Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Summer dresses

I think dresses are one of my favorite items of clothing to wear! My mission this year has been to try and buy more casual/everyday dresses. I really want to find awesome vintage ones too (so far not much luck due to no good vintage stores nearby). I think from now on I won't let myself buy any piece of clothing unless is a dress or skirt!






source: wehearit.com

Friday, June 25, 2010

Body scrub

In my never ending quest to find new ways to be more sustainable I decided to whip up my own body scrub! I just went online and google'd a sugar scrub. It was super easy to make! Here's what a I learned.

For a sugar scrub you want to use raw sugar or brown sugar. And you can use really any type of oil you want, I chose grape seed oil...that was the only one we had besides canola and using canola just seemed weird to me for some reason. The sugar to oil ratio is 2:1. Then you can add any yummy essential oil you want to it! 

So I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar 

and 1/4 cup of grape seed oil 

and put in about ten drops of grapefruit essential oil! 


The recipe I found said you could add in lemon zest, but I didn't have any lemons. What I made was the perfect amount for scrubbing everything! The only thing is that it made the shower a bit slippery, so be careful! 

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Its official!

I'm moving to Savannah! I got accepted into a master's program at Savannah College of Art and Design! 
So I'm gonna be a Georgia peach now!

And I'm gonna live in a house like this


And wear dresses like this all day long!


The South is one place I never dreamed I would move to! I'm so excited to try somewhere new for at least a year! yay yay yay!!!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Muh new bag!

I finished crocheting my huge gigantic enormous bag today! It ended up way bigger than I thought it would, oops. But actually its ok because it'll be a great bag to travel with! My mom has requested one but not as big, so I'll just do two panels and two teeny tiny ones on the sides just so she can fit some books and whatnot in it. Anyway here are pictures of it, and if you would like to make one you can go here! (sorry its not the best pictures, I just snapped 'em quick on photo booth)






Happy crocheting!

The library.

I'm a fan of the library. I grew up using it and still love to use it! The past two years I've been a regular library goer. Right now I'm a huge reader because I'm not in classes and haven't found a job...so books keep me sane (somewhat). In fact after I post this I'm off to my local library to pick up some books that just came in for me. One day I want to have a library room in my house, wouldn't that be fantastic? And I'd have a wooden ladder that goes all the way round the room, and I'd design it so its like one of those library rooms full of wood and leather smells like old books! Oh it'd be amazing. Anyway, here are some lovely pictures of libraries.









source: wehearit.com

Monday, June 21, 2010

adventures of going vegan

So I've decided that as far as going vegan I probably won't go all the way. Gluten free cooking/baking is hard enough already so I will probably still use butter and eggs, in baking especially. I just don't like shortening or margarine (margarine especially because its just full of chemicals, yuck). Also, I'll test using egg replacers in baking but if it doesn't work well then I'll use eggs for baking. But I won't eat eggs or dairy on their own anymore. So I guess really I'll just be a vegetarian technically. And maybe as time goes on and I practice vegan cooking more I'll figure out ways to do it by being totally vegan. But I want to ease into it and play around with it so I can find the best recipes and the best diet for me.

Last week I made a yummy soup using vegetable stock. I was surprised how good it turned out because usually I can't stand taste of the veg stock! It just always tastes flat to me. But this soup was great! It was Mediterranean soup. So you chop up an onion and slice up a carrot and saute those in olive oil until soft. Then add in some garlic and saute just a couple minutes more. Then pour in a box of veg stock and put in a can of rinsed cannelloni beans (I did two cuz I wanted more in there). Finally put in a small can of tomato sauce (I used stewed tomatoes, which I think I liked better than if I did tomato sauce) two bay leaves, some thyme and oregano. And throw in half a cup of either white or red wine. Then just let it simmer for a bit! Take out the bay leaves before you eat it. We just had it with bread! yum!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

2 year old language.

For the past few months I've been helping a couple from my parents church by watching their two year old (my parents are the ones who "watch" her, but I end up doing it all, I don't mind though, it gives me something to do and who doesn't love playing kids). This week we've watched her everyday but one, and it was finally this week and I totally know what she is trying to say to us. Its pretty cute, becuase she tries so hard to get the words out right, but sometimes she's so excited that her mouth like gets stuck on one sound so it takes a while to get there. Theres still some things that I just don't know what they mean, so I just say ok and its usually fine.  Anyway I thought I'd share her language with you so here is Amya's dictionary:

opobobobpo = open this please

amymy hoyoyoyohoyo = Amya would like to hold it

diss = this

peesh = please

auhnuhn = I am all done eating now thank you

pay = come sit by me and play with the blocks

pibbytitty = Tibby Kitty (they're like bffs 4eva)

udertitty = "other kitty" (Sven the Cat)

naynay = Jenny

beb = Debb (mom)

BOB = bob (dad) (Amya loves him, she thinks he's awesome, which he is)

ches = cheese

caka = crackers

beebee Elmo = Sesame Street

piggy = Charlotte's Web

beebee einine = Baby Einstein

[insert name here] go = where did [insert name here] go?

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Mean green cleaning machine!

So I recently checked out 


from the library. 

I wanted it because she has recipes, I suppose you'd call them, for cleaning products!
I hate using all the chemically products for cleaning the house, they always smell
icky and strong and its just plain bad for the environment to be putting all these things
down the drains!

So I got this book and got right to work to making our own cleaners! And its so cheap! All you need
is a big box of baking soda, a huge thing of white vinegar and water! And then you can get
fancier and use citrus solvent as a countertop cleaner because citrus is naturally antibacterial.
(I haven't been able to find the citrus solvent yet (citra-solv or Orange Glo) but it should be at most
stores); and you can use castille soap to aid in cleaning bathrooms and things!

Anyway for the meantime I made up a glass cleaner, simply vinegar and water, then use a rag or old newspapers to clean windows and mirrors.

And I made an all purpose cleaner with baking soda, white vinegar and water!

You can google the measurements or go find the book, I had to fudgey them a bit because of the size of the bottles we bought.

Oh and then to clean my bath tub and such I just dumped some baking soda in there and scrubbed away with a sponge and it feels squeaky clean! Its great! 

And finally for dusting just use one cup of water and about 15 drops of your favorite smelling essential oil, put in a spray bottle, shake before you spray it on your rag and there ya go! Dusting spray! The oil helps shiney up any woods and the water just picks up the dust! voila! 

Anyway, I just thought I'd share my newest finds in my mission to be more sustainable. 

Happy Tuesday! 

Monday, June 14, 2010

Savannah

So I'm trying not to get ahead of myself or too excited about the school in Savannah, Georgia that I've applied to, but I have a really good feeling about it....and at the same time if scared it won't happen (like anytime you apply to a school I suppose). Somedays I am just so anxiously excited that I even go on Craiglist and look at apartments in Savannah. Silly me. But I really am trying to not get too excited so then if it doesn't happen I won't be super disappointed (who am I kidding, I'll be heart broken). Anyway here are some pretty pictures of Savannah I found so I can dream. Happy Monday.








source: weheartit.com

Monday, June 7, 2010

What you and I are going to do with me.

My mom found this poem in a book she's had since the 70's and showed it to me this morning.

I've stretched so far, Lord
extending myself to the limit
Now I'm hurting and need a time to pull back
and consider what I'm striving for.

Well, I put my whole self in-
to causes
programs
and projects

Now I'll take my whole self out-for awhile
to evaluate priorities,
to get in touch with my feelings and my needs.

Work with me, Jesus
and let me see what you and I
are going to do with me.

~Marilee Zdenek

Sunday, June 6, 2010

New diet adventure.

So I finally got The Kind Diet from the library, I put it on my list after watching an episode of Oprah (yes I watch Oprah, I can't help it, I think she has a lot of interesting things and people on her show) because I was curious what Alicia had to say!


After reading through the book it got me thinking about a new diet. 

So I think I'm going to attempt a vegan diet.

And my reasons are more for health than for animals. 

I love all creatures, yes even grody icky snakes (as long as they come no where near me).

But that's not my main reason for becoming vegan (and speaking of, I'm not sure I'll be purely vegan, I think I'll try to keep dairy to a minimum and no eggs, but I think I'll still cook/bake with butter and such.)

I mainly want to experiment with this and see if I get some energy back, I've had kinda a crazy health year and feel super tired and can't think straight like all the time. So I'm hoping this will give me energy and keep me feeling healthy. And I really don't eat a ton of meat anyway so going vegetarian will be no problem, but trying to be vegan will be harder. 

And sadly this means that I won't be able to complete cooking all the recipes from Curtis's book. sigh. I'll try to adapt as many as I can though. And I'll for sure finish his dessert section!

So anyway this is my new adventure in life. I'll post yummy recipes I find so you can try them as well. I'm not sure how this is going to work with already having to be gluten free, but we'll see. But it seems possible in things I've read.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

The clouds keep moving

Six months of living at home. It does not seem that long ago that I drove North out of Los Angeles. It feels like yesterday. But these past six months have been good, mostly...if not a bit slow at times. I've really learned to be content with myself and not to be always judging myself with where I am in my life. I'm happy. I'm just ready to move out. Really ready. So here's to hoping the next six months bring some changes and that I'll see the sun finally.





source: weheartit.com

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

My busy week

wedding 


baby shower/brunch

Memorial day




This weekend and past few days have been full of friends and food and fun!