Thursday, August 25, 2011

DIY Thursday #3

Photo courtesy of Kelly Hicks

Although its nearing the end of summer it's still SO HOT here! I found this awesome tutorial for refashioning an old pair of flip flops. Even if you don't have an old pair you can still find flip flops for as cheap as $1 a pair at places like Old Navy.

In this tutorial she takes a new pair from Old Navy and uses leftover knit fabric for the braids. It's so easy!!! I'm so going to make some of these!



By using different textured materials such as rope and vintage fabric, or even beads you can make a really great one-of-a-kind pair of sandals for under $3!
Click here for the tutorial!


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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Weekender

I FINALLY had a Saturday off (yay!! woo!) and we decided to make a day of it. A few days earlier I was giving Elia a bath and checking on some info for my homework in the bathroom. Yes, I know what you're saying, "Why would you have your laptop in the bathroom?" I'm sure you know where this story is going...
Elia was slinging her Barbie around in the tub and completely drenched my laptop's screen with water. I have a Sony Vaio and a MacBook Pro and it was the Vaio that took the hit. Luckily, when I purchased it last year I also bought the "Accidental Protection" (thank you Best Buy!) which covers everything from dropping to liquid spills. We started the day taking my laptop to Best Buy where they graciously sent it off to Sony to get fixed. Bye, bye laptop!
We were really wanting to try the new restaurant in Rogers, 5 Guys, but the parking lot was packed so we headed over to Qdoba. The food was great!



And of course I can never get BOTH of them together in a good shot!!


Eva doing her usual... sleeping away!

On a whim, we later decided it was about time Elia gets a new pet. So off to Petco we went!


They had cats and dogs there for adoption from the Humane Society! Made my heart melt! I wanted to seriously take every one of them home with us. 
But.... since we already have 2 dogs we thought it best to start with something small, a fish!
The lady at Petco told us the best one was a Betta Fish. Let's hope she's right!!

Introducing the new member of our family, Miney!!
 (pronounced like "Hermoine" from Harry Potter without the "her".)



It's technically a male fish, but Elia insists it's a girl.




Let's hope Miney loves it here with us, Spongebob, and Gary!


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Saturday, August 20, 2011

Sniffles & Coughs

We have a bit of a sickness going on in our house right now. It started with Elia complaining of a sore throat for a few days and turned into both her and Eva having runny noses and coughs. And of course, me having an immune system that catches anything the cold has snuck up on me as well!
Hopefully a nice day out today will do the trick. Not sure what we're going to do but I have the whole day off so we're taking advantage.
On another note, Eva is now old enough to play in her Jumperoo!!


Although, she's not fully convinced in it's ability to entertain her yet. She'd rather sit in it and watch Sesame Street!


Check out those chunkers!



I didn't realize my focus on my camera was off until it was too late...


Wednesday was also my birthday! My mom, Elia, Eva, and I spent the day shopping at the Pinnacle Hills Promenade and ended the evening at Mimi's Cafe for dinner with the family. Unfortunately, this was the only photo of the day I was able to capture! 
(Elia & her crazy excited eyes, haha!)


We ended up having to leave the restaurant early because Eva decided to have a SCREAMING fit in the middle of dinner! But it was still a great day!

Have an awesome weekend everyone!!


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Thursday, August 18, 2011

DIY Thursday #2

A couple of months ago I used this blouse...

.... and turned it into this dress!


Here is the tutorial I used. 
She has a lot of really cute tutorials. Be sure to check her out!

Thanks Lex!

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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Back to School: Week 3

This week in my Media & Society class we're discussing more theories of media. One that caught my attention was the "Cognitive Dissonance Theory," where someone is presented with a conflicting message or thought other than what they would normally believe. The first example that came to my mind was the Glenn Beck controversy over how he "thought" Obama was a racist.

Beck begins by saying that Obama "has a deep-seeded hatred for white people or the white culture." When he is shut down with facts that most of Obama's top officials are white, Beck's statements change to "I'm not saying he doesn't like white people," and then going back to "This guy is, I believe, a racist."


In this example, its obvious that Beck has two opposing thoughts. Maybe he honestly does think that Obama is a racist, maybe he doesn't. Either way, the way he's being perceived is someone who is thinking one thing but wants to be looked at in a different way. To release some the obvious tension seen  in this clip, Beck goes back and forth on what he's saying while still trying to get his initial idea across... whatever that is!

References:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzKFYcHKbnk
http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/cognitive_dissonance.htm

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Thursday, August 11, 2011

DIY Thursday #1

Since I love basically all things crafts I decided to start a weekly DIY Thursday! I'm definitely going to try these shoes out on Eva!
Find this CUTE pattern at fleetingthing.

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Wedding Update!

So many of you may know that Chris and I are legally married but we have yet to have a wedding! I know, a little insane. I guess we like to do things out of order.... really out of order! Next April we will be married for 5 years and we were thinking it would be a good time to finally have a wedding!
With the arrival of Eva, starting school, and a new job the planning has been on the back burner for a bit. But I'm back at it again. Here are a few inspirational photos I've found along the way!

Instead of a guestbook guests fill out little cards and drop them in a jar for the bride & groom!

I LOVE this wedding reception photo! Now I just have to find chairs like this to rent!

For all the kids: a coloring book composed of drawings from us and some of our family and best friends!

Cookies & milk? Yes, please!!!

Custom photo booth for the guests. We're looking for old photo frames to paint and will be creating a custom backdrop for guests to pose in!


Now for the dress..... last May I lost my Grandma to brain cancer. I miss her and think of her every day. I know she would have loved to see me walk down the aisle and I wish she could have. Since our wedding will have a vintage feel I'm looking into taking her old wedding dress and having it restored to wear on our day. I think this will be a great way to make her a part of it and keep her memory alive. Here's a  few photos of my beautiful Grandma on her wedding day!


Look at that gorgeous couple!


Love you, Grandma!!!

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Monday, August 8, 2011

Back to School: Week 1

The first week of school has started & I'm kicking off my blog with an edition called "Back to School"! I'll be doing some of my assignments under this weekly or be posting about anything school related. 
My first class is Media & Society. Right now we're learning about the affects mass media has on society and the way we think and react to it. I've been reading a lot about a theory called "Agenda Setting," which basically implies that the media shows or tells us what to think about instead of telling us what to think. A good recent example of this is how the media basically force-fed us all of the information about the Casey Anthony trial. 
Don't get me wrong, I am guilty of falling for all of the media hype on the trial. I found myself glued to the t.v. during the final days when the verdict was waiting to be read. But what if I didn't have the luxury of the news stations reporting live 24/7? I honestly would have not been following the case as closely as I did, if at all. The news wasn't telling me to watch it constantly, but it was on constantly. The station I watched had guests who were of the best in their professions from teachers to psychologists. And they sucked me right in!
I never really think of how the media is playing a huge role in my life, but when you stop to think about it you'll be surprised at how big a part it plays in our lives.

References:
http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=39
http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Mass%20Media/Agenda-Setting_Theory.doc/
http://nancygrace.blogs.cnn.com/category/casey-anthony/
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New Blog!

As if I didn't have enough things going on right now I've decided to start a blog!
Its been a work in progress that I plan to slowly but surely get going! I just started back to school working on my Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design. My first class is actually what finally prompted me to get this blog going... some of my assignments involve me posting a blog entry for the class. I figured I can incorporate this along with some personal things like my family and the things I'm making!
And for the first post I leave you with the latest photo of the girls!


Be sure to check back soon! :)


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