2012 Box!

Here it is, as promised:

The 2012 Box.


It may not look spectacular. And, true, I didn't do much DIY-ing; I bought a scrapbook box on sale at Michael's for $1.88. But I did affix a 2012 label in my own handwriting inside the label insert area of the box. DIY accomplished!

Really, this DIY is more about the IDEA than anything else. You can use an old shoebox and wrapping paper, a vintage jewelry box-- even a paper bag would work, really-- the idea is to have a place to store fun memories from the year. So far I've stored: movie tickets, my parking receipt for my first 2012 trip to the beach, cards friends and family have given me, pictures, journaling cards, and more. I even have a piece of driftwood from my second trip to the beach.

So for all you fellow lazy/busy DIY-ers, here's an easy one! And it's actually really fun to keep up with and go through every once in a while too :)

Spring Reds

This spring has been an absolute gift from the Chicago gods to a couple of Las Vegas transplants. We have decidedly loved the sunshine and the warmer weather-- I've even been to the beach three times!

All of this has me much more in the mood for spring-- vibrant colors, flowers, sunglasses, dinners at outdoor cafes-- than I was during last year's snowy holocaust of happiness.

I have found a shade of red that I am particularly in love with for this spring. It's a kind of candy/cherry/coral red that's brighter and more orange than the winter shades, and wearing it just makes me feel alive.

Although too much of this kind of color can be a bit overwhelming (witness this atrocious pic from Christmas a few years ago!):

(See: I don't even look happy. And the curly hair? My friend was wearing the same color. Yep. Thought I'd spare her the humiliation.)

But a few accents in just the right places will go perfectly with the flowy, pastel, sheer shades that are so popular this season. I currently cannot live without these two products:

Essie Lollipop nail polish, with a topcoat of Seche Vite,

and Cover Girl's new shade from their Outlast Lip Stain line: Red Affair:

As you can see in the very first picture above, I've paired this lively shade with some neutrals: a sheer, flowey ivory blouse, some skinny jeans, and some nude flats or sandals will do. But it's a color that will compliment most skin and hair shades, and it's playful and vivid, just like spring!

Poetry (The Movie)

A quiet Korean film centering on a grandmother navigating the confusing and new (for her) worlds of teenage crimes and apathy, Alzheimer's disease, and poetry, Poetry both sticks to its promises and also leads you to places you didn't imagine the seemingly simple film would lead you.

All seen through the eyes of an older woman who is experiencing and dealing with the many changes in her calm life, this movie explores humanity and poetry in such an honest, raw, and yet unobtrusive way that it seems more like a gentle push towards consideration of its topics than a manifesto.

Korean culture is very much present, yet portrayed in such a universally comprehensible way that even the more culturally naive among us can grasp the concepts and realities.

A beautiful meditation on how poetry relates to life, this movie does more for the literary form than most MFA programs would ever hope. Weaving poetry in and out of everyday life and much larger struggles, this Poetry succeeds in its titular promises and then some.

If you're looking for something quiet and meditative, moving and meandering (and you're tired of all the French movies I shove down your throat), please see this movie. It's simply beautiful.

Photo Credits:

http://livingchandler.com/2011/08/30/dvd-movie-review-poetry/

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/movie-review-poetry-51036.html

http://www.salon.com/2011/02/12/poetry_11/

Crossroads

That's me at night on a pier on Manhattan Beach a couple of years ago, back when I lived in Vegas. At the time, I was terrified because my boyfriend was looking for jobs, and I wasn't sure I'd be going with him. Not only that, but if I did, I might be leaving the West Coast and my beloved adopted hometown, Las Vegas. I didn't want any of that to happen. We took this trip and had the time of our lives.

But there were no jobs in California. And then the "worst" thing happened: he landed an amazing gig as a lecturer at the University of Chicago. He couldn't turn it down. I was miserable. And anxious. I don't even want to go over all the hell we went through in between, but eventually, I ended up with him in Chicago. The Midwest. Driving behind the Penske truck across the country, I literally felt like someone had to yank me, tow me, away from my mountains, my ocean, my wide open blue skies and sunshine.

There are still days that Las Vegas and California pull at me. And it hurts. The best thing, though, is that my boyfriend feels the same pull, one he never thought he would feel. So we both want to make it back out West, which is a wonderful common goal. But for now, it's hard.

I've decided to apply to PhD programs exclusively in Southern California this fall, but they're extremely difficult to get into, so of course I'm nervous. I'm excited about finishing my MA, though, and Chicago's kind of grown on me in the meantime-- at least when it isn't winter (which isn't often).

On top of this, I feel like I'm now at a new crossroads. After so much time on leave from my retail job, I'm thinking about leaving, voluntarily and permanently. I feel like it's time for me to steer myself in the direction I want my life to go in. On leave, I've been able to work on my writing, my blog, my creative self, and I even got the chance to have some editing experience. This all feels so right, while going back to retail feels like the completely wrong direction.

But it's scary. I feel like I'm jumping off a cliff. And I guess in a way, I would be. For now, I suppose I have to see how it feels when I go back on Monday, and just know that I can always make that difficult choice when and if I have to. All the while looking West, toward the ocean.

Journaling Cards

When I saw journaling cards, I thought, "now what?!" It seemed like a scrapbooker's project, and I am not very good at scrapbooking, seeing as how you have to be a rather organized, follow-through type of person to conquer scrapbooking. This I am not.

But I have been trying to journal more, and sometimes sitting down to a blank page seems like such a daunting task. I don't have the energy to pour my heart out, go back over emotionally difficult situations, or even punctuate.

So I became more and more curious about the journaling cards. I kept finding them on blogs and Pinterest. Finally, when I came up with the idea for a 2012 Box (which is coming up on DIY Wednesday!), I thought I could maybe jot a few sentences down about an event or special day on a journaling card, and put it in the box.

It's really quite a nice way for me to keep up with my journaling when I'm not in the mood or don't have time to completely devote to "the book." Plus, it helps me keep on top of my 2012 Box, which I was afraid I would abandon.

Here are the links for the two journaling cards I've featured here:

http://sweetlyscrappedart.blogspot.com/2012/03/victorian-beauty-free-vintage-image.html
http://sweetlyscrappedart.blogspot.com/2012/01/printable-library-style-journaling.html#axzz1htshPBlz

And be on the lookout for DIY Wednesday's 2012 Box!

Crackle Painted Nighstand

Oh, how I wish I could have taken a picture of this nightstand before I rehabbed it. It was a lovely shade of 1950s pink-- a light rose-- a worn "blush," really-- but, I digress. The boyfriend hated it. But I am in the middle of FINALLY convincing him that we should get rid of the posters from his college days that have been forever cluttering our walls, and so, for the good of everyone I sacrificed my table in the noble name of redecoration.

I found inspiration on Pinterest (of course), with the instructions linked to a blog here.

My process didn't exactly go like her process-- as usual. I first primed the nightstand with a dark brown color so that would show through the "crackle" (as opposed to my beloved pink). When this was all the way dry, I followed the blogger's instructions, applied the glue (only on the table top), and waited until it was "tacky." Then I painted quick, long brush strokes over the top of the glue. Aaannnd it looked like paint on top of glue. Plus, it wouldn't dry for hours.

So. Resigned not only to a DIY failure, but to complete and utter ruination of my nightstand, I went to bed, defeated. When I woke up in the morning, the table was finally dry. I figured I would just paint enough white over the top so at least you couldn't see the glue. As the paint began to dry, a miracle occurred: CRACKLE!

Not that I don't miss the original, but the new crackled Shabby-Chic-like white does go with the bedroom decor much better. Not only that, but I believe my nightstand sacrifice is responsible for my bathroom decor victory as well...

Vintage Lace Nightgown

Ok, so it's more like a slip. Ok, it is a slip. But I fell in love with it when I went into a thrift shop in Pilsen to find some tea cups (for which they wanted four dollars apiece just for the saucers!), especially since it was only $10, but mostly because of the perfect cut and beautiful lace work.

It's by Rogers, a common vintage tag in the area of lingerie and nightgowns.

I love the details, and it just makes me feel beautiful to wear it.

So, ladies, keep those eyes peeled in the thrift stores!

Nina Simone

Today's post is a short post dedicated to one of my favorite singers, the incomparable and DIVINE Ms. Nina Simone. My boyfriend gave me her entire collection last year, and I've been addicted ever since. She  unique voice full of strength and struggle, like all good blues and jazz ladies do. But there's something unapologetic about her that I can't seem to shake.

The first song is the classic "Feeling Good," and I have to get on my soapbox about this song. First, it is NOT the theme song for Weight Watchers (even though it kinda is). Second, it is NOT, and I mean NOT Michael Buble's song. Even though he sings it. And once you hear Nina, you'll know why.




The second Nina I've selected is her controversial "Four Women," describing four very different black women. It was banned by many radio stations when it came out: it alludes to slavery, prostitution, and other controversial subjects, but this hardly seems like a reason to ban a song (though it certainly was a different era). I think that perhaps Ms. Simon's strength and truth-telling were a bit too much for the radio executives. But that's just this girl's opinion... Anyway, it's my very favorite song of hers!




Hope you enjoy these pieces!

Being Broken

On January 15, like a big fat klutz, I slipped in my own bedroom, fell, and fractured my humerus bone right by my shoulder socket. It was too bad a break to splint, so I had to have pretty major surgery to put everything back together (a plate that looks like a wrench in my arm, and ten screws that go all the way through my bone, up and down). And a big. Old. Scar.

Initially, just getting through the pain, the surgery, and then even more pain kept anything peripheral from concerning me. My boyfriend worked really hard with the insurance people, the disability people, and the medical people. My mom came and babied me for FIVE WEEKS. 

But when I began to move around a bit, when the use of my arm began to re-emerge, I began to notice a new ME emerging. I listened to others' terrible medical tales (one, a friend my age who had open-heart surgery only two years ago, which I never knew about before; another, a dear friend a bit older than me who had a surgery cause her to go septic). My arm was beginning to return to normal, and I was beginning to regain some perspective.

I've been so lucky to have a HUGE support system: my boyfriend, my mom, good work benefits, amazing doctors and nurses and great physical therapists who help push me and help me believe in myself.

As the healing continues (I just recently started driving again, I was cleared to work again in about a week, and I've even gotten a few yoga poses approved), I am faced with returning to "normal." But I am left wondering now what "normal" is. Maybe it was all the time I finally got to spend with myself. Maybe it was the time away from a dramatic work environment (one that, frankly, I'm not looking forward to returning to). Maybe it was the opportunity I had to devote time to things I care about: my blog, being creative, school. 

But I feel that something has shifted so dramatically that, like my scarred skin, I somehow cannot return to "normal." I kind of don't want to. I want to take all this change and knowledge and energy and do something with it. I guess the next step is figuring out what that is, and how to do it. Oh, and being able to take off a long-sleeved shirt by myself.

Healthy Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Grilled cheese. Most of us think of our moms' greasy, floppy American cheese-and-butter-filled fried white bread accompanied by canned tomato soup (sorry Mom!). But I have found a way to eat an old favorite while still getting plenty of nutrition and flavor.

Ingredients:
2 pieces of multi-grain, whole grain bread
1 Tbsp mayo (or substitute with my FAVORITE thing ever: Vegenaise)
2 slices of cheese (I used one slice of pepper jack and some shredded cheddar)
1 roma tomato
1/2 avocado
(The pictures you see here are of a half-sandwich I made, but the instructions are for a full sandwich.)

1. Preheat the oven to 450.

2. Slice the avocado and tomato.

3. Spread mayo on both sides of the bread and add the cheese slices, one to each side of the bread.

4. Pile the tomato and avocado slices on either piece of bread. 

5. The easiest way to put the two slices together is to put the avocado side on top of the tomato side.

6. Put the sandwich on a baking sheet, and bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until the bread is toasty and the cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Traveling with Pomegranates

This post must seem like it belongs among the movies, music, and books I write about on Mondays. After all, it's by the same author, Sue Monk Kidd, who wrote the fictional fave The Secret Life of Bees and the life-changing Dance of the Dissident Daughter, a non-fiction book.

This book, however, is different-- not only because it is half-written by Kidd's daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor. What sets this books apart is that it is written as a series of journal entries over a somewhat considerable period of time, during which Ann is struggling to find herself after a bump-in-the-road in her post-grad plans, and Sue is dealing with the many changes surrounding menopause and empty-nest syndrome.

The women seek answers, in Greece and France, in new homes, new jobs, new relationships. But mostly, they seek themselves through their journaling. They even journal about their journaling while they're in France, looking at ancient and magnificent works of art!?! It completely inspired me, and I go back to this book whenever I'm feeling doubtful, insecure, or lazy about my own journaling.

So, if you're tired of the how-to's, or you just need some good inspiration (and a good read too!), check this book out at your local library, your local independent (OR corporate) bookstore, or online here.

Easy Eye Makeup Remover

This natural, gentle, effective makeup remover is also a DIY project-- or, as I refer to it, a two-for-one! I've spent countless amounts of money perfecting my beauty routine, and as last week's Beauty Tuesday post revealed, I'm not only about the St. Ives scrub and Benzoyl Peroxide cream at Target (though I might die without them). I know how and when to spend money. And this is when not to.

Here are your ingredients/supplies:

Empty bottle (I got mine for $1.50 at Target in their travel stuff section)

1/3 cup distilled water

1 1/4 tsp no-tears baby shampoo (I used Burt's Bees- $6.99 for 8oz)

1 tsp grapeseed oil

Mix all the ingredients together, and, using a funnel, put them in the bottle. Or, if you don't have a funnel, put all the ingredients in the bottle and shake! You have to shake anyway, each time you use it.

I got the reusable pads here from Etsy.

The original recipe I made this concoction from includes instructions on making your own reusable pads. But I don't have that much time. Or a sewing machine.

Anyway, it's super cheap, and it works really, really well. The oil and soap combo dissolves even my water-proof mascara, and it's so easy to just swipe each eye every night. I will warn you, though, that the pads get dirty and stained VERY quickly, so don't spend too much time or money on them.

Also, I don't recommend using essential oils or fragrances, even though they make it all nice-smelling and everything, because they burn the eyes. And this is the FIRST eye-makeup remover I've ever used that doesn't burn at all. Also, the trip to the store for the grapeseed oil is worth it because it has antioxidant (read: anti-aging) properties, and it's thin and gentle enough for the delicate eye area.

Happy DIY--uh, I mean, Beauty Tuesday, everyone!

Towards Twenty-Nine

I know I go through some kind of crisis every couple of years as I get older. At age twenty, I had a total crisis about leaving my teenage years, which, of course, is utterly ridiculous to me now. I moved to the woods in Northern California and lived for four months with no running water, no car, no pillow. I hitchhiked, lived in teepees, yurts, and plywood A-frames (when I was lucky), and woke up with mosquitoes in my face every morning. No matter how ludicrous, it was definitely my most indubitable age freak-out.

Eventually, I calmed down, and came back to Vegas to live with my family and go to college. Nine years later, here I am in Chicago, thinking again about what might be around the bend.

I'm halfway through my Master's degree at DePaul University, a feat of which I am simultaneously proud and judgmental. Sometimes the loud doubtful voice in my head says, "You're almost thirty. Almost every other woman you went to school with is already practicing medicine, marketing, or motherhood. Why do you take so long?" Sometimes I feel retarded, in the most literal sense of that word. Like everything takes me so long to figure out and to do. As my mom says, "You just like to learn your lessons the hard way."

But over the last few weeks or so, as I look toward my 29th birthday in May, childless, working retail, still only halfway through my M.A., I think, I can't do this anymore. I can't look at everyone's Facebook page and measure my success by their lives. I can't secretly spew jealousy inside of myself every time another one of my friends gets engaged, married, or has another baby. 

So, I've decided to start being productive about my age anxiety. Instead of comparing and damning, I want to expound my energy taking better care of myself, working towards putting myself in a position where I would make a good wife, a good mother, a woman with her own life and career. This has taken so much pressure off of me, and off of my relationship. My poor boyfriend, who is furiously and anxiously trying to finish his first novel, runs screaming in the other direction when I start to pout about my "situation." I get it; he loves me, but he's birthing his own baby right now, the thing he's wanted to do his whole life. 

What does all of this mean? I'm not quite sure yet. I bought myself some gentle herbal teas to help tone my uterus and any damage that 7 years of birth control might have done to it (though I have not stopped taking my birth control!) I'm making appointments to the gynecologist and even the dentist to make sure everything's in order. I'm trying to exercise, 30 minutes of walking five times a week, and when my broken arm heals, hopefully some yoga. I'm making my own plans to pursue my PhD where I want to pursue it (and to my happy surprise, my boyfriend wants to stick by me on that). 

I don't know. All I know is that this year, this last revolution around the sun in my twenties has to be about me, for me. I have to take these last few hundred days and love them, love myself. And I have got to stop comparing, looking back, looking all around me. After all...

http://www.mysecretintentions.com/2011/12/12/move-foward/

Big House Red Wine

I found Big House Red wine one desperate night at my local "European-Style Supermarket," lingering on the bottom shelf amongst the other "cheapie" wine options ($10.99 IS reasonable, but not exactly cheap on this girl's grad school budget). 

I'm not gonna lie- I bought it because of the pretty picture. And the price. But mostly the pretty picture. It's a table red, a line I rarely cross even with my cheap wines-- Trader Joe's Sangiovese? Sure, I'll give it a go. Whole Foods' 365 Pinot Grigio? Wouldn't go there again, but I was a willing victim. But... the picture.

When I got my expensive cheap wine home and twisted off the cap (I stopped being a cork snob quite a while ago, after too many good twist-off experiences), I was very pleased. The wine had some fruitiness, some complexity, and a smoky yet smooth finish. 

When I ventured online to investigate my good fortune, I found this description on the website: "It starts with a nose full of blackberries and raspberries, with hints of leather and spices. The palate is clean, exhibiting flavors of cranberries, roses and a touch of rhubarb. This finish lingers, with flavors of vanilla and a touch of dark cherries in the finish."

Leather? Spices? Vanilla? Berries and cherries? Roses? Rhubarb? No wonder I lusted after another bottle! Considering my love of Malbecs, I swoon at the mention of "leather" or "tobacco." (It's internal Beatles pandemonium at the mention of both, but I'll take one or the other.)

Go get a bottle of this red. It's so worth it. And if you don't have a "European-Style Supermarket," you can get it here.

Why Write?

"The desire to write grows with writing."
Desiderius Erasmus

All my life, I have loved the idea of journaling... of opening a fresh journal, perched in a clearing of blossoming trees, ruminating on the wonders of butterflies and life... You get the picture.

Really, it's more like I buy 12 new journals a year because none of them is "perfect," I write one uninspiring entry about how I want to start journaling, and then I forget about it until I need a piece of paper to write down someone's phone number or figure out my budget for the month.

Deep Breath. So I'm starting over. Because I do want to write. And I thought I'd take you all along for the ride, hehe...

I bought (yet) another journal and some colored pencils. I've come up with some pretty good ideas. And I've armed myself with some good websites and blogs to help me get started and stay on track.

I love the site "Journal for You." They have great, practical ideas for journaling that fit anyone's interests and lifestyle.

A particular favorite post is called "5 Reasons to Start a Daily Journal."

So, there's my motivation.

Now how do I begin? For now, I'm going to try to raid my Pinterest quotes board, print out my favorites, and use those for inspiration. It makes my journal more inviting, and since I choose the quotes, I get to kind of reflect on why I was drawn to them.

Here's an example:

If you'd like to see more, you can go to my Pinterest "quotes" board here:
http://pinterest.com/kate_emilee/quotable/

Thanks for coming along for the journey! Please post your journal entries and/or thoughts if you like!

Homemade Lip Scrub

So this may seem like a blog more appropriate for Beauty Tuesday, but seeing how this project was totally DIY, I decided it would qualify.

In the winter, my lips are ugly. They chap, they crack, they peel, they bleed-- no bueno. I try to use chapstick every night (and I've tried every kind: medicated, natural, hypoallergenic, vegan, you name it), but nothing helps much. Recently, I saw a lip scrub in a beauty magazine. It seemed like it might do the trick. But when I researched it, the price was too high and the ingredients didn't really look like anything I'd want to be near (or accidentally IN) my mouth.

So, I decided to make one. I know that scrubs are essentially salt or sugar, some kind of base oil, and usually a blend of essential oils or fragrances for scent. Using this basic model, I constructed a yummy, effective, and wholly natural lip scrub made from ingredients I had in my kitchen.

Here's the recipe:

1) 1/2 cup of sugar (salt sounded pretty gross!)
I used 1/4 cup of raw turbinado sugar and 1/4 cup of regular white sugar because I like the two different sizes of crystals.

2) 2 Tbsp of Coconut Oil, melted
I decided to use coconut oil because it's a great moisturizer, and it tastes good! I tried my beloved olive oil on my first run, and it was too thin and did not pass the taste test very well.

Because coconut oil has a high freezing temperature (just around 76 degrees F, or room temperature), it's usually solid. To mix the ingredients, I needed to melt it, so I just stuck the 2 Tbsp in the microwave for 30 seconds.

3) 1/4 tsp of natural vanilla extract

I knew I didn't want to use essential oils because they usually taste bad, so I raided my spice cabinet to see what was up, and found... ta-da!... the perfect fix: vanilla! It gives the scrub a rich smell and yummy flavor. You could use other flavor extracts too, but some of the citrus and mint ones might be a little drying.

I mixed everything up and put it in an old herb/tea tin I had lying around -- you want a nice consistency: not too oily, but moist and spreadable. 

And voila! A simple, cheap, quick recipe to luxuriate your lips!

I slapped a cute label on the tin (I got the template for free here from Etsy) and I use my scrub every night-- and try not to eat it! Just get a little finger-full, rub on your lips for a moment, rinse, pat dry, and follow with your favorite lip moisturizer.

PS- the coconut oil will naturally harden a bit (returning to its usual solid state), so you'll notice a little change in consistency, but as soon as you spread it on your lips it's all the same! Happy DIY-ing!

Evanhealy is Awesome!

I am a starving grad student. Well, perhaps not starving exactly (see some of my yummy recipes!), but certainly not rich. I DIY my heart out and will pledge allegiance to Forever 21. However, there are some products that I find are worth the extra money (even though it pinches a bit to part with it-- I could have bought FIVE Trader Joe's bottles of wine with that!).

Evanhealy is one of these brands. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to douse my face in every perfectly well-made, pure and natural, and heavenly-smelling product they make. But I have three that I keep at all times in my medicine cabinet.

Their Blue Lavender Cleansing Milk, Lavender Facial Tonic, and Chamomile Eye Care Cream I will not be left without. No other products can handle my super-oily/ dry-in-certain-patches/ turning-30 skin like these delicate products can. And did I mention the heavenly smell??? My nighttime beauty routine feels like a nice, relaxing ritual that I actually look forward to every evening. Plus, the eye cream doesn't contain caffeine, a chemical present in many "anti-wrinkle" formulas that tends to de-hydrate the skin under the eye-- NOT something those of us in our 20s and 30s, or really any woman using a night cream, should be looking for in our eye products.

I buy my Evanhealy at Whole Foods, but they're online too. The prices are WAY lower than the expensive department store brands (though a commitment for those of us used to shopping at Target), but take a look at the ingredients. Plus, the products last forever, and they're generally just worth it.

Check them out here: http://www.evanhealy.com/