This Is Me #10

#1.  My favorite photos of myself are usually not the photo I was trying to take.  The almost accidental photos.  

#2.  The harder I try to make something 'perfect', the less 'perfect' it becomes.  

#3.  I'd rather send you a hand written letter, than call on the phone.  

#4.  My biceps are too large for some arm hole openings.  I don't read that as meaning I have fat biceps, but rather I have BIG GUNS!  

#5.  I went through a phase in high school, when I ate creamy new england clam chowder straight out of the can, as an after school snack.  

Well that's all for today.  Hope ya'll are having a great Saturday, and happy DIYing, chris! 

Fun Friday Fascinations #17

Happy Friday!  Hope ya'll are having a great day!  I was so productive at the house with Aaron today.  We almost finished completely priming the walls in the living room.  I just need to do the edging from the waist down.  Which includes sweeping, mopping, and taping the edges of the floor.  Aaron is going to prime the ceiling.  Then a second coat, and we can move on to the color!  Yay!  Now on to my Fun Friday Fascinations!  

#1. Beautiful portrait Scarlett Shaney took of her mum and shared on Flickr.  Part of her series called The Body & The Landscape.  For me this photo is evocative of dark internal torment.  That feeling of being lost and giving up on all hope.  Her shoulder blades and dirty hands are so expressive.  

#2.  This is an awesome wall design.  Amazing use of different shades of black and geometric shapes.  I want some rats on one of my walls!  

#3.  Another amazing wall paint job, this one by P.S. I Made This.  I know I could paint an ombré wall fo' sure! 

#4.  This morning I was thinking a leather jacket would be a great addition to my jacket collection for the fall.  Then after dinner I was looking on Free People, and I found this amazing leather bomber jacket.  Drool worthy.  I want to rub my fingers over the soft leather, and fill my nostrils with a deep inhalation of that rich leather smell.  

#5.  This pair of pink studded canvas sneakers would be great with the leather jacket.  The perfect mix of hard and edgy with light and girlie.  This pair of sneaks would be super easy to make with a pair of cheap white sneaks, pink dye, and studs.  

#6.  I'm torn though, because the leather jacket would also look amazing with this pair of ankle booties.  If I wasn't so frugal I could so spend all my money at Free People.  

Hope ya'll enjoyed, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Cherry Rum

Happy thirsty thursday! I hope you love cherries as much as I do.

Ingredients:

1 shot of white rum

half shot of grenadine

5 fresh cherries

cherry 7up

Directions:

Pour the rum and grenadine into a glass.  Cut the cherries in half, and remove the pits.  Place cherries in the glass, and mash into the rum and grenadine.  Add ice, and pour the cherry 7up over the ice, filling the glass.  Stir and enjoy!

This was so good, I'm thinking about making a second right now.  I rarely go for a second, so that says a lot.  Hope ya'll are having a fantastic thursday, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Bleach Dip-Dyed Outfit

I woke up for work at four this morning!  Though I was in my car, on my way home by ten.  Not bad, right?  With the hour plus drive both ways I didn't feel like doing much when I got home.  Aaron and I are on opposite schedules, so anytime we end up at home together I just want to hang out on the couch and relax with him.  He worked on the house this morning, and got home at the same time as me, so we hung out until he had to go to work at four.  We watched Drive and Restless.  If you like to stare at Ryan Gosling then Drive is good, other than that there isn't much else to that movie.  Restless is a typical Gus Van Sant movie, super beautiful and extra moody.  I definitely cried a couple times. 

After Aaron left for work I tried to take some outfit pics.  I just threw this together to show off one of my newly created bleach dip-dyed shirt.  

Such a great easy light summery outfit.  Though my pictures had to be cut short, because I was literally being eaten alive. 

When I got inside I counted my bug bites, and on my legs alone I have over 125 bites!  Yesterday on the news they reported someone in Philadelphia was recently diagnosed with malaria.  Ahhhh!!!!! It's taking everything in me not to google the symptoms.  

Watch out for those misquitoes, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Bleach Dip Dyed

I was cleaning the other day, and I accidentally splashed a bit of bleach on my tank top.  I wear a tank top almost everyday, so I wanted to come up with a fix for the bleach dribbles.  I immediately thought of dip dying with bleach.  I can't take ownership to this idea either.  I've seen it around the internet too, but there is a particularly beautiful lady who has caught my eye with her lovely bleach dipped creations, Liska Cole at A Glass Jar.  I totally have a girl crush on her.  Her photos make me want to move back to California yesterday.  So today's DIY is not only to save my tank top, but also to celebrate how awesome A Glass Jar is.  This is the tank top, and a close up of the stains.  

I mixed about a 1/4 cup of bleach with four cups of water, and soaked the bottom half of my tank top.  Then I made dinner, and ate while it bleached.  

Then I realized I couldn't stand to only use my bleach mixture once, so I found a couple more things to bleach.  

I threw them all in the washer, and then dryer, and here are the finished products.  Sorry no before photos of the other two tops.  The last one didn't change at all.  The tag doesn't list the materials, so I'm going to guess it's made of something synthetic.  

I'm glad I tried out this simple DIY.  I like the middle, green shirt the best.  I want to try this out on some shorts, or maybe a skirt next.  I'm already back at work, getting ready for the fall picture season.  With buying the house, and all the work that still needs to be done on it, and already back working nearly four days a week, I don't have much time for the blog right now.  So I apologize for anything being below par on the blog.  I made a promise to myself to update this everyday, but the posts might get extremely short in the future.  I hope ya'll are able to stick through it with me, because I promise this blog will rock socks once Aaron and I get settled into our house.  Until tomorrow, happy DIYing, chris.  

Zucchini Chips & Creamy Caesar Dressing

I made Zucchini Chips with a Creamy Caesar Dressing for dipping.  

Zucchini Chip Ingredients:

- 1 zucchini

- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs

- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

- 1/4 teaspoon powdered garlic

- 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

- 1/2 cup 2% milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.  Cut the zucchini in 1/4 thick slices. Mix together all the dry ingredients in a small bowl.  Pour the milk into a separate small bowl.  

Spray a cooking rack with oil, and place in a larger cookie sheet.  Dip the individual zucchini slices into the milk, and then into the breadcrumb mixture, and sit on the cooking rack.  

Fill the rack with breaded zucchini slices, and place in the oven for thirty minutes.  

While they are baking mix up the creamy caesar dressing.  

Creamy Caesar Dressing:

- 1 fresh lemon (just the juice)

- 1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard

- 3/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

- 1 clove of garlic (pressed)

- 1/4 cup mayonnaise

- 1/2 cup olive oil

- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

Whisk together the lemon juice, dijon, worcestershire sauce, and garlic clove.  Once combined whisk in the mayo, then slowly add the oil.  Finally stir in the parmesan cheese.  

Now pick up a little zucchini chip, dip in the caesar dressing, and enjoy!  

Happy Nom Nom Monday, and happy DIYing, chris!  

Celebrating Manliness

A few hours ago I got home from a trip up to upstate New York.  Aaron and I went up to hang out at our buddy Derick's surprise bachelor party.    This is how we rocked the American Legion!  Here's the special couple, Derick & Melissa dancing to the live music.  

Melissa's sister, Sarah.  Wearing awesome sun glasses.  This lady sure knows how to have fun. 

Derick rockin' with one of his groomsmen, Josh.  He put this whole thing together, and Josh did an awesome job coordinating everything.  

Sarah, Josh's wife.  

Derick giving the band a break, and rocking out with his buddies.  

This is some dangerous stuff.  It's called a shotski, and it's a quick way to get a lot of people drunk at a party.  Not recommended for non-special-occasions.  

I had a ton of fun with everyone.  I can't wait to hang out with all of them again in fancy clothes.  Only 55 more days until Derick and Melissa's wedding!  It's going to be a fabulous event, and every day we get closer, I get a little more excited.  Hope you had a fun weekend too, and happy DIYing, chris!