Off the shelf: June reads

Let me preface this post by saying that if you weren't aware I was a super nerd before, you will be convinced after you read this whole post.

So, I decided that it'd be a good idea to write up a little post to show you what I'm currently reading.  But then I realized that no one is interested in seeing photos of my nook (which is an e-reader you perv).  So I extended it into what visually appealing books I'm reading in a month.

By the way - my current nook book is "A Game of Thrones", the first of the "A Song of Fire and Ice" series.  In case you were curious.

On to more pretty picture books:



Surprise (but not really surprising)! It's comic books! Yay!

Not just any comic books. DC comic books as trade paperbacks.  I love 'em.  I figured what with the DC reboot on the way, I should stockpile the good series' while I have time to catch up.  Since, you know, they aren't going to do anymore Birds of Prey I hear. (insert pouty face)

First off the shelf, let's take a look at the 2 out of this bunch that I've already read so far this month.

Zatanna: Mistress of Magic and Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds

I've been wanting to read both of these for a while now and Johnboy bought them for me for our anniversary.  That's right, I'm the kind of girl who prefers comic books for romantic gifts.  Without getting into the nitty gritty of each of these books, since I'm not sure anyone cares for me to do so, I'll give you a brief review.

Review: I loved both of these.

Boom. Not enough for you? Well, I really enjoyed Zatanna.  I've been wanting to read stuff from her canon for a long ass time now.  I've considered dressing as her for Halloween once or twice until I realized people would just think I was a slutty magician.  And Birds of Prey? Awesomesauce.  I need to buy the next few books in this particular series like, yesterday.  They're already saved in my Amazon wishlist (you know...in case you wanted to send me something special for no reason).  The dynamic between the ladies in that series is really compelling to me.

And I'm sorry if you think that because the women in comic books are scantilly clad, they're not doing justice to women everywhere.  Because guess what, the women in these comic books (and most that I've read) are just as strong if not stronger than most of their male counter parts.  And they look pretty badass.  No one complains that all the men are in bulge showing tights and leotards. Rant over.

So, the next 2 I'm going to show you I haven't read before.  But I'm really looking forward to based on what I've heard from everyone.

Batman: The Killing Joke and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Yep. Batman.  I love that Caped Crusader.  He has some of the best storylines.  So I borrowed these two books and I know I need to start reading them soon since I'll have to give them back.  But come on, there's a long weekend coming up and I'll be able to finish each one in a day anyway.

In other nerd news.  Remember my idea about a Pyrex birthday? Screw that.  Today I found out that the Chicago Comic Con is the weekend after my birthday and there's a little thing called Buffyfest VIP.  So...yeah.  Count me in! (most likely anyways).

Over the weekend: Low Key Grand Rapids

This weekend was spent in Grand Rapids, nursing a boyfriend full of bruises and stitches from surgery.  Oh, and celebrating our 4 year anniversary.  Except that we knew it'd be mostly nursing and bland foods so we celebrated a week ago.

You know how sometimes it's just perfect timing to be completely chill and relaxed and do practically nothing?  This was one of those times.  We hung out around the apartment with the animals.  Watching movies like Tron and playing video games like L.A. Noir.   And by playing I mean, I was the navigator.  Which is pretty much my best trait in video games.  Unlike real life where I get lost constantly (like this weekend when I got lost on the way to GR somehow).

In true relaxing Michigander style, we drank sodas and went to the antique market.  My favorite antique store.  With reasonable prices and super nice people.  Let's have a little look see!

These frosted glasses were so perfect!"]

Awesome old lady couch.




Am I the only person who thinks that last picture is hilarious?  It was a sign in a junk shop we stopped in and it cracked me up.  For obvious reasons.  Not pictured: crazy amount of hands.

I'm feeling super scatter brained now, but let's just say that I napped a lot this weekend.  John ate salads while I ate french fries.  And I had to rush home to watch True Blood with my girl Danielle. Oh! And I happened to come out of the deal with a few AMAZING Pyrex finds.

Pyrex love.


I've told you about my unnaural love of all things Pyrex before, right? If not, behold: I am insane.  I collect bakeware and bowls in bright patterns.  And I can't stop.  Today I actually considered the idea of having a Pyrex themed birthday...  Where people bring me Pyrex in exchange for an awesome time.  But that's messed up, right?

Right...

Friday Faves: Cute Things

Hey y'all!  This is going to be a short and sweet Friday Faves post.  Short because I forgot to schedule it last night, what with my epic nap taking skills and all.  Plus I'm in Grand Rapids for the weekend.  So let's get to it!

1.) The Friendship - by Cameron (of Cameron+Whitney)



This is seriously amazing.  He did thie with PAPER! Paper!  It's insane.  And I just keep staring at it.  Look how cute that octopus is!

2.) Megan Lara's art. Particularly the following shirt.



I'm obsessed with every shirt Megan Lara designs.  But this one is just too stinking cute.  It's Sonic! and Tails! and Knuckles! But so stinking cute!

3.) This video of a puppy.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36qe-5rkQDc&w=425&h=349]

I can't even.  It's too cute.  It's slipping! Dawww.

4.) This dress from Modcloth.



This pattern is too cute!

5.) My tattoo.



Partly because I love it and I want to show it off.  Partly because I don't want to find a 5th thing to show you. But mostly because it's cute dang it.  I mean come on. It's Disney!

Anyway, have a good weekend everyone!

DIY: Friendship bracelet

As I mentioned in my Friday Faves post, old school fiendship bracelets have been on my mind as of late.

Since they scream summer to me (and camp, and friends, and swimming in pools/lakes), I immediately ordered some embroidery thread on Amazon.  105 skeins to be exact.  I was so anxious to make stuff that I made Johnpants drive out to Franklin Park on Saturday to pick up my package of thread at UPS.

After the long day we had, I was pretty pumped to get started on my very own chevron bracelet (I'm still not sure if I'm okay with calling it a friendship bracelet.  Since...you know...I made it for myself).  So I set to work straight away, knowing well and good that I'd have to stop as soon as my friends came over.

See that flaw? It adds character.

You know, so they wouldn't know how pathetic I was to be making myself a "friendship bracelet".  Of course, I taped my work to the coffee table and wouldn't stop blathering on about it, so being coy about it lost all meaning on me.  But what can I say? I'm a big mouth.

Well, anyway, after John left on Sunday, I got back to work on this super simpleproject and knocked out the finished product.  I'm honestly loving it.  So if anyone wants a friendship bracelet, let me know.  I'm down for making them. And giving them....and receiving them?  I mean, sure, if you're offering. ;)

It's really hard to get a good picture of your own wrist.

But seriously, check out the step by step how to over on Honestly, WTF.  It's super easy to follow along with and ends with an insanely cute end product.

Over the Weekend: Food, Friends, Toys, and Games

How was everyone's weekend?

I've gotta say that I'm in the camp that thinks weekends are way too short.  I'm not really sure if there's anyone in the opposite camp though.  Like, if we were to have a war between the camps, my camp would win.  But it would be a water balloon type of war.

But I digress.  So, my weekend was actually pretty great.  The BF came out for a nice visit on Friday and we watched the horror that is Scream 4.  Not that it's a horror movie. It was just REALLY bad.  I kept saying, "This is not like Scream. Scream was good."  But I just love a good slasher film.  And Scream 4 does not fit the bill.

Saturday involved waking up and immediately driving out to Franklin Park, IL to pick up a package from Amazon.  Because I'm a crazy person who needs to drive 30 minutes away on a beautiful Saturday afternoon just to pick up a delivery of embroidery thread (more on that later).  Of course, like the crazy people that we are we were completely famished by the time we got there and had to eat Culver's for lunch instead of our original plan of going downtown to Grand Luxe.  Let's face it, we're burger and fries people.  Not downtown people.

Butter burger and crinkle fries? Sounds like love.

So, we ate up and I deemed the town of Franklin Park cool because a softball team was there quoting Buffy the Vampire Slayer and winning over my affections.  Then it was onward to another completely obscure area to go to the movies to see Green Lantern.  There's something about a comic book movie that really does it for me in the summer.  It's just perfectly fitting.  I honestly don't think the movie would have been as much fun in say December.  So keep that in mind movie makers.

After the movie let out and we avoided coming to blows with the jerk who was sitting behind us, we drove over to Rotofugi. Oh. my. god.  That store is amazing.  I'd never been before but I knew the gyst.  They sell tons of vinyl toys (think action figures...but not) and fun blind boxed items.  The store is just so visually stimulating and colorful.  You just want to touch everything.  We came away with a few presents for each other and things for ourselves as well.  Cuz you know... I can't help but spend money on things I don't need.  Like Simpson's blind boxed figures.

Good ol' lard lad! Just don't look...

So many toys.


The haul.


The rest of the night continued the trend of an awesome day.  We had some super tasty mediterranean food at Reza's in Andersonville.  And had some ladies over to play board games and watch fantastic movies like the original Batman.  I'm telling you.  There's something about the whole going out every night phase of life that was just completely lost on me.  I'd much rather stay in and drink beers while playing board games with my friends.  I wonder why that is.

Sunday, as always, was destined to be a lazy day.  At least we had some delicious burgers from this new burger joint in Andersonville, The Burger Philosophy.  I mean, come on. Hand cut fries? Pretzel buns?  You had me at chocolate malts.  Granted, it's a little pricey but the quality and taste is good enough to justify going there every so often.  Like when the McDonald's next door to it just isn't cutting it.

Want has fries.


Amanda approved.


Is it bad to admit that I spent the remainder of Sunday napping and watching Roseanne and Buffy on Netflix? If it is bad...pretend you didn't know that that's what happened.  Pretend I spent the day on a yacht.  Or something equally exciting.  Yeah, that's the ticket.  Expect a fun DIY post this week and maybe something a little different.  We'll see.

Friday Faves: Inaugural Edition

Holy moly!  So many posts in one week!  You should be so lucky.  Or I should be so lucky rather.

So, you might have noticed from my last few sentences that I'm trying this new thing where I post more than once a month.  In an effort to keep this up, I'm going to try to do a few themed posts weekly/monthly/whenever I feel like it.  So that leads us to Friday Faves.

This week's list sort of a hodge podge of things that just make me super happy.

 1.) Roseanne. Particularly the scene about 5 minutes into this clip with Becky dancing.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFaYdErga9Y]

So, lately I've been trying to watch different older tv shows to fall asleep to at night.  First there was The Office. Then 30 Rock. Now Roseanne.  I don't know about you but this show just makes me laugh.  I've probably seen every episode at least once.  And did you know Joss Whedon wrote for this show? That's the type of fact that can really win a girl over.  So long as that girl is me.

2.) Fantastic prints from various Esty sellers.

Guh. Star Wars awesomeness.


This seller's work makes me crazy happy.

3.) Friendship bracelets



Okay, am I the only one who found it crazy cathartic to just sit down and get lost in making these as a kid? Well, after seeing this post on Honestly, WTF I jumped over to Amazon and ordered me up some ebroidery thread to make some.  So maybe there will be a DIY post soon with the outcome.

4.) Finding new blogs to read every day.

So, check out that bar to the right aka my blogroll.  I am so in love with all these bloggers.  I have a major girl crush on all of them and their style/craftiness/food abilities/general awesomesauce.  First I found door sixteen.  Then Yellow Brick Road and Young House Love.  That pretty much rounds out the awesome house blogs.  Then I stumbled onto A Beautiful Mess which led to a whole slew of other awesome reads.  I mean the photos alone on The Dainty Squid, Enjoy It, and LGRAB. Guh. To die for.  Not to mention the inspiration of Kyla Roma, Smile and Wave, and Love Elycia.  Now that's some insane name dropping.  But trust me, every single one of these blogs are on heavy rotation in my browsing history and soon they will be on yours too.

5.) Books. Books. Books.



Okay, I've recently embraced the greatness that is my Nook ereader.  And as such, I have begun my love affair with books again.  Granted, the books I enjoyed the most recently were the young adult series "The Hunger Games".  But seriously.  Those books were insanely good. Like, read 3 books in 4 days good.  So if you're looking for a fun summer read, check those out. Soon.

And thus concludes this weeks Friday Faves.  Hope you got something fun out of it!  Let me know if you're enjoying these new features or if there's something else you want to hear about. And have an awesome weekend!

Pom Pom Flowers

 

 



So, let's get one thing straight about me.  I have a fancy shmancy dSLR camera that I still don't 100% know how to use.  I often confuse the whole ISO thing to the point where I get my settings completely backwards.  And let's not even get started on the fact that I was unaware white balance existed until recently so I never remember to change it.

And furthermore, I only seem to take photos in the worst light possible.  Like at 10:00 at night.  Or as I'm rushing out the door in the morning.  Like this morning, I thought to myself, "Self.  You need to take  picture of the tissue paper flower you made so you can post it." So I pointed and clicked and took these before rushing out to the bus.

Now that we've got that out of the way... On to my DIY for the week.

If I'm being completly honest, I've made one of these tissue flowers exactly once before today.  But it was met with hesitation by miss Kelly so I was a little gun shy to try again.  But after cleaning my apartment for my dad's visit, I found a bit of paper and gave it another go.



I completely love this project!  It's super easy. Super cheap. And looks truly adorable.  Next time I'm going to make it in an actual color though.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the white flower look. But my walls are already insanely white so it just gets lost in all the hubbub.  You live and you learn I guess.

But anywho! If I can do this. So can you! Just think how cute your apartment/house/car would be with a few of these hanging in a corner/bathroom/rearview mirror.  Only...don't put it in your car.  Or your pee room (bathroom).  That just seems weird. Even for you.

PS. My officemates are lucky they have me.  I made them my tasty chocolate chip cookies this week.  nom noms.

Over the Weekend: Dad Edition

On Thursday, my dad came out to Chi town for a visit.  It's still cool to call it Chi town, right?

To be honest, I was a little nervous at the idea of entertaining him all on my own but it turns out that two likeminded individuals can fair quite well when left to their own devices.  And by their own devices, I mean my PS3 and Netflix streaming instantly.

It turns out my dad enjoys Arrested Development which works out well since all of his kids freaking love that show.  I mean, come on, my brother's dog is named Maeby and my dad never knew why until this past weekend.  It's actually really funny to watch TV with my dad because he does this thing where he asks questions throughout the program.  "Who's that guy?" "What does GOB mean?" "When did they rebuild the banana stand?" I love it.

On Friday, it was pretty chilly and we had no real prospects as far as things to do.  So what would any self respecting father daughter duo do but go to Ikea all the way out in Schaumburg? That's right, I dragged him out way out there just to go shopping for apartment things.  Namely, curtains.  But he's the type of guy (read: carpenter) who enjoys working on projects so I didn't feel all that bad asking him to help me out.

We made it home without spending too much money and realized that we didn't have the necessary hardware for installation.  So I hung up the prints that I bought since I had more than enough nails and laid out the door mat and was just amazed.  I'm seriously in love with my apartment these days.  So we stayed in and ordered a pizza, admiring our purchases and drinking beer.

Saturday rolled around and I woke up to take Ash dog to the dog groomer for a deshedding (AMAZING). And we picked up the screws to hang my curtain rod.  Since it took forever for Ash to get groomed we had enough time to hem my curtains (sans sewing) and hang em before having to go get him.  Let me tell you, for $50 I have completely transformed my bedroom.  If I knew I was staying in this apartment much longer, I'd rush out to Ikea to outfit the rest of my windows.  Seriously. It's that awesome.

After picking up Ashdog, we drove way up north to Wisconsin to visit my stepmom and her sisters since that's where they were staying after dropping my dad off at my place.  Honestly, I wish I had the chance to pick up some cheese but alas, my love affair with cheese will have to wait until another day.  But that's one more state I can check off the fifty nifty United States list since I'd never been there til this past weekend.  It was a late drive home but it was well worth it to sleep in my freshly made bed with light blocking curtains.

I'm going to obsess over these curtains for at least a few more weeks.  Like, it's crazy how into them I am. You'd think they were Joseph Gordon Levitt or something.

But in all, that's the gist of my weekend. Except oh! The next best part (you know, after the wonder curtains) - my dad bought me an insanely awesome vacuum!  I'm telling you, every time people visit they say they're going to get me a vacuum to deal with the dog hair.  Well, someone finally buckled under the allergy pressure and bought me one! Best reverse Father's day present ever! My rug is seriously clean.  You could lay on it and not get up with hair all up in your bidness.  That's how clean it is. It's bidness cleaning power. Impressive.

Anyway! I'll try to be back later in the week to show off some neat things I'm working on these days!

I didn't take any photos this weekend. So just imagine this is exactly how we looked the whole time.