Bane of My Existence

Allergies.  I've had them all my life.  One of my most vivid memories from childhood is sitting in the green dodge pickup in a cornfield, eyes watery and swelling with my sister while my parents picked corn.  I also recall throwing up a bunch of water when my mom tried to force a Benadryl down my throat after probably 10 minutes of me trying to swallow it myself.  I don't hold it against her, I was plenty old enough to be able to swallow a pill.  Fast forward to present day, not only do I have to deal with allergies during spring and ragweed season, but I just happened to move to the allergy capitol of the world.  Central stinkin Texas.  It is the only place that has pollen going crazy year round.  And its not like I'm allergic to a food that I'm at least able to avoid, I'm allergic to the world around me.  TX sure has done a number on me.  I wake up every morning with red, swollen eyes.  Worse yet my neck and face are covered with red itchy patches.  So ugly and so uncomfortable.  I finally went to a Dr. yesterday.  I had a really nice nurse who just happened to live near the base in LA we'll be moving to this summer.  She said she never had allergies there but she got them here.  She gave me hope, as well as the nickname for the town I'll most likely be living in, Diseaseville.  Its actually called Leesville.  Precious. The Dr. prescribed steroids (I need to take advantage of this and do some lifting) and gave me a special lotion to take care of my face.  Its day 2 and things are looking up.  That's not completely true.  I'm feeling better in the allergy department but I woke up this morning with a pounding headache, unable to take any painkillers because of the steroids.  I think I'm going to blame the nausea and puking that ensued on the pain.  I barely got a piece of toast down so I could take my steroids for the day.  Needless to say (this seems like such an unnecessary phrase but whatev, I said it, deal with it) I've spent the day on the couch.  Thank goodness for the Amsale Girls marathon on WE because every channel I usually watch involves food which I just couldn't roll with today.  Please let tomorrow be better! 
             *Cherise

Monogram Door Decor

There was this adorable twine covered monogram door hanging I came across on pinterest.  

 You can purchase one here:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/78019133/monogram-wreath

I decided to make my own.

This blog takes the thinking out of the project: http://www.twotwenty-one.com/2011/09/jute-wrapped-monogram-wreath_13.html

    Just a note: I did not use 2 rolls of jute twine.  There should be plenty of twine in one roll to cover the letter.  You'll just have to use the same roll when you change the direction you're wrapping.

 

This is what mine looked like.  And this is where the problem arose.  An L just can't hang straight.  I thought and I thought and I thought.  Then one groggy morning when David's 4:45am alarm put me in that, not quite awake but not really asleep mode, it hit me.  Put the letter in a frame.  And so it began...

First I went to Goodwill to find a frame that would  fit my L nicely.  I found an ugly gold one with an interesting texture that worked wonderfully.  Unfortunately it was an already framed picture and I couldn't tell if it had a back other than the paper that was stapled to it.  A few weeks later I went back and found a really plain frame for .99.  I brought it home, removed the glass and painted both the frame and back black.  I already had black paint but if I didn't I definitely would've bought spray paint. The cheap kind would be fine for this project.

Next I traced the frame back on a scrap of fabric.  If you don't have a large enough scrap Walmart or any craft store should sell fabric scraps for cheap.  Once the fabric was cut out I put dots of hot glue (Kindergarten teaches you everything important) around the entire back starting at the top then immediately placed the fabric on the glue so it really sticks.  Make sure the edges are glued down good so the fabric won't bunch up when you put it back in the frame.

Once I put the frame together I placed a fair amount of hot glue on the back of my L and held it firmly against the fabric for a few seconds.

Lastly came the ribbon.  I used grosgrain ribbon about an inch wide.  This part was a little annoying because it causes some measuring.  To be completely honest I didn't really measure mine but I would suggest measuring from the middle of the frame to where you want the bow to be placed because that's better than eye balling.  Once I knew how long the ribbon should be I added about 7 inches to give me plenty of room to tie the bow.  I glued the ribbon at a slant across the back of the frame for more stability.  I was pretty liberal with the hot glue this time.  I am horrible at tying bows.  I googled "how to tie a bow".  Ridiculous, but it actually was pretty helpful.  http://www.wikihow.com/Tie-a-Bow.  I snipped the ends to where I wanted them to be and VOILA!     

     *Cherise                         

Your mouth is like a magazine...holder

 I left my plastic magazine holder in Nebraska thus my current magazines have no home.  While making a quick trip to Target I located these cardboard beauties in the dollar section.  That place gets me every time.  But this time my purchase was as useful as it was impulsive.  Its has a sea foam green background with black bird dotted birch trees.  I think its rather darling and totally worth David's hard earned dollar.

I also purchased a mockingjay shirt yesterday.  It wasn't exactly what I wanted but at least it didn't have a dumb actor's face on it.

                                *Cherise

Summer is in the Air

...and our Christmas Wreath needed to go.  The sun has been showing its bright shiny face an awful lot these past few weeks.  I admit, I am absolutely spoiled when it comes to my face time with the sun, but who doesn't love the warm days summer brings?  Passion tea lemonade in hand, I set out to give our front door a little summer lovin'.  

 I started off with a grape vine wreath, spray paint, and fabric flowers I made out of a few of my old shirts.  I found the idea for my fabric flowers from Little Miss Momma (I want to make a necklace next!).  I loved the fact that I didn't have to sew one thing.  I also used Shanty Chic's beautiful wreath as inspiration as well. 

So...welcome back summer, welcome back long days and warm nights, welcome back barbeques and bike rides, you have been sorely missed.

LOVE JJ

Platforms....love 'em, hate 'em, cannot walk in 'em. 

I'm afraid I'm in love with these particular ones.  If there was any chance I wouldn't end up stumbling around like a drunken drag queen, I would purchase these in a heart beat.  Maybe I'll just settle for a pair of earrings in this color.

*Cherise

David' decided to go on this diet.  While he was in Iraq the "in" thing to do was go to the gym.  He ate pretty healthy and hit the gym pretty hard which gained him some muscle.  He's been trying to keep at it but hasn't been as hardcore.  But now he wants a six pack.  Just so happens the day he starts this diet I'm making his favorite meal, pulled pork. 

I tried to make it a little healthier by using whole wheat sandwich thins rather than buns and using mayo made with olive oil.  I topped the pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw I made myself.  I would've just used a coleslaw mix but I had leftover cabbage from the potstickers I made earlier in the week. 

I think my first attempt was pretty successful. David ate three :) 

My First Valentines's Day

Today is February 14th...and Valentine's Day.  This is a special day for two reasons.

1. Two months ago today David returned home safely from his deployment in Iraq.

            2.  This is the first Valentine's Day that we actually get to spend together!  David is planning our evening and its a complete surprise.  I made him a lovey dovey lunch.  A heart sandwich, hard boiled eggs with love notes written on the shell, and chocolate  covered strawberries.  I bet he got embarrassed when he opened it up in front of his army buds.  I baked them Valentine's Day cupcakes though so maybe they were nice.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Toblerone

Ever since I saw that episode of Gilmore Girls where Sookie is caught spending her evenings watching tv in one of the Inn's rooms and eating their Toblerone I've had this romantic view of the candy. Its triangular shape adds to the mystique, not to mention its made with honey. Finally, I decided it was time. I bought the first one I saw. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. The chocolate was so smooth and creamy. I guess the Swiss don't mess around with their milk. The almonds added the perfect amount of crunch and I loved that bit of chewyness. All in all, I do not blame Sookie one bit. Toblerone is just that good.  

       *Cherise