whinyl loves winkxie

As all good things do.

2011-10-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!

I have made a decision, and I hope you all support me in this.

Whinyl loves Winkxie is closing it's chapters here. Things have changed so much in the 2011. We welcomed a puppy into our family, we bought a house, and my husband has started a new job. Life is amazing, and with these changes it felt like it was time to start new, to reflect on the more simple things in life. To lose track of the things I want and focus on the things I need. To revel in how wonderful life truly is.

2011 marks my 30th year on earth, and to celebrate it felt appropriate to start a new project. Blogging about clothes I want or DIY projects I never finished started to feel unsatisfying. Blogging didn't seem interesting anymore, a shame since blogging has brought me to know so many wonderful, creative folks out there. People who have truly come to inspire me. I have been wanting to reinvent my blogself for quite a while this year, so I am starting fresh. New blog, same me.

All of you followers have been truly wonderful, special parts of my blogging experience, and I hope you join me over there! I am keeping both this blog and The LitterBox Kids open for a few months, but I will eventually be deleting these blogs permanently from the blog universe. Life continues, but all good things come to an end eventually. Thus is life.

Thanks again for following here, thank you a hundred times!

Tomato Salad: It's still summer 'round these parts

2011-10-02T19:30:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you guys, but Autumn doesn't really start in Southern California until Thanksgiving or Christmas. We have a few chilly days here and there but October weather isn't really coat weather. Insert a fully-stocked garden full of summer veggies at its peak of production, and it really feels like an Indian summer over here. Save the apple cider recipes and fire wood for another day.

Yesterday I picked quite a harvest, 5 big tomatoes, 20 little ones, two Japanese eggplants, two gorgeous bell pepper, a Maui onion, a fistful of chives, and several Anaheim chiles. Our kitchen was already piled high with tomatoes (not that I am complaining) an other assorted goods! So for lunch on our warm sunny Sunday I whipped up a delicious tomatoes salad, and paired it will a grilled cheese sandwich. An exceptional meal!

Tomato Salad (loosely adapted from this recipe)

Gather:

2 pounds assorted tomatoes, chopped into large bite-sized chunks
1 tablespoon chopped chives
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white Balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup Mozzarella balls, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare:

Put chopped tomatoes into a colander and sprinkle with salt, tossing a bit. Set aside for a few minutes, sprinkle more salt, toss again and let sit. Toss a few more times and let sit for the duration of ten minutes, to draw out tomato juices.

Move tomatoes to a bowl and all remaining ingredients, and mix well. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator, covered, for up to two days.

Happiness is.../ New front door reveal

2011-10-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

...so many many wonderful things. But this weeks it's my new smart phone, (that we got for free!) that takes pretty decent photos!!! Like this one of Banjo and Vinyl.

I can share photos again!!! Hopefully this will mean a slight resurgence in blogging since I was doing without a camera for a bit.

So, about our front door. Over the Labor day weekend (and into the following work week) Taylor and I painted our front door and entry way. Our front door before was solid black with back trim. It would seem to me like a front door on a home should make a statement, and this black door's statement was pretty lackluster. We thought about a few colors, but eventually chose a bright spring-y green that coordinated well with the yellow of our home's exterior. We also decided to paint the inset details on the door white. Why not? The result was a little bold, but I dare you to find a door out there just like ours. I think this door is now making a young-fun-loving-creatives-live-here statement.

Now, we need a new welcome mat, light fixture, and some plants for that faux-vintage planter I found at Ross!

We intend on re-painting the entire interior of our home's walls. The paint color chosen by the former owner (a company that flips homes for a profit) was a warm, nice-enough beige, but it is a cheap-quality flat pain that seems to mark pretty easy. Couple that with our four-legged youngster chewing on the walls and baseboards in corners and we are already overdue for new paint. Our entryway seems like the obvious add-on project we could do at the same time as repainting our door. We chose a buttery yellow that was similar to our house color but a bit darker, in a semi-gloss since that area could serve to be pretty high-traffic in the up coming years.

This photo above is the most true depiction of the color. The lighting isn't so hot in the other two below.

So many other new things to share! My new haircolor & cut, our new fence, and many other projects we've been doing at home. More to come! I hope your day is wonderful!

Sadness is....

2011-09-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

... a broken camera card. The explanation behind my infrequent posting these days.

In the meantime, I have to ask, what do you think of these boots? I ordered them from endless.com at a great price, but I still on the fence about keeping them. I really wanted these but it would take all winter for me to save up my allowance and by then they will be gone (or on sale?). These seemed like a decent alternative in color & heel height. Thoughts, opinions? My favorite pair of brown boots are falling apart and I need a cute pair that will last a few winters.

Kitty likes Public Radio

2011-09-23T19:23:00.001-07:00

Another piece I made recently. Hope you enjoy!

Vote: Goodnight Kitty

2011-09-21T18:55:00.000-07:00

I have been messing around in my studio a bit in attempts to make a few pieces that I could sell on Etsy. Original pieces to start around $25 or $30 and fine art prints starting at $10 or $15. Here's a sample of an original piece I am playing with, nothing fancy, just a fun & whimsical piece. This is the kind of thing I might be drawn to but tell me, would others out there be, too?

I have been struggling lately with finding time for everything. Taylor and I been working together on several household projects and on personal projects alike. And my camera card is broken and I just haven't been able to post about my new green door or all my silly sketches as I normally would. More to come, though, I hope you'll stay tuned!

Soda Crate Shelving

2011-09-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon while running some quick (necessary) errands Taylor and I made a detour. With our pup in tow, we made a trip to our favorite antique store. This was Banjo's first trip antiquing, and the sweet shop ladies we thrilled that we brought him with us! Originally we kept our eyes open for a basket or something unique to corral our shoes in, but we spied these old Pepsi Cola & Coca Cola crates instead. Taylor mentioned they may work as a container for shoes, but thinking they were a bit too small yet awesome, I thought they might make cool shelving. I am sure I've seen the idea somewhere out there in the ever-inspiring blog-universe! We were both thrilled by the idea and immediately went home with our new shelves. Now, to find that shoe corral.... see any cool pieces out there?

The new face of Caturday

2011-09-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Last weekend (my last post below) I mentioned we had an exciting change made to our lives. Caturday may feature a new face every now and then (or maybe this face will get it's own weekly feature!).

Meet our new pup, Banjo.

We have been keeping pretty busy with this little guy around. Taylor's birthday was two weekends ago and he really wanted a puppy for his birthday. We went to a couple of shelters in our area and a few adoption events, waiting for a love connection. We played with a few, very adorable, dogs but finally fell in love with this Jack Russell (we think) mix. He's just a cute little boy!

If these furry faces looks sad that they are posing together, its because they are. The felines in the home have had things shaken up a bit for them as well, and all of us our adjusting. Banjo has met his face with angry kitty swats a time or two, but its all a learning experience.

Life has changed exponentially since Banjo has been with us. We are getting up early every day to take him for a walk, and when I get home from work the first thing we do is take Banjo out to play. I haven't had the chance to even log in to read other blogs lately, but hopefully as the family adjusts I will have more time for blogging and being creative again.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend! Taylor started a new job three weeks ago, and happily we are on the same schedule. This is his first three day weekend in his whole full-time working career! We have a few fun projects we'd like to tackle and today we are going to celebrate my sister's birthday!

Caturday, Belated: Weetzie's new collar

2011-08-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

I wrote this post two weekends ago, hours before we made a big, exciting decision. This decision has kept us busy, along with our housewarming party we finally had last weekend and babysitting the nephews this weekend. Life as been busy and I just haven't had the chance to log into my blogger account. Until today! More on this exciting news very soon, but if you read this post closely you should be able to tell what change was made.

When we first brought Weetzie home a little over two years ago, we bought her a little collar. Some how that little kitten was always able to breakaway the "breakaway" clasp. One day, after weeks of putting the collar back on her after finding it laying on the floor, we found her again without her collar, but the collar itself was nowhere to be found. We looked in all the hiding spots, under the bed, the TV console, everywhere. We were pretty convinced that Weetzie figured out that she needed to throw it in the trash. I think we found it finally the week we moved, under the fridge.

We've let her go without a collar for a long time, since she seems wholeheartedly okay with staying inside. Vinyl is through and through a happy indoor/outdoor feline, but Weetzie is frightened of most outdoor sights and sounds. Our family is going to be changing in the next few weeks, so I wanted to make sure she has a collar in case she happens to get outside. We are getting a dog for Taylor's birthday, and are going to be installing a pet door very soon.

So, we got her a new collar this week, with pretty stripes, a cute scalloped edge, and a fuchsia heart-sharped tag, thinking maybe it is more to her liking than the old one. Two days down and she's already taken off her collar four times.

Since writing this post, I am ashamed to admit we have lost the new collar again.

Happy Birthday Amie!

2011-08-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

Make sure you go stop by Amie's blog and wish her a very Happy Birthday! Hope its the greatest, my dear friend!

Amie & her cute boyfriend, my bro-in-law

Cruising Catalina Island

2011-08-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

Let me say, vacation is necessary.

I have been back from our vacation for nearly a week, but as soon as we landed on dry land last Friday life came roaring full speed ahead and our extra days off at home didn't end up being very vacation-y. Our Friday thru Monday plans were waylaid by loved ones going to the hospital (everyone is fine, thankfully!) and a blasted sore throat that turned into a full-blown can't-get-out-of-bed cold. I was supposed to be back at work on Tuesday but stayed home sick in bed until Wednesday. When I finally returned to work I realized I was a little bit delirious and sweating out a fever in my ice cold office. Today I am finally feeling like myself again and life is getting back its daily routine. (Much to my relief, actually.) And tomorrow is Friday already! There's nothing like a three day work week.

So I haven't gotten the chance to show my face here on the internet lately to share stories of our holiday. I didn't get many photos, most were taken during our 4 hour stay on Catalina Island and are pretty awful since I was too busy having fun to care how my photos came out. So here is a video with lots of terrible background noise to tide you over until I post those. Taylor & I rented a little golf cart and drove all over the teeny island, sharing in song.

By the by, the building I am referring to as the "conservation something or other" was really the Catalina Island Conservancy. Riding in the bumpy golf cart reduced me to talking in gibberish and acting a bit slap-happy.

Bon Voyage!

2011-07-24T19:35:00.002-07:00

via We Heart It

Hi friends!

I will be away this week on a cruise ship with my hubby, brother-in-law, and bro-in-law's beautiful wife. I will be back soon. Have a fabulous week!

Storybook Journaling; The story continues...

2011-07-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! We are getting down to the last third of the month, and we have a few strong stories developing in the group! If you still aren't a member but would like to be, know that you can start journaling anytime, anywhere. We welcome new journalers!

Here is my next 10 pages. I was feeling a little complacent and uninspired by my illustrations for a little bit there, but its always important to keep going! Here's my last post with the first ten pages, in case you haven't started to follow along!

Caturday, Belated: Sunbathing

2011-07-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

A first in this house: Taylor woke up before me. Sundays are usually our only day together at home, our day to wake up late, drink coffee in our jammies for several hours, make breakfast at noon, and spend the day being generally lazy. (Although often we get up early and go on adventures too.) This Sunday is a welcomed lazy Sunday, and Taylor got up a few minutes before me and got the coffee going. He also captured a funny sight with the camera. Vinyl, sunbathing.

Taylor also mentioned that Vinyl was pretty unresponsive during his stay in the sun. Usually Vinyl comes when he hears his name, even if you are talking about which vinyl record to play on the Crosley. This time, lounging in the sun, the world didn't exist to Vinyl Cat. There was only the warmth of the sun.

Miscellany.

2011-07-14T17:29:00.000-07:00

mis·cel·la·ny/ˈmisəˌlānē/Noun

1. A group or collection of different items; a mixture.

Today is Thursday. My husband counted with me over the phone: 11 days till vacation! (6 work days left!)

I left the office two hours early today to go to the DMV to take care of some long overdue to-dos. I sat in a chair, waiting & people watching for over an hour. When it was finally my turn, it took all of 8 minutes. At least I got home a few minutes earlier than normal!

I am thinking of changing my blog name. Of buying a .com and making the blog name different. Something a bit more generic but just as unique and much easier to spell. I don't think my blog name is very accessible. And I am not nearly as thrilled with it as I was a year and a half ago when I started blogging.
Possible contenders:
"Coffee in hand."
"Cappuchino in hand."
"Where's my Latte?"
"Kitten Little."
(Okay, so really, I just made up number two & three. I keep going back to one & four, but I am not so thrilled with either right this moment.)

I got a bathing suit a few weeks back for our vacation (in 11 days!!!). I found a Marc by Marc Jacobs suit at Marshalls for $50 and I am thrilled. It has great coverage (read: not isty bitsy) without being frumpy. And since I hate swimsuit shopping, this high-quality suit will last me multiple summers. (Provided i don't lose/gain too much weight!) Of course, I can't find it online anywhere, but I did find the same cut/pattern here. (Just imagine it in navy and on a semi-hobbit shaped girl.)

I am desperate for new bottoms! My jeans are all a bit too snug to be comfy (blast you, office job!) and I am dying to get some new jeans and slacks. And shorts! I don't have one pair of shorts, but I'd love a cute, high-waisted look. Not sure how well I'd pull them off since I am on the pear-shaped side. Fave picks here, here, here, and here.

Did you know that Danielle at the Sometimes Sweet blog is hosting shoe week and is giving away shoes all week? (Okay, so tomorrow is the last day, but there is still time for today's giveaway too!) Go enter now!

My friend Amie's Storybook Journaling pages are adorable.

Not part of the Storybook Journaling challenge yet? There's always room for more in our Flickr group, and there is always room to start. Do your creative self a favor and start journaling today!

That's it. Happy Thursday! :)

Mad Men Chair

2011-07-13T18:53:00.001-07:00

This beauty, found at the Rose Bowl Flea Market this past weekend, is my new art studio chair. I have been thinking of him as my little Mad Men chair. Maybe he's a bit more 70s than 60s, but the legs are a little bit mid century modern and the colors totally scream retro to me. I need to give him a little lint roll, looks like he was loved by a canine of sorts in his past life. Either way, I think he makes a fantastic addition, even if I have to rearrange (and possibly edit) the furniture in my space.

Isn't he cute? At $50, he was a much better find than that pair of $450 mid century chairs I have been eying at the local antique mall. Though, I have a feeling those chairs have been there forever and they will probably make their way home with me at some point for our office. That's right. Our office is on the brink of going Mad Men. Ahem, that's office-slash-cocktail lounge my friends. All business by day, party at night. What other way is there?

Quiet place.

2011-07-12T19:02:00.000-07:00

One of the things that drew Taylor and I to our home was the living room. We have some massive, gorgeous windows facing out to our front yard and when they are all open it kind of feels like a sun room. A sun room was one of those things on our wishlist that ended upon the cutting room floor. Something we really wanted but in the end we chose a home that didn't have one. You can take my word for it, our living room is the next best thing.

One of these days I will take some pictures when the light is pretty and the living room is all set up. A view of my living room/sun room. For now, here's a taste. An amuse bouche.

Storybook Journaling: The first 10 pages!

2011-07-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday Friends!

How are your storybook pages going? :) The Flickr group has had a few strong starts by a few loved ones that I know personally: my little sis and friend/coworker. Which is awesome! Nothing like doing a project with people I love. Another one of my close personal friends and fellow blogger promised to start uploading her progress tonight, and I can't wait to see it!

On a creative note, I am definitely finding this project much more challenging than the 30 Day Journal Challenge. My drawings aren't as strong & the style isn't very consistent in the beginning, I don't spend as much time on it, and it's entirely on me to think of what my page will be that day. Sure, each page's content is driven by the page before it, but it is still pretty difficult to sit down without a prompt. I have already skipped a day to my own dismay (maybe I will catch up tonight). Sometimes I catch myself daydreaming of other creative projects and working on them instead of this one. (Hubby's 31st is coming up and I have a plan I need to get into action!) The nice thing is, I can spend as little or as much time each day on this project as I want, and spend time on other projects too, if I manage my time well enough.

I thought I would post my first ten pages in a row tonight. Even though I posted the first two pages already, it wouldn't hurt to repost them in case I have any followers-along. Enjoy the story...

Eating local.

2011-07-06T17:31:00.000-07:00

How does my garden grow?

The past few weeks, I have been picking plums from our trees and eating two or three a day. Plums nonstop for me, my family, and a billion of my closest friends. I didn't know when we were buying our house we'd get a lifetime supply of plums. A wonderful, pleasant surprise. I might need to start canning them for Christmas gifts, or make an upside-down plum cake. Something to enjoy all these wonderful plums and not let one delicious, golden bite go wasted.

We've enjoyed several delicious small varieties of tomatoes in salads or on the side with our breakfast. How I missed the taste of homegrown after eating store-bought for the last eight months.

And then, the Vintage Wine tomato. I have only one year of tomatoes under my belt, and last year when I planted an heirloom variety I didn't grow a single one. This tomato has grown quickly over the last two or three weeks, and on Saturday I gave it a squeeze, realizing it was ripe and ready to enjoy! I had no idea that it was ready. it Beautiful stripes of gold and green did not look like a ripe tomato to this amateur gardener. Taylor and I promptly enjoyed it that morning with breakfast. I didn't add it to an omelet or a sandwich, no. I cut up slices and put it on a plate next to over-easy eggs. Pure tomato. Nothing better.

How are your gardens doing this summer?

Tuesday.

2011-07-05T19:05:00.000-07:00

Tuesday: I worked. I covered for someone on vacation. I came home.

I made a latte. I vacuumed up ants that were all over a Doritos chip crumbs my husband accidentally left on the computer desk.

I picked plums. I picked tomatoes. I ate yogurt and watched Arrested Development reruns.

I realized I need to cut my bangs. They've been in my eyes these last few days.

I put a bunch of my dresses in the wash; delicate cycle.

I wished I had a new camera. A better body. Electrical outlets in our backyard.

I realized wishing is pointless. I have so many things.

A loving husband who treats me like a queen and is the most talented man I know.

Wonderful parents, who taught me so many things and made me who I am today.

A beautiful place to live, my dream house, with two plum trees, a pecan tree, possibly a persimmon tree, and abundant tomato garden, and a daily chorus of singing birds.

I have a job; something many people need but can't find these days.

A car to take me to and fro.

Two kitties, my endless source of entertainment and fuzzy love.

My own art studio, a space I have taken for granted already in the few months I have acquired it.

I have so many things, including this delicious latte. Including love. Including this Tuesday evening, where I can take life by the reigns and run away with it. Making it anything I wish.

Scavenger Hunt: Red, White & Blue

2011-07-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day!

Look Mom, we finally put up the flag you gave us!

My mom got us this flag sometime while we were in escrow on our house, and it occurred to my husband on Saturday morning that it would be a great time to fly old glory. And let me say, as a new home-owner, little things like hanging a flag and admiring it from your kitchen window is still pretty exciting.

Since I haven't provided a home tour yet, I decided to do a little scavenger hunt around the house to find some accidental pairings of red & blue (and maybe some white). Here's what I found!

My art studio: Kitty couch, gift from Kathleen. Ceramic star mug, made by my little sis.

Kitchen: Vase from my brother-in-law, striped curtains from K-Mart. Tray from World Market (2009).

Dining room: Watercolor pencils & gifted bowl.

More from the kitchen: Pierre cookie jar, purchased from Etsy in 2008 (can't remember the seller, sorry!). French kitchen canisters, old Williams Sonoma from local thrift/antique mall.

I hope you have a wonderful day! I am home from work, but alas Taylor is at his store for a few hours. I am going to clean up around the house and then head to my parents for BBQ! Hooray!

Caturday: Storybook Journaling, Day 2

2011-07-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

I plan on keeping up with regular posting and only share my storybook pages in batches, but I thought I'd go out on a limb and post my page two for today's Caturday feature, only to keep on plugging our challenge for this month and the Flickr group! Please join! The beauty of this challenge is you can start journaling at any time, and you don't have several prompts to catch up on if you miss a day or so.

Here's the thing though, its called a challenge for a reason! Hopefully we (me included) can make sure we sit down everyday and spend time with our journals. Sometimes life gets in the way and we all may not be able to, but at least your story will be there when you can get back to it.

My story doesn't have a title yet, but I am pretty certain I have a loose idea of where I want to go with it. It will star my little Weetzie cat as the prime character, possibly with Vinyl in the background, but I am not sure. Weetzie (in real life) either has the personality of a sidewalk or she's quietly complex, it's hard to tell. Vinyl Cat has a real standout personality in comparison and I sometimes like to think there's more going on in that little brain of hers than we realize. She makes the perfect little specimen to explore in my first story (hopefully the first of many!).

Don't you think? Look at that face!

Here's my page two:

So far we have a few members I am really excited to see what else is up your sleeves! My friend & coworker Kathleen also posted her first page yesterday and I am already in love with it.

I have been privy to the general storyline, and let me tell you, the story will be fantastic!

Hope you have a lovely lovely Caturday! I will be checking the group of and on today to check for new pages, and I can't wait to see them.

Happy journaling!

The last pages..

2011-07-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday and Hip Hip Hooray! I have a three day weekend for July 4th and am as pleased as punch that I can sleep in and lounge around all day Monday. Ooh, and eat barbeque! Never is an Independence Day complete without barbequed food. Yum!

Have you signed up for the Storybook Challenge yet? We have 5 members and I am beyond thrilled!!! Today is the first day (see previous post) of the challenge and I posted my first page yesterday, and I am going to move ahead with page two tomorrow. A handful of you mentioned you'd try to get your first pages up, and I can't wait! It's date night so I hope you post them soon before my hubby gets home and whisks me away for the evening!

Here's my last several Run With Scissors 30-Day Journal pages. I felt like they got weaker as I went on, but maybe that's just me being hard on myself as usual. I am sad its over but I am so pumped to start a new challenge! Hope you enjoy....

Day 21: Words of wisdom

Day 22: Summer Challenge

Day 23: Summer Sounds

Day 24: I make ______ well.

Day 25: What's in my bag?

Day 26: Journal your entire day

Day 27: What inspires you?

Day 28: July Goals

Day 29: Create an interview

Day 30: A thank you

Storybook Journaling

2011-06-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday Friends! Ready for a new adventure tomorrow? Anyone?

I had a little bit of interest so I started a Flickr Group just in case there is anyone out there that wants to play too. :) Please stop by and check it out!

What's this new challenge called?

The concept?

Storybook Journaling is the act of creating an illustrated story in a daily journaling format. Add to the story a little bit everyday, until at the end of the month you have journaled your way to a fully illustrated little story.

The rules?

Starting July 1st, start your story with one sentence (or two) & a drawing. Don't think too much about it, just go with something that pops into your head that strikes you. Think about a loose concept for the story you want to tell. Connect yourself to a character of some sort and go with it. I know everyone has their own creative style, but I don't tend to think too much when I am being creative (unless it's sewing, I can get a little tense). I just go with my gut and more often than not the finished item comes out pretty cool.

Thoughts?

My friend at Kathleen at work said to me today that the idea of writing a story is intimidating, or that this challenge is intimidating (or something, she used that word, intimidating). I truly hope it's not, and further, I hope it's not baffling either. By no means should you succumb to the idea that you aren't capable of writing a story in this challenge. You're unique, wonderful, beautiful, you have a story to tell! Use this challenge to learn about yourself and your amazing abilities!

Tools?

I like pretty simple blank books with blank covers, but choose a book that you feel inspired by. Make sure you're not afraid to actually use it though. (We've all been there, we buy a gorgeous book from Barnes & Noble and then hate the idea of ruining it by actually journaling in it.) I instead went to a different section in B & N, and picked up this set of three, simple notebooks made of recycled materials. The covers are blank, so they have all kinds of potential for whatever my little brain comes up with.

How to start?

I decided to go ahead & do my first page today, to help jump start the challenge a bit.

My thoughts are, jump right in to the opening page of your story. Don't worry about titling it. In fact, don't title your story at all until the very last day, July 31. Write your story July 1 -30, then title your story and make your cover page on the 31st. By then you've written the story and it''s taken full shape.

Still not sure what to write about?

If anything, these are some ideas to get your juices flowing:

Write about your pets. (That's what I am doing!)
If you don't have pets, think about one of your loved ones and what they would be like if they were an animal.
Tell a true story about a fond memory you have.
Tell a true (or fictional) love story.
Listen to a favorite song, and lets it's theme or mood guide you through a story.
Write about what your pet would be like if they were human. (Heh, back to the animals again!)
People watch in public until you catch glimpse of someone who looks interesting to you, and make up a story for them! (Maybe creepy, but could be fun!)

Illustrations:

This is fully up to you- use whatever medium and visual style that inspires your or that you love.

Have fun friends! If you're reading this and think you're up for the challenge, please join our group and start uploading your pages! Remember, there's no daily prompts so if you miss a day, you can pick up right where you left off when you're good and ready. (Which reminds me, I am going out of town at the end of July for four days, but I am taking my journal and hopefully still going to spend daily creative time with my story).

Happy Journaling!

A gorgeous sense of hope.

2011-06-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

Today was just one of those days. I won't get into the details, but it was not a fun day at work. Not that work is fun, per se, but there are definitely some days that go much smoother than others.

So I got to thinking as I angrily drove home this ~~morning~~ evening (that's what long days at work do! you forget what time of day it is!). I thought about this little book I found recently when I was unpacking, a cute little book I had forgotten all about. When my husband saw it on our end table, he mentioned how cute it was and how I should make something like it. It's called A Gorgeous Sense of Hope: A Love Fable by Emma Magenta. (Amazon listing here!) I am not clear on when I purchased this, but I remember finding it at Barnes & Noble on some display table sometime while I was in college maybe, and I was charmed by the sweetly written story and whimsical illustrations. Ever hear of it? It looks like Emma Magenta has a few other books out, so I am anxious to check them out now that I have rediscovered this book. Here are some pages from the book, in case you've never seen it before.

Um, hello. How awesome is this?

My husband and I for most of our togetherness have toyed with the idea of writing children's books. Little Wolfie Dunk, The Cat on the Bus, and Whinyl loves Winkxie (see, there truly is MORE behind this blog name!) are all titles for funny little stories we've roughly sketched and written, but none of them have ever made it into tangible form yet. And since the Run with Scissors Journal Challenge is nearly over (sadly), I think we need new challenge for July that is along the same lines. (Or, I need a new challenge, I think.) A new, fun project!! A project of accountability to myself; to push myself even further and do something every day for thirty days & to end up with something that's uniquely me, something that hopefully someday my own children will look at and think is cool. (Maybe?)

The Challenge?

So, here's my thought. Let's write & illustrate a little story book this month! It can be geared toward kids or all ages. Get a NEW journal and we can make one page each day, with one sentence (or a few, whatever you feel) & an illustration each day, every day for the month of July. I am more of a spontaneous creative type and let my mood guide me through the process, so I am not going to plan out my story much. But, if anyone wants to play along and make a storyboard or something, I say, do it! Illustrations can be made out of anything and with any medium your heart desires. Collage, colored pencils, your own photography, there's no limit, whatever you can fit in your new journaling book.

Does anyone think this is a good idea? Would anyone be interested in playing along? I am definitely going to make this a challenge for myself, but if even a few of you are interested, I will create a Flickr group so we can all share our pages. Sound like fun? Let me know by commenting of emailing me!

Happy end-of-month Journaling!

On outfit posting

2011-06-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

Used to be, I had a tough time with the idea of outfit posting. One, it just felt too narcissistic and two, I have a hard time taking photos of myself and putting them on the net, unless I am 100% happy with the photo. Funnily, though, I found myself gravitating toward many fashion bloggers, because I love looking at clothes and how people style things. And truth be told, there are so many amazing fashion bloggers out there who do not look like models, and yet are 100 times more beautiful because they are confident in their wacky outfit. I love it! And I think I can follow suit. I am turning thirty this year, and it seems like none better time to get over my lack of confidence about my looks and fear of narcissism (and truly, blogging about your life is a form of narcissism and that's okay, am I right?) (hopefully I am not shooting myself in the foot when I say that) and just go for it.

Now if only I could have a better camera! I will have to make do with my 2007 Casio EX-Z72. I have mentioned this before but I have be experimenting with this thing a bit because I am really not the kind of person who has the patience to photoshop my photos before I post them. Sorry. (Does that start me off on the wrong foot with fashion blogging?) Case in point: my outfit photo from yesterday. Many tries with the self timer because I would rather take them alone then have Taylor take them for me (don't ask me why, I guess I just get embarrassed around my husband still).

Speaking of dresses, (were we talking about dresses?), I think this summer or maybe for the rest of my life, I may be done with jeans. Old age tends to make you put on a few pounds, and I truthfully hate looking at myself in jeans. Only one pair of my jeans fit comfortably right now, and the one pair I do have is a dark wash with faded knees from lots of wear. I hate when the knees fade. Plus, I think jeans can sometimes be the easy way out. Wearing a dress ups the ante a bit, and lots of dresses are extremely forgiving. Lately I have been buying a bunch of Ross & Marshalls clearance rack dresses (usually between $12 & $20, and still cute!) and I feel like these dresses are helping me shape my style a bit. Sure, I would rather have dresses from UO, Anthro, Ruche, Modcloth, and a zillion other places that have cute, more unique clothing, but at least I am making use of the resources in my small town and not spending a ton of cash while I am at it. Buying vintage online, while temping, hasn't proven to be successful (and gets to be too expensive) and thrifting doesn't work very well when you live in a college town.

Happiest Sunday to you! I am off to make our houseguests some breakfast.

Outfit details:
Dress: handmade by me
Scarf (as belt): gift
Sandals: R2 (old)

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Caturday (and Doggieday too!)

2011-06-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Caturday! Today I am spending time doing what I do every Caturday: housework. With Taylor gone to work all day and me home, its a great time to get some work done without getting distracted by a handsome man in your house. Sometimes I get distracted by kitties too, or the television, but most of the time I am pretty good at staying in focus and getting some work done.

Take earlier this week: I was outside picking plums on Wednesday, and I spied little Weetzie Cat peeking though my art studio window at me.

On Thursday I came home to find that my husband was puppysitting Presley, my in-laws 3 year old boxer. What a handsome face to come home to!

I tried to play frisbee with him, but he just kept grabbing the frisbee and then running away with it.

Hope you have a happy Saturday!

More journal pages!

2011-06-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hello! And Happy Wednesday!

Here are a few more of my journal pages from the last week, hope you enjoy!

Day 13: Family Tree

Day 14: Favorite quote

Day 15: Needs vs. wants

Day 16: Scavenger Hunt!

Day 17: Illustrate your favorite music, TV shows, & hobbies

Day 18: What is your job?

Day 19: What would super hero power would you choose?

Day 20: Three wishes

Crossing my fingers I can squeeze in another post today!

Caturday: My silly girl.

2011-06-18T19:56:00.001-07:00

The other day I thought Weetzie Cat had gotten lost. We looked everywhere, under the beds, under the couches, under tables, under everything! I started to panic, knowing that Taylor had left the door to the backyard wide open while he was in his studio for several hours, and I feared she wandered outside . She is not the outdoor cat in our house. She never has been. We sometimes leave the back door open for the kitties on Saturday mornings while we sip coffee, and she will sit on the back steps and sniff around a bit, but will quickly jolt inside at any loud sound. My thoughts? I am okay if she wants to stay inside, pretty soon we plan on installing a kitty door and I want her to have a good, solid idea of where home is.

So on this day, I realized it had been several hours since either one of us saw her, and with Taylor leaving the door open all day I was nervous that she ventured out and was too unfamiliar with the neighborhood to find her way home. We looked for forty minutes. I was outside with a flashlight, Vinyl Cat by my side, calling for our little Weetz to come home. I was almost in tears.

But then, I saw a flash of black through the living room window: Weeztie sneakily running from under one couch to another. That Weetzie! I think this whole time she was giggling to herself, thinking she was playing Marco Polo with us.

Last night my husband jokingly told the story over dinner to my brother-in-law and his girl friend, and I sheepishly recounted my fears that our fat silly cat might be dumb enough to get lost outside. It's hard not to love that chunky little ball of fur.

When she stands like this, we call her Weetzie Wide Stance. Silly.

This man.

2011-06-14T18:44:00.001-07:00

This man, he drives a hard bargain.

He promised if I helped him finish a project, one project in particular, I could have an ice cream cone.

I complained and whined: tired, hungry, bored, hungry, my arm was hurting, hungry, but three hours later I sat down with my ice cream cone, another project done. In a few weeks, this will be set up with some new white fencing. Bye bye, chain link. We won't be missing you.

Mini Home Tour Coming.... soon!

2011-06-13T17:16:00.001-07:00

I know, I know. My friend and co-worker Kathleen would remind me that I have lived in & owned my house about two months now, and why haven't I properly extended a peek inside on my blog already? Well, here's the answer, folks. Sh*t happens.

The plain and simple truth is that for the last two months we have had sheets, old drapes and shower curtains, towels, and table cloths hanging from our windows with thumbtacks. My family knows. They've seen it, and it's not pretty. It's not really the look you want to go posting all over the internet and showing at a house-warming party. Finally, finally, last week we got the call that our shades were in, the shades we had ordered the same week we moved in, and they were coming two days later to install them.

Taylor and I were thrilled! No more living in a cave and having to pull the "curtains" away with velcro strips to let the light in. No more!

Imagine my shock, horror, and disbelief that followed when two days later the installer started putting up the wrong blinds in the windows. Not in one room, but in the whole house. That's right. The installer was just putting up what he was given, but it wasn't what I had ordered. It was some version of a version of a version of an order that nowhere near resembled my final order. Say you're ordering window coverings for 14 windows, and you get a quote, and you proceed to play with & tweak the quote until you're satisfied. By then your original quote looks nothing like what you have finally decided on. What you think you're paying for. But then the shipment comes in and it contains items from the first quote, not the last. So that's what my house looks like right now. Initial ideas but not the fleshed out, grand finale. I am a little bummed, all that time waiting and all that money.

Good news: they are fixing our order and making it right, and we get to keep these incorrect shades until the correct items come in, in another eight weeks or so. Sheesh. I am a little frustrated by the whole thing, but at the very least we don't have anymore sheets tacked up. A small victory.

Living with sheets on the windows doesn't really get the creative juices flowing when you're trying to decorate. In fact, it's a little hindering. So I hung my very first piece of art (besides some cute pieces in my bathroom!) just yesterday. I framed my piece A Study in Caffeine with a cheap Walmart frame and a mat I covered with some muslin. I think it looks rather smart, and I am excited to start digging through our collection of art and seeing what else will make the cut, as well as start shopping for new pieces. And some furniture and accessories too!

So, soon my friends, I will start sharing bits and pieces around our home. Hopefully, after we fix a few boo-boos (a broken sprinkler pipe and a missing fence, among other things) I will have some more photos for you, room by room. I think we will start with the kitchen first, it's the most complete at this time.

Moral of the story: Make sure you look at your receipts people!

Journal Challenge: Day 8 thru 12

2011-06-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

Hello and Happy Sunday!

Here's more pages from the Journal Challenge, so far I have been able to keep up pretty well! :)

Day 8: What would you put in a time capsule?

(It really is day 8, I accidentally put day 7 on my page, and I smudged it!)

Day 9: Fill your page with random, found objects (no pen today).

Day 10: Illustrate a favorite song.

Day 11: What is your heart full of?

Day 12: Completely fill the page with lines, patterns, and geometric shapes.

Links to love:

My 2011 Journal Challenge Flickr set!

The Run with Scissors Flickr pool

Janel's blo g (to check out all the daily prompts!)

Happy Journaling!

Caturday: Posing with Vinyl

2011-06-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday!

Today we're just doing some yard work, running errands, and cleaning up around the house. (And maybe stopping by an antique store or two!) I thought I would do an outfit and a Caturday post in one, but I realized after I went back inside that I needed to mess with the white balance a bit. Vinyl Cat is not into being photographed, so I had to struggle & wrestle with him to sit still while I took these. That's why he looks a little frightened. So I was not into the idea of going back outside to take these. Oh well, I kinda like my glowing white dress! It seems like afternoon or overcast light is the best for photos in the backyard, next time.

I like action shots best. Plus, look at that face!

Have a great day!

Journal Challenge, days 3 thru 7!

2011-06-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Happy Tuesday my friends!

If you haven't joined in on journal challenge yet (Amie!) I think you should! You can start from the beginning and just go day by day that way, or just start from today, and who cares if you missed a few days? Just sayin'. Visit the Flickr pool or Janel's blog to get started!

Here's my pages from the last few days:

Day 3: June to-dos

Day 4: What I wish I wore

Day 5: Summer Traditions

Day 6: Write a letter to yourself

Day 7: Write a love letter to someone special

I have to say, I am none too thrilled with my Day 5, 6, or 7 attempts. I didn't try too hard, I rushed my sketches, and as a result they look a little haphazard. (Well, to me. I am a hard-on-myself kinda gal.) Like all of you I have been busy over the week and weekend and I am still recovering. What is it they say? A woman's work is never done? Yeah, let's put it on a t-shirt.

If you are doing the journal challenge, I hope you're enjoying it! I can't wait to see more from those talented fingertips!!

Slumbering on Caturday

2011-06-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

These two. They are so funny. They wrestle and chase and scratch and box and bite. Always swatting at each other and making Taylor and I crack up. Then, later, that can be found snoozing on the bed in my studio, soaking in the sun from the open window. Le sigh, lazy Caturday.

Challenged!

2011-06-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends!

We are on day two of the journal challenge, and I am really excited! Something about the camaraderie of a 100+ bloggers coming together and sharing their take on one simple idea.

I don't think I will be posting these everyday, but you can check out my Flickr set on the subject if you find yourself interested. Think I will wait a few days between posting journal updates! Here my first two pages:

Day one: Introduce yourself or your journal.

Day two: Share 3-5 simple goals you hope to accomplish through this challenge.

You can follow along with all the Journal Challenge entries on the Run with Scissors pool or even participate on Janel's blog! Do it! You know you want to.

It seems like there are so many other 30-day art challenges out there this month, and I want to partake in all of them! Like this one. So cool! I hope that someone repeats this idea as I think I would kill at this. I love drawing animals!

Happy Journaling, and Happy almost-Friday!

Spreading the love.

2011-06-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

I think Rachele of The Nearsighted Owl is so cute. She (among many, many things) makes cute paintings, drawings, & crochet owls, has cute hair, and has a whimsical approach to her blogging. She started the Show Some Love movement on her blog, urging other bloggers to spread the love and make the blogverse a happy, thoughtful place. Join Rachele and others (me included!) by posting a photo of yourself with a heart and posting it on your blog. Why not? All you need is love!

I did take some creative license here and instead of a heart, I used a painting that a very near & dear friend gave to my husband and I at our wedding. Spread the love! :)

Nacho Salad

2011-05-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I took my favorite quintessential salad (which we've dubbed the Jordan Salad) and turned it into something extra special. On the subject of said salad, I realized the other night that this salad should have a name. I have been eating this treat roughly 3 to 5 times weekly for a couple of years now, and recently my husband has started requesting it as well. (I can actually get the man to eat his veggies!) Like, why aren't they serving this salad in restaurants? They have the Cobb salad, the Caprese salad, the Waldorf salad (not my fave), the Ceasar salad. Why don't these places start serving the Jordan salad already?

Anyone ever read the Weetzie Bat books by Francesca Lia Block? About eleven years ago I picked up the first one and have been a devoted fan ever since. I love love love the way Block makes the most mundane details sound magical and illuminant. Funnily enough, this completely simple line in the book has stayed with me for years while I am in the kitchen, making a snack; "They also ate guacamole tostadas at El Coyote (which had, they agreed, some of the best decorations in Hollywood, especially the painting with the real little lights right in it), putting the toppings of guacamole, canned vegetables, Thousand Island dressing, and cheese into the corn tortillas that were served between two plates to keep them warm. "

I think one day in my college cafeteria I piled these things together with a little salad and realized that Block knew what she was talking about when it comes to food. Thousand Island dressing: what is it about Thousand Island dressing that pairs so well with Mexican/Southwestern food? At restaurants when I order the taco/Southwestern salads I often ask for them to substitute their dressings, as delicious as they may be, with Thousand Island.

After college I forgot about this eating habit for a little while, but after getting married it was back full force, evolving to the spinach, red onion, avocado, cilantro, cheese, & Thousand Island treat it is today, with many variations and paired with many delicious things (quesadillas with green chiles, breakfast potatoes, omelets, etc.).

So, home alone one day while Taylor was at work, I whipped a Nacho Salad. Simple and a bit adulterated, this will be my go-to guilty pleasure over chocolate ice cream any day.

Nacho Salad (serves 1)

Gather:
a handful of your favorite tortilla chips
cilantro, about 1 tablespoon, coarsely chopped
1 green onion, chopped (green part and all)
1/2 cup shredded Jack cheese
a handful of baby spinach
1/8 cup chopped red onion
1/2 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1/2 avocado, diced
Thousand Island dressing
black pepper to taste

Assemble:
Turn broiler on high. On an oven safe plate, top a handful of chips with cheese, green onions, and cilantro. Heat in broiler about 5 minutes, until cheese is melted and browned slightly. Carefully remove the plate (it will be hot!) and let it cool for a few moments.

Pile remaining ingredients on the side of the plate, spinach, red onions, avocados, topped with desired about of dressing and pepper. Carefully mix up entire plate and devour, scooping up salad with cheesy chips. Enjoy!

Bird watching on Caturday.

2011-05-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

Imagine my delight this morning while I sat on our back patio drinking coffee with Taylor, when he pointed out that there was a little bird nest hanging from the draping limb of a tree in our backyard. He had noticed it a few days ago one morning while I was at work. He showed me I could get right up to it while the mama bird flew in from somewhere, bearing food for her little babies. There were teeny, tiny chirps heard from inside and the cocoon would rustle slightly right after the mama bird flew out. The baby birds were enjoying a meal! I stood close for about 40 minutes watching, and the mama bird would fly in and out about every two minutes. What a treat to be so close and witness the magic of Spring! These were the best photos I could get, every time I zoomed in they came out a little blurry.

Mama bird on the right.

Going in!

Of course, we opted not to share this little discovery with Vinyl Cat, who enjoyed the morning outside with us. Fortunately he didn't seem to notice. This little nest was teeny and the Mama bird was even teenier, maybe the size of a walnut. We could only picture Vinyl chirping and making his little hunting notices underneath, and possibly trying to jump up to reach it. It may be tad bit to high for him, but I guess you never know when it comes to a determined kitty on the prowl. Weetzie is still a little hesitant to spend much time out doors, but she's a great little insect hunter inside the house.

Happy Spring!

A few things.

2011-05-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

Today is Wednesday, and we have two more days until we have a three day weekend. So many little, wonderful things have taken place over the last few weeks. I enjoyed spending time with some of Taylor's out-of-town family over th w, going to my brother -in-law's show at the local watering hole and planting a few small flowers in the front. The weather was lovely and it was all we could've asked for! This coming weekend we are looking forward to purchasing and possibly installing a washer and dryer for laundry. Seriously folks, we are talking zero laundry-doing in the last six weeks. (Well, I did two small loads on Mother's Day, that's it.) I am running out of clean clothes at this point.

I have been thinking a lot about this little blog, about my other blog, and about my life, really. I think there are some amazing changes ahead for me and my little family here. I am hoping very soon we can start a family, and that Taylor and I can get our mini-businesses off the ground, and that we can become more productive exercisers and healthier eaters. We eat healthy enough in this house, but I think we can lower the chips & cookie consumption a bit. We can take more walks. I have been struggling every morning to get myself out of bed at 5 a.m. so I have time enough to take a jog. I started running for a few weeks before the big move, but since I have been feeling out of sorts running in my new neighborhood and out of sorts with my usual routine. I made it a goal to get up three times a week at 5 a.m. to get back into running, or at least, a bit of walking, jogging, and huffing & puffing routine. I have failed miserably at this goal so far.

Lemons courtesy of our new neighbors. I made some amazing lemonade out of these babies!

We are both really happy over here in our new place, we love it. But we are leaving our twenties (Taylor already left) and entering our thirties. I hear that the fun really starts to happen at thirty. I can't wait! Entering my thirties feels like I am entering a new place in life, and this new home has only thickened the air with the feeling. I feel like maybe my quarter-life-crisis might be over (if such a thing exists). I am finally feeling motivated to make some changes happen for real. No more ideas.

On the subject of my blog, I am thinking seriously about closing my other sorry excuse for a blog, and buying a new URL for this one with a new name, new look, everything. This blog will focus on everything, because it's just too hard to do two blogs. It's hard enough doing one! Making time to write, taking photos, editing photos, uploading them. Hell, let's add coming up with post ideas to the list. I feel like I rant on this subject frequently here, how tired I am of myself for being idle when it comes to blogging, or crafting, or cleaning, etc., etc., etc. But I guess that's just how it goes. Stay tuned for changes in the coming weeks!

Have you noticed my photos are a little bit better? I finally figured out that, while it's not the fanciest, my photos were not a sad result of my camera's sorry picture taking skills. Nope. It was all my sorry picture taking skills. I am a bad picture taker! I guess we can blame it on my lack of patience. I am probably the least patient human being in the world. One flaw of many. I realized that my camera had settings. That's right, settings. Settings to make the most of a potential photo. I also pined after nice, big & bright photos for this blog, and started uploading photos to my Flickr first and then posting them here. For some reason, Blogger's photo uploading manager-thingie doesn't really maximize the size of the photo when I choose "large." Or maybe it's me misusing it. A phrase I often secretly think to myself when I am on the phone with customers at my software-related job: user error.

So, with this newfound picture taking ability, and a fresh haircut, I decided to take it outside and give another outfit photo post a try.

Yes, a fresh cut. Another frantic, spur-of-the-moment trip to the hair cutting salon, where I am determined to make a leap and tell the girl with scissors in her hand to chop it all off, sister! I can't stand this mop anymore! The minute she starts chopping I get nervous and change my mind on the length, before it's too late I think. Still, she plays a mean, nasty trick and goes with the original plan, and shorter even! It is pretty cute, low maintenance, it'll grow fast. But I have never before had it so short that they break out the electric razor to clean up the neck hair. That was a first.

So, this is me on an average work day. No makeup, tired expression, bold color choices like I got dressed in the dark. That's because I did.

The idea of doing outfit posts and sharing photos of myself is going to be a little bit of a challenge for me. I am, like many women, not 100% confident when my current body shape, but I am learning as I get older that this is something I have to let go of. I am one of those people that can look at a photo of myself and cringe. (Not all photos! Just some.) I can pick apart all the flaws that likely very few people notice. Most people out there don't see the things I see as a flaw as truly a flaw. I just have a picture in my head of some imaginary Charlotte who looks a lot like me but is tweaked slightly in different places. When I look at photos sometimes I am rudely awakened, is that what I look like? Oh. My.

The good news? I now have a pretty, private backdrop to take these photos: my backyard. Next time I will freshen my face up for y'all!

One more thing, and I am really excited about it. Tomatoes! I am slowly getting my garden going, but I was really excited this evening when I noticed I have some little green babies growing!

(Speaking of which, Amie- I have been meaning to send photos to your mom of my garden and tell her thank you for the arbor! We are excited for all of her amazing housewarming gifts!)

Right now I have 10 tomato plants, 4 different peppers, 1 Japanese eggplant (need more!), some chives and sweet Walla Walla onions growing. I still need to put in my strawberry patch before I kill my plants, put in an herb garden, and a spot for zucchini and various squashes. I want to add more onions and eggplants to the mix, and maybe some garlic? I have the fixings for some serious salsas and pasta sauces, so I am ready. Bring it on, garden!

Off to drink more lemonade, make broccoli cheese potato soup, and watch some Sex & the City reruns. Au revoir!

It's back!

2011-05-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

The 30 Day Journal Challenge is back at Janel's blog, and I am beyond excited! I enjoyed last year's challenge so much, I tried really hard all year to continue the routine of doing a sketch/journal page each day and I am sorry to say I didn't succeed in the slightest. Something about the camaraderie of the this challenge that kept me excited to put paper to pen each day. In fact, there was only 1 day in the whole challenge that I skipped, but I quickly caught up the next day.

Here are some of my faves from last year:

(view more here!)

I can't believe it's almost been an entire year!

Janel starts posting her prompts on June 1st, if your interested make sure you hop over to her blog and let her know you wanna join in on the fun! :)

Happy Journaling!

2 years.

2011-05-16T17:08:00.000-07:00

To my husband Taylor, on our two year anniversary (a day late):
(Thanks for taking me on a fabulous sushi & movie date to celebrate! You're so good to me. I am sorry I didn't get to post yesterday but I hope today will do!)

On May 16, 2009, the most important event in my life took place. I married you that day, I became the happiest girl in the world that day.

I am still the happiest girl in the world, two years later. We were already such close chums in 2009, a cute pair, an (almost) perfect match. But in the last two years we have been in an extra special place. Roommates & co-chefs, kitty mom & pop, a super-duper creative team. We have worked so well together and I am lucky to say our marriage so far has been a breeze. You and I have both shifted our habits little by little, becoming two perfectly matched puzzle pieces after the same dream. You are a beautiful part of my day, everyday. I love loafing on the couch with you even if we're watching, er, basketball. Its time spent with you and it's time well spent. I am the happiest girl in the world because I have you by my side.

I know that maybe someday there could be rockier roads ahead, but I thank you, my loving husband, for an amazing two years. Whatever is ahead I am proud to stand beside you, your loving wife, your partner for life.

A few memories, as noted by my blog: vacation-by-the-sea, a Laundry Love Note, Santa Barbara, Disneyland, a day in the sand, the big Three-Oh, our first weekend at the ranch, and this, epitomizing my favorite times of them all:

I love you always,
Charlotte

A night in the studio.

2011-05-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

In the last four weeks we've been living in our new house I have avoided going into my studio. I am a bit stumped by that space. Originally I envisioned white furniture and brightly colored walls, floral prints everywhere. I can't really go out and buy a bunch of new things, as much as I'd like to, but I'll have to make do with the things we have.

I finally cracked the door open this evening and unpacked, organized, and arranged. (A few before photos can be found here.) Vinyl and Weeztie joined in, snuggling into fabric scraps in the closet. Though its not my dream studio (yet), it will be a lovely place to sit and paint and hang with the kitties.

More peeks of the studio to come.

I now call it home.

2011-05-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

A quiet evening at home. Not much else to say, except that I wish it were warmer. I am looking forward to summer picnics and booking reading and sketching under these trees. Eating persimmons. Little ones running around in the back and maybe a pup or two.

This house was everything we've ever hoped for. We feel so very blessed to spend the coming years here and watch the sun rise & set over and over and over again. It's one week from our 2 year wedding anniversary and I can think of none better place to celebrate in. Our new love nest with the lovely green and fresh air surrounding us.

I feel as though we've been welcomed home.

Chile Relleno Casserole

2011-05-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

My husband was more than just a tad jealous this past Cinco de Mayo to learn that we had a Mexican foot potluck at work this last Thursday. He was also not happy to hear about the chile rellenos and enchiladas I ate that same night for dinner without him, nor the leftovers potluck we had again at work the next day. Moreover, I failed to bring him home one morsel of Mexican food (bad wifey!), and instead he was left on Thursday night heating himself up a can of Spaghtettios on Thursday night.

So, this weekend I made him a Chile Relleno casserole. A spin on the Mexican classic, it didn't quite quench his chile relleno thirst, but we both agreed it was still rather delicious and it was gobbled up as leftovers the very next day for dinner. Me? I could eat nothing but Mexican food all day everyday and be a very, very happy girl indeed.

Chile Relleno Casserole

Gather:
8 Poblano chiles
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound tomatillos, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon cumin
3 cups shredded Jack cheese (I used a cheddar/Jack mix but this really calls for Jack!)
8 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
another pinch of salt

Turn broiler on high. Arrange chiles in a broiler pan and broil, 15 minutes on each side until blackened and blistered all over. Remove from broiler (turn it off!) and put chiles into a ziplock bag, sealing tight. Preheat oven to 350.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add tomatillos and onions and simmer, about 10 minutes. Add salt, oregano, and cumin, and cook until onion is translucent and tomatillos are tender. Spray a 8 x12 cooking dish with cooking spray and poor onion mixture in, set aside.

Carefully remove skins from chiles & remove stems. Cut length-wise and open chile to remove seeds. (Careful to wash your hands and not rub your eyes right after you handle the seeds!) Lay flat on a paper towel for a few minutes to dry.

Roll cheese into chiles and arrange in baking dish on top on onion mixture. Top chiles with half the remaining cheese. Beat eggs thoroughly, then whisk in flour, salt, and baking powder, until well combined. Pour egg mixture on top of chiles, then sprinkle with the very last of the cheese. Bake for 35 minutes or until the top cheese is golden. (You may want to run a test slice to ensure all the egg juices are cooked thoroughly!)

Enjoy with guacamole, sour cream, salsa, chopped green onions & cilantro, whatever your heart desires!

Now onto more Mexican food. Its Nacho night!

No Caturday, just gardening (okay, maybe a little Caturday)

2011-05-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

Today I spent the afternoon preparing the spot for my future garden. I opened all the windows and blared the "Swingers and Swing" channel on our cable. I slathered on sunscreen, wore short shorts (which I never wear) and tied my hair up in a scarf. I dug, watered, and dug some more. I didn't get the chance to plant anything, but I spent over and hour & a half turning over the dirt.

My friend Amie's mama sweetly offered some of her home-grown-from-seed plants to plant in my own garden, and I happily partook! I can wait to get those babies in the ground! For now they have been hanging on the side of the house with the strawberry plants and oregano and salvaged from my old garden at the old apartment, getting loads of sun.

The spot where I plan on putting my garden had four plants there already, in good shape. I was able to move them easily to another spot in the front of our house. Hope they do well there. Make way for the veggies! I have (10!) tomatoes and a few pepper and onions ready, but I definitely plan on doing at least two varieties of eggplant and some zucchini. I don't know if it is the area I live in, but those zucchinis last year were the easiest ever! Three weeks after planting I already had a zucchini!

And of course, I am going to make a different spot in the yard for a ginormous strawberry patch. Last summer I bought one plant, and now I have 8 plants! Who knows how many I will have next year, all from the same plant?

Sweet Vinyl and Weetz watched me sweat from the window, not once offering to help. Thanks alot, kitties!

Happy Mother's Day tomorrow to all you moms & mom-to-be out there! Tomorrow I am going to church with my family, eating eggplant Parmesan at my parents, and then visiting Grandma. Hope your Sunday is lovely!

Cafe-Style Curtains

2011-05-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

Hi and Happy Friday Friends!

Things have been pretty busy in our neck of the woods and I regrettably have had little time to blog the last few weeks. Er, try month. The last month + we have been busy little bees, and are still looking for that "settled-in" state I keep hearing about. Plumbing issues, ants, new expenses we never thought about have been testing our patience and forcing us to keep our finances in close scrutiny. Earlier this week Taylor and I sent text messages to each other (we haven't seen each other much!) about how overwhelmed we were with all the new house goings-on. My husband is such a rock; he somehow is always able to push past things and get the job done. I let the pressure fester in me for hours and days and weeks and it takes me twice as long to get over it.

But sometimes, there's nothing like retail therapy to help you get over the hump.

Our gorgeous large windows all over the house have been shrouded in old towels, sheets, and tired curtains so we can have some privacy for crying-out-loud. Our top-down-bottom-up cellular shades are on order and we may not get them for another month or so (meh) so we have had to make do. The only rooms I didn't order shades for was my art studio and the kitchen. I want some overtly girly curtains for the studio, but for the kitchen I had sweet, decidedly vintage country cafe-style curtains in mind.

I mean, we did move to the country, kind of. We left the semi-industrial bustling suburban community we both grew up in to a place where I get to see cows, goats, and horses every morning during my commute to work. It took Taylor and I a moment to decide if we were really willing to do it, but before long we realized our ranch-style home tucked into the rolling hills had our names written all over it. The vintage country look isn't necessarily my thing (or maybe it is) but I really saw my new kitchen styled that way. Everyone loves a good kitchen; the heart of a home. So when I happened upon this style in the most surprising of places I knew my kitchen-curtain-dreams were coming true (and for a deal!).

(no, you aren't seeing things, that one panel on the left is a little longer than the others)

The plans are to let that generous seam-allowance out a little bit at the bottom, move the rod up a bit, and hang from the top pocket instead of the second, to lose the little ruffle at the top and add a bit more privacy to the treatment. Overall, I love the openness and the sweetness of the look. It was at the very least a breath of fresh air to put these babies up and put one of the ol' sheets back into the closet.

Oh, and P.S. The plumber came yesterday and we are back in business!

This weekend...

2011-04-25T17:32:00.001-07:00

... I enjoyed lots of time in my new kitchen...

... made Taylor a bagel-egg-roast beef sandwich before he left for work that made him swoon...

...whipped up some extremely fattening macaroni and cheese...

... baked Tillapia with lemon and artichoke with roasted potatoes on the side...

...hung some cheer....

...picked some teeny strawberries off plants I feared wouldn't survive the move...

...made cookies....

oh, and I caught Weetzie and Vinyl snuggling!

Hope yours was just as lovely!

Caturday: Cloudy Skies & Vinyl(s)

2011-04-23T10:28:00.001-07:00

This morning Vinyl Cat and I sat drinking coffee, listening to records, and enjoying the view into our backyard while Taylor made music in his studio. How we love these lazy mornings.

We're home!

2011-04-22T17:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Taylor and I took a five-day weekend to move into our new house. Thursday and Friday we took multiple car loads, cleaned, unpacked, and ran errands (including taking my car to the shop). Saturday we moved all the heavy stuff and did some shopping. Sunday we spent time unpacking and went out to dinner. Monday: more unpacking, and more shopping. (A little antiquing along the way too, and we came home with something cute! By Tuesday we were both back to work, then going to the apartment to clean, each and everyday until today. Today after work I decided I wasn't ever going back there again. Our apartment looks so teeny tiny now, and ugly and sad. I felt twinges of guilt going to that place to clean, then leaving it empty and lonely-looking. My husband and I spent our first two years of marriage in that apartment, as well as almost 5 years of dating. In many ways I am so happy we are leaving the apartment but I will miss the neighborhood we lived in and think about all the happy memories that took place there.

But really, I just so happy to be in this new house! Taylor, the kitties and I love love love it and are so happy we made the leap! I am hoping and praying it will be sunny tomorrow morning so we can sleep late, and get up and drink coffee on the patio in our backyard.

Here's a few peeks from my phone! I promise to have more soon once I find my camera charger...somewhere... (and please do excuse all the random items laying around...)

Living room & dining room, with a minuscule peek into the family room and kitchen

The family room, what we are loosely dubbing the "60s Cocktail Lounge"

The kitchen on Monday night, after our first trip to the local grocery and an intense Pad Thai-making fest.

This Pad Thai was the first meal we made in our new kitchen... and Taylor made it! It was delicious- thank hunny!

I hope now we will be settled soon and can be back to the regular scheduled program with Caturday and weekly posting. I am also hoping to have more time to attend to my other blog and start making items to fill up my shop! I already have a ton of projects in my mental do-do list I want to tackle around the house. I can't wait to unpack more boxes and start making items to decorate around the house. Tomorrow I am finalizing our window shades order and we are beyond excited to tear our tacked up sheets down from the windows. Hooray! happy Friday!

**Please excuse the typos. I am pooped and am just going to leave them there.**

Happy Day!

2011-04-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

We closed escrow today, and finally, officially became for-real homeowners! We are beyond elated! Now the real work begins...

We excitedly ran home to tell the furry friends the exciting news. My exuberance frightened Weetzie and now she is under the bed. This is how Vinyl Cat reacted.

Ah well. They don't know what's in store for them just yet.

A quick moment for outdoor lighting....

2011-04-09T08:09:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week while checking out shades & blinds at a large big-box home improvement store for our enormous new windows, Taylor & I meandered into the outdoor lighting department to check out possible replacement ideas for the $5 fixtures that currently adorn our facade. Our house has a very cute mid-century modern meets meanwhile-back-at-the-ranch feel and the current lighting is pretty lackluster.

I mean, haven't you seen this light in just about every apartment you've ever lived in?

This style caught my eye and I think it has a lovely 1920s Industrial feel (although, my color choice was more the "rustic" color of the second fixture below):

Since we have a need for two outdoor lights in the front part of the house (the front door and back door entrance in the carport, which will be the entrance Taylor & I use most often), I also spied the style below, which is a bit more formal but still carries the same vintage aesthetic. I think this would look great at the front door, but I am a little torn between getting one of each or just getting two of the style above:

The manufacturer is Portfolio for both fixtures and many of the reviews (though not all) complained of rusting pretty quick. Our new house isn't in a particularly humid environment, and at the price, I like them so much I think I may take the chance. And actually, they may look kind of pretty with a bit of rust, like they have been with the house for decades. Rust is back in, isn't it? I am pretty sure if Mike and Frank found these fixtures in a barn in Tennessee and they were made of old rusty metal, they would snatch them up right away.

I had a moment while Taylor was at a meeting this morning, drinking coffee, so I figured I'd share what I have been excited about this week. The thing we really need is window treatments as the large, gorgeous windows can really lend for a fishbowl effect at night. I have already picked some roller shade styles out but I am a little unsure that they may be a little too sheer for nighttime, when the lights are on inside and it's pitch black outside. I guess we will see!

All photos via Lowe's

I'll just say it.

2011-04-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

These last two weeks that I have lacked posting here I have truly intended to post. It isn't that life has been so uninspiring that I have nothing to post about, in fact, it's quite the opposite! I have had way too much to juggle and I just can't get to attending to this little blog right now. A little sad, I think. We are going through such an exciting time in our lives Taylor and I, and its just too bad that I don't have the time to document every little detail. I wish I did! A year or so from now I will scroll through these pages and all I will have to show for these few weeks is complaints about how busy I am.

The good news? The next post you read on Whinyl loves Winkxie will be written at our very lovely house. We are moving in about a week and a half and there is such an enormous list of things to do and its all piled on top of my usual daily list of to-dos! Goodness! We can hardly walk around our apartment these days; there are boxes piled high and the place is a huge scattered mess. I haven't looked at the kitchen in a week and to be honest, I am a little frightened to go in there.

I have had many things I have been wanting to post: recipes, my new clock I bought just for the new house, a cool piece of antique furniture I put on layaway, a story about my new adventures in jogging. And Caturday! Oh, I have neglected the blog staple that is Caturday. So many funny photos I have saved up ready for when I have a moment to upload them.... those to come soon.

I will say that I am a little nervous about having to move our poor kitties. I have never had a pet before these guys. Vinyl & Weetz have lived here their whole lives (varying years) and I don't know how they will take leaving the place they currently call home. I know at some point they will adjust and love the new pad; a big house & backyard to run around in, loads more squirrels and birds to chase, more windows to sunbathe in. But I worry a little about them and the stress of moving day. I already decided that on the big moving day, we are going to the house early and putting the kitties in the master bathroom with food, water, cat litter, an cracked-open window for fresh air, some blankies and lots of toys. We will lock them in there the whole day with everything they need (including each other) and I will try to not worry about them too much. That way, they will be out of the way while we move around heavy pieces of furniture and the house will be all set up (kind of) when we unleash them to explore. Although, I fully expect them to run under the bed and stay there for several days. I guess we'll see.

Hopefully it doesn't sound too pathetic that I have anxiety about moving my kitties. Haha.

So with that- I am off for a little leave of absence for the next two weeks! I may have a few quick updates here and there, but I am not holding my breath.

Lots of love!
Charlotte

A Pouty Post

2011-03-23T17:27:00.001-07:00

Hi Friends!

For those who are following here on Whinyl loves Winkxie, you know my husband and I are currently immersed in the process that is making the biggest purchase we've ever made. Pretty much, there is a brand new piece of paper in our email inboxes each day when we get home from work that we have to complete. I think I have signed over a hundred pieces of paper so far and we are not even seeing the light at the end of the tunnel yet.

But truthfully, all that paper-signing is no reason to be pouty. I mean, when its all done, we will be in our own house. Our own house! That is pretty wild. Like, buying a house is for adults, and we're just 30-year-old kids. I will sign my name a thousand times if it means I get my own house.

Our to-do list keeps growing everyday. And we're still a little uncertain of when we will close, when we will get the keys, and when we will actually move. We had to ask our agent and our lender if they had advice on when we should put in our 30-day notice at our apartment. (We finally did it today. It's for real now!)

And you know what else? Now that we are getting close, apartment dwelling has really started to bug me. Loud neighbors, barking dogs, mysterious mattresses in the dumpster, random cars in our designated parking spot, kids being noisy really late at night because its spring break, ugly kitchen and a broiler that won't open, trash in my garden, dirty lint traps in the clothes dryer, a heater that never comes on even though the repairman has visited countless times, and soonandsoforth were things I just kinda shrugged off before. That's what you get when you rent, deal with it. Now everything gets under my skin.

Couple that with this annoyingly wintery weather we've had in SoCal this week, and I am to the point where I just want to stay in bed for the rest of the evening, watch ANTM and drink hot cocoa.

So there.

Happy Caturday: Kitty Beats

2011-03-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

My husband Taylor happens to have a massive collection of musical recording, mixing, & programing gear (and let's not even talk about the 6 guitars, 2 bass guitars, 2 banjos, the drum set that has never been put together, and on and on and on). The different keyboards and mixing boards are all set up in our studio and when Taylor is in there working, the kitties are always jumping on his gear and walking top of it.

They are not supposed to do this and they know it.

So when I caught Weetzie this afternoon and started to take a photo as evidence, she quickly jumped off.

Once we are in our new place we are going to insulate & dry wall the garage, so Taylor has a nice big space of his own. Then later, we are going to save so he can building some smaller recording booths. I don't think we are going to let the kitties in there.

Our home inspection went very well this last week, and we were thrilled to find out that most of the needed fixes were just "recommended" fixes, little tiny projects that we could maybe learn to do ourselves. Our inspector (who was there from 9 am to 3:30 pm!) said our house was move in ready. No leaky rooks, no asbestos found in the crawl spaces, no termites, all in good shape. Hooray! Now we are just waiting to hear back on the appraisal, which is the last big thing we need to find out before our contingency period ends. We are feeling good and hopeful about the whole thing, but we will just have to wait and see. Posting here will mostly likely be sparse over the next month or so, but I will be sure to keep all posted!

Happy Caturday!

Ground Turkey Soup

2011-03-17T16:48:00.000-07:00

Since we are rapidly leaving Winter behind in the dust (thank goodness) and saying hello to Spring (HOORAY!), I thought I would take advantage of the lingering cloud cover and low 50ish degree weather to share another throw-together style soup I made, which was a big hit with the man-belly.

A few weeks ago I shared my Spicy Corn Chowder that I made one night when I had nothing for dinner planned and didn't have much in the fridge. I made do with the many random items littered in my pantry and fridge. That same week, I also whipped up this Ground Turkey Soup with the same principle, throwing together the many things I had laying around and not running to the store to get something.

And seriously, it pays to be creative in the kitchen sometimes. This soup was yummy! It also helps that I have a very un-picky husband who is very willing to put anything in his mouth. I think it may be that ground turkey. For the first half of our 2 year marriage, I was always buying ground beef. Then, on a whim because I heard it was supposedly healthier, I went for ground turkey. A little more expensive, but why not give it a shot. And you know what? Who in the hell cares if it's healthier??? Much like ground beef in texture, but OMG! So much tastier. My husband I are now converts.

Thus, one cold night in the kitchen with a frozen block of turkey, this soup was born. I have made it again one other time, and have received many requests from my husband since. And because this receipe is pretty basic, you could throw in cooked meatballs instead of ground turkey, or play with the kinds of veggies you add in. The sky's the limit!

Ground Turkey Soup

Gather:
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 table spoon olive oil
4 cups water
2 cubes vegetable bullion
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 lb ground turkey, browned, undrained (that's right, I added the grease since there was so little, but I suppose you could drain it if you wanted.)
4 carrots, chopped
1/3 cup orzo pasta

Make it:

In a large stock pot over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add onions and garlic, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until onions are soft and transparent. Add water, increase heat and bring to a boil. Add bullion cubes and stir until dissolved.

Add salt, spices, turkey, and carrots. Leave heat medium high, and let simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until carrots are soft and fork-tender. Then add orzo, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 to 6 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

The Great House Hunt of 2011: The good with the bad

2011-03-09T17:58:00.000-08:00

Big Announcement:

We are officially in escrow!

That's right! Last weekend we decided to revisit the very first home we made an offer on, the dream home, since it was still on the market & calling our names. And after getting an acceptance, we are now on the long trek to owning our own little love nest. I am excited and a little stunned.

Today for the first time really felt like Spring. The sun was awake and shining earlier than usual, it seemed. It was warm and lovely, and I felt happy and clear-headed even though I have a little cold (meh). When I got home from work the sun was still out, and I took a look at my sad little garden that I have been neglecting all winter.

Pretty much all the summer veggies (tomatoes, squashes, eggplants, peppers) are long gone and what remains is a few herbs and my strawberry plant. I thought the strawberry would die, but nope! It started flowering this week, and there are several teeny yellow strawberry buds spread out inside my garden box.

I realized then I will have to leave my garden behind.

What's more, if I want to take my two $40 garden boxes with me (heck yes!) I will have to dig up my garden. I felt a little sad. I know I can probably replant my parsley, thyme, and oregano with no problem, but the strawberry, all spreading out it its glorious state, will probably not be able to be transplanted.

Farewell first garden. I loved you.

The good news (aside from getting to own my own amazing & spacious & gorgeous first home) is that I should be moved into my new place with plenty of time to start planting new veggies. And this new place has lots of room for veggies!

I am really hoping and praying that this escrow process goes smoothly and we will end up with keys in our hands. I am confident it will, but I know occasionally sales fall out of escrow, so I am trying to be realistic with myself. Any advice to a soon-to-be first time home buyer???

Caturday: Dances with Kitty

2011-03-05T12:10:00.001-08:00

Happy Saturday! Another lazy day to stay home, eat salad (lots of it!), make soup for dinner, do some laundry, clean up, and maybe have some creative time. :)

Our Vinyl, he is so special, the things he puts up with. Decidedly, he would be a rather tall boy if he could stand on two feet. The perfect dance partner.

The Bob, My Friend

2011-03-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

For my momma and all the other loved ones I haven't seen since last Saturday, I thought I would share the haircut I got over the weekend!

I went even just a tad shorter this time than last, and my stylist angled it slightly, even though I asked her to do a straighter bob. Oh well, hubby loves it and it came out great! The straight-across bangs are back too, I really love the heavy bangs! I am pretty sure my mom could find a photo of me in third or fourth grade with a similar 'do. :)

Please disregard my unmade, tired face. I don't wear make up during the week. All I do is stare at two computer screens for forty + hours a week and it seems pretty funny to put on makeup for a machine. Although, I can't imagine having to stare back at the same tired face day after day. Maybe that is why my work computer has been freezing up a bunch lately. Oh well, cute hair makes up for the lack of makeup & cute outfits, I suppose.

Caturday: Oh, hello!

2011-02-26T08:59:00.000-08:00

I put this photo up on my Flickr this week and learned that my silly cat Weetzie has a soul mate on the other side of the US! (Thanks Becky for commenting! So cute.)

What is it with kitties and bathtubs anyway? Often times the house will be quiet, our other cat Vinyl will be snoozing somewhere, and then we'll suddenly start hearing Weetzie pouncing around and cooing like a pigeon in the tub. Other times, I will take a bath, and Kitty will perch on the edge, mewing and sticking her paw in the water.

Silly cat.

Hitting the spot: Spicy Corn Chowder

2011-02-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

Inspired by the many soup recipes shared at the Little Red House blog, twice this week I threw together big, piping hot pots of soup.

All week, our pantry & fridge were pretty sparse and only held the same old things we always have. Cans of veggies, basic baking supplies, and a lone chile pepper rescued from my garden (somehow, those peppers keep growing through the cold!). Some frozen meats. A sad sight, but both nights I really didn't want to venture out in the rain to go to market and, besides, both nights I had loads of laundry going. So, I challenged myself to make dinner from the things we already had. How to make dinner with a random assortment of items?

Soup! Throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and water it down. Sprinkle in some spices, heat it up, voila!

I have to say, both nights were pretty successful. If I do say so myself. On Tuesday I made ground turkey soup. Sounds basic, my husband declared it was the best soup I've ever made. (My hubby is easy to please when it comes to food matters.) And actually, it was rather delicious, but of course I didn't get any photos. It didn't last long in our house. (I may share another time, but without a recipe, it may never come out quite the same way again!)

On Wednesday I made a spicy corn chowder. I have made chowders before, but I never got the basic principle of making a roux first. My chowders were sometimes only slightly thick, often runny. This week, I made a delicious and fragrant roux before compiling the rest of my ingredients, and I was thrilled to eat such a thick and hearty soup for dinner. (Although... I did also throw in a can of cream of celery soup... I am sure that helped too.)

Spicy Corn Chowder

Gather:
1 big pot
1 chile pepper, de-seeded & finely chopped
1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
a dab of olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
salt, onion powder, cayenne pepper (to taste, I used about a teaspoon of each)
3 cups milk
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can corn, drained
1 16 oz jar of green salsa

Prepare:

In a large soup pot, heat about 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add chopped pepper and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until pepper is tender.

Reduce heat to low. Add butter & stir until melted. Stir in flour and salt, onion powder, & cayenne pepper. Let cook for about 2 or 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in milk, adding a little bit at a time. Increase heat slightly, but keep pretty low. Patience here: constantly stir for 5 to 10 minutes after all milk is added, scraping flour off the sides and bottom of pot. After several minutes it will start to thicken.

Once mixture has thickened, stir in cream of celery soup, corn, and salsa. Let simmer over low heat, stirring every few minutes, for about 30 minutes or ready to serve.

Store in air tight container for 2 or 3 days.

Practice

2011-02-23T19:29:00.001-08:00

Another little practice watercolor piece I made over the long weekend. Not much, the jar is lacking symmetry & I started to lose interest the further along I went, so its a bit sloppy. I really tried to focus on making the brushes look like you were peering at them through cloudy glass.

Another night at home, alone, making soup, doing laundry, and watching Sex & the City reruns! Look out, husband, you're in for some yummy, hot shrimp chowder when you get home!

Nothing new on the home hunt front this week. We are still on the search for a sweet little love nest. Over the weekend we found a little place in our ideal neighborhood, cute as can be, in our price range even, and we thought we had found the one. Unfortunately, someone else thought they had found the one also. Outbid again! We have a few other viewing lined up for the weekend, so fingers crossed!

My current vice

2011-02-21T08:16:00.000-08:00

No, this post isn't about coffee. Although, I will say the coffee is probably the biggest vice in my life. After a bad day (or long a long, exhausting work day), I don't want a beer or a martini. I want a cappuccino.

I guess you could more aptly call this my comfort food of the moment. This is the snack I have been craving everyday, the dinner I eat when my husband works late or we have a fend-for-yourself night at dinner time (yep, there are nights I don't make dinner, and my hubby makes himself sandwich or eats yogurt & peanut butter; I eat this).

Salad! Not just any salad. Spinach salad with avocados, onions, cheese, and Thousand Island dressing. These ingredients are imperative.

I usually like to add tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, canned corn or beans, & French's crispy onions if I have those items also, but as long as it's got that dressing, cheese & avocados, all is right with the world (in fact, my husband often comes over to steal a couple of bites). I am sure that I am blasphemously taking a perfectly good, wholesome salad and making it unhealthy by slathering it in dressing, but I don't care, not one bit.

In other news, I have the day off for President's Day while my poor hubby went to work. The last of the three-day weekends until May (when we hope to take a week-long vacation and butt it right up against the Memorial Day weekend, then we have 10 days off!). I am actually hoping to keep the TV off, and spend the day working on LitterBox Kids and painting. A day to be creative: something I haven't had in a while. My husband is actually not feeling too well, so he is talking about heading home early after the afternoon shift gets in. Then we can watch movies and snuggle with kitty cats, and maybe order pizza. It has been very gloomy and chilly out this weekend, so we will probably stay indoors and take it easy.

Also, I am currently in love with this print from Ballard Designs.

I could never afford it (well, maybe someday!), but I love the idea and it seems like a great idea for a weekend art project, if you ask me. All you'd need is a large canvas, some newspapers, a little Mod Podge, and a bit of acrylic paint. Love!

Have a Happy Monday!

Caturday is BACK!

2011-02-19T09:06:00.000-08:00

Hi hi and good morning friends!

I have been a little bored with blogging the last few weeks, and to be honest, my husband and I haven't had much time for anything, these days. House hunting has turned into a full time job and its all we can think about. It's kept us very busy: lots of houses to visit, lots of papers to sign when we want to put in an offer, and lots of discussions and pros & cons weighing between my husband and I. Its been all-consuming.

But I have taken a few breaks this week and given my blog a little attention (as you may have noticed) and I think it's time to bring Caturday back. After all, I named this blog after my two ridiculous kitties, and they like it when I pay homage to them every week.

I have been missing the little USB drive that I stick my camera card into (I am pretty sure I left it on the desk and Weetzie snatched it up, took it to the kitchen to bat around, and now its under the fridge or something), so at the moment I am stuck with using my phone for photos. I do it a bit anyhow (like yesterday), but it sure would be nice to use my camera again! I may have to go buy one.

Here is Vinyl and Weetzie, snoozing on the couch. This winter we have found them like this a lot. Vinyl looking like he curled up somewhere and then Weetzie flops down on top of him. Keeping herself warm. I don't think Vinyl minds much. :)

Happy Caturday!

Hip, Happening Husband

2011-02-18T17:10:00.000-08:00

My sweet husband has always been the fauxhawk and mini-mullet type of guy. For years now he has rocked this look with it short on the sides, a bit of length on the top and down the back, with a teeny tiny little tail at the end. He's always wanted something a little crazier but as a young professional he has only taken it so far, keeping with a conservative-rockstar approach.

Well, on Wednesday he left early for work to visit his friend's home to get his hair did, and he worked so late Wednesday night, I went to bed before he got home and didn't get to see his new 'do. Its just as well, I thought he was getting the same look he gets with every cut.

Thursday morning, he had his head buried under the blankets when I left for work, so it wasn't until lunch time, 24 hours after he got the cut, that I was finally privy to the big reveal. My husband, in fact, had let his friend go to town with the buzzing razor and cut some crazy lines into the side of my hubby's head:

WOW!! What a shocker!

I have to say, though surprised, I rather like it. It's fun and different, and it will only last a few weeks until those little buzzed hairs make their way back to the surface. (Yes, the are more lines on the other side too, but its more subdued.) If only I could have a wild haircut that was so impermanent.

A study in caffeine

2011-02-17T11:00:00.000-08:00

Just a little watercolor I made last night, listening to Imogen Heap, making mac and cheese, and letting my cat in and out of the house 50 times in four hours.

I don't often sit at my art desk and paint these days, but every time I do, I am reminded of what a therapeutic experience it is. Even if it doesn't come out exactly as I am thinking, the whole process behind getting that image out of my head and onto paper is a force to be reckoned with. To more art in the near future....!

The Great House Hunt of 2011: Three offers, zero takers

2011-02-16T18:10:00.000-08:00

here

I am learning pretty quickly that house-hunting takes time.

Serious time.

If you don't have all the money in the world, and even if you did, it isn't easy coming upon a home you love in a location you love with all the wish-list items you have in the back of your head. Space vs. price; feel vs. practicality; fully upgraded vs. loads of "potential"...there is always something new to consider. Things you thought you hated that over time you're willing to compromise for. Absolute must-haves become be-nice-to-haves.

Suddenly all you care about is the kitchen space and everything else can be gutted, painted, rehabbed, reworked, re-purposed, re-loved to make it your dream space. Stucco suddenly starts to look more beautiful and less heinous and your dreams of a little cottage in a cute vintage neighborhood go sailing away. Because those cute little cottages are a minuscule 800 square feet, barely the size of your current living quarters, and you & your husband have separate hobbies that require loads and loads of gear. Stuff. Cute homes are not made for people like you. (Me.)

1970 track homes become something to covet; you're one in a hundred posed in a bidding war that you're destined to lose. For a home you're not even sure you like. It's a nice home, a great price, an amazing neighborhood. What's not to like? Doesn't matter, it's not meant for you anyhow, because a money-bags investor came along and swooped in. With cash. Cash on the table. No great deals for first-time-home buyers that have to take out a mortgage and can't close in two week. Not like the cash king investor.

I am not mad, or sad, or really all that stressed about this house hunting process. Nope. But I am learning that home shopping take time, patience, focus, and willingness to compromise. My husband and I have been learning so much. With each new offer comes a new experience. Bidding wars, meeting contractors at fixer-upper to look at cost projections. Looking past what's there and seeing what could be.

That's where we are at. Three offers, no takers. But I am not discouraged. Keep on searching, soon enough we will find the house we can call home. And get the hell out of this wretched apartment.

Sweets for my Sweet

2011-02-15T17:52:00.001-08:00

Happy Belated Heart Day to my special Valentine. 8 years of being sweethearts precedes many, many wonderful Valentine holidays to come. I love you Hunbun! ♥

a very, VERY old photo

Purging

2011-02-09T18:01:00.001-08:00

After receiving a fabulous bag of hand-me-downs from my close friend Amie (seriously, the best batch of hand-me-downs I have ever seen!), I decided it was high time to purge my own closet. I usually do a quick little clean out every six months or so to rid myself of things I don't really care about. An impartial parting of ways between me and things in my closet. But after getting these clothes from Amie and hearing how she was a little bummed to let some things go but knew she had to because she never wore them or they no longer fit, I knew that I myself needed to put on some big girl pants and say farewell to some items of my own.

And oh my. This is hard. I have so many items in my closets. I don't even want to talk about my jacket & coat collections. Cropped jackets and cold weather peacoats are one thing I tend to hoard. But after trying on a few of my blazers and realizing how uncomfortable I was in them, well, I had to look the other way and stuff them in a bag. Darn desk job. Making me too big for my clothes.

I am thinking it may be time also to follow Kendi Everyday's advice and make for myself a working closet. I have a ton of clothes (really, it probably all weighs an actual ton if I tried to weigh it) but there are so many items in there I just don't use. So I need to either get to wearing some of the pretty things I have been ignoring or say ta-ta. Breathe, be strong.

So, at this point, I have just purged some of the items I know I won't really miss or items that I can barely squeeze into these days. And, a few damaged items as well that I have never gotten around to mending or fixing. There are still many many things I could probably part with (the dresses! The high heels! Le sigh...) but I am first going to challenge myself to give the unworn items a go (inspired by Anna & her unworn challenge last summer!). Perhaps document them here (I am majorly self-conscious of myself in photos so we will have to see)??? If I don't do it by the time we have moved into their place, they will have to go. Reason enough to do it.

(And P.S. to Amie and my little sis, I have a big ol' bag of clothes for you to peek through!)

The Great House Hunt of 2011: So long, dream home

2011-02-05T08:26:00.000-08:00

In this post a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned my husband and I had decided to put an offer on a house. It was a little yellow & brick 1950's ranch style in a darling little neighborhood, about 15 minutes from where we currently live, work, and play. We were in love (well, I was, my husband was in extreme like), and decided to move ahead a few months early in our house hunting plans because we wanted to jump on it!

The home we loved has been on the market since August, and it appears simply because the seller is asking too much for the neighborhood. We gave him two very good offers, but he opted not to take either of them, nor counter lower on our second offer. He came down by 5K after our first offer, making us think there was room for price negotiation. However, it appears there isn't any room, the seller wants what he wants and to us it's unreasonable. We were forced to walk away from this home and I am a bit bummed out about it. It is clear to us why this home has been on the market for so long! However, we decided also that we would keep our eye on it, and if we haven't fallen in love with anything else and its still on the market, we are going to put the exact same offer in, to see if he's willing to negotiate then. Like, hello! We are still here and want to take the house off your hands if you are interested in selling it at all.

So, the search is back on for now. My husband has been very actively looking up homes on Redfin daily and finding many, many things he likes. Me, I have a pretty clear picture of what I want, and I am sorry to say the house we put an offer on has made me compare other houses out there to it. It was very, very close to what I wanted, and now I am pretty quick to discount homes that don't have the look I am after. Maybe that is a bad thing; maybe I will miss out on a lot of great homes because they don't look the way I want my future home to look. But at the same time, if I am going to sign money away for 30 years, I better damn well be happy with what we buy. I don't think either my husband or I should have to settle, and we have no pressing reason to get into a home right away. So settle we won't. I am sure there is a home out there that will make us both happy.

For now, here is a new contender we've looked at:

This house is, to say the least, interesting. We haven't been inside yet but we've seen it in person, and I can already find multiple things that would need to be changed: that yard is awful, the driveway was crumbling and needs repair, there is some ugly chain-link fencing all the way around the property that neither Taylor or I are fans of, and that terrible brushed-stucco stuff needs to be painted or covered up or removed or something to make it look more attractive. I hate that about the house right off the bat. There are all kinds of stucco out there but I don't get how builders ever thought this kind of stucco was a good look. I guess it's practical, but I am not a fan, and there is just too much of it in the Inland Empire. It would be interesting to see what the inside is like.

The pros: it has a detached garage, a fine place for Taylor to build his dream music studio. The neighborhood is spaced out and tucked into the hills, so Taylor could probably bang on his drums and not disturb the neighbors. It is quite large, and the price is definitely within the range we can afford without having to negotiate. It has 5 bedrooms, so there is lots of room for a home office, and art space for me, and a couple of guest rooms until little babies come along!). It has a killer corner window (something my other dream home had). It looks kind of mod 1960s, which I find intriguing, though a far cry from the cute factor I was hoping to find. I have no idea about the layout or how the kitchen looks yet, except for some pictures online that can't tell me much. The floor plan and kitchen especially are big deal breakers, so we would have to see.

The cons: Aside from all the aesthetic reasons I listed, a big thing for me is the location. The neighborhood is lovely, but its on a long windy road up a hillside; its not the kind of neighborhood where you would find all the neighborhood kids gathering to play footbal in the street, or walk your dog around the block (there is no block, its just a single road). It appears safe, but its on the outskirts of an area that is not ideal. However, its much closer to my husband's job, and is more centralized; if my husband were to transfer to a different location for work it would be a better drive for him than where we are now. Great freeway access. But it's not located in the cities around here where I love, it's located in a city I never wanted to live in. Also, this may not be a deal-breaker, but it's two story. I want a single story home, please.

So, that's where we're at! I will be sure to bring along more news as I have it. There are so many homes out there and the home we end up in may not even be on the market yet. Here's to the Year of the House: 2011!

Lots of love,
Charlotte xoxo

Quick hello!

2011-02-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

Nothing like a nice evening at home, cake baking in the oven, snugging with kitties, folding warm laundry, and waiting for Parenthood to come on.

Hope your evening is warm and toasty. :)

Lots of love,
Charlotte xoxo

Sunday, chilly Sunday (still on my first cup of coffee)

2011-01-30T08:38:00.001-08:00

I am sitting here on Sunday morning snuggled in a blanket, drinking coffee and waiting for husband to wake up.

I am a bit bummed that it is cold and dreary this morning. We have had lovely sunny skies for the last several weeks, and I was looking forward to another sunny weekend. I mean, I don't care what it looks like on weekdays, when I am stuck in the office staring at two computer screens all day. But on Saturday & Sunday, gimme my sunshine!!

I finally posted on my other blog this morning (it's been a few weeks).

I keep checking daily to see if this girl had her baby already!

Yesterday, I cleaned house, watched lots of HGTV, and listened to Bob Dylan records.

I can't wait to see what this girl has been up to in her studio.

I completely forgot to share the little bunting project I did at the beginning of this month. I had some Christmas garland hanging above the TV all December and when I took it down, I decided I needed something else there. So I whipped this up really quick over a weekend. I haven't decide if I like it or not, but I can make another one when we move into our new place.

I really wish we had better light in our apartment.

Today we are meeting with our Realtor to talk about a property we like. This house buying thing has been all that's in my brain lately. I think of nothing but how I would decorate and what furniture I will need.

I think my cat Vinyl wants me to feed him, but there is still quite a few bites in the bowl. He keeps acting like he's hungry and how dare we ignore a starving kitty, but he will never eat the food if he can see the bottom of the bowl. It's pretty annoying, so we wait until it's gone thinking it will force him to eat it. But I think he goes on hunger strike and my other fat cat Weetzie will happily chow down on the stale crumbs until the bowl is empty. All I know is, he kept trying to wake my up since 4 am this morning, so I am a little perturbed with him. I am not filling up the food bowl until it's empty, Vinyl!

I might pop a load of laundry in real quick. I need to, but I don't want to. Meh.

I am skipping Caturday this week. My camera battery has been dead for days and I am a little tired of how gloomy its been in our apartment this winter. Black kitties often blend into a dark background.

Hmmm... time to refill my coffee...

Happee happee Sunday, friends!!!!!

I Heart Commericals: Happy Inside

2011-01-28T17:39:00.000-08:00

Be still, my heart.

If you love kitties, this one may take your breath away. It is cats, running around in Ikea, but the slow-motion action and the beautiful piano & vocals almost bring tears to my eyes. In a happy-inside way.

Okay, maybe I am going a bit overboard, after all, it is just clips of cats running around in a big box store. But I watch this as my own sweet feline naps purring in my lap, and the film just feels lovely. Enjoy...

Disclaimer: By posting each commercial in this feature, please note that I do not in any way endorse the company, goods, or services that is featured in this commercial advertisement, nor I am paid or given free goods or services of any kind to feature it. I am simply admiring these advertisements as works of art.

Caturday (Belated), Patrick, and all things in between

2011-01-24T18:49:00.000-08:00

I wimpishly declared last Friday that I have been so incredibly distracted these days with house hunting that I pretty much didn't have much time for anything else. It's true. The last 9 days or so my head has been in the clouds, dreaming about owning my own home and living happily ever after. Sigh. Let's not forget I've been tearing-my-hair-out-stressed about making one of the biggest decisions I've ever made. (Choosing to marry was far less frightening than this!) We have MANY decisions to make in the coming months and I am filled to the brim with an overwhelming anxiousness that encompasses feelings of all favors, running the gamut from doubt to pure joy. I can only imagine that having a baby is 10 times more intense than this.

In spite of this, I did have a rather packed week last week and an even more intense weekend. I am hoping to push aside those clouds gathering around my head to indulge again in blogging; my sanity-keeper. Here's a few updates from around the Jordan home.

Caturday!

I didn't get to Caturday, and shame on me! I have been meaning to share this photo of Fat Weetzie. She looks like a blob of uncooked pancake batter that I need to scrape up with a spatula and flip over. I love her. She and I are watching TV in bed here.

Yes, those are my Mickey Mouse jammies.

Happy 1st Birthday, Patrick!

On Saturday after meeting my father-in-law to go over our mortgage loan options, I went with my pops and little sis to the High Desert to celebrate the first birthday of my cousin's adorable little boy. While I didn't get hardly any photos, I was able to capture the all-important 1st birthday cake photo.

♥

Shoes

The shoes I wrote about in this post are adorable and far too big. Now I have to send them back. Boooo!

House Hunt of 2011

My husband and I have decided to make an offer on this home:

I am in love. We're not quite sure if it will all work out but it's the first of the lovely homes we have seen that we actually agree on. The lot is gorgeous and there are so many things about it I am over the moon for. We are going to keep looking to see if there is something else out there that fits our needs just a bit better, but this is the closest thing we've found that we're both very happy with. We spent some time with our Realtor yesterday looking at this one a third time and looking at a few others, then we printed out a list on Redfin and drove by hundreds of homes and stopped in a few open houses. We probably spent 9 hours driving around. Still nothing has come close & I am convinced it's the one, but we'll just have to see. We have decided, because of this house, that we are going to prequalify NOW, instead of May like I said last week. The things you do for love. I am nervous that it won't work out, but I suppose that only means there's a better home out there.

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

Distracted.

2011-01-21T18:59:00.000-08:00

October 2010, Cheeeese!

I have been horribly distracted and stressed out this week. Why? My husband and I are heavily considering throwing out our plans for a May home-buying season and moving ahead now. NOW! We're not yet certain if it is going to happen now or if we will wait the 3 and a half months to get to May, but there were factors we didn't consider (i.e. going to open houses may find you your dream home! Which we didn't expect...) that may allow us to start early. We're not sure. Thus, I have been incredibly unfocused and nervous all week. God teach me patience!

I hope your week went well! I will be sure to post more details as I can and hope to here tomorrow in time for Caturday. :)

Lots of love,

Charlotte xoxo

Pumped about: New pumps!

2011-01-17T08:00:00.000-08:00

In yesterday's post I sadly declared I would temporarily be losing my allowance.

Okay, actually, it's not really that sad. We are using that measly little 50 bucks to help better financially prepare us for diving into buying a house. While this means the end of buying clothes & shoes for a while (which truthfully is not a bad thing, I can barely squeeze another dress into my closet), it's all for the greater good.

However, I happened to be gifted an Amazon gift card for $25 from a colleague during the holidays. One last chance to buy something frivolous! Yay!

I hemmed and hawed for days on the Amazon website trying to figure out what I wanted. I really wanted booties of some sort. I don't have one pair and they seem like a wonderful going-out shoe for winter months with leggings, tights, or jeans. Booties seem incredibly versatile and I know I could make use of a black pair. The problem was, I just couldn't find a swoon-worthy pair in my price range. There were plenty of lovely options with free shipping that would fall well within my price, but nothing I loved. (I considered this wicked little pair for a while but they didn't show enough photo angles of the shoe in order for me to make an unfettered decision, and while I think they are darling in the most bad-ass of ways, I am not sure how much wear they would get in my closet. Halloween?!)

Several week have gone by since I got the gift card, and I began spending way too much time on Amazon. I forgot to make dinner many a night. I figured buying something I liked rather than something I loved wasn't that big of a deal since it was a gift from someone anyhow, and then I could move on with my life. Somehow I began perusing listing for other types of shoes, flats & pumps mostly. I realized I don't have a basic black pump and that was something I could maybe use. Then I came across this shoe:

Michael Antonio "Melanie" Pump

It also came in black & red, but the black pair was more expensive & I already have a pair of pretty red heels I am in love with. The brown was listed at $22.30 and truthfully, it was the color option I loved most for the silhouette. And I don't have one neutral brown pair in my closet either. (I have two pair of gray heels, a pair of hot pink, eggplant, orange, red, and a white with pink flower print.... how have I managed???). This pair could very well transition from spring to autumn, and I am all about clothing items that can be worn across multiple seasons (it's not really that hard in Southern California). I loved its sophisticated sweetness, and now it's traveling its way to my doorstep. Hooray!

Update: The Great House Hunt of 2011

2011-01-16T07:11:00.000-08:00

Last week I talked about the Great House Hunt of 2011. By Christmastime, Taylor & I are planning on being in a new home that we own; a place to continue building our lives together, to raise a family, and to share in lots of love (we also want to get a puppy! Vinyl & Weetzie will be thrilled). 2011 has been aptly called The Year of the House 'round these parts.

The Saturday after I wrote that post, Taylor & I decided it was about time we check our FICO scores. My score I wasn't too concerned about; I have been working on building my credit for eleven years now, since right after high school. I have multiple paid-off credit cards & paid-off auto loans under my belt, as well as student loans that I have been diligently paying on for 5 years. My score was great, if I do say so myself.

My husband on the other hand, didn't have any credit history at all, and we didn't think to start building it until about May of last year. The good news: the work we have done to build Taylor's credit is working off. His score was far better than we expected! It's just a few points away from where we want it to be, and we have no doubt at all we can get it there in a short period of time.

With that in mind, we have set a time frame.

May.

May is the month we plan on trying to qualify for a home loan. If all goes well, we will be on our way. May is already a special month for us. We were married in May 2009, so we're hoping the odds will be in our favor.

We have three little financial goals that with some hard work, we want to reach before we qualify. We have four months, and things may be a little tight around the Jordan home, but we know we can do it with some discipline.

I already talked about this one, but we really want to continue building both of our FICO scores. I read somewhere that the interest rate on a loan granted to a couple is usually determined by the lowest credit score. At this point, I am confident if we tried to qualify today we would be approved for something. But it's all about getting the best interest rate possible. Rates are low right now and we have to be extra careful that we won't be stuck with a monthly mortgage payment we can't afford, or an interest rate that will fluctuate later.

I am very, very close to paying off my car. Right now we have two auto loans. We just purchased Taylor's car in May 2010, so we have a while before we can get that one paid off. But I purchased my car before we got married, and I have only a few thousand dollars left to go. If I merely paid my minimum payment I wouldn't be paid off until about April 2012, and that just won't do. I want my credit report to show I have successfully paid this loan off and that my husband and I have that much more income to put toward a house payment each month. We have decided temporarily to do away with our allowances (you can read about our allowance in this archaic post about how we structure our budget. This system is now semi-obsolete) & in addition to that we will double our car payment. This will be a 171% increase in our monthly payment. In addition, we are planning on putting our 2010 tax return down to pay off my car. (If our 2009 tax returns were any indication of how much money we will be refunded this year, it should be a decent chunk of change. We we able to go on a cruis e last year on that refund!) Neither of us are completely sure we can do this one in time, since we don't yet know how much our return will be (if we have a small return, or God forbid, we owe taxes, we might be up a creek). Nevertheless, it will pay off to be optimistic and we're prepared to pinch pennies if necessary.

The last little piece of the puzzle is to have more money saved. Taylor and I wanted to have a minimum amount of money in our savings account when we go to qualify. The good news: we're already on track to have that money saved with our normal saving schedule (we automatically put a certain amount aside with each paycheck)!! We just need to keep doing what we're doing in this area, and any additional dollars we can tuck away will be icing on the cake. Yay!

May really isn't that far off (I mean, it's already the middle of January. Hello!?). We've spoken to our realtor (who happens to be a good friend of Taylor's family) and she is aware of our plan, but is also going to keep her eyes peeled for homes in the meantime (she's in tune to the kind of home Taylor & I are looking for). Today Taylor & I are going to stop at some open houses, including one that I am very excited about. I have had my eye on this house for several months, and it's still out there on the market, teasing me.

This house is actually something we can afford, the square footage isn't shabby, and Taylor & I both are in love with the 1950s ranch style. The issue with it is it isn't located in our current town, in is in the next town over, which would add to our daily commutes to work & take us a little farther away from family. The neighborhood is very safe & pretty, but it's a little boring and we love where we live right now: closer to the action. The homes in our town are quite a bit more expensive so we would probably have to settle for something much smaller or a buy fixer-upper (which I do not want) in order to stay here.

Plus, if I got to design my dream kitchen, I'd give it white cabinets & black granite counter tops with wood floors:

Hi dream kitchen! You just need some funky knobs & sweet accessories with a sunny color on the walls, which I can take care of myself. Swoon!

I can't wait to find out what is to come with regard to our home hunt! I will be sure to keep you all posted!

Lots of Love,

Charlotte xoxo

Happy Caturday: More from the studio

2011-01-15T09:15:00.001-08:00

Hi there!

I have been enjoying sharing some of my artwork on this here blog the last couple weeks, so I thought I might keep going for one more week.

This is a little watercolor painting I did in the Summer of 2009. I actually have a little matching green & orange owl and have the "Owl & Pussycat" hanging in our bedroom at the moment. We have tried for bright oranges and pops of greens & fuchsias in our bedroom, although, the room has never been exactly how I wanted it. When we move into our new home (2011 is The Year of the House, people!), I will probably take these babies down, and either save them for a future baby's room or give them away. But for now, I think this one is rather sweet. Kind of reminds me of my own kitty, Vinyl Cat.

What are you up to this Saturday? I have been feeling a bit under the weather for the last several weeks. Not sick per se, just little mini-ailments that have been plauging me, one after the other. As soon as I got rid of my cough, I started my period, then got congestion with a bloody nose that wouldn't go away, and now it's that time of the month again. And lately, every uncomfortable thing that can happen when one has their period happens to me. Everything. I have felt like crap for days! I started to feel better this morning except that I have a terrible headache. No end!!!

Aside from feeling crappy, I am going to stay home and do some housework, set up some blog posts for the coming days, and hopefully work on some pieces for my shop. I would like to have a handful of items before the shop makes its debut. I have another 3-day-weekend (Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!) so I am hoping not to pack a bunch of stuff into today and spread out the chores over the full three days.

I hope you have a most lovely weekend!

I Heart Commericals: For you, Amie

2011-01-13T20:45:00.001-08:00

This commercial is a few years old at this point. And really, I can't say that this commercial is especially witty or cheeky or anything; it's just very, very cute.

I think, a few years back, I really started to dig commercials after I noticed this one. A sweet tale of a silly-looking pup and his equally silly-looking stuffed companion. The sweetness & charm of a dachshund can't be matched, and a dachshund with a pet dachshund: well that's absurdly adorable! This one has to be my all time favorite because it makes me smile. That's it.

I hope you enjoy it, I always do. :)

(Why is this pick for my friend Amie, you ask?? She loves dachshunds, of course! I mean, who doesn't??)

Disclaimer: By posting each commercial in this feature, please note that I do not in any way endorse the company, goods, or services that is featured in this commercial advertisement, nor I am paid or given free goods or services of any kind to feature it. I am simply admiring these advertisements as works of art.

I has a coffee bar.

2011-01-12T17:36:00.000-08:00

Note: For those of you who are not fans of the infamous Lolcats from I Can Has Cheezburgr, the use of "has" instead of "have" in this post title is purely intentional and meant to be comedic, and is not the result of an education in Southern California. I has a degree in English. Srsly!!

Some days, all I have during the work week is the warm glow of my (two!) computer screens, the promise of a paycheck, and my friend & cubicle-mate Kathleen to keep me occupied. Some days, it gets rather cold and gloomy in that office, and I have to start making hourly trips to the bathroom to make the seconds tick by a little quicker.

OH! But wait. Kathleen and I happen to keep our cubicle fully stocked with teas, coffee, creamers, and occasionally some baked goods of the gluten-free variety. These days, those hourly trips the bathroom have been replaced with 15 minute conversations with Kathleen about what kind of tea we shall warm our throats with. Swoon.... I am all about the tea and it is the pinnacle of my work day.

Yep, those two coffee mugs on the desk in the top-left corner are Kathleen's. She's always double fisting. Coffee & tea at the same time. Woot!

Soon, Spring will present itself, work will get busier, and I will have less time to think about getting up and going to the ladies room. But I won't abandon you, my coffee & tea. You make my hands a little warmer, my day a little brighter, and my mind a little sharper. ♥

Special Diets Beware: Homemade Mac & Cheese

2011-01-11T17:57:00.000-08:00

One could call me "baked dish" snob. Connoisseur of casseroles. I am inherently hooked on warm, wholesome meals that are baked in a dish and come out bubbling & oozing with cheese. Nomnomnomnommm.......

So, it would come as no surprise that I love to make homemade macaroni and cheese. I probably make a batch a month, maybe more. (Mac & cheese might be the reason my husband & I both started to get little love handles after we were married!) Last week, my husband sweetly declared I had made the best batch of macaroni and cheese evar. Evar?! According to my husband, I top myself all the time. Yes, I have made the best batch of mac & cheese ever, before. And the best tortilla soup ever and the best green enchiladas ever multiple times too. But this particular batch of mac & cheese, well, I had to agree. (I'm so lucky my man likes my cooking.)

Of course, I did not take a photo. That very night, we ceremoniously stuffed that batch of mac & cheese into our faces until it was gone and cried for hours afterward about how our stomachs were about to explode. Yep, it was that good. I made an extra cup of sauce this time and the sauce-to-pasta ratio is really what did the trick. So even though there is no photo, if you're in for a night of warm, gooey, eversodelicious mac & cheese, this is it. (After all, you know what mac & cheese looks like, right?)

My Best Macaroni & Cheese to date

Ingredients:
3 cups uncooked Farfelle pasta (bowtie pasta!)
4 Tbsp butter, plus 1 more Tbsp
5 Tbsp flour
Dashes of salt, pepper, & onion powder (1/2 tsp each, maybe?)
3 cups whole milk
3 cups shredded cheese (I used Cheddar & Jack blend)
1/2 cup crispy french onions

To make:
Preheat oven to 350 & spray a 2 & 1/2 qt dish with cooking spray. Cook pasta according to package directions until tender. Drain completely & transfer to cooking dish. Set aside.

To make the sauce, melt 4 Tbsp butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir in dry ingredients: flour, salt & pepper, and onion powder, until smooth. Whisk in milk. Stir constantly over low heat with a whisk, scraping flour off the bottom & sides of pan. Stir until sauces thickens and starts to boil. This will take 15 to 20 minutes.

Pour sauce & 2 1/2 cups of cheese into dish with the pasta and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 sauce on top. Cut last Tbsp of butter into smallish squares and sprinkle evenly over pasta mixture. Sprinkle with crispy onions.

Bake about 25 minutes or until cheese browns just slightly and sauce is bubbling! Remove from oven & let stand 10 minutes or so to cool. Spoon into bowls and devour like your life depended on it. Yummmmmmm!

Happy Caturday: Hello Hollywood!

2011-01-08T07:36:00.000-08:00

One of the many things we made for Christmas was a painted portrait of my pseudo-in-law's (and close friend) & brother-in-law's kitty, Abbey Road. Abbey is a pretty funny cat. She lives in West Hollywood with her artist momma and her musician dad. She is very, very fluffy, and she has such pretty coloring in her stripes; stripes that I found very inspiring while painting (much more inspiring than my poor plain black kitties fur, sorry Vinyl & Weetz).

Like always, at Christmastime I had a lot on my plate and I didn't get to finish off the painting before it came time to wrap it. Abbey still needs whiskers, and I wanted to make the white in her fluffy chest a little brighter. Mostly though, I think I did a fairly good job of capturing who little Abbey is, but with a big ol' grin. I know Abbey would be smiling all the time if she physically could.

And of course, I didn't take a photo first either, so I had to wait until Amie took the photo & posted them on her blog too. Which is fine, she takes much better photos than me anyway. :)

Happy Caturday!

The Great House Hunt of 2011

2011-01-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

I have mentioned buying a home many a time on this blog. That's because, well, my husband and I are darn-near obsessed with purchasing a place of our own, and it's a dream we've been lusting after for 2 years, since right before we were married. Since the U.S. housing market has been the way it's been we've been salivating over low home prices. Our realtor has been dangling a figurative carrot in front of our noses, saying "if you can afford what you're paying in rent, then you can afford a house."

Now, my husband and I don't make that much, but we're both fortunate to have good, stable jobs which has afforded us to live very comfortably. We have paid our rent & all other financial obligations on time every month, with no struggle. We've been able to indulge in most of the things we've wanted in 2010 without going into any credit card debt, such as a nice 1-year anniversary trip, a couple of mini-vacations and a nice big television (well, Taylor wanted that. I could have gone a bit smaller). We've also been able to save some money. Saving takes time, let me tell you. And our credit union isn't seeming to invest much interest into our savings account either. Slowly but surely, we're reaching our goal of saving up a bit of money for closing costs on a home and paying my car off. Slowly, but surely.

But this is it. It's 2011. It's go time. I am officially declaring 2011 "The Year of the House." Because dang-it, I am buying a house this year if it kills me.

There are a few factors that are quickly going to determine whether we start the process of house hunting as quickly as the first quarter or as far off as the last quarter (I am guessing it will be the tail end of the second). But we've been working hard as a couple, being open with each other and discussing all the options that have presented themselves as time quickly moves along.

Credit
Without getting specific, lets just say this has been one of the larger (though not the only) reasons we've been waiting. As a couple, this is something we've been working to improve and I know we're getting there. Word of advise kids: even if you may not have many financial responsibilities and buying a home may be a far away glimmer at the end of a tunnel, always always always keep tabs on your credit. Only take on debt as you can handle it, and pay your bills on time even if it kills you. You will not regret it.

Savings
We may receive a little financial help from family, but it won't be much, and truthfully, we don't want much. We really want to buy a home all by ourselves. At this point now we don't have much to put down, and though sometimes buyers put little or even nothing down, we would like to have as much cash on hand as possible. We have been very consistently putting the same amount in savings every month and while it's been building, there is a bazillion times more we could use.

Compromising vs. Settling
We have an enormous wish list:

3+ bedrooms
1.75 + baths
open floor plan
detached garage or detached unit for Taylor's studio
original wood flooring
single story, no pool
located on the South side of town
sun porch
mid-century built with original details
cute kitchen & bathrooms that aren't totally gross

That's the short version. And I know that some of those items may have to come off, in the name of buying something we can afford, like the sun porch and buying on the South side. We may have to buy on the East side (though I am not going near the North or the West, dammit!). And I know at first we may be on the polar extreme, either more picky or more willing to settle. I don't know. We'll have to wait and see when we get that pre-qualification in our hot little hands! I know though as the search continues, we may be more level headed in pursuit of finding the house we'll call our home.

Factors aside, we're making this happen. It's the Great House Hunt of 2011! I will be sure to keep this blog updated with the various house hunting events. Stay tuned!

Ode to the Hairbow

2011-01-05T18:22:00.000-08:00

So, this is for fun.

That's it. Just for fun. That's right, this is another post about this stuff on my head I call hair and thine things I adorn it with. That's all I have to say about it. ;)

My friend Amie & I both chopped our hair pretty short-ish in the last two months. The chop wasn't as big a deal to me as it was to Amie. I have sported a bob off and on most of my adult life, and when I cut my hair this last time, it wasn't that long to begin with (maybe 3 or 4 inches past the shoulder. For my gal pal Amie, it was quite an intense change. A lovely one, but the decision in getting there festered in Amie for weeks, to the point where those around us were like, just do it already! (Haha, just kidding Amie.)

Afterward, a new sense of sass and spunk ignited in Amie. She looked pretty cute with that short bob, and then started wearing hair bows to boot. Hair bows!

Amie gifted me some sweet little bows too. She's that kinda girl- sweet & thoughtful herself. I took the hair bows thinking, yeah, okay, on weekends maybe. I couldn't shake the thought that teenage girls, twelve-year-olds, wear hairbows. I'm 29. I can't wear a hair bow. Never mind that I have a kitty wallet and make plush toys and talk to my husband in baby talk. Nope. I am too old for hair bows.

But then one morning over the Christmas weekend, I had to get ready & leave the apartment quickly to make a movie showtime. I had no time to straighten my hair. And I never go out of the house without straitening my hair, unless it's pulled back. And shudder, after I left the house, I realized I did not have a thing in my purse to tie my hair back. All I had was Amie's hair bows. I had to make do.

I had an epiphany that day. I CAN leave the house without doing my hair. I never, ever, ever let my hair dry naturally and go out in public, and that day I did. I liked it! What's more, I wore a hair bow, and I liked that too! The messy waves are somehow anchored by a sweet little bow, giving in an artsy-girl look I never thought I would be brave enough to sport.

So now, I feel like even though I've worn this cut for years, I have a sassy new look too. Yay! Thanks Amie for sharing your hair bows. :)

Okay, okay, so here are some resolutions too...

2011-01-04T17:53:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I was fortunate to (again) have the day off from work in observance of the New Year (although, why they didn't give us the 31st off, I have no idea. That would have been smarter). I started the day making an enormous to-do list, thinking well, if they're gonna pay me holiday pay I may as well get some work done around the apartment. I am proud to say that I devoted my entire day until Taylor came home at 5:30 pm to getting many many chores done. I ran errands (bank, post office, visits to Target & Trader Joe's) and put away the Christmas decorations, did 6 loads of laundry, and cleaned up the apartment 10 times better than it has looked since the start of the holiday season. I even made dinner! Taylor was so impressed he cleaned up the dinner dishes & took out the trash. Swoon!

I think yesterday went so well because I took a little time at the start of the day to be organized. Being organized is key. While I am pretty good at exercising my organization skills at work, I am a disaster at home. Work full time, managing chores, the finances, & grocery shopping is hard enough when I am not trying to balance them with personal focuses like crafting, blogging, and reading. And throw in time with family and friends. Uh, yeah right. Oh, and now I wanna open up an Etsy store too? Slap me...I've lost it.

Having a game plan yesterday made it easier to getting everything crossed off my list, and I even had a little time to spend with my sketchbook. So, it only makes sense to make a game plan for 2011. I know I already wrote a goals post last week, but that really only includes the big hopes and dreams we're sharing; the big picture stuff. Being a little more disciplined, focused, & organized in the day-to-day could take me from happy to HAPPY! Am I right?

It's only fitting that the first resolution is:

Be more organized. I often sit at work in the afternoons and jot some notes down about what I need to do when I leave work, so I can focus at my desk. I need to start making more detailed notes and look at them once I leave work. That's right. Actually look at my to-do list and plan my day (or evening) around it. What a brilliant idea!

Aside from looking at my to-do list, my whole apartment needs an organizational overhaul. Our closets, our shared studio, our pantry, our outdoor storage, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. There's no shortage of places that need organizing. When it comes to our home hunt, we need to make sure we exercise our organization skills in that area as well. Our finances, sending birthday cards on time, and keeping the kitty food full are all areas which will benefit from increased level of organization.

Followed by:

Commit to quality blogging. 2010 was the first full year of blogging for me, and truly, I am still working out the kinks regarding my actual blog-writing focus. I want this to be a personal blog, to document all the many comings and goings of Charlotte, her husband Taylor, and their two silly kitties! But that can be all too vast of a focus (some would argue it's not a focus). Still, I am not interested in defining this space either. I mean, I started a separate blog so I would have a defined space to talk about one little aspect of my life. Here, I don't want to limit myself to one realm, but I also don't want to make it a place for half-assed posts with links to things I wanna buy from Etsy, just to put something out there when I don't have anything to write about. I want to excite my readers! I don't want to be the reason they don't come back. I am going to keep trudging along, experimenting with what works and what doesn't with regard to blogging.

Shake up my morning routine. It's shameful. I drive to work everyday, and it takes me 3 to 5 minutes. If I left 5 minutes earlier than I normally do and took my bike, I'd be there with time to spare. I would also like to get up when my alarm goes off the first time, and set my clothes out the night before. This would give me a little extra time in the a.m. to perhaps work on my daily to-do list, check my email, empty & fill the dishwasher, or maybe start writing a post for the blog! An extra 20 minutes in the morning would probably be the coolest thing that's ever happened to me.

Eat healthily at home, more often. Taylor and I did a wonderful job of enjoying most meals at home this year. But in those last two months, November and December, things got a little out of control. With eating at home more comes eating more healthily. Switching from ground beef to ground turkey, eating more salads with less Thousand Island dressing (my fave! ... so long old friend...), and snacking on fruit and hummus instead of chips and cookies are all good starts. (I am still going to make homemade macaroni and cheese and egg salad sandwiches, and I will not apologize for it.) Eating healthier as well as exercising with a bike ride to work will get my body into better shape, making it ready for a pregnancy, which I am hoping will happen sooner than later.

This is only the start of all the life-better decisions I would like to make this year. Others include:

Turn off the TV & get off the couch
Spend a minimum of 30 minutes of creative time everyday
Read more often
Continue growing my own vegetables
Work on aspects of my Etsy shop daily
Make reusable bags to take to the grocery store
Be the best wife I can possibly be
Visit my grandparents more often
Write thank you cards at all times that apply
Make crafting dates with my girlfriends
Have creative days with my husband
Take the kitties in on their one year check up on time this year
Make my & Taylor's doctor's/dentist's appointment on time
Balance our bank account daily
Do more yoga
Be happy,
and so on.

So with that, thank you lovely readers, for staying tuned on all the wonderful things 2011 has to offer. For all of us in the world. Good night!

I Heart Commercials: Double Feature

2011-01-02T08:58:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the second installment of Charlotte ♥ 's Commercials! (I think I will make a logo at some point!)

I searched You Tube and found several commercials I already love, and I have had two submissions (from Amie & Becky- my two faithful readers!), so I will be sharing them all over the coming weeks.

I am featuring two today, since they are both for the same company. My sweet husband has always thought it was a little funny that I am so into commercials. He likes to DVR things just so he can fast-forward through the commercials. I rarely DVR programs, because I just don't mind commercials all them much (and there is bound to be a little gem that airs!). But these two Geico commercials, well, they make Taylor (and me) laugh every time.

Why we love this one:
- The expression on the woman's face & her reaction when she learns how much her antique treasure is worth; so hilariously genuine.

Why we love this one:
1. My mom used to tell me stories about the 5 little piggies.
2. How deep his voice gets when he says something other than weeeeeeeeee! w-w-weeeeeeeee!
3. Why on earth is he holding pinwheels?

Happy happy Sunday to you!

Disclaimer: By posting each commercial in this feature, please note that I do not in any way endorse the company, goods, or services that is featured in this commercial advertisement, nor I am paid or given free goods or services of any kind to feature it. I am simply admiring these advertisements as works of art.

Caturday: In my sketchbook

2011-01-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

A break from the usual Caturday post to bring you something completely different!

It's no surprise: cats are incredibly inspiring to me in my art. Art of all forms. When I am laying around the house, I try to make sure I spend a little time with my sketchbook and force myself to do something. Most of the time, it's a doodle not worth mentioning or ever looking at again. This week, I drew the outline of a cat and colored it in with bright oil pastels. I don't often use pastels of any kind (and truly I am not well versed in how to use them), but the way the colors blended seemed altogether lovely. Today it seemed fitting to share something a little different in the spirit of Caturday.

Which reminds me: Amie, you owe me a photo of the Abbey Cat painting I did for you for Christmas! Pity me for not taking a photo before I wrapped it up! :)

Goals (not resolutions!) for 2011

2010-12-30T13:00:00.000-08:00

Perhaps you remember my monthly goal posts a few months back? Or maybe it's best to not bring those posts up...

I had such a hard time making each goal happen. I mean, I can work a pretty intense 40-hour work week, and while I am not complaining, it is just a cold hard fact that there work days which I am completely useless in the off hours. Some days, nothing looks better than that butt-shaped imprint on the couch and a warm kitty to snuggle up with. Workers of the world: am I right?

But, with each new year comes a poignant time to think about the wonderful 365 days that have passed and the even more wonderful 365 days ahead. For 2011, I don't resolve to do anything. I am happy with who I am, how I live, and whom I call my loved ones. There isn't a thing I would change about myself (well, except perhaps the wherewithal to meet a goal). So, I am writing some goals & events which my husband and I would truly love to see happen in 2011.

1. Buy a house- This is something we have been hoping for for a long, long time, since before we were married! And truth be told, I have already found the home that has captured my heart. But we may have to continue searching because it's not quite time yet.

2. Get pregnant- It's no secret: My husband and I are trying for a baby! Trying to conceive has been a very difficult/exciting/emotional process. But truly, we are happy it hasn't happened quite yet. We know it will happen when the time is right, and in the meantime, we'll just enjoy trying. :)

3. Pay off my car- We have two car payments right now. Before we get into a home, having the one paid off would be key.

4. Build a studio/man cave for Taylor & an art/sewing space for me- Once we have found the home of our dreams and are all moved in, Taylor & I each are going to have our own designated creative space. Right now we're sharing a very small space, and we are both excited to have a place we can call our own.

5. Write & illustrate a childrens' book or poetry compilation- My husband and I have come up with very many ideas for creative project we can do together. How fun would it be to write a little book, and hand-bind it together to give to the niece & nephews (and maybe a baby son or daughter!) for Christmas 2011?

6. Taylor's goal: finish an album - It's been a while since Taylor completed his album, Hymns from the Gutter. With all the songs recorded and being stored on his computer, one would think this is a project that's already been started.

7. Charlotte's goal: open an Etsy shop- I am on my way. Follow my progress here!

8. Start a savings fund for a cool older car- Ultimate dream: to own a fully restored '67 Firebird. Or something equivalently awesome.

9. Go to a Laker game! This is for Tay. He hearts the Lakers.

I hope your new year is just as beautiful and prosperous!

What Santa brought!

2010-12-29T17:33:00.001-08:00

I received many wonderful & beautiful gifts for Christmas this year, and truly I am thankful and blessed to have received each and every one of them. I have some wonderful family & friends surrounding me who know me and what I like all too well. :)

Here are some of the many wonderful favorites I received!

♥

Almost the same day that my good friend Corinne send me a photo pic of these cute wooden kitties sittin' on a couch that she found at Cost Plus, my sweet friend & coworker Kathleen gifted me these for the holidays. I must be pretty transparent; both girls knew I would flip over this. They were right! Are these little guys too cute?

♥

One of my closest friends and sis-in-laws, Amie (and bro-in law, Grant!), gave me this neat little package geared toward my new little business (which is still in the works). She's such a thoughtful girl, a fellow crafter, and always an amazing gift-giver.

Handmade Marketplace book by Kari Chapin

Very cool & unique vintage letter rack or business card holder! (What Amie intended it would be!)

This darling little hedgehog from this amazing Etsy seller, which I already had my keen little eyeballs on.

♥

My momma got me this beautiful antiqued-gold and freshwater pearl necklace (I already had the matching earrings). So stunning, one of my favorite new pieces of jewelry.

♥

My mother-in-law gave me this sweet little tabletop mouse mirror that came from one of my favorite little local gift boutiques here in my town. How I heart it. :)

What were some of your favorite gifts you received this holiday season?

Day-off mode (i.e. laziness)

2010-12-27T14:34:00.001-08:00

Happy Monday after Christmas! I am very fortunate to be at home today with a little four day weekend thanks to the company I work for. Yay! I have to say, though, that I needed a little rest. And the house chores needed some serious attention. With all the handmade gift making and various holiday events and wishes to spread, my apartment is looking pretty neglected. The cats are starting to attack tree ornaments and play with all our Christmas goodies I've left under the tree (still waiting to be put away!).

My to do list for the day:

1. Laundry
2. Clean bathroom & kitchen (including floors)
3. Go through the ever-expanding pile of papers that needs to be sorted to toss, shred, or file away
4. Make dinner for hubby when he comes home from work
5. Some sewing, if time permits

I am going to share some amazing Christmas goodies I received this week, but in the meantime, check out the dress my husband let me order from ModCloth for Christmas:

Cute, cute, cute- I can't wait to get this baby in the mail. It seemed like a good dress for all four seasons with the right pieces, and with that little Peter Pan collar, it's just been calling my name for days. Thanks honey!

Happy Monday- how was your holiday weekend?

Happy Caturday: No peeking!!!

2010-12-25T01:00:00.000-08:00

I am writing this post on Wednesday knowing all too well I will not actually have time to post Caturday on Christmas day. And really, I just can't help myself when it comes to sharing photos of my purr-pants kitties. So here's a quick one:

That's my Weetz, ready for action under the tree. Stuffing her fat little self under there with all the presents and mussing up the tree skirt. Silly thing. But that's what makes Weetzie Weetzie, right?

Okay- now go open your presents and have a lovely day with your family and friends! If you're not celebrating Christmas today, well, I wish you a very Happy Caturday!

Lots of love,
Charlotte xoxo

A break from my blogging break...

2010-12-22T19:16:00.000-08:00

.... to bring you a new feature.

Charlotte Hearts Commercials ♥

I will be honest. I am a big fatty sucker for a good commercial. My husband thinks it is a little weird that I get so giddy over certain commercials. But commercials are like mini films. Sure, they're usually designed to sell you things you don't truly need, but behind every great commercial is a great creative team (I wish I had their job). And there are so many out there! New commercial goodness all the time. So here it is: my ode to the art form of commercials.

I am starting with this Target commercial, because:

1. We're days away from Christmas
2. I heart it: these kiddos dance cool and the music sounds like something my husband would make
3. I would love it if an electronic Santa Claus crashed my Christmas party
4. My husband used to collect nutcrackers when he was little :)

Enjoy!

Lots of love,
Charlotte xoxo

P.S. I am not sure how often this new feature will take place, but the maximum will be once a week, maybe less. If you have a commercial you love, be sure to share! Maybe I will use it. :)

Meowy Christmas!

2010-12-20T16:52:00.000-08:00

Here

I am going to be completely honest here: I just don't have the time for any blogging this week! It kinda makes me a bit sad, but rather than try to put some half-hearted posts together (which I obviously did not do last week either!) I am just going to leave it at this: Have a very Merry Christmas & happiest of Holidays to everyone! I will see you all next week! :)

Lots of love,
Charlotte xoxo

Caturday: It's not just for Saturdays anymore

2010-12-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

I mentioned on Saturday (my prior post below) that I thought my husband may have misplaced my SD card & thumb drive. For the history books: no, Taylor did not misplace this. I am thinking perhaps one of my sweet little furballs thought that maybe it was a toy for them, because it was on the other side of our studio (from the desk where it's typically kept) in a corner. Behind the guitars. Not sure how it got there, but I am fairly positive that a human husband would not do something like that. Nope. Sorry Honey!

Maybe it was because my sweet kitties are sick of my constant plastering of their faces on the Internet? Perhaps. It turns out that many of the photos I wanted to use were either too dark or too blurry when I finally loaded them up on my computer. Oh well. I did think this one was kind of sweet. Vinyl Cat with his handsome profile. He's probably talking to Weetzie on the other side of the tree, because that's where Weetz can almost always be found these days.

(Yes, I am serious. My cats talk to each other. Seriously! Although, I can't understand them. I am not sure their meows can translated, but my thoughts are their conversations might be about who gets to win the next round of kitty wrestling. In fact, I can hear them in the living room right now as I am typing this.)

No linky list today (since I am behind again anyhow). But please leave your post in my comments, I will be sure to stop by! Happy Monday!

Caturday placeholder (a great one!): ALD Designs

2010-12-11T07:31:00.001-08:00

Happy weekend!

This entire week has bordered on uncontrollably busy for me. Couple that with fruitless HTML manipulation (for my new blog) and inadvertently deleting my HTML template for this blog & having to re-do it all over again, well, it was a little nuts. (Lesson learned: save a backup copy, people!) (Also note: I was able to download some free templates at Yummy Lolly to help me speed up the process of redoing this blog all over again. Check out her other site, Yummy Lolly Designs, for more wonderful blog templates too!)

I didn't have much time this morning to do a Caturday post, and being that my husband may have misplaced my SD card thumb drive (with my SD card it in!), I can't seem to locate the other Christmas tree kitty pictures I wanted to share. Oh well. I will try to catch up later today, or tomorrow or Monday.

In the meantime, I thought I would share these cheeky little prints I found on Etsy by ALD Designs. Aren't they great?

Happy Saturday!

Working like an elf in Santa's workshop...

2010-12-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

The holiday card my husband designed....!!!

Boy! I have really sent myself up a creek this year. In efforts to save for a home, we decided to make most of our holiday gifts (and cards!) this year. And truly, homemade gifts are best, right? I simply LOVE getting handmade things myself so I hope my giftees are feeling as jolly about the idea as I am.

I can't really share what I am up to in my studio this month, since many holiday presents will be given to some who read this blog! But I thought I would share a little holiday craft idea with those who are looking for a little customizable holiday decor. Remember the photo of my holiday tree from the post yesterday? You may notice a little red, green, and white garland donning the tree... I made it! Here's a quick little photo how-to, in case you would like to make something special for your own tree, mantle, or any spot in your home (or office!) that could use some cheer. You could also make some in colors to match your home decor for display all year. The possibilities, you might say, are endless!

Materials:
9 sheets of craft felt (I used two each of red, green, and white)
scissors or pinking shears
sewing machine
coordinating thread
a couple hours of TV watching

I am listing the materials in the quantities I used for our tree. I first used six sheets and realized it was not enough when I hung it (and took the photo), no matter how long it looked before I hung it on the tree, so I had to lengthen it. And it looked mighty long, let me tell you. You can use less felt to make your garland depending on where you are using it. One sheet makes about four or five feet, I think.

Step one:

Cut many, many circles. I cut circles a bit larger than a quarter, about an inch 1/2 circumference. This is where the hours of TV watching comes in!

Step two:

Slowly sew through one circle, and add the next when you get to the circle's edge. Repeat...

...over and over and over again. It doesn't take much time at all to do the sewing portion of this project.

Finito!

Hang, love, admire. :)

Make one? Have another fun garland idea? Please leave me a link in the comments, I would love to check it out and admire it! :) Happy Tuesday!

Christmastime is here!

2010-12-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning I woke rather excitedly; it was the day we were going to buy our Christmas tree! Taylor and I have only been married about a year and a half, and this is our second Christmas as a married couple (& living together). So Christmas is still rather exciting and new for us. We are hoping to buy a home next year and so this may be our very last Christmas in this apartment. While that's a great and wonderful thing to look forward to, knowing this may be our last Christmas here is a tad bittersweet. All the more reason to savor this holiday season and the little moments we share. :)

To say I woke up excitedly is not to say that both of us did. Nope. Taylor was conked, so I sipped a little coffee and browsed Blogger for a bit and Weetzie joined me (she perched comfortably in my lap)! After a bit I woke Taylor up (shaking him, rather!), made bacon & pancakes (and more coffee) and went out festively out into the world. We stopped at Marshall's to pick out a new ornament (a new tradition we hope to uphold for many many years) and immediately fell in love with this little display of quirky Steinbach ornaments. We each picked out two because we couldn't resist! Then off we went to pick out a tree.

We purchased from a family farm that had the Oregon firs brought in, and fell in love with a little 7 foot tree (which ended up being a tad of a squeeze into our little place). At home we put on an old Bing Crosby record and trimmed the tree. A lovely Sunday!

Why do kitties love the tree so much? I don't think Weetzie has left the tree except to use the litter box or grab a snack!

Caturday: Happy Birthday!

2010-12-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

Remember this Caturday post a few weeks ago? Well, my husband turned it into a birthday card from Vinyl & Weetzie on Tuesday. How ridiculous (and sweet) is this??? I promptly took a copy to work and pinned it up in my cubicle, so I could have Vinyl & little Weetz with me all day. Oh dear.

Lots to do this weekend:

Finish laundry
Regular Saturday cleaning
Finish garland I am making for our Christmas tree
Dig out Christmas stuff
put up lights outside & decorate (I found this wreath I made from last year!)
Get Christmas tree tomorrow!!
Vacuum after the tree is put up
Start designing Christmas Cards
Work on handmade gifts
Etc....
Etc...
Etc...!!!

I would really like to start making more LitterBox Kids for my shop, which probably will not open until January 2011. I have many many other things I would like to accomplish before I open, but I can only take on one project at a time. And with Christmas on the way, I want to make sure I really focus on the spirit of the season. :)

I hope you have a very happy weekend getting ready for this beautiful holiday season. And don't forget! Link your Caturday/weekly pet post here too. ♥

Birthday Loot!

2010-12-03T17:24:00.001-08:00

Happy Belated Birthday... to me! That's right, I turned 29 on Tuesday, November 30. Yay! I had a lovely day (even though I had to go to work)! It was filled with lots and lots of Happy Birthday text messages, sweet little surprises from my hubby at every turn, and a fun little birthday party (with cake!) thrown by some thoughtful and sweet coworkers. Thanks so much to my wonderful friends & family who made my 29th extra special!

Here's some of the amazing goodies I got this year!

Cool John Derian tray from my friend Amie! She also got me a cute kitty wallet from Kristine Accessories (I love their wallets!) and some sweet tea towels & napkins from Anthro.

Kate Spade serving set from my mama!

A dress form from my husband! Yay! I was surprised and in awe!

Cool vintage-y CAbi coat from my mom-in-law! She knows I love coats!

Caturday (Belated): His & Hers Kitties

2010-11-29T17:22:00.000-08:00

Know how your pets love to use your bed and keep it warm for you when you're at work? Vinyl and Weetzie have taken it a step further. They stay to their respective sides of the bed. My Weetzie girl on my side and Vinyl cat on my husband's side. They seem to know which side the boys belong on and vice versa. Such smarty little furpants they are!!!

I know I am late again... but I still hope you link your Caturday post (on time or not...!) right here! Thanks so much for reading. :)