A Real Gem

A few weeks ago I was asked to help out a close friend with her annual jewelry show. In exchange for my services, I would receive a sweet insider's discount. Um, yes! Little did I know 'helping out' translated to 'modeling' the goods. Oh mylanta! If you knew me in person, you'd know that I am one of the shyest girls in the world. So I swallowed up my timidness this past weekend and turned my clavicle into the lady of the evening.

I was ooh la la-ing over her amber collection all evening.

Aside from the array of gems, her home is beautifully adorned with presentations from her culture and her passion for the arts.

[ tinkle with the mermaids ]

Did I mention she is an avid thrift shopper?! Check out this dining room set she scored years ago at a second hand store.

Towards the end of the night I was able to take a quick snapshot while I was wearing one of her biggest pieces displayed that night; a Mediterranean coral necklace.

I'm keeping my purchases on a hush hush level as they will be Christmas gifts for some lovely ladies! 

K.I.S.S.

My motto during this decorating season is: "keep it simple, Sugar!"

Days ago, I spied a DIY 5 minute tinsel garland wreath and I thought, jeepers creepers! I could do that. So I moseyed myself down to my local thrift store one chilly night and found my essential props: an extra large embroidery hoop and a lengthy string of tinsel.

Carefully wrap the fragile metallic garland around the entire hoop, add a little pom pom* for extra cuteness, and whoomp! there it is.

Easy peasy right?! But it gets better...total cost? $3.98. And I have an extra loop of tinsel for future use. Say whaaaaat?!

Doesn't it just speak, wreath out and touch me? (I'm a sucker for puns. But who isn't really?)

[ *Instead of using wax paper as suggested, I made my pom with good old tissue paper. And it hasn't lost its puffiness yet. ]

Seating For Mew

Now that the cornucopias and turkey hands are safely packed away for another year, the "xmas" marked boxes can officially come out to play! Oh my goooodness. I have been dying to decorate for Christmas since the afternoon of November 11th. That was the day I came home from work and found a pair of sporty seats chillin' in our living room.

Perhaps I should have mentioned the fact that these are car seats. CAR SEATS! Chris replaced his S2K stock seats with a duo of red leather bombshells, leaving these two bad larry's stationed inside.

Uncle Kitty welcomed the newcomers.

As delightful as they were to look at on a daily basis (sarcasm), come black friday, the seats left the room. So instead of suffering barbaric-black-friday-checkout-lines, I was a mexican jumping bean, decorating away whilst covered in glittery goodness and head bopping to the tunes of Sufjan Stevens.

Yes. Much better. 

Stay tuned...more decorating goodies to come!

Bread Crumb Enema

Call me a weirdo, but every Thanksgiving holiday, I secretly pray for an over-cooked birdie. It's no secret to my family that I L.O.V.E dry turkey meat. So no matter what comes out of that oven, the cook knows there will be at least one happy carnivore sitting at the dinner table. It's a win-win in my book. :)

And now I leave you with a witty Thanksgiving poem Chris wrote several years ago for a work newsletter.

The “Turkey Day” is drawing near and I’m ever so depressed.

I fear that on that fateful day, I’ll be on your plate and dressed

With gravy, mashed potatoes and aunt jenny’s famous salad.

My roasted body on your plate confirms my fears as valid.

Last year the axe claimed Cousin Lenny, the year before t’was Larry.

His children left without a home, since Butterball took Sherry.

Now Brother Paul swears his numbers up, to your hunger he’ll succumb,

And face that awful enema, of onions and bread crumb.

Perhaps this year, might I suggest a different sort of meal?

Something that can graze a field, or something that can squeal.

Now look, I mean to be polite; and not ruffle any feathers

Please throw tradition out the door…heck, skip meat altogether.

Our claim to fame is sandwich meat and it’s terrible, completely.

Please hear my cries to spare my life before you choose to eat me.

I wrote this poem, and though you think it sounds a little quirky.

This year give thanks with “Ball Park” Franks… and make sure they’re beef, not turkey.

Love my silly man.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

For The Love of Liz Lemon

This is something I can definitely sink my teeth into...literally!

[via craftzine]

I make a mean Liz Lemon impression. Chris on the other hand, makes a mean Joey Potter impression. Two peas in a mean-crooked-smile pod.

:)

Shoe Party

I'm happy to say that our home is a relatively "clutter free zone". But! One current trend seems to be copious amounts of shoe pairs cluttered up in our living room. 

Um, I think it's time to give those Vans the boot!

Chris started this and I, for some reason, have followed suit. 

What kind of clusters do you (or your partner in crime) subconsciously create in your home?

Not So Sexy Hooter

Mrs. M.I.A. here. 

Crossing my fingers hoping I can keep up the Humble Ablog posts on a more regular basis, before it turns into 'no man's land'. Looks like my pocket-camera and I need to be joined at the hip once again. Having said that, I did manage to summon the old pal late last night, for a few pics, after Chris and I were completely cleaned out of candy by the plethora of trick-o-treaters gallivanting the neighborhood.

I'd like to say thanks to this tutorial, for the instructions on a DIY owl costume. Soooo it's suppose to be a kids costume...however I did the adult thing and stitched the "fabric feathers" in lieu of using glue as recommended. I also managed to prick myself more than a few times. Totally worth it. 

Operation Oscar's Room: Done! Well...Almost

After finishing all of the painting, molding, etc...some 8 months ago, I'm happy to report that "Operation Oscar's Room" (which was re-badged "The Kanye Guest Room") is about 90% complete! You can revisit its historic timeline, here and here oh and here. But enough of my mumbo-jumbo; lets get on with the show! 

I'd say its darn-tootin close to our original sketch-up idea. 

While some of you may have already spotted the photos of the room over at Apartment Therapy's Room for Color 2010 contest last week, there are still a few things left to do, including: installing floating shelves, doorknobs and new lighting.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

[Photos courtesy of Chris Johnson] 

Rolling With The Homies

Earlier this week, I engaged in a bit of small talk with an older woman sitting next to me at In & Out Burger, while we were waiting for our respective 'to-go order numbers' to be called out. Topic? Earthquake weather and purses. I know...sounds ridic but I somewhat believe in such a thing as 'earthquake weather' and right now, it's the talk of the town.

In my last post I mentioned the eerie summer temps hitting the southland, but this week, we were hit with rainy-chicken-pot-pie weather. I'll take that..with a side of hot chocolate...no, no better yet, champurrado! Shoooot..I even thought about pulling the snuggie out of hibernation. The rain called out for my fav boots (in the hunt for a new black pair...tips are welcomed!) So, the boots officially came out of the closet and I completely forgot about this neato tip I spied over at Deliciously Organized a few months back.

Rolled up magazines tucked in boots help these babies stand at attention! Another storage solution for my ancient magazines I just can't bare to throw out....just yet...cross my heart.

God Bless The Indian Summer

We peeps in the Southern West Coast are melting! It's officially fall but it feels like we are smack dab in the middle of a scorching summer heat wave. No bueno. While I had plans to try out some spanking new recipes for an upcoming theme party we are hosting, the thought of turning the oven on amid this indian-summer instantly generated beads of sweat down my temples. Again no bueno.

Buuuut then I spied this narly oven-free Oatmeal-Waffle cookie recipe, sure to make your mouth water, over at smiles from mel. All you need are your run of the mill baking staples and a waffle iron (and we own two!)

[Aside from the mini chocolate chips, we were fully stocked in our pantry]

Sure it may look like a poor man's cookie dough...trust me...its a-ok.

We had trouble deciding on a primo iron temperature and after a few jabs, we got it down to the perfect toasty setting...

...and Chris could not keep his sticky fingers away from them.

We personally thought they tasted BEST after a few hours in the fridge. Around this house, if the request for a couple of cold ones springs up, don't be surprised if I bring over a tray of waffle cookies.

I'm just saying.

[Pardon the low quality pictures....the itouch wasn't at its best in the heat either]