Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Road Trip


Hello! Happy hump day folks. Today I had a pretty relaxing day. I took the day off work so I could prepare for our trip to San Diego to visit my family for Thanksgiving. I spent the day packing and listening to girly songs on the radio as I was getting ready. I was able to tolerate most of the songs but once Taylor Swift came on I had to quickly change the station. Sorry folks I'm not into Miss Taylor Swift. I wont be caught blasting her in my Ford Focus ( her name is Jenna bead) anytime soon. Anywho, I went to Jackson's Market in Culver City to pick up a couple of sandwiches and some sweets to share with my boyfriend for lunch. Jackson's Market has great sandwiches with high quality ingredients if you live near LA or are ever in the area you have to try this place you wont regret it. I also ran some last minute errands for Thanksgiving and snuggled with Brian for a good portion of the day. Today was very chill and enjoyable. In just two hours we will be heading to San Diego and hoping for a pleasant and traffic free ride. Wish us luck we will need it. Below are some pictures of what I wore today. Hope you like my errand running outfit it is so comfy. 

Geisha girl necklace: F21, Bracelets: homemade, Rings: on left - LuLus, on right - was a gift

Sweater: H&M, Skirt: Nordstorm Rack, Boots: Go Jane.com, Purse: Unique LA Event

I hope everyone was a wonderful Thanksgiving. Happy Turkey Day and remember that we all have something to be thankful for. 
 

Be thankful that you are not a turkey.



Monday, November 19, 2012

Laid back Sunday

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This weekend was a lot of fun. I kicked back with the boyfriend on Friday, we stayed in and had a movie night... I fell asleep an hour into the movie but that's just kind of my thing. Saturday we spent the day at the LACMA and went to the Biergarten (an Asian/German fusion bar) in Korea Town to watch the UFC fights. My boyfriend is a big UFC fan. I like it but tend to get squeamish when I watch the fights because it's so violent and real. Makes me want to hug my stuff animal pug name Pooches. Yes I still sleep with a stuff animal... deal with it. Anywho, on Sunday we went to see Skyfall the new James Bond movie at the Archlight. It was so good! It was 2 hours and twenty minutes long and I didn't fall asleep once. Now that's a good movie. I tend to fall asleep when movies hit the two hour mark it doesn't matter if it's an action movie/thriller or playing in IMAX or 3D this girl will most likely be falling asleep. After watching such an awesome movie we went to grab a bite to eat at the Cheese Cake Factory. I had cheesecake for the first time in over a year. White chocolate and rasberry cheescake, so delicious. Below are some picures of my laid back Sunday outfit. Enjoy. 


Close up of outfit. Rings: Flower ring - Aldo, Gold ring - LuLus

Jacket: Urban Outfitters, Scarf: Urban Outfitters, Necklace: Brandy Melville, Top: H&M, Purse: Alloy, Jeans: Urban Outfitters - Levi's, Shoes: LuLus

These our my new shoes from LuLus. If you look closely one shoe has larger spots and the other one has large and small spots. These shoes give me the giggles. It's great when your purchase is affordable, stylish, comfy and makes you laugh.

Weekend Fun

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a funtastic weekend, I know I sure did. Saturday Brian and I went to the LACMA to check out some of the newer exhibits and some of our old favorites. We walked around the museum for several hours which was a perfect day to be indoors since it was raining in Los Angeles. It hardly ever rains out here. I don't mind it when it does it kind of reminds me of good old Illinois. Below are some pics of some of the art displayed at the LACMA and also some pics of Brian and I enjoying our day together.

Asian Art section mainly of Japanese and Chinese pieces.

I like to run around in this thing and play.

I'm so tiny!

Brian attempting to smile take 1, 2, 3 ... he will get it one day.




A close up of my outfit.

Scarf: Made by a Q (Etsy), Necklace: Anchor Pendent - F21, Chain - homemade, Dress: Guess Outlet, Jacket: Urban Outfitters, Purse: Alloy, Tights: Urban Outfitters, Ring: LuLus, Boots: Go Jane.com

Thursday, November 15, 2012

DIY Wood Transfers

With the holiday's coming up I figured that I would share with all of you one of my favorite DIY projects which is transferring images onto wood. I think they make great gifts and I am planning on giving more transfers out as presents this Christmas. I like giving homemade gifts because it's more personnel and it means more when you take the time and effort to create something yourself rather than buying someone a reindeer sweater... Unless you knitted that sweater yourself now that's impressive. I have added some instructions below just in case anyone wants to give this a try. 


Material:
  • Wood (Michael's has a decent selection of wood used for crafting).
  • Gel Medium (I use liquedex heavy gel medium).
  • Sponge Brush
  • Modge Podge
  • Clear coat sealer
  • spray bottle with water
  • laser jet printer
  • Photoshop - if your image contains words.
  • Newspapers
  • Arcylic paint and paint brush - if wanting to paint the outer edges of the wood.
  • sandpaper - if wanting to give your design an aged look
Instructions:
First find an image that you would like to transfer onto wood. If your image contains letters make sure to alter the image in Photoshop so that when the image prints out the letters appear backwards. This is important because when you lay the image on top of the wood if you do not flip the lettering it will not appear the way that it should. When using Photoshop if you select Image, Rotate, flip horizontal the lettering will appear backwards. Save the image and print it using a laser jet printer. Study the size and shape of the printed image and select the type of wood you would like to use. Make sure that the wood you select is large enough for the image. Lay some newspapers out on a table and then grab the gel medium and brush it all over the laser jet image using a sponge brush. I like to apply three coats all over the image before placing the image onto wood. When you place the image onto wood be sure to hover it above the wood first and study exactly where you would like the image to lay. Once your ready gently place the image onto the wood and begin smoothing it out with your hands for several minutes. 

Now it's time to wait. Let the image dry overnight and the next morning grab your spray bottle and focus on one area of the image at a time. After you spray down the area begin rubbing off the paper with your fingers. Repeat these steps until the image has been transferred onto the wood in its entirety. Once the image is completely transferred grab your sponge brush and begin layering on the Modge Podge onto the wood transfer. Let it dry, once the Modge Podge is dry spray down the image with a clear coat sealer.

A little extra...

If you would like your design to have a little extra pop you can paint the outer edges of the wood to give it a boarder. I like to sometimes sand down the image or sand down the edges to make the image appear vintage. If you would want to include these steps my advice is to paint the edges of the wood before applying the laser jet image. If you would like the image to appear vintage sand down the image or edges of the wood before applying Modge Podge and the clear coat sealer. 


Here are a few examples of some of the transfers I have recently made.



Movie Night

Hi All! Happy thirsty Thursday... I feel like I'm always creating new posts on a Thursday. Anywho, today's post is all about an outfit I recently wore on movie night/date night with my babe. It is finally starting to feel like fall in SO CAL and this former mid western girl is loving it. One thing that I love is wearing tights with shorts and pairing them off with some booties. It's kind of my thing... it's what I do.☺I love that where I live it's chilly enough to start wearing tights but it's not freezing so I am still able to wear cute little jackets with my outfits instead of big heavy winter coats. Below are some pics of my outfit. Please enjoy. 

Brown Leather Jacket: Gift, Yellow Cardigan: New York & Company, Floral Scarf: Aldo, Chain Necklace: Express, Shorts: H&M, Tights: Target, Booties: Gift





Here is a close up of the accessories. It's a bit blurry but it works. 


That's all folks! Hope you liked my movie night outfit. Stay tuned for more fall fashion fun.
Bye for now.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

An Eventful Halloween

Hi everyone, how is everybody's Thirsty Thursday going? Mine is just dandy I am drinking chamomile tea all day since I have a bit of a cold.  I hope you all had a spook-tacular Halloween, I know I sure did. It was pretty eventful to say the least. I wore my Hawk Girl costume to work yesterday and I won our Halloween costume contest! It was actually a tie for first place so The Incredible Hulk and I were the winners. DC comics and Marvel comics had to come together so we can both enjoy the glorious title of best costume! Below is a picture of everyone who dressed up for Halloween at work. 

Pretty sweet, huh?

I also had my first ever experience at the West Hollywood parade/carnival. If you are not familiar with what the West Hollywood parade is it's when Santa Monica boulevard is closed down all day and night for Halloween. Thousands of people come out to the event to show off their costumes and some go just to see all the different costumes but don't actually dress up... which is a pet peeve of mine. It's Halloween people at least put some bunny ears on your head! It's the only time of the year when you get to dress up like your coo coo for coco puffs and no one is going to lock you up for the night.  Anywho the carnival was insane! I am glad I went but I will never wear wings ever again! At least if I am attending the WEHO parade I will be free of wings. Wings = Mae is a running back who keeps trying to cut down the middle but the defense makes me do the running man as they push me towards the ground... Sorry about that I had a moment there. Below are some pictures I took from the carnival... they aren't great quality because there were literally thousands of people in attendance and it was hard to capture a decent image with so many people around. All and all it was a fun experience.



 
My favorite costumes of the night.

Second favorite of the night.


So folks that was my Halloween in a nut shell. I had so much fun putting together my costumes and showing them off at parties and events but to be honest I am looking forward to the relaxation and togetherness that our next holiday will bring. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday I like to gobble gobble and by gobble gobble I mean gobble up some food! Have a wonderful day folks! ☺