Monday, May 24, 2010

Find a Happy Place

I hope everyone has a happy place.
Maybe a comfy place or a quite place.. some place?
Anyhow, this weekend I went to my happy place with Coral and Lilo.

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It is by the river and it is quite nice there.
There is a little hiking trail that is perfect for Coral.
Not too hard, not too boring.

We brought a lunch to picnic there.
We made the mistake of going during the time that Coral generally enjoys her afternoon nap.
Clearly, she was not thrilled.

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She eventually got over her tiredness and gave me a smile. Please note, I have decided to allow Coral to wear whatever she wants, whenever she wants. Hence the silky little strapless number to go to the river. I'm screwed.

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Love,
Nat

Bloglovin?

Not sure what this bloglovin stuff is all about.. But maybe it is fun?

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Dreamboat

I have this friend named Dreamboat. Okay, fine...it is Courtney.
I love her lots and I made her wedding dress for her.
Mostly because she is pretty, whatever.
I will start sharing some more of the wedding stuff I like to make in the near future.
For now, lets stare at Dreamboat.

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P.s. She has a cute blog, The Beauty Mark.
P.s.s. The photographers are Kelvin Leung and Larry Reeves. Good, right?


Love,
Nat

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Happy Mail

I am so excited right now. I discovered this blog called Happy Mail. You sign up and then mail each other cute things each month. Each person fills out a survey about what they love and then they get paired up with someone else or multiple people if you want. How much fun is that?! I know that whenever I get mail that is anything other than junk or bills, I just about jump out of my skin. Right now the most exciting thing I get is a new magazine each month and it feels like Christmas. I found out about this snazzy little mailing community through the blog Pixies and Bears. She does lots of super fun stuff with paper. I can’t wait to get paired up with someone to send prizes too. Once I get my person and get busy I will post the exciting array.
Here is the picture from the Pixies and Bears blog that sold me on this happy mail stuff (hopefully it is okay I used this picture, punch me if it is naughty to steal it):
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How pumped would you be to get mail like this? Ready, set…go sign up!!!

Love,
Nat

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

My Life Has Been Hijacked!!

So, I have literally put my life on hold for the last two weeks. The reason for doing such a thing? Gossip Girls. The high school drama of rich, scantily clad, devious little ladies. Embarrassing and a total waste of my time, but so very satisfying. Their clothes are like a feast for my eyes and the plot is so scandalous it is like watching a train wreck. I can’t stop watching! I have been going to Blockbuster almost every day thinking that I can just watch an episode or two a night. Little did I know that I would be up until all hours of the night and sleeping past my alarm in the morning to go to my big girl job. And mind you that I am normally quite conscious of my appearance and I enjoy getting dressed up for work. Lately though, I am too busy studying Blair’s wardrobe to have any concern for my own. At this very moment I am obsessing over her retro once piece floral swim suit.
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Where did this come from?! Apparently it is the work of Salvatore Ferragamo and costs approximately one million dollars. Bleh! I have searched high and low and found some somewhat comparable and less than a million dollars.

So dreamy from Anthro:

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Not so floral but still makes me think about Blair:

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Flower bandeau from Delias:

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The real reason that I want to be Blair:
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Ooh to be 17 again..

Love,
Nat

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Sweet Home, Arizona

Today is Cinco de Mayo . On this day in 1862 the Mexican Army faced the French headed to attack Mexico City. When the French Army left the port of Vera Cruz, they assumed that the Mexicans would just give in and retreat. But they didn’t loose. In the U.S. we celebrate Mexican culture, food, and music today. Today that is not happening in Arizona. Instead, people are protesting the recent laws past in AZ. I am no politician, I don’t know much about this bill that is causing uproar. What I do know is that I love Arizona the way it is. We are state that I consider to be a “potpourri” of people. I chose my current neighborhood to buy my first home because it is not a street full of cookie cutter homes full of cookie cutter people. My neighbors have a pink, yellow, and green home (no lie) that constantly has some sort of fiesta going on. People set up shop outside the local grocery store selling homage tamales, fruit popsicles, rugs, etc. They wait on the corner for work. The primary race of my area is Mexican and I liked it. They add spice to my life. After this new law passed, there were trucks loading up the contents of many homes as the occupants started leaving. There is nobody outside the grocery store selling tamales. The corner when people sat and waited to be picked up for work is empty. Now I understand the importance of keeping people safe and protecting our economy. I just feel like Arizona has a storm cloud over it now. The air feels thick with tension and fear. Is there not a better way to go about this? Can thousands of people around the United States be protesting this law be in vain? Cinco de Mayo feels sad this year. Like I said, I don’t claim to know the facts. I may be naive. But what I do know is how this is directly affecting my life and my little neighborhood, and I don’t like it one bit. Nobody should be made to feel like less of a person or afraid to leave their house because of the color of their skin. My heart feels heavy for these people.

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Love,
Nat

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Re-Fabulous Chairs

This weekend I finally had some time to get a little crafty. I searched high and low, all over town from thrift store to thrift store in search of the perfect chairs in need of a little love. And here are the contestants:

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A bit more shabby than chic, I know.
The first thing I did was to remove the seats.
Then, I used my handy dandy staple gun to reupholster. Sounds scary, but really it is super easy.

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Reupholstering seats is the quickest and easiest way to re-fab your tired chairs.
Next step is to sand away the years and layers of paint. This is kind of my favorite part because you can have a glimpse of your chairs past lives. Don’t feel like it has to be perfectly sanded to the bones. As long as the texture is even and any varnish seal is broken, you’re good. Next is paint. I used high shine Krylon spray paint.

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Now just screw the seats back on, maybe add a cushion and voila! On mine, I added cushions on top of the one with a wood seat and the one with a wicker seat. Nobody wants to sit on a fabric-covered piece of wood so I just left it.

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P.S. the curtains in the photo, also a thrift store find this weekend, were the color inspiration.

Now, to find a patio table for these little lovely chairs.


Love,
Nat