Friendship Bracelet Swap Pt 2

Remember when I was going to participate in the Friendship Bracelet Swap held by Amanda and Jenn? Well it turned out fabulously and I thought it was appropriate for me to share with you both the bracelets I made as well as the ones I received.

Here are the ones I made to send to my new friends. I chose to do the classic chevron pattern with a twist and each bracelet had a total of 6 different colors.

Even though we shared our wrist sizes I wanted mine to be adjustable so I finished the bracelets off with braided tails for tying.

I've never done a non-symmetric chevron bracelet before and after doing these I have to say that it is my favorite now. I love how they turned out that I know I will be making some more like these in the future. The blue bracelet went to Kylie because she likes blues and purples, the pink to Barbara because her favorite color is pink, and the multi-color to Cidney because she likes brights.

I printed color coordinated headers for little notes I sent along with the bracelets and wrote a little something to each girl before sending off their packages. I really hope that they all liked their bracelets as much as I did making them.

Now onto the bracelets that I received. I cannot express how much I love all three of these bracelets. They are all so different from each other and totally suit my style in their own ways.

The wide, bright chevron was from Kylie and the colors in it are fabulous. I also love how wide it is because it's definitely a statement piece. She was kind enough to also send a smaller, solid yellow bracelet along with this one (because yellows my fave color) that pairs perfectly with it. The middle, unique patter bracelet was from Barbara. As soon as I opened the envelop I thought this was one of the coolest bracelets I'd ever seen. I am still fascinated about how to make one like this and I love that she incorporated my favorite color and some neutrals. The neutral, classic chevron was from Cidney and I love it's simplicity. I told the girls that I was typically into more neutral colors and she knocked it out of the park with this gray scale bracelet.

It was very interesting to see each of the ladies individuality come out in the bracelets overall. Like how different all three were finished. One just has loose string ends, one has an actual bracelet clasp and one has braided ties.

I have been wearing all of my bracelets ever since I got them. I wear all of them at once with some of my own creations to make a statement. I wear one individually for a simple, coordinated look on a specific outfit. And I have gotten many, many compliments and questions about them every time.

I love having these bracelets literally from all around the world and I am so glad I decided to participate in this swap.

Grown Up Decisions

If you've read my blog for very long I can bet that you know I recently graduated and had planned on going to medical school this fall. Well, without going into details and having a mini panic-attack this part of my future plans is on hold for a little while.

But the optimist in me knows that things will always work out the way they're supposed to and along the way there are plenty of things to celebrate. One of those celebration moments happened when J and I discussed the next few years of our life, specifically where we live. We are going to be in San Diego for at least another two years regardless of future schooling and seriously started talking about switching from renting to owning.

So we began the search.

We spent a few crammed weeks seeing about 35+ houses. We made lots of decisions and crunched a lot of numbers. We had many conversations about being able to afford it. About what we each look for in a house. About condo vs. single-family. And finally....

We put an offer on a house! A real, grown-up, spacious (for San Diego and compared to a 1 bedroom apartment) home that we could really see ourselves living in. There have been bumps along the way like cracks in the floor, leaking pipes, dealing with foreclosures and banks on the other side of the country and we are by no means in the clear at this point with the whole process. But, and this is a big but, we are so very excited about this house and being homeowners and starting this new chapter of our lives together.

I hope that within the next month...

This is what I will see when I drive up the street to our house.

Our dining room will host Thanksgiving and welcome our friends.

This will be our master bedroom.

This room (and the other bright blue room) will be painted! But more importantly turned into a guest bedroom for family & friends and an office/craft room.

The weeds can be tamed, grass can be grown and evening drinks can be had in the backyard.

Ollie will learn to go up stairs that are hardwood without falling

And ultimately, we will be moved into a place we can call our home.

Checking In with Sneak Peaks

It has been two whole weeks since I've blogged.

And there are a few specific things to blame

I promise to be back to more of a normal schedule soon and go into detail about all that I've been up to lately...

because it's a lot

But for now, here's a sneak peak at the most prominent reasons I've been MIA

______________________________________

Picture this....

just outside the frame of this photo there is a "For Sale" sign in the lawn.

______________________________________

J, O-dog and I just go back from a 10 day vacation that involved views like this.

Check back for lots of updates, exciting news, disappointing news, blogger swaps, and much much more coming soon.

Turn Pictures Into Animation

I found this web site.

It's called Gif Ninja,

And it's awesome.

It turns your pictures into an unique animation

And of course I had to try it out

with some shots I took of O-dog running on the beach.

Now go check it out for yourself!

Ollie is Vegetarian

We have been extremely busy lately trying to make a huge life decision (both exciting and nerve-racking but more to come on that on a later date) while also working, getting day-to-day stuff taken care of and trying to find some spare moments to spend quality time together. Needless to say blogging has fallen to the wayside because of it. I haven't had the time lately to craft or cook new recipes or participate in other bloggers events etc etc. Not that I feel guilty about it though.... I guess I'm just the type of person who needs to explain myself.

But now I'm rambling.

And still have a big to-do list for the day.

And I will leave you with a video.

A video of our pup eating veggies. Most people I've talked to find it strange that he loves fruits and vegetables so much. I mean honestly people, he drools uncontrollably if he hears the sound of a knife on the cutting board. Because that obviously means I'm cutting up green peppers or tomatoes or something he thinks is for him. The vet told us that it was all good for him (minus grapes, onions & garlic) so we indulge him.

Ollie the Veggie Monster from Simple Sweet Life on Vimeo.

So tell me, would your dog even entertain the idea of eating a vegetable or would they scarf them down like Ollie?

Friendship Bracelet Swap

I am so excited about this swap that I wanted to share it with you all. Jenn @ Ruffled Sunshine and Amanda @ The Modern Marigold are hosting this Friendship Bracelet Swap. You know, the bracelets made of embroidery floss that we all learned how to make at summer camp or on the swing set and are fabulous?

Well we all set in our entries and got paired up with three different ladies. There were over 100 people that wanted to join, I can't wait to see everyone's creations. I got paired with...

Barbara @ The Origin of Wonder

Kylie @ My Addiction to Quilting

and the sweet 13 year old Cidney

Part of why I'm so excited about this swap is the awesome-ness that are my swap partners. Barbara is an amazing quilter, crafter, thrifter and I could definitely get some inspiration from her I'm sure. Kylie lives in Australia, the land down under. How cool is it that I'll be getting a friendship bracelet from the other side of the world? And then there's Cidney who found the swap through her mom and I can't wait to see what someone younger creates for us.

I put together the color combinations that I thought would be best for all three ladies and here's what I've come up with. I'm not going to go into detail about how I'm making their bracelets but I'll definitely share them once the swap is done and I have mine to share as well.

Now I'm going to get back to watching trashy TV and working on the bracelets.