Tuesday, October 18, 2011

I'm Getting Married!!

Me and my fiancee
Yup, I'm ENGAGED!  My lovely boyfriend Jared asked me to marry him last week.  We kept it a secret for a few days and then told our families and now I'm telling YOU!  We are so excited.  We are planning a wedding for the end of December 2012.

The actual proposal was very simple.  We were sitting on the couch talking about something completely different and he looks at me and just says, "Will you marry me?"  Of course I said yes.  We kissed and the rest is history.

Since I am a crafter, I am seriously debating doing some knitting for this wedding, maybe a lace shawl?  Hmm....the possibilities....

Lots of love,
Luci

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

A Use for Postcards

I've been collecting postcards for over a decade now and I have an entire shoebox of postcards from all over the world.  Sometimes I use them in my scrapbooking but generally they just sit in the box on the shelf.  Looking through them brings back lots of good memories from various trips I've taken or the people who have given them to me.

A couple weeks ago, I was looking through my box of postcards and thought, some of these would look really cool on my wall and started exploring options to use them in decorating.  My boyfriend, who used to be a framer at Hobby Lobby, was helpful in what would be really expensive and what wouldn't be.


Then I found a collage frame from Hobby Lobby, normally priced at $24.99 which I purchased for half price.  It took me a while to find the right collection of postcards that looked enough alike but still cohsive.

From left to right, top to bottom: New York City; Crested Butte, CO; Long's Peak, CO; Mt Hood, OR; Den Haag (Holland); Grand Canyon; Navy Pier, Chicago; Paris.

Got it hung up the other day in the dining room and I like the touch of color it adds to the space!

love and coffee,
Lulu

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Start of a New Adventure

Most of you readers know that I don't stick to just one or two crafts but fancy several.  Quilting has yet to be one of them, but it has always fascinated me.  My great aunt Nancy is an amazing quilter who made me a gorgeous quilt for my high school graduation.  She has been super supportive via Facebook.  Hi Aunt Nancy! 

Last week, I took a plunge and bought a quilting book from the local quilt shop Stitcher's Garden.

I've really enjoyed flipping through the book and looking at all the projects and reading the how-to sections.  I think I will start taking a beginning quilter's class at the shop.

Then yesterday, I decided to take the plunge and purchase some fabric!  JoAnn's was having a Labor Day sale.


Today I washed it and pressed it.  I will try my hand at cutting with scraps leftover from other sewing projects.  I will keep you readers posted!

love and coffee,
Lulu

Friday, August 19, 2011

Laundry Quandry


This is my laundry room.  It is small but functional.  I love my tankless hot water heater and my snazzy energy-efficient washer and dryer.  However, I want my little laundry room to look pretty...

Painting is out of the question for a while and I think it would be way too troublesome to paint anyway.  I really do want to hang up my ironing board somehow, and I've been looking around at things to hang it it up with.  I think I found something I want at Target.

Maybe some colored bins on the shelf above the washer and dryer would be nice... Not to mention keeping it clean would probably do wonders!

Hmm, so many ideas.... What are yours?

love and coffe,
Lulu

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Beauty of Onions

Onions are so versatile.  You can use them in tons of cooking dishes.  They can be savory or sweet.  The other night I decided to caramelize some onions to top some beef I made for dinner.  I started with a frying pan with melted butter heated over medium-heat.  I thinly sliced a white onion.


Mmmm... Some kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper... Stir them around to get them nice and covered in the melted butter.  Oooh my kitchen smelled so good!  I tossed in a spoonful of brown sugar, a trick I learned from America's Test Kitchen.


After a while, the onions start to get nice and brown but a little translucent. Soft with the most subtle crunch... A few minutes later I added a couple tablespoons of red wine.


Yummy! And they were so good too. I ate several spoonfuls of these onions just plain.

Aren't onions amazing?

Monday, August 8, 2011

New Acquisitions Thanks to Mom

My mom is a bargain-hunting queen.  She was the one who found my china cabinet and buffet table at a garage sale for dirt cheap.  After unpacking my grandmother's good china, I realized I didn't have a teapot.  Or a gravy boat for that matter... My mom texted me Saturday that she found me a teapot at a garage sale.  It doesn't match my china set, which is blue and gold, but it's pretty!


The other nifty thing she found for me were two groovy picture frames on clearance at Target.  Winning price? Only $1.98 each!


I love the color green.  I have a black bookshelf a friend gave me that sits in my living room.  I plan to put these on the top shelf once I find pictures to put in them.

 
Too bad these pictures don't really do them justice!  Hopefully once I get that shelf more settled, I will take more pictures.

What great finds have you taken home lately?

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Trying Something New

I have always enjoyed reading blogs that have cool graphics.  One of my friends made my banner for me, which I love, but now I'm itching to be able to do it myself.  So I downloaded a trial of Corel's Paint Shop Pro.  After messing around with it a little bit, I made this...


Yeah, I know it isn't fancy at all.  I need some help to learn how to use this program before I commit to buying it.  Is there another program out there that would suit my needs better?  I want to be able to edit digital photographs for the blog, my etsy shop, and eventually to use in my scrapbooking.

Also, what about Flikr?  I know a lot of bloggers use it to store photos.  Is it worth getting the pro membership?

Thursday, August 4, 2011

What I'm Into Right Now

I have ADD.  Seriously, I do.  I go through phases where I am really into something and then it will just kind of fade away from my life.  There are certain things I will always love, but the intensity of my devotion will ebb and flow.

That being said, here is what I am really into right now!

The Young House Love blog and making my own house a home
I found it while Googling how to repaint furniture and fell in love.  It is written by this couple who are slowly fixing up their old house.  All their projects are so inspiring and makes me want to really get into decorating mode around my own house.  I've been going through boxes of stuff in the garage, reorganizing and purging my stuff.  My boyfriend and I have started talking about him moving in with me sometime next year and I want there to be room for his massive comic book collection.

Watching Mad Men on Netflix
Both my roommate and my boyfriend have watched the first season already, so I need to catch up!  I've watched the first five episodes so far and am enjoying a new series.  I have mixed feelings, but I think I will stick with it for a while.  It is an interesting look at the social climate of the early 1960's.

Sewing
Specifically sewing curtains for my roommate's bedroom and our kitchen window.  I'm also currently working on a baby blanket for a coworker which is super simple, just two pieces of flannel with a satin binding.  I think I want to get back into sewing clothes again.  The Boyfriend is kind of hinting that he would like a robe to wear around my house, and I do have a pattern... It's just a matter of finding the right fabric for the job and then finding the time to sew something so big.

Of course there are a million other things I'm into right now, but those are probably the top three.  What are you into right now?

Love and coffee,
Lulu

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

A New Idea...

Photo from Indy Total Construction
I think I want to start showcasing Etsy sellers and their shops once a week or so.  Maybe interview the seller themselves... What do you think?

Hopefully it will give me some more inspiration to make more stuff to sell in my Etsy shop.

love and coffee,
Lulu

 

Monday, June 13, 2011

The Housework is Never Done

Today I realized I haven't completely explained my housing situation.  In March, on St. Patty's day to be exact, I moved into my very own house.  I have a roommate too, my friend Josh from high school.

This picture I took with my cell phone before I moved in, which is why there is still a touch of snow on the ground.  Not much of the exterior of the house has changed yet.  We are trying to plan the landscaping now, but it is taking a long time

Meanwhile, I've been in the house for almost three months and am still not completely unpacked.  It has been a slow and steady process to make this house a home.  Today is my first day off in seven days of working full time, and I am not relaxing.  Since this morning, I have been cleaning and trying to put stuff away, catch up on laundry, and enjoying some really yummy iced coffee.

There is still a lot to do but I'm slowly chipping away at that To-Do list!

love and coffee,
Lulu

Saturday, June 11, 2011

New Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug

In March, my LYS had all their green yarn on sale for 33% off.  This included solids varigated yarns like the two skeins of Colinette Jitterbug sock yarn I bought.

Colinette Jitterbug in "Lagoon"
Colinette Jitterbug in "Popsicle"
Any idea what I should make with these two beauties?  I'm thinking socks, since it is sock yarn after all...  But I think baby booties and maybe a hat would be just darling from the Popsicle skein.

Love and coffee,
Lulu

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Do You Know the Way to Santa Fe?

Last month my boyfriend and I went to Santa Fe for a much-needed weekend away.


One of the first things we did was go to a comic book shop.  I don't know if I've written about what a huge nerd my boyfriend is, but he is.  So I made him pose for a picture in front of the store.

After lunch, we went to a yarn store!  Now I had previously been to a yarn store called Oodles in 2007, which was lots of fun.  This time we checked out a yarn store called Looking Glass Yarn & Gifts.  It was wonderful, full of tons of fibery treasures.  Jared helped me pick out some lovely roving, half yak, half merino.


My dad had a great suggestion to look up that show on the Food Network, Diners Drive-ins and Dives... Where we read about the Tune-Up Cafe.  It was so yummy!  The food had a distinctive flair and was unique. Plus, we had a great conversation with a local family about what to do and see in Santa Fe.

The only draw back to the trip was the Georgia O'Keefe museum was closed.  But other than that, it was such a marvelous trip.  I just hope it was the first of many with my honey!

What I Did for Easter

I realize that Easter was in April and it is now June... but my computer crashed and I am just now getting it back into working order.  It's amazing what you miss out on when your computer is dead for a month.

For Easter, my dad took my family to this wonderful French restaurant in Canon City.

Where we ate escargot... SNAILS!  And they were delicious.

I also ate some pork chops that were seasoned with dijon.  So juicy and flavorful.

And for dessert... chocolate-covered strawberries.

The whole experience was incredible and very enjoyable.  One of these days I want to go back!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Finished Bookcase!


On Sunday, Jared finished super amazing bookcase. I helped a little, but he did most of the work. I really love how it turned out and am slowly but surely filling the shelves with my beloved books. I am really excited to show them off at my house warming party on Saturday!
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Saturday, April 30, 2011

My Life as of Lately

I just really suck at blogging.  I'm sorry.  I miss blogging and now that school is done, I hopefully should be writing here more even though I think my computer hates me.  So some stuff I am really into right now...

Photo Credit
Planning road trips.  Mainly, planning a weekend get-away with my amazing boyfriend.  We're going to Santa Fe next month.  I just booked the hotel this morning, and I'm really excited that we're taking a trip together.  We are planning to take a chocolate walking tour, go to the Georgia O'Keefe museum, and hit up a yarn store or two.  I'll be sure to try to post pictures of our adventures.

Photo Credit

Gardening and landscaping!  We had a new patio poured at my house.  Then Jared & I planted some pansies and roses on Earth Day.  Once we figure out a possible water drainage problem, I'm going to put in some planter boxes and have a small vegetable and herb garden.  I'm thinking tomatoes, bell peppers, basil, chives, and then in the fall I will plant shallot and garlic bulbs.

Decorating.  Well, kind of.  I'm trying to still get my house in order and make it really feel like home.  I'd like to paint some accent walls, but that is low on the list... I should probably get everything unpacked first!!

I'm looking into buying a spinning wheel.  I have a couple leads so we'll see where that leads...

Graduation is Thursday!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Bookshelves

I'm exploring a new side of my creativity. Since I have the most wonderful boyfriend who is building me custom bookshelves, I am helping out by staining some of the wood. And yes, that is stain--a colored stain! How cool is that? We found the colored stain at Lowes, a brand called Minwax. I'm really excited to see how these shelves turn out!
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Thursday, January 20, 2011

It's Been Too Long

It has been too long since I last posted.  Why does it feel like I am always trying to play catch up for this poor blog?  I am sorry my dear readers, if there are any left of you...   I guess that just leaves the question: what has been going on in my life lately?

Me and my awesome boyfriend
Well, first of all I am still with Jared, who is officially the most incredible boyfriend in the entire world.  I have never been so happy with anybody else.  Jared, if you read this, I love you.  =)

I've also been working at the mental hospital here and so far I absolutely love my job.  School just started this week, and I am excited about the classes I am taking.

As far as knitting goes, I am still working on the Spiderman blanket and really nothing else.  That blanket is just so addicting.

I'm sorry I don't really have much else to report.  So far 2011 is amazing but kinda uneventful.

love and coffee,
Lulu