the house

Ohmahgosh, I bought a house! It's the cutest little craftsman bungalow.

See?

I was driving to look at some other houses and came to the stop sign by this gem. My realtor was behind me and saw me stop and point. By the time we pulled up to the house we were scheduled to see, we had an appointment to head back to this one.

It's not huge. It's not fancy. It's not perfect. And, I fell in love.

I went through all the steps to make it mine. [And it actually worked out which feels a bit like a miracle because there are a lot of steps involved.] The former homeowners were so kind when we met at closing and wrote me a letter about how they loved the house and they hope I have a great experience living there as well.

I think I will.

So, now I have a house--a whole house!

That means many things:
1. I get to decorate all the things the way I want to do it.
2. MONEY. Why does everything cost all the dollars?
3. I HAVE A REAL KITCHEN. Holy cow, what will I even do with myself?
4. Laundry...I don't even have to put quarters in the washer and dryer!
5. A yard to take care of. Hold me I'm scared.
6. Neighbors, perhaps I'll be social. Maybe?
7. A KITCHEN!! eep.
8. Room for company and guests and fun.
9. This is going to become somewhat of a home blog...maybe? Will I blog more?
10. KITCHEN KITCHEN KITCHEN!

First, I'm getting my old hardwood floors refinished, so I've got to get some rugs. Why is it so hard to decide?

Give me all your opinions, yo.

[one] [two] [three] [four]

[five] [six] [seven] [eight]

I'm so excited to be at this part of my life where I'm putting down some roots. [It's also terrifying, but that's another story. (-;]

faves

AAA

Yup. TRIPLE-A. If we're fb friends, you may have been witness to my late night/early morning fb posting while my car broke down on the side of I-70. If we're not fb friends, my car broke down on the side of I-70 around 1:00 am. It was not my favorite time. [Depending on my mood, I may write more about this mis-adventure.] AAA was baller through. I pulled out my phone, signed up for AAA and called them. They were immediately available to help me through the 5 hour saga of getting me to a hotel.

jesi

Goodness, these sweet little paintings are adorable. ADORABLE I SAY. 

I really want this little gem. Jesi (jesiiii) is on Etsy and instagram. 

Instagram Stories

YES. I KNOW. It's basically a ripoff of snapchat, but I don't snapchat; I IG story. Feel free to take a gander at my bad selfies and cat pictures. 

Pusheen

I got myself a Pusheen backpack. I know, I'm way too old to be carrying a backpack, but it has chubby cats and coffee and cupcakes on it. IT WAS BASICALLY MADE FOR ME. Is this not the cutest thing ever? 

beginninginthemiddle

I can't remember how I stumbled upon these instagrammers, but oh, how I love their work. Catherine and Bryan also have a blog and it's right up my alley. 

decent underwear

I've said it many many many times: ONLY COTTON UNDIES! But, I've been buying mine in the multipack at Target [sexy? no. functional? yes.] for the value of 5 pairs for $9.89. I recently picked up some pricier panties [alliteration alert!] at Lane Bryant. I still only choose cotton though, a lady has to have standards.

ALL THE HEART EYE EMOJIS FROM ME AND MY WEDGIE FREE BUM.

Ingrid Michaelson

Ingrid has a new album out!!!! AHHHHHH!!!! It Doesn't Have to Make Sense

It's so, so good. Fave song today: Miss America

crazy eyes glasses
We had so much fun with these silly glasses at my parent's a few weeks ago. They're hilarious.

I picked up my set at World Market, but these ones on Amazon seem similar.

succulents!

You know how people with tiny humans share pictures of their precious little moments? I totally do that with my succulents.

I'm pretty sure it's normal. 

I've been a fan of the succulents for awhile, but I recently went into succulent overdrive. I purchased a few at IKEA in January [people go to IKEA to buy plants and not just furniture, right?] and then I've just been filling in the gaps when I pop into Home Depot and exhibit my little to no self-control in the plant section.

ALL THE HEART EYES. 

Last summer my Grandpa was doing some cleaning and was debating if he wanted to keep this old tool box that had been sitting around his garage. It was made by my Great Grandpa and I snatched that baby up in an instant and said NOTHING to my mother because she'd totally be jelly. She is. I did that weird photo-showing thing I was talking about earlier and it didn't go so well.  

When I first planted the box it was a little sad, but these babies have been thriving and LOVING summer.

I've been asked a couple of times on IG about their success and it's mostly just luck. I keep most of my succulents in the window so they get lots of sunshine, water 1-2 times a week, and I talk to them all the time. I'm trying to balance talking to Pawblo with talking to the plants. I've mostly shared the succulent loves on IG, but I'll do a quick rundown here of all my pretties.

My royal pig just makes me happy.

Over the summer this one has been growing a looooooong stem and then it made this pretty little frilly thing on the end. After I recently got back from 2 weeks away it starting blossoming! It's SO PRETTY!

I should start learning the names of these so that I can propagate and share them...I'll just propagate without the names I guess. 

I did get some new containers while I was in Kansas that need to be filled up soon! 

I hadn't heard of slag glass before, but I think it's so pretty! I'll do a quick tutorial of potting a succulent soon.

A PIG FRIEND! Isn't he the cutest?

Have you boarded the succulent train? Has anyone ordered starts online?

love,
amy the crazy plant lady

ALL THE FLORALS

I can't

stop

with

the

florals. 

At work the other night [where the majority of my social interaction occurs] one of the ladies asked me if my headband and my phone case matched. 

Turquoise + Flowers = HEAVEN. 

I hope that's part of heaven at least. 

The Pioneer Woman Flea Market Vintage Bloom mug from Walmart. You can get a set of 4 on the internet or pop into a store and purchase one. It's on my Mugs I Want short list. [Yes, I have a Mugs I Want list.]

THIS PHONE CASE. All the heart eyes. It's actually the case I'm currently using and I love it. Who are we kidding, I pretty much love everything that Rifle Paper Co puts out. It's basically a floral smorgasbord.

A cardigan with flowers on it? Obviously I needed this one. I ordered the blue and can't wait for it to arrive!

Would it be OK to purchase wallpaper for a room in a house that doesn't exist in my life yet? I can just see this in a bathroom. Or as an accent wall [even though I don't love accent walls]. Or in a closet. But definitely in my life in the future.

A backpack? It's on sale from Orla Kiely...and dang, is it cute or what? 

Are you familiar with Katie Daisy? I mean, I favorited her shop on Etsy, I follow her on IG, and I attempted to lightly stalk her when I went to Bend that one time...so I'm saying I'm a fan. (-; LOVE this print of this Mountain Bouquet. 

I made this little floral-ish string art:

side notes: Ignore the fuzz/stuff on my rug. Would anyone be interested in doing a string art tutorial? As in, I'll list the supplies and you go get them and I'll post a pattern and we can all do it with some kind of magical hashtag? 

What floral goodness am I missing? What have you found lately? (-:

period panties

I'm not a huge fan of the word "panties" but the alliteration! I LOOOOOVE alliteration. Worth it.

Also, I'm going to talk about my period A LOT here, so if that's not your jam, skip this post. OK? OK.

Let's talk my period:
The Pink Streak - this is a teaser. I'll start my period in 12-36 hours, but it's a crapshoot as to when exactly that will be.
Day 1 - This is a medium day for me, I typically change my DivaCup about 3 times over the course of 24 hours.
Day 2 - HEAVY day, which for me means 4-5 DivaCup changes.
Day 3 - Pretty much a mirror of Day 1.
Day 4 - Light day, I can go about 12 hours between DivaCup changes.
Day 5 - Similar to Day 4...and usually my last period day.

I've used the DivaCup exclusively since I purchased it in 2011. [The two sentence DivaCup summary: A silicone menstrual cup that sits in the vaginal canal that you remove and clean and then put back in. You can wear it for up to 12 hours.] I ADORE the DivaCup.

When I started nursing [taking care of patients not feeding tiny humans with my breasts], I realized I don't actually get to go to the bathroom every time I need/want to. UGH. So, when I read this review of Thinx, I dived in and I'm going deep.

I bought 3 pairs of Thinx. I got the sport, hiphugger, and hi-waist.

On Day 1 of my period, I threw on the sport undies and NOTHING ELSE. I was free flowing. Let me just say, after about 18 years of using tampons and the DivaCup, free flowing felt...scary. [And also a little bit like a leaky faucet.] Remember in middle school when girls would start their period and someone would inevitably end up with a patch of blood on her backside?

I didn't want to be that girl.

But, I rolled with it. I kept those period panties on and that was it. Day 1 went pretty smoothly really. No leaking. NO LEAKING. What is this genius invention? On Day 2 [my heavy day] I put on the hiphuggers. Again, no leaking. The crotch is made of some kind of magical fabric that just absorbs everything and stays dry. I put toilet paper on it. I put my bare hand on it. IT'S SO WEIRD AND AMAZING. How can it not even be wet? I wore my hi-waist Thinx on the third day. Again, perfect results.

I wore each pair for 24 hours and I felt like they got a little smelly after about 15 hours. Maybe I'm super sensitive to smells, but if I were exclusively use Thinx, I would want to put on a new pair every 12 hours or so. That's quite an investment if you check the prices.

Questions from FB:
Leakage?
None. Nada. ZIP. I even got a massage while I was on my period without feeling like I was going to bleed errywhere.
Did you feel confident enough to wear white pants?
Honestly, I would. I only purchased the black Thinx, but maybe if I got the nude ones? If I had a big event [like if I were in a wedding or something] I would totally get some to wear under everything to feel extra safe.
Cleaning process? Do things really come totally clean? Did you find it easy to clean?
The directions on the website state to rinse when you're done wearing them, then wash cold and hang dry. No bleach or softener. The rinsing was the only extra step that would be outside my normal laundry routine, but I didn't find it time consuming. They got totally clean. No smells after.
Does it feel "pad" like? 
It doesn't feel like a pad, but they are thicker than my normal undies. I'm a hardcore cotton panties girl, because your lady parts need to breathe, y'all. These are definitely synthetic fabric, but it's only a few days.
Visible panty lines?
I never noticed any panty lines. I wore dresses, leggings, and scrubs in the first days I wore these.

I'm willing to declare myself a fan.

These would have been perfect when I was just starting my period in 5th grade. These would make an amazing gift to a new mom postpartum [you know when you're uterus is just like "I MADE A BABY NOW YOU WILL BLEED FOR DAYS AND DAYS AND DAYS" and you're doctor/midwife is like "don't put anything in your vagina for 6 weeks"]. Or just get some for yourself. Here's a link for $10 off.

cherry almond bars + a tiny kitchen tour

CHERRY ALMOND BARS

Crust
1 1/4 cups butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp salt
2 cup ap flour
1 1/4 cup almond meal [I got mine at TJ's, but Bob's Red Mill makes it too]

Preheat your oven to 325. Prepare a quarter sheet pan with a sheet of parchment lining the bottom, I used this one. Combine all ingredients and press into a half sheet pan [or if you don't have one, you can throw it in a 9x13].  Bake for 15 min until very lightly browned. Cool slightly.

Cherry Layer
16 oz tart cherry jam
2 tsp almond extract

TART CHERRY JAM. If you make this with a sweet cherry jam, it's still good, BUT it's SO SWEET. And this is me, the queen of all things sugar saying this. Find some tart jam. Mix the jam and almond extract and spread over your crust.

-->ALTERNATE LAYER<--

Cherry Berry Layer

1 small package frozen berries (I like the combo of strawberries, cherries, raspberries, blueberries) 
1 jar cherry jam

2 tsp almond extract

Cook the berries down with a splash of water until the juice thickens. Let cool and mix with cherry jam and almond extract.

Crumble Topping

3/4 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup AP flour
Optional: 1/4 cup slivered almonds, chopped (and toasted if you're feeling ambitious)

Combine the ingredients in the crumble [it should be chunky and crumbly, not like in my pictures, you may have to adjust the butter/flour ratio] and sprinkle over the cherry layer. Press slightly so it sticks together. Bake bars at 325 for 30 minutes until jam begins to bubble.

My favorite coffee shop in Fletcher Place [Calvin Fletcher's Coffee Company] carries sweets baked by local company Circle City Sweets. CF sells a beautiful Cherry Almond Bar that I've been demolishing as frequently as possible. I've been wanting to create my own version, so I did.

It's not exactly the same, but it's a dang good bar if I do say so myself.

And I do.

Can I recommend making iced coffee to go with your cherry almond bars?

Welcome to my tiny kitchen. If you remember the floor layout, technically I've taken over the "dining room" for kitchen things.

This is pretty much how it looks when I'm baking/creating recipes/blogging. Computer out. Camera out. Squeezed onto the tiny countertop that is totally working for me.

The actual kitchen has enough counter-space to the left of the sink for a dish rack. Soooo...that's why I needed to take over the dining room. Like I did in my last closet kitchen, I make a pot rack for less than $10 using a closet rack across my upper cabinets.

Also, I have a Pyrex problem. And by "problem" I mean, I love it and I want every piece and I have this book, Pyrex Passion, so I can learn all the things. Go ahead, snatch up your Grandma's Pyrex so I can have it. (-;

For example: the Balloons is the 444 Cinderella Bowl from a 1958 chip and dip set and was from Grandma Betty [my Uncle's mother]; and the Olives casserole dish under it is the 063 is part of the Verdé collection and was gifted from Natalie [Sarah N's mom]; the gravy server with underplate is from a Pyrex collection to match the Corelle Spring Blossom Green pattern and I inherited it from my Grandma Joan.

I get all kinds of nerdy about Pyrex.