Craig, Blair and Turbo Skousen

Pillows!

2011-04-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

I'm BACK! I've gotten more done with 4 days off of work than I have all year! Okay, not really...but it feels like it!

Mi madre made these cute black pillows for my stylin' bedroom I had as a teenager. With the new couch, these pillows slip because the fabrics don't mesh.

So I decided to spruce them up and make them more functional at the same time by doing a slipcover out of the curtain material.

The great thing about slipcovers (besides being super easy) is that I can change the covers out easily without damaging the pillow. That's good for me, since I change my mind all the time!

Like I showed you yesterday, I am using these colors to put a design on the pillows.

My inspriation came mostly from the new rug and this picture:

Here's the first one....

And the second one!

I didn't take many pictures of how I did these and I am far too lazy right now to include instructions, but if you google 'rosettes' you'll find 5,000 tutorials!

And here they are on the couch. YAY!

Holy Moly

2011-04-02T08:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, eh? What can I say...let's play a little bit of catch up, shall we?

Whenever January hits I go into super organization mode. So I spent the whole first part of the year cleaning out the pantry, making an organized shoe closet, filing important papers, cleaning out boxes that haven't been unpacked since we moved (2 years ago), organizing the garage and sending a LOT of stuff to the Goodwill. Also, I've been reluctantly staying on top of household chores.

How can two people who are never home be SO dirty? AY!

Anywho, we've been shopping for a new car for a while. My love, the solstice was starting to shake, rattle and roll itself into lots of repairs. Craig and I don't fix cars. I think it might be a disease. At the slightest sign of car death, we trade! The problem (on top of pending repairs) was that Pontiac went out of business and my solstice was SUPER upside down. SUPER. Plus, it's not very old. I guess that's what I get for purchasing an American made car. BLAST!

SO long story short, we traded in my car for a new one. The BMW dealership was the BEST and we love love love the new car. Plus, it's WAY faster than that old lady solstice I had, haha. YEE HAW!

I'm sure all of you heard about the supermoon. It. was. AWESOME. Craig and I took the truck and Turbo out to the desert and watched the moon rise. Of course, my camera isn't very good but the moon was ENORMOUS and the entire sky was light and bright. Coolest thing ever.

My boys riding out to the desert. They're the bestest.

My next adventure was to sew curtains for our front room. It has been taking me forever to finish the front room and I just decided to DO IT!

I bought the fabric DIRT cheap at my favorite fabric store. It's a light courdory with a flecked design. Super love.

As you know, I am NOT a seamstress. This was my first sewing project with my new machine.

It was really easy. I laid the fabric out, pinned the raw edge up and sewed straight lines.

I leave the room for a second and my curtains are no longer nicely laid out. Little rebel.

Meh. I can't be mad at this face!

Or this one. HAHAH this picture makes me laugh.

Anyways, here's how they look!

See that couch? $25 bucks at the GW baby. WIN! Well, I had to pay to get it cleaned but that was minimal.

The rug and shelves were purchased at IKEA. The shelves were really easy to put together and the rug is sooooo soft. YUM. I love that rug. I'll be putting a giant mirror above the shelves but I'll do that another day!

Then of course, you all probably remember these puppies. I purchased them at the Salvation Army like FOREVER ago. I don't even remember when, probably more than a year ago. So I finally bought some fabric for them and I'll be working on those soon....I hope :)

And last but not least, I'm covering these pillows in the curtain facric and sprucing them up with a rossette design. I like this one from "The Sweet Life."

Well, that's pretty much what I've been up to! Have a great weekend!

Project Weekend!

2010-09-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

HELLO! After a couple of crazy weeks at work (which I came out of feeling um underestimated? Restless?) I decided to focus, stop worrying about perceived inadequacies and get back to what I do best...projects! Sure I can sell, but I am super deeeeee duper good at SPRAY PAINTING!

Let's start with the sewing desk. Since I have a black desk and a black chair in the room now, I decided to go silver so I could flip flop the chairs. It took me weeks to get this revelation, so roll with me!

Here is my 'sort of' before...here is where I tested two different silver spray paints that looked exactly the same in the store but were TOTALLY different. Who knew? I chose the one that smelled better. For reals.

After deciding on a color, I took out my BFF and sanded away. Sometimes I sand, sometimes I don't. It depends on how motivated I am feeling and how gunky the existing paint job is. This one was pretty gunky, but I loved the paneled sides so I brought it home!

When shopping at thrift stores, the next step is CRITICAL! You don't want someone else's stank living in your home, do you? Skip the baby wipes that most people recommend and hit up the good stuff! Scrub, scrub, scrub!

Next, I primed with white Krylon. GASP, KRYLON?!? I know, Walmart was sold out of Rustoleum primer. LAME! And let me tell you, there is a HUGE difference. I will never cheat on my Rustoleum again!

I almost forgot...when sanding and spray painting, you basically need to look like this:

I know, verrrry attractive. I try to kill as little brain cells as possible during these projects! These face things are cheap, so get some. Gloves too!

I used metallic spray paint which didn't come with the fat spray top like the new ones do. Luckily, I invested in one of these handy dandy spray paint triggers a while back, and it has saved me!

I originally wanted to use crystal knobs, but I couldn't find any without a gold backing. PUKE. So I got these from Hobby Lobby!

AND here's my new sewing desk. YAY!

Moving on to my chair!

Basically, I did the same thing to the chair as I did the desk. Sand, clean, prime, paint. I experienced my first spray paint can explosion while doing the chair. Very exciting! Frankly, I expected it sooner with the amount of spray painting I do...

Of course with chairs you have to do a little reupholstering. Again, while shopping at thrift stores you have to expect to strip everything off, or your cute decorated place will stink like the Goodwill. You've been warned!

My chair cushion went from bad:

to WORSE! Holy batman! Who knew such a thing was hiding in there...

I ripped it down to the base, and rebuilt it from there. I put on a new cushion then batting, then the fabric! To get the job done I used my other BFF, the staple gun.

Here it is, all put back together! P.S.Capturing metallic spray paint is hard!

Onward to the wall of frames and mirrors...

I told you a little about the wall in this post...I just had to get around to painting and hanging everything. This post is 5,000 miles long, so I won't bore you with the details. I have to let you in on a secret though. Next to the Magic Eraser (which I used to get the spray paint off my limbs), Monkey Hooks are the best invention EVER! I am pretty sure I will be electrocuted one day while using them, but for now I am in LOVE. GET SOME I SAY!

And here's the finished product!

So now I have my sewing area (excuse the random guitar, it is full on the music side right now):

My sitting area (I watched the first 4 seasons of "The Hills" in that chair. So comfy!):

and my music area!

A few finishing touches and two dressers are in order, but it's almost there. Maybe in time for another Christmas album? (Haha I joke, I joke. I still haven't figured this recording software out!). YIPPEE!

Random Catch Up!

2010-08-30T16:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I know we've been M.I.A for a while...I've been in organizing mode and that is not exciting to blog about! Since we've been in our house for almost two years, I figured it is time to get rid of some boxes :) We have pretty much been working and watching movies all summer. Wohoo!

We were bored one day and decided we were going to get Turbo into his Snuggie, once and for all! He was a little resistant but he wore it for a while, then chewed his way out of it. Boo!

Craig turned one of the extra bedrooms into my music room for Christmas, and I'm still working on it! I had to let it sit for a while until ideas came to me. So frustrating! But now I have a plan and it is all coming together. Today we dumped a bunch of our crap (hence organizing) at the Goodwill, and we stopped inside to see if they had any furniture I needed for the music room.

Somehow, this came home with us...A hula dancing/singing Homer. Leave it to Craig to find the only thing remotely Simpsonized inside the Goodwill! Turbo liked it at first, but now he just wants to tear it apart (that hula skirt is so attractive) so we had to hide it away.

Also, this big mirror landed in the cart. I have mirror issues! I can't resist...

Anywho, I've been wanting to put this table back downstairs because it's the only piece of furniture that fits in this one annoying spot. It looks really cute upstairs, but it doesn't really work as a sewing table in the music room because you can't get a chair up to it. So I moved it back downstairs.

At the GW today, I found this paneled little gem of a desk for $9.99. New sewing table? HOLLA!

Once I paint it and get this chair redone, I will have a nice little sewing area that is a bit more functional. I haven't decided what color to paint the new desk, but everything from teal to silver has run through my brain. OY!

Above the sewing area I have planned to make a wall of frames and mirrors, and I think I've finally collected all the goods. I spent some time laying them out to get an idea of how I should lay them. I still don't know, but Turbo helped...

The big mirror is on clearance at Wal-Mart, so I snatched it up. So cheap! Run and get the rest I say!

Two of the frames/mirrors were free at a sister swap and the rest were at the GW for super cheap. Now to get the pink and teal spray paint and PAR-TAY!

I have my desk area sort of situated (I need to figure out the amp and the headphones) and I actually put a few things up on the wall. This is HUGE progress for me, because I change my mind about stuff on walls so much that it has to sit there until I am 100% sure I like it. For example, I want to flip that giant pink picture board horazontally, but I am going to resist. It's WAY too heavy.

My sitting area just needs a tiny table. I attempted my own ottoman and it was a DISASTER, so I picked up this storage ottoman at Target for super cheap. Sometimes you have to know when to buy it instead! Lesson learned.

I am still on the look out for two matching dressers to hide all my crafting and music making garbage. After that, I'll need two guitar stands and I am done! Then my Barbie barfed on Martha Stewart room will be complete!

Movie catch up!

2010-07-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

We have seen a billion movies lately and I haven't had time to blog! I'm on my lunch at work, so I'll spurt out a few blurbs.

Inception:

Freaking amazing. Go see it! It trumps any movie in theaters, by far!

Predators

These movies don't really float my boat, but I was actually into this one! Of course, I would choose Inception over it, but it's worth a watch, or a rental.

Toy Story 3

Oh my goodnes, memories!! I loved this movie. LOVED! See it!

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

This movie got bad reviews, but Craig and I liked it! It's Disney, so of course it is a little cheesy and stuff, but I was into it. Plus, it has the good 'One Republic" song we dig :)

Wall Street

We had to get ready for the sequel so we went to Blockbuster and picked up this flick. It made me excited to see the next one, even though they were working on dinosaur computers with shoulder pads on!

More 4th of July weekend stuff!

2010-07-06T08:08:00.000-07:00

It has been awesome having all these days off work! And naturally, I haven't done one productive thing, but ehhh who cares right?

We started the weekend off right with Three Strikes night and "Star Trek" at the Neill's. Good times! Both our three strikes movies did not make it far (too bad, because I need to know more about those meteors!), but "Star Trek" is always a quality choice!!

I dragged Craig to watch his favorite mouth breather, Bella Swan. I refused to review the last movie because...well...it SUCKED and I did not want all you tweakers to turn me into a vampire in my sleep. Doom and gloom and anorexic Edward?? UGH. I only say that now because I can back it up with good news! Despite its obvious flaw (mouth breather-chicklets-can't open my eyes like a real girl- Bella), Eclipse was pretty darn good! So there :) Here's my best vampire impression. I still haven't figured out exactly when their eyes change...sooo uhhh maybe I'm hungry?

In other news, Turbo and I took a 4th of July photo before we went to my parent's house to celebrate (and watch "Minority Report," freakin' fab). Enjoy the fruits of my camera phone...tard-tastic!

In my time off yesterday, I finally got my hair done and spent more time with my hair extension. One day, we'll be BFFs. Here are my best creeper faces...

Plus, I figured I would try this face stuff from Garnier and YES it is amazing already. I need to stock up on this! Bad things happen when I go to Wal Mart alone.

Last night, we played "Disney's Scene It" at the Martin's and watched bits of a lovely film, "Kung Pow." Highly recommended for a good time!

And now to finish LOST, go to Chompie's and watch Toy Story 3. Whew, I am beat! :) Hope you all enjoyed your weekend too!

Celebrations!

2010-07-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

My birthday was fabulous this year. The big 2-4...umph....one day I will just be old. BUT for now I will par-tay! This year my birthday was more like a birth week. My parents came over the Saturday before my bday for lunch. The day before my birthday Tamika and I tore up the shopping world. On my bday my work had a 4th of July celebration...and of course this weekend was filled with more celebrations for the 4th! Here are some pictures from all the events. Ignore the cell phone pics...one day I will invent a cell phone cam that actually works!

Mom and Dad
...aww so cute

They bought me a brand new machine and all the goodies to go with it! YEE HAW!

Tamika and I bought 4th of July outfits for work (you had to be patriotic to wear jeans!). I was going to make our headbands, but we found these ones super cheap. I made Heather's bobby pin since she wasn't able to go shopping with us. (BOOO for work mama bear!)

Terri, Tamika and Heather (my girls at work) decorated my desk with post-its and bought this perfect giant pink cupcake. I put the American Family Wisconsin cow next to it so you can see its sheer size. YUM! And of course Craig sent me the beautiful flowers. They smell delicious! (Yes, I put fabric over my cube walls when I started my new job. I can only do so much beige everyday. Like it?)

As you know, Craig always gives the best gifts. He heard me going on and on about an info-infomercial on Jessica Simpson's hair extensions a few weeks ago, and he bought me one! I loooooove it! Darn those infomercials, they get me everytime!

He also got me this...

...which confused me at first until I realized it turns into this!!

My very own Ar-15! Now when Craig takes the other guns out shooting, I can keep one at home for the inevitable home invasion that runs through my mind every now and then. Maybe I need professional help? ha ha...plus, it's pink and I never discriminate on pink gifts!

So anywho, it was loads of fun all week long, and now I am on the journey to 25. Now to find something to sew! HOLLA!!!

Dressing up the pillow

2010-06-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I scored a great deal on this cute little pillow at HomeGoods a few days ago. It was the perfect length for the chair in my music room, so I bought it. I knew from the start that it lacked pizazz...but I had a plan before we even left the store :)

I used a combo of chiffon and tulle for the flowers. I burned the edges to make them curl up. DANGER lies in this step, so be careful. OH the lessons we learn while making chiffon flowers!

I hand sewed the layers together and then added a pearl to the middle.

I attached felt to the back with hot glue (my nemisis) so I could secure a pin.

Then, I pinned them to the pillow...I like the arrangement for now, but I might change it!

And then I went to Turbo for final inspection!

I think it gives it a little something, don't you? (50 brownie points to name that movie!)

(Yes, I realize this 'tutorial' is a bit rushed. I have LOST waiting for me in the next room! EEK!)

Movie Weekend!

2010-06-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

We took a breather from LOST this weekend to see some movies. We HAD to get out of the movie room!

Knight & Day

I find Cameron Diaz to have the very most annoying voice in all of Hollywood. But, after the first 30 minutes or so I actually started to like her. Well, at least tolerate the squeaky fake whispery voice. It's a Christmas miracle! Tom Cruise did a great job. It was funny, action packed, and had a bit of a love story. Even though it had some slow parts, I thought it was a fun time!

Grown Ups

This movie was a bit campy for my taste, but it's Adam Sandler so I let it slide. I wasn't particularly amused by all the jokes, but they slipped some good ones in there. Loved the cast and the message. And the lakehouse! Where can I get one of those?

Pity da fool!

2010-06-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

Like my title? I sound like a tard saying it, so I wrote it instead!

I heard a rumor that the A-Team consisted of Bradley Cooper walking around without a shirt for two hours. Enticing! So when Craig said he wanted to see it, I was in! Ha ha, jk jk (sorta).

Let me tell you that rumor is terribly untrue. Oh the horror! BUT, the movie was still worth a watch, despite the lack of Cooper abs. YIPEE!

Liam Neeson is a rad old man, and the guy from "District 9" was freakin' hilarious! There's a lot of explosions and shaky camera deals, but I got over that pretty quick. I was pleasantly surprised by the flick!

Music room curtains: part two!

2010-06-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

Since my Dad hates unfinished projects, I decided to finish one of mine in honor of Father's Day! As you all know, Craig bought me a sort of recording 'studio' for Christmas which we now call the 'music room.'

I've had a MAJOR decorating block on this room, but I had a breakthrough last weekend while furniture shopping with my girl Terri.

Instead of upholstering this chair and it's twin (which now have a new home and a new plan), I decided the chair from this post would fit better. So what to do with the fabric I already purchased for the chairs?

Remember the easiest 7 hour curtains ever from this post? I decided this fabric would be fab stuck in the middle. Plus, it would allow me to control the lighting better since the fabric is lighter. And, I couldn't possibly live without this fabric in the room. SO it was decided!

I'm still a bit sewing challenged, so I pulled out my BFF Heat n Bond! And YES, I do own an iron, but just exclusively for this purpose.

It was super easy to iron the raw edges and only took me about 2 episodes of "The Office" re-runs. (Pam and Jim got married. My fav episode ever.) Then I flipped it over and ironed it flat.

Then all I had to do was hang them up with the other ones! (Don't judge my tweaker pics!)

So, until I change my mind again, this is how the room looks so far with the big chair on one end and the little chair/computer on the other (perfect Hulu set up). And luckily, I still think my giant picture frame- turned mirror- turned picture frame is fabulous.

I'm still negotiating the other wall pieces and tables in my brain, but I think I have a plan. My ottoman is sitting in the garage ready to be upholstered, and my shelves are almost finished too. Once all that jazz is in the room, I'll clean it up and take some pretty pics for you. MUAH!

Memorial Day Weekend!

2010-06-13T08:36:00.000-07:00

This memorial day was filled with family and fun! Our tumbleweed farm was harvested, we threw a surprise party for Stephen, went on a SATC 2 adventure, and played lots of games!

Here's Sharla and Jared working hard to destroy our tumbleweed farm...thanks to everyone who helped! It was not easy but it made the party much more enjoyable!

Here are some pics from the par-tay:

Jewls and I posing at Sex and the City 2:

Hanging out with Edward:

And Turbo for good luck!

Okay, so it took me 2 weeks to blog about it...but it was lots of fun!

MOVIES!

2010-06-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I have disappeared from the blogging world, I know. But the good news is that I have also disappeared from the movie world while I wade my way through LOST. Oh man, I have a disease.

Anyhow, here is a do see, don't see blurb, in case you need a boost!

Robin Hood

Don't see! Although I did love Cate Blanchett...

Sex and the City 2

See if you are a fan, otherwise do not see!! I know, the SATC gods are going to strike me!

Splice

Don't see! Freaky nasty ace movie. Someone please, poke my eyes out.

Get Him to the Greek

SEE!

Announcing my laziest project ever!

2010-05-28T20:27:00.000-07:00

Hi friends!! I've been so busy, I haven't even told you about all the movies I have seen lately! AND my shelves have been in the garage for like uhhhh two months. YEAH...I need to get my boo-tay in gear!

I am happy to report that my new job is the bomb diggity and every one is super nice. Of course, with new office space comes a new creative outlet...the decoration of the cubicle! You may be asking yourselves why I don't just accept my cube-y for who it is. Well, it's beige. I don't really do beige. And if I have to be there for more than half of my waking hours, it better be fab!

I found this super cute memo board at Target for $2.50!!! Can you believe this? I couldn't either. I couldn't make it for less, so it came home with me.

It has become my laziest project of all time! Although the bumble bee look is sort of cute, it doesn't really match my plans. So I yanked off the buttons and put some of my own on there. Now I have a place to put my pictures and notes. Yipee!

From bumble bee to totally me!! (Yeah I said it, don't judge!).

P.S. SATC 2 this weekend!! I've been waiting for this day for a LONG time. Yipee again!

Garage sale adventure!

2010-05-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

Rachel and I woke up early yesterday to attack our first garage sale-ing adventure in Maricopa! I see them every weekend, but since I have been SO lazy lately with my projects, I haven't had the will to look for any good furniture. But since Rachel was looking for baby stuff I decided to search for the goods!

We had a fun time! And I am proud to report that despite the lack of good quality sales, we both had major success!!

I've been looking for a larger stand for the TV downstairs. I've looked for a long time trying to find a piece that will fit in the nook. Boy is it hard to fit in that nook!! It's been sitting on this dinky IKEA table for a while...

We went to an estate sale and I offered the guy 20 bucks for this one. Score! It fits perfectly! My camera just died on the upload of that one, so you'll have to take my word for it :)

I also got this little trunk thingy. I think it is so cute! I don't know where to put it, so right now it is holding up Craig's mission box.

Rachel scored BIG TIME on this Eddie Bauer stroller. Apparently strollers are hot garage sale items, so she was lucky to find such a high quality one. Ummm how does this thing work?? I was no help at all. Sorry girl!

Awww, she will be a great mom!

P.S. Random note. We stumbled upon a peacock in the road. Yes, a peacock. It was blocking my way so I decided to take a picture of it. Is this strange to anyone else?? It's a freaking peacock people!! Maricopa is filled with adventure!

Celebrations!!

2010-05-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we celebrated Mother's Day as well as my Dad's 50th birthday!! It has been a busy week, so I have been a bad little blogger. Here are some pictures of our adventure last weekend. I think I actually got a picture with every member of my family. It's a miracle I say!

I don't have cute little monsters rolling around my house, so Turbo and I posed for Mother's Day. He's the best kid ever, except he shuns the camera!

When we went to my parent's house, I was determined to take pictures since we were actually all there. I even managed to squeeze in Dakota, although he wasn't cooperating! These are self portraits, so excuse my tweaker shots!

With my Mom preparing a feast!

My Dad and me..I had to reach up high to get us in the same shot!

My Mom and Dad! Awww so cute...You might be asking yourself how I am an offspring of these two lovely people. I don't know either. I got ALL the recessive genes (including my favorite- the fat gene...thanks for that one!!), which equates to a possible adoption conspiracy :)

Big bro Brady (and the corn!). As you can see, he is a lot taller than me too!

Biting my itty little brother Brennon, who frowns at my antics!

Trying to get a pic with Dakota. The flash hurt his eyes! Being old stinks, hehe

Craig and I being dorks as usual...

Dad and Brady were the grill masters! Chicken wings, yum!

Craig was the Phase 10 master...

Or was he a card voo-doo player???!! I have not declared cheating yet, although I am suspicious!

Although Craig got an insane amount of wild cards and smashed us in Phase 10, it was a fun night celebrating with my parents! Happy Mother's Day/50th Birthday!! You guys are the best!

Iron Man 2

2010-05-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hi friends. Craig and I went on an adventure Thursday night...Iron Man double feature!! It started off with Iron Man 1 at 9pm, then Iron Man 2 at 12:01 am. When Craig solicited me for this event, I was skeptical, because I watch King of Queens at 9:30 and somewhere between then and 9:45 I'm asleep. Dead asleep. Craig is my little night owl so I wanted to hang out with him and his friends from work. Who could pass up a fun night at the movies? It's about the 5 billionth time I have seen Iron Man 1, but I still loved it. And it gave me some good sleeping time before Iron Man 2!!

I am proud to say that I was awake the entire movie, and the entire next day at work. I ran on 4.5 hours of sleep without turning into head biting monster. Yay for me!

Anywho, Iron Man 2 is not as good as Iron Man 1, but I still liked it quite a bit. Mickey Rourke is one dirty son of a gun. He gives me the jeebies! It's totally not fair that he had whips, but I admire his entrepreneurial spirit. I felt like this one jumped around quite a bit and Rhodey morphed into Don Cheadle who is only 1/2 as attractive as Terrence Howard. Happy gets taken down by Scarlett Johansson who really served no purpose, but it was exciting. I can't wait to see the 3rd one when when Scarlett will have a huge role and Gwyneth Paltrow will girl fight her in real life. Long live Jon Favreau!

Hippo for the wiener!

2010-05-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

It's no secret. Turbo is infatuated with hippos.

He was VERY excited about Matt and Brittany's gift to him!!

It was 1am and Turbo was still inspecting his new friend, and watching South Park.

Look at that tongue. He's in love.

He was determined to give her a new hair do (look at that dexterity), but he got tired and cuddled instead.

Game night was a success...thanks for thinking of Turbo! He loves his hippo!

This and that

2010-04-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everyone!! Several people have commented on how I haven't blogged in 50 billion years. This is basically true, I am sorry!

I've left my current position and happily accepted a new much better position at American Family. Despite the negatives people associate with working in the corporate world, I find my solace there. Rules, order, a solid pay check, lots of people to socialize with, benefits, etc. I'm saving the world one insurance policy at a time!

I would like to give a shout out to my two lovely references. You see, on the application you could not put down any family members or AMFAM employees as professional references. Since that pretty much kicks out 80% of my jobs, I reached out to my besties at Jackson in Denver!! So thank you Kristen Davis and Michael Thomas for whatever wonderful speech you may or may not have given. The result was fabulous. I think I owe you a commission and a big fat kiss! MUAH!

I have not done any projects lately. I've been watching movies and keeping up on the house cleaning. Over the last 14 months I have become tired and lazy and I declared I need a change! I haven't bought new clothes or shoes really since ummm like 2008. That's a long time for me!! I participated in some serious retail therapy yesterday and today (my two days off between jobs). Nothing like cute new clothes and a new job to make you feel girly and motivated again. (Another shout out to Jana and Yovannie for motivating me to work out too! It came at the perfect time!).

Of course, I believe retail therapy can be the most expensive kind of therapy. But, you all know by now that I'm a cheapy...so let me show you how I did it! (plus I have just gone 5 paragraphs without any pictures. Are you still reading??)

Target, my love. My home for years during high school. Your smell is nostalgic. I am Target Blair.

Two tank tops (I use them as undershirts), 4 various types of solid colored shirts, 1 cute little dressy shirt, and a pair of shoes. And a pack of gum, of course. Total? Somewhere around $60. I peed my pants! That comes to about $7.50 per item if you dont count the gum. Thank you clearance!

Then to my next love, Kohls. They are WAY more expensive, but I can always count on them in a wardrobe bind! I have been having a terrible time finding good work pants. Maybe I could go to work without pants? Seems like the right thing to do...

Two dress shirts with belts, 1 dressy flower power shirt, 1 cardigan, two pairs of 'work' pants that also came with belts and a cute flower clip. I had to restrain myself here, I think I put 1/2 of what I wanted back on the racks! Total? $156. OUCH!! Then I told the cash register lady I forgot my coupon. I didn't ever have a coupon. I totally lied. Sorry mom! It saved me $50 bucks!! $106! That's more like it! Breaks down to around $15.00 per item. Twice as expensive as Target. Interesting!

Last weekend I fell in love with Candra's shoes. They were the most adorable wedges I have seen in at least 4 seasons. I wear flip flops all the time, which are corporately forbidden. She opened a dangerous can of buy one get one 1/2 off!!! OH help me!! Total cost here? $37

So there you have it. $200 bones to what feels like a whole new wardrobe. I hope none of these clothes will fit eventually, but like Clinton Kelly told me and everyone else at the makeover, DRESS FOR YOUR SIZE NOW!! Geez Clinton, we got it. No need to yell. :)

Tough decision

2010-04-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

Amidst the tough decision of which job I should accept, I had to choose between two movies last weekend and it was TOUGHER!!

Both movies got super bad reviews, but I ended up seeing both (Craig and I can't pull away from the theater) and liking both! I am not in love, but they are worth rentals if you are bored a few months down the road!

You all know I'm a sucker for romantic comedies, no matter how J-Lo'ed they are!

And I am always surprised when a movie like this doesn't TOTALLY blow! Holla!

Fun with Turbo

2010-04-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

Kendra and Mike came for a little visit, which made Turbo VERY happy! Kendra somehow got him to wear his cowboy. He wore it around for a couple of hours while we scoped out the housing in Maricopa. This is so impressive I had to blog about it!

Tired horsey...

Turbo taking his cowboy on a car ride.

Turbo loves Kendra, and looking out the window. He is in heaven!

Craig loves house hunting SO much!

Turbo is my "Glee" watching buddy. Here we are catching up on Hulu. Well, that's all I have. Nothing exciting to report. Have a nice week!

Four big ones!

2010-04-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Four years ago today I married the most wonderful woman in the world...

hehe jk...you all know I write the blog posts, sillies!!!

It's been a whirlwind, and I've loved every minute with my bestie :)

I love you babe...Happy Anniversary!

A Little Luck in Movie Land

2010-04-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

Craig and I watch a lot of baaaad movies. So we are happy to report that we had one full weekend of successful movie watching adventures!

Date Night

I don't know who thought of putting Tina Fey and Steve Carell together, but it was pure genious. They are the perfect couple! The middle of the movie was a little slow, but I really liked it even with the lull. What I like most is Tina's fantasy about diet Sprite. I have those fantasies too. Mmm diet Sprite. And I think Craig may have switched his next car from the Aston Martin to the Audi...which will make our bank account VERY happy! Thank you Mark Wahlberg and your abs of steel for your inspiring ride :)

Kick Ass (Or A## according to my ticket stub)

Craig's favorite movie of the year? Could it be? It was like Ninja Assassin with children. Also pure genious! I need to work on my knifing skills. That little dirty mouthed purple haired child was crazy with her knives. Big Daddy's shotgun was also freaking amazing. I think I want one. Or the bazooka.... but if I have to settle I will take the shotgun, proven #1 for home security. Don't let the marketing fool you. This movie is NOT for kids!! It. was. awesome!

The Firm (Netflix streaming. OH yes Courtney, FAQ About Time Travel is also on there!)

So it is WAY too long, but I'm a sucker for John Grisham. Plus Jeanne Tripplehorn was in it, so it was fate! "Trippelhorn, party of two?"

Crazy Heart

2010-04-15T16:11:00.000-07:00

Love. love. loooooved.

It's odd because not a lot happens, but I still loved it. Something about it...hmmm. Maybe Colin Farrell? :) Well, Craig declared he liked it "WAY" better than "Ray" or "Walk the Line" so if you liked those, you'll love this too! And perhaps I'll name my kid "Bad." Bad Skousen. Yup.

I think they answered my questions...

2010-04-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel

(Don't ask me where Craig finds these movies! Oh wait...the BBC!)

This movie is fantastically hilarious!! I was really into it. I like that Anna Faris was in it...At first I wondered why she was in a BBC film, but a girls gotta work, right? Anywho, that's all I have to say. See it!

My other new bestie for life....

2010-04-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

The Kodak Theater HD player, my new best friend. I was getting lonely downstairs doing dishes/cooking/cleaning with episode after episode of Family Guy DVDs. Not that I don't like Family Guy, but a girl can only take so much before everyone starts sounding like Peter Griffin!

So Craig bought me this little gadget that streams our computer content to the TV downstairs, and I love it! I doubt I will ever use it for the picture feature, but that is pretty cool too. Since we've put up the projector I despise watching movies or shows on the computer monitor. My eyes have become size snobs! So now I can watch them on the TV instead. Plus, if Craig is using the computer and I want to watch something on it, we don't have to punch each other in the face to decide who wins. Yay!

Another bestie?? The Gopher!!! OH the happiness $10 can buy...

In case you can't tell, I am completely bored. Here's to a Monday that won't kill me!

Netflix Extravaganza!!

2010-04-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

When Craig and I are bored, or tired after work (everyday!) we stream the Netflix. It's our bestie. I usually don't post reviews about all the Netflix movies because...well...I would be here all day telling you about old movies you have probably already seen! I liked the one we watched the other night so I will tell you about it!

Bootcamp

It's based on a true story, but I think it should say "based on a true concept" because that's probably more accurate. It's all about this bootcamp for troubled teens and the drama/misconduct that ensues. Dun dun dun!! It has my girl Mila Kunis in it. I love her. Although I think of Meg Griffin basically the whole movie because of her voice! It's strange hearing Meg Griffin go to bootcamp! Anywho, it also has Gregory Smith (child star from many a random film) and no one else I've ever heard of.

It's totally a B movie, but as you may have guessed Craig and I watch B movies almost exclusively :) (A.K.A. our faves Post Impact and The Librarian. Ca-looo-ka-coo!)

P.S. I was fooled by a movie called "Streets of Blood" that I thought would be good. It had Val Kilmer and 50 Cent in it. Craig and I see all of 50 Cent's movies because we think we're gangtas. Pssshhh what could go wrong? So much. So, so much...

Hot Tub Time Machine

2010-04-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

Hmmm where do I start here...well let's start with the title shall we?? Doesn't it sort of gross you out? Something about the flow of the words makes me laugh and barf at the same time. I think it's because I picture fat old men with very little clothes and mullets. **shuuuuttterrr**

Anywho, you probably don't need to rush out and see this in theaters, but Craig and I thought it was entertaining enough and pretty funny. I didn't really want to see it until I realized who was in it...I loved the cast! Me and John Cusack are tight, and the dude from The Office is hilarious (he gets the best hair). It's a tad raunchy but what do you expect?? Time machines, hot tubs, chernobyl energy drinks...good times! So ~~download~~ rent it when it comes out!

P.S. Mullets do in fact make an appearance...eeeek!

P.S.S. I watched "The Proposal" again last night on the XBOX (Tuesdays I fall victim to video game widow syndrome) and remembered why I loved it. Awww so cute :)

Disasters and deliciousness

2010-04-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

Do you remember my giant mirror project that I was super excited about until it blew up and shot shards of glass all over the house??

I remember it like it was yesterday...you can read about it in this post.

Anywho, I finally finished it! Craig dissected my computer to make his work better so I have just been waiting on an oppurtunity to sit down and show you! As you already know I painted the frame and added a silk background and decided I was going to hang pictures on it instead of attempting to make it a giant mirror.

I really love the frame. It's like alligator texture in the middle with perfect bumpy ridges. Me likey.

I had most of the pictures printed already...I just printed about 4 more and made a plan...

I started out with these cute push pins. They match the room, but I wanted something bolder and more girly.

So I yanked off the polka dot sticker thing, hot glued on some posterboard, and made a bunch of flowers to glue on top. They are so easy (besides glueing my fingers to poster board 8,000 times) and I think they add to the girliness of the room. No boys allowed! (except Turbo. Okay Craig too!).

I made different flowers for the big picture. I used the same poster board base, but I used flattened fabric and sheer white fabric as the flower. I hand sewed on a button over ribbon and burned the edges so they curled up a little.

Here's my little garden...I did them all while watching "Chuck and Larry" so it didn't take very long.

Then I took them all upstairs and started to pin!

It is a 4 foot cheery reminder of how lucky I am :)

Posted at the DIY show off...check out the projects here!

Also on Thrifty Decor Chick here!

A little glimpse of parenthood

2010-03-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

Turbo got out of bed ooohhh maybe 30 minutes ago. I was downstairs eating breakfast, so naturally he came skipping downstairs to beg for delicious goodness.

I let him outside to prance around while I was eating. He looooves the sunshine. Normally he plops a squat in the grass and finds a stick to chew on.

Today is not a normal day.

I went out to find the little weiner basking in the sunshine. Hmmmm you seem a little dusty Turbo...

Today, Turbo traded his grass for the dirt. Ohhh lucky me.

He was just rolling around, having a good time. Blast, time for landscaping!!

Yes, those are nails. Proof we aren't ready for kids.

It's hard to tell, because he is brown. But that little stinker is dirt-ay! I know the second I let him back in the house, he is darting for the bed to take his next round of naps. Not in my bed you stinky little weiner! So I interrupted my breakfast to give Turbo a Saturday bath. This is the only....I repeat...the only cleaning I plan on doing today!

How could you be mad at this face?

Just as I expected, he is happily dreaming away already. Happy Saturday!

Tales of a shrinking boo-tay....

2010-03-27T10:52:00.000-07:00

***Warning, long, boring blabbing post ahead!***

I am on day 26 of the 30 day shred. Confession- I skipped 4 random days so I am actually on day 22. I blame my sorrows on Craig's birthday, but really I was just way too tired to jump around for 20 minutes on those days. For those of you also doing the shred, you know that it is freaking exhausting!! Combine it with a (now 16 day long) cold and you can pretty much start looking for caskets.

That being said, I'm a bit disappointed on the weight loss side. I've lost a bunch of inches and feel more toned, but over the course of the month I am down FOUR pounds that have actually stayed off.

Do you know how easy it is to lose four pounds without working out? You can have a food baby twins and lose four pounds.

I looked up lots of reviews on this subject for the shred, and a lot of people have the same complaint. The solution? Glory in the inches and the toning, because the shred wasn't designed for loads of weight loss. Hmmm...heck if I am going to bust my ace everyday and lose four pounds!!! I have a vacation coming up people! I love the shred, but maybe they are right...maybe it isn't designed for loads of weight loss. Maybe these are?

Confession #2-I ate terrrrribly in March. OH MAN! Terribly. January and February I basically cut out eating out, but I didn't exercise. I was doing great. Then in March I added exercise into the mix and the world falls apart. Maybe I am not the world's greatest multi tasker? Shoot! Anyways, I found the Shred makes me tired and way hungrier, which is a lethal combo.

I've decided the ONLY way to massively lose weight is to count calories or points, and write everything down. The science of it is to put less in the gullet than you burn off in a given day. You know, that ~~elusive~~ scientific deficit. I calculated in order to lose 2 pounds per week I have to eat 1800 calories or less. Sounds like a lot of calories...but believe me, I can blow that one out of the water. And those anti calorie counter advocates are retards. That's right, I said it. Coming from the woman who has tried everything to avoid counting calories/points but now realizes it's the only way (besides volume eating, that MIGHT work)...I feel I have the right to be rude. So there.

I'm super good at science. I'm not super good at this. Crap. Counting calories is hard for me for two reasons. 1. My laziness and 2. My lack of time. It takes A LOT of time and enery to create a meal, look up the calorie count (or the points) write them down and add them up. (Well now that I am writing it down it seems pretty easy. But I am no fool). I found inspiration and motivation from Trainer Momma. That woman has got it going on! Healthy to the core. It's a great blog, check it out!

At this point, you might have guessed there really was no point to my blog today. I just felt like venting and telling myself what we all already know. Count calories. Or scream in hatred when Jillian Michael's tells you to follow her 30 day shred eating plan when one doesn't really exist. It's all counting calories too. So save yourself $30 per month by doing it yourself. Myself. Whatever...I hope you liked my random pictures to keep you entertained :)

Extract

2010-03-25T15:09:00.000-07:00

I have to start off by saying I may subconsciously only like this movie because I really like the company label design on the extract bottles. Strange, but true.

Jason Bateman is a lovely fellow and I am a HUGE fan of Kristen Wiig. So I enjoyed the movie...although I can see why it was not a blockbuster. But it's at blockbuster. Why do they call it blockbuster anyways? I think Craig posed this question. Time to google.

Anywho, what made me remember to go out and rent this movie was the 8pm sweat pants challenge. HILARIOUS!! That Kristen Wiig and her random food references. Pizza sticks! haha...soooo hilarious. I think it's worth a rental, or a Netflix. I didn't want to wait 24 hours to watch it. Whatever floats your boat!!

(P.S. Now that I've uploaded the poster I can't stop laughing. I didn't even notice the cover before the movie! Oh boy, my sides hurt!).

"Be" shameless!

2010-03-24T17:19:00.000-07:00

Another shameless steal in my crafting life! Seriously, I am way too busy to create these things on my own. I saw this sign at "I am Momma" and thought it was so super cute and decided to make it.

After creating it, I have determined there is no possible way those letters were free handed. They are so perfect and mine are soooo not perfect! (Okay, she might be an artist. And she might have super paint brushes. But really this is just my jealousy speaking). I just copied her sizing and fonts because it was easier than laying out a new one.

It took me forever to write the letters and I still managed to make them crooked. Oh well, it just puts my trademark on it :) P.S. free handing letters blows big time!!

These are the paint colors I used in case you wonder about it. I had to do a little mixing on the oranges but I think they turned out pretty good. The blue doesn't really match my house, but I didn't think that through before hand. Oops! Eh, I could use a little blue in my life!

After I spent lots of frustrating moments painting the letters (please oh please let a cricut fall out of the sky), I sanded it down and dirtied it up a bit. I used gold paint for the middle and black stain for the sides. It was nerve racking!! Anyone else get stressed by distressing?? OY!

I don't really have a place for it quite yet, but my impulsive creative side took over and I had to get it done. So there you have it! I think these would be cute gifts or Super Saturday items (if you are lucky enough to still have Super Saturday), but with vinyl letters instead!!

Have you met the fish in my office yet? I feed them, so I think they are mine. Plus I'm the only one who gets sad if they die. We had one casualty a few weeks back and the one on the left got pretty lonely. He was turning white and it was freaking me out! The fish man brought me a new one yesterday so they could be friends. Turns out the lonely one is now a big fat bully (he's bigger) so we might have to take the new one out. But aren't they cute?? They are so GIANT! Look at those fishy lips!

Totes me goats

2010-03-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

I have a confession...I crossed the holy DIY line and called a professional upholstery man for a quote on my music room chairs.

I'm SO tired from the 30 day shred. Should I be this tired? haha...

Anyways, I have been feeling unmotivated to finish them myself, although I am capable of doing it. It is just so much work. I really want my music room to be DONE already.

Ummm so does anyone know how much upholstery costs? Unless you drop your chairs off at the prison (I hear the murders do the best work) you will pay a pretty penny. I was quoted $700 without the fabric...and they basically wanted 16 yards of fabric!! The chairs don't even have sides for crying out loud. And they are midget chairs! Holy mother! Couldn't I buy chairs for a lot less?

Why yes, yes I could. If I wasn't so cheap, that is. Look at the selection!

Any of these would do. I could seriously go on forever. Most of these are from Target, so they are WAY cheaper than what I would pay to have my Salvation Army chairs reupholstered professionally. I guess I will get off my boo-tay and get down and dirty with the music room chairs! I am predicting a total cost of about $90 which includes the purchase of the chairs, the fabric (thanks to my new cheap fabric store), paint and buttons.Wish me luck!!

The Bounty Hunter

2010-03-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

We saw this on Saturday and I've already forgotten most of what I was going to say about it...so it obviously left quite an impression! I'm kidding, it's pretty good :)

Craig and I both agreed, Jennifer Anniston made this movie. If it weren't for her crazy facial expressions, we might have been bored. The middle got a tad slow. Not even Gerard Butler's abs were declared #1! WHAT?

It wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be, but I think my expectations might be getting a little skewed since movie calliber is obviously lacking lately. Although I have expressed my undying love for Mr. Butler a la '300,' I would have liked to see someone a little goofier in this movie, like George Clooney. Wishful thinking....haha. So anywho, I think it is worth a date night and a good laugh (or at least drool at the Sex and the City 2 trailer. I can't WAIT for May! YAYYYY!!)

Craig's Birthday!!

2010-03-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

I know, I am SUCH a bad wife. Craig's 27th birthday was on Thursday, and here I am posting on Saturday. Lo siento babe. I took some time off to hang out with him. I think we had some good times!

My parents came over to have a little party, and I made Craig a cake all by myself! I know this doesn't sound like a great accomplishment, but last year Safeway provided the cake so I think I've taken big steps!

I filled the middle with strawberry glaze, because Craig likes it. I think. Well it tasted really good in there! I did chocolate on the bottom and red velvet on top. Mixin it up a bit!

Nice and fattening! YUM! I frosted it and put little sprinkles on it. I insisted on putting 27 candles on that cake. Maybe not a great idea but it was fun!

We played a spicy game of "Phase 10" and my mom kicked all our bootays! On our time off, we also went shooting the guns in the desert. Craig wanted me to show all of you how green the rains have made the dirty desert...

Sure, it may not look green to all you people who grow trees in your state, but to us, this is a blanket of lush green-ness! Oh I almost forgot! Turbo had his first run in with balloons. HILARIOUS! He does NOT trust them one bit! I thought I was going to have to take them down, but we survived :)

I know my blog has become a boring mess of workouts and movies. I assure you I have been working on projects! In fact, today I bought the wood for yet another project. I hope to finish it this weekend. I am very excited about it.

This whole last week I have been lovingly priming my laminate shelves. OH curse you laminate! It takes 7 days to 'cure' so I can start painting them today. YAHOO!

Repo Men

2010-03-20T14:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you have ever felt this, but some movies make me have NO feeling. Like I don't hate it, I don't love it. I really have no opinion. And THAT is hard to accomplish people! I'm full of opinions!

Well, Repo Men made me feel that way. It wasn't completely terrible, but I didn't particulary like it either. haha...so I guess I'm no help on this one! Good luck out there!

Here's to hoping that tonight "Bounty Hunter" makes me feel some LOVE!

Shred update!

2010-03-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

I will let you know that March has been a bad bad bad food month! Craig's bday gave me an excuse to eat a lot I guess :)

Here are my day 15 results (which was Tuesday! Oh man, I'm so behind in blogging!)
Bicep- down .25 inches
Bust- down 4 inches
Chest-down 2 inches
Waist-down 1 inch (freaking finally, right??!)
Thigh-down 2.5 inches
Calf-down .5 inches
Bootay-down 5 inches

Weight- Down 5 lbs! (Curse the Biggest Loser for making me think this should be more!!!)

I am happy with my results but I know they could have been way better if I ate right. Level 2 kicks my butt! I will let you know that I am still forcing myself to do it! Usually workouts become fun but uhhhh yeah...not this one! It makes me so tired! That Jillian :) I hope you are all having some success too!

Oh my goodness...

2010-03-13T05:53:00.000-08:00

First off, I started level 2 of the 30 day shred. I'm pretty sure I'm going to die! I'm glad to know that SO many of you are in it with me!! YAY!

So I have a slight back problem...probably a pulled muscle from the freaking squat dumbell row thingy on level one. It's nothing major but jumpking jacks have become a pain in the ace. So I have to modify some of the cardio moves to be low impact, and drop the weights on some of the back moves. But I figured I would rather modify than stop doing it all together. And it is still hard! But, I hear a lot of people go through knee pain and I am glad I only had one day of that!

So beware, any of you who are out of shape like me and trying to be a superstar, you'll probably get hurt. haha...okay maybe not but be careful!

Anyone see any good movies lately?

Brooklyn's Finest

Lame lame lame lame lame. Basically it's boobs and badges. Seriously. UGH! Too bad because it had a lot of potential! The story line jumped around a lot and focused too much on the theatrics instead of the point. I don't need to SEE boobs to know that you are operating a prostitution ring, thank you very much. In fact, boobs are free. I want a good story line! The theater was PACKED and I'm sure a lot of people went home disappointed. Memo to Ethan Hawke...get your freaking teeth fixed! They give me nightmares about gangly tooth monsters!

Fame

I haven't finished it yet, but so far I'm LOVING it. Don't know why. Maybe I live my singing dreams through them!

Harry Brown

Seriously, this movie is all about old timer Michael Caine cleaning up the hood. I'd like to clean up a few hoodlums myself!! It's a bit like Grand Torino without the politeness. Sweet Alfred Pennyworth out to save the neighborhood. He caps them right and left. Probably not a movie for your mother-but besides a few explicit portions I'm down!

Green Zone

Great movie! I loved it! I was half asleep on cold medication and was still completely entertained. It is a lot like the Bourne movies. Matt Damon, suspense, action, a bit of comedy. It's a gem. Go see it! I should make a tiny disclaimer that it is political so depending on your views on the war, you might hate it. But get over it and focus on the lovliness of the movie!

I'm off to make a cake for Craig's birthday!

Cute bag alert!

2010-03-12T15:57:00.000-08:00

I will admit, I am not the most 'green' person who ever lived. In fact, until a few weeks ago the extent of my green-ness stopped at energy efficient appliances and light blubs. And that's mostly because it saves me lots of money in energy bills!

I've been watching my plastic bag arsenal grow and grow, and it finally got too big to fit in its spot! So when I spotted these super cute bags at Home Goods, I snatched them up!! They were $.50 for two bags on sale. I think the big huge bag was $.75 and I bought one of those too. They are by far the cheapest and cutest 'green' bags I've seen yet!

I bought the clearance bags, but I just peeked at the new patterns and they are EVEN CUTER! Anyways, today was their inagural trip to the grocery store. They fit SO many groceries inside and they are really strong. I say go gobble them up while you can!

30 Day Shred update

2010-03-11T22:20:00.000-08:00

Hi friends! I am happy to report that I have 4 days off and I intend to get at least ONE project done and up on the blog, but I make no promises!

I have come to the conclusion that I love love love the 30 day shred. I just completed day 10 today. It seems like I started a REALLY long time ago, but alas it has only been 10 days.

I was SO sore the first 3 or 4 days, had slight knee pain on day 5 that went away and now I'm convinced I may have compressed my all my vertabrae doing 5 billion jumping jacks. I think a round or two of yoga might stretch me out again? Either way, it was worth it.

The 10 day results!! (They're not scientific, Craig measured me and I may or may not have licked his face a few times when he got too close to my mouth. That's how I roll).

Pounds lost: 2! It probably should have been more, but I ate out at the TR. mmm TR....but I'll take 2 pounds in 10 days.

Inches lost: 3/4 inch off biceps, 5 inches off the 'bust' (of course, take away the goods), 4 inches off the midsection (above the belly button...you know, that wierd place under the breasticles but above the love handles), 1/2 inch off each thigh and 3 inches off the hip/boo-tay area.

I almost didn't believe some of those measurements, so I made Craig do them again. We measure at my freckles (very scientific method), and they seem to be consistent. The only bummer? No loss at the waist! POOP! Maybe over the next 10 days. I'm going to level 2!

Don't click on me if you TiVo!

2010-03-07T21:16:00.000-08:00

Oh the Academy Awards!! They're full of cheese and I love it! Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are tops :)

Best moment of the night? Sandra Bullock, by far! "The Blind Side" is one of my favs, as you know!

I will admit there were some heart sinking moments, but the fact that "Hurt Locker" kicked "Avatar" in the pants makes me giddy!

Incidently, the director of "Hurt Locker" used to be married to James Cameron. Sucker! The girls prevail!

Either I missed it, or they left out Patrick Swayze from the 'passed during the year' session and I was sad. Then I felt better when Kristen Stewart looked like she was going to barf! Hilarious.

P.S. Demi Moore looked freaking amazing! I need whatever she's on...and SJP is FAB!

Boo hoo the weekend is over!

It's an Oscar party!

2010-03-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are addicted to movies as much as we are, you know that tonight is the biggest night in movies...the Oscars! I'll admit, I used to tune in solely for the outfits, but I'd like to think I've matured into show content? Either way, it's a couple of hours worth watching, especially if you have a project to keep you occupied in from of the TV! In case you care, here's a list of all the nominees, taken from oscars.org:

Actor in a Leading Role

Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”

George Clooney in “Up in the Air”

Colin Firth in “A Single Man”

Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”

Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role

Matt Damon in “Invictus”

Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”

Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”

Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”

Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role

Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”

Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”

Carey Mulligan in “An Education”

Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role

Penélope Cruz in “Nine”

Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”

Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”

Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”

Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Animated Feature Film

“Coraline” Henry Selick

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson

“The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements

“The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore

“Up” Pete Docter

Art Direction

“Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith

“Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim

“Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

“The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Cinematography

“Avatar” Mauro Fiore

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel

“The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd

“Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson

“The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Costume Design

“Bright Star” Janet Patterson

“Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme

“Nine” Colleen Atwood

“The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Directing

“Avatar” James Cameron

“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow

“Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels

“Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Documentary (Feature)

“Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller

“The Cove” Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens

“Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein

“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith

“Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

Documentary (Short Subject)

“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill

“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher

“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert

“Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett

“Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Film Editing

“Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron

“District 9” Julian Clarke

“The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis

“Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

Foreign Language Film

“Ajami” Israel

“The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)” Peru

“A Prophet (Un Prophète)” France

“The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)” Argentina

“The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)” Germany

Makeup

“Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano

“Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow

“The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Music (Original Score)

“Avatar” James Horner

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat

“The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders

“Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer

“Up” Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)

“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas

“Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston

“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture

“Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Blind Side” Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Producers

“District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers

“An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers

“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers

“Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers

“A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers

“Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer

“Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

“French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert

“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell

“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia

“Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin

“A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

Short Film (Live Action)

“The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn

“Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström

“Kavi” Gregg Helvey

“Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey

“The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Sound Editing

“Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle

“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson

“Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman

“Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin

“Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Sound Mixing

“Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson

“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett

“Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano

“Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Visual Effects

“Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

“District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken

“Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

“District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

“An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby

“In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher

“Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Writing (Original Screenplay)

“The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal

“Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino

“The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman

“A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

“Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

I would tell you who I think should win in each category, but I'm pressed for time and just hoping that Avatar doesn't take EVERYTHING....because we all know there are finer movies in the world than Avatar, right? :)

Progress! (Or something like it)

2010-03-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Saturday! As you all know this is my favorite day of the week! It's the only day I don't wake up with bags under my eyes...haha. Sleeping in is good! Anyhow I have been pretty much MIA except for my lame 5 word posts about shredding. We did day 4 yesterday night, but I was far too tired to come upstairs and post about it :)

Since my test is over and I can go back to normal life, I have been trying to finish more projects for the music room. I've started quite a few of course, but finishing is the true test! Here's what's going on in there now...

Shelves! Craig built my shelves (there's actually 3) but I have yet to prime and paint them. They are going to be a doosy to paint because of the surface, so I've been putting that off!

My mom picked out this super cute flower for my room. I think it sums up the funky girly vibe I'm going for. I think it is cheery!

I found these strange keys at the Goodwill the other day and for some reason felt a strong impulse to buy them. Perhaps I will find my way to Narnia through my music room closet? haha. I like 'em because they are chunky. Like I always say, you can spray paint just about anything!

I have almost finished tearing apart my foot rest. This is the part I hate the most...the tear down! All I can think about is all the nastiness of the previous owner. Sad but true. and by the looks of this thing, the owner was nas-tay.

Since the room is all sorts of shades and textures of pink, I pretty much went into cardiac arrest when I saw this tweed wool blend for $3/yd at my new favortire fabric store. It is so soft and fluffy. It is perfect for my feet. I wish there was more of it, I would drape myself in it and walk around town. mmm I love it.

Can you imagine how it feels? And it is sooo very 1950. Love.

Anywho, that's what I'll be doing today...and hopefully I will have a finished product for you soon! Happy Saturday!

Day 3=Fin

2010-03-04T21:07:00.001-08:00

...it is WAY past my bed time :)

dos shredos

2010-03-03T18:31:00.000-08:00

Yeah I know, I disliked Spanish in high school!

Day two is complete.

Jumping jacks have never been so bothersome!

Happy Wednesday :)

30 Day Shred

2010-03-02T20:59:00.000-08:00

So I'm pretty much lazy these days and figured I needed to kick my butt into gear if I ever want to lose all this ummm marriage weight? So I'm doing the 30 day shred to get me started. I think Craig might do it with me? hehe we will see...

Today I was tired before it even started because I had to move my newly made shelves out of the way and run up and down the stairs 50 billion times because I kept forgetting things. Sad. Sad but true. It's only 20 minutes long but I am pretty sure I will sleep REALLY good tonight and be really sore in the morning. 20 minutes a day can't be that bad, right? YIKES!

I know this is pretty much not very interesting, but I'm blogging about it every day so that when I don't blog about it you can all use some form of communication to yell at me and keep me motivated. Then at the end of 30 days I'll post my results (there better be results, or else!). Sound good? Okay then! Nighty night!

OH BOY!

2010-03-02T19:59:00.000-08:00

I have soooo much blog reading to catch up on! I am excited to see what you all have been up to while I've been studying my life away for my life/accidental injury/health test! Now that I am licensed to 'solicit' all normal insurance lines I can go back to my regular life.

Solicit. It might as well be a dirty dirty 4 letter word.

But since my career has been doomed to it I decided to make it a par-tay and go all out. Holla!

Anyways, I have a few movies to tell you about while I wait for Hulu to load :)

Nine

I was expecting soooo much more! Why wouldn't I with such a great cast, right? The 'critics' (I demand to know who you are!) all said that it was "Chicago" reincarnated but they are wrong! Chicago is visually stunning, has great songs and it actually has a story line. Silly concept. And it had the SAME director! I think he has run dry. Although I loved the cast and some of the scenes were pretty cool, it was basically a flippity flop in my book. Boo hoo!

9 (For reals. Did they have to be lame and come out the same time? Confusing!)

I'm not big on animated movies that aren't filled with interesting innuendos (haha), so I will warn you of that fact first. Remember Wall-E? Yes, the movie where NO ONE TALKS FOR A BILLION HOURS?? Well, this one is sort of like that, but without the cute "Walllll-eeeee" tag line. And those little bag things remind me of naked old ladies. Not that I've seen a naked old lady, but I have a pretty good imagination. I'm pretty sure your kids would be bored or scared too. It's like Toy Story but only if everyone was really psychotic and depressed. So maybe skip this one.

The Informant!

Oh Matt Damon, you are such a silly goose. And I like your stache. I will admit, I fell asleep...but not due to the movie. I guess maybe that voids my opinion but I thought the parts I saw were interesting! It's quirky and I kept trying to figure out who was on which side and when. Obviously it isn't exciting since I zonked out (don't let the ! fool you), but it's probably worth a rental.

Percy Jackson

Uhhh so I wasn't totally paying attention but from what I gather it was a bit lame. Actually I don't really remember what happened. Yep, that's all I have.

Dear John

Okay friends. You know I will fight for the cause of the chick flick in this world right?? You know this?? Okay so keep that in mind when you feel like sacrificing me when you say 'oooo I loooooved that movie, you're soooo stupid.' Kapeesh?

I hated the ending and I hated the twist. HATED. It made me SO MAD! GRRRR! I guess maybe that is the point, but still...ugh! She's a jerk and he's a big fat chicken. I was expecting more 'Notebook' sentiment and it totally missed that. Other than that 'teensy' complaint I liked the movie! I mean for reals, Channing is the new Brad so it was not hard to watch! Ooohh and I liked the dad. He was nice. :)

Cop Out

This movie is SOOOO super dumb and silly that it was AWESOME! Plus I love me some Brucey. I was hopped up on skittles though...

Shutter Island

2010-02-21T09:25:00.000-08:00

Did anyone else think that this movie was NEVER going to come out?? To be honest, after 1 year of previews I was not interested anymore. Then it finally came out!

I don't like scary movies so much but this one turned out to be more of a psychological thriller, which I love!

Even though we had an old man behind us caressing Craig's shoulders with his feet and yelling how dumb the movie was, I was REALLY into the movie. I had to know what was going on! Are you crazy Leo, are you??

(Seriously old people, when is it that you stop caring about your part in society? Let me know so I can be prepared to be cranky and mean).

Anyways, I liked it more than I thought I would. It is a horrifically strange movie but worth a date night!

A little twisty twist in the road

2010-02-19T08:28:00.001-08:00

Hi friends!! If you've been reading the blogaroo you know that I was VERY excited about my giant mirror project. I got this enormous picture from my nice neighbor. Little did he know I was making an evil plan to dissect it for its frame!

My original plan was to fill it in with beveled mirrors. I soon realized no mirror tiles on earth would fit without needing to be cut. The frame was made in Canada so the measurements aren't on par with American mirror tiles. Make sense? I wasn't about to 1. cut them or 2. buy a mirror sheet (too expensive!). In case you can't tell, the frame is about 4 ft by 3 ft. That's a lot of mirror!

So Craig came up with this idea when we were at Ikea to use the framed mirrors and put pink behind it. I loved the idea! We bought the mirrors and this deliciously funky silk fabric.

I spent forever painting the frame and each little mirror. I thought it was going to be so super cute!

Then, the explosion. GRRR!!!! I was laying it all together and the glass (which held EVERYTHING together) shattered and cut me! That little turd!

I screamed...loudly...

(at least loud enough for Craig to stop playing video games and scramble for bandaids).

I tried some alternative ways to attach the mirrors, but they all looked super ghetto. Craig was a big help, but nothing seemed to work, you know? I pouted for a while and then decided I had just made the world's largest and most fabulous cork board picture frame! (that works, right?) Hang it baby!

I will order some pictures from Shutterfly. I knew I wanted oversized pics of Craig and me (and Turbo!)in the room, and I didn't know where I was going to put them.

Now I know! I just need a few embellishments and I think my disaster project might have turned out after all :)

It is true that you NEVER know what you are getting into when you start a DIY project. Here's my next one. A little spot for my singing feet.

I sure hope this one doesn't explode...Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday!

2010-02-19T08:13:00.000-08:00

Happy 1st birthday little Edward!

Great stinkin' idea!

2010-02-17T15:25:00.000-08:00

As you know, my only New Year's resolution was to cook more. This month I have been trying to focus on cooking better foods, now that I've pretty much cut fast food out.

Some smart little pickles in Mesa have a fruit/vegetable co-op with local farmers and I've decided to participate! Chances are there's something like this in your area, so try it out! It is FAB!

We bought the small box and look at all that came in it!! bananas, peaches, plums, apples, pears, grapes, potatoes, cauliflower, lettuce, broccoli, onions, etc. And all of the produce is super fresh...none of that Wal Mart garbage! GRRR expired Wal-Mart produce! And it is way cheaper than the farmer's market. HOLLA!

I also bought their 'salsa pack' because I pretty much think salsa is a food group.

It came with a little salsa recipe and I took a picture of it because 1. I'm too lazy to type it and 2. you MUST make it NOW!

I actually split the recipe in half because the pack was too big for Craig and me. But we ate salsa for dinner, so umm yeah it was good!

A little birdie told me they are going to make 100% whole grain bread next week. I'm on board for that! What a great idea!

Me? Finish a project?

2010-02-17T14:24:00.000-08:00

I know! It seems impossible that I have actually finished one of the billion projects I have started! I really want to get the music room done, STAT!

Here's another stinky Goodwill chair. I love these types of chairs because they are so easy to do! No major upholstery jobs here, hallelujah! I bought it on 50% off day a while back, and I think I paid $4.00 or something.

The cushion was peach stained velvet and it was stank-kay. First item of business was to detach the seat! (Yes, that is a flattering pose Julia).

The paint was some sort of really thick veneer, so I used my new BFF to smooth it down and then I spray painted it black.

Oh sander, I love you!! While the paint was drying, I attacked the seat. Here are the tools of the seat dissecting trade. I also used scissors because it was quite stubborn!

One the nastiness was removed, I traced the cushion on foam. I found the best foam place ever! I think I used like $2.00 worth of foam here. SOO cheap for foam!

I attached the foam to the seat using that natual bamboo batting stuff. I don't know what it is called. But it works! Then I stapled my pink fabric to it. I made the mistake of covering up the nail holes to screw it back in. DER! So I ripped it off and stapled the pink fabric again...

The corners are always tricky. I try new methods all the time. This fabric was super thick and not very nice to me, so I did the ol' corneroo.

Staple staple staple. Scream when the staples come out. Staple. Staple. Flip!

Yay! A cushion! I had to contemplate whether or not I would cover the rattan back with more pink. I decided that even though I am in love with pink, it would be WAY too much pink. And like I said before, the fabric was probably too thick for this job. So I decided to put the nail heads around the seat cushion instead.

I bought the individual nail heads because I wanted silver, so I used my trusty mallet (also known as mallard in the Skousen home. Quack quack) to tap them in. I hit my fingers 500,000 times, FYI. It's much harder to get straight, but I think once you figure out a pattern they are way better than the trim you can buy. Anyways, after that I screwed the seat back in.

And it's done! See, I told you it was easy :)

It fits in nicely with it's new curtain friends in the music room! And I am happy to have a cute seat to rest my boo-tay.

A little before and after for you. I wish we all had smellivision, because then you'd be REALLY happy! :) On to the next project!

My new bestie for life

2010-02-16T13:21:00.000-08:00

The Chia Seed!

I know, sounds ridiculous.

But I feel fabulous.

No, this isn't a joke :)

So that I don't blab on and on to the unintersted, you can read about them here!

Back to conquering exploding projects!

More movies!

2010-02-16T08:56:00.000-08:00

I sadly did not watch any gushy Valentine's movies this year. Although I fully plan on still seeing "Dear John" and "Valentine's Day" eventually....

From Paris With Love

First of all, John Travolta is on a freaking roll with his movies! I thought I would hate this movie, but I loved it! Maybe I was in a good mood? Who knows, I thought it was funny AND action packed, which is hard to do without being totally lame. See it!

The Box

Speaking of lame...haha okay this movie isn't completely lame, but Cameron Diaz IS totally lame. I hated her in this movie with her dumb little accent. Such a tard. Besides that the movie was decent and SUPER de DUPER creepy! Craig and I did not expect it to be so creepy. I thought it would be sooooo dumb, but it was better than I expected. I really just wanted to find out what was going to happen and how it was going to happen so I kept watching and brushed aside the lameness of it. I think I decided that it is worth a rental if you are like me and only like 'sort of' scary movies!

Happy Valentine's day!

2010-02-14T16:10:00.001-08:00

We had a lovely bittersweet weekend with the family. I felt like heart shape pancakes would cheer everyone up on Valentine's day morning!

I bought red sparkly utensils. Mostly just for my joy. hehe

Craig and I had fun making the pancakes, although they are harder than they look!

This one turned out like a little rooster, eh?

Craig made a snowman and the united states before I took over and made a few that actually looked like hearts <3

Craig's dad bought his mom some beautiful flowers that cheered up the kitchen!

And Kendra and Mike showed Turb the love by taking him for a walk.

He loves it when family is here! Craig and I are cooking some yummy steaks and watching a movie at home tonight. It's wierd having Valentine's on a Sunday huh?

Happy Valentine's Day! I love you babe! (and you too Turbo!)

Adventures in project land

2010-02-14T15:58:00.000-08:00

I know I have been M.I.A the last week or so. I promise I have been working hard on projects! I just can't find time to finish them.

Or one explodes.

For example, my gigantic mirror project blew up.

Yes, those are LARGE pieces of broken glass that attacked my hand. Minor set back :) I'll post my 'plan B' when I finish it!

The Edge of Darkness

2010-02-07T14:41:00.000-08:00

What do I do on Superbowl Sunday? Well right now, I'm eating chips, catching up on Desperate Housewives and blogging. BLISS!

I suppose I will tune in when the game starts for the National Anthem and then again at half time, but for now, I do my own thing :)

I had a very hard choice to make this week in movies. John Travolta, Mel Gibson, or Channing Tatum? Well it's really just a matter of who to see FIRST, and with Craig's help Mel Gibson won out.

The Edge of Darkness

I loooovee murder mystery movies. Love love love. Not horror movies, murder mystery movies. Crime dramas if you will. So this movie is perfect for me! Mel Gibson IN A CRIME DRAMA? WAHOO!

The plot is very good, but it is slow moving. This usually equates to boredom, but I was in such suspense the WHOLE movie I couldn't possibly be bored! I kind of related it to what a real life detective might go through if his daughter was killed, you know? He'll get in a few fights and whack a few people, but there's nothing really outrageous about what he does. No lame matrix-esque fighting scenes or crazy weapons. Just a ticked off Dad and a gun. It was awesome!

If any of you work for pompous "I rule the market" companies, you'll appreciate it too!

Okay enough chips for me! I think I will go finish my chair today, once and for all! Happy football watching!

The Fluffy Shop Comedy Tour

2010-02-07T08:42:00.000-08:00

Happy Sunday friends! Craig and I went to the Gabriel Iglesias show last night and it was HILARIOUS! Oh man, there's nothing like a good laugh to make your February!

It was completely sold out and it was FUN! If you can still catch him in your city, I recommend it! What a lovely date night! And if you have the time to wait in line, he will stay and take pictures and chat with every single person! It's so awesome. I of course, am not one for 3 hour lines, so I'll keep the memory in my heart!

I should give you a four letter word alert! Mom, cover your ears!

If you can't catch him, Netflix him! It's not the same stuff, but it is equally hilarious.

Meatloaf cupcakes!

2010-02-07T08:33:00.000-08:00

Two of my favorite things, all mushed into one dish! Here's the recipe Jewls, sorry I don't have any appetizing pics!

1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I just crumpled toast haha)
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic
1 egg
1/4 cup chopped onions

Mix all ingredients together and scoop into 12 cupcake molds. Bake at 350 for 30 mins.
Brush the tops with ketchup and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 2 more minutes.

Viola! Happy meatloaf making! oooo I still owe you New Year's pics! AHH! Sorry, I will get those NOW!!

Love is in the air...

2010-02-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

It's my 200th post! Happy dance! And yes, Craig successfully weaseled his way out of the first 200. Silly man.

I have another shameless steal to share with you all. Spreading the joy one steal at a time I say! Although I did create my own Christmas blocks, I went about it ALL wrong and they were pretty much a disaster. So I took advice from The Creative Crate for Valentine's day!

These were SOOO super easy. The whole thing took me like 2 hours including the time I had to go to Walmart because I NEVER have what I need! (Ever feel like that?)

First, I cut the wood into three pieces.

I said a little 'thank you' to the man upstairs for protecting my limbs!

I gathered my supplies (from walmart...)

Then I white washed each block. It looks cuter when you can see the wood coming through. Also, the knottier the wood the better. Uh, yeah. I said it. hehe.

Then I made my little stencils for the lettering and cut them out.

I did each letter then had to let them dry for a few minutes. Pace, Pace, Pace. BTW, when I pulled my stencil off I realized one was crooked and the other leaked through the paper. So be prepared for some frustrating moments, if you are like me! Then remember every mishap adds a little character :)

The next part is the fun/hard part! I stained the blocks using black stain (no brown stain in sight) but it took a few attempts to figure it out!

The wood was fairly smooth so it was very slickery! It would be better to use the thicker stain. By the <3 I figured the best way to do it was to brush the edges and use a paper towel to smudgey it all around the rest of the surface.

I left the stain heavy on the edges but didn't stain over the lettering. Why? Because I am WAY too impatient to let the letters fully dry. Duh.

After letting that soak in for a second, I pulled them together and added the ribbon.

This cute little number joins the rest of our Valentine's decorations that are sprinkled around the house...

Now back to the music room!

Casualty at the Skousen Casa

2010-02-04T12:55:00.001-08:00

No, no, I didn't get burned by the glue gun again, although it's high time for another one of those!

Meet 'girlfriend'... Turbo's love.

Disgusting, right? Well, Turbo loves her SO much. He carries her all over the house(and outside, as you can see). Turbo has ripped all his other stuffed animals to shreds, but girlfriend lives on!

Until one fateful day, when Turbo's BFF Bosco found girlfriend and attempted to perform heart surgery on her.

I've had her hidden for a month or so until I got around to fixing her(procrastination will probably make my kids VERY sad). I made the mistake of picking up Turbo while in the kitchen and he SPOTTED HER! Oh man...that dog knows what he wants!! Time to fix girlfriend or pay the price!

I know, that's embroidery thread. And it's black. It's all I had. I figure that she can no longer be washed (YIKES), so I secretly think she won't live long anyways. But don't tell Turbo :)

Hahaha...I know, she's a bit deformed now. First thing he did was inspect my surgery skills. Picky, picky!

Now he's a happy camper!

Sweet tooth?

2010-02-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

I saw this recipe over at 'Twice Remembered' yesterday and I shamelessly stole the idea for FHE dessert last night.

And it.was.DELICIOUS!

Craig insisted we use peaches instead of cherries, so I went over to good ol' Safeway and bought a can just for him. Turns out the recipe is on the can. It's called 'crunch cake!'

Hmmm...okay so maybe everyone in the world BESIDES me knew this cake existed?

In case you don't feel like clicking over, here's what you do... (she has real pictures to drool over, so I recommend clicking!)

Need:
1 big can of crushed pineapple-I don't know how many ounces! It's the big one.

21 oz can of fruit filling

1 box of dry cake mix

1 1/2 stick of butter, approx.

Directions:

1. In a 9 X 13 glass pan, spread the pineapple
2. Spread the fruit filling over the pineapple
3. Pour out the DRY cake mix over everything and smooth it out a bit. Lumps are okay! Don't mix the mix!
4. Cut your butter lengthwise into flat strips and lay them over the mix. They don't have to be touching or anything, just space them out over the mix.

Bake at 375 for 45 mins and then die with delicious goodness.

After googling this desert, I found people get pretty creative and use nuts, candy, coconut, LOTS more butter etc. My cooking capacity pretty much tops at 4 ingredients...

Anything that has 4 ingredients and requires no mixing deserves a spot on the bliggity blog! Holla!

Wanna know why I haven't been productive?

2010-02-01T13:18:00.000-08:00

As you can tell by my last 50 billion posts, the reason why I have not been very productive lately is because of MOVIES! Darn those movies, entertaining me so much! These are the 'new' movies I have seen. But I assure you, I waste plenty of time on movies I never talk about!

Extraordinary Measures

This movie is SOOOO emotionally charged! Holy cow. Sad happy sad happy mad sad happy. Whew...it is exhausting. Anywho, I felt like the movie was a bit disjointed and a tad 'made for TVish' but it is worth a watch! P.S. It is not as inspirational as "The Blind Side" which it claims to be on its advertising, but I will let that little lie slide because the kids are SOOO cute!

The Education of Charlie Banks

It was on Netflix...what is a girl to do when Jessie Eisenberg's face appears on the front of the DVD? XBOX CLICK...and 2 hours later I'm just a little bit dumber. Well, the movie has a good message but it's not really worth a watch if you have other things to do in your life :)

When In Rome

I think it is going to get KILLED in the theaters by "Date Night" and "Valentine's Day" which are both coming soon, so watch it before it loses its momentum! I thought it was hilarious. It tries a bit hard to be funny and the main character is a tad annoying, but you have to take that all in stride. I think it wanted to be cheesy and quirky. Like they knew the whole romantic comedy thing has been beaten to death and they wanted something different. We laughed pretty hard! It's not very long so go in a good chipper mood and laugh at it's cheesiness!

Daybreakers

Movies about vampires, where do I start? I try to avoid them at all costs. I had a reoccuring nightmare about vampires when I was little. So I'm a bit tainted. But I think Craig liked it! Okay, so I will be fair...it was WAY better than I thought it would be, although it is quite a stomach turner. The good thing is that is actually has a story line, it's not about vampires prancing around in dark corners and biting every unsuspecting 1/2 dressed woman. It's about a world where being a vampire is totally normal, which takes most of the scary-ness out of them. Make sense? I didn't think so. Maybe worth a scary movie night rental! (it taught me how to fight vampires, FYI!)

Easiest 7 hour curtains ever!

2010-01-30T14:49:00.000-08:00

HAPPYYY SATURDAY! My favorite day of the week is almost over, but I am happy to report that it was a productive one!!

My Mom came over super early to help get my singing room curtains sewn. I tell you, these are the easiest curtains to make, but somehow it took us 7 hours from cut to hang...funny how that is huh? I think we might have been having too much fun! Fun includes "Music and Lyrics," "Miss Congeniality" and "Raising Helen." Chick Flick morning! ooo and stopping for Subway. HOLLA!

Here's how we did them:
Lay out your fabric and cut it to size. I did two panels...here is the fabric folded in half so I would cut even panels.

Next, lay the lining (I used white cotton) and the fabric together and trim it to make sure they are even.

Pin all the sides together. I tried to skip this step because I'm lazy. Probably not my best idea! Save yourself some time and pin!

As you can see, you pin the right side down to the lining. This is because you do the ol' pillow case fliparoo later on.

Sew all four sides (straight, unless your name is Blair. Then crooked). Make sure on one of the short sides you leave a hole about 6 inches or so.

Then you make sure Turbo isn't eating any pins you accidentally dropped. Good, he's still in sleeping position.

Next, you take that 6 inch hole and fliparoo those curtains right side out!

You'll have to hand sew that hole. My mom did that part. Yay mom! After that, she pinned them flat and sewed them around the edges again. You don't HAVE to do this part, but it keeps them from losing form if you wash them or whatever. Heck, you don't have to do any of the steps but then they aren't 7 hour curtains!

Here's an example of the outer stitch. I think it makes them look cute!

Next, iron those suckers flat and get ready to hang! I love these straight line thingymabobbers. You just shoot the laser across the top of the window and make your pencil marks.

Find that drill that your husband is always hiding...

Hang up the rod and put little clippy hooks on it.

Clippy the first panel...

Then the second panel...

And enjoy!

Turbo is already a big fan...

Here's how it looked right after I painted the room a few weeks ago:

And today!

I am one step closer and it feels good! Thanks mom!

What's the next singing room adventure? This nasty Goodwill chair. Well, the next three projects seem to have made their way into this picture...

La! La! La!

Lazy January days

2010-01-29T09:02:00.000-08:00

It's not cold here. Like, not cold AT ALL. It rained for a few days, but most of January has consisted of beautiful sunny Arizona days. So I really don't have the weather to blame my moody blues on, but I will, because it makes the most sense :)

I had a January 'to do' (more like 'wish') list about 26.2 miles long...and I really have not done a teensy bit of them. The list consisted of:

-reupholstering the music room chairs (At least I found the fabric, that's a huge step for me. And I haven't changed my mind...yet)

-making curtains (maybe tomorrow? Please mom, please?)

-putting up molding (I have to put my new nail gun to work!)

-painting our sad contractor white walls (people think we are just dirty)

-cleaning the house on a regular basis (psshhh that's for suckers. Hmm maybe we are dirty)

-organizing the garage (we got shelves for Christmas, yeah!)

-touching up some bad painting (I hate taping, and I have paid dearly for it)

-putting together bookcases and painting them (what color? who knows. They were a steal so Craig bought them for me)

-doing SOMETHING for our scary backyard (seriously. scary)

-Valentine's day decorating (who can think about love with a list like this?)

-starting my giant mirror project (I will pee my pants when it is done)

-drinking my body weight in water oz...that's A LOT of water (but it's my favorite one because it seems to be the easiest! although I haven't checked it off because I can only seem to get up to 128 oz. And we all know I am not 128 lbs. Oh how I wish! I would pee a lot less!)

-getting my life/health license (sounds a lot like school...I graduated college almost 2 years ago and vowed NEVER to return! haha)

Well... February is a new month, right? I'll stop my whining and get to work. I have kept my new year's resolution to cook more, so I will celebrate that! (But if you knew me, you would know that one meal would be cooking more, because I never cook. tee hee). Easy resolutions are the best!

Singing room ideas?

2010-01-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Happpyyyy Saturday! It's my fav day of the week, for obvious reasons. I haven't been very crafty lately because I have been thrown full force into my annual "it's January-organize everything in site mode."

I have been slowly gathering goods for the music room/office. I made a lame attempt at a mood board (I should have learned graphic design in my marketing/advertising days) to show you where I am headed...any thoughts/ideas/help will keep my brain from spinning into decor doom!

Obviously the theme is black and white...my favorite combo for all things furniture. I am not sold on my pink/green color splash...so let me know what you think about that! Below is a rough layout of the room. I want the sitting area directly across from the computer because...well I watch a lot of online TV! I heart Hulu!

I am using the two chairs below as the 'comfy chairs.' That's my next upholstery project, which is going to be a DOO-SeY! As for the hounds tooth...it's an acquired taste. I've acquired it. It's happening. Don't you dog my hounds tooth chair! The other is going to be that black fabric with white polka dots.

Since everything is black and white, I'm not too scared of getting tired of the color. I can always change out my colors by switching up my accessories. The problem is the curtains...Do you like the pink and green? Or should I do those black and white too? I just don't know. I have a little problem with indecisiveness! HELP!

The Book of Eli

2010-01-17T07:08:00.000-08:00

I had absolutely NO idea what this movie was about going into it. This made me VERY confused! It's really odd watching a movie you know nothing about :)

Anyways, I will tell you that this movie is rather graphic, so don't go and see it then say I didn't warn you. It's the end of civilization! Keep that in mind. And I hope you don't like cats!

The thing with this flick was that I was on the edge of boredom the first ohhhhh 75 minutes...but it was jussssst interesting enough to keep me from falling over the edge.

...then the awesomeness of the whole movie kicked in with a little twisty twist and I want to watch it again!! INSANITY!

P.S. Sharla...I found out it was filmed in the ABQ! They always get the good movies...

The Lovely Bones

2010-01-15T03:00:00.000-08:00

I didn't read the book. Let's make that clear. Actually, it's a pretty safe bet that I never read the book related to any movie I see. Just a memo for future reference!

I'm pretty sure everyone else read the book (it was such a huge thing a couple years ago). The movie has been highly anticipated, and of course the rumblings are that the book to movie translation is fuzzy. What's new right?

This movie is cah-reep-eee! YIKES! Stanley Tucci makes an awesome chester molester. Not that he should be proud of that...I'm merely pointing it out. UGH! My stomach was turning the whole movie! I thought that Rachel Weisz was a terrible choice for the mother...her role annoyed me. Mark Wahlberg was a pretty good choice for the dad although I thought Ryan Gossling was going to be the dad? Hmm confusing...and Susan Sarandon played a splendid drunk grandmother!

The 'world in between' scenes were a little psychedelic for my taste. I think somehow they distracted me from the movie because I would get SO into it and then all of a sudden everything looked fake and out of place. Maybe that is how the book is?

Anywho, I think it is worth a date night! You'll at least think about better ways to teach your kids about 'stranger danger.' I'm grateful for my paranoid parents who taught me how to wail and scream and ummm...kick 'em where it counts! Suzie Salmon could have learned a lot from the Harvey's! UH no pun intended :)

Movie time

2010-01-13T19:48:00.000-08:00

I've have really good luck lately in movie land. Or maybe I'm just being nice?

Up in The Air

This was a cute little flick. It is getting tons of artsy acclaim, although I don't think many people put it on the top of their 'to do' lists! And you should, I say! George is his good ol' self, practically perfect in every way. The whole cast was really awesome, and the story is something a lot of people can relate to. The only thing that TOTALLY bugged me was that George's sisters were not nearly as gorgeous as him. I suppose they can't be blamed :)

It's Complicated

So so so so hilarious!!! John Krasinski makes me laugh SO hard in this movie! So does Steve Martin. Oh man! I think Craig was getting annoyed by my loud laughing :) It's all about old people drama and it's a tad predictable...but it is so worth a watch. Alex Baldwin's computer scene OR the senior smoking scene are the funniest things I have seen at least this week...

Armored

WHOA this movie...it was totally different than I expected!! My heart was pounding the entire time. That movie really gets you thinking about lots of stuff. Who hasn't wondered how much money those trucks carry around? Apparently it's a lot! I think it got shoved into "B" movie world, but the cast rocks and the story line was so much better than I thought it would be. Maybe not the best movie to see in theaters right now, but worth a rental when it comes out!

The Road

Okay, this movie was a book that Craig read, so we HAD to watch it. Of course, Craig reports it was not as good as the book (when is it?) but I didn't read the book...so I'll report on entertainment value! It is SOOOOOO depressing. But surprisingly, upbeat! (10 bucks to name the movie that line came from. PSHH I'm not giving you 10 bucks. But I will like you!). Charlize Theron was in the movie, which wasn't really advertised at all, and they put Guy Pearce as a main actor, but he is in it for like 5 minutes. Lame. Anyways, it's all about the end of the world/people's last resorts and they try to get a bit gushy, but overall it has a good message of hope and compassion. So rent this one too!

Invictus

I'll be honest. I slept through about 2 hours of this 3 hour movie and I'm pretty sure I didn't miss anything. You can only take so much Rugby playing. So maybe watch the beginning, sleep a little, and then wake up for the ending- clap.clap.clap. then go home. Kapeesh? I should stop watching long movies when I am tired...

A little pit stop

2010-01-13T19:37:00.001-08:00

Hello lovelies! I feel like I haven't blogged in 500 years. I have a LOT of blog reading to do also! I am happy to report that I am blogging from my newly built computer (thanks babe!) in my newly 'finished' office/music room. And by 'finished' I mean that the floors are done and the paint is done...and that's about it!

I found the perfect gray...the one I have been searching high and low for. Not too blue, not too green. Just plain old dark gray. I was soooo happy! Then I discovered it looked dreadful with the wood floor. Hehe, funny how the paint gods like to mess with me.

SO I went for a richer gray. It looks a bit disgusting in the blurry photo, but what is a blog post without a bad night time picture, right?

Now the fun can REALLY begin!! I am spying a gorgeous chair to attack on Craigslist. Hmmm 'Craiglist' and 'attack' in the same sentence... I'm going to get some awesome Google hits :) HOLLA!

Bang bang!

2010-01-06T08:37:00.000-08:00

Craig and I took our concealed weapons permit class yesterday. What an adventure! It was SUCH a long day, but the instructor was really nice and I was there with Craigy-poo, so it wasn't too bad. We both passed!

It's unfortunate that we couldn't take the big gun to the class, because the big gun is my aiming specialty. I'm not so awesome with the handgun. I got in a head shot, but if you prefer a kidney shot, I'm your gal!

Craig is REALLY good! Those farm boys...always good at shooting stuff. We'll put the gun on his side of the bed :)

Or, we'll sic Turbo on 'em...

Hallelujah we live in 'wild west' Arizona, land of the free! Now back to more girly things...

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T08:58:00.000-08:00

2010? How did that happen? I remember frolicking through the streets during Y2K at the young age of 13 and thinking how crazy it was. That was 10 years ago! Holy cow!

This year we did New Year's eve up right at the Skousen house. We had all of Craig's sisters over for food and fun. Kendra and I slaved all day (hehe) making delicious appetizers.

We played Balderdash and a spicy game of Charades up until the clock hit midnight. There was lots of laughter!

We attempted a group photo, but I think we were all too high on life!

Then we toasted our Martinelli's for good fortune. Or something like it. It was a blast!

On New Year's day, I put Kendra to work! She helped me paint the singing room. Even after we chose from our plethora of paint samples, the walls turned out blue!! And not a nice gray blue...I'm talking bright baby blue. BLECK! I was thinking I wanted either a deep charcoal gray or a light gray, but I didn't get either. hah. I know what I'll be doing all week. I will miss Kendra's good taping skills.

FYI, we chose the one on the top row, 2nd from the left. Yes, that one that looks WHITE! Tell me, how did that turn bright baby blue? I am flabergasted! Time to go bold! More on that later...

On Saturday I took my Mom out for her birthday. We scoured patterns resolving to make our own fashions this year. It was fun! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Hope it was fabulous!

Kendra and I also went to IKEA seeking singing room inspiration. WOW that place was crowded! We ended the night with a heated game of Settler's with everyone(minus Jewls and Squeevo). P.S. I beat Craig. Well, I won. But more importantly, I beat Craig! YAHOO!

Kendra and Mike helped me put in the last wood boards in the singing room before they left. What an adventure!!! I'm glad Kendra isn't scared for her limbs like I am. That saw was SCARY big! After they left, I found Turbo in the singing room. He was pooped. Yeah, he's resting his head on a bottle of Gorilla Glue. That dog knows about the good stuff.

What a fun weekend! I can't believe my favorite time of year is over. And yes, my Christmas decor is still up. We'll see what 2010 has in store for us! HOLLA!

Progress!!

2009-12-29T11:29:00.001-08:00

Since Craig got me my super awesome gift for Christmas, I've dedicated all my free time to the singing room revamp! I'm thinking of a black, white, gray theme with punches of color-yellow, pink, blue...whatever I feel like!

Here's how I choose wall colors nowadays. I have been through WAY too many bad paint jobs to not sample the paint in my own light (as you can see in this room already!). If the store won't give me samples, I throw a little girl fit. Lame stores.

I always paint my samples near the natural light and then again far from it. They can look VERY different!

Soon you'll know which color was victorious!

Craig and I have spent hours and hours trying to finish the floors. Here was a picture from this weekend. Yesterday we got the last boards in. HOLLA!

Memo? What memo?

2009-12-29T11:14:00.000-08:00

Apparently I didn't get the memo that Christmas is officially over. BOO HOO!!! I try to hold on to Christmas as long as I can! This year I'm holding on purely out of procrastination. I started this project a few weeks ago...

Everything was going dandy until I ran out of ornaments! AHH!! I decided not to use the green ones because I liked the copper, red and silver combo I had going.

So I scoured every dollar store in the area to get ONE more package. That's all I needed! Well, everyone was out. And I couldn't find anything comparable. I had to pull out the ugly green pack to finish it. Tear. Oh well. It isn't nearly as bad as the unfinished project eye twitch I was getting!

I stuffed the cracks with tinsel and small glitzy ornaments from home goods. Even though I'm totally over this project (hmm seems to be a theme in my posts) and Christmas is over, I feel better that it is finished! Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Tales of a Skousen Christmas

2009-12-27T09:35:00.000-08:00

We Skousen's LOVE Christmas!!! This year we spent Christmas away from home, but our living room still looks like this:

YIKES! What happens when you have kids? OY! Anyways, we went to my parent's house for Christmas eve for a delicious meal, then back again Christmas morning for another delicious meal. OHHH Yayyyy for Christmas and two delicious Mom made meals! While we were there, we did our Harvey gift exchange. Here's a few fun things...

Brennon got me this. I love these kits. I use them all year and Christmas comes again for a refill! Yeah!

These purses are the BEST. My mom makes them. I don't have kids but I somehow require gigantic purses. So cute!

Various tools I desperately needed...I can NEVER find the screwdriver OR the scissors!

And of course, the mother load. I've been hijacking my parents sander for each project. Now I have my own! There's nothing I hate more than hand sanding! *shutter*

Plus, they got Craig a gigantic toolbox so I can have his old one. HORAYY! No more tools all over the place!

They even got us shelves for our garage. They must know that January throws me into organization mode every year! My Parent's are the bomb diggity. They must have been taking good mental notes!

Now on to Craig. He is the best gift giver EVER (he did get me Turbo for Christmas, after all!)...so I always have to be more creative every year! This year, I got him tickets to see our favorite chubby comedian, Gabriel Iglesias:

Hahah that shirt. Oh man he's funny! I also bought him a fridge for the movie room. He loves movies with a side of soda.

I also booked him a husband and wife concealed weapons permit class. He's been wanting to take it for a while so I figured we should go together and learn how to become gangstas on the go? ha ha

What did Craig get me you ask?? Well, apparently wood flooring was the tip of the iceberg! He got me a whole recording studio for the house! I just can't compete!

Here's the software that makes you sound delicious!

And the mic that makes you sound scrumptious!

And my very own computer for singing (and blogging) yumminess! No more fighting over computer time!

My mind is buuuuzzziingg with decorating ideas. It sorta hurts actually. It's gonna be awesome!

Then we went up to Kingman to hang out with the rest of the Skousen clan. We started there with our gift exchange. Sharla and Wade got us Craig's most favorite thing in the world:

Panda Express orange chicken sauce!! With a Wok! YYAAAYYY! Thanks Sharla and Wade!

Craig and I went to an antique shop in downtown Kingman that had the most amazing things. OH MY GOODNESS! It's like taking a step back in time. Craig found these weeping 22k gold pitchers and decided we 'needed' them. I agreed. Being an antique dealer would be the best job ever for someone like me. Welcome home little pots!

We also got to see little baby Edward, all grown up. Last time we saw him, he was just a little bean!

We ate LOTS of yummy food, played games (Craig won them all, as usual) and went to see Sherlock Holmes (worth a watch BTW).

It was a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Lights!

2009-12-27T07:28:00.000-08:00

A few nights ago, Craig and I bundled up and took the car out to look at Christmas lights. We always stop and get hot chocolate from QT before we start our fun!

This year we attempted a Christmas picture with all three of us before we left. You can see how well that worked out! Oh my boys, always having fun!

Anywho, I snapped a few very bad pics of some lights. There was an AWESOME digital music light display...that might happen to our house next year!

We hope to continue our convertible christmas light adventure for years to come!

A long time ago....in a far away land...

2009-12-22T20:38:00.000-08:00

...I started this terrible project! hehe, okay it wasn't THAT bad, but I am SO over it. When I am way over a project, I procrastinate until it drives me crazy that it isn't done yet. Make sense? I didn't think so :)

Around Thanksgiving I had this hair brained idea of making my own blocks that had some saying. Since I was bubbling over with Christmas spirit, I decided on "Merry Christmas." Easy enough, eh? Here, I even made a plan for myself:

Then I whipped out this saw thingy for the first time. I will say that I was afraid for my fingers. And that garden hose! Sometimes you just have to pick up a tool and roll with it...think about your limbs later!

Here they are...all ready for a little sanding. I used a $2 piece of wood from Home Depot, so there were a few blemishes. I pretty much ignored them!

My thought was to do them in a whimisical colorful theme. Pink, turquoise, etc. Then paint dried and they ended up looking like childrens blocks. The pink turned red, the green turned GRASS green, ECK! I HATED THEM!!!

Reformulate, reformulate, reformulate. I was not about to paint those blocks again. I decided to paint the edges gold and wrap each block in scrapbook paper. They were all like little presents!

Next, I modge podged the paper to the blocks. I loooove Modge Podge. Modge Modge PodgePodgePodge! Sing it with me! Modge Modge PodgePodgePodge!!!

I sang that made up little jingle about 5,000 times in my head while modge podgeing. I feel I should be compensated for my creative efforts!

After this, the blocks got put away in my cupboard for 1 month. I had a little creative trouble. I wanted to do vinyl lettering, but then Craig came home with a stencil. Turns out the stencil wasn't quite right and by that time, I was WAYYY over the river and through the woods. Done done done. Then one day I decided to stop my whining and I freehanded the lettering.

I stuck those babies on the blocks and TADA! I'll put some garland and frills around them tomorrow when my eyes can stay open, but you get the idea!

The table made it hard to get a good pic!! Two days before Christmas and they are up along the nook thingy. Nothing like a little procrastination!

Secret Elf!

2009-12-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

I have a little secret elf in my house, named CRAIG! (and Turbo for that matter, he knew about the secret all along!)

I came home today to find this AWESOME surprise in my singing room...

I know, it looks a tad bit scary at the moment, but it is going to be AMAZING! I suppose this proves how little we use some of our rooms. For example, the 3rd bathroom housed all the singing room stuff. Good thing I never had to go 'real' bad!

He has been hiding this secret from me for weeks. As you can see, it probably got a little hard for him to hide! I'm usually opposed to 'early' Christmas presents, but not this one! Wood flooring??!!! YES! You all know what this means... SINGING ROOM REVAMP! HOLLA!

HOOLIE BOOLIE!

2009-12-21T10:16:00.000-08:00

***UPDATE!***

I TOTALLY forgot to tell you all that I won a prize!!!

Have I told you that I.love.Prizes???

Gina over at the Shabby Chic Cottage had her Christmas Carnival a few weeks ago. She featured Geezees Custom Canvas Art and I fell in LOVE! Seriously, the cutest canvases ever. I love the wedding ones. They would make such cute gifts.

I won a canvas from Geezees, and I chose the ADORABLE "serendipity" canvas. In case I've never mentioned it, 'Serendipity' in a delicious treat of a movie and this reminds me of it.

Also, I think Craig I met serendipitously....so I like it :)

I'd like to think of it as my Christmas present from blogland!
Go check her out!

***Update***
It came today! Yahoo!! It is sooo cute! Thanks again!

Boy vs Girl

2009-12-21T09:39:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not having a baby you sillies! (Sorry Mom. And Julie). It was the battle of the sexes this weekend with movies! Well, not really since we both saw a movie. Actually I saw TWO girl movies! Merry Christmas to me!

Avatar

I secretly hoped this one would slide under Craig's radar. I'm not really into these types of flicks. I'm all down with action, but Sci-Fi usually makes me VEERRRYYY sleepy in the theater. Sci Fi movies=best $10 naps ever. HOWEVER! This movie was actually pretty good! So if you think your movie style is like mine (aka chick flicks rule!) and you are dreading this movie, don't be too scared!

There's an actual story line, which most sci fi flicks lack big time. It trips your brain out a little. The graphics are insane. I hear you can see it in 3D, which could be exciting. Problems: The natives of Pandora make SUCH annoying noises. haha. Okay for reals...This movie is 5,000 hours long and is clearly made to awe you with 3D graphics. So in 2D some scenes seem like a frilly waste of time. Craig even said that it was not as 'epic' as he had hoped. Anywho, bring your snacks and take a good nap before! Your man will thank you :)

All About Steve

I was lucky enough to sneak this 2nd girl movie in this weekend. I wanted to see it when it first came out but never got around to it. I'm so happy I saw it! It is definitely NOT Sandra Bullocks best movie, but for reals, it's Sandra Bullock! She's always entertaining, even in slightly lame movies like this one. Her role as a crossword puzzle maker/genius/stalker is super quirky and hilarious. I also enjoyed the physicist who makes apple heads for a living. SO FUNNY!

It's worth at least a rental when it comes out. Or maybe it's already out. Who knows! FYI her umbrella was blue in the movie, not red like in that picture. Useless trivia from me to you.

P.S. My Christmas crafts are almost done...good thing since Christmas will be here and over before I know it. I hit a little ornament trouble. I'll post those lata. Tonight is temple lights time! HOLLA!

Have You Heard About The Morgans?

2009-12-20T05:31:00.001-08:00

I waited forever to see this movie! I must say "For Richer or Poorer" is a fine flick and this reminded me of it. The Morgans are not quite as action packed, but I thought the movie was decent...I could go either way really!

The 'problem' with the movie is that it is too real. Yeah I said it. Too real=a tad bit slow and boring. hahah...what have I turned into? Movies that aren't unrealistic bore me? Help!

I'd watch it anyways because the cast was amazing and it has a happy ending. Like an actual happy ending, not the ones that make you go, 'HUH?' P.S. Don't you whine about me ruining the end of the movie now. You all knew it was going to be happy.

Anywho, I've come to the conclusion that after Sex and the City SJP will forever be typecasted! Which really couldn't be avoided I suppose...

So this was more like "Have You Heard Carrie Bradshaw Dumped Big And Is Married To Hugh Grant And Now She's Moving to Wyoming?"

Yeah, I'd watch that.

Fabric cemetary

2009-12-19T10:54:00.000-08:00

Today I ventured to a new fabric store in Tempe (I'm supposed to be cleaning!).

I. Am. In. LOVE.

It's where fabric goes to die. Which means it is DIRT cheap!!!

After much digging I found my loves.

I love you...

And you...

And YOU! MUAH!

I got this chair last weekend and found its BFF today.

Yeah, those are Christmas milkbones for Turbo and that's a huge pack of TP. That's how we roll in the Skousen house. My mind is BUZZING with ideas!

Christmas centerpiece

2009-12-19T10:42:00.000-08:00

You may remember my fall centerpiece from this post.

Since Christmas is a week away, I figured I would turn it Christmas style!! Better late than never I say!

I had big plans for it, but since it was crunch time, I took stuff I already had and mushed it all together.

I used bell ornaments, one huge gold ornament, big peppermints, garland, pinecones and red berries I found 6 months ago at the GW.

I kept the LED candles in there to set the mood. Ohhh la la.

That's all for now! I have a 3 more Christmas crafts I will frantically put together before Christmas. Ta ta!

Movies!

2009-12-14T10:56:00.000-08:00

Hey there hoolie boolies. I will just let you know I have a hard time coming up with titles everytime I review movies for you. So today I got REAL creative. haha

I feel refreshed today because I know that all the gifts are wrapped and the house is mostly clean. YAY! I have a few Christmas crafts for you, but seriously....the house had to come first! It was scary!!

Anywho, here's my two cents! BTW this post took me like 4 days to publish!

My Sister's Keeper:
OH this MOVIE!!! I don't know if I liked it or hated it because I was so mad AND so sad AND so happy! Why must movies do this to my brain?! Such stress!! I think Cameron Diaz was the wrong choice for the mom (seriously, wasn't she just sleeping with Justin Timberlake like 3 years ago? She's more of a cradle robber than a mother figure!). The dad is unusually fit and looks a little out of place, but Abigail Breslin did a good job! You even get a touch of Joan Cusack who did an awesome job and Alec Baldwin. Yipee! I think it is worth a rental. Get your box of tissues ready...and perhaps a puke bucket for your quesy husband.

Boondock Saints II:

I am a good wife. I went with my husband and actually PAID to see this movie. After all, who doesn't want to spend $20 bones on a sequel of the first Boondock Saints??(note my sarcasm. I was hoping this one would slip by unnoticed!!). To my surprise, it was WAYYYY better than expected. It was pretty entertaining, but for reals! It was not worth $20. Rent it in about 1.2 weeks when it comes to blo-buster.

Die Hard:

Craig tricked me into renting this because he said it was a Christmas movie. I guess that is pretty much true! I LOVE the last Die Hard that came out, so I figured EHHH why not take a trip down memory lane? OHH Brucey! You look so young and buff!! Score!

Julie and Julia:

LOOOOOVEEEE Meryl Streep in this movie! LOVE LOVE LOVE! She was so quirky! I liked Amy Adams but I couldn't get over her elf hair. Why did they give her elf hair? Poor girl. It was a good flick despite the hair woes! It might have even inspired me to cook. Hmmm?

Hot and Fluffy: Gabriel Iglesias:

Okay, so this doesn't really count as a movie, but it was on Netflix and it was HILARIOUS!!! Oh man, it IS true. People are WAY funnier when they are 'fluffy.' I usually cringe at standup comedians because they are SUPER potty mouths and the jokes are lame, but this guy almost made me pee my pants. hahah...HOLLA! (or should I say, ARRIBA!)

Can't wait to see "Have You Heard About The Morgans?" tonight!!!

Deck the head with BLONDE!

2009-12-12T12:25:00.000-08:00

***update!***
You all know how I faked to be happy about my red hair when I did my makeover with Clinton Kelly in October....

BLAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Craig not so secretly hated it too. Sad!

Now that I'm 8 weeks in and faded to a dishwater shade of nasty brown, I decided to hit round one of going back to blonde. Apparently it is going to be a longer journey than I thought. POOP! Well anywho, here's my first round, back in 6 weeks :)

The lighting is a little crazy but I actually posted it because my teeth look INSANELY white. Yeah I'm vain. HOLLA!

So I'm a little lazy today and the crafting is piling up...I may get to it. But for now I am wasting time photo editing. Look at my lovely oil painting of myself. haha TADA!

***Update***
So I did something I NEVER do and I went back and told the stylist it wasn't blonde enough. You may be able to tell from the pic above that it was a bit uneven. They said they were afraid to do it over the color I had there, but I begged them to put more in. I win! Yay! I'll still have to go back in 6 weeks to be finished, but here's my impromptu computer pic with blonder hair. Sometimes you have to fight for your rights, people! :)

Smooches, B

This is how we do it...

2009-12-12T08:24:00.001-08:00

In editing our Christmas picture (yes, we edited) Craig came up with this funny little pic of the three of us:

Turbo looks CRaZy! Hahaha okay, I hope you have a happy Saturday morning!

Quick holiday touches!

2009-12-10T16:30:00.000-08:00

Hello all! I haven't had much time to finish my bigger holiday projects, so for now I'll show you a few little things I placed around the house!

See this sad tree I got from the dollar store? Well, now it's a little table topper!

Here's its crooked twin in the other room:

See this goodwill pirate chest?

Well now it's a giant candy holder. Arrrr matey!!

Remember my favorite bird cage?

It's now holding back my giant ornaments!

Somehow glitzy ornaments got inside these lanterns:

And the tree is up!

Well, that's all my time today. Can't wait for the weekend!!