A Georgia Girl in the District

Blog break

2011-12-02T12:06:00.000-05:00

I'm nearing my death. I caught a cold on the way back from Atlanta on sunday and have been out of commission all week. I promise to come back soon.

The Second Annual Friendsgiving

2011-11-22T15:43:00.001-05:00

This past Sunday night my Roommates and I hosted our

"Second Annual Friendsgiving"

Since most of us are heading home for the long weekend we all got together for a potluck feast.

On the Menu:

Turkey Meatloaf
Mixed Greens Salad
Southern Style Buttermilk Cornbread Dressing
Green bean Casserole
Cranberry Chutney
Sister Schubert's Yeast Rolls
Pumpkin Bread
Apple Pie

Some of the Ladies enjoying Becca's Low-Fat Spinach and Artichoke Dip.

(it was most definitely not low fat)

Unfortunately we didn't give it much forethought (and we don't have enough place mats for 12 people) so our table was not the prettiest but when you're young and poor who really cares? right? P.S. Do you like all of my grocery bags in the back? Thanks DC Bag Tax! We had so much fun and drank quite a few bottles (and boxes) of red wine.

We are also hosting a Holiday/Housewarming/Birthday Party in a few weeks, so now my party decorating juices are flowing. Get excited people. Any suggestions? I'm sure I'll be doing a LOT of Pinteresting in the future. Have a great holiday weekend! I'm heading down to GEORGIA! Where I haven't been in a YEAR. I know, I cant get over it either. Can't wait to eat some Taqueria del Sol, and Moes, and shop at Lenox, and be back in Bulldog Country (SEC East Champs BTW! go dawgs). For real I need to get out of DC ASAP. too bad I'm not leaving until tomorrow night. Have a great holiday everyone.

November Birchbox!!!

2011-11-16T13:47:00.000-05:00

Well I guess all I had to do was complain on the blog about how my birchbox STILL had not arrived, because it was waiting for me when I got home Thursday night! I think this was one of the more versatile and exciting boxes I've gotten (though nothing impressed me more than the full size Laura Geller blush and brighten). If you haven't gotten a birch box before, you should look into it. for $10 a month they will send you a box with 4-6 large samples of make-up, skin and hair care products. It's like gifting yourself a present once a month, and I always think the treats in side are well worth the cost. This would make a great Christmas present too, for all of you out there looking for ideas.

This month I got a chocolate treat. Let me tell you, I was a little bit afraid when I first opened this, but the chipotle popping chocolate was AMAZING. I've heard rumors you can buy this brand at wal-mart, so pick one up next time you see it, you won't be disappointed.

I got a Klorane eyemake up remover. I love this, it feels silky smooth, but is oil free and smells really clean no gross scents.

This is Noel from the Zoya Gems and Jewels holiday collection. I think its a super fun holiday color, that makes me think of new years eve. I have to say it hasn't held up all that well for being as expensive as it is, but you're set for 2-3 days at least, and who really keeps their fingers painted longer than that anyways.

I also got this LaRocca body polish. It's a super fine exfoliator and smells divine. I wish they had given me more :(

For a special treat for reviewing birchbox products online they sent me this cute bobblebar bracelet.

This last product is my FAVORITE. Oscar Blandi Protein Mist smells divine. I would wear it as a perfume if I could. After a few days of usage I can already tell a difference in the way my hair looks after I blow dry it.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with my new finds, maybe even a few christmas present ideas... hmm..

Lazy Weekend

2011-11-14T22:16:00.000-05:00

This weekend was filled with blissful nothingness. I lounged around half the day Friday, watched the DAWGS DOMINATE AUBURN on Saturday, and ran some errands on Sunday. I have to tell y'all, I'm pretty impressed with myself. I replaced my brake lights all by myself. I know. I'm kind of a big deal. I took auto-maintenance in High School, so I claim to know how a car works. I used to change my own oil (man did I have a lot of time on my hands) and be cool and what not, but alas now I shell out $100 to have some one do it for me. I'm still working on paying off my last car bill ($1200!!! WTF) and wouldn't you know my brake light just went out. I took it upon myself to avoid another costly trip to the shop and attempted it myself. I especially enjoyed when my driver's handbook said "You should never attempt to replace a light on your own" then gave detailed instructions on how to do it. They really do want you to come in for the smallest crap so they can charge you $80/hour in labor costs. so dumb. 20 minutes of fiddling around in my trunk and $4.29 later I had new brake lights. AND I had the satisfaction of doing it myself and sticking it to the car gods. * I would also be remiss if I did not mention the fact that the Lawfully Wedded Wife's Hubby replaced my headlights for me about 8 months ago, and while I did not help I took dutiful mental notes. Thanks J-Ray.

Don't worry Mom, I was parked.

In other news, I got a haircut! I love it, and am thrilled to find a new stylist, Krystal! She is basically my alter ego. She new exactly what I wanted, gave the BEST scalp massage while she washed my hair and we chatted about the real housewives of Atlanta for a good 20+ minutes. We also talked about make-up for a LONG time. It was quite the opposite experience from trying to navigate my way through auto zone.

Happy Birthday Katherine!

2011-11-12T14:15:00.000-05:00

Happy 25th Birthday Katherine! Wish I could be in Athens to celebrate with you!!!

More Thursday Randoms

2011-11-10T15:41:00.002-05:00

Sorry I've been gone for a few days, the weather is changing here and I think all the back and forth from hot to cold, wet to dry, heaters being turned on for the first time, etc made me a bit under the weather this week. I went home last night and fell asleep at like 6:30. no joke. Not a lot has been happening recently in my life. times are pretty boring. no exciting stories to tell, but I'll give you a few random occurrences in my life since we last talked.

I have a problem and its called the skinny peppermint mocha. I just had my third in 5 days. yeah. Starbucks Gold card I'm coming for you.

I am obsessed with animal print. It has made an appearance somewhere in my outfit at least 5 of the last 7 days.

I am VERY frustrated that my birchbox still isn't here. annoying.

I have switched over to a fall nail polish: Essie downtown brown.

I am still obsessing over this week's glee. I love Blaine.

I am seriously contemplating dying my hair brown this weekend. What are your thoughts?

I got to do something fun at work yesterday and went to the launch of C2ES the new Pew Center on Climate Change. The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions is a new non-partisan organization whose goal is to realistically tackle Global Climate change by influencing policy makers here in Washington and around the country. It was a great event, and I'm excited I got to go. Teddy Roosevelt IV was there. I thought it was cool.

I made quinoa last night for the first time. I'm not sure if I cooked it correctly or not. I'm still on the fence about it. not bad, not good. Since I'm not allergic to gluten I don't really need quinoa in my diet, but I decided to hop on the quinoa train... I don't know. I much prefer couscous.

I also made applesauce the other day. It's pretty delicious.

And I made Salmon. I know, I'm the next top chef over here.

SPEAKING of TOP CHEF! Did you watch last night? I love it. It's too early to tell who I really like, but I think this season will be promising. I'm a little bummed there aren't more DC/ATL chefs. I guess I need to take a trip to Chicago or New York to taste some of these fabulous chefs' creations.

I ordered new boots for winter TWO WEEKS AGO. they still aren't here.
I hate this whole daylight savings thing. It's like dark of night when I leave the office at 6pm. I don't get any daylight anymore.

I am BEYOND ready for a trip to ATL for Thanksgiving.

Have a lovely evening. I'll see you tomorrow for the Friday Five!

Even with the extra hour that weekend was too short

2011-11-07T12:02:00.000-05:00

Am I right? The older I get the more I live for the weekends, but the faster they go. There just aren't enough hours in the day. I was very optimistic going in to the weekend. I wanted to FINISH my room, hang pictures around the house, paint the coffee table, take stuff to good will, find a bedside lamp, make my curtains and hang them, replace a few light bulbs around the house, check out the DC farmers market, watch the USC Arkansas game and the Alabama LSU game, have some fun and sleep in. Needless to say I did not achieve all of these goals. Oh well. Here's what I did do: finished my clothes storage situation, organized my vanity, spray painted the coffee table, finished spray painting a few frames for my room, continued organizing the house, had LOTS of fun on H Street Saturday night, watched a few minutes of the USC AR game and a few minutes of the LSU Bama game, dropped off another load at goodwill, found the sketchiest part of DC only a few short blocks from the farmers market, and made my first ever HOME MADE PIZZA. I did pretty good right? The biggest fail of the weekend was the whole not making the curtains thing. MAYBE I'll do that tonight... maybe.

I'll start with the pizza. Many of you know my bff The Lawfully Wedded Wife is a master food blogger. One time when BeeWi and I visited she made us her perfected pizza. She made the dough, picked the toppings arranged it all so beautifully then the pizza fail happened. She was able to salvage it and it was AMAZING. So, LWW the whole thing wasn't a disaster because you taught me how to make pizza dough! You can go to her blog if you want a play by play on how to make pizza (I promise her's is better than mine). We made 2, 1 with artichoke hearts, spinach, olives, onion, Gouda, feta, mozzarella and garlic (YUM) and one with BBQ tofu and cilantro.

Amazing. I will definitely be making home made pizza again soon. So easy and fairly idiot proof.

Saturday night I hit up one of my DC favorites Sticky Rice for some cheap cocktails and fabulous play list. It was one of those perfect nights where the DJ plays everything you want to hear. So keep the PBR flowing and dive down to the creepiness of H Street, you'll be glad you did.

Do I pass as an ironic hipster drinking PBR? not with fake eyelashes.

Cute

Someone was really channeling the music.

Also... Did you hear. Winter drinks are back at Starbucks. I know. People seem to live for the pumpkin spice or gingerbread lattes, but I can't deal with those. Too sweet. I love. I mean LOVE the peppermint mocha latte, its just not Christmas time without it. ugh. so good. I had my first one of the season Saturday, I was so excited I had to take a picture.

grande.skinny.peppermint.mocha.amazingness.

Hope y'all had a good weekend too! UGA is on top of the SEC east! Lets keep it going!

Friday Five

2011-11-04T12:18:00.000-04:00

We made it! I'm so glad its Friday for real! I decided to bring back the Friday Five with a new twist. Here are 5 pieces of an outfit I would love to rock since its causal friday! Hope you all have a great weekend! Anyone else watching the Alabama LSU game? Its basically the biggest game of the season.I think the tide will stay strong to defeat the tigers. UGA is playing New Mexico (random?) this weekend, so I will be watching the Arkansas USC game. If Arkansas wins UGA will pull ahead to lead the SEC east. So Go Hogs! WPS.

Thursday Randoms

2011-11-03T15:52:00.000-04:00

So I made this last night. Amazing. I highly recommend it to any of you out there in the blogosphere.

Nothing is really happening in my life, so I don't have much to update on. It's Thursday. The weather is beautiul! Fall is in full swing. I'm going to happy hour tonight here.

I bought salmon from the grocery store for the first time last night. wish me luck in cooking it!

On that same note I am going to attempt to start cooking more at home (more veggies less eggs and sandwiches).

I booked my flight to Atlanta for Thanksgiving :)

I'm planning on finishing my room this weekend. or at least making progress.

It is getting harder and harder to wake up every morning as it is now dark when my alarm goes off. I am REALLY looking forward to the extra hour of sleep this weekend for daylight savings time, but not for the whole being nightime when I leave the office at 6. Lame.

I really want to go shopping for pretty fall and winter things, but am still recovering from the ridiculously expensive few months I've had.

Is it sad that the highlight of my week is getting to sleep in on the weekends?

Is it sadder that I feel moderately disappointed when I wake up at 11 on a sunday morning because I've already missed so some of the Sunday News shows?

iphone fab.

2011-11-01T16:27:00.000-04:00

I bought myself a present and it finally got here!!! I'm so excited. I LOVE it!

This was my first ETSY purchase, I know I know I'm so behind the times. After MONTHS of shopping for a similar product I came across this pattern at Libbie and Winston. They did a great job and I had it in about 2 weeks. They offer tons of great products, so go look around! Christmas is coming people.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T14:15:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween! I am very much looking forward to trick-o-treaters tonight! Growing up we lived in a big house on a big scary hill. The houses were far apart, so it was not exactly a productive neighborhood to go out in. I don't think I've ever had more than 4 trick-or-treaters in my whole life. But now I'm living in a row house with a lot of doors in a small space aka LOTS of candy potential I'm cautiously optimistic I'll get a few kids to stop by this evening. While I have yet to see many kids in the 'hood we are frequented by an ice cream truck so thats a good sign right? I only hope my oversight in forgetting a pumpkin (everywhere we went yesterday was sold out) doesn't keep the little ghosts and goblins away. So, trick-or-treaters of Washington DC, venture out into NoMa, come by our house. We've got the good chocolate (no apples or hard candy here)... it's worth your time I promise. Had I not been on the couch all day Saturday watching Georgia Florida (Go Dawgs!!! Woohoo!) or been occupied with moving for the last MONTH, I might have put in a little more effort and actually created a craft or two like these from pinterest.

via

Happy Halloween!

Where did fall go?

2011-10-28T16:25:00.000-04:00

Because apparently winter has arrived?!? There is SNOW in the forecast this weekend. Yes. you heard me right, SNOW in OCTOBER. Come on people, its not even Halloween yet. It's not even daylight savings time yet! I really hope this is not a sign of what's to come this winter. So far I've survived one VERY snowy but not horrendously cold winter in the north, and one HORRENDOUSLY COLD but not so snowy winter. I don't really know which I prefer. They are both pretty bad. There is one thing I enjoy about this weather though, and that is the fashion. While generally folks don't seem to care about what they look like when it drops below a certain temperature outdoors, I love coats, scarves, gloves, hats... all of it. Here are a few I'm feeling this season.

all images via Pinterest

What are you wearing this winter?

Who's that comin' down the track?

2011-10-26T12:56:00.001-04:00

A Mean Machine in RED and Black.

It's that time of year again. The Annual Georgia Florida game aka the worlds LARGEST outdoor cocktail party. This is going to be a good game... let me tell you. UGA has officially come back from a disappointing start to our season to be tied in the SEC east. Florida is gross, as always; and while Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer may be gone the jean shorts have remained. classy. Georgia Florida has generally not been super successful for the lovely Georgia Bulldogs, but I have a good feeling about this year. So here are a few pinterest finds to get you all excited to hunker down and bring it down to Jacksonville. Go Dawgs.

Excessive celebration? Never

Can’t start a game day without at least 1 bloody Mary.

Oh… the landing.

Go Russ!

Gators Wear Jean Shorts

How ‘Bout Them Dawgs?!

I'm really back.

2011-10-25T13:33:00.000-04:00

So I sort of lied last week when I said I was back, but this is my attempt to start blogging again. Since we last chatted I moved back into DC, where my commute is 20 minutes, 30 if I walk. Y'all have no idea how much I'm loving that. Like for real. I am so not a morning person and I have this cyclical problem in that I love staying up late at night, but destest waking up in the morning (as 6 hours of sleep is not enough for me). I have SOMEHOW trained myself to start going to bed around 11 (though mid-night is usually more likely), and now instead of a 6:30 alarm, I am not awoken until a glorious 7:45. It's lovely. out of the shower by 8, out of the house by 8:35, and I'm still at work on-time/early. YAY!

Anyways over the next few weeks I'm going to talk about some of the projects we've done in the house. Unfortunately, boys and girls, I'm not quite ready to show off all of our hard work just yet. Here are a few inspiration pictures from pinterest of couse. Let me know what y'all think!

I'm back

2011-10-18T14:11:00.000-04:00

Okay friends. I don't know what happened to me. Life I guess. I really have no excuse. I've been missing my little bloggy though, so I'm coming back. Just wanted to let you know. See you all soon!

Happy Day.

2011-07-12T17:56:00.000-04:00

I've been neglecting the baby blog and I'm sorry. You know how it goes. Busy work day staring at the computer all day long the last thing I want to do when I get home is blog. But I wanted to share with you how happy I am today. For no particular reason. However all of these things help:

I rock at my job. I love it when I'm beyond on top of it and impress everyone with my "brilliant" ideas. Not bragging or anything.
Funny-awkward-awesome metro ride in to work this morning.
Iced Coffee makes my life.
Air conditioning makes it better.
I look really cute today in my new pink dress.
I love my job.
I love Washington DC (even with all the melt-downs)
I'm happy I'm happy again.
Present from my boss just because I'm so great.
Did I mention that I love my job.

That's it. Just wanted to share. Have a great Tuesday.

My First Fourth of July in Washington

2011-07-01T10:21:00.000-04:00

TGIF, am I right? I'm beyond excited for this weekend for many reasons. #1. THREE DAY WEEKEND. Yes. #2. The Fourth of July. #3. It's my Dad's birthday Monday. and #4. BeWi's (yes Becca, I'm going to call you BeWi from now on) parents are coming to town.

Obviously the highlight of the weekend will be the fireworks on the mall. I will be celebrating at my office on the rooftop.

I am going to attempt to overcome my phobia of crowds/tourists this weekend. I absolutely hate tourists. They freak me out. I realize this is crazy, as I consider myself a traveler, but the tourist who come to dc are another breed. They clog the metros, take up space at my favorite bars and restaurants, and they create traffic jams trying to look at all the monuments. My bitterness may have come from catering to every whim of many an Arkansan, as a tour coordinator when I was a staffer, but ugh, they drive me nuts. okay. rant over.

I've spent some time on pinterest trying to find some 4th of July themed treats. Let me know what you think.

All of this food will surely make a fun 4th weekend. I'll see y'all next week and let you know how it went.

Book Review: The Help

2011-06-30T15:07:00.000-04:00

I was never a "reader" growing up. I would begrudgingly read books for school, and do the obligatory summer reading (usually in the 2 weeks lead up to the new school year). Then I got to college, and as a Political Science major ALL you do is read. Needless to say after 70-100 pages of reading per night per class of dry political theory I was somewhat lacking any interest in reading for pleasure. Now in my post-college young adulthood one of my favorite things to do is read. I don't have a TV in my bedroom, and after hours of watching the news (I kid you not I watch CNN 9+ hours a day) its really nice to escape into a good novel.

*Side note: Ed Henry, I am very angry with you for leaving CNN for Fox. WTF dude. After Rick Sanchez was fired, the highlight of my cnn day was your repartee with Ali Velshi. I even told him that when I met him last year.

Not cool homeboy. Not cool.

But anyways, I've been hearing about The Help for months now, and with the movie coming out soon-ish (August?) I decided it was time to delve into the old south of Jackson, MS in 1964. I'm so glad I did. This book was so beautifully written. I makes you miss the slower times gone by, while making you so appreciative for how far we've come.

Living in the South racial tension is a part of every day life. While Atlanta wasn't as bad, other parts of Georgia flew confederate flags proudly. I took a Class, Race and Social reform class in high school (changed my outlook on life), but more so than any history book, this fictionalized tale takes you back and you feel like you are living in that time. The story is told from 3 different point of views. Skeeter is a 24 year old Ole Miss grad, not married, forced to move home and be a society socialite when all she wants to do is write. Abilene is single black woman, who works as a maid, lost her only son to senseless violence, and instead has to raise white babies while their mothers focus on the social aspects of life. and Minny, also a maid, is a young smart mouthed black woman, mother of 5 with an abusive husband. The group comes together to tell the tales of what its like to work as a maid in Jackson in 1964. They tell it all, the good, the bad and the ugly, and then have to deal with the repercussions of the book's publish. As I told my roommate, I laughed, I cried, it was fabulous. GO READ IT NOW. PLEASE. THANK YOU.

Yes I Can... finish my DIY projects

2011-06-27T17:23:00.001-04:00

Okay, so I've taken a mini hiatus from the blog. You know how it goes, work, gym, errands, etc. At the end of the day sleep just wins out and I've been going to bed super early lately. BUT. I have finished a few of my DIY projects lately, and have some new ones in the queue. I'll start off with my BIGGEST project, and I have to say I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I moved up to DC with only 2 suitcases and have eventually brought the rest of my stuff (as long as it fit my my Jetta) so I have been lacking furniture for the past year. I spent 4 months sleeping on an air mattress! I know. But now that I have a real bed, I needed a real nightstand. After numerous trips to ikea, target, and a few more "expensive" furniture shops I decided I needed to DIY something to get the look I wanted. I trolled craigslist for a few days, and found this baby for a STEAL.

What do you think? It's a beautiful solid wood piece, and I wanted something basic (and small) for my bedside table. I love that it has this cubby to display books, baskets, trinkets or whatever else I would want, and still has a drawer (which is currently housing lots of papers). So I thought about this for a while... How should I paint it? My room is decorated in black and white with touches of teal and grey. I wanted something that would blend nicely, but would still work with a new color scheme should I chose to change it when I move this fall. I finally decided on a nice grey-ish/beige-ish color, with a touch of white. I also decided to tackle a stencil. I realize it was a tad ambitious as my first project, but hey when I was 8 my mom and I re-did an antique dresser for my room. We painted it white with an antique pink for the handles. THEN when I was 14 we spray painted the handles silver... so it's not exactly my first attempt at re-doing antique furniture. I attempted to take pictures all the way through, but I missed a few steps so I apologize and please just use your imagination.

Once I settled on a color scheme it was time to execute it. But... one problem. I live in a small apartment, no porch, no garage, nothing but a sidewalk to paint on. So spray paint was out. Then I decided I didn't want to invest in any industrial sanders, so what to do? Oil-based primer my friend. Yes. Not only didn't I not have to sand the piece, but the primer was so thick the application with a brush created these lines similar to wood grain. Love it.

One coat wasn't quite enough to cover the dark color, and while I'm sure it would have been fine, it really didn't require that much paint, so here's coat #2.

Background information. I have a white damask bedspread. I love all things black and white damask. like... LOVE. I was going to attempt a damask flower on top, but couldn't find a good stencil and decided it was too difficult. So, what to do? After searching blogs and blogs for stencils, I finally decided on a fleur de lis. I work for a Louisiana company now, so why not? Let me tell you, thank god I did something simple, because this part was HORRIBLE. as opposed to creating a stencil, I simply cut out the shape, traced it, then taped over that (the worst part), then painted over the whole thing, peel off the tape. Done. Thankfully it turned out well, and I only had to do some minor touch ups.

Time for the big reveal... are you ready?

Yay!!!!

So cute right? I am planning on spray painting the handle white, but haven't gotten a chance to get back to home depot. What do you think???? I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with myself.

Mississippi on the Mall

2011-06-21T10:21:00.000-04:00

This weekend I attended the annual Mississippi on the Mall event, put on by the Mississippi State Society. After a scenic walk along the mall (BW discovered there is actually a pond on the mall, who knew?) we made it to our destination. Let me tell you belles and beaus, I felt like I was right back in the heart of the old south. Everywhere you looked there was croakies and searsucker gallore.

DC's finest Fratastic and Sorostitutes were floating keg after keg, after keg... did I mention how many kegs they had? The poofs and the pearls, wow. I'm still reeling. Plus, my heart hurts a little for drinking out of an Ole Miss cup, gross I know. As much as I like to make fun of those types of people, I do have a special place in my heart for them. It is always lovely when a southern gentleman lets you cut him in line for the catfish (lol), or when you strike up a great coversation with a complete stranger just because they walked by and said hello. There is definitely a personable gene that the southern gentality has, which unfortunately the DCians do not seem to possess.

But oh, yall, let me tell you about the food. They had catfish, hushpuppies, and coleslaw galore. Unfortunately they did not have enough plates or napkins (one would think you would double check how many tickets you sold and bring at least that many). I forgot how much I love hushpuppies. YUM. For those of you asking yourself what in the world is a hush puppy, they are the best part of any southern soul food meal. Hushpuppies are just fried cornbread balls (leftover from making the catfish usually), They are bite size and you just pop em in your mouth. So good. These were especially good, and a little bit spicy with some hot peppers thrown in the batter. We enjoyed the meal while listening to some good old southern rock music. All in all a lovely afternoon, helping the south rise again (for the afternoon) in Washington.

Friday Five

2011-06-17T09:57:00.000-04:00

1. I am NOT loving my new hair cut. That's what I get for going to a place where you can make a day of appointment for cut a color I guess. The girl who did my hair was incredibly rude. She insulted me/my hair(?!), and I walked out completely unhappy. I realized that it doesn't look that bad, but it is SO NOT what I wanted. It's too short, not blonde enough (I know it looks really blonde in this picture, but its not I promise). And the whole reason I went was to get my mismatched roots taken care of. NOPE still have horrible roots, and I think they might be even more obvious!!! UGHHH. Okay. Sorry. I'm done.

2. I'm loving that its FRIDAY. This was a painfully long week right?

3. I'm LOVING my new Gucci bag. I got it for an absolute steal. It has some minor leather damage so it's in the shop right now, but I'll show you all more pictures when it gets back!

4. I've FINISHED the DIY weekend projects! I wont inundate you with them, but here's the first one.

Wine Cork Initials. Too cute.

R for Rebecca and E for Emily. Sorry for the sketchy iphone picture

This was super easy and took all of 15 minutes. Start collecting corks, go get your self some wooden cut outs of your initials, a hot glue gun, and lots of glue sticks. I varied the heights, used some corks made of plastic (or whatever those pseudo corks are that come with cheap wines), some stained with red wine, and even some champagne corks, etc. I think it turned out super cute, and is a great addition to the "bar" area of our apartment.

5. I love this blog, Kitchen Bellicious, she has come great recipes and ideas, and she is absolutely fearless in the kitchen. Check out her latest post and go pick up one of these super cute headbands to help her raise money to build an orphanage in Rwanda.

Have a great weekend!

Every girl needs a little sparkle in her life

2011-06-13T13:23:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday to everyone! Unfortunately some of the DIY projects have not been completely finished (some much needed pool time on Sunday took precedence). So stay tuned for a post on that. BUT I wanted to quickly share with you one of my new favorite products that I'm sure will be on my beauty shopping lists for months to come. You may have seen a commercial or two for these, but I have to tell you they are AWESOME! Sally Hansen Salon Effect Real Nail Polish Strips. They have changed my life and the way I will do at home manicures. Basically they are stickers that cover your whole nail and they stay on for 7-10 days. No chipping. When was the last time you got a manicure that lasted for 10 days without chipping? Love it. Plus they come in some super fun colors/patterns. I'm sure there are more options to come, but for now I'm happy. They are not the most "professional" of options so these may not be great if you work in a super professional setting. Thankfully my office is fairly chill, and no one cares how sparkly my nails are. Go run by your local CVS and pick up a box or two. They run about $9.00 for 16 strips (odd number I know) but you can use both sides of the strip depending on how long your nails are, so they'll last for 2 applications. 4.50 for a 10 day manicure? I think so. Thank you. They are pretty idiot proof, and I ended up topping mine with a quick clear coat just to smooth down the ends (on accidentally ripped while I was putting it on) and you're good to go! Here's a quick iphone pic of mine... looking super professional at my desk with the much needed morning coffee.

If its possible I don't think this picture does the sparkliness of the nails justice.

a DIY Friday 5

2011-06-10T10:41:00.000-04:00

TGIF. Like for real. This week has been PAINFULLY LONG. Work is crazy busy but the days have been beyond slow. If that even makes sense? because I am kind of going crazy. I'm craving a weekend away, but there is always some reason not to go. I would still love to do a trip to Atlanta for a weekend, but I'm not sure it will happen before the end of the summer. In addition to my general boredom, I've become incredibly bored with my apartment. We are planning on moving in October, so I don't want to take on any major DIY projects, but let me tell you, I can dream. I have made the executive decision to rearrange my room and maybe get a new piece of furniture or something to tide me over until the fall. THEN let the DIY craziness begin. Do y'all remember Trading Spaces on TLC. When I was younger (like 12ish?) I was legitimately OBSESSED with that show. Ty Pennington, Hilda St. James, Vern Yip, Genvieve Gordon, and who could forget Paige? I loved them all. When I was a freshman in high school I finally decided it was time to ditch the fabulously pepto-bismol pink paint in my bedroom. We decided to paint my room a light grayish blue and do a metallic sponge painted wall in a darker blue color. It was fabulous. In recent years my love of DIY home decor has wained. You can only do so much with a dorm room, then move after move after move, I continued to ditch stuff and pretty much only haul my clothes, some basic furniture, and a few pictures/objects I picked up on my study abroad. While I know that a more permanent settling is still several years away, I think it maybe time to start making my apartment feel more like home. Nothing in my house matches, especially when you combine roommates, it can be hard. I love my roommate, but our decorating styles are not exactly the same. I think we've done a decent job of integrating our stuff, but honestly beyond my room the stuff in the apartment is probably 85% hers. (NOT COMPLAINING BW) I didn't have anything, she had everything, so it made it easy for both of us. Okay. I'm going to stop rambling and get on with it.

Since it has been SWELTERING in DC this week I'm going to stay indoors this weekend and tackle some DIY projects. After some intense time on pinterest I've gotten all the inspiration I need. On the list is to:

1. Rearrange my room to look something like this set up...

do you love it, or do you love it?

2. I have been collecting wine corks for a while now... and after a sneaky move at TOTS, I have more corks than I could ever possibly use. So I am going to attempt this project to combine my love of monogramming + wine? duh.

3. Via Pinterest I found this awesome blogger/designer Emily Jones. I adore her style, and she makes things seem so easy. I may or may not attempt a project inspired from her blog this weekend, but non the less you need to check her out. go here.

4. I love this blog too. She is the ultimate thrifter and turns pieces that I would pass by into something fabulous, with just a little elbow grease.

5. How cool is this rug?

I might just attempt this project too... but I think I'll hold off until I decided on my new boudoir decor. Another great DIY blog.

Okay, have a great Friday and a great weekend!

Weekend Recap

2011-06-05T21:18:00.000-04:00

Well this weekend started of promising, then turned into a complete lame-session. This past week was so busy all I really wanted to do was veg out on the couch for 2 days. But Friday night/Saturday morning was full of new fun adventures. After work BW and KJ and I headed off to Old Town Alexandria, Va for dinner at a French Restaurant. Back in DECEMBER I gave BW a groupon to this place for dinner, and we realized it expired Friday night, so we HAD to go. The place was called Bistro LaFayette, and while our meals were delicious I don't think I'll be returning. The place was quaint, very few tables but very cramped. The staff was not exactly attentive, and it wasn't the cleanest restaurant I've ever been to. But the food did redeem the experience. We got bread and yummy olive oil, french onion soup, KJ got Salmon that was AMAZING, BW got Filet Mignon of course and it was melt in your mouth crazy good. I got chicken with veggies and mashed potatoes. My was good but the worst by far. I had mad food envy. Sorry I forgot to take pictures.

After dinner we walked around King Street, as BW had never seen it. If you've never been there its strangely reminiscent of Charleston, and oozes southern charm just miles from DC. We made our way down to the waterfront for a nice view and some live music courtesy of the boat club.

Remember how I told y'all I was psyched to finally sleep in? Well that failed. I woke up at 7:30 am and absolutely could not go back to sleep. I have up and got dressed to head out to the local farmers market (something I've been meaning to do for MONTHS). I talk about Eastern Market a lot, but its a bit of a drive from here so I tried the Silver Spring market. Let me tell you it was great! Way bigger than I anticipated, and I will definitely hold off on grocery shopping before I go next weekend. Since I already had a very full fridge I didn't buy much, snap peas, lettuce, cilantro, and some peach butter. The Silver Spring farmers market is on Saturdays 9-1 in downtown year round!

Here's a scary pic of Oliver the Crazy Cat

I came home, made some gazpacho (yummmmm) and that was pretty much the end of my weekend activities. Hope y'all had a great weekend too! I'm not ready for the week, but is anyone really ready?

I'm back for a Friday Five

2011-06-03T10:50:00.000-04:00

Okay, I'm sorry I've been failing with the blog lately. I went to Arkansas last weekend for my little sister's high school graduation. It was a whirlwind of a trip, followed by a hectic week. Now I'm realizing, woah! it's Friday, woohoo. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. I cherish those early morning hours on Saturday morning when you sneak a peak at your watch to check the time then realize "It's Saturday! No work for me!" Its the best. Anyways, I'll do a post on last weekend later, when I get a chance (and pictures), but for now here is my Friday Five.

I am completely obsessed with Pinterest. Like OBSESSED. I stayed up until 1 am last night pinning. I may have a problem. I just love it. that is all. Please follow me! If you want an invitation let me know I'll send you one, but I warn you it is highly addictive. Go here to see my page.
After lots of online shopping recently I have fallen in love with monogramming. I would like to monogram everything I own now thank you. I got some great stuff from the knot its not just for wedding stuff and you can find some great deals on there. I also had a few issues with shipping and their customer service people were great and SO helpful. How cute is this? I purchased several bags, boxes, business cardholders, etc. Everything I got was really nice quality, I was actually a bit surprised. If any of you are getting married soon I would highly recommend their services.

Also loving Marley Lilly. I haven't ordered anything from the site yet, but some of the stuff is so cute and creative! I'm loving this iphone case.
My new hat I got this weekend in Little Rock this isn't it exactly, but super cute. There is this adorable store called Francesca's ,You can even order stuff online! Everything I've ever bought there gets so many compliments when I wear it out. Lots of unique costume jewelry for a relatively wallet friendly price.
With the passing of memorial day weekend it is now officially SUMMER TIME. I plan on putting some hours in lounging by the pool this summer with a cool drink and a fun read. I came across this blog a few weeks ago, but thought this was a perfect time to repost. DC Ladies (me! me!) is a great blog with tons of guest bloggers who contribute stories about their favor things to do around this city. I read this book during my funemployment. It's a fun Atlanta read. Not the greatest story ever, but it was set in my old neighborhood! So I enjoyed it. All my in town Atlanta Liberals will appreciate this story.

So that's it for me today. I hope you all have a great weekend! AND go follow me on Pinterest!