Ooh la la...

French inspired goodies:









Pictures (in order): Dior Oui Ring, Bonjour Necklace from pianobenchdesigns on etsy, Miss Dior Cherie ad, Marie Antoinette silhouette, oui necklace from loleys on etsy, bicycle bag from ikabags on etsy, Eiffel Tower wall art from chuckebyrdwallart on etsy, Eiffel Tower headband from bethnaylorelle on etsy, and Eiffel Tower ring from jerseymaids on etsy.

I am especially partial to the headband, even though I'm not sure I can rock it properly...

Fun Wedding Bands

I love etsy. Plain and simple. There's so much fantastic handmade stuff of there, it's so much fun to browse through and find fun things that make me smile.



These rings are also known as posey rings. Back in the olden days men used to give them as engagement rings, and they were engraved with all kinds of phrases proclaiming love. I have one (from the Globe Theatre, but that's another story) that reads "Think of me, God willing". You can have these rings stamped with anything that you want (up to about 25 characters I believe). I want to get one made as a sort of class ring for college.



I think these are FREAKING ADORABLE! What a cute way to let the world know that you and your love are taken.



These are growing in popularity very steadily. You make a mold of the fingerprint you want inside (or outside actually) the ring, and you send it in. A few weeks later you get your ring with the fingerprint that you can always have on you. I think that these have beautiful sentiment, always keeping your loved ones print on you, literally next to your skin. It also helps that they're beautiful.



These are just cute. Mine. That little word conveys so much, especially when it's on a wedding band. When I saw this set for the first time the very first thing that crossed my mind was the scene from Finding Nemo when the seagulls are fighting over the food and they keep saying "mine, mine mine..." I love that the inside of the ring says "yours", more than I love that the outside of the ring says "mine" because really that's what marriage is about, belonging with the other person.

Okay, okay, this last one isn't a wedding band, but what girl doesn't dream of opening a little blue box from Tiffany? This (classic) ring is sterling silver and $125 dollars. Probably the least expensive ring from Tiffany!



Oh little blue box... You are beautiful...

My Husband is Amazing

So, sometimes I get a wild urge to do something that is completely useless.
Yesterday it was going to home depot to get paint chips.
Why? Because I'm designing our future house that we have no idea when we will have and if I will even like the things that I like for it now.

But, my husband is so wonderful that after we took our walk last night he agreed to go to Home Depot with me to get paint chips for me to look at while I design a house that we someday will have.

He thinks that I'm crazy (my word, not his) to be designing something that is far in the future, but I think it's just amazing foresight on my part. Because, when we do get a house we will be completely ready to decorate it. Especially if we slowly start accumulating the things that we want to decorate with.

You hear that honey? Your wife is a genius, and you are amazing. What a duo we make!

Home Office Ideas

Ya know, for when we have the extra room to have one!



I really like this one, because it doesn't take up a huge amount of space, and it also has quite a bit of storage already built in. Plus, I think that this one could be done pretty inexpensively.




I like the curtains on this one, and the openness of it. It's like it was never even a closet, which is really cool.



This one is just beautiful. If I could have it exactly as it is I would be perfectly happy! The color is just gorgeous, and it's set up so well.



Now this one would be a GREAT little craft nook, that I could just close up and have it all be out of sight. Now, the only thing that I don't think would work in here is my sewing machine, but you win some and you lose some. Actually, if I could find a bookcase that had deep shelves then I could convert one of them with a roller track to have a little pull out station for sewing one. That's something to think about.


Well, there's the inspiration for what will be my office/craftspace.

I'm in Love!

I found an etsy shop that is FULL of different, and adorable, versions of the keep calm and carry on poster from WWII.

www.keepcalmshop.etsy.com

I pretty much would love all of them, but that might be overkill, no?

Kindle, Kindle, Kindle

I was just doing some online research, and found out that the newest generation of Kindle is only $139!

That's crazy, I remember when they first came out they were way more expensive than that.

So, my idea is to get enough swagbucks gift cards to buy one. I need anywhere in betweeen 13,500 and 18,900 (because you can get different denominations for different amounts of swagbucks, and only five gift cards per month). If I did it with all $25 cards it would cost the higher amount and with $5 cards the lower amount.

The books that I read are all free on the Kindle. Well, not all of them, but a lot of them at least. Plus, it's super light, and smaller now (though still with the same size screen, yay!), so I could take a bunch of books with me EVERYWHERE!

So, this is my new swagbucks goal!

Dear Dishes...

Dear Dishes,
I really don't like you. You take a long time, you take up space on my kitchen counter, and you have food on you that I don't enjoy cleaning off.

Is there any way that you could possibly just clean and put away yourselves? Because that would be AMAZING.
Okay, thanks, bye.

Love,
Megan

My "Christmas" List...

Okay, okay, it's just a list of things that I really like.



1.Kindle- Most of the books I read are classics, which are FREE on the Kindle! I would love being able to take just one little machine with me and have all kinds of books right there on hand.



2. This pendant from La Papier- I would like to have a pendant done of Nathan. They're beautiful, and in a way it's kind of like a locket, but a little more vintage and yet modern. I love it!



3. Miss Dior Cherie perfume- I love the smell, and the little bottle is so cute!



4. Provence Rose dishes from Cath Kidston- They're beautiful! Plus, I would be able to use them with the white dishes I already have. I love the vintage kitschy-ness of them, and

And on a more practical note:



5. New heads for my Clarisonic- I love that little machine, it cleans my face so well!

And if we were dreaming HUGE:



6. A trip to Europe! London, Paris, Cardiff, Killarney, EVERYWHERE!

Something I Created!

I love making things.
I love silhouettes.
I love embroidery.

So this project was all kinds of fun for me. I traced the outline of the silhouette that Nathan and I had done when we were at Disney World.
Then I embroidered it onto a piece of cloth. The next part of the project will be to appliqué it on to another piece of fabric, this one patterned, and then frame it. I think it's going to turn out really pretty, and I'm looking forward to being able to hang it up in our apartment, and later on up in our house.

*Don't worry, I'll definitely be ironing it before phase two of the project!*

Day in San Francisco with the Bestie

On the way home from SF! It was a great day of seeing the sights and hanging out! And I'm looking forward to a fun filled day tomorrow! Church and the Aquarium.

I love having my best friend here!

Clothes, clothes, clothes!

I reorganized my clothes this morning, and it did take a while, but darn they look good now!

Before: stacks of clothes in cubbies, completely unorganized
Piles of clothes (that I decided not to wear after putting them on) not even folded anymore.
Clothes that I haven't worn in months, some almost a year!

A teacher of mine from college, Dr. Carl Winderl, has a policy: if he hasn't worn something in the past year then it gets donated. He used to wear things specifically to class on Wednesdays that he knew he wouldn't wear otherwise, but that he wanted to keep for sentimental reasons (like a kimono from Japan, shirts from the London terms,etc).

I think it's a really cool thing to do, and I'm considering adopting the same policy. There's a few things that I would definitely have to try to find some time to wear, but mostly just the fancy pants things.

I'll be thinking about it, and for now just getting rid of things when I feel like it.

Clean Up, Clean Up...

I'm taking a break for a few minutes from cleaning to being you this blog!

But really. I'm cleaning up the apartment because my bestie is coming to visit for the weekend!

And now for something slightly different:
Dear Vaccuum,
I really like using you to clean my carpets. But you have been sucking, or rather have not been sucking anything up! I would really appreciate it if you would work properly again.
Okaythanksbye.

-Megan

Food Failure

Nathan and I tried to make fried rice and egg drop soup for dinner.

We. Failed.

The fried rice was mushy and the egg drop soup tasted... off.

So now were eating cheeses. Which. Are. Awesome.

Dinner fail turned into goodness!

Crochet + Flowers = Cute Scarf for Megan!

I have been creating away, thanks to some inspiration from the crocheting book I checked out from the library (The Happy Hooker, if you're wondering).
Without further ado, my scarf:



[Someday my hair will be long enough that it doesn't do that weird flippy thing on the side when I tuck it behind my ear. On a brighter note, I deep conditioned it this morning and man is it soft!]



[A picture of it in a pile, for the heck of it.]

I'm really excited for it to get to be fall so I can wear the scarf without looking like some kind of weirdo who wears scarves in the summer time (even though it does get cold at night here).

I'm also hard at work on a top secret present for my sister's 19th birthday! Let's just say that it's full of red and has touches of white and yellow! I really hope she likes it, and I'm super excited to give it to her when it's done!

Menu For Next Week

Saturday- Stirfry
Sunday- Artichokes
Monday- Stuffed red peppers
Tuesday- Fried rice and egg drop soup
Wednesday- Month-a-versary dinner out
Thursday- Red pepper pasta
Friday- Refried bean soup

I'm excited about dinners next week!
Lots of stuff that we've never made before and that's pretty darn healthy too!

Ahh, the simple pleasures in life...

New slippers. :)

When I was deep cleaning the apartment the other day I managed to rip a hole in one of my slippers. Sad day for this slipper wearing wife!

When I told Nathan he said, "Let's go to Target and get you some new ones"

Happy wife.

I just had lunch with Nathan and now I'm sitting here, happily full of yummy soup and brie, wearing my new slippers and writing a blog.

It's a good day.

Thank you honey.

Sleep is fleeting.

Or, rather, hard to make myself do.
I have the hardest time falling asleep. I've already been laying here for an hour and yet I am not asleep. So I installed an app to blog from my phone.

Maybe someday I'll be able to sleep like a normal person, but until then I'll write blogposts that only my husband will read (you know, the one who's lying next to me and sleeping like a normal person).

Well, time to try again and see if my mind and body will settle into a peaceful slumber.

London Calling...

The view from my window at our first residence in London, Lee Abbey


Two years ago, to the day, I was on the plane heading to London for four months of unbelievable wonderfulness. There's a new group of Londoner's arriving for the same trip that I took with Ronda and Carl Winderl.

I remember being so excited, and completely scared out of my mind, while I was on the plane. I had never been out of the country before (well, on the cruise to Mexico, but really, it's not comparable) and I had never been away from my family ad from Nathan for so long before.

When we got there, I didn't get culture shock, I thought it was wonderful and I adapted very quickly to the way of life there. I loved being able to hop onto the bus, or the tube, or just walk wherever I was wanting to go. We always saw at least one show a week, sometimes three or four.

If I could go back, I would, in a heartbeat. But, if I could take Nathan with me it would be a million times better than the last time, and that might be more happiness than one person could take ;)

Renegade Craft Fair!

On Saturday Nathan and I went to San Francisco for the Renegade Craft Fair.
It was at the Fort Mason center, and parking was quite a bother. We ended up driving around in the parking lot for an hour before getting a spot (thank you kind lady who stopped up and told us to back up so we could park in her spot!), but it was the best price for parking we've ever found there, only $10 for the whole day!

There were so many booths inside the building, it was crazy. I found a great many crafts that I would like to try my hand at making for myself. One piece that definitely caught my eye was a silhouette brooch made out of felt. It was beautiful, and it seemed so simple to make!


(created by Violet Swan)

Another piece that caught my eye was this beautiful skirt, I loved the scissors on it! If I were to do this, I think I would embroider the scissors onto it, or maybe even trying my hand at applique...hmm...I'll think about that...


(created by Bossa Nova Baby)

This necklace is gorgeous, and the concept is so simple that it's just completely stunning. I have no desire to create this for myself, but I would definitely wear one of these around my neck.


(created by Ritzy Misfit)

Another simple concept that was very beautiful visually were the rick-rack jewelry that were for sale at one booth. I found it hard to believe that something that simple wasn't thought of by a lot of people!


(Created by Paz Sintes)

One thing that I almost bought was a necklace made from a vintage spool of thread. The thread itself dangled at the end like a charm, and there were beads around it and sometimes a little other charm (like a sewing machine) dangling from underneath the spool. There's no picture online that I can find from the creator of the piece (sweet-n-salty).


My etsy shop is now created, and I will be doing some "decorating" in it before I add items and begin selling. I can't wait to try this out and see if it's something that will work well and make me some money doing something I love! I am so excited to be getting my pieces out into the world!