our love maps.

i've been on kind of a crafty kick lately. it started sometime after we finished and gave ourselves sufficient time to recover from the great paint-a-thon of 2011 where we painted the fireplace room, front room, dining room, and hallway in close succession. instead of jumping right back into MORE painting right away, we eased ourselves back into the home improvement game with littler things: spraypainting a light fixture, starting seeds for the garden, building a bench, sewing a quilt, working on curtains... projects of a much more manageable size that still make an impact and made us feel productive.

one of those crafty things that i havent yet shared is what was supposed to be a part of my valentines gift to the hubs. like any good crafty project these days, its origins were from Pinterest: the crack cocaine of internet timesucks.

my pinspiration showed entire state maps with little heart markers over the important cities. i thought this would be really fun to do for me and Mark, since we got engaged, got married, honeymooned, and live in all different states.

source: kayladanelle.blogspot.com

but when i went to the website provided to print out the state maps, they were not nearly as good looking as the ones she had used. so it was back to the pin board for me, where i found this pin, which was actually the original inspiration for my original inspiration. (ya follow?)



source: minimozblog.blogspot.com

i decided that i wanted to use real maps for my version, since i was having trouble finding any maps online that i liked (and my printer has a mind of its own), but i could not find my atlas anywhere and i only had one of the maps that i needed in my car. the good news is that most states will send you a free road map if you can find the right link on their website. (its usually somewhere labeled Hey You Tourists! or Visit UsPleasePleasePlease!) although let me just warn you that Maine takes FOR-EV-ER to send theirs. i got Maryland and Virginia maps in less than a week, and waited almost three for Maine.

i also decided to switch up what i considered to be our important love markers from "we met, we married, we live" to "we got engaged, we got married, we honeymooned" just because we might not always live in the same place, and i would like my art to be as long-lasting as possible. this is what i ended up with.

i didnt label the maps, because i liked the simplicity of just the hearts. but in case you are curious: we got engaged in Sebago Lake State Park, ME, we got married at Lauxmont Farms in Wrightsville, PA, and we honeymooned in Chincoteague, VA. i might end up making a little label for the back of the frame, so that when i am old and decrepit and crazy(-er than i am now) i will always be able to remember why the heck i ever thought that these cut up maps were worth framing.

anyone else out there actually doing any of the things they've pinned?

ps. i totally meant for this to be a real short, quick post that basically said 'hey look i made this!' and then all of a sudden there were a lot of words instead of just a few. whoops. can we still be friends?

my sister is better than your sister.

and i will tell you why.

1. she came to visit me over the weekend. she even invited herself so i didnt have to. she trusted the kids with her husband and woke up super-duper early to drive down from the big city to spend the weekend with me in farm country.

2. she brought me a box full of hand-me-down clothes, effectively doubling my work wardrobe. also, a new coat. i'm in love with it, and have been wearing it every day.

i took this picture at a red light. i swear i'm a responsible driver.

3. she gave me an excuse to go to IKEA, where she was thisclose to convincing me that i NEEDED a 4-foot round tabletop for 60% off to turn into a giant wall clock for my basement. all it needed was some paint, a few house numbers, and a big clock kit. and if it weren't so heavy that it had the potential to tear down an entire wall if we actually hung it up we would have totally been trying to make that thing fit in my car.

4. she brought her amazing little brother sewing machine with her, and helped me make this:

its a tshirt quilt! made out of all of Mark's old tshirts that i wouldnt let him wear in public anymore!

we followed this tutorial, which was the best i found for our level of sewing expertise. it didnt require us to have any fancy equipment or really know how to quilt anything at all. unfortunately, i found this tutorial after i had already started, so i ended up doing a couple of steps out of order. next time i'll know to iron on the interfacing to the tshirts BEFORE i measure and cut them into squares.

by the time Abi came with the sewing machine, we were ready to roll. and by we, i mean i did all the measuring and ironing, some of the cutting, and none of the actual sewing.

and Abi did all the rest. she pieced all the squares together, she pinned together the fleece batting and the backing, (the right way) and then she sewed it all together. because she loves me.

my sister is awesome. be jealous.

i dont have a good After shot of the completely completed quilt yet, because its not quite done. i still have to hand-tie/tack all the layers together at the corner of each square. but what i do have is this attempted-almost-after shot where i posed like a weirdo and held up the quilt because hello! this is exciting!

aaand then i realized i had held it up backwards. and then my camera died. (but there's only 16 days left until my birthday and i'm really really crossing my fingers and hoping for a new camera hinthintwinkwinkMark!)

it was an ambitious weekend. it was a crazy weekend. it was a fun weekend. i would not have survived it without my awesome sister. oh, and did i mention:

5. she left her little brother with me for the week so i could do some other little sewing projects!

she's the best.

meal plan monday: march 5.

well, we've got one week of our new extra-healthy lifestyle under our belts, and i think for the most part we did all right with it. i only ate one M&M all week, Mark started lifting again, we tried a new recipe that was very tasty and left our kitchen a complete mess, and i learned how to hard-boil an egg. (turns out i must have missed that chapter in the how-to-be-a-responsible-adult book)

this was dinner on wednesday, NOT me learning how to hard-boil eggs

since this whole thing started after i weighed myself at a stranger's house and discovered 10 extra mystery pounds, i feel the need to tell you that i think their scale was wrong. because i weighed myself on our scale a few days later and it told me that i had lost 5 pounds already, and that's just crazypants. and no, i am not going to even consider the notion that it might be OUR scale that is broken. what normal person would believe a stranger's scale over their own? especially when your own scale tells you nicer numbers?

in other kitchen-related news, work in there got started over the weekend in the form of fixing and painting the ceiling! the counters were cleared, and everything got draped in plastic dropcloths. it looked kind of similar to a kill scene from Dexter.  (or at least what i imagine one would look like, as i never really got into that show.)

of course we did this AFTER we cleared all the counters

so the next step will be trim paint, and then color for the walls, and then a fresh coat of trim-color paint on the cabinets and drawers, and then a shelf installation, and then i'll get to move everything back onto the counters instead of having it all live on the card table in the nook.

so here we go for another week of light, healthy dinners.

Monday: tilapia with rice and salad.
Tuesday: soup from a can.
Wednesday: chicken and mushrooms in a white wine sauce. (recipe)
Thursday: turkey sandwiches.
Friday: Mark is on his own for dinner cuz i'm heading to NYC for
Saturday: BIRTHDAY

Sunday: WEEKEND!

effortlessly wavy hair.

most of the time, my hair is straight. well, mostly straight anyway. if left to its own devices, it morphs itself into a wacky half-straight, half-wavy, all-ugly kind of a 'do no matter what i do. so i just straighten it. pretty much every day. because i like having straight hair, and i have no idea what else to do with my hair.

hair products baffle me and no matter what i do i end up with a greasy-looking tangled mop of hair that i have to painfully brush out and hastily pull into a pony tail to disguise the fact that i tried and failed miserably to use some sort of product on my hair.

but today, i managed to figure it out. somewhat. kind of. ish. whatever. my hair looks different and it took me almost negative time to style it and so i am going to share my newfound knowledge with you.

Effortlessly Wavy Hair

1. take a shower the night before you want your hair to be wavy.

2. do not dry your hair.

3. pull it up into a soaking wet messy bun, pin your bangs back, go to bed.

4. the next morning, feel free to sleep in through all the time you normally spend on your hair.

5. when you finally drag your sorry self out of bed, let your still-damp hair down and unpin bangs.

6. do not brush your hair. maybe fluff it a little with your fingers.

7. apply plenty of hairspray, because it is one of the only hair products you own, and because you knew that one girl in college who had curly hair and she styled hers with hairspray and her hair always looked really good.

8. pin your bangs back again with a cute clip.

9. pray that you hair will not fall flat on the drive to work.

10. keep a hair-tie on your wrist for any midday hair emergencies.

and there you have it! 10 steps to literally effortless wavy hair that looks like you might actually have hair that behaves on a regular basis, or that you actually spent time styling it when really you just wanted to sleep in an extra 40 minutes.

have a good weekend!

benched.

you know the old saying, "give and you shall recieve?"

well it's true. wanna know how i know? just check out this newest bit of awesome in my life:

see? "give (miter saws) and you shall recieve (kick-butt benches)"
its legit.

it's lovely, dontcha think? i'm thinking about adding a thin cushion to the top of it, to protect the nice super-smooth finish from dings and scratches (i've only sat on it once so far, and only very gently... i'm scared to mess it up!) and also to make it a more comfy place to rest your bum. i'm kind of picturing it as a nice creamy color, but do you think that would get too dirty too fast? should it have a pattern to it? does it need a cushion at all?

 i also need to find some baskets for to put in the hidey-holes to hold our shoes, because they are overflowing out of their current digs under the not-a-credenza. i've been imagining baskets like these ones from my inspiration photo from Ana White:

but i also think it could be kind of fun to have brighter, bolder containers for our shoes. but then i think they might distract from the bench itself. either way, i'm thinking a trip to the new Home Goods down the road is in my future...

how do you think i should accesorize my valentine's bench?

leap day.

happy Leap Day!

source

i feel compelled to post something here today. you know, since Leap Day only comes around once every four years i should probably take a minute to at least recognize its existence this year, yes?

i was planning on telling you all a little about the myriad of projects that i have gotten myself into lately and a bit about what all sorts of things are happening around our house, but i forgot to take pictures of most of them, and just telling you about how amazing my new entryway bench looks or trying to describe my newest crafty art-type thing just wouldn't do them justice. maybe i'll get it together by tomorrow.

so instead of telling you all anything NEW, i'm just going to link back to what i was thinking last leap day. surprisingly, for as much as has changed over the past four years, where i was then is a lot the same as where i am on this leap day: looking forward to spring and birthdays and easter, and getting ready to leave the country in the near future. kind of cool, kind of freaky. life is funny like that i guess.

meal plan monday: feb 27.

this week is going to be an experiment. a fun one. a kind of crazy one. a hopefully very good one.

in an effort to get ourselves more motivated to be more active and more healthy, Mark and I are getting serious about eating better. he wants to get back into weight lifting and bulk up. i want to focus on toning and lose a few of the sneaky pounds i managed to gain over the winter that i just discovered this weekend. (seriously, i thought i was 10 pounds lighter than i am!)

Mark is the brains behind this operation, since he is the one that has actually done all sorts of research into health and nutrition and fitness, and because he can bench-press me when he's OUT of shape and he once went an entire year without eating a single piece of candy. this is serious bid-ness you guys. i might be way out of my league. my part in all of this is to ensure that what we're eating still tastes good.

the plan (as i understand it) will be to eat bigger breakfasts, healthy snacks, and smaller dinners. more fish and eggs, and TONS more veggies. desserts and sweets on special occasions. less carbs in the evening, which means no more pasta for dinner all the time. add on a more-regular exercise plan and there you have it: my best understanding of what it takes to be uber-healthy.

this week is going to act as kind of a trial run to see if we can logistically pull this off and still function as normal human beings who have painting and other projects to finish around the house, a garden to start and maintain, and friendships and family and our own relationship to keep up with. we're in this together. it should be fun.

Monday: tilapia filets with rice and salad.
Tuesday: grilled chicken salad.
Wednesday: vietnam chicken fried rice.
Thursday: chicken-pesto boboli, salad.
Friday: quesadillas with salsa, rice, and avocado.
Saturday: it is useless to try and plan this.
Sunday: we just make it up on the weekends.

are you eating anything interesting this week? trying anything new? do you know of any way to eat more veggies than just eating a lot of salad? cuz apparently i don't.