Me, myself, and I and everyone else inspiring Me

by Anita

Anita Silva - the Twine of the bunch

      It goes without saying that I am late for things and that's just me although, I try to make up for that with my super lengthy stories and cooking. So please excuse my tardiness. Since this is my first post I will make it short and sweet, like me. Just a little "how do ya do?" so we can break the ice and move on to the good and tasty stuff a.k.a. FOOD. With a cool iPad in tow I have found this new fondness for staying organized, connected, and in the know all within a little tablet. I also have yet another way to document the things that get me all sorts of excited...like food. :) Plus, now I can get in touch with you that much easier to make the inspirations more fluid.






So, first off, Hello there! I am looking forward to sharing random stories that may inspire you, recipes that have been boyfriend and roommate tested and approved, and some creative juices through this blog with my dear friends, Katie and Crystal.

Healthier option -- Mediterranean Barley Salad

Get your appetites ready for some unique and health conscious recipe items with a few guilty pleasures along the way.

Sweetier & guiltier option -- Strawberry cream cheese cinnamon french toast (heart shaped, of course)

And now to say 'tchau for now" with my introduction: I read the back of a Papyrus card with the description of the hummingbird which states:

"Legends say that hummingbirds float free of time, carrying our hopes for love, joy, and celebration. The hummingbird's delicate grace reminds us that life is rich, beauty is everywhere, every personal connection has meaning and that laughter is life's sweetest creation." 

Wedding planning trip

by Crystal

I'm getting married. In, like, 5 months or something.

This past week, my younger sister/Maid of Honor and I went down to Florida to do some wedding planning. It was right on the heels of my job ending, and my sister was on her Spring Break, so it seemed like the perfect time to getaway. We had two days of scheduled meetings, then two days of relaxation.

Let me share with you that I'm not the greatest planner. I like almost everything, so I have a hard time deciding on...anything. Lucky for me, I have an awesome fiance who suggested we hire a wedding planner to help with everything. Bingo!

The two days flew by in a stream of questions and making decisions. I will not bore everyone with the details, but just say that we talked a lot about food, flowers, fabrics, and photos.

After all the wedding planning, we were both ready for some quality beach time...and a cold, fruity beverage.

 I got this bathing suit at the GAP outlet. While I'm not normally a "ruffly" lady, I was in need of a strapless top to avoid tan lines in the wedding dress.

The beach time was definitely good for our souls. And we had our own personal chef for the week as well (aka my future mother-in-law, who's an amazing cook!), so we indulged.

I'm now officially devising plans for us to somehow end up in Destin, FL. I thought maybe if I just stayed, E would eventually have to come and get me, and then he would realize he wanted to stay too. Simple, right? Alas, I got on the plane back to VA like a good girl...

I finally got dressed.

by Crystal

Allow me to explain...

I have not been naked for the past few months, however, it is a very rare occasion when I've worn something worthy of seeing the light of day. Since I've moved, I've had the opportunity to work from home, so I may see the projects I've been working on to completion (now that those are finished, my last day is tomorrow, and then I'll really be unemployed - eek!!). Anyway, when I'm home all day, it can be difficult to find the motivation to put on actual clothes. So I've found myself staying in pajamas most of the day, changing into shorts and a t-shirt to go to the gym...but there haven't been very many instances where I'm looking through my closet to put an outfit together (which is actually something I love doing!).

Last night, E and I were invited to celebrate a friend's Birthday at a local Mexican restaurant. I immediately took this opportunity to wear something real!

Yep, I'm excited. Internet, meet one of my favorite dresses. I bought this dress at the Starfish Boutique in Venice, CA one of the first days I moved to California. We had a love affair that summer - I cheated on almost every other one of my dresses to wear this one. It saw me through some good and bad times. It's been there for me. Last night I wore it with a cardigan and scarf, since it's still March and all.

These boots, though, are pretty much on their last leg. These Steve Maddens have lasted three winters with me - more than any other boot I've owned. That probably speaks more poorly about the owner than the boots. But the treatment on these has worn off, and the redone heels are starting to wear down again. It's about time I say goodbye.

On a happier note - I'd like to tell you all about our first child! Her name is Canon Rebel EOS T3i. We played around with her while the sun was setting to practice snapping photos.

Just for kicks and giggles (is that the saying?), here's my favorite from the Birthday extravaganza. Yes friends, expect to see more of this guy. I can't help it - the camera loves him. It must be a daddy's girl.

Springtime Inspiration

by Katie

Last week was just...one of those weeks. We all have them. It was something like this:

Then an unwanted Midwestern March weekend of snow, snow, and more snow. The emotional dregs of the last part of winter ensued...mild depression, anxiety, all of that fun human crap that results from too little sunshine.

It all left me feeling very...ugh.

And then today happened.

It was like I was sitting in the stuffiest, smelliest, ugliest, darkest room you can imagine--and then someone opened a window. And the room was bathed in light. And I realized that there was all this cool stuff in the room that I missed before, because it was so dark and smelly and whatnot.

 
Today was absolutely, unseasonably beautiful. Full sun, all day, 60 degrees...my sleeves were rolled up, my car windows were rolled down, and I even went so far as to buy a milkshake. That's right. Premature summer craving, what up.

 

In the spirit of my newfound joy and inspiration, I thought I'd share some songs that popped up randomly today, on the radio and in conversation--some of my favorites. A sure sign from the universe that things are looking up, and spring is truly on its way.

First up, "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. This is a feel-good song if ever there was one.

Then, "I'd Run Away" by the Jayhawks. Not only do I love this song and adore this band, but this music video is so very, very summery that it made me feel doubly happy when I watched it. 

Next, the haunting and ethereal "Hide and Seek" by the oh-so-talented Imogen Heap.

And finally, "Sideways" by Citizen Cope. Crystal introduced me to this song years ago. Was so excited to hear these last two songs, back to back, on the local student radio station today. 

I'll leave by pointing you to a little gem of a video I found, featuring the crazy-infectious song by Florence and the Machine.

Happy, happy spring!

The second blogger arrives!

by Crystal

Hello everyone! My name is Crystal, and I'm going to apologize upfront that my first post on our newborn blog will not be as creative and imaginative as our friend Katie's have been so far. (Seriously, Katie - you're going to make us look bad if you keep up with this ridiculously awesome ideas!) Allow me to give you a glimpse of how my life has looked for the past two months...

...Crazy, right?! I can assure you I am not a homeless person, but I have been living out of boxes (which I would not recommend doing if you don't have to - a word to the wise). A few months ago, I packed up my life in LA and moved to a small town in Virginia. Why, you ask?

Meet the love of my life and husband-to-be, Eric. He moved last June for work, and I apparently can't live without this guy. Anyway, now that we've finally moved into our new and improved apartment, that means there will be plenty of opportunities for some projects! And I promise, I will share them with you all. 

I'm very excited to have a place to share with two of my favorite people (and hopefully other interested parties) where we can chronicle our lives and creations. Let the journey begin!!

Cold Saturday? Make Postcards!

by Katie

Cold Saturdays are a good time for drinking coffee, doing yoga, and making  postcards to send to your totally awesome entourage of friends and family.

This is a great upcyling project--you get to use the rando cardboard you have lying around your house (in the form of the almost-empty cracker/tampon/pepsi boxes I know you have) and the old magazines you've been hanging onto because you aren't done with them yet but won't ever actually read through again.

You can use: 

• Any kind of thin cardboard--I seriously raided my recycling bin and scavenged for almost-empty boxes around my house
• Any kind of paper or image--magazines, scrapbook paper, photographs, newspaper--whatever
• Double-sided tape (of course)
• Decorative tape/electrician's tape/duct tape/masking tap/scotch tape--this will cover the edges of your postcard, so choose according to your aesthetic
• Crayons/markers
• Plain paper or stationary to use for the writing side (especially if your cardboard doesn't have a plain side)

The good thing about postcards is that they can be pretty much any size (within reason). So cut up your cardboard into postcard-size rectangles.

Choose the images for your postcards. This is the fun part--you'll start seeing things in old magazines that jump out at you for different people. You can choose one large image per postcard or do some with a collage of smaller things. Alternatively, have some of your own photos printed and use those. They're your art!

Cover your postcards with the images/photos/paper you've chosen. This is why I love double-sided tape. I pretty much buy it in bulk these days. Make sure to cover the printed side of the cardboard, not the plain side. You'll use that for writing. You don't want to be writing on a glossy Nabisco box top.

Tape around the edges. You don't want two layers of paper, you want one cohesive postcard. Get creative with the taping. It can add to the look.

Then, your postcards are ready to be written on, adorned, and addressed! First things first: draw an address box in the bottom right corner, and draw yourself a little square for the stamp so you don't have to cover any of your writing with these necessities later.

Write message, fill in address, and then either go nuts with the crayons (or markers, or whatever floats your boat) or just leave it plain. If you're using crayons, write your note first or you'll be writing over wax. 

Some examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your friends will be thrilled to get their totally original, personalized, awesome postcard in the mail from you. People love getting good mail. And people love knowing that something was handmade, just for them. I know this for a fact. Go--embrace the art of snail mail!

Organize Your Undies!

 Hello, everyone. My name is Katie. 

You don't know me yet, but I'm about to show you my underwear.

I, like many of you, I'm guessing, have been living with a crazed, overspilling, and generally unfortunate underwear drawer for as long as I can remember. I don't even know half the stuff that's in there anymore. (Underwear drawers so easily exceed their purposed bounds, don't you think?) By the time I got around to addressing the issue, underwear itself was no longer the problem. The drawer had consumed both worn and unopened tights, sports bras, bathing suits, scarves, stray dress socks, concert tickets, old lipsticks...you name it, and I had shoved it in that drawer to deal with later.

Later has finally come.

The other day, putting away laundry, I found that I could no longer close said underwear drawer. And a small light flashed before my eyes, and I realized that I was disgusting. 

This was not okay.

So I decided to get my act together and make some sense of this drawer I go into day after day.

Here's what I was dealing with. Try not to judge.

Here's how I got my life (fine, just my underwear drawer) under control.

First, I found a box that fit in this drawer. I came upon a USPS mailing box in our basement that looked about right. If you do this, make SURE the box you're using fits in your drawer, IN YOUR DRESSER. It would have been so sad if I had made the box all pretty just to find that I had to keep my undies on the kitchen table. 

I cut the lid flaps off the box and kept them around (they wound up coming in handy later).

Then, I got some rando supplies together:

• A piece of fabric big enough to cover the inside of the box and then some
• Decorative paper 
• Decorative tapes
• Double-sided tape
• Scissors
• Stapler

And then I went to work. This project took NO skills (trust me; wasn't interested in devoting too much time to my underwear drawer.) Here are the steps to turning your undies nightmare into a ladylike haven of panties and other female ephemera.

Lay the fabric you've chosen in the box and press it into all four corners--you're lining the box. You can do this any way you want, but I thought it looked nice to have the fabric spilling out over the corners a bit, so that's how I cut the fabric. You can do this as bohemie or as classic as your style dictates.

With the super classy double-sided tape you've gathered, tape the fabric to the insides of the box. Then staple your fabric to the box. ***Make sure to staple with the staple prongs on the OUTSIDE of the box. If you don't, the sharp staple ends will be facing your delicates, resulting in snags and other horrors that you'll surely blame me for. Just keep the staples smooth on the inside, sharp on the outside.You'll cover up those sharp ends with paper.

Then, using double-sided tape, cover the outsides of the box with your decorative paper. I used all the same kind of paper, but a collage-type thing would be cute, too.

With decorative tape, cover all the cardboard edges of the box--this makes sure the paper doesn't start fraying, and it makes it look more finished. (I also used the decorative tape just as decoration in some places). 

Then, fold your fabric over the sides and staple the fabric down in ways that look good to you. Remember to keep the sharp staple prongs on the outside.

Here's what I wound up with:

Now, I had several things I wanted to organize in this drawer: underwear (or underpants, if we want to be hilarious), bras, and tights/leggings. Since I was embarking on a new me via my underwear drawer, I decided to nip possible chaos in the bud by making a matching divider for my box.

I took one of the lid flaps that I cut off earlier, double-taped the heck out of it, and covered it with the same fabric. (Using a complementary fabric would be cute, too). Then I stuck it in the box, and voila: different spaces for different kinds of undies:

Final product? Tights/leggings on the left, bras and underwear on the right. Awesomeness:

Now, even though I've posted my underpants on the internet for everyone and their mother to view, I feel more like a lady. I have an organized place to stash all my unmentionables, and I feel more relaxed about the whole thing.

Also, just saying: I actually did this project about a month and a half ago, and my drawer looks pretty much exactly the same. When everything has a place (and the place looks pretty), it's just easier to keep things organized!