Wreath Making Is Not Just For Grandmas.

So it's Friday, and for people like me who have no friends graciously gave up her social life to care for a needy animal, that means sitting at home and working on crafts while drinking wine and watching horrible movies ("Beneath the Blue" anyone?). 
It also means I can finally post on my first completed project since I've have moved in, which I know you all are dying to read about. It involves a wreath and my initials, so hold onto your seats. 
I should mention that none of these crafts are of my own creation. If I come up with an idea myself, you will know it because I will shamelessly praise my own genius (I once asked my sister how to spell genius, FYI). We're all lucky if I can successfully follow directions, let alone write them. 
So this great idea came from Design Sponge. I'm not sure if I am appropriately giving credit where credit is due. And because I'd deserve a JD if I successfully read and understood the Terms Agreement, I expect all of you to pitch in for bail if I get carted away for craft fraud. 

Anyways, the directions are pretty simple to follow so I'm not even going to attempt to recreate them. Instead I will post pictures and talk about my downfalls. 
The vine comes in a circular shape so I'd suggest having some kind of idea to straighten it out (unless your desired initial is an O, in which case you get to skip the extra thinking). I decided to duct tape it to my deck rail, but I came up with the idea after I'd already finished the wreath, so my left over vine is currently duct taped to my deck and the original project had to endure my brute strength. 

Rather than greenery type things, I used fake moss and some sparkly leafy things (just go to your favorite craft store and pick out whatever you think would look nice adorned on vine in the shape of your favorite letter. 
Now before you ask, my name also happens to being with a K, so I intentionally copied the directions exactly. 
I also finished the project with some hairspray. Thinking back, I'm not entirely sure of the rationale, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. And as a former dancer, it seems obvious that if I want something to stay in place I hairspray it until it drowns.

I chose to hang the finished product in my bedroom. It looks pretty anticlimactic in the photos but I am proud of it nonetheless. And the pup is on a mission to ingest all of the stray moss until he vomits green sparkles. 

So move over Martha Stewart, because I have a homemade K wreath adorning my wall. 

*I'm not feeling super stoked about this post because I had a long day at school and I'm not feeling entirely witty. If I get a burst of inspiration, I'll redo this, so it might be worth checking back (as if any of you are actually reading this anyways. Hi mom, thanks for sticking with me through the whole post!)

Because this was such a masterpiece, you'll be pleased to know that I have a couple more crafts that I'm working on and will post soon. I spent my month's mortgage at Micheal's last weekend so I've got some things in the works. 

In other news, my slipcover came in the mail that is going to turn my hand-me-down couch into a Pottery Barn vision. However, because Pottery Barn writes their operating instructions for rocket scientists and people who can put together Ikea furniture, a lesser person such as myself is going to do the only adult things I know, and wait for my mom to visit so she can do it for me. 

Well, thanks for reading. We all have our off days. 
K

Hoodrat stuff with my friends

I don't know what's more adult than dealing with the neighborhood kids (ok, I can actually think of like 12 more adult things off the top of my head, but let's go with it). I live in a family neighborhood and I do enjoy it. The kids next door to me are pretty respectful and well behaved when it comes to kids. 
But they LOVE pup. And who can blame them really, with a mom like me, what's not to love. However, I can't even go into my backyard without fear of blitz attack from a 3' army ready to knock me down to get to the prize, and then run around like Viking hooligans shouting in pure glee.
This afternoon, I was in the house icing after a run (yeah, I'm such an athlete that I ice after a work out. I'm impressed too) and I went to check on pup just in time to see the littles breaking into my fenced in yard to chase pup around the yard. 
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate kids. I have a niece that I absolutely adore and I never glare at the mothers of crying children in Barnes and Noble. 
But this kind of behavior could be dangerous. If anything were to happen to them in my backyard with my pup I would be responsible. And if you've learned anything through the course of this blog, I don't do well with responsibility. 
I don't want to be the cranky spinster neighbor (cause right now the cranky is the only thing that is keeping me from being classified as a cranky spinster) but I need to set some ground rules. I nicely told them to come to the front door and ask me first if they want to play with pup, but then I made them go back home because they were fueling the animalistic behavior that me and obedience school are trying to stamp out. 

Yeah, it looks like I'll be getting the good candy this Halloween to make up for my buzz-kill ways... and rumor has it that this far north of the tree line kids don't trick or treat anyways for fear of hypothermia, so I'll actually get to eat all the candy! That's a win-win (except for the neighborhood kids, they're not really winning at all in that situation).

DI-What?

I have a love/hate relationship with DIY sites. I could spend hours upon hours browsing through these "simple and easy" ideas to improve my casa. I get all excited and print pages and start to ride the high of finding a new craft with which to waste my time and make my home gorg. 
And then I start to read how they did it.....
Don't let the girly, floral site background throw you off. All of these women (not to gender specify, I've just only seen them as women) forget to mention in their "so simple" DIY post is that they have husbands or fathers* (again, just what I've seen. You female handy people have all my support and admiration) who are carpenters, or retired handymen, or just really good at building things, at their disposal and doing all the work. Let alone the fact that someone of my stature (5'3" on a "big hair" day) can't even carry the materials out of the hardware store without seeing my life flash before my eyes as I awkwardly stumble down the aisles (2x4s and sheets of plywood, are you kidding?). And even beyond materials and someone else actually doing all the work, I still read on to see the process they used (I'm smart, maybe I can do it on my own... (the answer to that is always no, I can't)) and the tools.... The tools! How does an "easy" DIY project ever involve a table saw or a jig saw (jigger? jiggity?). I'm sorry adorable blogger, I must have lost my table saw in the move and Ty Pennington isn't returning my calls. All I have at my disposal is a set of slightly dull kitchen knives and whatever the previous homeowner left for me (no table saw, I checked). Suddenly a perfect weekend project has me questioning my whole world and sadly pessimistic about anything DIY. 


So, what I'm left with is thousands (ok, less than 10) of adorable wreaths and beautiful artwork, and shelves that sit on the floor because I'm afraid and incapable of securing them to the wall (how do I find a stud? what if it rips out of the plaster? So many questions! So I only adhere things to my walls with 3M adhesive strips). And I will continue to wander through the lumber aisles of Lowes and Menards, staring longingly at the crown molding until someone asks me if I am lost.

On an unrelated note, yes, that is a Lifetime original Movie playing on the TV... don't judge!

*Now, I too have a father who is really good at building things, but he happens to live 6 hours away and has a life that doesn't lend itself to "Dad, I found this really cool idea and I want you to build right now so drive on up!" (whatever happened to unconditional love...). This is my cry for help... Daddy I need you!

So now I'm off to read another 50 pages of Neuropsychology Assessment, with which I also have a love/hate relationship... minus the love.

Chicken Ain't Got Nothin On Me!

The reason I started this dang thing in the first place was because in the past few days I have: 1. Cooked a phenomenal chicken that has turned into 2+ fabulously simple meals 2. Found crafties to spice up my living room and dining and 3. Decorated for Fall/Halloween

No I haven't done much by way of academic responsibilities, but this stuff is pretty big!

I'll post more on the crafts I am excited about doing (whether I actually get to them is a whole different story) but first, let me leave you with a simple delicious recipe for chicken (Thanks Mom, for answering your phone when I'm starving and rushing around the grocery store). 

Chicken breasts (I bought a pack of 3 and cooked them all at once...brilliant!)
Mayonnaise
Parmesan cheese
Italian bread crumbs

Wash the chicken and put it in a glass dish (oven safe probably, who am I to know). I used the round pie dish I use to make a salsa dip (one of the few things I know how to do) but that was probably wrong. My mom uses a square dish, I'd recommend that. 
Mix mayonnaise and parmesan cheese in a bowl. At the grocery store my mom gave me measurements (there was 1/4 and 1/2 in there somewhere, who knows what goes where) but by the time I got home I forgot them and just mixed them. I think I started with 1/4 cup mayo and sprinkled parm on that, but that went for about 1/5 chickens and then I just started adding things willy-nilly. 

I am ceasing my posting now due to my pup barking at a squirrel outside and my enthusiasm for crafts still high enough to possibly complete one....

My First Ever Blog Post

I just made the decision to start a blog, chose a name, picked a template, and now I'm supposed to post something. This is all moving quite fast, I'm not sure if I'm ready. But as they always say, life waits for no one. 

So a little about me...
I just started graduate school in clinical psychology. I moved out of state for the first time in my entire life (only one state over, but I still crossed state lines!) and am forced to become an adult. Now, before you think, "25, shouldn't you have been an adult for like 7 years now?", I have a very valid reason why I am so unprepared for the adult world. Right after high school I went to a small liberal arts college in the Midwest. Not only was my school in the town where my mother grew up (meaning Grandma was just a frantic phone call away when I had a sinus infection, big test, or was just hungry), but it was also recently rated #1 in dining. Thus, for 4 years I never had to lift a pan to have daily gourmet meals with all of the freshest ingredients (I was also a college student, so who actually expected me to act like an adult). After college I did live on my own for a year and worked in "the big city", but I was only an hour away from home and in the city where my father grew up (I'm noticing a theme of attachment issues) so I was never wanting for food or clean clothes. And then I moved back home... granted it was for a Master's program, but it was in my hometown and I lived with my parents. So very quickly I unlearned how to use a washing machine, or scramble eggs, or do anything anyone over the age of 16 is likely to know how to do. 

When I got into another graduate program in North Dakota, I bought a house and adopted a dog. I have a lovely little 1940s bungalo in a beautiful neighborhood and a charming 2-year-old Sharpei/Lab mix. I am very happy where I am now, but I still find myself shockingly gratified every time I make an edible meal or successfully wash a load of clothes. And I'm trying to do this all on a graduate student budget so what I envision and what I can afford are two very different things. Some would call me pathetic (myself included) and offer me no sympathy but here we are. 


Now I must offer a caveat: I have been known by some to be slightly sarcastic and biting witty (sounds better). I am about 100% sure I will offend someone at some point and that's just how life goes. Also, I'm not much into proofreading. I have way more important things to do (like watch the most current season of Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor Pad).


Here's to hoping I don't regret sharing my life on the internet....