Wait for it...

Our pup just melts my heart to peices. 



Best $10 I ever spent.

Hope everyone is having a great week :)

Just a little something...

...I've been working on.

Brand new in the shop today :)

Hope everyone is having a great Wedneday!! :)

I almost want to do the dishes...

ALMOST...

I hope everyone is having a great summer! I am having one of the best of my life and I know it will be gone before I know it :( so I'm taking full advantage now!

But I had to just drop in and say that I have seen some ADORABLE aprons in my day, but I don't think any can quite compare to how totally sweet this one from Anthropologie is:



seriously, kill me with cuteness! Is it bad that I wish this had a back so I could wear it out dinner?

Father's Day Ideas

Father's day is my "the year is half over" mark, and I am having the hardest time believing it's just 5 days away. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?!

Ok, I'm done panicking (for now).

For anyone looking for a unique way to say Happy Father's Day, here are a few of my favorite ideas!

The first one comes from one of my favorite places in blog land to visit, Giver's Log. Amberlee is amazing and if you haven't been over to visit her, I would wait until you have a few hours to just sit and soak in her awesomeness.

I guess I am becoming more southern than I ever thought I would be because the idea of BBQ in a Jar, had me from "hello".


It's so easy and what dad doesn't love FOOD!
Start with a pair of wide mouth jars, and add a layer of baked beans, followed by a layer of cole slaw, topped off with pulled pork!

Add a pickle and a jar of homemade lemonade and ta-dah!


Besides food, what else do most dad's love? Their CAR! Thanks to Martha, you can now make a bucket full of car wash supplies look crazy stylish.

Throw in a book of coupon for "free car washes by >insert your name here<" and you have yourself a useful gift he is sure to love.

Lastly, a few of my favorite Etsy finds:
Father'z Day Fork Money Clip (Their spelling, not mine)


For the golfing dad: Personalized Ball Marker in Gift Tin


For the cooking dad: Ash, Walnut, and Cherry Cutting Board

Copper Steak Markers - Tags - with Stainless Steel Stakes Picks


My brother and I got my Dad an iPod for his birthday (2 weeks ago), and I'm driving home to MD this weekend, so he might just be getting a card from me this year :) Anyone want to share what they are getting their Dad and or husband?

I'm alive I promise

Just a quick update on what's new with me:

I have been bitten by the summer bug and have wanted to spend no extra time at the computer (after spending 8 hours in front of it for my day job.) I have spent the last 3 weekends at the beach and it has been an absoulte TREAT! The weather has been awesome and I have the "I can be lazy, it's the summer" attitude like you wouldn't believe.

Also, I am putting ever spare penny I have to get my car paid off before Halloween (2 1/2 years early whoo-hoo!) so I haven't really had much money to throw at new projects at the moment. Hopefully once I get that taken care of and I am swimming in cash(HA), things will start happening around our casa again. Until then, one thing I have been doing is keeping busy with my Etsy shop.

Something new for Father's Day!


I hope everyone is doing well and from the looks of bloggie land, you all are getting lots done! Keep up the good work, you keep me adding more projects to my never ending to-do list :)

Here's a Tip Tuesday!

Here's today tip:

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken"
- Oscar Wilde

Happy Tuesday :)

I got nothing

So, I have no tip for you today. Sad. I just didn't have time to get anything together for this week. The weekend was beautiful and I didn't spend 1 minute in front of a computer screen all weekend, and it was GLORIOUS.

And as of yesterday I am cranking out an 11 monogrammed beer mug custom order for my Etsy shop, so my time is a little limited as of the moment.

I will be back this week to talk more about my adventures with The Shred and fill you in on how it's going, and whether or not I recommend it!

Have a great Tuesday :)

Why Kate Walsh? Why?!

There aren't to many words to describe this house, but I can think of one...AMAZING. ABC's "Private Practice" star, Kate Walsh, put this Los Feliz house on the market for $4.295 million. Can anyone explain to me why she would move out of this house?!? Take a look! (all photo credits to aol.com)



















Hope that brightened up your Friday! :)

The Shred

On December 28, 2009, Jason and I decided that we had totally fallen into our "honeymoon" phase of living together. We both packed on the pounds and at the end of the year, after eating nothing but fudge for some meals (that is not even in the slightest way an exaggeration) , we were sick (literally) and tired of being heavier then we once were.

So we joined the gym that day and set our goal weights and our goal date, May 1, 2010.

We weighed in once a week and tracked our efforts on a little spreadsheet that we kept stuck to our fridge. With it now being May 12th, the results are in and we both kicked our goals in the moneymaker and lost 75 pounds combined (56 for him and 19 for me). We are both thrilled and so proud of ourselves, and each other, that we were able to accomplish our weight goals the good old fashion weigh (<-- get it?) :)



Now, I do not by any means think that I am fat, or anything of the sort. I actually think I am pretty fit for my age, but I am looking for more tone. I want to be able to walk around and not jiggle in places that once did not.

Insert- Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred.



This work out DVD came out in 2007 (a tad late I know), and contains 3-20 minute work out sessions, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3. The sessions are based on her 3-2-1 method of circuit training. 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio, 1 minute of abs. I love Jillian on the Biggest Loser and was thrilled to get the chance to bring her into my living room. I went to Amazon (the place I go for the best reviews on the web), and over 1,800 people have given this DVD 4.5 stars. People are seriously happy with this thing. So I decide to scope out some blogs with peoples results for this work out. These are some of the comments I read:

"but LO! THE PAIN. DEAR GOD THE PAIN"

"after my first attempt at Level 1 I was in pain, dude! PAIN. My legs were burning like they haven't in years"

"there is a muscle in my upper arms that I never knew existed but is now screaming in pain and has requested abdication from the rest of my body"

"the first attempt left me so crumpled and sore that I couldn't even roll over in bed without wincing for nearly a week"

"y’all, when those twenty minutes were over, my leg muscles were so exhausted that my very first thought was I’ll never walk normally again"

"it involved pain that was so horrible I couldn't move for days without wincing and grunting and wanting to hurt someone so they could feel even a smidgen of the pain that had consumed my entire body."



SAY WHAT? OK, maybe I'm getting in a little over my head. The scarier part is, 90% of the people who use this DVD, react the same way. From the sound of it, this may be the most painful thing on the planet, well maybe the second most...



So all day yesterday I was stoked to pick up this DVD at Target (yes, still, after all of that...$9 for an ass whopping so bad I wish I could sleep until August? 'eh why not).

I got home, pulled out my 3 pound weights out, slipped on my Mizunos, popped in the DVD, and played Level 1. As I was watching the intro, I was assured I could skip the warm seeing as my heart was already pounding from pure fear. I kept telling my self "you survived 2 hour session, 2-a-days in 105 degree heat, with one leg, and no water for a week (1/3 of that statement is true). NO WAY, this can even rank on the hard physical activities list."



I got started and turns out, I loved it. Basic, tried and true moves, packed together with no rest to get the most out of the 20 minutes. Lots of push ups, squats and jumping jacks and other fun things (not).

The Result: When I first got done my legs felt pretty jell-o-y, and my heart rate was up, and I had some condensation on my forehead, but nothing major yet. I woke up this morning and didn't make any sudden movements fearing I would whale out in pain. But I didn't...at all. I was not in the least bit sore. I'm shocked.



Am I just in better shape then these women? Is my body so used to a squat that it doesn't even phase me anymore? Yes I have been working out on and off for a while now, and I try to do squats in the elevator at work, and do planks during my lunch hour but still, I am a LAZY exerciser and can not believe that I am not sore.

I kind of feel let down. Maybe I secretly wanted to feel the agony these women felt, the agony of accomplishment.

I am going to try Level 2 today when I get home from work and hope that tomorrow morning it hurts to smile.

I will keep you posted. Also debating some before/after shots, but my before shot is in my bra and underoos so I'm not sure I'm ready to share all of that. Maybe I'll snap another quick one today of me in a bathing suit... well see!