2.28.2013

throwback thursday

hello!

how about a pic circa 1984-ish for a little throwback thursday!?!



this is me and my grandma at her house in michigan.  i'm sure she made our matching outfits as she was a seamstress and it was very common for the women in our family to have matching outfits ;-) i thought i'd share this photo today as my grandma's birthday is coming up this saturday and she will be 85!  both of her parents lived to be 94 so she's got some pretty good genes and i'm hoping the longevity genes passed down to me as well!

- jess


2.27.2013

project life: year 29 - june - part 1


i think i mentioned it previously, but i'm using the martha stewart binder and tabs from staples.  i love the aqua color. here is a pic of the tab i've used for june.



this is the first section of my june layout.  i was still getting used to the whole project life style and kept it pretty simple.






- jess


2.22.2013

polish review: opi chapel of love



today i'm continuing with the polish reviews and this one is another older one from 2003.  it is chapel of love from the las vegas collection.  it is really such a beautiful color.  pink, with a slight peach undertone and lovely gold shimmer.  definitely one of my favorites.  on my nails for 3 days with no chipping and minimal wear on tips.

- jess


2.20.2013

nail polish review: opi infatuation


i have a slight nail polish addiction.  as in i have well over 300 bottles!..eek!!!  so the other day i was looking over my collection and realizing that there very well could be some colors that i have never worn since a lot of times i buy multiple bottles at a time.

sooo.  i thought it would be kind of fun to try to work my way through my collection and blog about them.  fun, no?!?

today i'm going to show you opi infatuation.  i believe it's from the sheer romance collection from 2004.  it's a color that has been in my collection from the early days when i first started collecting and in fact the color had slightly separated.  of course nothing that a good shake to the bottle couldn't fix.





when i first applied the color i wasn't too sure about it.  first of all it was a bit sheer.  even after 3 coats i could see through the tips.  also, i'm usually not a fan of nude polishes...or lipsticks for that matter.  but turns out this is a really lovely peachy nude.  the color grew on me each day and i ended up keeping it on my nails for 5 days with only minimal tip wear.




i'm glad i decided to start this project as i've been reaching for colors i normally wouldn't and found some great shades like this one!

- jess


2.19.2013

project life: year 29 - may 2012


finally had a chance to start getting caught up on my project life: year 29.  a few weekends ago i finished up the 1/2 spread for may 2012.  i also completed all of june 2012 and i'll be sharing that later in the week.









so for today, here is may 2012...

- jess


2.18.2013

casual weekend style


sooo... i tried to have a little fashion shoot to show you what i've been wearing lately on the weekend to run errands.  it was a bit comical.  i dragged my mom out into a back yard and gave her the camera and tried to give her instructions on how to photograph me.  it did turn out okay i think for our first attempt.

moving on...





usually on the weekends i like to keep it pretty casual when running errands such as going to the grocery store.




sunglasses: guess (tjmaxx) // black tank: target (old) // tee shirt: target (old) // jacket: kohls // scarf: cynthia rowley (tjmaxx) // jean skirt: old navy (old) // tennis shoes: new balance (tjmaxx)

- jess


2.13.2013

diy: repurposed candle holder



today i have a little crafty project to share with you.  you may even of seen this before...it's nothing new really.  i just thought i'd share my version.

i am a little bit obsessed lately w/ the bath & body works candles.  twice at the end of last year when they were having their 2 for $20 sale i stocked up. if you could look in my closet you'd see them nestled on a little shelf between shoes ;-)

so what do you do with the left over glass once you've burned the candle?
do you throw it away?  maybe just wash it out and stick it in a corner and throw all your hair bands and clips into it?

i decided i wanted to to make mine a beautiful and functional piece for my room.  i'd recently seen this video my missglamorazzi on youtube and thought what a fun way to transform this used candle!

i first decided that i was going to use this first try to replace my poor pen/pencil/marker/misc holder that i use for scrapbooking.  as you can see it definitely was no longer getting the job done!..ha!




i didn't really like the idea of freezing the candle as missglamorazzi had done in her videos.  so i went to my mom for advice as i knew she had removed all the leftover wax out of some of her candles.  she went right to it with mine as well!  no need to freeze...she just took a butter knife and removed all the wax pretty easily along with the metal circles that had held the candle wicks.  next we easily removed the labels.  then we placed the candle holder in the dishwasher and once it came out it was good to go!




i have quite a few martha stewart glitters and since i'm still loving rose gold i decided to go with the copper glitter.  i also already had this matte glue/sealer on hand along w/ the foam brush from some other projects.  so i dipped the brush in the glue/sealer and then simply coated the inside of the glass in one even coat.




next i poured in some of the glitter then began to swirl the glass around to move the glitter so it would be evenly coated all on the inside.  i also have this little tray used to catch glitter so i made sure that i held the glass over the tray as i swirled the glitter around.  it took a bit more than i thought and so i did actually put glitter in about 3 times to get it all coated.  oh, you do want to move pretty quick as you don't want the glue to dry before you can get the glitter to adhere.





after i made sure all the glue/sealer was covered with the glitter i emptied out the unused glitter out of the glass and onto the tray.  then used the tray to transfer the glitter back into the bottle.  as you can tell, from the outside the glass still appears streaky, but the glue dries totally clear so it looks even once dry. 




i then sat it aside for a few hours to make sure it was completely dry. i wanted some glass beads to use as filler for the jar, but was too impatient and this decorative chunky sand was the only thing i could find at my local walmart that would work.  surprisingly it only took 1/2 the bag to fill the jar 2/3 full.





all that was left to do was transfer all my markers/pens/etc into their new home!  i'm really loving it so far and can't wait until i burn through some more candles!





- jess

2.11.2013

currents - 02.10.2013


so it's currently 6:10pm on sunday evening and i thought i'd do one of these 'current' posts tonight...




listening--> all sons and daughters - the longing

reading--> just the bible...trying to read it in 90 days so that takes a good chunk of time each day

eating--> fresh raspberries i picked up at the grocery today...so sweet and yummy

drinking--> smoothies for breakfast made w/ pink grapefruit, bananas, raspberries, coconut milk and cottage cheese

wearing--> tennis shoes...a lot

feeling--> like i'm soooooo ready for spring already!

weather--> in the 60s today but supposed to be cool this week w/ a chance of snow flurries

watching--> youtube...i think i'm subscribed to too many channels...can't.keep.up.

waiting--> ummm...for spring...lol

wanting--> to get more exercise in this week

needing--> to clean my makeup brushes tonight and edit a video for youtube

enjoying--> making better decisions in my life this year

wondering--> where the weekend went!

working--> on a new schedule for blogging...i hate that it's still pretty random.

what about you...what are some of your currents???

- jess


2.04.2013

one little word update


how did january already fly by so fast?  it's crazy that we are already into our 2nd month of the year.  time really is precious and swifty goes away...

one of the things i am trying to focus on this year with my word -->transform<-- is going beyond listing things to change in my life and actually having the follow through to accomplish those things.  in order to do some of those things i needed to redeem some time back.  one way i chose to do that was for the month of january i did not watch tv or movies.

it definitely was not easy.  there were plenty of days i was tired after a long day of work and just wanted to come home and watch tv until i fell asleep.  but for the most part i enjoyed coming home and doing things like...scrapbooking...or reorganizing a space...or cooking up things for lunch the next day...or digging into some bible reading.  tv can be such a drainer of time before you even realize it and i am thankful i've realized that and made the decision to take a fast from it.

i will say i did break this fast to go to the movies w/ friends a couple of times.  but that was okay with me.  those times were valuable to my friendships and good experiences.  also, in the middle of the month i had a bad head cold that left me home from work one day and the only thing i felt like doing was laying in bed and watch tv...so i did for that day...but the next day i was back to work and back to my tv fast.

i am hoping to take something away from this experience that i carry with me each day and not just let it fall away.  i want to feel free to come home and not feel pressured to turn the tv on as soon as i walk through the door so i can watch shows on my dvr.  there are so many things i want to work on this year and i hope that i follow through...

through this experience i am looking more deeply into my every day life and trying to find the things that really are not meaningful and take too much time away.  as i find those things i am going to be taking month long fasts from them as well to bring my life back into a better balance...so be sure to come back to see what those things are and the results of those fasts.

- jess