Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Things have been changing lately


In a month from now....

+ I hope I have a job
+ We will know where we'll be living for the next year
+ Fall will be in full swing
+ It will almost be Halloween!
+ Everything will be a little different

I hung out with Deb and Rachel tonight at Panera. Rachel brought her adorable nephew. I'll going to miss my friends so much. I know things have to change but I've made so many wonderful friends in the last two years. I would have never made it through graduate school without them.

+ homemade bread
+ scrabble
+ beautiful sunset

Saturday, September 21, 2013

I love the weekend


I love this print from ReStyle on Etsy. That color combination just makes me happy. If we weren't thinking of moving so soon....


        ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This weekend has been so relaxing so far. We stayed home and watched a funny movie last night with a few glasses of wine. I woke up this morning with coffee, french toast and Project Runway with Philip. Then spent the day sewing and working on projects. It has been raining all day here. I love fall weather so much.

Things I have been obsessing over lately:

+ indoor hammocks. Just look at how comfortable this one looks for reading and relaxing.

+ coffee ice cream. I used to love Molly Moon's Stumptown coffee ice cream but I'm not in Seattle, so I can't go get it. What is a good store brand? I have no idea

+ lemon juice and bourbon. I'm thinking tonight I may need to get spicy ginger ale and a few lemons.

+ fall leaf garlands. I really want to make one for our living room. Maybe something like this one?





Thursday, September 19, 2013

My first quilt





I finished my first quilt a few weeks ago and I absolutely love how it turned out. I thought it would be best to start out simple so I used this tutorial.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Project Life Week 35





Week 35: September 2-8, 2013

This week: I found out that I passed the NBCOT exam! Philip bought us champagne to celebrate and later that night we went to Olivia's goodbye party. On Friday, we had our last picnic in Mellon park and walked around the art's festival there. On Saturday Bethany and I went on a car parts adventure and stopped by the fabric store. Philip and I went out for brunch at Paris 66, on the way home, walked around a park that overlooked Pittsburgh. Sunday afternoon, Rachel and I gave her pup Vito, a doggy makeover. Overall it was a fun week to start off September.

Supplies and tools: Fiskars circle punch, Fiskars corner punch, Smash date stamp, We R Memory Keepers journal cards, Just Izzy Design journal cards, Target washi tape, smashbook papers, Calendar card.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Pizza Pizza Pizza

Pizza is a usually a weekend tradition for us. I have to say that Pittsburgh has the BEST pizza. We found a place when we moved into our current neighborhood and it is amazing. We never seem to get sick of their pizza and I am going to miss it like crazy when we do move away from here.

This weekend's plans include driving home to my parent's house and on Saturday morning we'll be spending some time outside at our cabin. I honestly can't wait!

Have a great weekend!!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

want. read. wear. need







Read: Where'd you go, Bernadette
Want: Anthropologie arrow necklace
Need: J.Crew Goodwinn hobo bag
Wear: ModCloth Cloud Cover Top



Things have been busy around here. I spend half of the day applying to jobs. Philip and I are leaving tomorrow to visit my parents and spend some time at their cabin. I'm excited to get away for a few days and not be attached to my computer for 7 hours a day.

+ lemons
+ sharpie markers
+ new ideas

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Monday, September 9, 2013

September Goals



Well I guess I'm a little behind since today is already September 9th. opps. September is one of those months that you get to start fresh. I don't want the wonderful, warm, and oh so delightful weather to ever end but I do kind of crave putting on a cardigan and jeans without being covered in a layer of sweat within seconds.

I have so much to accomplish in the next few weeks. I cannot wait until things settle down so that I can get back to a boring and routine life. This month I need to find a job and start planning our move to Austin. It seems so easy when I write it but I know there will be a lot of steps involved to meet those two goals. I'm a pretty good planner but it still feels a bit overwhelming. In addition to those two major goals I want to make some fun goals to keep me from going a little crazy.

1. Go for a hike
2. Make the new couch pillow covers
3. Lots of yoga
4. Make homemade poptarts
5. Make peach mini pies



It's going to be a busy month.

Friday, September 6, 2013

This week so far


This is the lunch I've been eating pretty much every day this week. It is pretty simple but amazing at the same time. Isn't that the way it goes that the simplest meals are usually the best.

Garlic Spinach Cous Cous Salad:
  • 1 cup roasted garlic cous cous 
  • 2 cups chopped spinach
  • a sprinkle of goat cheese
  • 1 cup chopped tomatoes
  • a half a chopped cucumber






This has been such a fun week so far. I found out that I passed my test! I got to celebrate with champagne with Philip. We went to a farewell party last night for Olivia. It was fun to get together with my friends that really understand what I went through studying for that test. I feel so relieved that it is over and I can move on to other things.

Today we all met up at Mellon Park to have a picnic and explore the art festival there. I wish I could take all of my friends and family with me wherever I end up.

+ basil
+ lemon juice
+ bourbon

Thursday, September 5, 2013

DIY Jar Crafts





I made this memory jar at the beginning of the year as a way to keep track of our 2013 memories. When New Year's Eve rolls around, I'm always trying to remember the year that has passed and coming up blank. I made these before I started my Project Life album so I thought it would be a simple way to keep track of the year without having to keep an elaborate journal or a scrapbook. Even now that I started Project Life, I still love the idea of writing down simple everyday memories for this jar. At the end of the year, we plan to read through our jar of memories together and remember all that has happened in 2013. I usually just write down the date and the what happened that I want to remember. I think writing down the simplest memories is great because that is the stuff you tend to forget.
 










  I keep some paper in the jar so I can easily grab it and add some memories to the jar whenever. 





Another idea is to make a Fun Stuff jar. Philip and I spend way too many nights doing the same thing over and over and over again. I thought it would be interesting to make a jar full of new ideas of things to do. Normally our conversations go like this:

Me: We should do something fun tonight
Philip: Like what?
Me: I don't know....something
Philip: hmmmm watch TV?
Me: Ok.......



For the Fun Stuff jar I used two different papers, the green dot paper is fun stuff that requires leaving the house such as going to a museum together. The colorful paper is fun stuff we can do at home like ordering take out or playing a game. We sure know how to get crazy around here. :)

Fun Stuff Jar Ideas:
  • Listen to your favorite songs in 7th grade, 11th grade and sophomore year of college. 
  • Take a family photo (ours is always with our pets)
  • Go shopping together and buy each other $5 limit gifts
  • Plan a secret day trip (take turns)
  • Draw a picture of each other

I've really liked using both so far this year. The fun stuff jar has definitely come in handy to motivate us to be more adventurous.
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Ps. I passed my NBCOT exam. I got the results this afternoon. I had been waiting for 2 weeks but I have to say getting through this morning was the hardest! I must have checked to see if the results were online a thousand times! Finally I decided to go run some errands and get out of the house. I was on my way to get gas when Rachel texted me that the results were up! I had the shakiest hands trying to type in my password on the tiny phone screen. I have never been so relieved to be done with a test! That is definitely going in the memory jar.

+ party tonight
+ iced coffee in the afternoon
+ library books

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Clean Desk


I cleaned off my sewing desk today.  I have a ton of projects lined up that I want to start this week and especially now that everything is put away and organized. I have a HUGE bin of scrap fabric so I've been researching projects to do with just a few yards. I need to clean out my supply before we move.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Things I want to make


 This beautiful triangle quilt! I love everything about it. This is definitely my next quilting project.