Stressed out!!

I have been under a super amount of stress lately.

My usual outlet for stress is volleyball, however life has stepped in and I haven't been able to play in weeks and when I have been playing, it hasn't been well, so it's even been adding to my stress.

I know I just need to take some down time to refocus and I will be ok, but it's finding that time that has been a challenge to me. I am hoping this weekend to have a nice, quiet Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

What do you guys do to de-stress and re-focus yourselves?

No Carbs

I must be crazy right?!! Yea, pretty much.

Food is probably the number 1 love of my life (sorry Garette, but I know you feel the same), followed closely by my love of reading. So every so often I combine the two (not in a cook book way) and I find it really changes my life.

A few years ago I read In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan and it had a great impact on me.  The general idea of the book is to eat FOOD, not the crazy processed, chemical filled substances that pass as food these days. He has some general and easy to follow rules in the book that after following for only a short time I noticed insane differences in everything from my weight and skin to my overall well being and mood.

So, what does this have to do with carbs?!

Recently, I could help by become intrigued by the book Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health by William Davis, M.D. As you can guess this is where my no carbs are coming into play, but really meaning no wheat. I didn't realize that wheat today(even whole wheat) is barely a shadow of the grain that it used to be. According to the information provided in this book, which isn't hard to believe, wheat has been manipulated and processed to yield more crops at a faster pace. So compared to the wheat our grandparents and great grandparents ate, our wheat is just more chemicals.

So blah blah blah, now I will step off of my soapbox.

I talk to a lot of my friends about food a lot of the time. I love it. I can't help it. So when I try new, healthy meals that actually come out good I am going to share them here for anyone who may be interested.

Tuesday night, Garette and I (ok ok mostly Garette) made spaghetti squash with a semi-homemade tomato sauce with shrimp and asparagus. It was A-mazing and super easy!!!

First - preheat your over to 400 degrees and get that spaghetti squash in there for 40-60 minutes depending on the squash. (FYI - there are way easier/quicker ways to cook this up, but I had some homework to finish so I took a slower option)

Next - Get the sauce on the stove. We used canned tomatoes to save time and just seasoned them how we liked it... including garlic, onion, basil, oregano, red pepper flakes (for some kick!), salt, and pepper. Feel free to season how you like it.

Then - Saute (or grill or roast or however you like it) the Shrimp and asparagus in a little olive oil and garlic.

Finally - Combine and enjoy!!!

Note: if you have never cooked spaghetti squash before, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Besides that, once you cook it and let it cool just slice it open, take out the seeds (like a pumpkin), and just use your fork to pull out the "Spaghetti." Easy peasy.

What is your favorite healthy go to? Any no/low carb ideas for me?!

State String Art

So after surfing Pinterest for hours I kept seeing string art and thought how hard could this be?

As I may have mentioned, my parents recently moved to Florida so for Mother's Day I decided to make her string art in the shape of New Jersey (where we are from) and Florida (where they live now). I will go through the how to and pictures now followed by what I would have done differently.

First, of course I went to Michael's and Home Depot for supplies. I got the two plain wood plaques from Michael's and the nails and paint samples from Home Depot. You can really use any nails you want depending on the thickness of the wood you are using and the look you are going for.

Of course, I choose green for NJ as the Garden State and yellow for Florida as the sunshine state.

First, I painted the plain wood plaques in each color (John Deere imitation not intended, but appropriate).

Next I went online to print an outline of each state. Once I printed it I taped it to the painted wood to use as the outline for the nails. I didn't mark anything, but I tried to space the nails as evenly as possible.

After all the nails were in place, I started with the thread. I just used regular sewing thread I had laying around. I thought it would be a cool look to use green thread on the green and yellow for the yellow... more on that later.

So, there really isn't any rhyme or reason to the thread. Well, at least not for me. I just went all random. Although I will say, at first I didn't do an outline and I thought it looked a little strange so I did end up going around so there was a distinct outline of each shape.

That's it! Easy Peasy! So a few things I would change if I had to do it over... 1 - I would not use the same color thread as the paint. Looking back this seems like a no brainer and I don't know what I was thinking. 2 - The nails I choose were a little longer than I would have liked, but no one will know that except me.

Also, my final idiot move of the day, I was in the process of emailing myself the photos to post and I deleted them so they didn't send. However, they will arrive in Florida in the next day or two and I will post the final product as soon as my mom sends me some pictures!

What do you think? Have you tried anything similar? What color thread do you think I should have used instead (I will take notes for next time)?

Moving Day

Moving sucks.

That being said, clearly I am right in the middle of it with one trip down and who knows how many left to go. In case you didn't know my boyfriend, Garette, and I have made the decision to move in together. The lease on my current apartment is up on June 30th so I have given myself plenty of time to try and be organized about the process.

The major issue right now is picking the right date to make the jump. At what point do I start living there for real? Ask my roommate, I spend most of my time there now as it is, but committing to having all of my clothes there is a big step (that makes me a little nervous). Plus, he is traveling until June 8th, so while I will continue to move stuff over I can't have my first official day living there without him. The part that is making me nervous is giving up my personal space. Don't get me wrong I am beyond excited about taking this step with him and I can't wait to be living together, but there is the little twinge of not having my own designated space. What do you guys think, what is/was the part of moving in with someone that you are/were most afraid of?

I have started boxing and organizing everything already which is good for me. I feel mostly prepared to make the move. I think together we still have a lot of sorting through things to do so we don't end up with double everything. Any tips on how to navigate this without causing major fights? Most of my stuff is cheap/old, but somethings have sentimental value to me. I guess this will be our first lesson as a couple in compromise!

The $5 Savings Plan

So, on a not really, but kind of DIY project update... On Pinterest I got the idea to start a $5 savings plan. The idea is that every time you have a $5 bill in your possession you don't spend it, you save it in a jar.

Realistically, this is not that often especially for a girl like me who NEVER carries cash, but I have gained three things so far from this adventure (and I am far from over).

1.      Having this idea in my head gets me to get cash from the ATM more often which makes me more aware of what I am spending which helps me spend less.

2.      A greater desire to save more and get my finances in order for real life things like a house and retirement.

3.      $5 bills add up WAY quicker than loose change so I see more of a result which makes me want to save even more!!

This is a win/win for me! Now I just have to decide what I want to do with my $5 jar…

Mother's Day/Upcoming projects

So since Garette and I have yet to officially move in together it's hard to convince him I need to make all of the things I want to make for a house I don't even live in yet. Blah. Blah. Blah. So I've set my focus on Mother's day. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this yet, but my parents moved to the gulf coast of Florida about a year and a half ago (I bet my mother gets mad at me because I don't know the exact date, but I don't). This makes it difficult to celebrate any holidays together let along the smaller holidays like Mother's/Father's day, but luckily my mom is coming up on May 1st to visit for a week. So my sister and I don't get actual mother's day with her, but we do get to see her.

In the spirit of my new DIY adventure of course I am making her gifts this year! Obviously, I can't actually post anything about them until she gets them or else that would ruin the surprise, but rest assured I will post on everything once she receives them!

I also found (read: scavenged around the dumpster in my apartment complex) some wood! For my first wood project I am going to make an herb garden for the Dining Room/Kitchen at Garette's. We both LOVE to cook so I was able to convince him this was needed even before I actually move in. I have been struggling on if I should stain the wood or paint it. Since we may end up painting the whole living/dining/kitchen area this is tough since I don't know what color the rooms will be in six months.

What do you guys think? Paint or Stain for now? What are some projects you are planning/have done for Mother's day?

My best friend's wedding!

Sometime back in August of 2003, I met my soulmate and best friend. Our friendship has had it's ups and downs (mostly because of my going through some stuff), but no matter what I knew I could always count on her and hope now she knows the same of me. After almost nine years of friendship she is stuck with me for good.

In November of 2009 (I believe I am doing my math correctly), she starting dating her husband to be. Just seeing her face and hearing the way she spoke about him after they first met you knew he was going to be someone special in her life. I hope he realizes that he is also now stuck with me for good!

I am so excited to celebrate the beginning of their lives together. No two people I know deserve this moment more than these two!!

Sidenote: I can't wait for all of the projects I will get to do because of this and will document it as much as possible! What are some of your favorite moments/photo ops/traditions at weddings?

Chevron Stripes

Chevron stripes are my current obsession. I wish I could decorate the whole house with them and I wish I could incorporate them into my wardrobe everyday.


That being said, I decided to paint some onto a canvas to hang in the guest bathroom... without a pattern (side note: if you Google chevron pattern you can download/print a pattern to follow which I will use next time). Which led to a more "unique" take on the chevron stripe. Again, I had some issues with the painters tape not sticking completely so some paint got through.


For this I just used painters tape to create the chevron pattern and then painted with a silver metallic paint.

You can see the stripes are a little wacky and the paint seeped into the white space, but it made it into the room it was meant for! This was a victory for me. I think the little mishaps made it more interesting than just a classic silver/white chevron.

It's the imperfections that make life interesting.

My First Project - Crayon Art

Ok, crayon art seemed like a simple enough starting point. I'm sure you have all seen pictures with the melted crayon all over lately. I decided to try the "rain" effect using only shades of blues with some purples, greens, grays, and even a black (I suggest NOT using black as I feel it made this piece seem really heavy) with the painted silhouette of the man and woman.

I ventured out to my local Michael's to get the supplies which I think was the most overwhelming part of this, but luckily I had a good friend come along for the ride. I bought a canvas, paint brushes, black paint, and crayola crayons. I'm not kidding when I say I was starting from scratch here so most crafters would probably have most of this on hand. I need to work on building a stockpile. I also ordered a glue gun and exacto knife earlier that week from Amazon.com. (side note: if you sign up for Michael's email list online you get a ton of great coupons!)

Simple enough, I glued the crayons in random order to the top of the canvas and then (I'll admit) traced a stock silhouette and than painted it in. If I was doing this again, I would have melted the crayons first and then painted the silhouette because I had some issues with the painters tape not working super well, but we live and we learn. So once the black paint for the silhouette was dry, I took Garette's hairdryer out (which could possibly be the first hairdryer ever manufactured, it practically breathes fire) to melt the crayons. I think the hairdryer was a little too hot and I wasn't patient enough to use the lower setting so they melted very quickly and into a big blob. Round 2, I would go with the lighter setting which may take longer, but would get a better result.

This was my outcome:

Not too bad. We have created a rating system based on rooms in the house. This was meant for the dining room wall, but ended up in the upstairs hallway. I'll take it for my first project!

I've also seen online people have used a glue gun to melt the crayons. I feel like this would create the "rain" effect well, but I don't think it would have a positive outcome on your glue gun. What do you think? Has anyone tried it this way?

A little more about me...

So I'm at that pivotal point in my life we all hit at some point, or multiple points, where I am trying to decide if I'm on the right path for me. Changes have happened in my work place which leave me less than satisfied, but thankfully still employed. I am pursuing my MBA at Montclair State University although I have yet to pick a concentration due to lack of current direction. I am using this blog as a way to fuel the creativity I feel I am lacking in my life and hoping that documenting my adventures will help me find my direction.

Two things have happened recently which led to my decision to start this blog, the launch of Pinterest and the decision to move in with my boyfriend, Garette. Thanks to Pinterest I have come to realize there is nothing I can't make (or try to make) on my own instead of purchasing it in a store. Thanks to Garette (who actually suggested starting this blog) for having a whole house for me decorate/paint/diy anything I can make a case for having. This is adventure is bound to have many ups and downs, twists and turns, but I am positive I will enjoy every second of it.