refashion: outdated shirt to snappy skirt! // diy

I'm guest-posting over at Merrick's Art today sharing how you can turn this...

...into this:

I'm pretty thrilled with how this one turned out. Come check it out!

5 things i learned this halloweekend

1:: Halloween is REALLY big in our town. For the first time in a couple years, we got dressed up and went downtown to play. 

2:: Dressing up really is pretty darn fun. I'd forgotten.

 Don Draper (actually using the typewriter, priceless) // Hipster Dorothy (bathroom photos were all I got)

3:: No photos should EVER be taken in a club. Ever. (Pre-night-out photo via @kaseysander. No pictures of the rest of the night will ever see the light of day. )

4:: Cabbies do NOT pick up at our apartment at night. They will, however, pick you up if you walk half a block and flag them down. Who knew? 

5:: There's a whole lotta nekkid out on Halloween. Way to class it up, Santa Barbara.

How was your weekend? Did you go out to play for "Halloween"?

And this week's numbers are...

one husband returned to me safe and sound

two bottles of wine to get through the Presidential Debate (hey, there were a lot of us; don't judge)

three classes worth of papers in my in-box to be graded.

source

(I keep going back to this picture, it sums my feelings up nicely)

four little fishbowl candles I love so much.

five-minute hairdos, since dark and cold mornings tend to make me oversleep.

six inches of repeating stripey cheer on the wall (dining room reveal coming soon!)

seven months (a teensy bit less, actually!) until I'm 25. Whoa.
eight weeks so far of co-teaching our bible study--loving it! (and clearly, Spock likes to be in the middle of things).

nine minutes of straight giggling at work over the "new" ghostbuster-esque vacuum cleaner. You legit wear it on your back, and the "on" button is on the "utility belt". Seriously DIED.

ten pretty fingers, going on a week strong!

Happy Friday! 

reunited

As you may know, my hsuband's been out of town on business. I've been trying not to complain about it too much because it's really only a week, and so far I've survived okay (Just a couple more hours to go, knock on wood!). I'm incredibly proud of what he's done on this trip, and have loved the little fun phone calls at random hours because he forgets that DC is three hours ahead of me. He's flying home today (after a quick meeting in the Oval office, of course).

So Tim, in case you get a sec to read this:

I miss you bunches.  I finally cleared up my clothes off the floor so you won't trip anymore. I have watched almost an entire season of "that chick show" while you were gone because you weren't there to stop me, MUA HA HA HA HA. I baked those yummy pumpkin tarts for when you get home because no one's been here to steal the cookies I need to make them (and I haven't even eaten a single one yet!).  I used your soap yesterday so I could smell like you. I love you. Hurry home.

Love,

Your pseudo-homemaking wife.

alphabet

A:: Annie: the fake name I used to give out in coffee shops and at the ridiculous "dating and friendship" quizzes that they used to give us in high school. No, I am not joking about that; they really gave us match.com-esque questionnaires in school that would match us with other students. I didn't want anyone to see my name if it popped up on their "results", so I used a fake name. 
Best part? My fake name showed up on all my friends match results. Win.

B::  Brittany & bananas. My name is Brittany, and I have this thing about bananas. If they are 100% yellow, I will not eat them. There has to be green on the stem. Not a lot, but it's got to be there. Any banana that is green-free is Tim-food or destined for Banana bread. (My mom's the same way).

this isn't related to curry, I just like it.

C:: Curry {coconut, panang, or yellow; don't care which}. Perhaps it's a result of months spent in the South Pacific, but I LOVE me some curry. Seriously, ask Tim; I'd eat panang any day of the week if offered. In a pinch, I'll settle for curry powder, but it's not always good enough.

D:: DIY + (insert anything here).  Also known as knockoff-obsessed. I have a serious obsession with making my own whatever. I find a really cute outfit or dress online? Let's make it! Great piece of furniture at Pottery Barn or whatever? I can totally do that for less! Wonderful face cleansing pads? Ooh, look: a recipe! I love it, but I am fully aware that normal people don't try to DIY everything.

E:: Editor. Sometimes I think it would be incredibly awesome if I were an editor at a big-name publishing company. You know, one that publishes novels, not textbooks or anything like that. Like in "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock and Ryan what's-his-face. Because I love to read and it would be cool to be paid for it. Anyone have any connections? kthanks.

via 

F:: Fall. I love all the seasons, but there's just something about Fall that is so wonderful. So sensual.  Seriously; what other season gets so much attention from the senses? The changing fall colors (on the three trees in town that change color, of course), the smell of rain on the pavement (the few days it rains here), the the tastes (and smells too) of pumpkin and cinnamon and nutmeg and deliciousness, the sound of the Santa Ana winds (which to be fair aren't as fun as they used to be after the 2008-09 fires in Santa Barbara, but still), the crisp feel of the air in the evenings while the days still remain warm... Luxurious. Love it.

G:: GLITTER. Sparkles make the world go round {not}. But they do make the world more sparkly, and that's fantastic :). I will never rarely say no to some sparkle. Hence the new iphone case.

H:: Homeowners. Someday {soon?}. We would love to be homeowners, preferably ASAP. {I've talked about it a little bit here and here}. While the timing hasn't been right with the past few houses we've seen, we are still really excited and hope to have a little home of our own sometime soon.

Blades of Glory via

I:: Ice skating, my preferred birthday-party destination for every birthday party between 9 and 11. And again when I was 22. Not kidding around about this stuff.
For those early parties, I would wear my fuzzy angora sweater (a hand-me-down from Mom, it was the 90's after all) and skate my little heart out, dreaming about the day when I would finally convince my parents to let me buy one of the ice-skating dresses they sold in the Skate Shop.  Puh-leeeeeeeezeeeee????? I'd totally wear it every day!!!!! Any excuse to wear rhinestones on a daily basis was GOLD back then. (Let's be honest, it's still gold. The iphone case I ordered is bedazzled. Don't want one of those dresses anymore, though.  I mean, seriously.)

J:: Jellyfish. The only underwater creature I'm actually  to see in an aquarium. Seriously! I can handle those shark tunnels where they're swimming all around you, but I canNOT handle the jellyfish tanks. You ever been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium? They basically surround you. Not an experience I'd care to revisit. I was stung by a jellyfish when I was a freshman in high school, and it took me years to want to go snorkeling again.

And to save you the inconvenience of having to ask: no, I didn't have anyone pee on it. That's gross.

K:: Karaoke. I love to sing {anytime, anywhere, in front of anyone}, but I can't stomach Karaoke. It's just so awkward! It's fun to watch, but... no. 

L:: Lipstick. Blog-regulars know this isn't really something that needs to be explained. Love it.

M:: Mack, McNugget, Mack-Daddy, Mr. Puff-ball, Monkey. All pet names for either Tim or Spock. Can you guess whose is whose? {hint: they can't}. 

PS. These two are inseparable. If Spock can see Tim, he will try to get to him. Even if it means "flying" down a flight of stairs. (he's not all that skilled at this flying stuff; still a baby)

N:: Nanopets. Remember those, children of the nineties? I never had one, and I may or may not have made fun of the kids who had them {and brought them to school with them, and played with them at recess, etc}. I also may or may not have secretly wanted one.

O:: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. No explanation needed. They're da BOMB.

P:: PC FO LIFE! The hubby is a Mac guy, and truth be told most of our home computer products are Apple products, but my heart will always belong to PCs. #donthate

Q:: Quittin' time. Best time of the day. This is not a joke.

R:: Regrets. {Of which I really do have none.} It's cliche, but even though I've gone through some challenging situations, I really wouldn't take back anything I've ever done or said. I've been disappointed in the way I've handled things, sure, and there are a few things I wish I could do over if I had the chance, but everything I have ever done has brought me to now. And it all happened with a purpose. I really believe that.

S:: Sweet Tooth. I've got a mouth full of 'em, and they can best be satisfied with something sour and/or chewy. Preferably both. Like Sour Patch Kids, Sour Punch Straws, Sour Skittles, etc.
Great, now I'm drooling.

T:: Thailand and Tim. Two of my loves I hope to one day introduce.

U:: Ubiquitous. I love that word. Look it up, then use it in a sentence. Right now, where we are, it adequately describes maxi skirts, printed or brightly-colored pants, gladiator sandals, animal print, and neon. It's everywhere.

V:: Victory through Christ. Of this I need to remind myself daily. {1 Corinthians 15:57}

via

W:: Waitress. My dream job at age 9, second only to "famous hollywood actress". I wish I was kidding. I went to Chevy's as a kid and fell in love with the mexican dancing girl costumes the waitresses got to wear to work, and determined then and there that it was my destiny. I got as far as Cater-waiter, but I think I may have missed my calling. 



X:: X-ray. Never had one. Wait, do dental x-rays count? I guess I've had a few then. Whoops.

via

Y:: Yachting. This is what my family will call "just going out in the boat and driving around" Because did you know that the definition for a yacht is just "a noncommercial vessel propelled by sail or power, used esp for pleasure-cruising, racing, etc" (as listed in the World English Dictionary)? Pretty broad definition, if you ask me. Technically, you could be "Yachting" in a dinghy. Just a thought. Or, like my little brother here, running aground in a ski boat:

Z:: Zeeeeeeeee end :)

Thanks to Erin at Living in Yellow for the inspiration for this post! This was so fun. 
Want to play? Link up in the comments!

taking rentership: lighting situation // diy

I haven't done a Taking Rentership post in a while, so to catch you up: We rent our apartment, and we have a love-hate relationship with it. We still want to claim our rented house as our home, while still staying true to our rental contract (aka don't destroy the place).

There have been a few times we've deviated from that plan, and this is one of them. 

This is the tale of our dining room chandelier. It was awful. Here's proof: 

Okay, not terrible, but NOT to our taste. At all. I figured this one would be an easy thing to change; swap out the fixture, replace it when we move out! No problem there.

I had to show Tim a few pictures of the kind of look I was thinking, but he was onboard immediately. Off to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore we went!

Teeny photo via Habitat.org

Side note: I love this place. Not only do they have an AWESOME selection of pretty much anything you can think of, but you're supporting a really great cause when you shop there. So there's that.

We were hoping for fantastic deals on some antique chandeliers, but didn't know what to expect. Turns out that these were all at minimum half-off what we were finding at Home Depot. The one we found? Originally priced at fifty bucks, marked down to thirty-five.

We got it for thirty, because that's how Tim rolls. He was pretty excited about it.

(They even threw in a free glass lampshade-thingy because they liked us--it's perfect for a tealight. Score!)

So, this brassy chandy had seen better days. It was missing most of its bulbs, the brass was scratched and dirty, and the wiring was a little frayed. All fixable! We bought new wiring and a longer chain from which to hang it, picked up some shiny new bulbs, and wiped the whole thing down with some ammonia cleaner. A few coats of paint and we were good to go. 

We used Rust Oleum's Appliance Epoxy. This stuff was fantastic! It is oil-based and formulated to be sprayed directly onto metal without primer, so it's stuck on there solid, and the shine on that bad boy? Gorgeous. We couldn't be happier. 

Hello Gorgeous. You turned out better than we could have hoped.

 

If you look closely, you can see some of the other updates we've made to the kitchen area! Can't wait to show you those :)

What do you think; is our landlady going to kill us? ;)

Nifty Thrifty Thursday at Coastal Charm, Tuesday's Treasures at Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Wow us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style, Be Inspired at Elizabeth and Co

care-taker

My sweet husband is off on his first cross-country business trip today. He'll be spending the week in Washington DC, manning the company booth at a 100,000-attendee trade show.
(#proudwife right here)

Knowing that I generally get pretty scatter-brained when he leaves (see here and here for proof), he went shopping this weekend without me knowing and picked up enough food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for every day that he will be gone.

Sweetest part? He planned every meal, and each one included either fruit snacks or ice cream.
Boy knows the way to my heart.

motivate me, please

I feel like everyone I know is getting into shape or training for some running something-or-other. But here's the deal: I don't run. At all. None of my family does. And for good reason!

We're like, pretty dang nordic. There's some Armenian thrown in there, but on the whole, we're like this:

source

Except maybe not as attractive.

My brother said it best: "Our people were not made to run. We were made to swing hammers and conquer continents and stuff. Running was for the people we were attacking." Silly, but true.

Brother was called "Nordic Viking" in High School. I could max out the leg-press machine at the gym with one leg. It's just in our genes. We've always been strong.

But running? Yeah, not so much.

When Tim signed up and started training for a half-marathon, I just didn't have the same drive as he did (or the capability, to be honest. It would take me a LONG time before I can run thirteen-plus miles again.). I didn't have the motivation of losing weight, and even though I knew that I had to get my cardio up, it's hard to be motivated to start doing something like that if you're skinny. And what's the point if you're just running to reach a finish line?

BOooooring!

BUT I know that I need to work on increasing my activity. I used to be able to run a lot more than I can now; now, my heart and lungs start to really suffer if I do a moderate hike in altitude.

So. I'm biting the bullet.
I've registered for a 5k. (paltry distance compared to hubby's half marathon, but that's not the point. It's more than 0, my current ability).
But there's more. It's a MUD RUN. With obstacles and stuff. (they don't do color runs in December, which would have been my first choice).
This is to make the no-point-to-running-for-a-finish-line person in me happy, because racing in and of itself wasn't going to cut it for me for my first "competitive run" ever.
I'll be following the Couch to 5k running plan, so we'll see how it goes!

overwhelmed.

It's so easy to become overwhelmed in today's society. SO many things that keep us "busy" and occupy our time from when we wake to when we sleep. So many things that keep us from sleeping. Trying to balance work and family and life and friends and everything else we take on, it's downright exhausting!

But there is so much wonderful in the world, too, you guys! SO much beauty, so much kindness, so much love. The best kind of overwhelming.
I'm overwhelmed when I consider:

:: the beauty of the city in which I live,
:: the kindness and generosity of my students,
:: how good we really do have it here.
:: all the details that fit together perfectly in the plan of God,
:: the support poured out by our community when one of us is hurting or sick,
:: the joy of a good day's work.,
:: the love (and patience!!!!!) of my husband,

my heart is full.
Let's be overwhelmed by wonderful things, shall we?
What overwhelms you?

This weekend

date night with my wonderful hubby, who's not all that thrilled I'm on my phone // hot sauce collection

Nail art // Weekend projects: Painting the dining room!

One last one, my sweet little sleepy bird keeping us company while we painted.

Project#2, revamping a Habitat ReStore brass Chandelier. We're so excited!

Sunday Brunch with Tim at the beach // The beer was from a different time. But it was still good.

We stopped by the Avocado Festival in Carpinteria the other day, it was so fun! Weird, but fun. 

Avocado Honey beer and Avocado ice cream? One was good, the other not so much. Guess which one?

It was a great weekend. And I have today off. So it's still technically my weekend.

Excuse me, I've got a date with a bubble bath.

Carry on.

Friday Favorites

 Happy Friday, friends! Long time no talk. It's been quite the week (the physically and emotionally exhausting kind). But to help me forget about all that, I'm going to focus on some of my favorite things this week!









Favorite purchase: My shiny new iphone case, courtesy of Amazon. Best dollar I ever spent. (Seriously, a dollar {okay, a dollar and seven cents. Still}). May have taken three weeks to get here, but it's sparkly and will hopefully keep this iphone from shattering. I'm not normally a case girl, but I couldn't say no to a buck. And it's sparkly.

Favorite Fall Flavor:  I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in feeling this, but Pumpkin Spice is one of the best parts of the Fall season. We don't really get much of a Fall here on the Central Coast of California, so it's kind of the closest "marker" we get. Starbucks drives the seasons here: pumpkin spice latte season, red cup season. (You know it's true, SoCal-ers)
I can't wait to start baking a bunch of pumpkin-inspired concoctions; missed out on that one last year. I'll also be trying out a pumpkin spice creamer recipe; can't wait to share that one :)

Favorite weekend plans: Sticking to the pumpkin theme here, we're headed up to Avila Valley Barn this weekend! It's a yearly tradition and is just plain fun, which is definitely something we'll be needing after the completely awful weeks and weekends we've been having lately. We'll do a hayride, pick out a pumpkin or two, have a glass of cider, maybe visit the haymaze if we're feeling particularly adventurous {did it last year, still sort of get nightmares about it}.




What are your favorite things this week? link up with Lindsey!