Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Ipad this and Ipad that

                  After a poll on facebook, I was convinced to run not walk to go get an ipad
mainly for traveling, well I soon discovered that its small size is so convenient for much more that that.

Well, I have been busy DIYing as much as I can as I prepare to move into a new (to me) apartment. 
As I was perusing Pinterest I found a lot of inspiration for christmas gifts and gifts for myself.
I found this Ipad stand/chalkboard



I fell in love with it instantaneously and convinced my Dad to help me make it 
along with some other gifts.. which I can't spill just yet.

We took some extra wood he had laying around and cut it to size. 

We used the exact measurements in the tutorial except added a ledge on the back for easy moving of the stand. The ledge was created by nailing a piece of rounded trim to the back. 


I love it and I am not as worried about spilling something on the counter and it ruining my lovely ipad. 
It is also great for baking and following recipes easier.


Do you something like this? Do you just love your ipad?



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Monday, November 25, 2013

Oh, the sounds of roller derby

Note to reader: Last night I went to a local derby bout and fell in love all over again, resulting in a  derby high.  These are my thoughts, feelings and what not from this bout and my derby experiences.

 If you have never been to a roller derby bout (or game), you are missing out.
As most of you know, I have been playing roller derby for almost 2 years as Lucille Hardball.



Roller derby is not only a sport, but a new culture that is being unleashed into urban areas and taking the public by storm. Roller derby can be seen in current films, TV shows and even some magazines, commercials and local newspapers.



This is not the roller derby from the 60's, but a new generation of rules and attitude from the unique names, that some may refer to as crazy, to the booty shorts with fishnets.

While watching a bout you will be overwhelmed by the different sounds around you as well as the fierce scrambling of players throughout the pack (the area with the most amount of players not counting the jammers, stars on their heads) finding anyway within the rules to knock down or knock over players from the opposite teams. During the bout you hear the whistles, the yelling, the skates on the pavement, and the sporadic thuds of body parts hitting the ground followed by oohs and ahhs of the crowd.


In most cases, if you are not familiar with the strategy or how the game is played you will be confused by why the girls are moving that way and also mesmerized that you can accomplish "that" on skates. You will wonder how or even why someone skates and believe me everyone of those women has a story to tell that will inspire you to do the same. 

As I sat and watched this game that I have become so absorbed in, I talked to my neighbor who played in the 1960's. The sport, attire, attitude, rules and aesthetic have all changed that she asks during a practice drill she asks if it has started yet. She is unaware of the new crazed hobby and what it all entails. She remembers the hay day of practices 6x a week and when falling meant the jam was over. It's amazing that people have come to know this ever evolving sport.

Have you ever been to a bout? Did you love it? Have you ever wanted to try it?



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Monday, November 18, 2013

My trip across the U.S. .. again PartI


So as you know, I just recently drove across the U.S. again to find a home again in California.
This series is just about that journey.


First, I came up with a route. 
There are two (main) routes you can travel to get to california
1. the upper and 1. the lower

The decision:
I have never been on the upper route, so I decided that would be it.
It also happens that I have friends/family that live on this route.


Decision made, this would be the route.

So, on day one we made a short 6 hour trip to Des Moines Iowa to see our friend Brian
(who had the honor of marrying us)


The first challenge of the trip was the Cat, Daliah 


She does not like her crate so we thought that letting her out and rome around would be best, turns out not. Here's her after 2 hours of meowing and finally finding a comfortable spot

When we got into Des Moines, Brian decided to meet us at  Zombie Burger

They had an extensive unusual burger menu with alcoholic milkshakes 


Us. After dinner and good company. 


She called it a night at the hotel. Thats how we all felt.

So that was the first day of our journey.
Have you been traveling or moving your life across the country?

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Thursday, November 14, 2013

I am a californian .. again!

It's official, I am a Californian again!
As of last friday, I have moved back.
I am so happy to be back.

The journey was long and I am glad that it is over, but i will be sharing it with you soon. 

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Thursday, November 7, 2013

Down under the sea..

So, I love disney and anything disney related.
I grew up with disney princesses and disney classics. 
In my adult life I have always wanted to be the little mermaid, but with group costumes, etc 
that wasn't plausible.
So with P already living in California it was the perfect opportunity.

I went pursuing the internets and pinterest to find inspiration.
It needed to be:
1. semi-comfortable
2. able to walk
3. look pretty

So for inspiration I found Christian Siriano in this costume

Which is pretty fabulous


than found when he was on Martha Stewart to show the diy portion of it. I took both inspiration and put them together to get more of an Ariel feel.


I bought i shape shifter tank top on sale at walmart for $5 and attached real sea shells to it and painted them various shades of purple


For the skirt I found a pencil lame skirt at ragstock for $15 and added the organza as described in the tutorial on martha stewart. We tried sewing the organza on but it eventually kept falling off so I started hot gluing it on


For some bling and pizzazz I added rhinestones and pearls to the bra and sequins to the fin. 

What do you think?


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