POP! {...goes their confidence}

Pop quizzes are the worst. Apparently, even when you're the one giving them!

I co-teach an introductory lab course with two professors, and they created a quiz on statistics and experimental-design (which I briefly mentioned here. It really was killer). Yesterday, we gave it as a pop quiz. Yes, we gave it on the last day of classes.

Oh my gosh I almost DIED when I handed it out to them, especially when I saw their faces. 

Heart=broken {seriously, i had really bad heartburn throughout class}

I had to be super serious, when all I wanted to do was give them a hug. I prayed so hard for them the whole time. And then went through the whole process again with the second section.

If any of you read my blog, I'M SO SORRY!! 

On the other hand, though, I really hope they did well... 

taking rentership - vase makeover

Low-cost, high impact, multipurpose. My home decor checklist.

When husband and I were thinking about wedding reception decor, we faced the same problem that we're having in our home: everything was so white! We ended up bringing color to the tables using bottles we had painted with our wedding colors.  

.

I thought we could do something similar with our table at home. Rather than painting the outside of the bottles, though, which gave a nice matte appearance, I tried something different. I got inspired by Martha. As usual.My version // Martha Stewart's version . I loved how shiny and deep the color on her bottles looked! She got the effect by swirling enamel paint on the inside of the bottles, rather than painting the outsides. .For my version, I just used regular 'ol paint, though. Enamel paint was pretty and all, but it was pricey, and it seemed wasteful to buy it for one project {and for a project I wasn't even sure would work, too!}The process was pretty simple: I just dumped a little paint in them, swirled it around for a while until the inside was coated well, and then turned them upside-down to dry.  For the smaller "vase" {formerly a glass candle}, I added some white paint to the teal so they wouldn't match so much. It took about a day to dry for the large vase, overnight for the smaller one. It was pretty messy, but a quick wipe with a damp cloth took care of the drips. I love them. And with the little yellow vase I thrifted last week, I'm starting to shape the color scheme in there!
.
Thing is, since I used interior paint rather than the special enamel stuff, my vases aren't waterproof. Which, if you think about it, is a pretty dumb characteristic for a vase..But wait! I totally thought of that. The smaller cylindrical vase is the perfect size for a tea light holder (or shot glass, when I can't find my tea light holder). For the larger vase, I can just barely sneak a plastic cup inside the mouth.

Tricky tricky. But once the flowers are in there, you can't even tell.

 

 We're all ready for Spring! :)

Linking up to: Shabby Creek Cottage

taking rentership - the seating situation

{We did this project forever ago, but it was the first step in the quest for color in our home, so I figured it's about time I blogged about it.}

I've made mention of this before, but our dining room table was a "rescue". As in: rescued from the side of the road.

It had some imperfections. And it only came with 3 chairs, all of which were in pretty bad shape. We could have refinished the chairs, but sanding really sucks, so we upholstered them instead {using a method similar to the one we used in our headboard}. Waay easier.

The fabric was from Ikea (now discontinued), and the padding was a mattress pad. They're nice and fluffy now. And, like, really bright and stuff.  We like that.

taking rentership ~ palate inspiration

This is my home.

YAWN.

Countertops, cabinets, floors, walls; everything is so white white white white white. Not even a place for us to hang a bright handtowel. Lame. Whoever built our little string of condos had very little imagination.  And husband and I didn't really help things by adding in a giant white table. (okay, I'll admit it: I wanted to paint it a really bright color but my vote was vetoed).  It's really hard to add color to a space without painting it! But, because I have decided to start loving the place we call home, it was time for some changes. We needed some "us" in the space!   And I wanted as much color as possible. Because we're still renting, and can't paint and all.Here's the color palate we (okay, I) decided on: 

.


 cake central // honeytree on etsy // inspired bride 

.


craft berry bush // photocard boutique // tumblr, original source unknown :(   We'll incorporate various shades within these palates, with probably some cranberry in there. We'll see.  I can't wait to get started.

Little Notes

Dear Husband:
You rock. Thank you for getting up and making me breakfast ON YOUR FIRST DAY OFF. You're way better at this than I am.

Dear spiders who seem to be invading my home: Where did you come from? And why won't you leave? I understand that the weather has been a little unpredictable lately, and if I were you I'd TOTALLY want to take shelter in my house too, but this is getting a little teensy bit old. Also, our bedroom is OFF LIMITS.    Dear Students: Press on, you're so close to the end of the semester! Don't sweat the little stuff; a grade's a grade and learning is a lot bigger than a GPA. Enjoy every little moment. Soak it in. Finish Strong. You'll be glad you did.
Dear Martha: I never cease to be amazed by you. Your website, along with Pinterest, has catapulted me into decorating mode. Now, could you sprinkle some of your fairy dust on me so my projects come out as pretty as yours? I'm almost 100% positive that you don't finish your projects covered in paint and glue, either.
Dear "Hoarders": The fact that you're on at dinnertime disgusts me. You ruined our fabulous dinner.
Dear ReStore: You really do have some gems within your warehouse. It is definitely a treasure hunt in there, but I'm glad that we discovered you! 
Dear last week of classes: Bring it. 

My office, this time last year. We're paperless now, but I've got twice the students. LETS GO.

four-twenty

Today's post is dedicated to my good friend Sarah, who today celebrates another year of life. Thousands and thousands of miles away from me. See, Sarah is one of those superhero people who not only know what they believe in, but stands up for it, too. I won't go into too much detail, but she's trying to end slavery. 
You know, trying to save the world.
To commemorate her birthday, here's a cake I made her:

I kid, I kid. (via)
Actually, there is a story behind this "virtual cake". A few years ago, Sarah celebrated her birthday while studying abroad in Thailand, and those of us back home made her a cake and video-recorded us eating it for her. The sound didn't work, though, so we ended up "dubbing" the video. (Do you still have that somewhere?).
But I didn't get my act together fast enough to bake her a cake this year. Next best thing? 
Anyway, Happy Birthday, friend. And I expect that as SOON as you get home, you get your buns over to our house for a giant bottle of wine and an entire season of Master Chef (which starts on May 29 yee!)

It's Thursday. And that is awesome.

So, today is normally the day that I dedicate a blog post to the things both awkward and awesome in my work week. But, for the first time in thirteen weeks (holy cow that's nuts), I just don't want to focus on all the crappy crap that happened this week. I'm in just such a good mood. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and life is good.
SAD is real, people.
But because I can't really break a habit that easily, I'll list a couple of really fantastic things that happened this week. 
Our house is spotless. It's a new era. I might even start decorating {we'll see}. 

Husband's "two weeks" are up tomorrow. He gets a full week off, and then will start his new {and hopefully fantastic} job the week after that.
I was given a killer "pop quiz" in statistics and experimental design {to pilot the test before it was given to the class}, and I somehow remembered all the stuff I learned in college. Tuition = not wasted.
I read a book. An actual paper book. As much as I love my Kindle, there's something to be said about knocking a good thick book back. {prompted by a missing Kindle charger, but by the time I found it I was already halfway though the book. How do I always lose my stuff??!}
Despite having a perfectly good dining room table and chairs, and despite having a perfectly comfortable couch, husband and I have enjoyed meals sitting on pillows in the living room. I think we both have a screw loose {or five}.
Also, hubby's taking care of dinner tonight. I'm stoked.
Speaking of which, I think it's lunchtime. Seeya.

Whoo hoo hoo, we went to the Zoo.

This past Saturday arrived with the sun shining and the birds singing. It was absolutely not the kind of day you could spend indoors, even if you have lots of things on your to-do list.
So we went to the Zoo.
Husband and I have a long history with the Zoo. Our college held its Halloween dance there, and we went together in that awkward "pre-dating" phase. It was the first stop of many on our first actual date. Before we got married, we could hear the elephants and the monkeys and the little train from both of our apartments. Actually, we even {briefly} considered holding our wedding reception there. It was absolutely gorgeous but a little too stinky ;)
But we hadn't visited in three years. We had to fix that.
HIghlight: we both got to feed the giraffes. I now want one as a pet.

Hunger Games fandemonium // Taking a break // Getting ready to feed the giraffes!

We decided to walk there, since it was so nice (it's just over a three miles, round trip), and then visited a coffee shop in town afterwards. In all, we walked about eight miles without really realizing it, not including the walking we did inside the Zoo. We went to bed early that night.

Little notes

Dear husband:
Congratulations on landing your new job!! I am so proud of you, and the sales team won't know what hit it. Just one week more of the call center and you're FREE!

Dear Mad Men; Why are you only in my life once a week?! I miss the times we used to share; you and me and Netflix. It would be great if you could fix this.
Dear little 'ol apartment: I am sorry for saying all those mean things behind your back. You really are pretty great, and we're blessed to have found you. I have decided to stop being so awful to you, and start appreciating you more. Let's be friends, mmkay?
Dear Southern California: You have been so lovely lately, and the husband and I are really grateful. Although the sunburn was a bit much.
Dear Zoo; Thank you for being within walking distance from our house. We had a lot of fun on Saturday. And the  "giraffe feeding program"? Pretty awesome. We'll be back soon.

Dear Trader Joes: We need to talk. You can't keep making new and yummy products, because I'm powerless to resist you. It does, however, make for great picnics. Although could you please stop offering samples of your cheese? It's becoming a problem.
Dear papers sitting in my inbox: I love you. I love you. I love you (maybe if I'll say it enough, I'll start to believe it).
Dear Sunday afternoon: I have decided that you should be twice as long as a regular afternoon. We have such fun together.
Dear refrigerator: please don't die. I hear your poor old self struggling for breath all day long, but I'm really not sure what I would do if I came home and you were dead. Ugh.
Dear Ferrari:Way to make me look bad.

Snapshots of this week

Holy cow. It's friday! (when did that happen?)Sure, it's dumping rain  like a fire hose outside, and I'm a teensy bit afraid I'll get hit by lightning if I leave the building (it's already hit a car on campus today!), but it's FRIDAY.
On the horizon, I see lazy mornings, a shopping trip, two glorious episodes of Mad Men, and maybe a date with my sewing machine? We'll see. Don't want to be too ambitious. ;)
Here are some "little moments" from this past week, as captured via instagram.

Crusty whole-wheat bread fresh from the oven // Bobby-pin curls

"Little House on the Prairie" dress I can't wait to refashion // Blurry bubblegum and bling nails

An after-work surprise*: Macaroons and wine // Flooding outside my office patio has begun!

*I have to tell more about this story. I hadn't had a very good day at work, and so husband commanded me to go upstairs and leave the cooking to him. He made us turkey and goat cheese paninis with tomato soup, which was delicious, but something was a little.... off... with the soup. It was really rich and incredibly thick. I find out later that he didn't see the "condensed soup" label on the can.
Love him.