throw a Galentine's Day brunch.  This holiday is a play on Valentine's Day (obvi) but is exclusive to the ladies.  We'll be celebrating our friendships, completely independent from any romantic relationships we may or may not be in.  Unlike Leslie Knope on the show, we won't be making our guests hand crocheted flower pens, mosaic portraits made from the crushed bottles of each person's favorite diet soda, or a personalized 5,000-word essay on why each friend is so awesome.  But we will have lots of goodies to eat, a few games, and the champagne will be flowing!

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Zebra Rug DIY

I picked up quite a few souvenirs on our trip to South Africa, which is not the norm for me.  I was excited about having a place to decorate (my boyfriend and I signed the lease on our house the week before we left) and I genuinely loved the style of the items we bought.  You can see some of them in this post (wooden masks, original artwork).  One thing I was lusting for but wasn't able to purchase was a zebra hide rug.  I saw quite a few for sale but there was no extra room in my luggage and I didn't want to spend extra money to ship it home.  (I was also unsure how to declare it and didn't want to deal with any trouble from customs.)  When we got back I started shopping on eBay and Craigslist for zebra rugs.  I found some reasonably priced options but decided to save some money and try a DIY version.

Easter Weekend Projects

Happy Easter y'all!  I spent this weekend hanging out with family in Oklahoma.  It's pretty low key up here, which is nice for a change!  I hit up a couple of thrift stores near my parents' home and found some great items!  I love buying second-hand.  It keeps old threads out of the landfill and allows me to get creative.  When thrifting, you have to know what you want since there are no advertisements or displays in the store to
controlguide you.

I found a very large yellow, linen skirt that I was able to alter into a little peplum number.  That paired with a Shelli Segal top from 1995 made a cute Easter outfit!



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