Music Mayhem

I bought three CDs the other week when my best pal, Sara, was in town visiting me.  Honestly, does anyone still buy CDs?  My car has a 6-disc player that has been only filled with three for the longest time, so, on a bit of a whim, I decided to buy three more to fill that sucker up.

Currently in the number 4 slot is Drake's Thank Me Later album.  My current favorite from that CD is Fancy.  If you're ever in ND and see me jamming out to it, do us both a favor and look the other way.  I kind of came late to the Drake party.  My boss loves him and used to play him all the time when we'd close the store.  Last year when I was in the cities and at a club, I remembered hearing a song and thinking about how great it was...only to discover months later that it was Drake.

Spot number 5 is occupied by Lady Antebellum's album, Own the Night.  I have listened to Cold as Stone about 270141028 times since buying the CD.  Love, love, love it.

The final space holds Mumford and Son's album, Sigh No More.  When I heard Timshel for the first time on the CD, I wanted to start crying.  All of their music is so beautiful and reaches me in a strange and wonderful way, but this song really struck me.  I went home after hearing it for the first time and told my parents that if I pass in the next few years, that I'd like it played at my funeral.  A little morbid perhaps, but that's just me.

And I'm also a little disappointed that none of my favorites had a music video.  Remember when you were younger and would sit at the computer and marvel at music videos for hours on end while your mother yelled at you to get off so she could make a phone call?  No?  Just me?

MochiThings

Has anyone heard of/about MochiThings?  I recently stumbled upon this beauty (the Better Together Note Pouch v2) and saw that it is everything I need and want in an organizer.

But enough of me drooling over this pouch, and on to a little background info on the company.  According to, and by according to I mean stole word-for-word from, their Facebook page, "MochiThings.com is an online store featuring the cutest & functional products we can find all over the world. We are based in Seattle and ships worldwide!"

Now onto a couple more things that I've tossed into the recesses of my mind to wait until payday.

How cute are these Bottle Pouches?

I love that they make all of these things for Instax photos.  My favorite is this Matryoshka Mini Album.


Or if you're a more visual person, here's a Clear Instax Mini Album Stand.


And the last one that I'll gush about is this Oxford Scheduler.  It's a calendar.  And has a yearly plan.  And a monthly plan.  And a weekly plan!  Does it stop there?  Nope. It has pages for notes, 84 pages to be exact, and a check list area...and to round it all out nicely, their is a place for personal data.  Um...yes, please!

Be sure to head over and see all of the cool things MochiThings has to offer.  And if you're feeling generous, send the Better Together Note Pouch v2 my way! 

Blue pants

Today I wore blue pants to work.  I was expecting a little "blue pant magic" because I love them, so I anticipated having a stellar sale day at work.  Unfortunately, my day was not as great as I had hoped it would be, so to turn my frown upside down, I decided to use the "blue pant magic" to take some pictures of myself.  I don't know if that qualifies as using the magic for good, or for evil, but here are the photos for your viewing pleasure.

*It should also be noted that my hair looked fantastic at work, but was thrown up in a pony after all of our guest left and we had to clean up the store.*

I hope that you all had a great Sunday and since it's Labor Day weekend (does that even make sense?), I really hope you are at a lake, floating on a tube, with an ice cold diet coke or other beverage of choice in your hand...though, if you're doing that, I'm not quite sure how you're on the internet...I can only assume you're Bill Gates.  Thanks for checking out my blog, Bill!

Look at the size of that thing!

Sometimes I forget about Instagram, sometimes I use it to take pictures of bomb outfits I wore to work, and sometimes, on special and rare occasions, my parents bring home the world's largest zucchini and I hold it like a baby while my little sis snaps a pic.

I'd like to get better at taking pictures of everyday life and am hoping to remember that Instagram is conveniently located on my phone.  This week is one I'll actually get to enjoy more than most that happened this summer, so I might have actual adventures to photograph.

I'm officially down to one fulltime job, the one that I'm planning to pursue as a career.  It's very exciting, but at the same time, I'm a little disappointed because I'm only working 48 hours and this will go down to about 42 once I'm out of training.  To make up for the lack of being a workaholic, I'm subbing as a para at the middle school on off days and times.

Anyway, just thought I'd post a quick update on my life and warn you that I might try to get crafty and photograph-y this week.  Be prepared!

I like saying "hur," not "hair"

There's a saying somewhere out there about how you always want what you can't have.  That's been me for the past two months in a nutshell.  It's been about a month since one of my closest gal pals got married and honored me with being a bridesmaid.  It's about another month until my best friend gets married and I get to stand beside her on her big day.  What do these two things have to do with wanting what you can't have, you ask.  The obvious answer is a man, ha ha.  Luckily, I'm pretty content in that area and all that I want is some crazy hair.

When I was in high school, and college for that matter, I went through some pretty drastic colors (at least for small town North Dakota) and some pretty "creative" cuts.  Being in weddings this summer has forced me to stay au natural for longer than I'd like.  Every where I look, I see amazing colors.  The trend I'm crushing on right now is ombre hair.

I have dark hair, so the natural jump would be to lighten the ends, but one of my co-workers currently has her hair like that, so it's out of the question.  I'm going to go all-out when I get mine done at the end of October.

Here are some of my photo inspirations.

All taken from Lua P's LOOKBOOK

Could not find a source on this one, found it on Pinterest

I couldn't find this one on the website Pinterest linked to...

Pinterest, failing me once again, said the link was removed due to being either spam or inappropriate content...I'm going to assume she's a Suicide Girl

Too Many Choices

This week has been one of change.  I feel like life is rushing past me and I'm missing it.  I want to do everything.  I want to have 500 lives.  I want to be a teacher.  I want to work part time jobs forever, traveling around the country, the world.  I want to be a manager.  I want to own my own store.  I want to drop it all and move to Europe.  I want to be in love again.  I want to be single for awhile.  I want everything the way it used to be.  I just want to move forward.

I hate how making a choice, a decision, means NOT choosing things.  I've picked my path and I'm so excited for the adventure and unknown that awaits me, but there is something safe about being stagnant.  Part of me wishes I could rewind the past four or five years of my life and change this, or that, say yes to someone, and run away from another, but I obviously don't have the power to do this so it's a waste even thinking about it.

Everything happens for a reason.  God, how many times I have I even blogged those very words?  I truly, deeply, whole-heartedly, believe it though, with every stinking fiber of my being.  It's hard to feel that way though when you drive by your past and find yourself reminiscing.  

Anyway, enough sappy stuff.  Life is actually going very well.  I'm just at a crossroads and feel myself trying to look as far down each path as possible before making a decision...that's a lie, I've made a decision, but I can still glimpse the other path through the trees and it's fading and becoming fainter...that's what scares me, being, almost, to the point of no return.

Map Coasters

Recently, two good friends of mine got married and I wanted to get them an amazing gift.  Part of the idea came from creativity, part of it came from the simple fact that everything on the registry was gone. What was born were these map coasters, spinning off the "where he was born, where she was born, where they met/fell in love, where they married" posters that I've seen on Pinterest.

Supplies include:

4 White Tiles ($.13 each at Menards)

1 piece of black felt ($.29 at Michaels)

Maps...I used two just based on where cities were located, and overlapping of squares

Scissors

Pencil (for tracing)

Foam brush

Mod Podge

Crystal Clear Poly spray

Glue gun

Step 1. Trace tiles on map, trying to keep desired city in middle

Step 2. Trace tile on felt, I was able to get all four backings from one piece

Step 2.5. Trim felt on backing to make sure it doesn't stick out when viewed from front

Step 3. Mod Podge the tile and place the trimmed map on top

Step 4. Mod Podge the map...Reapply after drying, I did 5 coats

Step 5. Head outside

Step 6. Spray the clear, poly spray on top of coasters

Step 6. Do a 2nd coat if you're paranoid like me, allowing dry time between coats

Step 7. Personalize the felt if you feel the need to

Step 8. Pair up the felt with the proper coaster/tile

Step 9. Hot glue back of felt.  I originally tried to glue the back of tile, but since the felt pieces weren't exact, there were places where the glue stuck out.

Step 10. Admire your handiwork

Crockpot Chicken & Peppers Salad

My manager at work recommended this recipe as a quick, healthy meal option.  I modified it some, but think I maybe should have stuck with her original idea.  First, I'll share what I did, then I'll give my ideas on how to improve it.

First up--ingredients.

Chicken Breast Slices (you can also cut up your own)

Red, green, and yellow pepper

Italian Seasoning...I chose mine based on calories

Baby Spinach, or really any type of greens that you enjoy for salad

Cut up the red pepper

Cut up the yellow pepper

Cut up the green pepper while watching Netflix

Throw peppers in crockpot

Throw chicken in crockpot

Add Italian dressing to taste

Mix peppers, chicken, and dressing

Put on low and go work an 8 hour shift where you're paid too little to do too much

Ready to eat

After it was cooked, I put it on spinach leaves to make a salad.  I found that the peppers had marinated too long and were soggy (I used almost the entire bottle of dressing).  

The original recipe called for individually preparing what you'd like for you salad, putting it in tin foil, and placing it on the grill until cooked.  I think grilling would help the peppers stay crunchy.  I also think that the next time I try this will be will far less dressing, probably a cup or so, on top of chicken and then I'll place the peppers on top of chicken and let it chill in the crockpot with mixing all the ingredients.

Despite some shortcomings, I felt like the meal was still very delicious.  I love coming home and being able to eat, and having prepared this before work, it meant that I didn't have to go to the old standby of ice cream sandwiches for supper.

American Flag Shorts

After a long hiatus from blogging, I'm back with a quick tutorial.  I made these shorts for the 4th of July and received quite a few compliments.  Sure, the fireworks and independence day has passed, but they're still pretty fly shorts.

Supplies:

Shorts

Foam brush-one for each color

Paintbrushes (for small parts and touch-ups)

Red, White, Blue, and Sparkle paint

Painter's tape

Foam stars

Show on Netflix

Blogs to read while paint dries

1. Stick the star on

2. Paint around stars

3. Use small brush to get in between points of star that foam brush missed

4. Space out painters tape on other side to create stripes

 5. Begin to paint white

 6. Finish painting white stripes

7. Cover white stripes with painter's tape

8. Red stripes in between white (covered with painter's tape) stripes

9. Tried sparkles first.  Too light so decided to use the paint brushes to paint white stars

10. Paint all stars white.  After they dry, put sparkle on top

Finished product

The shorts on

Cheesy, mirror picture, but the only one I have of me actually wearing the shorts.