Finally Friday #9: 12 days till Christmas!

I already did a post way back about what I loved about Christmas so this time around I am going to rant on and on about what I am looking forward to about this Christmas specifically.

1. A week with my family!- Living so far away from my family its frustrating because I usually only get a weekend with them before I have to turn around and drive 7 hours south again.

2. Sharing it with my favorite man!-We are going to get to spend all of the holidays together. :)

3. Possibly a white Christmas!- All the weather forecasters predict snow for home so I am staying positive!!!

Finally Friday #8: Thankfulness

A little late but never the less...We are in the midst of my favorite holidays and November is winding down. After a month of seeing everyone's 30 days of thankfulness posts on Facebook, their blogs or twitter  I have decided to make my last Friday post of November be just that.

1. Holidays with Family and my Sadie girl

2. Snow and my favorite time of the year, Winter!!!

3. Creativity and the imagination to create with my friends who also share this with me.

Special Edition: A Fellow Crafter and Jewelry Maker

Padfoot Jewelry by Lauren Sampson

Today I am having a feature post about a close friend of mine who makes beautiful jewelry. Her shop name is Padfoot Jewelry and is located on etsy.com. Most of her stuff is inspired by nature and is just absolutely gorgeous. Her and I had a chat not to long ago and here is our interview.


HummingbirdLoves(HL): What spurred you to start up your own etsy shop?


Lauren Sampson (LS): Honestly, it wasn't even an initial thought.  My best friend and boyfriend convinced me that what I was making was good enough that others may want them.  And it took a lot of convincing, trust you me!

HL: Why did you pick jewelry making as your craft to sell?

LS: Really what I was looking for was a hobby.  I felt like I needed some way to channel my rudimentary but enthusiastic artistic flare.  I'd dabbled in jewlery making in the past and hadn't been a total failure at it, so decided to pick up from there and see how far I could take it.  (I still don't know how far it'll go!)

HL: Where does your inspiration for each piece come from?

LS: My friends and the weather.  For example, the weather just took a turn for the chilly this week.  I'll be focusing my colors towards the winter palet of blues, clears, whites, etc.  Couple months ago, it was browns, greens and oranges for the fall.  And when all else fails...I pick a friend to "make" something for.  Probably half of my pieces are inspired by someone.  Whether it's a best friend who loves teal, or my mom who wears longer necklaces with deeper hues.

HL: Which one is your favorite so far?

LS: In and by far...the Harvest Necklace.  One that I refuse to sell.  Its mine.  All mine.  :)  That's the fall one that I made...see colors above.  Three strands all different colors secured with a toggle clasp (which...love toggle clasps btw).  It's really elegant and probably my best piece.  I'm proud of it and it's a great reminder for me of my potential.

HL: I noticed each one has a name, How did this come about? 

LS: If I answered that alcohol and a couple good friends were involved, would I get judged?  Everything I make means something to me.  Maybe this will go away after piece 100 but I hope not.  Creativity and being artistic comes in many forms.  It's a creative thing that I love: to find the hidden meaning in things.  Each necklace, tells a story...whether it's a novel or a picture book doesn't matter but they all say something.  It felt natural to me that I give them all names.  

HL: How long did it take you to get everything setup?

LS: Months.  I'm 3 into it, and would say I'm finally starting to get into a routine.  The biggest initial hurdle was finding a space to call my own.  My craft table.  I needed some area that I could set up shop and not have to constantly be a nomad about where I worked.

HL: What was the hardest part about opening an etsy shop?

LS: Pricing.  THANK GOD I HAD A FRIEND HELP ME!!!  It's really hard to put a price value on something you make.  You can't objectively look at it and decide it's worth.  And because it's hand made there are a plethora of other things to think about that say, Macy's, wouldn't give two shits.  Every bead you pay for, your time, materials, etc.  If i truly had my druthers, I wouldn't have opened the shop for that very reason.

HL: How does it feel to have your shop up and running?

LS: Euphoria mixed with a healthy dose of anxiety, scattered with self-doubt and overshadowed by overall accomplishment.

HL: What is your favorite thing about this whole process?

LS: Hearing from people who didn't even know I was into jewelry but looked at my shop and said it was really good.  Huge confidence builder I wasn't entirely expecting (but hoped for), as that'll carry me into making more jewelry.  It certainly spurred my creativity to realize that my beading genius was one I should share.

HL: As your shop is still in its infancy stage, what advice do you have for others wanting to start their own shops? 

Patience.  Above all else, patience.  It's not just going to happen.  The age old "Rome wasn't built in a day" and let's face it, Rome took ALOT of work.  Something you have to be willing to put in.  You have to have a goal and work for it.  It took a long time to make the products, then taking pictures, writing descriptions, calculating costs, saving receipts, determining the target audience, the right place to advertise my goods....everything.  And it's daunting.  My advice is to get some help.  Barter for a friend's assistance with food, drink, or something from your store to get help.  Without help from Hannah and Dylan, it 100% would not have happened. 

More advice, and something I'm learning just now...Even though I'm not sitting at the craft table actually making my products, doesn't mean I'm not helping the end goal.  I haven't made a necklace in two weeks.  Yes, it's killing me...but there were other things that had to be done regarding the store and materials, etc.  Sometimes, much to my dismay, there are things about my hobby that I don't like doing.  Pricing, taking pictures, waiting for them to sell :)  but it's important to keep the mentality that ANYTHING you do towards your hobby counts and should be seen as an accomplishment rather than feeling deterred because you can't/didn't do any actual crafting for a bit. 

Finally...if you hit a lull....don't panic.  Like all things in life, artistic creativity ebbs and wanes.  There are days where I sit to make a piece of jewelry, needing that down time, and nothing comes to me.  But then, a week later, I sit down and make 3 things.  If you feel like you're losing your touch, if you feel like you're frustrated, if you feel just blah about it...step away.  Take a little break and do something else that feeds the hobby for a while.  Look online for ideas, go to stores, buy books, talk to friends, but don't get dismayed!  Chin up and the kinks will work themselves out.

 ~~~

Thank you Lauren for your time and Good Luck with your shop and future endeavors!!!

Finally Friday #7: Reasons I love Wisconsin...

This year I have spent a copious amount of time in Wisconsin thanks to a very special man of mine. Every time I make my way there I find it beyond difficult to return to the east coast. Between his amazing family, the circle of friends I have there and him I feel perfectly at home in the farm painted landscape. I often feel as though it is a completely different world than the one I live in Massachusetts. It's hard to specifically pin-point my favorite things about the state but I will try.

There are many attributes that have sucked me in :

1. The Landscape-Growing up in a rural environment and having a dairy farm only a mere mile down the road in either direction provides you with a sense of reality. Seeing where the milk that you drink and use in recipes comes from, truly grounds you. Yet, like everyone else I had an itch to try the city thing and soon learned I was much more at home among the trees and fields, not sky scrapers and traffic. I felt at home from my first visit. Something about seeing the sun set across an open field just brings a sense of peace.

2. The People- After living in various areas of the northeast I have come to notice a constant level of stress. In traffic , walking down the street or simply shopping at Target they are rude and self center. Ok, not all of them but as a general population compared to the folks of WI they are. I have never had a bad trip to a store or at a party while in WI. They are warm, welcoming and if they think you are feeling out of place they try to include you or help you  out. It's simple as the rural environment to the urban. Its choice and I choose rural.

3. The Food- Culver's Deep Fried Cheese Curd and Pumpkin Spice Shake... Enough said. 

Creative Crafty #9: Little Red Riding Hood and the... Badger?

Halloween this year I decided to Google for ideas. My final Googling adventure began with the keywords of "red head halloween costumes". Ah the things you can Google.  From there I sorted through the various links to find a costume idea for myself as well as finding something that could be made into a couples costume for my boyfriend. I found my top three and quickly sent them to my boyfriend to pick his favorite. His choice? Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.

Of course, I was sorting the idea over with a coworker and he suggested instead of the Big Bad Wolf (which would take forever to make) my boyfriend should be Teen Wolf. I loved the idea and knowing that it would involve a lot less fabric and time I jumped on it.

Much like when I was a kid, my first move was to visit Jo-Ann Fabrics and flip through the pattern catalogs looking for the costume I wanted to make. When I was little my mom would do the exact same thing with me. She would sit me in front of the catalogs and as I flipped through them she would gather the items she needed on the nearby isles. Once I found the one I wanted we would buy the pattern and material and head home to start on it. This time I was the one making it and left to choose all the fabrics on my own.

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End Result-Little Red Riding Hood

I made a few changes to/from the pattern. Instead of the petticoat underneath the skirt I added layers of red tulle. Also I did not make the blouse in the pattern and instead just wore a white cami. Personally, I loved how it came out and it was some of my best craftsmanship. Which took me a while to make! Haha

After taking the time to do excellent craftsmanship in following a pattern I had little time to make the wolf costume for my boyfriend. He also wasn't a big fan having to get all dress up so I tried to keep it very simple. I made him sleeves with attached paws, a "turtleneck" and ears. The sleeves were attached to each other with elastic across his back much like you would do with a 5yr old's mittens. At the end of the sleeves were paws with claws and to keep it simple each finger had a covering that attached with elastic once again. I made a loose fitting turtle neck that slipped over his head and fill the gap from his shirt to his beard. Lastly I made fur ears that slipped over his ears and fastened with double stick tape.

Little Red Riding Hood and Teen Wolf

His homemade items along with his fake teeth I had found, black gloves and a black nose that we gave him he was quite convincing. Or so I thought... His chosen t-shirt to wear was a Wisconsin Madison t-shit whose mascot is a badger, which spurred people all night to ask him if he was a badger. After awhile we decided to just go with it and so came Little Red Riding Hood and Bucky the Badger.

A special shout to everybody in Platteville WI: Almost all we saw had homemade costumes as well!!! I loved it!

~Happy Crafting!~

Friday's Three Post #6: Holly Jolly Fun on it Way!

Wondering through Salem, MA my friends and I started chatting about our favorite holidays in order of top three. For all of them Halloween was right up there, but not me! I love Christmas!!! I love winter and Christmas lands right smack in that season. So much that I am listening to Christmas music on my vinyl record player as I am writing this post. The holiday last so long and has so many joys to it. I'm sure you of are thinking that I just love Christmas because the presents but actually I would prefer a Christmas without them.

I love the holiday because it is such a family and friend centered holiday with turkey, pies and candy. I promise you that this post is not going to be a rant why Christmas is the best. We all know that is true already! But with the festive date poking its glittery smile right around the corner of Hallow's Eve in every store I thought I would put up my favorite things to do during the Holiday to be sure to plan for them!

1. Christmas Lights- Who doesn't love bright shiny colorful Christmas lights??? Ok, the Grinch, but even he comes around. Grab some snacks this December, tune into the local holiday radio station and cruise with the family checking out the lights in your neighborhood. I remember being little with my mom, dad and grandmother and driving around my hometown to find the best lights. Its also inexpensive treat for the whole family. There are some extra-spectacular Christmas Lights you can check out all over New England and New York. These sometimes cost a small fee but it usually goes to a charity. One of my favorites is Lights on the Lake in the Syracuse, NY area. LaSalette in Attleboro, MA and Millis Wonderland in Millis, MA are another two I found out about from coworkers and I plan to check them out!

2. Making Cookies- Pretty much any holiday means food for me. I LOVE to eat! Seriously, ask any of my friends. Christmas isn't any different. And what is my favorite of goodies on this cheery holiday you wonder? Molasses and Sugar Cookies, Of Course! This has been a favorite for me ever since I was a kid. I still remember the weekends leading up to Christmas while my dad was out hunting, my mother and I would hold ourselves up in the kitchen making cookies to package into tins for the season. This was one of the few times of the year we would set aside the good ol' chocolate chip recipe for must trickier and time intensive recipes like the Molasses cookies. This year I'm thinking a girls bake night is in order!

3. Extended Family Games Night- I may be an only child but I come from two large families. My dad is one of ten kids and my mom one of eight. As you can imagine there are a lot of aunts, uncles and cousins around on Christmas. After eating we would often pull out the games we received for gifts or fun group games that are stored away for special occasions. My favorite of games is Catch Phrase, we all end up laughing and joking the whole time. Its such a great way to enjoy each others company and the kids can play too. My mom always ends up playing for both teams because she can't stop herself from wanting to help everyone. But that is what makes her so damn special!

~Happy Friday~

Lost Adventure #9: Spooktacular Saturday in Salem

This past weekend I orchestrated a trip to witchy Salem, MA for two of my friends who absolutely love Halloween and the history that Salem provides. Four brave souls myself included endured the Saturday morning traffic into downtown Salem, MA.  Here are some photos of our adventure.

The four maiden's began their voyage at the dark and dingy Museum.
It is here where they learned of the witches.

On the way to the next haunt the three ladies stopped for a moment to admire an "old old wooden ship". 

After disheartening news that they would have an hour or so to ponder, the ladies found them caught in the devil's spell at the Witch's Brew Cafe.

The devil drink in there bellies, they stepped back in time and wondered straight into Nathaniel Hawthorne's Birth Place.

Once exiting the home the found it was only a few steps away to the House of Seven Gables. The oldest Mansion in the "new world". 

What would be a visit to Salem, MA without a little fright...

And a few buried witches....

and of course "Bewitching Magic".

~ Happy Halloween!!! ~

Lost Adventure #8: Return to Newport

This post is a little slow coming and I apologize for that. I have been super busy with a variety of grown up responsibilities. (Which I really wish I could be a kid again because it all gets to be a bit much when I'm handling it all alone.)  Butttt anywhoo!

As I mentioned in my post Creative Craft #7: Repairing Vinyl Memories, one of my best friends came down to visit me recently. I debated where to take her for about two weeks prior to her visit and settled on Newport, RI. I know I have posted about Newport before and I am posting again because I absolutely love this town. My friend Michelle and I did many of the same things that my boyfriend and I did but with many more pictures and tangents.

Once again, we started out with the Newport Cliff Walk but this time we went the opposite direction and headed toward the beach! Walking in the opposite direction was quite gorgeous. We saw less houses and many locations for impromptu photo-shoots. At one point we wandered down on some rocks and just sat there chatting away for a while catching up on old times.

After our old lady stroll, we decided to be creeps and cruise around Newport looking at the mansions along the ocean. I suppose we aren't that creepy seeing there are actual tours given of many of these properties.  The weather was perfect for the drive, windows down and our hair blowing in the breeze, as we were like two church ladies on Sunday. It was much fun to simply point the car in a direction but with no real destination other than following the coast line. We did eventually find our way back into town after almost an hour of ooooohhhing and ahhhhhhing numerous houses that we most likely will never own.

Parking, the usual scavenger hunt that it is in New England, was less than appealing but after another 20 minutes we found a good spot in a parking garage. After stowing our needless items in the car we set off to aimlessly wander some more. As we bumbled and stumbled we found a historical burying ground tucked away on a side street amongst a bunch of houses. It being daylight I was braver than normal to check it out. After a few quick shots we were on our way again.

Our final stop in Newport was of course, Buskers, my favorite restaurant with my favorite waitress Krista! There are more than just her that work there but every time I go there I am lucky enough to get her. She is a fabulous waitress and now remembers me quite well! :) A delicious meal of Beef Stew and Lobster mac, sent us on our way home, but not before catching a shot of the sunset on the Newport Coastline.

One fantastic weekend it was with one of my best friends! I hope she visits again soon!!!!

Finally Friday #6: Inspiring Art

I love art. Painting, drawing, sculpting, crafting, sewing pretty much anyway I can get it. I believe this runs in my family as my dad is a skilled painter and my mother has a knack for holiday crafts. My creative side has always been there and always will be there but along my path in life there have been certain pieces of artwork that I have found inspiring along with most everybody else in the world.

I will be honest this was probably the hardest top three post I have done yet. Not to come up with choices but to prune them down to three. There are numerous pieces of amazing skill and choosing favorites feels as unfair as picking a favorite child.

1. Water Lilies by Claude Monet 1916-1919

This gorgeous piece of impressionist artwork has always caught my eye ever since I was a young child. Out of all the art movements this one was my absolutely favorite. I love the contrast of the warm and cool colors that create a feeling of relaxation. From the weeping willows hanging in the forefront to the bright green lily pads in the distance, I can't help but feel like sitting on a cool breezy river bank under a tree in the middle of the middle of a hot summer's day. This piece of artwork inspired a few of my own projects years ago as I attempted to replicate the softness of the pink water lilies with tissue paper pop art.

2. The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh 1889

I still remember the first time I saw this painting as if it was yesterday. I had stayed after school to work on a painting of a horse for my 7th grade art class. At the time I was what one could call "obsessed" with horses and was flipping through a book of famous artwork that my teacher had given me to browse, pretty sure to possibly curb my horse fever. I feel like now is a good time to mention that ever since 1st grade my teacher Mrs.Lacrosse and I were convinced I would attend a Fine Arts School  after High School and so I invested many additional hours in the sanctuary of the art room developing my skills further.  As I sat flipping through page after page of remarkable pieces of art history, this one piece stopped me. I fell in love with the "perfect starry night" where this little quaint town sat at the base of these gentle rolling hills. The brush strokes swirl you around the painting softly and slowly stopping briefly at each star as if you are actually gazing at the night's sky. This will always be a favorite of mine and is easy to find at many poster fairs! 

3. Carcass of Beef by Chaim Soutine 1924

This painting is the inspiration around the most recent of my own series of paintings. The contrast of the complementary red and greens as well as the blue and oranges makes this a vibrant and raw piece. As always a diagonal composition makes it an interesting painting to admire but technical attributes aside, I love this piece. The exposed feeling evoked by this painting is the emotion that inspired my own. This painting's vivid and varying colors help make it one of my favorite three!

*The Following links from Wikipaintings.org are where I found the images above:

Water Lilies-http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/claude-monet/water-lilies-1919-1
The Starry Night-http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/vincent-van-gogh/the-starry-night-1889
Carcass of Beef- http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/chaim-soutine/carcass-of-beef#close

Creative Crafty #8: Painting Again

Earlier this week I got the itch to work on a series of paintings I started a couple months ago. I started with the one from back in June of the female torso. As I had mentioned then my inspiration was "Carcass of Beef" by Soutine. My original plan was to make a series of three paintings of different angles and positions of the female body. As most of my projects go, I finished the first and didn't like the idea anymore.

I did hang the first painting on the wall though and would occasionally ponder the possibilities for it. This past weekend my boyfriend was looking at it and we began discussing the different directions I could go. By the end of our chat I decide I would do a male torso to compliment the female. I wasn't sure I liked the idea at first but after starting to sketch the idea on the canvas I slowly fell in love with the idea.

Torso of Man -  October 2012

I tend to need images to draw from but not necessarily the exact image. I believe the engineering part of my mind, my left brain, is to blame for this because it wants things to be "accurate". True to character I grabbed my calender of  rugby men and googled some images of the muscle structure of man. Cranking some Bing Crosby on the record player I got my right brain on and zoned. Drawing and re-drawing multiple times until i developed the basic structure and layout that I wanted for my new painting.

First Encounters  - 2012

I wanted the two paintings to be a pair so I stayed with a similar color scheme but differing the second slightly. I had intentions of making the male torso more of an orange tone but in my dimly lit loft I did not succeed in this. Yet I am still happy with the result. The two paintings together are a symbol of the feelings of the first date or meeting. That raw attraction or spark mixed with self consciousness that makes you feel exposed. My hopes is for the final painting to be of the two embracing but I am not yet sure how.

Tasty Bakes #5: "Mom's Swedish Meatballs"

My boyfriend and I are in a long distance relationship which I often reference. This weekend was his turn to come visit and instead of our usual running around we decided to stay at home. This was the best decision we ever have made. It was the most perfect weekend from the dancing to Dean Martin on vinyl, to seeing the movie Hotel Transylvania and getting the chance to spend some time in the kitchen together. Typically, when we are together we eat out because we don't have the time or the means to cook for ourselves. So this time I asked him what his favorite dish was and I would cook it for him. His response: "Swedish Meatballs the way mom makes them. Nobody makes them like her."

Well, me being the fiery and stubborn redhead that I am, took this as a challenge. On his request I sent his mother a quick email asking for her recipe  It is here in I found out why nobody can make it like mom. Her "recipe" as she put it, is really just throwing it together. It's funny how moms have a way of doing that where it always comes out perfect. Seeing as I accept I can't and never will be able to make them exactly  like mom, nor do I want to, I early on made the decision to use her "recipe" as only a guideline as what to do.

Needless to say, my Swedish meatballs did not taste like "mom's" but they were a huge hit regardless. After eating dinner Saturday night we had a few leftovers but not long. Sure enough, Sunday he ate them all on me. I couldn't be too upset though because I really appreciated the compliment on my cooking considering it was my first attempt at making any type of meatballs and I had some big shoes to fill.

Here is the recipe I came up with using my boyfriend's mother's recipe as a guideline. I cut her recipe in half so this one is good for two people with some left overs.

Ingredients

-1 lbs of Hamburger
-1 eggs
-1/3 cup of garlic and herb bread crumbs
-1/4 Tsp.Salt
-1/4 Tsp. Pepper
-2 cubes of beef bullion
-1/2 Flour
-Water

Mix together the hamburger, egg, bread crumbs, salt and pepper in a bowl. This was the fun part for me. I mixed it all together then rolled into balls about 1.5" wide. This was fun to have my boyfriend in the kitchen because he helped. Once all the meatballs are made, brown them in a large pan until they are cooked all the way through.

Note: Make sure you use a large enough pan to later have room for making the sauce with it.

Next drain the grease out of the pan. I really don't like grease at all so I actually remove all the meatballs from the pan and then dispose of the grease. Once that has happened return the meatballs to the pan and add 1 cup of water and simmer. After about 5-10 minutes of simmering some of the water should cook off and add another 1 cup of water and the 2 cubes of beef bullion.

Let the water, cubes and meatballs simmer down for about 5 minutes. At this time add 1/2 cup of flour and another 1/4 cup of water and stir. This will be lumpy at first but stir and let cook and it should thicken to a gravy. This part is somewhat by eye depending on your preference.

Mixing in the flour and water.

Serve them over mashed potatoes. My mother's secret to this is to use OreIda's frozen bag of potatoes. They taste just like full fledged homemade mashed potatoes but they are so much easier!

Super quick and easy!

It makes it easy to do after spending so long on the main dish. I cook them as directed on the package I added Cabot Seriously Sharp Shredded Cheese. This was the perfect combination. You could swap out the mashed potatoes for noodles I'm sure but I haven't tried this yet.

Of course we had to use the festive fall plates I found at Rite-Aid.

Hope you all enjoy as much as we did!

Finally Friday #5: My Favorite "Good For You" Snacks

In my old age of 23 I have noticed that my body isn't fond of the unhealthy snack choices that I used to make. My favorite choice of these being what I called "Easy Nachos", which are simply a nacho dipped in salsa with spray cheese swirled on top. As tasty as "Easy Nachos" are, I wouldn't rank them up there with the best health munchies nor would I recommend them to anyone unless you are looking for a heart attack. My point, I am a lazy eater and eat what I think tastes good.

Much like everyone else I prefer food with flavor, which means copious amounts of salt, sugar and butter!... Or so I thought. In an attempt to think about what I am eating I have tried purchasing items at the grocery store that are not dripping in grease or covered in sugar. This is a difficult feat seeing I am drawn to them. That combined with my Martha Stewart ways, I found a few easy snack choices that don't taste like eating cardboard. Here are my current munchies that are yummy in my tummy with out building bulge. 

1. Homemade Apple Chips-I have posted my recipe for this yummy snack before, but it is pretty simple. Just slice up an apple or two put a little cinnamon and sugar on them and bake. The tastiest apple for this I have found so far is the Winesap. It is a hearty apple with a sweet but tart flavor that is also great for baking into a pie. This is also a perfect snack for the season and many orchards allow you to go pick your own this time of year. Which is also good exercise and a fun girls day!

Holmberg Orchard and Winery in Connecticut where I picked all my apples!

2. Pita Chips and Sweet Roasted Red Peppers- I found this while strolling through the deli section at my local market. I personally love hummus but typically eat it with pretzels. I have been getting rather sick of the combination and low and behold next to the varieties of hummus there were these bags of Pita chips. I decided to take a chance on them and loved them!!! The chips were Parmesan, Garlic and Herb which alone are pretty tasty but combined with the sweet roasted red pepper hummus its even better. And the best part only 185 Calories a serving and it really fills you up!

3. Chocolate Covered Strawberries- I'm sure you are thinking what is she talking about? According to livestrong.com one medium sized strawberry is only 60 calories. I love chocolate covered strawberries and they are a quick and easy snack to whip together. My recommendation, when you come home with the package of strawberries make them then. Also if you have a problem eating too many of them, like I do, help yourself with portion control by using sandwich baggies and putting only 3 per bag. I would consider any snack under 200 calories to be sufficient.

Hope you all love these snacks as much as I do!  Enjoy your Weekend!!!

Special Edition: Inspirational and Motivational Friends!

This past weekend I had to get up at the crack of dawn each morning. All of my friends and family know that I am NOT a morning person and I only do this if absolutely necessary.

Well lucky for me, I have some crazy friends. On Saturday morning my friend Meg participated in her very first cross-fit challenge. Not only that, she was in the RX or prescribed category and it was a two day competition in Providence, RI! For those who are not familiar cross-fit is the sport of fitness. To be an athlete and perform in this type of competition involves immense commitment and dedication. Training for a competition involves eating right and making good health choices everyday.  I want to give a shout out to Meg for her hard work in preparing for this type of competition and good luck moving forward into your next one! You are a beast! :)

On Sunday morning, my two other friends were running in the Smuttynose Half marathon in Hampton Beach, NH. For my one friend, Kirby, this was her first half marathon. Kirby trained for months leading up to this event eating right and running everyday. Along side of her she had our friend, Lauren, a veteran to running and races much like this. A true friendship, supporting each other through training and right down to the last 3 miles encouraging each other on. I managed to snap a picture of these two remarkable ladies only a short distance from the finish line still with a smile on their faces...kinda.

Almost there!!! 

I am so proud of these two ladies for completing the half marathon without ever having to stop to walk once! They finished in good time and have motivated me to start working out and find a love like these two have found with running.  

~Congrats Kirby and Lauren on the Smuttynose Half- Marathon and Meg on your first Cross-fit Competition!!!~ 

~I'm so proud and I love you guys!!!~ 

Finally Friday #4: My Top 3 Mall Stops!

I am a girl. I LOVE shopping. I can't help it. Now don't get me wrong I don't spend over my budget, but if there is a wicked cute top or shoes, I probably am going to buy it. Just like every other girl though I have my favorite stores that I have to go to anytime I go to the mall. So here it is my top three "go-tos" at the mall:

1. Victoria Secret- Ok, well with this one I'm pretty much an addict. I have posted about it before and here I am again. I swear by Victoria and her lack of secret! All of my bras and panties come straight from this store. Although a little tip, wait for the 7 for $26 sale which happens about 4 times a year. This is the best time to buy undies. This sale can also join up with the sales promotion in November where if you buy anything you receive a mystery card worth at least $10 to spend in December. Also thanks to a friend I am now also hooked on the yoga wear which is unbelievably comfy. I try to always use coupons and shop only when they have deals because it makes it all more affordable. :) Still my Number One!!!

Yoga Pants and Half-Zip Pull Over - VS Pink Yoga Collection

2. American Eagle- I am now 23, a working engineer and have been shopping at this store since middle school. Once again I almost never shop the full priced racks but even if you did you can still find adorably affordable clothing. My favorite is their jeans, as an athletic build their jeans fit my muscular thighs without making me feel like I'm stuffing sausage into a casing. They have the perfect amount of stretch while still maintaining a structure that accents my best features. I have moved around frequently over the last few years and this is one store that truly reflects its area. For example, when I shopped American Eagle in Vermont I was able to find many cute feminine cut flannels. When shopping in the Boston, MA area I find more skinny jeans, less flannel and more "chic" relaxed type clothing.  Regardless you can always find at least one staple for your wardrobe!

AE Black Skinny Jeans and Sleeveless Button-Up from H&M

3. H&M- This is a fairly new one added to my list but during my last trip I scored big for cheap here. It is a store that provides trendy clothing at, once again, affordable price. I have been really into chiffon and similar materials. I love the way they flow and are comfortable to wear while being office appropriate. I will admit it is directed toward the young crowd ( I suppose that means me. Ha!) So hemlines are on the short side but with proper accessories it can transform to be appropriate! Personally, I try to keep it classy so pair a short skirt with a blazer or cardigan is definitely recommended.

Sleeveless Button-Up Chiffon Dress from H&M. I usually Pair this with a Black blazer also from H&M

Enjoy the rest of your week!!! Sorry this is an old Friday Post that never made it to publish. 

Creative Crafty #7: Repairing Vinyl Memories

For those that truly know me, know I am a huge sucker for old things! The history that they hold and the different people that have came in contact with them holds such high sentimental value for me. For example most recently I missed listening to vinyl records like I used to do with my dad when I was little. To soothe my soul  I asked my parents for a spare record player they might have when I went home. My dad pulled out his, from the 70's old, record player that had been residing in our garage for just about 15 years.

I was so excited to bring it home even though I did not have the speakers for it and was determined to find a solution for this problem. As my ADHD is terrible sometimes, I of course became distracted and had simply set it aside. This was until one of my best friends from home came to visit! Her and I have built our fair share of frank-inventions, including a TV antenna, over the years so we decided this would be our project for the weekend. 

After first going to Best Buy in an attempt to find the appropriate cord that would allow me to plug my computer speakers into the record player, we found ourselves at Radioshack. Unfortunately, I had not looked close enough at the record player and had the wrong information. After the second trip to Radioshack we found the correct cord configuration and hooked up the speakers just to find that the turn table or platter wouldn't even spin now. 

This was the problem why the platter didn't spin.

This gave me a excellent reason to pull my tool box out of the closet and to slowly take apart the record player to better diagnose what was wrong. We slowly took off the back and different components apart in an attempt to reach the primary source of our issue. The two of us being the organized, sligtly OCD, minds that we are carefully placed the pieces aside including the screws and labeled them with sticky notes. This way there would be no "left over" pieces when putting the whole machine back together. 

Everything neatly labeled! 

One late night shopping trip to Walmart later, we greased the parts that needed greasing, and un-greased the parts that we had greased and realized we shouldn't. Excitedly put it all back together set it up and turned it on. Buttt, instead of happy pleasant music we heard demon devil music coming form the speakers... The platter was now dipping as it spun causing the record to catch  and slow. At this point it was almost 1 am and even though  we had a better understanding of how a vinyl record player worked, we decided to retire our repair hats for a couple beers on the couch.  

~A shout out to one of my best friend Michelle!!! Love you girl!~

**Update** 

This record player still sits on my dining room table waiting to be completely repaired. I have returned home once again and now have another old portable record player that works perfect ! Frank Sinatra and Vinyl Records shall live forever! :)

Finally Friday #3: Double Duty

College, specifically Clarkson University has spent most of my cash for the last 5 years and is still taking my every last penny. Therefor, I have to be creative with my spending cash to get the most bang for my buck. I try to be creative and everything I buy I has more than one use.  Today's top three are items that I purchase that I have found multiple uses  for. Hope You Enjoy!

1. Marshall's Clothes-i love to shop like every other girl but when on a budget I have to be realistic about how much I spend and what I spend it on. My number one rule while shopping is never buy anything unless it can be worn to work as well as on the weekend. This goes for mostly tops and dresses. Some pants are a bit trickier to make abide to this rule but I have gotten better. Here I bought this dress for a fun conservative summer dress but found it to work great with a blazer to wear to work. 

Work

Casual 

 2. Mini Wheats- Specifically the chocolate ones! I love Mini Wheats for breakfast but they also serve as good afternoon or anytime snack. They are the perfect size to just grab a handful of and snack away. I eat these while I am sitting at my desk at work. I have to be honest though rarely do they make it to the next day. Ha!

3.Beer Bottles- So I have been drinking a lot hard cider that comes in beer bottles lately. Its the beginning of September and in my mind it is fall. Obviously beer bottles serve their existing purpose which is to hold yummy hard cider. My new project is to follow this tutorial I found online to turn them into glasses. I want to also etch the homemade glasses to then make then festive for Halloween coming up!

Hope you all have fantastic weekend!

Lost Adventure #7: But It's a Dry Heat...

This Labor Day weekend my boyfriend and I went on our first vacation to Austin, TX.  He flew from Wisconsin to Dallas, while I flew from Boston to Dallas and then we snuggled together on out flight into Austin.  After always being alone on a plane flying to see him or him flying to see me it was breath of fresh air to be flying together somewhere. We got in late Friday night and I had a chance to meet his sister and her husband before we went to bed for the night.

The next morning we quickly got up and I met my boyfriend's 2yr old niece, who is absolutely adorable and probably the best behaved 2 yr old I have ever met! We played with her and after a yummy breakfast of Blueberry muffins, bacon and spinach scrambled eggs, we were off to endure the weather. 105 degrees isn't exactly my idea temperature as pale faced ginger.

The hot weather wasn't as terrible as I thought and my boyfriends sister had found this neat hiking trail at the Westcave Preserve that led to a cave that was around 68 degrees inside. The entire trip I drank copious amounts of water which my boyfriend kept supplying me. The amazing man he is, also periodically dripped water on the back of my neck to help keep my core temperature down while sacrificing his water.

The Westcave Preserve was a neat experience due to the fact there is a guide that leads you down to the cave all the while explaining the geography, greenery and wildlife.... At this point I should mention the guide's other job was to make sure there weren't any Water Moccasins in or near the trail. For those of you that don't know, Water Moccasins are poisonous snakes that if you are bitten you need to be rushed to the hospital. This information was given to us at the beginning of the hike and kept me right on my toes! Luckily we only saw one Water Moccasin which was curled up and under a rock a few feet off the trail.

At the beginning of the hike down to the cave.

The outside area surrounding the cave was lush and green due to water that seeped out from between the layers of rock. This water created a pool at the base of the cave, which then led into a small stream that the trail followed. Once in the cave we had a chance to touch a formation and cool down while the guide told stories of old hippies that once used the cave for the deep pools of cool water.

After that we wandered back up the trail to the main building, where we looked at fossils found at the preserve. There was also gorgeous photography on the walls which I found myself oogling for some time. My boyfriends little niece was along for the whole trip and was such a trooper. She stayed quiet when the guide was talking and kept well behaved in her fathers hiking pack. While back at the main lodge I helped entertain her by reading her some books they had as well as taking her to look at the colorful images on the wall.

On Sunday we went to Longhorn Cavern which was another guided tour. This tour was much longer and primarily inside the cave the entire time. Our colorful, Texas native, guide regaled us in stories of how the  Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) dug out the cave back in the 30's, stolen and lost gold, how the Indians used to hold captives there, a cowboys and indians fight that led to a love story, a speakeasy, the first "air conditioned" church/ town hall, and even profiles of past presidents.

Not only were these stories interesting to listen to, but the view inside the cave was breathtaking. There were huge common rooms that you could hear your own echo in and 200' hallways that were only 4' tall and a few feet wide. One room looked like Martha Stewart went crazy with her glitter paint, while others were sandy yellow identifiable as limestone. The cool 70 degrees cave was a marvel all on its own and definitely a site for anyone passing through the hill country of Texas.

With all our tummies rumbling The Salt Lick was the next destination on our trip. This BBQ joint was one of the best Texas has to offer. My personal meat of choice was the brisket and it certainly did not let me down as always. My boyfriend chose to go with a medley of meats including the brisket, sausage and pork ribs all covered in a delicious layer of house BBQ sauce. I tried them and they were also excellent choices! 

Waiting for food at The Salt Lick

Waiting for the food to come was probably the worst part. The entire place smells of the amazing food and as you walk in to sit down, you get the chance to see where all the meat is cooked. Atmosphere at The Salt Lick was definitely one of good music, good friends and good times.

BBQ Spit at The Salt Lick

Monday being the day we flew out, we had little time to do much. Texas State Capitol Building tour was squeezed in between packing up and our trip to the airport. There was a quick guided tour that showed us the House of Representative and the Senate, but after that we were allowed to wander alone.

They weren't kidding when they said "Everything is bigger in Texas!". The star at the top of the dome is 8 feet wide!

Dome inside Capitol

Paintings of Texas Politicians 

 I am a huge history buff and really enjoyed the architecture of the building. There were many details spelling out Texas right down to the hinges on the doors that said Texas Capitol. Even the chandeliers that hung in the Senate were in the shape of the "Lonestar" and spelled out Texas.

Hinges on all of the doors.

Chandeliers hanging in the Senate.

Both my boyfriend and I had a tough time leaving. His sister and her family were amazing hosts and made us feel right at home. Getting out at the airport was even tougher when my boyfriend's niece started crying because we were leaving. Luckily, we were on the same flight once again from Austin to Dallas so we had a shared layover where we had a nice dinner together. But once again when it was time for Shane and I to part ways, I was a cry baby as my mom put it. I wish I could say it gets easier but it never really does. Shane was so sweet he waited with me till I mostly stopped crying before he went on his way.

I loved every minute of this vacation. I'm not sure if was the fact we did so many cool things or getting to spend some time away with my favorite man, but I did not want to leave. Anybody looking for a fun vacation  spot I fully recommend Austin, Texas!

*I will be adding new photos to this post as soon as I get them from my boyfriend.*

Creative Crafty #6: Homemade Thank You Cards

I did a new project this week! I made some thank you cards for my great aunts that I missed a few weeks ago when I was home. I hate buying cards when I have tons of scrapbook paper, miscellaneous colors of card stock and ample creativity.

All four Thank You Cards

To begin with I started with 12"x12" Card stock that I use in my scrap book. I find this makes the best most professional looking cards. I chose a variety of prints that all carried a similar color scheme so that I could use similar accent colors to decorate the  cards.

Card stock

I folded each piece in half so that only the patterned side of the paper was showing. I then folded the paper so that it made a card opening right to left. I then used solids of card stock to decorate the cards. I also added a large square to the inside to each to write a letter on. 

Card 1

Card 2

Card 3

Card 4

*Please don't mind the mess on my craft table. Things end up all over when I am in the craft zone.*

To finish these cards off, I made envelopes out of green 8.5"x 11" sheets of paper today on my lunch break. The cards and envelopes turned out exactly how I had hoped. I am printing a few pictures off to include with the cards. 

Hope you all enjoy!