Now Its My Turn to Pop the Question!

I knew that when I came time to ask my bridesmaids to be part of my wedding, I wanted to do it in a special way (Liz, if you're looking, click away!!!!)

Way before AJ and I got engaged, I saw an idea I loved on Pinterest. Of course, I didn't pin it (no ring = no wedding pinning!) and I couldn't find the exact pin again, but I did find this blog post by someone who also used the same idea!

For each of my bridesmaids, I made this:

I loved how they turned out! And so far, the girls who I've asked loved them too!

The Rules: 

1. Decide which pin you'd like to recreate.2. Create it!3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin's url.4. Add the Project Pinterest button to your post so others can join in too!

5. Link up and check out other bloggers' posts!

WOYWW: Whirlwind Weekend

This has been a crazy weekend! I just realized today that its Tuesday night and I haven't posted yet this week! Wow am I behind! But, it was a good weekend...

AJ's friends were here until yesterday. We went to the Field Museum (I'd never been there before). It was awesome! I took tons of pictures! And I even got some crafting done while the boys were hanging out!

The best news though - I got a teaching job! A teacher had to leave, and I am taking over for them! Tomorrow is my first day with the kids, but I was at the school Monday and today to get all caught up and start planning!

But that's not why you are here! You're here for WOYWW:

I started my pre-wedding scrapbook...and my desk is a mess because I couldn't spread out all over with everyone in the apartment! My desk will get a big cleaning tomorrow night though, since we are hosting our friends for dinner on Saturday and my desk is in the middle of the living room!

Want to see more desks from around the world? Stop by Julia's!

Crafty Wedding Stuff!

Wow, have we been having a heat wave here in Chicago. We have been breaking records with the heat left and right, and of course, my office hasn't turned off the heat yet, so no AC for us. Its been over 90 degrees in the office all week! Its been absolutely brutal, I just want to take the week off, but I don't have enough vacation days for that!

Okay, enough of my complaining, let's talk about something fun! I had ordered a bunch of wedding and crafty related items and they all came last weekend!

The first thing I ordered was this sweatshirt from Just Jen. I did tons of research on these sweatshirts, and Just Jen had the best reviews and the best prices (ps. Just Jen did not compensate me in any way for this post, but I've got my eye on a few cute things in their shop, so if they want to send me some free stuff to review, I'm all for it!)


I couldn't wait to get my sweatshirt, but of course, just as it came, the huge heat wave hit! I haven't been able to wear it, (except when I tried it on the in the apartment) but I've left it draped over my chair so I can see it all the time! When it gets cool again (when is that going to be?!) You can bet I will be wearing it all the time!

Then, I bought a few scrapbook wedding albums.

This first album is going to be for all the pre-wedding stuff, you know, the showers and all of that!

 

I'm planning on doing something on the cover, some sort of metallic stenciling of our names or something, but I haven't decided what yet.

And of course, I had to buy a wedding album! I love the tulle and silver and everything on this one!

 

Well, that is all my wedding sharing for this week. I'm so happy it is Friday, so I can spend my weekend in my air conditioned apartment instead of in my heated office!

Oven Baked Parmesean Fries

Hey all - this post has been scheduled for a week (yay!) and I totally forgot it was going up this morning. But for a quick update on the blogger fiasco of yesterday, its all better :) Now onto regularly scheduled life without freaking out!

Recently, I pinned these awesome looking fries on Pinterest, but I hadn't had a chance to make them yet. Then, I was sitting around on Pinterest and AJ wanted to know exactly what Pinterest was, so I showed him my food board - he saw those fries and he made sure that we bought potatoes to make them ASAP!

Now, I just assumed that I had all of the spices in my cabinet, but of course, I didn't.

So what did I do? I improvised!

My version:
3 potatoes
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp old bay seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder *I didn't have this, but I really think this would have punched it up!
1/8 tsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp grated parmesean
1 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 425.

Cut the potatoes into 8ths (but leave the skins on) and put them in a large ziploc bag.

Mix the dried spices and cheese together and put them in the ziploc bag.

Put the olive oil in the bag.

Shake shake shake.

Spread the potatoes out in one layer on a baking sheet (foil lined is good for clean up, but I totally forgot to do it!)

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the potatoes are golden brown. I did mine for 30, they were very brown and crunchy on the side on the baking sheet, but golden brown not as crunchy on the other side. I love them like that, but you may want to shake them up/flip them over halfway through the baking process!

Now, I forgot to take pictures of them, because I ate them up too quickly, so I will just share the picture from the original pin! (If you click on it, you will go directly to the pin, or you can click here and go directly to their blog!)

The Rules: 

1. Decide which pin you'd like to recreate.

2. Create it!3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin's url.4. Add the Project Pinterest button to your post so others can join in too!

5. Link up and check out other bloggers' posts!

I totally hate blogger today

Hey guys,

I'm probably going to go MIA for the rest of the week...blogger deleted some of my picasa albums because I had taken up too much space (and was now going to have to pay) so a ton of my photos got deleted. I'll be working on restoring it for the rest of the week, but I'm not going to post any new content until I fix what happened here!

UPDATE: Some good news, some bad, but mostly good :)
Okay, so it turns out I only lost pictures from 3 posts! Of course, two of my most popular tutorials lost their pics (ugggghhhhh!) so I'm going to work on fixing that today, but I will be back tomorrow for Project Pinterest! I'm sad to be missing another WOYWW, but I'm all ready to be back for that next Wednesday.

St. Patrick's Day!

They really go all out for St. Patrick's Day in Chicago! There are two parades, and they even dye the river green!

Since none of us had even been in Chicago for St. Patrick's Day we decided to go all out!

We all dressed up in our St. Patrick's Day finest. Meg got us all lots and lots of fun accessories from Oriental Trading. The headbands and hats were great for keeping track of everyone in our group in the big crowds! And, more than one news crew covering the river dying took our group's picture!

1. All the girls.

2. And the boys
3. Me and AJ (yep, you see how I made sure I got my ring in there...hehehe!)
4. My Chicago bridesmaid had to work in the morning, but came out to party later!


We decided to start early with a brunch (or ask my dad said, "Kate, at 8am, you call it breakfast."), then head over to see the river dying! The weather was amazing and we didn't have to wear jackets or anything! In fact, we are all a little too hot standing outside!

1. Lots and lots of people lined the river to see it turned green.
2. A bagpipe band marched through the streets while we were waiting.
3. The green dye started to float down the river!
4. Then the whole river was neon green!

After the river dying, we headed back to one of the apartments to regroup and decide what to do next. We wanted to check out the parade, and thanks to Alex's cousin, ended up on a free shuttle bus that was headed there! Except, once we got there, we realized we had lined up on the block past the block where the parade ended (we weren't the only ones, this block was packed!) So after realizing we wouldn't be able to actually see the parade, we gave up and headed over to Mad River, where much drinking and dancing ensued!

1. Watching the band walk by after the parade route ended.
2. Chicago has their own Miller Lite bottles!

And that was our first Chicago St. Patrick's Day! What did you do for St. Patrick's Day? Do you eat special green food, or Irish soda bread? Get all dressed up and go to a party or see a parade?

Gumball Machine

Time for a disclaimer: this isn't my project, its my mom's project, but it came out so awesome, that I had to share it with all of you!

While we were planning the Springsteen party, my mom said she wanted to get a gumball machine, only she didn't know where to buy one, and she didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. I had seen this pin on Tracy's board, and I thought it would be perfect for the party!

Because I was in Chicago, my mom (who is very crafty herself) was going to have to make it, because I was not attempting to bring it on the plane. My mom doesn't have Pinterest (although she probably should!), so when I said I found something on there, she thought I was talking about some crazy Martha Stewart project that never comes out exactly right and just makes you angry (I do love Martha, but sometimes her projects drive me crazy!). I explained that Pinterest crafts are by regular people, with nice normal instructions so they are totally doable!

After hearing that, she wanted me to send her the link to the directions.

We already had the clear glass bowl, so all she had to do was buy a pot, and some red paint (which we may have already had too...I'm not sure, I was in Chicago making pinwheels all night!).

My mom said it was super easy to make, and we both loved how this project came out! It was a hit at the party, by the end of the night, everyone was chewing gum and having bubble blowing contests!

I'm linking up with Project Pinterest today. Celebrate weekend eve (aka Thursday) with even more Pinterest inspired projects at Its on the Tip of My Tongue and Bring on the Lloyds!

The Rules: 

1. Decide which pin you'd like to recreate.2. Create it!3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin's url.4. Add the Project Pinterest button to your post so others can join in too!

5. Link up and check out other bloggers' posts!

Take 12: March

Its time for another Take 12 with Ella Publishing Co.

Except this time I only took 10!

1. Breakfast (well, half of breakfast, I already ate half my bagel when I remembered to take pictures!
2. Walking around campus to drop off forms.
3. Lunchtime trip to Target. I bought an oversized muffin tin I'm very excited about!
4. Driving back to work from Target, the sky looked a little stormy.

5. Driving home from work.
6. Waiting for the elevator so we can go on a walk by the lake.
7. The flowers are starting to peek up, spring is here!
8. A far away shot of the spot where AJ proposed.
9. The beach :)
10. Pasta with zucchini and diced tomatoes...yummy and fast!

It is another gorgeous day here today, although I'm stuck at work :( I was thinking I should maybe start riding my bike to work. Its only 6 miles, which I don't think is very long on a bike, although it does mean I would have to get a basket for my bike (yay! I've always wanted a cute basket!) What do you guys think? Ride my bike to work in the spring/summertime, or keep driving my car? I'm going to start a pro/con list :)

Asbury Park Boardwalk Party

I can't believe it is Monday already! I am so exhausted and already ready for bed, but I think it has to do with losing that hour Sunday night! I feel very out of rhythm. But I do love getting the extra hour in the fall, and I love how late it stays sunny out now! Does anyone else feel totally out of whack because of that hour?

Not much crafting got done this weekend (like none). Yesterday was just so pretty out that I couldn't stay inside. So instead, we went for a walk and got ice cream!

But, last weekend, my parents had their quickly-becoming-an-annual-event Top 5 party. This year's theme was your Top 5 Bruce Springsteen Songs. Basically, everyone sends in a list of their 5 favorite Springsteen songs, and throughout the night, we play the lists and everyone eats and drinks and hangs out.

My dad also does stats on all of the songs/lists. For example, we had the top 5 albums, and the top 10 songs of the party. He also gave everyone's lists a point assignment based on how many other people had chosen their songs, so you could see how popular your list was.

While my dad is working on the stats in the weeks leading up to the party, my mom and I made tons of decorations! After much indecision on how to decorate, we decided on an "Asbury Park Boardwalk" theme.

My mom made posters for all sorts of things that we hung on all of the walls (I'm not sure why the pictures are turned, they weren't before, and now they are...I'll work on fixing it!)

Our engagement poster (now in our apartment)

The favorite albums poster

My mom got this awesome hot dog machine at Target. It really cooks the hot dogs! And if you lift the little red/white awning, there is a place to warm the hot dog buns! We filled up those sand buckets with chips, and people used the baskets for the chips, or hot dogs or whatever. The posters in the back had the top 10 songs on them, but they're covered up in this picture because the big reveals hadn't happened yet!

Another sideways pictures...(seriously, what was happening here!) But this is the "Madame Marie" fortune telling station. Each fortune in the glass bowl was a Springsteen lyric. When your list was being played, you had to go to Madame Marie and pick out your fortune!

Beach snacks...we had popcorn, cotton candy, M&Ms, gumballs, lollipops and saltwater taffy!

And we had lots of pinwheels! (I spent a really long time making all those pinwheels!)

Outside, we put up a beach/boardwalk sign...

And we even had our own, personalized Springsteen One Night Only Poster!

Well, I'm going to go figure out what time it is and try to stay awake! I'll be back tomorrow with a wedding project :)

A Week in the Life 2011: Saturday

Finally, everything is matching up! Its the end of the week for reals, and its the end of the week in A Week in the Life 2011!

I feel kind of sad that I'm posting my last A Week in the Life 2011 page, but A Week in the Life 2012 is going to start soon (you can read more about it on Ali Edward's blog here) so I know I'll have another set to share soon!

As for Saturday's page - I kind of forgot to put the little written cards in! I plan to have 6 (three on this page, and three on the next page, in those blank spaces at the top) but I still need to do them! And, just like yesterday, that journaling page, not so much!

Yummy coffee cake!
Me and AJ on our roof
Me, Meghan and Allie

 Lots of pictures from the Air and Water Show...

Lots more pictures from the Air and Water Show.
AJ drinking all the rest of the milk because he ate a hot pepper that he thought was a sweet pepper and his mouth was not happy!

I am just so happy that it is Friday. I don't really want to do anything tonight, although we are going to start cleaning a little bit (and do some more laundry...and fix the hamper that I broke yesterday...). And, we get to have one of my favorite dinners - homemade mac and cheese! All by itself! I still have to cook the chicken though, because its defrosted and needs to be cooked, but we will save it and have it for dinner on Sunday - which means I don't have to cook on Sunday! And I don't have to cook tomorrow because one of my girlfriends is going to make us all dinner, a Mexican fiesta! AJ is super excited because he loves Mexican, but I don't really cook it often (sometimes I make quesadillas, but that's all of my Mexican cooking knowledge!) Yay for no cooking all weekend! Do you have a crazy busy weekend, or a you looking forward to just relaxing and maybe crafting a little bit?

A Week in the Life 2011: Friday

Yay for weekend eve! I thought this week was going super slow, but its finally Thursday, which means it is almost the weekend!

The last two weeks, I was sharing my A Week in the Life pages for 2011. Then I got sidetracked, but I still owed you Friday and Saturday! (You can see all the rest of the pages here).

This particular Friday was only 1 page, as opposed to four for the rest of the days, because I totally forgot to fill out my daily worksheet! And I didn't take a lot of pictures either. But that actually worked out okay, because Saturday I had tons of pictures, so I stole Friday's second 9 picture page for Saturday - which I will share with you guys tomorrow! - but for now, here is Friday:

It was kind of a calm day, I built an island for Ikea, which took basically all day long, then AJ and I went out to dinner. We thought our waitress may have been drunk though, based on her behavior (forgetting our order more than once, flirting with/sitting on the laps of a group of business men near our table, falling down the stairs then unable to stand again, slurring). It was such a bad experience, we didn't go back to that restaurant (one of our favorites!) together until our engagement lunch! But that was a great lunch :)

Well, I didn't get to do the laundry last night, because the grocery shopping/cleaning out the refrigerator so I could put away the groceries took forever! So my night will be spent doing laundry, and hopefully cleaning up my scrapbook area so I can play with my new markers and create my engagement layout! Do you have any fun plans for Thursday? 

WOYWW: Where I Did Nothing

My desk hasn't changed at all this week! I've been sick with a sneezing/coughing/throwing up terribleness that has kept me away from my desk, so it looks almost exactly the same as last week. Except my new markers came (they are right in the middle of the messiness) but I've been so sick I haven't had time to play.

Well, that's enough of my desk, I'm off to Julia's to check out the other desks...you should head over there too :)

11 Things About Me

Its so nice to be back! What a week/weekend/Monday we had this week! Starting on Wednesday, my little stuffy nose became a terrible cold/cough/who knows what else because I kept throwing up too has had me sidelinded!

Then (despite not feeling at all better!) this weekend, I flew out to New York to look at wedding venues and go to my dad's Bruce Springsteen party - and I couldn't fit my computer in my luggage!

As a result, I am very far behind in my commenting/emailing/blogging, but today is my catch up day!

I know I need to share:
Friday/Saturday of A Week in the Life 2011
Pictures from the party, including all those decorations my mom and I made
Scavenger Hunt Sunday photos
some fun wedding stuff

So keep an eye out for all of those things this week!

But Sunday, the awesome Tracy tagged me in her post 11 Things About Me - so now its my turn to share!

The rules:
1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.
3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog and twitter and tell them you've tagged them.

Since you guys see lots of grown up pictures of me all the time, I thought I'd share this one of me when I was a kid!

1. There are at least 6 boxes of macaroni and cheese in my house at all times. Right now, there are 10.

2. I've seen Bruce Springsteen so many times I've lost count (I think its around 14 now) and I'm going to see him again in a few weeks.

3. I am totally afraid of the dark. When AJ isn't home, I sleep with a light on...sometimes all the lights on.

4. I'm terrible at geography. Really bad. I though Chicago was in Ohio until I moved here. (It was the whole ending in "o" thing, I though all cities matched their states because of New York and Philadelphia!)

5. I love to bake, but don't like to eat baked goods. Fortunately, my brother, my dad and AJ all loooove freshly baked cookies!

6. When I was in school, I would get in trouble for reading too much. I'd always have a book out, during lessons, during dinner, all the time.

7. I can sleep anywhere. Friday, I slept sitting up in the airport with all my bags on my lap.

8. I wait all year for peppermint hot chocolate to come out. It tastes like Christmas time.

9. If possible, I would spent my whole summer sitting either on the beach or in my backyard. I've even tried to scrapbook in the backyard on pretty days, although I don't recommend it, there are little tiny winds you didn't expect!

10. My credit card is not happy when I go to Staples. I love office supplies, especially pens and post its. I carry a small pencil holder with a bunch of pens and a few different post its at all times.

11. I still can't believe I'm getting married next year. It doesn't seem real, but I am so happy that it is!

1 What is your favourite craft to do? 

Scrapbooking

2. Where were you born? 
Long Island, New York

3. What is your favourite crafting tool? 
You mean I have to chose just one?! That is way too hard Tracy! If I had to chose just one...okay, well, I'm going to say my eclips, because I love the shapes on their cartridges, especially their fonts!

4. What is your least favourite household chore? 
I hate folding and putting away laundry! I tend to leave my clothes on the drying rack until I'm ready to wear them!

5. Sweet or Sour treats? 
I'll take sweet over sour, but salty over anything!

6. What is your favourite movie? 
When Harry Met Sally. I kind of have a thing for Billy Crystal in that movie, it totally freaks out AJ!

7. What is your easiest meal to put together? 

What we had for dinner last night - bruschetta topped pasta, its just penne with diced tomatoes thrown on top. If I'm feeling fancy, I'll toss some Parmesan or mozzarella on top. If I'm feeling really really fancy, I'll use the little bite sized fresh mozzarella balls. 

8. What is your best project you have ever made...photo if possible :)
Right now, my favorite is my "LOVE" project (you can check it out here and here)

9. What is your guilty pleasure? 
Goldfishies, I can eat tons and tons of them. Extra points if there is a trashy reality show TV marathon going on while I'm eating the goldfishies, and I get to stay in my pjs to watch it!

10 When is your best time to create? 
I am a total night owl. I love to create at night, and stay up super late then sleep in. The whole "having a job" thing kind of messes with that!

11. What is your favourite season. 
Fall. Especially October. That's why we are getting married on October 5, 2013!

My questions to you are:
1. What is the best part of your day?
2. What is the worst part of your day?
3. What is your favorite song of all time?
4. Where is your dream vacation spot?
5. Paint or wallpaper?
6. What was the last movie you saw (and would you see it again)?
7. Have you ever lived in another state or even another country?
8. Do you watch the Oscars for the dresses, the awards, or don't even turn it on?
9. When did you start crafting?
10. What is your least favorite food?
11. What is one thing you just can't live without?

I'm going to tag:
Heather
Sarah
Lunch Lady Jan
Sara

I can't wait to read everyone's posts! I'll be back tomorrow for WOYWW!

Project Pinterest: Baker's Twine

Last week, I attempted to make this baker's twine with crochet thread and permanent markers.

Pin here.

Yeah...that didn't work out so great. Let's put it this way, the marks on the string were so bad I couldn't even get a picture.

But then I went to Pinterest and tried again and found this tutorial using white thread and embroidery floss.

Pin here.

My version actually came out really well! It was super easy to do, and I love that I can make this in any colors, and I can even combine colors other than white, as long as I have the thread!

The Rules: 

1. Decide which pin you'd like to recreate.2. Create it!3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin's url.4. Add the Project Pinterest button to your post so others can join in too!

5. Link up and check out other bloggers' posts!

Alright, well, I"m going to go crawl back to bed and hope whatever this horrible cold/cough/fever thing is goes away soon! But you should go check out some of the other projects by clicking on the Project Pinterest badge up there!