Chalkboard Frames

Happy hump day everyone!



Last night was our second, newly founded “Crafts Night” over at Abs’ house. Last time we decorated shoes (see the Ch’en Ch’en nautical shoes from before) and this night was going to be making chalkboard frames.

Those girls are so clever!



We were all to go out and pick up used frames from the Goodwill so that we could bring them back and paint them up.

Since I was already heading over to Hobby Lobby with Kristen, we took a gander at the frames that they had..not having any luck, she had the brilliant idea of just creating my own frame from scratch.

We picked up a cheap little wood frame that didn’t have any glass in it, a few wooden medallions and an “S” and a “B”. Urnie thought they were for “Susie BooBoo” which I think they now should be.



Ok, now the fun part!
Kristen took the two medallions and used wood glue to place them on the corners of the frame. Next, she spray painted it with black lacquer paint and let it dry.


While it was drying, I was painting the “s” and the “b” a nice chartreuse color.
Once all the pieces were dry, the letters were glued to the frame.
Time for the fun paint!


Once over at Absola’s, all of the girls had their frames and were ready to start painting theirs. There was a lot of creative genius going on here. Priority number one though: food!

Abs whipping up some pita pocket pizzas with vegan pesto and fun toppings!

Once the pizzas were in the oven, we started in on the frames. First up on the back of the “chalkboard” piece was the magnetic paint, Urnie got magnetic paint!! Yeah!!



There was a hell of a lot of shaking and stirring going on with this can, it was so gumpy and gooey, but after everyone took a turn mixing it finally rolled out.


Two coats and dry to the touch, it was time to paint it with chalkboard paint.
Two coats and dry to the touch later, time for writing on it!!




Wonderful day with wonderful ladies!!

Homemade Dog Bed

A Ch’en bed is always a good thing to have and he was just so excited when I told him that he would no longer have to sleep on that hot mess of a bed any more, and that he was going to be getting a big boy bed! I have been looking at doggie beds for awhile now, and have fallen in love with a nautical one from Bad Ass Petz...


However, spending $300 on a dog bed seems a bit excessive. I just thought that I needed to break down and learn how to make one.

I know these are super easy to do, but I am pretty much just lazy when it comes to organizing my craft experiments. Luckily, I work with a mini-Martha Stewart so Kristen was able to help me figure it out…and provide the fabric! She had several yards of black and white striped fabric that I could use. Very Tim Burton-esq.

For the Ch’en bed:
First: I got two standard pillows and then sewed them together length wise.



Then I measured out on the fabric the size that the top of the bed would be. For me, it was about 24” by 40”

Next: I measured out another piece the same width, but added a few extra inches length wise so I could make the back be like a pillow sham, open and easily accessible to take out the pillows to wash.




Then: I cut the longer piece in half. Measured and inch in and ironed the, what will be, the hem.
Afterwards, I laid the two smaller pieces on top of the top piece of fabric, outside fabric facing in and then started to sew away!

Last: Flipped that bad boy inside out and shoved the sewn pillows in and voila!!
A perfect little Ch’en bed.



He’s all ready to watch some Edward Scissorhands now!

Green Goodness

Goooooddd Morning!! Having days off I either feel completely unproductive and windup watching six hours of Millionaire Matchmaker or actually get stuff done. Yesterday, luckily, was one of those days.

The husband has been working a TON and so I am usually left to hang with a Ch'en and Jazz. It was gorgeous out so that always helps. Ch'en and I played with taking some photos, marked on a lot of trees, and drank our spinach and blueberry smoothie.

After a failed attempt to get myself back over to the Human Society, I decided I would just make zucchini muffins for the girls at work for Saturday.

About a month ago I was out walking fur babies at the shelter and it was a 100 degree day and I just got way too over heated. I thought I would be able to drive myself home, but a cross between the heat and a panic attack, I just ended up pulling over and the fire department took me to the hospital. NOT how I wanted to spend my day off. After learning about hypokalemia (metabolic disorder that occurs when the level of potassium in the blood drops too low) dehydration, panic disorders, and anemia, I decided that I needed to step up my game in the healthier eating. I feel like I eat pretty healthy, but I knew I could do better, hence all the smoothie madness!

For a good morning smoothie:

• 1/2 c. frozen blueberries
• 1/2 c. frozen mango
• 1 banana
• 1 c. raw spinach
• 1 c. unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tbsp chia seeds (gotta get in that fiber!)

Blend and enjoy!

Sunny Side Up

Smoothies have now become my favorite breakfast meal. I keep adding various things to them, trying to make them more and more "healthy". This morning it was blueberries, mango, banana, wheat grass, spinach and almond milk. I was a little skeptical with adding a cup of raw spinach, but I couldn't taste it one bit! It was delicious!!

Last night Brandon and I went out for a run, and since it had been a little bit of a stressful week, I wanted to go a bit further than normal. One of my favorite things is just to be out on the trail, whether it is walking or running or just sitting eating ice cream. We went about six miles, having to walk the last .75 miles of it.

So nice to just get out and enjoy the outdoors and be surrounded by other runners and bikers enjoying the weather cool down.

It's always nice just to be out in nature and catching up on what are future plans are going to be, our goals, and all of our own little philosophies. Trying to figure out what other activities I can do on my off days to help with anxiety, I found this interesting little list of what activities to do to relieve what ailment you might be having.

For: Back pain Try: Yoga

For: High cholesterol Try: Qigong

For: Depression Try: Music therapy, qigong, yoga

For: Eating disorders Try: Meditation, yoga

For: Fertility Try: Visualization, yoga

For: Heart health Try: Deep breathing, qigong, yoga

For: Immunity Try: Breathing, chants, meditation, qigong

For: Insomnia Try: Acupuncture, visualization, yoga

For: Joint pain Try: Music therapy, qigong, yoga

For: Migraines Try: Acupuncture, yoga

Spare Change?

Today is customer appreciation day over at Jimmy John's, so all of their subs are only $1...well not their specialty subs, but anything on the left hand side of the menu. Score! The no. 6 is of course my personal preference...and only option. Add some oil and vinegar and take out the mayonnaise and I am a happy girl.

Delicious #6: Sprouts, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, provolone, avocado, and mayonnaise.

The line at 10:45...still fifteen minutes before Jimmy John's even opens!

So in order for all of the luxious girls to get their subs, we needed to pitch in and and scourer up some spare change so we could all be satisfied with full bellies. Some only had debt cards, some .47 cents, others loaded, but I was just overly ecstatic that I can be surrounded by such kind hearted ladies.

It just made me appreciate how when people come together we can make things happen. I know that this is such a trivial thing..one dollar? But when you think about how it is usually the little things that make people feel happy and just plain good, those are the things that matter. So like when the husband comes home with your favorite drink from Starbucks, or your best friend surprises you with dinner. Those are the things you remember.

The Sea is the Life for Me!

The sea is the life for me! "Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever." If you have read..or at least listened to Moby Dick on tape. You must. It is actually a quite funny tale. Not something I would think of when I think of by Melville.

My future home in Salem.

I am in love with...nautical things. Whether it's on a necklace, shoes, or bedding...never have too many things that remind me of the sea! I think it all started with my trip out to Providence last October with Susan. She decided that that was the place for her, and so she bought a house and needed help moving. IM AVAILABLE!After our 16+ hour car ride, we got into Rhode Island around 1am, so I couldn't quite judge the city, but with all the houses lined up that were dating back to as far as the 1700's...I kind of figured that this would be a pretty cool town.

Outside RISD on the river.

Typical street view.

The next morning with just roamed the city, drinking coffee with our scarves and oversized sunglasses. Awesome. So yeah, the whole east coast vibe was so fun that I just wanted to stay forever.

It's the little things

As you might have noticed, I've been trying to get back into the swing of things and start running. I was blasted with a bit of anxiety lately and I felt the best solution was to get out of my rut of being from inside at work to inside at home to inside at wherever we might go at night or on my days off. Running has always been my little escape, an instant high, and that kick that made me feel kinda unstoppable. This time last year I would go out on 13-15 mile runs and do it out of the sheer fun of it, now I'm back to huffing out four miles. Brandon has been with me though, so it's always fun to have a partner!

This is what I stopped me the other day while I was out, a little mothers day outing!

After the morning run, I need some smoothie restocking.

While I'm on the topic of the little things, I recently discovered Pillow Talk, no, not the 1959 Doris Day movie, but a cute little boutique with couture lingerie, sleepwear, organic skin care and other fun goodies. Susan gave me a Groupon for it, so I figured what the hey.. I'll check it out. While falling in love with all the Betsy Johnson items, I fell madly in love with a new scent, Ambre Blends. There are four products, all all-natural essences. They are made by hand with 100% pure ingredients and are worn by both women and men. Essential amber oil has been used for centuries for its medicinal and aphrodisiac qualities. Once activated by the body’s warmth, produces a unique, long lasting, individual fragrance that exquisitely compliments one’s own natural chemistry. Ambre Blends selects only the finest, organic ingredients to soothe your mind and protect your well-being, plus you'll feel better about it since it is an all vegan line that is made here locally! Love to support the locals!



One last thing I am in love with...nautical things. Whether it's on a necklace, shoes, or bedding...never have too many things that remind me of the sea! I'll have to touch on that next time!

My design board for what I think are the fall trends!

Time for dinner now and to watch Samantha Brown in Paris (how I miss you!). Baked tofu with a little olive oil, roasted broccoli atop some quinoa. Deee-lish!

Summertime love at IMA

It seems to be such a summertime classic. Movies. Outdoors. Good food. Good friends. Pretty fantastic. Over at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, every Friday they will play movies in their outdoor little amphitheater-like set up. Before we've seen Hitchcock films and Ghostbusters, but last Friday it was Labyrinth. Muppets on crack and David Bowie in stretchy pants... I have learned that when you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It's for fun.

I would hope so, since we are sitting on the ground...

We hadn't been on our run for the day, so we had to high-tail it out of work, get in our miles, shower, grab some snacky snacks, and head downtown. We met Erin and her crew, who were so well prepared! Oh my goodness I think she is an expert on things of this nature! Strawberries, cherries, tacos to put together yourself, chips, wine, homemade brownies, cookies..etc. She's my new idol. Oh andI saw she baked like three dozen cupcakes and had in frosted in under three hours?!

Urnie's Feast!

The best round of Apples to Apples ever played.

I had never seen Labyrinth before and neither had Brandon, I was a little intimidated by it to say the least. Thank you mom and dad for not subjecting me to this when I was two. And I felt that the goblin king was a bit of a creeper. Come on, she's only like 13! You can't be trying to lure her into your evil web of deceit so soon! I did like that they kept calling Hoggle, "Hogwart"...

They are playing The Shining in October, so that will definitely be a must! Perfect fall time/Halloween time movie. Will have to bring some cider, pumpkin soy lattes, and caramel corn for that.

Tempeh Tempeh Tempeh!

In California there is a fabulous little market and cafe called Follow Your Heart. If you have ever had Vegenaise, then you know how great this place is. The Follow Your Heart cafe is "one of southern California's oldest, and best loved, natural food, vegetarian eateries." Out in Canoga Park, this little place has a casual atmosphere with wooden floors, organic food lining the walls, so many fun vegan food items one could spends days looking at all that they had. Since the '70's, Follow Your Heart has been making eggless mayonnaise for all the hippies at heart and I could just eat it by the spoonfuls. I know I am not alone in this statement!

My beloved Vegenaise jar.

Inside Follow Your Heart.

(Photo from Follow Your Heart)

There are a couple of different types, but the one I opt for is carrying ingredients of: organic expeller-pressed soy oil, filtered water, organic brown rice syrup, organic apple cider vinegar, organic soy protein, sea salt, organic mustard, organic lemon juice concentrate. All things you can feel good about...or at least better about when you're dipping bread slices in it.

Mr. Big and some tempeh strips.

After being tempted with evil foods all day, I really wanted a BLT like sandwich. Over at Whole Foods they have scrumptious maple "bacon" tempeh strips. Grill those up in the skillet with a little olive oil, slice up some tomatoes, bib lettuce, lather on the Vegenaise and you are set! Now time for No Country for Old Men.

Indiana State Fair

As I am sure you know, there was an incredibly sad freak accident that happened at the Indiana State Fair last Saturday night. The stage that was set for Sugarland to perform was caught up in a gust of wind and completely collapsed, killing five fair-goers and injuring dozens more. My mind can't even wrap around the thought of going to the fair for a fun little outing and then having your whole world turned upside down in an instant. My thoughts go out to all of those who were effected by this tragic incident.

(photo: Matt Kryger, IndyStar.com)

On a little bit lighter note, we did decide to head over to the fair and check it out. I had not been in years, and I thought that there was some good artery clogging foods that I needed to try. Brandon and I headed down to meet up with Absola, Erin and their friend Michael. It could not have been better weather for the fair.

First up, WIENER RACING DOGS! Yes, you read that correctly. They had a race, of baby wiener dogs around a little tented track. I have never heard of such cuteness before! Now they just need one for baby pugs, and I would have seen it all!

It was the year of the soybean..hence the "beans" on top

Lemon Shake-Ups were needed as we strolled around the horses being groomed, the baby piglets hogging lots of food (while their mother would keep moving the food troth away from them for herself!!) and then off to the "Lumberjack Show". Brandon needs to be a part of this in the future. There was an actual Lumberjack competition that was being held. Dudes throwing axes? What's cooler than that? The contests involved who could saw logs the quickest, scurry up a tree the fastest, stay on a rolling log in the water the longest, and other lumberjacky stuff. Loved it! Oh and one of the contestants was on a lumberjack "team" at his college. I should have gone to one of those schools!

Abby and her new tractor

Erin and me. Sad pig.

Then off to see the world famous Peking Acrobats! I had not heard of them, but it was a must on Abs' list of things to see at the fair. This group is extraordinary! Lots of balancing acts, juggling, synchronized drum tossing. It was all quite impressive.