Northwest Grits

It's time.

2012-12-18T18:55:00.001-08:00

I'm leaving this blog/name behind and starting fresh. Still working on getting my vintage/handmade etsy shop set up, it's so close to being done! The name of the shop and (possible) blog will be "Little Larabee" if you are interested. I'm not sure when it will all be set up but hopefully very very soon! Thank you all for following along here and I hope to see you around my new blog and new shop!

xo Laura

I'm alive so here is a bit of an update!

2012-11-29T00:54:00.003-08:00

Woah, I'd like to apologize for not posting on here in what seems like years. Thanksgiving was nice. We spent it with Cason's family and of course, his mom sent us home with loads of yummy goodies (i.e. this pumpkin pie featured below that has since been devoured)

Things have been stressful and busy around the house and I have had no time to post. Well I suppose I'd have time to post but I haven't had time to do anything to post about! That is changing soon.

Cason has to take a test for work so that has been taking up most of his time and lately, I've just been trying to get the house back in order. Basically it's a cause and effect type problem we have. We haven't had time to fix our disaster of a closet and therefore our clothes are still in suitcases on the floor. Our kitchen is full of stuff for my Etsy store and I haven't even had a chance to set that up yet and even when I do, who knows how long it will take to sell so we are still looking at the kitchen space problem. Until we get room in the kitchen, I don't have room for a sewing machine, which means I can't make half of the things I'd like to for the store. I'm still trying to learn to crochet...well actually I'm trying to decide if it would be easier to learn to crochet or knit but once I learn one of them, I plan on, hopefully, making cute little things to put in the store also. But that is IF I ever learn how. So you see how things are looking right now. I don't have a car up here so I have to wait until the weekend for Cason to drive me around to craft stores or fabric stores. But usually on his weekend, he has to study or is too tired to do much of anything so I feel bad asking him to drive me around just to get craft supplies, ya know? And I'm so indecisive that I never want to buy something because I don't know how long I will be interested in it, or if I'll buy all of the stuff to do something like say, knitting, and then I won't be able to get the hang of it.

So if it seems like I'm terrible at this blog thing, it's because I am. ha! I follow all these blogs who have tons of time to do tons of things BUT they already practically have a craft...arsenal. I'm just now starting mine so stick with me will I learn things and stock up on supplies, and hopefully you won't be disappointed.

xox Laura

The Dark Side of Giveaways

2012-08-19T04:24:00.002-07:00

Giveaways. They are awesome ways of giving away cool stuff or getting the word out about your store or blog. But they can also go very very wrong and give your store or blog a pretty bad reputation.

I semi-recently won some adorable vintage drinking glasses over at one of my favorite blogs. The owner of the blog contacted me right away and told me that the store owner would be contacting me in one or two days to get my mailing address. After about 4-5 days I asked if I should have heard from the store owner by now or was I just too excited to get my glasses? She seemed a bit shocked and finally got the store owner to email me. We had a light and friendly conversation in 1 or 2 emails all while I sent her my address and she said she would send me a tracking number as soon as they were picked up and on their way. Well that was on June 27th.

Now I am not one to trust email fully. I always have a fear that something didn't send or I did something dumb like saved it in drafts instead of sending. So I sent a follow up email, probably a week later, asking if I had missed her email including the tracking number. We had been having internet issues all week, so I figured I just didn't receive it and I need to be looking out for it (since it's being mailed to a different address than my home- history of stolen packages there. Whole different story)

no response.

Well now it's August 19th and I still haven't heard back from the store owner and I've seen her host a lot of giveaways and she has a well established store. So it's not like sending things out is new to them. I didn't pay for anything so if I don't receive them it's not the end of the world but it's just the principle of the matter.

I am not one to bother people. My thought process has been "I'm sure she is busy with actual customers", "maybe she has been on vacation" etc but I mean, too busy for an update? Just a quick email? Should I be more persistent since it's been 2 months? Anyone else had this problem or have any advice?

A Poppin' Saturday night

2012-07-22T03:47:00.000-07:00

We recently acquired a Poppin' Pete from Cason's parents. It was originally in the "sell this in your store" pile but VERY quickly turned into a "we are never getting rid of this" pile...(which I've found is probably the biggest problem in having a vintage store, wanting to keep everything you find). Well anyway, we documented my first non-microwave popcorn experience and I must say it was delicious!

ignore the orange tint to the pictures. It was night time and our kitchen light makes EVERYTHING look orange. We are never getting rid of this Poppin' Pete!

Cars and bars

2012-07-20T15:58:00.000-07:00

There was a car show downtown near our house we decided to check out. I loved seeing all of the old cars fixed and shined up looking straight outta the 50's. Then we spent our night with friends at our favorite local bar listening to local music. It's the little things. Enjoy your Friday! xo

Perfect moments

2012-07-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love these perfect moments?

Possibly heading to the lake this weekend, working out the details as we speak. If it all works out, I'll share some of the lake atmosphere with you when I return.

Enjoy your Thursday and go see The Dark Knight Rises! xo

Don't get your hopes up!

2012-07-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

Well I had this delicious post for you all today. I have been craving some of those no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies for the longest time. You know what I'm talking about. So I gather up all the ingredients and my trusty cookbook from my mom. Now this cookbook has been around...for a while. I'm not sure if they have them everywhere but this one is just a bunch of recipes from people all over Alabama. It probably has any recipe you could ever need...if it's unhealthy of course! These are your grandma's recipes. These are your chicken and dumplings, bourbon balls, buttermilk pie and fried green tomatoes recipes. We obviously used it a lot, because it is currently being held together by duct tape (my dad taped it years ago and made a little pocket out of duct tape on the front and back cover for recipe cards. How sweet!)

Anyway, so I've made this recipe a million times and I was mixing and boiling and doing my thing. Well we didn't have oats so I opted to use some extra shredded coconut that we had. Sounds good, right? Well I'm not sure if it was the best idea, perhaps I should have added more coconut than it called for oats? Well, you don't get a yummy recipe post for a reason...

So there's that. Enjoy that chocolate soup mess on my counter. I'm letting them set hoping that maybe it will turn out edible, but don't get your hopes up!

As you might can tell...

2012-07-14T17:57:00.004-07:00

I'm in the middle of revamping my blog. She might look a bit off at times, so bear with me!! (Oh who am I kidding, I'm ALWAYS revamping my blog)

I would start making blogs for people that needed help or just didn't have time to make one themselvess, but I'm not sure how to put them all together for someone else. I just make mine as I go along and still use the widgets. I need to get better at coding it all together before I can help other people. <-- you didn't really need to know all of this but there it is.

xo

Summer lovin'

2012-07-11T00:40:00.000-07:00

It is just so hot...everywhere! So all that has been on my mind is fresh fruit, sun dresses, refreshing cocktails and snow cones!!

I truly love this dress AND it's called the Strawberry Cobbler dress. How fitting!

Stay cool and enjoy the rest of your week!! xoxo

A hiatus of sorts?

2012-07-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

Hello! I probably won't be posting as regularly for a while. I don't currently have money to buy craft supplies that I want, I have not gotten the domain name or server for my website, so I can't sell vintage yet and I don't have a camera usb cord for my rebel, so I can't take nice photos of the food that I make. Until I have time and money to get these things, I feel like I'm just "trying to take up space" on my blog.

So do forgive me for not posting as much, but I will be back! With a brand new blog design, web site, vintage store, recipe section and craft section! I'll continue to comment on all of your lovely blogs during this time, so don't worry all 23 of my followers...I'm not leaving completely! Just busy busy busy and getting ready to have a lovely blog that not only you will love, but more importantly that I will love.

You can always keep in touch via facebook, twitter, instagram or pinterest!
(<-- links are over there!)

xo Laura

Our July 4th in instagrams

2012-07-05T20:08:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely and yummy day! I did not taste the deep fried snickers, that was just a bit much for me. And, of course, to "celebrate America", I had Japanese food. yum!
I hope your July 4th was full of fun and yumminess. Have a lovely Thursday! xo

Wishlist Wednesday - July 4th edition!

2012-07-04T03:19:00.000-07:00

I figured that everyone will be pretty busy today, including me (boyfriend took the day off and there are ribs in the fridge!), but I still wanted to take an opportunity to do a special edition of my wishlist wednesday!

Now, I already love red, white and blue so it was hard to pick just a few things but all of these things would be absolutely perfect for today.

Trollied Dolly Nautical Prom Dress, I'm not sure about "prom dress" but this dress sure is adorable paired with a simple red bow.
I'll definitely need these Dior Retro Sunglasses today, or any day for that matter.
Ruche doesn't even have these adorable shoes anymore, but I still want them!
But I'll definitely be okay with these Smoothie-Heart Accent Flats instead.
I'm going to need to make these Red, White and Blueberry Pops ASAP. yumm

I hope everyone has a safe and lovely July 4th, whether you are celebrating or not! xoxo

Life is a Cabaret!

2012-07-02T17:30:00.001-07:00

Today I am cleaning out our disaster of a closet (the shelf collapsed a week after I moved in and we haven't had time to fix it yet). While cleaning, I'm watching my all time favorite movie: Cabaret.

I would definitely recommend the movie before the stage play because, well, the stage play is MUCH MORE risque! Not for anyone under the age of 18, I'd say. She is so beautiful and unique and this movie is perfect for her. I guess this is just a Cabaret appreciation post. It's all about music, nazis, love, sex, alcohol and, of course, life in the cabaret.

Hoopfest...Oh Hoopfest.

2012-07-01T17:04:00.002-07:00

So here in Spokane, there is this little thing called Hoopfest. It happens every year and it's the largest 3 on 3 street basketball tournament in the world. With 458 courts, it covers 42 blocks of downtown. FOURTY TWO. Yeah, it's pretty big. It's great for basketball lovers and for downtown's economy but it brings out some of the most colorful characters (to put it nicely). I'm talking Jersey Shore length dresses, more boobs than I care to see, the constant sound of dribbling basketballs...basically it's a time of hibernation for people who actually live in Spokane. All of the out of towners think they are in Vegas and go crazy, starting fights, throwing up EVERYWHERE(I saw this), peeing wherever they like(I saw this too) and just trashing the city. It's insane.

Today they begin tearing down all of the hoops and all of the crazy people go back to where they came from and all will be right with the world again. I'm currently thinking about what to cook for dinner, cooling down from the gym and getting ready to get back to creating my new website!

Have a lovely Sunday and try to stay cool, wherever you are!

Exciting News!!

2012-06-29T13:18:00.001-07:00

So I've been talking about working on my Etsy store and all that good stuff for a while now. Well as we were sorting through all of the vintage goodies, figuring out what to sell (and, of course, what to keep!), my boyfriend informs me that he is going to pay to get me my own domain name and webspace.

That means full freedom on HTML and no limit on items and having my blog, store and everything else in ONE place! I'm so beyond excited! There is still a lot I have to figure out (like making sure I still have an easy way for you guys to follow on my site, and ways I can follow you guys- isn't that what blog lovin' is for!?) but I'll be keeping you all updated on my website + webstore owning adventures!!

xoxo Laura

Etsy teaser...

2012-06-28T00:18:00.000-07:00

A little peak into just a few of the things for my Etsy store, I cannot wait to share it with you. I'm so excited!

Wishlist Wednesday

2012-06-27T17:58:00.000-07:00

Today, I made my wishlist with a perfect combination of mint and coral with a hint of gold which is perfect for summer!

Love these adorable mint sunnies. Perfect for summer!
Must have organic stackable rings.
Perfect pastel Italian leather wrap journals. I couldn't pick just one.
Summery Miso striped dress (and it's on sale!)
Candie's Gold drop earrings. Love the faint leopard print, gives it some attitude.
I love these Carrie mint suedette platform heels. Would be adorable with ruffle socks!

One last thing. I know you all love button swaps so...

I'm currently doing buttons swaps! If you have a button that you'd like me to put on my sidebar...grab one of my buttons here comment on this post or on my button page and let me know!

Sass, Class and Badass: an e-book by Kate Henley

2012-06-27T03:06:00.001-07:00

Everyone needs to download Kate's brand spankin' new e-book: Sass, Class and Badass. It's so adorable and helpful for those days that we feel, well, not so sassy.

"My first and entirely free e-book, Sass, Class and Badass is for women who are just those three charming characteristics...or those who strive to be so. This short e-book is free for you to download, written purely to encourage the sass that we should all be carrying around with us daily. It is filled with fun and feisty tips to apply to even the most mundane of days in order to keep you sassy, classy and a tiny little bit badass-y."

It's wonderful. It's free. What more could you ask for?! I downloaded it and read it already so I can definitely recommend it. It's fun, quirky and helpful for all of you ladies. Now get on over to her blog, download it for yourself and get your sass on!

Have a lovely Wednesday! xo

Music Monday: June

2012-06-25T15:13:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start making a playlist of my favorite songs of the month on the last monday of every month. Did you get all that? I was just going to do a music monday but usually my music tastes change by month rather than by week, so I didn't want to be forced to find a song to share just because it's monday. Ya get my drift? This seemed much more fitting and something to look forward to rather than something I'm forced to do. Okay enough talking, It's almost gym time...

So, here is my lovely and summery playlist for June!

June by Laura Wilson on Grooveshark

Versatile Blogger

2012-06-22T15:25:00.002-07:00

The lovely Melissa over at Eleven Sixty nominated me for the Versatilie Blogger award! I love her blog and she is such a sweet girl, you should definitely check out her blog!

(I had to steal a picture of her because she's just so darn cute! Don't you agree?!)

and now it's my turn to nominate 15 of you (this is going to be a tough one...)

The Versatile Blogger Rules:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.

2. Include a link to their site.

3. Include the award image in your post.

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself.

5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award.

6. When nominating, include a link to their site.

7. Let other bloggers know they have been nominated.

I really hate scary movies. The ones that "mess with your head" don't bother me, it's the jump out, scare you, loud noise movies that I hate.
I really love the color yellow. Any shade on any thing. It's just so happy!
I still have my The Little Mermaid pillowcase from when I was little. It's actually on my pillow right now.
I'm allergic to just about everything. Not foods, medicines or animals, actually, but everything else. Grass, pollen, hay, flowers, etc. So the outdoors are pretty much a sick day waiting to happen.
I love banana flavored popsicles and banana pudding but I HIGHLY dislike bananas. Go figure.
I used to sing and dance competitively, now I just sing and dance around my house.
I'll be starting an online shop soon (probably Etsy) selling vintage clothing and (once I get a sewing machine) I'll be selling some handmade items as well!

Now I have to nominate 15 lovely ladies...hm

I really hate doing these because I follow a lot of people who have a lot of followers and usually don't care or don't have time for this stuff but this is just a list of blogs that I read regularly and ladies who seem like lovely people and you should check them out if you get a chance.

well in no particular order, here they are:

Michelle at On The Adventure
Wendy at Salt and Wine
Krista at Krista LaRee Lovely
Tiffany at The Coffeehouse
Kelly at Messy Dirty Hair
Natalie at A Turtles Life For Me
Autimn at "Mrs" in the Making
Neely at A Complete Waste of Makeup
Kylee at Kylee Noelle
Stephanie at Qualls' Quirks
Kate at Scathingly Brilliant
Kelsea at Pink Wonderland
Jenny at Chandelier Jenny
Melissa at My Soul Is The Sky
Kristen at Confessions of a Graphic Design Student

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

2012-06-22T02:35:00.000-07:00

So I'm not sure why I expected society to be any less rude tonight but when these two teenage girls were still talking continuously more than half way through the movie, I was about to lose it. Right over my left shoulder, the WHOLE time. I'm usually very patient with people like this thinking, "maybe they are discussing the movie" or "I'm sure they'll stop talking in just a minute..." yeah, no. They didn't stop talking and I don't think the phrase "and I couldn't believe him and then she said..." would come in anywhere while commenting on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

And on top of that, movie tickets are 10-13 dollars now so WHY IN THE WORLD would you pay 10 dollars to sit in a dark theatre and talk to your friend? You can do that for free, outside. If you found out that you weren't interested part way into the movie, no one will judge you if you leave. So finally my boyfriend stepped in and did what I was wanting to do and told them to shut up...and they did!

The movie was actually really good. I enjoyed it, besides the fact that I do NOT like scary movies. Things that jump out and scare me are a no go but once I got past a few of those moments I could actually pay attention to the story and enjoyed the rest of the movie. It's ridiculous.

So I guess the moral of the story is, don't pay 10 dollars to talk to your friends. Actually, the moral of the story is don't be a douche bag.

Wishlist Wednesday

2012-06-20T18:05:00.002-07:00

Saddest of days, Keurig doesn't carry this Mini Plus Brewing System in yellow anymore.
Set of four hand drawn adorable bird mugs from the journal of Edwyn Collins
Absolutely perfect Mini sewing Machine from John Lewis
Dress from TopShop (out of stock) | Tights from ModCloth | Shoes from Steve Madden
Fuji Instax Wide Instant Camera and the Instax 7s or Mini 25

and that concludes Wishlist Wednesday! I'll be doing these every Wednesday so I can share things I've found that I'm dying to get my hands on. What would be on your wishlist?

The boyfriend's weekend starts tomorrow so hopefully I'll have some lovely weekend updates for you soon! I may be finally meeting 2 of the lovliest girls from Seattle this weekend. They are taking an anniversary trip to Spokane because it isn't as rainy. Go do something creative today and have a wonderful Wednesday xo

Peanut Butter & Honey Oatmeal + a weekend wrap up

2012-06-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

I love oatmeal a whole lot but I can never find a really good combination that I like. It's either not sweet enough or too watery, etc. This morning, however, I stumbled across a peanut butter & honey oatmeal that sounded REALLY easy and tasty. Oh it was both. It takes about 1 minute to put everything together and 1 minute in the microwave and you're done. So, of course, I had to share! (I didn't take pictures because as we all know, oatmeal is not a very delicious LOOKING food...but I promise it tastes delicious)

Peanut Butter & Honey Oatmeal

from One Lovely Life

Ingredients

1/4c old-fashioned rolled oats
1 Tbsp peanut butter (I prefer crunchy)
1-2tsp honey
1/2c water

Instructions

Put all ingredients in a cereal bowl and microwave 1 minute. Stir to combine. Drizzle with additional honey if desired.
Makes 1 serving

In other news, the boyfriend and I took a trip to see his parents this weekend for father's day. We had a lot of good food, a lot of good drinks and a lot of good fun (as we always do). So this is a bit of a weekend wrap up in pictures.

I just love colorful fruits & veggies and can't help but photographing them.

1. The boyfriend and I on the 1 hour drive to his parents house.

2. Made a stop at the Post Street Ale House

3. Tried one of these Lime-a-rita's. YUM!

4. Cason's mom has 2 chickens and she gave us some tiny eggs from them as well!

I hope you enjoy this yummy oatmeal as much as I did! Have a lovely Monday xo

Today was rainy...

2012-06-13T17:06:00.001-07:00

rainy, rainy, rainy.

(congrats to my iPhone for taking a pretty detailed photo of the rain!)

but now it's sunny. I love sunny days, they make me happy! Since I'm so pale, usually sunny days are wisely spent in the shade but I love how bright it makes me apartment! So lovely.

I figured I'd show you my past few weeks via instagram since I have yet to find my canon cable (also why I have very few posts on here)

Me and the boyfriend took a walk out to the public market, which is amazing. We stopped for some food at Dick's. It's this old walk up hamburger stand, only takes cash and it's absolutely adorable. Walked down to Riverfront Park underneath the world's fair pavillion. And in hopes to speed up summer, I've been indulging in some of my favorite fruits. Yum!

Well I hope you enjoyed my instagram tour of my week. It's wednesday and that means boyfriends weekend starts tomorrow! I hope you have a lovely Wednesday xo

Happy and Clean Tuesday!

2012-06-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

Currently I'm deep cleaning my house. Usually that would not make me very happy but having this house clean and it being so bright in here makes me oh so happy! Vacuuming from floor to ceiling and dusting everything in between. Windows open, cats going crazy...just another day in the life.

I've been absolutely in love with this terrific song lately and I thought I'd share it with you guys. Hope you all have a lovely Tuesday!

My Boy Builds Coffins by Florence and The Machine on Grooveshark