Nursery inspiration

This colorful story board totally inspires me:



via Elizabeth Anne Designs 


Wouldn't it make for the cutest baby girl nursery? Wait a minute...


via Me and Wee. Click on the photo for more photots.



via Armelle Click on the photo for more photots.



Oooof, did I just go there? Yeup, I went there. Now I just need inspirations for a boys room...

******** NO we are NOT expecting ********



Oregon 2011 - Day 4

Last day. *sigh* It started much like the previous days, only slightly later. My internal clock was finally getting in tune with pacific time. Yeah, just in time for us to get on a plane and go back to our life on eastern time, right?

Anyways, we met up with the "extended" family for a dim sum (chinese tapas) lunch at Legin Restaurant. Do not go here if you are ever in PDX. The food is just OK, it's cheap, but it's not as good as say, Wong's King. During lunch we handed out printed save-the-dates to those that I did not have email address for (aka, all of them). And as I talked about before, folks were thoroughly confused and thought we were handing out the invitations. It probably did not help that I just handed them the printed photo with no words or anything. OOPS!

Us kids (and my mom) ditched the adults (aka dad and his friends) to take advantage of the Adidas employee store. Whoohoo for 50% off retail! I lost track of how much time we spent there. I also did not want to keep track of how much I was spending while I was in there. Suffice to say, I was good and did not buy a ton of stuff, but both Jake and I made purchases that we will put to good use. 

You guys remember Ked's? I remember that I just HAD to have them in my youth. But my parents were kind of broke so I ended up with knock-offs that my god parents brought back from China for me. Well, apparently they are making a comeback. See exhibit A from JCrew:

JCrew

Anyways, I scored myself the Adidas version for $25. Whoohoo! I normally wear shell-toes. And I would have gotten a pair of the "keds" and the shells, but but I decided against a second pair for the sake of the wallet (even though they were 50% off) and the sake of my suitcase. Now that is what I call self control. *pats self on the back*

Shopping makes me hungry, how about you? After working up an appetite and not wanting to end our joyous hanging out session, we sibs (keep in mind this is me, Jake, both my brothers, my brother's girlfriend, my "adopted" brother, and my mom) decided to grab a snack at Mojo Crepes. Um, HELLO! Crepes and ice cream, together?!?! HEAVEN!

Left column: (top) Jake digging in. (bottom) A and P (my newly "adopted" brother).
Middle: Mojo - nutella, strawberries, bananas, and vanilla ice cream.
Right: (top) Crepes menu. (bottom left to right) Harris being all asian , wall art.

****This is getting a bit long. I'm going to break this post up into two. Stay tuned for the conclusion.***

Did you miss a day?
Oregon 2011 - Day 3
Oregon 2011 - Day 2
Oregon 2011 - Day 1

Project Bubble

We interrupt the Oregon 2011 recaps to share the latest craft project. Oh believe me, it's a good one!

Have you seen these awesome chalkboard speech bubbles? They are the latest rage in photobooth props.

Playing Grown Up on Etsy

Well, they may be awesome, but they come with a hefty price tag. Two of the speech bubbles shown in the photo above will run you $52! It is fabricated from wood, so in theory, they are heavy duty and should last quite a long time.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, get this, you can make your own for way less! Jordan Ferney's super crafty sister figured out how to make them for a fraction of the cost and not out of wood. For step by step instructions with photos, see Joran's blog post, DIY chalkboard talk bubbles from Oh Happy Day.



Following the tutorial, I was able to create 6 good sized bubbles



Here is my materials list:

• 1 roll (18"x6') Chalkboard contact paper - $6.90 ($4.99 s/h)
• 2 Elmers 20"x30" black foam core boards - $7.95 (company screwed up and gave me my money back, but did not refund the shipping charges)
• 1 box of 12 count white chalk - $0.79 (+tax)
• 1 box of 12 count colored chalk - $0.79 (+tax)
• Boning knife (or some other straight edge used to smooth out the contact paper)
• Exacto knife
• Styrofoam sewing spools (free!)
• Gray acrylic paint (leftover from Project Yay)

Cel's Tips:

1. Apply contact paper in small sections and use a straight edge to smooth out the contact paper.
2. After applying the contact paper to the foam board, allow it to sit over night. I let one board "cure" and did the second one immediately. Both work, but the edges of the contact paper will stay down if you give it more time to adhere.
3. Use your exacto knife in small strokes with equal pressure. Go over a cut a 2-4 times. If you try to brute force it, you will end up with jagged edges and little pieces of foam everywhere, plus you get less precision.
4. I read this somewhere, treat the surface of your new board by coating it with a layer of chalk dust. I scribbled all over each board, rubbed it in with a dry paper towel, and then wiped each board clean with a damp paper towel.

After completing the bubbles, I patted myself on the back, but realized that I was not done with the project just yet. I needed a handle on the back. I looked through the craft store for ideas. Originally, I thought about just buying prefabricated pieces of wood to use as a handle. But I realized that the wood would be pretty heavy relative to the board. Also, none of the pieces I found were the right size. While browsing for a new crochet needle, it dawned on me that sewing spools were about the size I was looking for, and I had some at home to boot!

Now, I do not sew, but I do have a VAST collection of cross stitch/embroidery thread, some of which is on spools. Long story short, I learned how to cross stitch around the age of 12, maybe as early as 10. While I stopped when I started high school and cross stitching is a granny activity, I cannot bring myself to throw out my supplies.

Some of the spools were styrofoam, which is exactly what I was hoping for. They were old, grungy, and ugly. So after unwinding all the thread from them, I painted them with leftover paint and hot glued them onto the back of the boards. Yay for using my hot glue gun for the first time since 8th grade (another object that I am super glad I did not throw out when I moved to MA).

Styrofoam sewing spools

Painted spool glued to the bag of the speech bubble.

Painted spool

Not too shabby for a grand total: $21.52 and an afternoon of work.

Oregon 2011 - Day 3

After having the [new] house all to ourselves for a few days, it was nice to wake up to a full house. My parents and both my brothers had come up to spend the weekend with us (in actuality they came up to spend it in the big house and to see their friends). It was nice to just spend time with everyone and catch up.

After breakfast, I busted out a batch of my famous Oreo cupcakes. Only this time, I made them sans eggs. A friend of mine is allergic to eggs. I could not find egg-free substitute (egg beaters are 99% real egg), so in the end I just called uncle and went with applesauce. Hey, do not knock it, it works.

For lunch, the entire family gathered around and feasted on hot pot for a couple of hours. Let me back up and explain, hot pot is Chinese fondue. Instead of cheese or chocolate, soup is used as the base. Assorted meats, seafood, tofu, and veggies are thrown into the pot. Some of you may know it by it's Japanese name, Shabu-shabu.

Left column (top to bottom): Fish balls, veggies, sliced beef.
Middle column: Fish cakes, part of the spread.
Right column: Jake and Dad chowing down, the pot filled with with yum. 

After we hung out with the fam during the day, for dinner we took a long drive down to Corvallis to see some old friends that I had not seen in awhile. Unfortunately, one of them had to stay home with icky bronchitis. The rest of us chowed down on pizza and microbrews at American Dream Pizza, a local college hangout across the street from my alma mater. I've been dreaming about American Dream's jerk chicken for years. Years, I tell you. Oh and their chocolate chip cookie.

I'm such a dumbass. I had my cookie all wrapped up and was saving it for later. Well, guess what I did with it. Nope, I did not eat it. I. LEFT. IT. ON. THE. TABLE. I just about died when I realized what I had done. You do not understand. I have not had one in almost 5 years. These are the thickest, softest, tastiest cookies EVER. They are seriously THAT epically good. At least I took a bite of Jake's cookie before I let him have it.

Top: Jerk chicken salad with honey mustard dressing
Middle: Broccoli, cheese, and pineapple. Seriously, soooo good!
Bottom: E and A with their egg-free cupcakes

*All photos by me. Please excuse the crappy cell phone pics, I totally forgot to bring my camera with me.

Did you miss a day?
Oregon 2011 - Day 2
Oregon 2011 - Day 1

Oregon 2011 - Day 2

Day 2 was fairly low key, just as the previous day. We found little things to explore around Portland. We found a cute cafe nearby to grab yummy breakfast. Arleta Library Bakery Cafe. Along the way we spotted a a moss covered roof that had Jake giggling about for 15 minutes.

Clockwise from top left: Menu, Pane Dolce - Pearl Bakery brioche with whipped honey butter, organic maple syrup and seasonal fresh fruit, Portland’s Best Biscuits-n-Gravy - Thinly sliced house-roasted pork loin nestled between two savory biscuits and smothered with peppery rosemary sausage gravy; served with Library Fries, Jake not too excited about being photographed before his coffee.

I think this is the restroom building at the Mt. Scott Park.

Jake likes to troll around real estate websites looking to see what his money can buy him in different neighbohoods around the world. Yes, world, not just country. He had found a handful of homes in the West Hills area of Portland. West Hills reminds us of Beacon Hill in Boston. The homes are all within arms distance of one another and are very narrow, you can literally see through the entire house from the street. The only good thing about these homes is that they sit up on the hill overlooking downtown Portland. I tried to tell Jake that the homes were older and that the homes had no land, but there is no getting through to that guy once he has made up his mind. So we drove through the area to check things out and pull his head out of the clouds so to speak.

While the weather was cold and rainy, your typical winter day in Oregon, (it was sunny and mid-40's the day before) we took to trapezing around Pittock Mansion. In all the years of my life, I never knew this place existed! We are going to have to go back on a clear (and warm) day just for the views.

Top row, left to right: Creepy dolls in the children's room. Old school intercom system. Moss covered wall on the property.
Second row: View of downtown Portland from the property, note it was a cloudy day otherwise you'd see Mt. Hood. Signage.
Third row: (top) Ceiling in one of the side rooms. (bottom) Music/sitting room. Sweeping stair case. Foggy, moss covered trees.
Bottom row: View of downtown Portland. Pittock Mansion from the back side.

That night we were going to meet up with friends for sushi and drinks. I thought one of the girls was bringing her husband, but he had plans for guys night out...down the block. The smart thing would have been to leave Jake with the boys after dinner, but they were pretty hammered. But it all worked out. I got my girl time and Jake was there to see how much I missed them, how much they missed me, and how much fun I've been missing out on.



Me and my girls at Bartini. They have THE best pomagranate martinis!


*All photos taken by me, except the last one, Jake took that one.

Did you miss a day?
Oregon 2011 - Day 1