Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 29

This is being posted later than I intended due to some technical difficulties with updating my iPhone. With the new update I was able to get the Simply HDR app and it is fantastic! These photos provide a quick peek into my life from the past seven days. I am continuing to work on living my imagined life and appreciating all of the small things. If you would like to follow my photos, my username on Instagram is mrsmoon. 

1. Josh and I tried a different Mexican restaurant on date night. Good food and great service at El Meson.

2. On Monday I made a trip to Lowell to pick up the beef we purchased from my mom and dad. I am looking forward to this summer when I rarely have to buy anything from the grocery store. Between our CSA and homegrown beef, we will have just about everything we need.

3. Pretty tulips.

4. Fancy overhead display at Target. This week I enjoyed plenty of bonding time with my sister. We made a trip to Target, I introduced her to the Hostess Thrift Store, and she was a good sport and even attended partner yoga with me yesterday.

5. Josh celebrated a birthday. His family made the trip from Chicago to celebrate with us at Mountain Jacks.

6. Josh and I started the process of making homemade strawberry ice cream. I liked the packaging on the strawberry extract.

7. We discovered Mary Lou Donuts, a local bakery, and indulged in some sugary pastries yesterday morning.

8. Last weekend our good friends Matt and Stef came to visit. Stef and I checked out a few antique stores. I have been eyeing these Clay City (made in Indiana!) turquoise bowls for awhile now and they look great in our kitchen. 

9. My Lenten promise this year is to give up chips, pretzels and crackers. My first temptation was at the Mexican restaurant. That was probably the first time in my life that I have dined at a Mexican restaurant and left without eating a single tortilla chip. I was proud of myself.  

linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, letbirdzfly

Road Trip with Mom

I was initially going to write a post about a small sewing project I was working on tonight, then my sewing machine and I got into a fight.  After several attempts, I ran out of patience and could not figure out was going wrong. After abandoning my sewing project, I figured I would tell you about my upcoming adventure.

In 2010 I took my mom on a surprise trip as her birthday/mother’s day gift. I planned everything and told her what to pack. Her only requirements were to show up and have fun. We found that this travel arrangement suited us. I like to plan and she likes to have fun. While coordinating our trips I do not have to consult with her and she is a good sport by going along with all of my planned shenanigans.

The first year I found cheap flights to LA through TravelZoo. We did all of the touristy things in Hollywood. This was right around the time when the Conan vs. Leno dual was going down. I had tickets to The Tonight Show with Conan and The Jay Leno Show. Unfortunately Conan resigned and we ended up seeing the Leno show. We ate our first In-N-Out Burgers and dined on the famous Pink’s hot dogs. After a long drawn out quarrel with the GPS, we enjoyed a day of fun at Disneyland. (Side note: I am not a big football fan, but it was Super Bowl Sunday and the Colts were playing…and I was living in Indianapolis at the time.) 

Last year we narrowly escaped the crazy Snowcalypse in Chicago. We were on one of last flights to leave O’Hare. The first leg of our journey took us to Miami. We enjoyed soaking up the sun while everyone at home was buried under a few feet of snow. Our favorite part of the trip was the Miami Culinary Tour. Our guide took us into locally owned restaurants and we snacked on food we didn’t even know existed… i.e. ceviche and other Cuban originals. Next we took a short cruise to the Bahamas. We enjoyed our “coco loco time” and exploring Atlantis. 

Next Monday Mom and I will embark on our third annual mother-daughter expedition. After quitting my job, our itinerary has a few more budget restrictions. This means we are going on a road trip! Obviously I cannot tell you where we are going; it would spoil all of the fun. I will fill you in when we return. You can follow me on Instagram to see some photos from our voyage. (My username is mrsmoon.) 

Fancy Friendship Bracelets

My sister, Alyssa, moved to town last week after receiving a job offer in Lafayette. I am excited to have a family member so close. Yesterday we made fancy friendship bracelets. We were inspired by HappyTogether’s post that Alyssa found on Pinterest. 

We headed to Joann’s to pick up some embroidery floss and decorative buttons. (Alyssa gets really pumped about picking out embroidery floss.)

We picked buttons with holes that we could thread the string through. After folding a 40” string in half, we looped it through the side of the button. Each side ended up having two 40” strings looped through the holes. 

Word may fail me here, but hopefully my photos can fill in the gaps.

1. There should be four strands facing you. Use one strand to make a 4.

2. Pull the leg of the 4 underneath the three other stands and through the loop.

3. Pull the knot tight and to the top of the bracelet.

We taped the buttons to the tile floor so we could easily tighten the knots.

Eating overcooked brownies was also a necessary part of the bracelet making. 

Eventually your bracelet should take on a twisted pattern. 

Alyssa and I had fun working on our elementary project. She told me about how I taught her how to tie her shoes on a road trip when we were kids.

Alyssa’s bracelet has a cute star button. Her bracelet making technique was different than my twisted version.

We found that Happy Together’s recommended 40” of string was definitely overkill. Using 30” strands of embroidery floss should be more than sufficient. 

After using a Joann’s coupon, my charming little bracelet cost a whopping $1.65. 

Monday ~ The DIY Showoff Project Parade ~ Made by You Mondays ~ Embellishing Life Everyday ~ Just Something I whipped up Monday  ~ C.R.A.F.T.  ~ The Southern Institute ~ Making the World Cuter ~ Thrify Décor Chick ~ Metamorphosis Monday ~ Sumo Sweet Stuff ~ Gunny Sack ~ Singing Three Little Birds ~DIY Homes Sweet Home ~ 1929 Charmer ~ Everything Under the Moon  ~ ModMix Monday ~ Its So Cheri ~ thegingerbreadblog

Tuesday ~ Get Your Craft  ~ Tip Junkie ~ Blackberry Vine ~ Crafty Confessions ~  A Bowl Full of Lemons ~ Home Stories A-Z ~ My Uncommon Slice of Suberbia ~ Carolyn’s Homework ~ Sugar Bee Crafts ~ House of Grace ~ Passionately Artisitc ~ My World Made by Hand ~ Uncommon Designs ~ Trendy Treehouse

Wednesday ~ Blue Cricket Design ~ Somedays Crafts ~ Sew Much Ado ~ Sew Woodsy ~ Handy Man, Crafty Woman ~ Savvy Southern Style ~ {Primp} ~ Rae Gun Ramblings ~ Polkadots On Parade ~ Lollipop Cards ~ JAQS Studio ~ Let Birdz Fly ~ Let Birdz Fly ~ My Girlish Whims   ~ itsoverflowing ~ theletter4

Thursday ~ Transformation Thursdays ~ Somewhat simple ~ Show off your stuff ~ House of Hepworths ~ Delightful Order ~ My Simple Home Life ~ Thrifty Thursday ~ DIY Diva Thursday ~ Tablescape Thursday ~ No Minimalists Here ~ Crafty, Scrappy, Happy ~ Thrifty Decorating ~ Between U and Me ~ 36th Avenue

Friday ~ The Shabby nest  ~ Show and Tell Friday ~ Finding Fabulous ~ I’m Loving it ~ Simply Sweet Home ~ Whipper Berry ~ Chic on a Shoestring decorating ~ Spunky Junky ~ Delicate Construction ~ Homemaker in Heels ~ French Country Cottage ~ Common Ground ~ Young And Crafty ~ At the Picket Fence ~ Fingerprints on the Fridge ~ Miss Mustard Seed ~Bacon Time with The Hungry Hypo ~ Making Lemonade ~ I Can't Stop Crafting ~ Over the Big Moon ~ Answer is Chocolate ~ oneartmama ~  fivedaysfiveways ~ amynjesse

Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 28

These photos provide a quick peek into my life from the past seven days. I am continuing to work on living my imagined life and appreciating all of the small things. If you would like to follow my photos, my username on Instagram is mrsmoon. 

1. I experienced my first Valentine’s Day working in a flower shop. It was crazy and fun at the same time. I could not believe the number of men that called on Valentine’s day wanting flowers delivered the same day.

2. Josh and I dined at Fogo de Chao in Indianapolis last night. I am pretty sure I consumed more meat in one sitting than I usually do in an entire month.

3. I watched bits and pieces of the Grammy’s on Sunday. Bruno Mars was my favorite. 

4. I really, really want a big giant card catalog. I found this little guy at my favorite antique shop, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy him since he is so small.

5. Yesterday I scoped out Doc’s Architectural Salvage. The place is jam packed with awesome pieces. Although it was overwhelming, I did not have to worry about what to buy since just about everything was out of my price range.

6. Giant lovely yellow roses.

7. My sister made me outstanding cream cheese cranberry muffins. I probably ate six of them. Thank you Alyssa!

8. I made a few Valentines.

9. A sweet treat from my boss for dealing with the madness on Tuesday. 

linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, letbirdzfly

Marimekko Inspired Curtain Panels

This is a post almost four years in the making. Four exchange students have lived at my parents’ home and we have had the opportunity to visit their homes in Europe.

In 2008, we celebrated Midsummer in Malmo, Sweden. I was enamored with all of the fabulous prints that adorned their windows. 

Ann-Margreth was so sweet and took me to the Marimekko store where she purchased much of her fabric. I was in love. All of the graphic fabrics were amazing. I purchased two meters of this “Putkinotko” print, which was originally manufactured in 1957.

Usually I am pretty adept with mental math; however, on this occasion I miscalculated the conversion rate in my head. I was quite surprised when I arrived home and realized that I spent almost $100 on about two yards of fabric.

Since this is the most expensive fabric I have ever purchased, I set it aside until I could hire somebody to make my curtains. I do not intend to botch my costly souvenir with my basic sewing skills. 

I have yet to find a seamstress to make my curtains, so the Marimekko fabric remains in storage. I found this fabric in the red tag section at Joanns. It was originally $12.99 a yard marked down to $3.50/yard. At this price I had no anxiety about ruining the fabric. (You may recognize the print from my infinity scarf)

Rather than sew crooked seams with my machine, I used this no sew hemming tape I had leftover from various Ikea curtains. I ironed and ironed until the new office curtain panels were complete.

This is what our office looked like before we moved in.

This is the same corner of the room complete with new Marimekko inspired curtain panels. I need to stop procrastinating and quit taking my photos at night.

We replaced the flowery butterfly light fixture and refreshed the room with new paint and carpet. 

I love these little glass candleholders from CB2. I filled them with white beans and dried flowers from our garden. The office is a work in progress, but it has come a long way from the lilac nursery. 

Monday ~ The DIY Showoff Project Parade ~ Made by You Mondays ~ Embellishing Life Everyday ~ Just Something I whipped up Monday  ~ C.R.A.F.T.  ~ The Southern Institute ~ Making the World Cuter ~ Thrify Décor Chick ~ Metamorphosis Monday ~ Sumo Sweet Stuff ~ Gunny Sack ~ Singing Three Little Birds ~DIY Homes Sweet Home ~ 1929 Charmer ~ Everything Under the Moon  ~ ModMix Monday ~ Its So Cheri  ~ Bath Bomb Creations ~ thegingerbreadblog

Tuesday ~ Get Your Craft  ~ Tip Junkie ~ Blackberry Vine ~ Crafty Confessions ~ Me & my Boys ~ A Bowl Full of Lemons ~ Home Stories A-Z ~ My Uncommon Slice of Suberbia ~ Carolyn’s Homework ~ Sugar Bee Crafts ~ House of Grace ~ Passionately Artisitc ~ My World Made by Hand ~ Uncommon Designs ~ Trendy Treehouse

Wednesday ~ Blue Cricket Design ~ Somedays Crafts ~ Sew Much Ado ~ Sew Woodsy ~ Handy Man, Crafty Woman ~ Savvy Southern Style ~ {Primp} ~ Rae Gun Ramblings ~ Polkadots On Parade ~ Lollipop Cards ~ JAQS Studio ~ Let Birdz Fly ~ Let Birdz Fly ~ My Girlish Whims   ~ itsoverflowing ~ theletter4

Thursday ~ Transformation Thursdays ~ Somewhat simple ~ Show off your stuff ~ House of Hepworths ~ Delightful Order ~ My Simple Home Life ~ Thrifty Thursday ~ DIY Diva Thursday ~ Tablescape Thursday ~ No Minimalists Here ~ Crafty, Scrappy, Happy ~ Thrifty Decorating ~ Between U and Me ~ 36th Avenue

Friday ~ The Shabby nest  ~ Show and Tell Friday ~ Finding Fabulous ~ I’m Loving it ~ Simply Sweet Home ~ Whipper Berry ~ Chic on a Shoestring decorating ~ Spunky Junky ~ Delicate Construction ~ Homemaker in Heels ~ Family Ever After~ French Country Cottage ~ Common Ground ~ Young And Crafty ~ At the Picket Fence ~ Fingerprints on the Fridge ~ Miss Mustard Seed ~ Addicted to Decorating ~Bacon Time with The Hungry Hypo ~ Making Lemonade ~ I Can't Stop Crafting ~ Over the Big Moon ~ Answer is Chocolate ~ oneartmama ~  fivedaysfiveways

Valentine Embroidery Hoop

I do not decorate for Valentine’s Day. There is no particular reason why this holiday gets the décor snub. I am still in full V-day spirit. At the flower shop I have been cranking out hugs and kisses bouquets like it’s my job…oh wait, it is my job. 

Anyways, here is my one Valentine-ish project. I embroidered this small fabric hoop. I have no real embroidery training. I just make it up as I go along. I penciled my own script onto the fabric and attempted to backstitch along the lines. I do want to improve my embroidery skills and knowledge. I found DMC’s site with some basic useful info that I will be referencing for future projects.

This is a photo of our post-Christmas mantel and the Valentine embroidery hoop. I hope you have a happy Valentine’s day! Please think of me and all of the fun I am having knee deep in pink carnations and baby’s breath. 

Monday ~ The DIY Showoff Project Parade ~ Made by You Mondays ~ Embellishing Life Everyday ~ Just Something I whipped up Monday  ~ C.R.A.F.T.  ~ The Southern Institute ~ Making the World Cuter ~ Thrify Décor Chick ~ Metamorphosis Monday ~ Sumo Sweet Stuff ~ Gunny Sack ~ Singing Three Little Birds ~DIY Homes Sweet Home ~ 1929 Charmer ~ Everything Under the Moon  ~ ModMix Monday ~ Its So Cheri  ~ Bath Bomb Creations ~ thegingerbreadblog

Tuesday ~ Get Your Craft  ~ Tip Junkie ~ Blackberry Vine ~ Crafty Confessions ~ Me & my Boys ~ A Bowl Full of Lemons ~ Home Stories A-Z ~ My Uncommon Slice of Suberbia ~ Carolyn’s Homework ~ Sugar Bee Crafts ~ House of Grace ~ Passionately Artisitc ~ My World Made by Hand ~ Uncommon Designs ~ Trendy Treehouse

Wednesday ~ Blue Cricket Design ~ Somedays Crafts ~ Sew Much Ado ~ Sew Woodsy ~ Handy Man, Crafty Woman ~ Savvy Southern Style ~ {Primp} ~ Rae Gun Ramblings ~ Polkadots On Parade ~ Lollipop Cards ~ JAQS Studio ~ Let Birdz Fly ~ Let Birdz Fly ~ My Girlish Whims   ~ itsoverflowing ~ theletter4

Thursday ~ Transformation Thursdays ~ Somewhat simple ~ Show off your stuff ~ House of Hepworths ~ Delightful Order ~ My Simple Home Life ~ Thrifty Thursday ~ DIY Diva Thursday ~ Tablescape Thursday ~ No Minimalists Here ~ Crafty, Scrappy, Happy ~ Thrifty Decorating ~ Between U and Me ~ 36th Avenue

Friday ~ The Shabby nest  ~ Show and Tell Friday ~ Finding Fabulous ~ I’m Loving it ~ Simply Sweet Home ~ Whipper Berry ~ Chic on a Shoestring decorating ~ Spunky Junky ~ Delicate Construction ~ Homemaker in Heels ~ Family Ever After~ French Country Cottage ~ Common Ground ~ Young And Crafty ~ At the Picket Fence ~ Fingerprints on the Fridge ~ Miss Mustard Seed ~ Addicted to Decorating ~Bacon Time with The Hungry Hypo ~ Making Lemonade ~ I Can't Stop Crafting ~ Over the Big Moon ~ Answer is Chocolate ~ oneartmama ~  fivedaysfiveways