Currently [v4]

>>> Loving Starbucks dates with my husband and sweet pup. We live awesomely dangerously close to one that we've been talking the O-dog on walks there on the weekends as a great way to get out of the house.

 >>> Counting down the hypothetical days I have left at work before moving home. There's a lot still up in the air as to exactly when the move will be but I'm so, so excited.

>>> Scratched, bruised and incredibly sore from our trench digging adventure nightmare from the past few days. Sometimes being able to save a bit of money requires lots of hard work. Let's just say, I'm not cut out for manual labor but am very impressed with the work we were able to do ourselves.

>>> Looking forward to a weekend filled with visiting friends, a bit of relaxing, a few adult beverages and some more progress on the house selling front. We've been so wrapped up with inspections/home repairs lately that it'll be a perfect break despite how great it feels to cross something off our endless to-do list.

>>> Seriously day-dreaming about this gorgeous, enormous, to-die-for house. It happens to be in the area we're looking in for our new home but unfortunately happens to be $2.5M! Anyone wanna invest in a house for us? But on a more serious note, I'm getting really excited for our rapid-fire house-hunting weekend in a few weeks. I can't wait to make things seem more real and start envisioning our new home.

DIY Camera Strap Tutorial

[What You'll Need] 

-- Fabric pieces cut to 24" x 5.5"

one solid for inside, one pattern for outside

-- Coordinating thread

-- Sewing machine and supplies

scissors, pins, tape measure, iron, etc

-- Fusible fleece, felt pieces, extra fabric

optional

1. Cut and iron fabric pieces.
2. Place right sides together, pin and sew along 24" edge leaving the short end open.
3. Turn fabric tube so right sides are now facing out.
4. Iron both side seams.
5. Turn raw edges in on short ends (approximately 0.25") pin and sew. Repeat for both ends. Iron.
6. Fold entire strap in half long ways, pin and sew along one 24" side.

Optional: I mentioned above that you can add felt/fusible fleece into your strap if you should desire a little padding. Option #1: sew a piece of felt (cut to 23" x 2") onto one half of the solid piece of fabric. This would be done after step 1. Proceed with the rest of the steps as usual. Option #2: complete step 2 then iron on fusible fleece (cut to 23" x 5") onto the solid piece before moving on to step 3.

Slide your new strap onto your camera's existing standard strap and ta-da! This project was so easy that I ended up making 2 of them for myself in a matter of a few days. Now I have options! My navy polka-dot strap has no padding since I don't really wear my camera for extended periods of time and just wanted something pretty. I added some felt Option #1 from above to the green floral strap to add a little comfort for longer wear should I need it.

Happy Friday all and happy crafting over the weekend!

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My Creations- Picking It Up Again

It's been quite a while since I pulled out my sketchbook and had some creative time with it. Well a few weeks ago when I was home sick, I figured it was the best thing to do. So while watching many episodes of many different shows while laying on the couch drinking tea, I filled up some pages.

Picking it up again really felt great. There's something very soothing about creating something from a blank sheet of paper. 

This Weekend I

This weekend I...

+ Painted my nails with Red Lights Ahead...Where? from the OPI Holland Collection

+ Made another camera strap cover for my D5100 (tutorial coming soon)

+ Played many games of cribbage with my handsome husband over glasses of sparkling wine

+ Went on a journey through Costco on a Saturday which is always an adventure

+ Dined at The Habit and went on a Starbucks run

+ Snuggled with my pup and gave him some much needed attention

+ Made a new fob for my keys since the latest one was getting pretty worn

+ Did some gardening in hopes that our sad dirt will soon have lots of growth

+ Made homemade pizza for dinner

+ Finished reading Cinder and started on The Sun Also Rises

Linking up with Syndal and Sar

Hollandmoon: Our Upcoming Honeymoon

In a little under 2 months, J and I will be headed on our Honeymoon, or as I like to call it, our Hollandmoon.

We will be spending 10 days in the Emerald Isle aka Ireland. Touring castles, going for strolls in the country, staying in Bed & Breakfasts, and drinking plenty of Guinsess & whiskey. ;-) We fly into Dublin and plan to stay there as well as somewhere in Cork County. It's been a dream of mine to visit the land of the Irish and kiss the Blarney stone and I can't wait to enjoy it all with my husband by my side.

So tell me, have you ever been to Ireland?
Do you have any advice for us for what to do/where to stay?
All images from here

Tying the Knot: Post-Wedding Bouquet

I absolutely loved my bouquet for the wedding and knew I wanted to do something with it post-wedding instead of just tossing it in the trash. Especially since J and I decided not to use flowers in any of our wedding decor, the personal flowers we did get were that much more special. 

After the wedding was over my mom went to the venue the next day to pick up all our "stuff" and included in it was my bouquet that had kindly been placed in water overnight. For the rest of our stay at home it stayed in water in the fridge to keep it fresh. Once it made the trip back to San Diego I decided to hang it from fishing line in our coat closet to let it dry. It stayed in there quite a long time, mostly due to the fact that I forgot it was up there. Oops :-) 

Once it was completely dried I started on the project I was envisioning. I made a quick trip to Bed Bath & Beyond to get a pretty vase as well as some potpourri scents to mix in. I carefully untied the ribbon from around the stems and clipped both flowers and greens into a big bowl. I left some of the roses intact and separated others into individual petals. When I had enough to fill the vase I added about 20 drops of the lavender oil and gave it a quick, careful mix. 

I filled the vase, strategically placing certain items along the edges to be featured and then placed it on a shelf above our entertainment center along with our cake topper and lots of my favorite photos. The lavender oil makes it smell fabulous and now I have a memory from our wedding that I can see every day.

So tell me, what did you do with your bouquet after the wedding? Toss it? Save it? 

See Ya Later, San Diego II

San Diego had some amazing weather this past weekend so J and I made sure to take full advantage of it by spending the day on Coronado Island and crossing something off our See Ya Later, San Diego List.

It was the perfect day.

80 degree weather meant shorts and a tank for this lady and I soaked in the sun while holding my husbands hand for the whole afternoon. We walked past all the amazing restaurants and drooled at people's breakfast scrambles and plates of fresh fruit. I looked into shop windows at pretty dresses and ridiculous shoes. We wandered through Hotel Del and tried not too seem too much like tourists. 

We visited the bay side of the island for the first time and looked across the water to downtown San Diego and the sail boats floating in the breeze. J almost convinced us to splurge on some ridiculous peanut butter fudge and caramel apples but we dined at Nicky Rottens for lunch instead. We headed home with sore feet, tired legs, fully bellies and happy hearts.

I apologize for the picture quality. I didn't realize until we'd been walking around for a while that my DSLR camera battery was dead so I had to use my phone instead. That might be enough of an excuse for us to go back sometime soon.

To view the whole list and other adventures so far, click here!

Book of Lists: v4

March is here which means another edition of the Book of Lists.

This month's topic was "I'm good at"

I liked that this topic allowed me to look into myself and find positives instead of negatives. It's so easy to get trapped in the mindset of I'm not good enough for... I'm not skinny enough for... I'm too busy for... But this month I was able to list the things I personally think I'm good at, without influence from other people and the world around me. I took it both seriously and not so seriously and am actually really happy with my list.

To see past months' lists, go here.

To play along, visit Kathleen at Kapachino.

Next month's topic: Today I saw

Sausage Wonton Appetizer

These things are seriously delicious for your lunches all week a party! They take simple ingredients and are super easy to whip up. Plus, aren't the cute!?

My mom first made these while I was in high school and if there's ever an opportunity where she asks my opinion about what to make, these are always the first thing I suggest. We always have them on Christmas Eve, we've taken them to many friends' houses and she even made them for my Bridal Shower last summer.

Sausage Wonton Cups

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

3/4 lb Italian Sausage

1/2 c Salsa

1/2 c Monterey Jack Cheese

1 c Sharp Cheddar Cheese

2 oz Diced Green Chilies

24 Wonton Skins

Olive Oil

Garnish: sour cream & chopped green onions

[1] Brown sausage over medium-high heat until cooked. Remove from pan and place on bowl lined with paper towels to remove excess grease. 

[2] Return sausage to pan. Add salsa, cheese and chilies.

[3] Mix until cheese is all melted and mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cool slightly. 

[4] Heat oven to 350 degrees. Brush mini-muffin pan with oil. 

[5] Press one wonton wrapper into each cup and fill with 1 generous tablespoon of meat mixture.

[6] Bake until edges are browned. Approximately 10 minutes.

[7] Carefully transfer to baking sheet and bake until bottoms are crisp. Approximately 10 minutes. 

[8] Garnish with sour cream & onion if desired. Serve hot.

*Meat mixture can be prepared 4 hours in advance if kept covered and chilled*

Enjoy!