Dog.

Alex and I got a dog!

She is beautiful, and wonderful and I will post pictures soon!

I'm in love.

Bathroom = Done.

I have once again finished a small piece of the puzzle that is our apartment.  Little by little, it's happening.

Bathroom Before = Sterile, Lame.

Bathroom After - Project #41

Inside of the Medicine Cabinet - Before.

Clean White Medicine Cabinet - After.

Gross Rusty Old Heat Grate - Before.

New White Heat Grate - After.

Yucky Metal Shower Rod - Before.

Painted White Shower Rod - After.

Now it looks like a totally new bathroom.  Nothing a few coats of blue paint and white Rust-oleum couldn't fix.  

And in other news, my wonderful Dad brought me more of my things from home, so now we have MORE unpacking to do.  Although, remembering things that I haven't had in two months, is kind of like Christmas morning, and I do LOVE Christmas.  So I suppose that is the silver lining.  The fun just never ends around here.

Gray Kitty #2 - A.K.A. Anza.

This has picture has nothing to do with anything except for that she is cute, and always helpful with my projects.  (And by helpful, I mean that she does not help in any way shape or form and almost always gets in the way, needs attention, knocks something over, or dips her paws in paint just to leave kitty prints everywhere.)  

What a little cutie.

Dining Room - Check.

In this seemingly never ending quest to get our apartment together, another step is now complete.

This past week I had 2 FULL days off, and I spent them finding the perfect dining room table and chairs, and then of course changing them.

I was looking for an old picnic table, and with wonderful luck the last place I went to look for one, I found one!  And it came with 4 benches!  Woot.

Before - Sad Dining Room and Picnic Table

After - Completed Dining Room - Project #40

It took about a dozen coats of paint, but I did it.  And in the end it cost about $60 for everything too, so I think it was an all around win.  

Also, when I was painting one of the thousands of coats, it started to snow!  

Our First Snowfall From our Porch.

I am a stupidly excited about this snow, which makes absolutely no sense because I guarantee in two months I will be cursing this very thing.  But, for now, I love it.  I might have started listening to Christmas music too......I can't help myself.

Getting There.

The apartment is coming along, verrrrrrrrrry slowly.  But, there are small improvements every day (probably more like once a week).

Well, here it is!

Curtains - Project #39

I have to admit, that these were already curtains when I picked them up at the thrift store.  However, the length was all wrong, and they needed a new sleeve at the top.  It was an easy fix, but now we have the luxury of a little bit of privacy from the neighbors.  Hooray!

In other news, we also have a new (temporary) kitty.  

Meet Lily.

She is our friend's who is going on a travel adventure for a little bit, and seeing as how we love gray kitties that look exactly the same, we just couldn't say no.  So, now we have three.  And nobody can tell them apart.  It's perfect.

Tea Time.

Today was such a beautiful warm fall day, it's hard to imagine that winter is just around the corner.  But, anyone in NY knows that it definitely is coming.  And soon.

Of course I am a little excited, everyone likes winter for a little.  In preparation for the cold- today I made a tea shelf!

Tea Shelf - Project #38

I thrifted this shelf for $4, painted it white, added some mug hooks, screwed on a jar, and hung the shelf.  It was easy, and now it keeps all of our tea stuff organized and ready for the winter.  Eventually the jar will probably hold loose leaf tea, but until then it's holding a few random teabags.  I'm getting one step closer to getting our new apartment organized as well.....it's a work in progress of course.

Rabbit Rabbit Day.

Happy November First!
October flew by, but of course I am beyond ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas season!  I love this time of year.

But before I get ahead of myself, I thought I would post some Halloween pictures.

Prom of the Dead

My Prom Date and Myself 

Dead Chicks.

Then for Friday night Halloween festivities I was Rosie the Riveter.

You Can Do It.

With the Sexy Brawny Man.

And for Saturday night....

Blondie & Dagwood.

So much fun.  Best of all, I've already got my costume idea ready for next Halloween.  Hope everyone had as much fun as I did.

Go Bills.

Now that I am in Buffalo, you could say that I am a Bill-liever.  Ha.

But seriously, the Bills have been doing so well and it's easy to get excited about them this season.  They are 5 - 2 as of today, and of course I was cheering them on.  To get into the spirit, I refashioned a shirt this morning to show my Bills love.

Before. 

After! - Project #37

And they won - so it must be good luck right?

Go Bills!

My Walter.

I suppose I have been putting this off because I guess I didn't really want to deal with it, but I think it is about time.  Two weeks ago, my boyfriend and I had to put our dog to sleep.  It was the hardest thing I have ever done, and it has been terribly lonely in our apartment without him.

We only had him for a year and a half, and he was only two, but I would adopt him all over again just for the year and a half I had with him.  Honestly, he was the best decision I've ever made, and I wouldn't change the time we had for anything.  Those of you who are dog people, realize how much dogs are family members, and the family dynamic changes drastically after you lose even the smallest of members.

Honestly it is getting easier not having him around as much.  Fortunately, I took close to 1.7 million pictures of him (he was just way to handsome!),  so needless to say, I have lots to remember him by.

Top Left -  The very first day we met Wally, and fell in love with him.

Such a cutie.

My crafting has been on a little hiatus due to all the major changes in my life recently, but I'm excited to get back to it.  Also, moving into our new place is kind of like one giant craft project (pictures soon!)  Until then, we can all remember Wally Bear as being the sweetest, cuddliest, most handsome bear in the entire world.  :)

Mad Men.

These transitional past couple of weeks have been a little strange for me.  I haven't had a job (which has been a wonderful break after this hectic summer), and we are camping out at a friend's for the month.  Basically I say all of this because it has left a lot, and I mean a lot, of free time on my hands.  This is no complaint by any means, it has been wonderful.  What have I been doing with this free time?
Crocheting up a storm.

The blanket is coming along swimmingly, and should be done soon!  So while I have been crocheting, I've been watching Mad Men.  I went from never seeing one episode, to now well into the third season (don't judge me).  I think more then the fact that the show is good, I love the way these people carry themselves, the way they dress, the formality of every day language.  I love it.

Here is a taste of this era;

Now you want to watch it right?  

And I'm sure all you want to do now is where red lipstick and smoke cigarettes all day.  That's all I want to do (don't worry Mom, I won't actually smoke cigarettes).  :)

Well, I better finish the blanket before I finish season 4 or else that blanket might never get finished.

Rope Rug.

DIY Rope & Pom Pom Rug from a Free People Display

I think I will need about 5 of these for our new apartment.

Here is the whole tutorial - I'm in love.

Progress....

So this somewhat large undertaking of crocheting my first ever blanket is coming along!
I swear, it really is.
Proof of me actually doing something crafty-like in the past three weeks -

See?  Crochet Blanket!  Almost...

And the real reason I've been crocheting up a storm is because my boyfriend is now in school and has no time to give me the attention that a needy girlfriend like me needs.  So, I'm left to my own devices.

All he does these days like the good student that he is.

Hopefully, in a couple of days (i.e. weeks) I will have a beautiful blanket to show you!  Hope everyone is enjoying this last bit of Indian summer!

Moving.

These past two weeks have been super hectic, and needless to say, not a lot of crafting has been done. On the plus side we have successfully moved to Buffalo, however we are staying with a friend until our new place opens up in October.

You know what that means?
I have no crafting materials or means.
Boooo.

I did however start a crochet blanket for our new apartment, and that at least is holding me over for a little bit. Then when October rolls around, I will have no excuse.

Until then- Go Bills!

Leather Feather.

I needed a quick little project for this week because of how busy life is right now.  I have two of my closest friends leaving me this week, my cousin got married yesterday, and I am moving out of my apartment in the next two weeks.  It's been hectic. Lots of big changes in just a matter of days.  Also, trying to apartment hunt from across the state - turns out, not that easy.  Ooof.  At least I had time to make cute earrings!

So here you have it;

Project #36 - Leather Feather Earrings

I always save leather scraps from previous projects, and I guess it was for a good reason.  To make earrings, and something that the cats can mess up and throw around the house.  So really, everyone is happy with leather scraps.  Yay!  

Hope everyone is enjoying the last little bit of summer.  I sure am.

Pirate Ship Fun.

A Ship in a Room!

THIS IS THE COOLEST THING I HAVE EVER LAID EYES ON!

By Kuhl Design Build.  I am so jealous of this child who lives here.  They probably have the best life ever.

Leaving Soon.

So this weeks craft is really not so much a craft at all.  I threw a Going Away Party/Backyard Barbeque that actually got rained out and it turned into one hell of a kitchen party.

However, the back porch did look pretty spectacular.

Project #35 - Backyard BBQ Extraveganza

She was having fun!

Wally seems to like the rain.

Well, you get the idea.  It looked really cute.  I had little bottles filled with yellow daisies, and the lights I made by just punching holes in paper cups and poking Christmas lights through them.  For the glasses I used mason jars with skewers of berries poking out of them for drink markers.

I made homemade Sangria and fruity Passion Iced Tea for the event.  Along with lots of finger foods.  Guacamole, salsa, fruit salad, (all from scratch I might add), and then of course cheese and crackers and other goodies.

The party turned into this;

Digging in.

There were lots of doggies of course.

A good gathering around good food.

The two years that my boyfriend and I have spent here have been so wonderful.  We've made so many friends, and had so many wonderful memories.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Such good friends.

One of the best parties I've ever thrown.    :)

Here We Are.

So I know that I have been sucky with my blogging recently, but you know, life is pretty tricky sometimes.

As you will see, this weeks craft gave me some problems.  Well not actually the dress itself, but the picture taking sure did.

Here is the before - a nice but kind of lame dress that cannot be worn as is.

Before Dress.

I know, I'm posing like an early 90's sitcom freeze frame, but in my defense my photographer (aka my poor boyfriend who gets dragged in to taking pictures of me) is out of town for the weekend.  Needless to say having my nice camera stacked on a precarious pile of books on self timer made me a little nervous.  Especially after the next picture.

That fuzzy gray thing in the front - that's my curious little kitty Anza.

So with Anza sniffing and batting at my nice camera atop a high stack of books, you can understand why the after pictures are taken on my laptop.  Notice me laughing at her in this picture - she is always up to no good. 

That being said, here is the after shirt!  (Sorry about the terrible quality, but you understand, or does not everyone have evil demon kitties set out to destroy all the nice things in your house?)

After Shirt! - Project #34

I cut off the sleeves and shortened it to a better length, now it is a nice long lightweight shirt!  Hooray!  And kitty did not destroy anything (yet!).

This is the picture I took right before this one, guess who was curious about the camera on my computer too?

Right after I kicked her off my laptop keyboard.  

Moral of this post is don't get kitties.  Or maybe just get good ones.  Ha.  

Yeah right.

I Promise.

I really do- a craft is coming.
I'm a little bogged down.... But it's a comin'.

...hopefully!!

Paris-Bound.

I'm sure I am one of the hundreds of people who just saw Woody Allen's latest movie - Midnight in Paris who is drooling over Paris now, and all things 20s.

Wouldn't you just kill for everything in these pictures?

Being a little bit on the romantic side myself, I just couldn't get enough of the imagery, the style, the slang, even the music!  I left the theater bouncing around in such a good mood - it's impossible not to after such a lovely movie.

Thanks Design*Sponge for your wonderful article & pictures!

Let's move to Paris,  in the 20s.......?  

Yeah I think that is what I will do.  Anyone wanna join?

Poofy Poms and Diner Girls.

This week has been another crazy one, but all in all a good one.  Although my crafting may have suffered a little with my busy schedule (and busy playing), I did manage to squeak out a few things this week.


In the spirit of summer fun - I made some poofy pom pom flowers for the window at the store I work at!  Prior to this we had little ornaments, which was cute, but just not summery enough for me.  Sooooo voila!

Project #32 - Tissue Poms

Thank you Martha!

Wonderful thanks to the tutorial on Martha Stewart's website.  She is just the greatest.

My second craft of the week is a sketch that I've been working on for my other job.  A cute pin-up girl style waitress.  So here is my finished sketch!  Now I just need to add color!

Project #33 - Sass Pin-Up Waitron

It wasn't all work related stuff this week (although mostly), I also had time to make for the first time, strawberry lemonade!  It was so good, and we finally used our juicer (thanks Mom)!

Homemade Strawberry Lemonade

We added a little bit of raspberry vodka, and it was the perfect summer cocktail.  Mmmmmmm summer.