Sleepless in Seattle

         we spent 2 days in seattle before heading to mazama, WA [in tree filled northern washington]for andy's brother's wedding. the two were polar opposites in scene, but equally beautiful. let me start by saying seattle is one of my favorite cities in the world.. there is soo much to do! i'm such a planner and knew little about the city so i started with design sponge's city guide to seattle and planned our trip accordingly. the guide was so helpful and we ended up hitting a lot of the places on my list! seattle also has a variety of neon signs, which i, for some inexplainable reason, am enthraled by.

p.s. we really were sleepless in seattle due to a 3 hour time time difference

the above pictures:1. watching a 'bluesy' band play outside the original starbucks [sidenote: one of the best things about seattle, you can get starbucks and it's supporting 'local business'...holler]

2. stumbling upon a weiner dog race by the space needle

3. the wedding cake in mazama.. how cute is that?!

4. squishing the space needle [i couldn't resist]

5. sub sand, an amazing restaurant in the international district

6. pike place market

7. belltown and neon

Love 21

in very exciting news [for expecting mothers out there.. no that's not me...] forever 21 has started carrying a maternity line, love 21! love 21 has sparked controversy for marketing to pregnant teens, as the line is only being carried in the forever 21 stores in the states with the highest teen pregnancy rates...boo to that!.. as every pregnant woman deserves fabulous clothes-not just the pregnant teens..[it's available online too!] check some of the items out.. don't they look comfy??

sewing class

so i have life altering [no pun intended] news!! i am extremely pumped about the buzz in the blogosphere about this online sewing course that is being offered [click here for details] it is only $60 [i know, only right] but i am convinced it will pay for itself in the end when you are making things for cheaper [and cuter] than you can by them! i am 99% sure i am signing up! the class begins in august and they provide the materials list you will need. that is back to school shopping i am super excited about..

DIY Shabby Chic Blue Mason Jars

i took this idea from creative little daisy and i'm so excited about it! ( you can find her directions here: )

what you'll need:

mason jars, wine bottles, or any glass bottles

mod podge

blue and green food coloring

water

directions:

pour the mod podge into the mason jar

drop the food coloring in [3 blue to 2 green]

add about a teaspoon or so of water

spread the mixture around in the jar by tilting it to the untouched areas

remove any excess by setting on a napkin or paper towel

cook at the lowest temperature your oven has[mine was 125]

simple right? well not quite if you are as impatient as i am.[aren't you so happy to have me as your guinea pig?.. ] here are the issues you will run into if you are impatient...

so i tried again with the only glass i could round up, a pace picante jar [classy] and finally nailed it!

sneak preview

the above is a sneak preview to a project i am undertaking! the materials just came in from etsy.com and i can't wait to show you what they will become.. oh the suspense! more later..

as of late..

lately we've been on an italian kick. the roots of which stem from watching the sopranos [thanks mom] and every italian mob and mafia movie we own [casino, goodfellas, etc.] i've even perfected my joisey accent..what an accomplishment eh? anyway all of that background to let you know we [er andy, my husband] made homemade pizza and it was 'ta die fa', really!

etsy crochet and knit finds!

 i wanted to wait to do a post on this until the fall but who says knitting or crocheting is only a fall thing? i'm sincerely obsessed with all of the above items.. especially those earrings!

 links:
crochet earrings

crochet pillow

yellow knit shrug

pink knit bow headband

crochet necklace

summer vacay

we just had our annual lake trip, in missouri, although no pictures of the lake [i loathe hauling the camera around] i snapped pictures of my nieces making what they referred to as the 'bubble castle' according to my oldest [5-year-old]niece this castle had

"a queen, a prince, a princess, and a kitty!!"

DIY revamp bracelets and hangers

so this charming DIY is compliments of one of my favorite etsy sellers corrieberrypie [check out her tutorial here!: http://corrieberrypie.blogspot.com/2010/07/some-shop-news-diy-project.html]

remember this little preview of the hanger displaying the dress i made? well you can also do the same for old bracelets you have around the house [corrie also noted you can use the plastic rings that come on new scarfs-<3 that!]
                  

what you will need:

a plastic hanger

1/2 inch strips of fabric of your choice

tape

ribbon

directions:

for the hangers: i started from the top and just began wrapping, securing the fabric with a piece of tape beneath the wrap every so often, at the end tie a little bow using ric rac or a ribbon. [btw..i have been using these hangers to display my wedding dress until i decide how the heck to box it up, these would also be so cute in little kids sizes to display something in a baby room!]

for the bracelets: wrap the fabric securing it at the end with a little bow made of the same fabric.. that's it!

a day at the park..

amusement park that is...

the painted horses go round and round

frozen in motion not making a sound.

-kathryn o

DIY bib jewelry

i've seen these bib style necklaces in stores like f21 and charlotte and tried them out for myself. this is one of those mindless DIYs that you can do while watching a movie (<3 that!) 

what you will need:

a black sheet of felt [which can make 2-4 necklaces]

black satin ribbon

glue gun

a package of mini plastic jewels [from any crafting store]

directions:

place the jewels on the felt creating a pattern of your choice [the different patterns within the package you get will help to define shapes]

after you have a design you like, glue the jewels down. 

finally cut around the jewel pattern you've created

cut 2 pieces of ribbon to the desired length and glue to the back of the felt pattern.

these necklaces 'jazz up'  plain black or white shirts [colors that i'm attracted to mostly due to genetics-my mom loves black and white because it 'goes with anything!']

DIY elastic empire waisted dress

so i took this idea from the smashed peas and carrots blog (go here for her post on this DIY: http://smashedpeasandcarrots.blogspot.com/2010/06/elastic-band-empire-waist-dress.html) it's super easy for beginner sewers like me!

what you will need:

an old tank top

 cut of 2 inch black elastic (cut to measurement under bust line)

fabric of your choice!

directions:

i put on the white tank top and made a mark under the bust line

i then cut the tank top leaving about a 1/2 an inch under my mark for sewing room/mess up space

next i measured the black elastic and pinned it to the white tank top

 and then sewed the tank top to the elastic.
i followed suit with the green fabric i had chosen for the bottom pinning and synching it by folding over the fabric as i went
i finally sewed the side seam and then
 cut the bottom of the dress to the length i desired. eventually i will hem the bottom but the fabric i chose holds up fine without it for now [and i was impatient to wear it! haven't you read my proflie ;-)].

i will admit my directions aren't exactly the same as the ones i posted from smashed peas and carrots (hers are more thorough!) 

p.s. the little 'yo-yos' i added to the top will have their own tutorial later [don't you LOVE them?]

p.p.s. i have been scared to wear this dress because it's the first item of clothing i've ever made! i just had this vision of it falling to pieces while i'm out in public, however it's held up just fine and it's been 24 hours! 

1.21.2013: Hey y'all, been getting a lot of questions and comments about issues with this dress that i want to address. People have mentioned issues with using regular thread as it doesn't allow for much stretching to get the dress on. For me, this wasn't an issue, i did notice that the elastic didn't stretch a ton , but when measuring the elastic out i made it only a teeny bit tighter than my actual waist. Some people have mentioned possibly using elastic thread to troubleshoot any issues. But, I have no experience with it, and didn't even know it existed! Thank you all for your comments and questions, I've loved the feedback :-)

i love the fourth of july!

i hope your fourth of july was as amazing as mine! we bought a grill and headed out to the lake, [it took andy a while to assemble it and i snapped some funny photos] but the food and weather were fabulous. i mean what more can you ask for? a firework show viewable from your back porch? we had that too!

saint spotlight..

today is the memorial of saint maria goretti...holler

maria goretti is an italian martyr who is distinguished by her holiness at a young age. although most widely known for her beautiful model of purity her witness of mercy is equally prodigious. at age 11, maria was

attacked by her 18 year-old neighbor, alessandro who stabbed her for resisting his rape attempt. maria lived for 24 hours after being stabbed during which she forgave alessandro. alessandro, eventually became repentant and after serving 30 years hard labor was released upon which he sought forgiveness from maria's mother. when maria was declared a saint in 1950, both her mother and alesandro were present in st. peter's square. check out this picture of maria's mother and alessandro below:

maria's body lies in nettuno, italy about 40 miles outside of rome. in fall 2008 i was able to visit, the pictures below (taken by my extremely talented photographer friend mary over at http://simplesweetpure.blogspot.com/.. check her out) are from nettuno:

below: the church which houses maria's body as well as a gallery of pictures and newspaper articles about maria approximately 10 steps from the beach