A little weeknight crafting

I spent the past two weekends at craft fairs.

Several things come out of visiting craft fairs two 

weekends in a row...

1) weight gain

2) buyers remorse 

(as in...dammitwhydidn'tIjustbuythatawesome:insertblankhere)

3) some fun craft ideas

Here is my favorite purchase from our craft fair adventures:

I found this at the Sugar Mound craft fair.

This artist makes her jewelry from salvaged airplane

metals and I thought it was a really unique piece.

Here's a couple pictures from last weekend

at the Maple Hill Fair:

oh geez. Gidget.

:must insert side story:

My mom insists on bringing this dog everywhere.

We had to take turns carrying her through the craft fair.

(don't even try to hide your disgust Rachael...it gets worse)

Halfway through the fair we get stopped by two police

officers who tell my mom that dogs aren't allowed

inside the fair grounds... to which my mom snorts a short laugh

and replies..."This is no dog!" and then saunters off...

I stood there wide eyed with my head shrinking into my 

shoulders like a turtle and then I gave the cops an awkward

smile/giggle like "please excuse the crazy lady I'm with"...

Fortunately there were tons of people and we kind of 

disappeared into the crowd, but thats not to say that I wasn't

horrified and certain that we were going to be chased down

and tackled at any given minute!!

Anyhoo...back to my crafting...

I got a couple of ideas from things that I saw for sale

at craft booths, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend money

on things that I felt like I could make myself!!

The most surprising thing about any of this is that I actually followed

through and did these crafts in somewhat decent time!

Craft #1

Hobby Lobby had their scrapbook paper for 50% off 

so I got a TON of different papers for like 6 bucks! Woohoo!

I bought a cheap canvas and painted it with

some green acrylic paint. Then I started cutting and layering

the scrapbook paper in flower-like pattern.

I hadn't worked with modge podge in awhile so I had

to refresh my memory...

I would modge podge a layer down and then start

on the next layer of 'petals'.

Once all my petals were modge podge'd I put

a layer over the entire canvas.

The finished project!

I hung it in the guest room and I think it opens the door

for me to use a lot of fun different colors in this mostly

gray room.

What do you think? I contemplated adding

buttons around the edges...thoughts?

Hooray!

Craft #2

Since I was on a mission to modge podge the entire planet,

I decided to tackle the missing light switch covers in the guest

 bedroom. They're an awkward size that requires us to have 

a 'double' switch plate next to a 'single' switch plate. 

I saw some similar paper-covered switch plates

at the craft shows and I thought it was a clever way

to dress up the plain white plastic.

Cute right? 

I had a few boo-boo's with the modge podge and

had to start over on one of the plates, but I had lots

of paper so it wasn't a big deal.

Craft #3

Have you ever heard of bittersweet?

Well it's a bright orange little berry and it's all the rage

at craft shows. They sell little bundles of it for like $20 bucks!

Sheesh!!

There was no way I was paying that, but I did love

the bright orange fall colors.

My mom thought that she knew where some bittersweet

grew near her house so we went on an adventure

and we hit the bittersweet motherload!

We filled her trunk full of bittersweet vine and then

let it sit and dry out for a few days.

I bought two grapevine wreaths from Hobby Lobby 

and then I used floral wire to attach the bittersweet to the wreaths.

I used smaller sprigs of bittersweet to fill in the bare areas,

and I was once again, pleasantly surprised at how it turned out!

I think they add a nice pop of fall color and I probably

won't want to take them down!!

But I think I'm all crafted out now,

so I'm hanging up my modge podge until the next

craft fair or pinterest post motivates me!

Birthday Weekend Part 2

I better hurry and finish this birthday post cause

it's almost the next weekend and I'm starting to 

lose motivation to blog about it!!

On Monday, my actual birthday,

Rachael and I decided to set out on a little

adventure to nearby Weston, MO.

Her mom and sisters had recently visited and

said that the little town was really quaint with some

cute stores and places to eat.

Our first stop was the 'Red Barn Farm' which

is located just outside of 'downtown' Weston.

It's basically a pumpkin patch/petting zoo, but it's

one of Weston's main attractions.

The wind was whipping around like crazy and since Ro 

is still too little to appreciate much of the activities they had,

we didn't stay too long....but long enough to snap this

gem of photo:

Be thankful you all can't zoom in on this, cause we 

seriously look a hot mess...

Rachael's hair looks like a wind blown bowl cut and my stupid

rabbit fur jacket (which I hate btw..) makes me look like I 

weigh about 250lbs.

(note to self: keep looking for new brown jacket)

Atleast Ro looks cute, she's the saving grace in this photo!

And we of course couldn't visit a pumpkin patch without

snapping the obligatory photo of cute baby with pumpkins...

Trying to get her to hold a little pumpkin..

she wasn't buying it.

We couldn't figure out what the heck she was looking at,

but she was making us work really hard for a cute shot!

Aha! There it is!

Then we had to get one with the birthday girl

and her favorite little...

Ro-bee and Aunt Beth.

Once we'd had our fill of photo-ops we decided

to head into downtown Weston...

one small problem...

turns out all the stores are closed on Mondays.

WHAT?!

We walked up and down the main street seeing nothing but

'CLOSED' signs hanging on the cute little shops.

At first we were joking that maybe they were all closed on

Mondays, but it soon became apparent that it was no joke...

We finally found a random little antique store that was open

and the old lady working there gave us an explaination 

that might as well have went something like,

 well duh all the shops are closed on mondays you dumb city girls...

Well, Fine.

We told the old lady to peace out, snapped a picture anyways and then

got the heck outta that ghost town!

On to lunch...

We were starved.

So was Rowan...

Picture us driving down a country highway

with poor little Ro-bee screaming in the backseat and us

frantically trying to find a suitable place to pull over...

Now picture us pulling off onto some random gravel shoulder

just off of the highway...

Here's the best part,

now picture two police men pulling up to see if 

we're ok while poor exposed Rachael sits in the backseat

breastfeeding...ha!

What are the odds?

We had lunch at a mexican restaurant up north

and then I finished up my birthday night

with some wine and appetizers at an

italian restaurant near our house with Roy.

(No pictures of lunch or dinner...oops, sorry)

Not at bad birthday weekend.

In fact, a pretty great one.

Still can't believe that I'm 28...

not sure when this is gonna start feeling

normal and stop feeling like an April Fools joke!!

28th Birthday Weekend Part 1

I'm officially 28 years old as of Monday.
My upper twenties.

Sheesh.

How did that happen?

I must say that this is probably the first birthday that I've legitimately

felt like I was getting 'old'. I'm sure one day I'll look back

at this sentiment and want to punch my 28 year old self....

But hey, you can't help how ya feel.

I think my feelings are compounded

by the fact that I'm officially reaching a place in my life where 

things that I always thought would be happening by this age,

aren't panning out the way I'd expected...
So is life I suppose...

Nevertheless, despite my geriatric state (haha), 

I still managed to have a pretty great birthday weekend!

Friday I met Alicia for lunch at Poco's before heading

to the West Bottoms for another month of First Fridays.

Our original plan had to been eat at this place called 'Kitty's Cafe'

(it's on our food tour list)

but we chickened out due to the sketch neighborhood and the two

burly guys (ie: Notorious B.I.G. look a-likes)
standing guard by the front door...
we decided we'll just have to try to visit Kitty's
during their busy lunch time hours.

So, we resorted to Plan B which was to try this place called 

'Poco's' (also on our food tour). 

This place was recently remodeled by one of those TV shows

that comes in and revamps struggling family owned restaurants.
I'd heard some DJ's on the radio talking about it and how delicious it was,

 so we thought we'd better check it out.
Overall,

The decor was cute, but the food was just 'ok'. 

I'd give it a C.

The prices were high and they had the nerve

to charge for chips and salsa....

Big no-no in my book.

Trying out the queso. 

Alicia's Enchiladas. 

Decor in Poco's.

My baja fish tacos.

They were a little dry so I had to add some salsa.

These two tacos with rice beans were $13.00!

Yikes!

After we were done eating we headed for First Fridays.

It was a pretty chilly day, 

(a stark contrast to the inferno of heat we had on our last visit)

so we found ourselves seeking out some coffee & hot cider.

We found this place called Jaskii's, which turned out to be

quite the odd little smoke shop/coffee bar...

Hookah anyone??...

Jaskii's had some interesting art...

The title of this piece was 'Lizbionic Barbecue'...

Despite the weird art and the fact that I smelled 

like cigarettes for the rest of the day,

 my coffee was tasty and

Alicia's apple cider was freakin' amazing so I'd

definitely visit Jaskii's again.

Saturday.

My mom and I had purchased tickets for the

annual Hyde Park Homes Tour.

This was our first year going and we weren't sure

what to expect for our $10 tickets.

We were pleasantly surprised! 

There were 9 homes on the tour ranging in size

from mansions to bungalows. The tour had really nice

shuttle buses that took you from house to house and

there were also free refreshments and snacks.

(always a plus for this girl..)

Some of the homes were very modern in style

while other home owners stuck to very

traditional styles of decorating to match the

era the houses were built.

This house was just stunning from the street.

This home (not surprisingly) was built by

a man who owned a brick company and paved

all of the original brick roads in Kansas City.

The home tours were really well organized and

there were tour directors located throughout the homes

to share historical and architectural information.

Afterwards my family had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants,

Macaroni Grill...

I can never get enough of the FREE (ahem...Poco's take note..)

rosemary-garlic bread that they serve.

 All this fun and it wasn't even my actual birthday yet...
maybe turning 28 doesn't suck afterall!!
Eh, who am I kidding...I'm pretty sure it sucks ;)

Just Catchin' Up

Life's been a bit foggy lately.

So any attempt at blogging has fallen on the back burner...

But, even in a fog there are bright spots

and I wanted to give those bright spots their earned place

in my blogging timeline!!

Here's a hint for my 1st (and littlest) bright spot:

her name starts with an R and she weighs about 11 pounds...

No, it's not your imagination...

she IS the cutest baby you've ever seen

Playing dress up at Rachael & Matt's

birthday barbeque (8/25/12)

Babysitting in September

Hangin' with the girls at Panera..

I'm gonna have to give myself a shout-out for making

her that freaking adorable headband she's rocking!!

Another visit to Rachael & Ro-bee

I mean...stop it kid. 

You're killing me.

Good luck ever telling her 'no' Rachael....

Going swimming for the last time this summer...

(8/28/12)

Too cool

Double bright spots!!

I think she's gonna fit in just right....

And the cherry on top....

I happened to catch this sweet girls

first laughs on video!!

Melt my heart!!

Bright spot #2:

Family time at my mom & dad's

Kelly wrestling petting the dogs

mamacita...aka...the animal hoarder

Decided to try our luck at fishing

Of course lil country bumpkin caught one...

here's what I caught:

thought I had a big one on the line...

just a bunch of lake moss...sigh

And then we found a stray dog...

 and being the offspring of an animal hoarder we obviously

threw it in our car.....

Bright spot #3:

Beth & Alicia's 'Taste of Kansas City'

A two woman food tour.

Some, but not all of our stops are occurring

before our shifts on nights that we work.

It's as delicious as it sounds...

The Art of Pizza in the KC crossroads

(9/17/12)

The pizza was delish but the garlic knots we had as 

an appetizer nearly did me in...

I was burping garlic for like 24 hours...TMI I know...

we've decided we'll go back but skip the garlic knots.

We made a fun afternoon out of ordering

Leo's St. Louis style pizza and making an

obscene amount of girly foo-foo drinks...

this 'Taste' was extra special cause one of my 

other bright spots joined us!!

(9/21/12)

Once the pizza had settled, we hopped in the 

car and headed to The Landing in Liberty to

have some of their fried pickles

(you should probably know that we're fried pickle connoisseurs)

I've been sucking at taking pictures so here's 

a comprehensive list of our conquered restaurants;

-The Peanut (cheese fries)

-Rico's Tacos (ah-mazing 1.00 tacos)

-The Art of Pizza

-Leo's Pizza

-The Landing (fried pickles)

Bright spot #4:

Plaza Art fair with my best friend.

I love going to the plaza art fair.

It's just one of those things that I have to do 

in order for it to feel like fall has arrived.

I only took one picture, but the evening

was perfect and we followed it up with 

some yummy Thai food at Lulu's.

sweet little Ro had fallen asleep by the time

we thought to take a picture. 

Still can't believe we took your BABY with us to the plaza

art fair this year, Rach!! So surreal!

Bright spot #5:

Little sis moves into her own house!!

Last weekend Kelly was finally able to move into her

new home!

After a few set backs and having her closing date 

postponed twice, she was beyond ready to get those keys.

I'm super excited for her. 

I know how great it feels to buy your first home.

Selfish big sister is trying to get over the fact that she

moved father away from  me (30 minutes versus 10),

but I suppose I should just be grateful that we live in the

same state and that I don't have to book a flight to go see her.

I'm sure we'll still have our fair share of

ridiculous times together...

did I mention that we're conjoined?

...hence the reason I'm having separation anxiety!!

oh, and then there was the time that we couldn't 

finish all our sushi rolls at the all you can eat sushi bar...

(all you can eat = no doggy bags)

So we just had to make due...

the sushi was just too good to leave behind...

BAHAHA...I die.

I love you all, little bright spots!!

Thank you for filling my days with big laughs,

good food, long talks and great memories.