Friday 29 May 2009

Me and my Coonskin Cap

Thank God for Scheels Sports Store to keep us entertained with its amazing selection of coonskin caps, camo recliners, and shotguns. Oh, and not to mention the creepy taxidermy leering down at your from all around the store. And one nasty promo picture of Carrot Top. Ick!

Anyhow, the Coonskin caps are pretty cute:)


Wednesday 27 May 2009

You've Got Mail

No one gets mail in their mailbox anymore! What a shame! I imagine things 50 years ago were much different and people would probably send and receive mail more often. Getting an actual piece of mail from the hand of another person miles away is an exciting thing and maybe we should all try harder to bring it back!

So if your name is Kendra, Kelsey, or Amana, today is your lucky day!!!! I am sending mail your way :) Added bonus: The Eames stamps I picked up from the post office are amazing. I desperately wish for a genuine piece of Eames furniture someday.

Is this plant real or fake?

This weekend, I received this gorgeous plant from my boyfriend's mother as a late birthday gift. I love it!!!! At first glance, this floral arrangement looks totally fake but upon further inspection, I was surprised to find that although the fuchsia roses might be fakes, the greenery is real. I think this is a very interesting way to grow a houseplant, as the contrast between what is real and what is not is interesting and intriguing to the eye. Thanks for the amazing gift, Mrs. Thompson!


Banana Nut Muffins

I am a huge fan of fiber. Its good for you, reduces your risk of certain types of cancer, and it makes you feel full for a long time, unlike regular starchy breakfast products. So imagine my delight upon discovering Fiber One brand muffin mixes! I just add egg, water, and a bit of vegetable oil and leave the rest of the magic to the mix. In just over 15 minutes, I have one dozen piping hot banana nut muffins ready to eat. Yum!

This time around, I added in 2 extra ripe bananas to my mix and boy oh boy was that delicious! I also really like the Apple Cinnamon muffin mixes. Now if only Fiber One could come out with a fiber-rich chocolate brownie mix- that would be A-MAZING!



Joy by the Month

I get giddy in anticipation every month for one thing- the arrival of my new issue of NYLON magazine in the mail! This month, I was extra happy because NYLON said to hell with lame-o models, lets photograph musicians instead. Thus, the yearly music issue!

And Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on the cover?

HELL YES!!!!!


Monday 25 May 2009

I wanna be cool again......


OH MY GOD. I turned 27 last week. Most people my age are married and already have houses, steady jobs, a dog, and kids. Fuck. Meanwhile, I am still wishing to be cool agian, like when I was 22. Damn.

I was a student, I was making art, I was carefree and could hold down the liquor like none other! I went out most nights of the week, dressed cute every damn day, and generally had a pretty exciting life. I moved often, had crazy roommates, and wasn't afraid of anything. Oh, and my hair was totally bitchin'!!!

Anyway, I am just being nostalgic about that time of my life, but I also realize alot of things about my current situation are 100% better than back then. I have stable friendships, I am close with my family, I have the love of my life by my side, and I am much wiser these days. All in all, I wouldn't trade what I have now to go back to being a wild child.




Let's add to my obsession, shall we?

Little by little, my adorable collection is becoming complete. I got these towel hooks the other day courtesy of work, cause I am just that awesome at my job. I pretty much get a prize everyday and it makes me feel happily over qualified for the position. Hell, I can't complain too much- free stuff is free stuff!


I have become more accepting recently of my money situation. I am not broke and I make enough money to make it by. I am not being terribly mistreated and overworked like in my former postion and I get to live with my boyfriend and see my friends and family all of the time. Everything I need, I have and for that I am grateful. The future here looks bright and full of potential and for the first time in ages, I am feeling optimistic about my future here living in Iowa. Home never felt so good! Strange, all of these feelings could come about thanks to a couple of pear shaped towel hooks.

Friday 22 May 2009

My Ikea Expedit Bookshelf

I like my new Ikea Expedit bookshelf so much that I decided to blog about it! Seriously though, this thing has been my savior, as it holds pretty much everything I own and keeps it organized and thoughtfully displayed. I am all about it! This bookshelf takes up half of the wall and is taller than me. Strangely enough, it has very few books on it but we won't worry about that.

Wednesday 20 May 2009

More Tracy Feith Just Because....

Just because....

I felt like posting more adorable photos of the Tracy Feith clothing line at Target right now. This is actually the entire collection and I love the cute models they chose, especially the brunette, model Allie Crandel, who I totally want to be. She is sooo 60's and hot! I love her trashy hair and wingtipped eye makeup. Soo hot! Makes me want to get a spray tan and tease my hair with about half a bottle of Aqua Net!






Tuesday 19 May 2009

The A-mazing Tracy Feith for Target Line

I feel like I have been clothes deprived for some time now. Most of my summer clothes are quite old and beat up, or reminiscent of the time I worked at Hot Topic. Let's just say I am soo over skimpy skull print tank tops and mini skirts with Hello Kitty.

So imagine my joy when Target released the amazing and incredible Tracy Feith line on my birthday! Tracy Feith is this surfer dude whose rad designs are the perfect mix of retro chic and comfie cool. I love the bold patterns and awesome retro fit of the pieces.

After trying on pretty much the entire collection, I decided on the orange and yellow hooded pullover dress, the crazy daisy printed top, and the crazy daisy printed skirt. Worn together, the crazy daisy top and skirt look like a vintage party dress, and there are a million and one ways to wear each piece seperate. I wore the orange and yellow hooded pullover dress today and received random compliments from strangers! Crazy!


The print for the dress is really nice. The fabric is a heavier weight woven, and I also really enjoy the gold metal zipper in front. Best of all, the dress has pockets!!!! This is one of those dresses you can throw on when you don't really want to wear clothes but you might get arrested if you left the house with nude! Sooo comfie and easy to wear!

The crazy daisy print won my heart over with its retro cuteness! Gotta love the pink, and I know it will make me feel happy everytime I wear the skirt or top.

There are about a million other pieces from this line that I really, really want including the embroidered top in lollipop red. A-dorable! Unfortunately, each store usually only gets one of each size and they were out of the size medium in this top. Grrrrr!


Be warned, the sizes on this clothing line were kind of wonky. I ended up getting a medium in the top and the dress and I am sooo not a size medium. (I usually wear a size large or x-large top.) And as for the skirts, they ran very small. Other than that, I am very satisfied that I spent my birthday money on the ultra cute and summery Tracy Feith pieces.

Relax and Get Happy

I decided to make a list of things that make me happy so when I am having a rough day, I can look at this list and start to remember what exactly it feels like to be happy again. Maybe after you read this list, you can make one for yourself!


100 things that make me happy:


  1. Anything pink
  2. Coldstone Jellybeans
  3. Cuddling
  4. Good Friends
  5. Hanging out with Will
  6. Visits to my parent's house
  7. Green grass
  8. Cute shoes
  9. Hello Kitty
  10. Vintage anything
  11. Thrift shopping
  12. Cupcakes
  13. Getting a Birthday card
  14. Unexpected surprises
  15. Watching the clouds go by
  16. A nice, hot bath
  17. Korean food
  18. iPod
  19. Teddy and Belle, the cutest dogs, ever
  20. Whiskars the Cat
  21. Puppies
  22. Kitties
  23. Sushi
  24. Shrimp Tempura Rolls
  25. Octopus Salad
  26. A nice massage
  27. Feather pillows
  28. Panda Bears
  29. Stickers
  30. Avocado and Toast sandwiches
  31. Betsey Johnson
  32. Makeup
  33. Anything MAC
  34. Photobooths
  35. Bulletin Boards
  36. Facebook
  37. Blogger
  38. NYLON magazine
  39. Tokidoki
  40. The Sanrio Store
  41. Urban Outfitters
  42. IKEA
  43. Road trips
  44. Air Conditioning
  45. Heating pads
  46. Fuzzy blankets
  47. Fuzzy socks
  48. My parka
  49. Gardens
  50. Riding bikes
  51. Hiking in the woods
  52. Doing things on my own
  53. Driving a car
  54. Kisses
  55. Receiving email
  56. Receiving snail mail
  57. Getting a magazine in the mail
  58. Having a day off of work
  59. Funny movies
  60. New underwear
  61. Victoria's Secret
  62. Getting something for free
  63. Sleeping in
  64. Smiling at strangers
  65. Making new friends
  66. Doing well at work
  67. Nice dreams
  68. Grilling out
  69. Roasting marshmallows
  70. Roasting Kabobs
  71. Grilled baby potatoes and mushrooms
  72. Hugs
  73. Visiting my brother in Ames
  74. Playing on water slides
  75. Go Karts
  76. Rollerskating
  77. Bowling
  78. Trips to Fun City
  79. Taking photos
  80. Discovering things in Korea
  81. Chicken Alfredo Pizza at the Mill
  82. Falafel from Oasis
  83. Poking around at Artifacts, the White Rabbit, and Revival
  84. Finding awesome stuff at Goodwill, Salvation Army, or the Crowded Closet
  85. Finding something that was lost
  86. Getting comments on my blog
  87. Finding old friends on Facebook
  88. Birds chirping
  89. Baby deer
  90. A gentle breeze
  91. 70 degree days
  92. Spring days
  93. Perfect fall days
  94. The first snow
  95. The first lightning bug of the year
  96. The first robin of the year
  97. Animal Crossing
  98. Liquid eyeliner
  99. Hearing "I love you"
  100. Finding money

And if all else fails............................ Thank God for XANAX!!!!!!

Ha ha ha!

Monday 18 May 2009

My Major Love for Orla Kiely for Target

I can not stop gushing and crushing over the Orla Kiely for Target line!

My awesome friend Kendra got me some lovely kitchen towels, cloth napkins, and an adorable apron for my birthday. We most definitely have to be soul mates or something cause she knew exactly what would make me squeal with delight:)

Seriously though, I appreciate the fact that I can get awesome designer stuff for way less at Target, and her stuff is absolutely perfect. The retro prints and amazing color pallete rock my world!



Showing Off the Vespa Postcard


Gotta love kelseycliche for hooking me up with this sweeeeeet Vespa postcard she sent all the way from Africa! I have never received international mail from Africa so I was pretty psyched! Whatta gal!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!


Don't you just love getting older? I know I sure do!!! The best part of getting older is having a great excuse to take the weekend off of work and chill with your favorite people in the whole world. My most awesome friends ever came down to my parent's house for the evening so we could have a slumber party. That is right- I turned 27 this year and chose not to go to a bar or a fancy restaurant and instead, giggle with the girls!

We rocked out to classic rock on the radio and my parents helped out with the grilling of the meat while we "kids" sat at the bar eating chips, hummus, M & M's, and carrots. After stuffing our faces, we giggled about boys, including an ex-police officer named "Dick." Some marshmallows were roasted and pink cupcakes were eaten, and after all was said and done, we were ready to get into our pajamas!

I was super psyched cause there were for Nintendo DS's in the house to play, so we were able to link up and play Mario Party. How cool is that?! In the morning, I made banana nut muffins and everyone seemed happy. Nothing makes me feel younger than being able to still have good, clean fun slumber party style:)








Tuesday 12 May 2009

Oh, Iowa!

Hey look! Its a John Deer tractor and a Casey's gas station. Typical Iowa scene.

Saturday 9 May 2009

Morel Mushrooms in the Sun

I am thankful I am not in Korea this spring, otherwise, I would be missing morel mushroom season! I am admittedly lazy and bought these from a local farmer but that doesn't change how frickin' amazing and delicious these little guys are!

I will prepare them the way I learned how growing up: First, you cut each mushroom in half and soak it in salt water to bring out any bugs. Then, you prepare a breading mixture of cracker crumbs or flour with a little bit of seasoning. Next, you dip your mushroom in egg and pan cook it in butter. Sooo good!

Tuesday 5 May 2009

Cake Toppers in Nature

Today, some friends and I went to Hickory Hill Park to take some nature photos.  Seeing as I had just taken a trip to the Crowded Closet and found some amazing little cake toppers for 25 cents, I felt the need to encorporate them into nature.  Hell, anyone can take  nature photos, but cake toppers in nature?  This is much more my style!!!






Fruits!!!!

Hi cuties!!!  I made these cute little by cutting out the shape and coloring it with some Crayola markers.  Oh, and undies and lamps.  Yay!!!




Monday 4 May 2009

Animal Party

For 3 weeks now, I have had the most evil stomach in the history of man. I have been able to eat less and less food and now just about the only thing that sits OK in my tummy is Stauffer's Animal Crackers. These are the super bland snacks that you give to little kids, but somehow, they have become pretty appetizing to me lately in the absence of real food!


In reality, all I am dreaming of is pizza, falafel, and sushi. And chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

Oh man, seriously!!!

I want food sooo badly!



One website that always makes me hungry is Road Food Digest. Check it out! They have a good Iowa food section- all you have to do is do a search for Iowa.
http://www.roadfooddigest.com/

AND....

I can appreciate the Des Moines Register's list of "100 Things to Eat in Iowa Before You Die."
Its fun to see how many of these things I have actually eaten, seeing as I have been an Iowan my whole life!

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061022/ENT02/607090306

All this food talk is making my animal crackers sound mighty good right now!