Sunshiny Day

Can I tell you how excited I am that I have 17 followers now? Woo, hoo! Thanks for reading my little blog everybody. 

Today was so lovely and fall like that I decided to take a picture of my sunshiny happiness in my slightly cluttered bedroom. I hope everyone has a fun weekend and a Happy Halloween-y!

Chipotle's Annual Boorito

(source)

It is no secret that I am the biggest fan of Chipotle Mexican Grill; my sister and I used to take dates there every Friday and would split their giant veggie fajita burrito. Every Halloween Chipotle runs a special promotion where if you dress up like a Chipotle food item, you receive a free burrito/burrito bowl/etc. This Halloween they changed it up a bit, if you come dressed up like a horrible processed food, you receive a burrito/burrito bowl/etc. for $2. The proceeds go towards Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (click here to find out more), a very worthy cause. I decided to dress as a donut to get my scrumptious burrito tomorrow, and I posted a little tutorial on making your very own donut mask. 

You need several more items for this: a small circular object, brightly colored paper scraps, hole punch, box cutter, ribbon, packing tape, and glue. Sorry, I didn't think about these things until after I took the picture.

1. Trace the large circle on the cardboard. I found this giant cardboard box out in the dumpster, little did its former owners know it would be made into a donut.

2. Trace the small circle on the cardboard, this is the donut hole.

3. Cut out both circles with box cutter. Be careful, it's sharp!

4. Add your base coat, this is going to be a pretty iced white donut.

5. Paint on your frosting.

6. Punch out your sprinkles and glue them on the frosting. 

7. Flip over donut and tape on ribbons.

8. Finished product! I traced the frosting and sprinkles with the Sharpie, just to make it stand out more. I added "I'm a donut" so people wont think I'm a pink egg. 

I can't wait to go to Chipotle as a donut, I made one for D. too, he is such a good sport.

My First Giveaway

In honor of my 15th follower, I am having a giveaway! This lamby necklace is from my etsy shop The Moldy Cannoli.

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment telling me what you think the best thing is about handmade. I'll anounce the winner on Wednesday, November 3rd! Thanks for stopping by my little blog. xoxo

Thrift stores and go-go boots

I am new to this little town that I find myself living in, but I am quickly realizing that they are not fans of thrift shops. I have seen several donation drop off sites, but second hand stores are at a premium. I turned to the trusty internet and I found some thrift stores 10 miles away. Let me tell you, ten miles around here gets you pretty far; I suddenly found myself in an area surrounded by cops and bail bonds places. The thrift stores weren't so hot either. I did however, find some boots at the Salvation Army, and I had the marvelous idea to spray paint them white. I didn't think my chances were too high of finding patent leather go-go boots, but I am quite satisfied with the end result of my DIY job.

From drab...

  ...to fab! Total cost: $7.00

Spotlight On...

N. Brocx is a dear friend of mine who runs the etsy shop Fragrant Tulip, which specializes in quilts, jewelry, and purses. All of her fabric is 100% cotton and her creative taste is impeccable. I am the proud owner of three of her quilts, the latest one being a wedding gift to D. and I. 

Here are some of the things that she currently has in her shop.

This adorable baby quilt

The quilted coasters are one of my favorites, she made me some for a wedding gift, they work so well and match my style perfectly.

Autumn inspired bracelet

Fabric covered composition notebook

Well, there was a little sneak peek into Fragrant Tulip's shop, head on over to her etsy and check her out. Beautiful handmade items, very reasonably priced.

I decided to have a fun little feature where I post what I've eaten. Here is the first one:

I made this meal for my honey, right before he left for work. It was super fast and easy peasy.

Potato Leek Soup

1 Onion Diced

2 Leeks, cleaned and chopped

3 potatoes, peeled and diced

4 cups vegetable stock

Simmer all 10-15 minutes until tender

Blend this with 8 oz. soft tofu

and

8 oz. low fat cream cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

I modified this recipe a bit based on what was in my fridge. We are on a budget you know and can't frivolously go running to the market (plus I am way too tempted to pick up more than what I need when I go to the grocery store). I didn't have any leeks, so I guess this is potato leek-less soup. I didn't have the tofu and the idea of putting a whole block of cream cheese in my soup weirded me out, I used about 4 oz. This soup was quite yummy with salad, it would have been good with some rolls of some sort but alas, my oven is broken. Oh, maintenance man...

Things I need*

*okay, so I don't need any of these things, I just like making lists.

I really need 10,080 feet of baker's twine. I've had my heart set on this for so long. I can think of a plethora of things I can do with this string. Right now I really want to pack up sandwiches for d. to take to school with him. I will wrap them up in wax paper and tie them with baker's twine, all while pretending it is 1951. 

These cutie-patootie PowWow princess moccasins from Darlingtonia.

And finally, this pom-pom maker from Clover. I had no idea that such things existed, I used to make them the old school way by wrapping yarn around cassette tapes. But cassette tapes are becoming harder and harder to come across. The last one I think I've seen was my sister's Titanic soundtrack. Oh, man.

Halloween Inspiration

Every year I look forward to dressing up for Halloween. I can always think of good costumes in the months prior to October and then the months after October. But when Halloween actually rolls around, I forget about all of those marvelous ideas. After much thought, I did manage to think up a couple of good costumes. Since d. and I are newly married, I thought it might be fun for us to wear similar costumes. I am going as Twiggy.

I have the perfect outfit for this, but I left it up at d.'s parent's house, oh no!

I think I want to be Twiggy just so I can have fun eye makeup and eyelashes.

I don't think I'll do the long underwear look, I will go much more mod.

D. is going to be a beatnik.

(source)

This is not Gilligan, I had no idea that Bob Denver also played a beatnik in a T.V. series called The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Bob Dylan

(source)

Jack Kerouac

Now all we need to do is take a little trip to the thrift store, hope I find some go-go boots! 

Tea Break

It is easy to get overwhelmed when you move to a new place and start the job hunt. Hunting for jobs is one of my least favorite things to do. Eww, yuck! I think I pressed the fast forward button on my brain and was having an unnecessary melt down. I decided to regroup and take a tea break.

Pumpkin mayhem, I love it! My mummy made me a cute pumpkin tablecloth and matching pillowcase, perfect for Halloween. The teacup is from my sissy-poo, and was a bridal shower gift. My bridal shower was held at Savannah Tea Company in Nashville, and all of the girls brought me tea cups. I have quite the collection now. The teapot and honey bowl were the first things that D. and I purchased for our apartment, before we even had it. We were a bit extravagant with our first house gifts and bought them at Anthropologie, my favorite. And the napkin holder was a 0.69 find from Salvation Army.

Writing wedding thank you's. Somebody bought me thank you notes as a shower gift, what a good idea.

This stump pot was a birthday present from me to D. I find myself using it much more than him though, therefore wishing that it was blue-ish green instead of grey. My owl notebook has been with me through the entire wedding planning process and is now helping me keep track of thank you notes.

Back to the notes!

Thistletop Inn

Yes, this is a bit backwards; posting pictures of the honeymoon before the wedding pictures. Oh, well.

We stayed at a most lovely bed and breakfast right outside of Nashville, Tennessee called the Thistletop Inn. The inn is run by a charming couple; Fred and Mary Jane Peace. They are sure to make you feel quite welcome.

(source)

(source)

(source)

(source)

Black coffee, orange juice, almond milk, strawberries and cantaloupe, portobello mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, fried mozzarella, spinach, eggs and whole wheat english muffins. I never had almond milk before but it was delicious. I now have some in my fridge. One of the best breakfasts that I have ever eaten. And I have eaten a lot of good breakfasts. 

Potato wheels. Yum. Let me tell you, that pickled garlic is s-t-r-o-n-g!

What can I say? That Tennessee air gets to you.

 D. really took to the country lifestyle. This should be a postcard.

This was the only way to take a picture of our rings without my fingers looking like Skeletor.

This is the beginning of forever, and I couldn't be happier...