AdaLou {the Blog}

MINI COLLECTIONS : CABINET SUPPLIES

2012-03-12T04:16:00.000-05:00

Today's mini collection is brought to you by the mister and my dad. It's been a busy long weekend over here as the guys work hard on gutting the kitchen and hanging the new cabinets. It's so much work, but these guys have been doing an awesome job! I can surely now see why people pay a contractor big bucks to do this kinda thing cause boy does it take a lot of measuring an adjusting things to get everything in it's proper place. These guys have been working 8+ hour days for 4 days now, and who knew it was so involved; I surely didn't. We have been going back and forth on a counter top as our initial idea of Formica was seeming a bit to high. But after considering our option and weighing out what we really wanted for our updated kitchen we landed back at point A and ordered our counters which will be here in a few weeks :) I hope you had a great weekend. Happy Monday!

Sample swatch of the new counters which will be here soon :)

HAPPY WEEKEND + MGT GIVEAWAY REMINDER

2012-03-09T23:11:00.000-06:00

image via redorgray

We're busy busy busy over here as we undergo our kitchen revamp. Our guest arrived this past week to help us hang cabinets which I can't wait for them to go in. We keep going back and forth with what to do about the counters as we still don't have anything nailed down. In the mean time, the mister had been slowly prepping everything, moving power sockets, replacing drywall and cleaning up all the little things you would generally overlook. He's doing a great job, I'm so proud of him. If you're curious about the kitchen project you can find tagged photos on instagram or notes on my twitter #kitchenremodel A peek of our new kitchen layout is below. I can't wait to see it all come together and we have a busy weekend in store to make this all happen. I'll see ya soon & I hope you all have a great weekend!

Oh and p.s. if you haven't jumped over to My Girl Thursday yet to get signed up for the tattoo giveaway you better hurry it up. You don't have much time left so click on that link over on the top right sidebar to be directed to the giveaway. Good Luck!

Our new kitchen will be L shaped these are the cabinets to the right.

COLOR PALETTE : BALLOI PRINT (19)

2012-03-09T04:58:00.000-06:00

Ok so I know nothing about this artist which kinda makes me sad. I love the style of this and the color is wonderful. I spotted this via svpply and clicked about to find more info but it looks like it was from society 6 but since has since been removed. Do you know who this lovely piece is by? I'm so curious about it so if you know please share. Happy Friday!

(image via here)

CUSTOM PORTRAIT // GRAY

2012-03-08T10:55:00.001-06:00

I've been working really hard and doodling A LOT lately and I won't lie, I'm biting at the bit to share it all with you. I have been giving sneak peeks on instagram as things are slowly getting wrapped up but I really want all my ducks in a row before I go showing you something. But I promise you it's exciting, I'm excited, and it's going to be HUGE! Or at least I hope it will be... On a side note, I wanted to share what else I've been drawing up lately. Gray recently contacted me about doodling him a portrait. He had seen my style and commented about liking my work. Though I was utterly flattered, I was honestly a bit worried. Why? Well I don't really drawn to many guys. Something about drawing female figures has always been so much more interesting to me, so drawing up a dude, well it just don't come naturally. I decided I'd give it another shot though and whatta think, does it look like Gray? We were both pleased with the end result and I think I may have to start trying my hand at doodling guys again. Oh and if you pop over to visit Gray, make sure to wish him a Happy Birthday today!

WHAT I WORE : PEACH PENCIL SKIRT

2012-03-08T04:58:00.002-06:00

I found this peach colored pencil skirt a week back and just knew I had to add it to more wardrobe. It has more of a business lady look but paired with the right top and shoes I knew it could be fun fun! I also love the light coral/peach color and don't own anything in this hue, plus it was a steal at a $1 so I just couldn't pass. The collar I found last month and just got around to running some ribbon thru it. Been wanting to wear it but didn't really know what to pair it with. I figured it didn't hurt to just wear it over my gray tee which then gave it an all different appearance, which I think I like it! On a side note our guest came in to town last night to help with the remodel. I can't wait to see it all come together. I don't want to bore you all with post after post so if you wanna follow on instagram you can see current updates but if not, no biggie either, I will share the final kitchen remodel when it's done back here on the blog hopefully quite soon. Hope you're having a great week!

Gray Top : Thrifted
Skirt : Thrifted & Altered
Collar : Thrifted

Tights : Target

Shoes : Maggies Farm Vintage

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

2012-03-07T11:58:00.001-06:00

Image via Once Upon A Wildflower

Today's a very special day as today's my sweet mom's birthday! And I couldn't be more excited because this is the first year in a very long time I will get to see her on her special day. It will be late tonight when I see her but I'm still happy to be spend time with her as they (my dad too) are coming in visit with us for a week and help get that kitchen underway. They were generous enough to travel here on her birthday non the less, and she even commented that she was just so excited to see her grandkids on her birthday. She's the best and I can't wait to see her. Happy Birthday Mom! We'll see you soon. :)

ARTIST : JUNG-JUNG

2012-03-07T04:30:00.000-06:00

I spotted the work of Japanese artist, Jung-Jung a while back while hunting for needle point inspiration. Her work was beautifully realistic and it immediately caught my attention. These vegetables (an her other works of food) were created with subtle hues and fine attention to detailing which is remarkable. The look edible and I'm so impressed with how life like they really appear. Enjoy!

JUNG-JUNG

(All images found here)

TAKE TEN TUESDAYS : OXFORDS I'M CURRENTLY LOVING

2012-03-06T04:07:00.001-06:00

1. Tribal // 2. Gray // 3. Gold // 4. Colorful // 5. Bubble Gum

6. Black & White // 7. Plaid // 8. Canvas // 9. Tan & Teal // 10. Red & White

11 THINGS // TAGGED BY MARIA & KELLY CHRISTINE

2012-03-05T09:26:00.001-06:00

Well I've been tagged to share "11 Things" and I'm sure you've seen a handful of these surveys already around but here's one more to add to the mix. Thanks so much Maria and Kelly Christine for tagging me. And I have a double list of questions below so sorry if this post seems a bit long. Enjoy!

1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random things.
3. Answer the questions set for you in the original post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you've tagged them.

11 Random Things About Me...

1.) I can fold my tongue to make a 3 leaf clover. Kinda a random fact, right :)

2.) I'm a collector of many things. My largest collection is over 500+ Pez dispensers. Can you imagine how much candy I've eaten, ha!

3.) I cried like a baby when my bf (now husband) in college was trying to teach me how to drive his standard truck. I was sure I've never get it and wanted to give up on multiple occasions but guess what I finally figured it out!

4.) I love playing games! Scrabble, Muppets Uno, Cribbage, and Rummikub are right up there as a few of my top favorites.

5.) I grew up kinda tomboyish. I hated dresses and skirts, but would happily ware a button down shirts and tie to church instead. Sometime in college it clicked and I actually started enjoying dressing up a bit more.

6.) I had heart surgery in '98 for an ASD repair which left me with a tiny clamshell shaped piece of metal and spring in my heart. My heart is now kicking stronger than ever though ;)

7.) I love hot tea. Even in the hot summer months I always enjoy a hot cup of tea. I think it's something to do with I'm always freezing.

8.) I've shaved my head completely bald, by my own choice and I actually liked it. I did get a few stares and questions if I was sick at the time and have considered lately of doing this again.

9.) I loath Pickles... the smell along makes me wanna gag.

10.) My family use to raised sheep and I was so excited when my sheep/ram Fire (Yes his name was Fire, I was a little kid when I named him) won a blue ribbon in the local farmers fair (4H). I thought I was the coolest.

11.) I love to swim and dearly miss living by the ocean.

The 11 questions from Maria...

1.) How do you keep yourself motivated?
I find doodling/sketching to be a good way for me to creative and stay motivate. Even if it's doodling letters or lines and not anything in particular at all. I find that putting a pencil to paper is also a good way to relieve stress.

2.) Who is your biggest support?
My husband is my biggest cheerleader. He's always offering help, advice or even just an ear to listen.

3.) Did you have a favorite book growing up?
I honestly had never been a huge fan of reading as a kid. But a book I read a few times and own a couple copies of is Catcher in the Rye.

4.) What is your fondest memory?
Going camping with my family. Every summer for the 4 of July weekend my parents (and a few other families/friends/kids) would rent a spot at a local start park and camp for a week. We (our family of 5) would camped in a tent, (eventually we migrated to a small pop-up camper) but we would bike, fish, cook food over a camp fire and enjoy nights with friends, music and smores. Being outdoors is something I've always loved doing and I hope to do some fun camping trips with our kiddos someday real soon.

5.) What is a must-do in your daily life?
Hug, kiss and tell my family I love them. I feel so grateful to have them in my life and I constantly reminded myself to show and tell them that I care.

6.) Who is your best friend and why?
This one would be my husband again. We've been together going on 12 years now, so been thru a lot. We've moved across the US over half a dozen times and he's always been there when I need him. He's a great friend who I've never had to impress and I can always be myself with.

7.) Where do you want to be in 5 years?
I would love to be working from home freelancing and spending more time with my family. It's a long term goal which will hopefully happen sooner than later. I'd also love to be doing more artwork and of course continuing to blog.

8.) What is your favorite food?
Baked French Toast! I love breakfast foods and all of them are great but my mom makes the best baked french toast I've ever had, which I now make for my family. It's probably the best stuff ever though it's loaded with sugar and topped with extra powdered sugar and syrup.

9.) What is your profession?
I am a illustrator by degree and designer my job. I work at Hallmark Cards designing greeting cards. You can read more about that here.

10.) What is one thing you can't live without?
My camera. We take photos daily of the general life, my family, things that are going on, pretty pictures or things we are inspired by. I love documenting by photography and I won't even tell you how full our computer is of photos. It's probably unhealthy how many photos we have but I enjoy catching every photo while we can.

11.) Best thing you've ever eaten was? I have a sweet tooth and the mister and I use to be fond of a dessert at the Olive Garden called the Chocolate Lasagna. We would go there and just order the dessert by itself as it was pretty much a meal in itself. It was a triple layered chocolate cake but they have since stopped making it. Boohoo.

11 Questions from Kelly Christine...

1.) What is your dream job? I really wanted to work with dolphins, I love being around animals and as a child I wanted to be a marine biologist.

2.) If you had to throw away every book you own EXCEPT ONE which one would you keep and why? Wow tough call, I would probably be cheesy and keep an Almanac though. I think I'd be able to continue learning about the things I was interested in, weather, dates of importance, when to plant my garden, ec.

3.) What is your favorite throwback song? Starship's : We Built This City!

4.) Would you rather your parachute not open while skydiving or your house be completely burned down? Well I'm hoping I was not in my home, but I think I'd rather have my home burnt down. I love our home but I could always rebuild a dream home elsewhere.

5.) How long have you been blogging? A year this past February.

6.) Where do you see yourself in 20 years? Maybe, just maybe, retired early and enjoying some vacation trips with my family. I would love to travel Europe with the mister but it probably won't be until much later in life.

7.) What was the very best day of your life?
Meeting our son (and our daughter, she's quite amazing too) who was first baby. It was an awesome day when we finally were able to say hello and celebrate in excitement our new little family member.

8.) If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?
I think it would have to be baked Macaroni and Cheese.

9.) What’s the one thing in this world you could totally live without? Don't tell the mister but probably our television. You can find everything online now a days and I would gladly get rid of the huge TV which hangs on our family room wall.

10.) What’s the one thing you couldn’t live without? Again, my camera. Noted in depth above #10.

11. What is the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten? Frog legs. I was at a childhood friends home for dinner I didn't really know what I was eating. They told us after the meal was over what we ate. I remember making a gagging sounds after I found out and every time my friend wanted me to join them for dinner after this I would pass. Ha!

11 Questions for the people I'm tagging...
I'm Tagging : Anna Z, Cailtin, Nicole, Mandy & Violet

If you've already done this or would love to join in feel free to. Link me to your questions below in the comment window so I can read all about you too.

1.) What is your favorite sweet treat?
2.) If money wasn't an option where would your top vacation destination be?
3.) Which shoe do you put on first your left or your right?
4.) What are a few current TV shows you love watching?
5.) If you could have any job in the world what would it be?
6.) What is your most treasured possession?
7.) What would I currently find in your purse?
8.) In 5 years from now where would you like to be? (stealing this one from maria)
9.) What's your favorite animal?
10.) The last yummy meal you enjoyed was?
11.) Happiness for me is?

MINI COLLECTIONS : PRESCRIPTION GLASSES

2012-03-05T04:30:00.006-06:00

I wear glasses daily for a stigmatism and distances seeing. I have a small collection, the one on the top left though had been previously worn for over 10 years before I finally got around to getting new pair. I just found the two pair on the right which I am hoping to get updated with my new prescriptions so I'll own a few styles which I can happily sport for different looks. Do you wear glasses? If so what do they look like? Hope you had a great weekend! Happy Monday! Enjoy!

1. Caroline B.K. // 2. Europe Eyewear, TabithaRusset // 3. Calvin Klein Collection CJ7763

4. Romco // 5. GlassesUSA iSee 025 my current glasses worn here

HAPPY WEEKEND!

2012-03-02T12:13:00.016-06:00

We're gearing up for weekend 2 of our kitchen renovation. Our delivery truck dropped off our new cabinets Wednesday night, and boy oh boy is the garage now packed... but everything is slowly coming together and we're pretty excited to get started. We're on the hunt for a new sink, backsplash tiles and a counter so I won't be online to much this weekend but you can follow me via instagram or twitter (@adalouvintage) if you'd like to see what we're up too. The fam and I hope you have a sweet treat kinda weekend filled with yummy food (maybe even halloween cupcakes like these kiddos are happily scarfing down), relaxation and time with the ones you love. Happy Friday, see ya soon!

These silly cabinets are stealing my whole parking space, just to give you a sense of how big they all are.

JEWELRY I'M LOVING // PENDANTS BY ELSA MORA

2012-03-02T04:57:00.000-06:00

I recently spotted these fantastic pendants by Elsa Mora over on her blog and just loved the tiny details and selected color palettes. I'm love, love, LOVE birds and these are just so beautiful to me. Noted number 2 (above) is most definitely my favorite of this mini collection but I also love the patterning and floral like elements on number 6. I wish I would have spotted them sooner as all have since sold. Which one's your favorite?

All Images via Elsa Mora

LUCKY CLOVER DESKTOP // MARCH 2012

2012-03-01T12:45:00.003-06:00

Well Happy March 1st the month of four leaf clovers, pots of gold at the end of a rainbows (which mind you I've never found) and all around good luck! But what about green? Green's a great color and probably one of my favorites (I love me some mint green to be exact!). I hope the month ahead of you is filled with endless luck. And to kick of the month in style how about a free lucky clover desktop. Enjoy!

p.s. we can be twins, as your new free wallpaper matches my blog header ;)

Desktop Measurements // 1680 x 1050 pixels
Click HERE or image above for a larger free file.
For personal use only.

WEAR WARE WHERE (34)

2012-03-01T06:00:00.008-06:00

Oh Lace how I love you! I love the fine detailed designs which can be achieved within lace work. I'm not to sure why I never owned any lace garments myself but I recently found this top and I am now even more in love with the idea of lace and may even have to go on a hunt to find some other tops. I glanced back thru posts and well, I guess I must have a small crush and didn't even know it. Enjoy!

wear: Vero Moda Lace Top (photo) // Buy Here $35

ware : Lace Pendant Etsy Shop The Whirlwind $28

where : The Royal Mansour Hotel in Marrakech, Morocco

OTHER LACE INSPIRED POSTS

1.) What I Wore // The Lace Knitted Top 2.) Link Love // DIY Lace Projects

3.) Wear Ware Where (Another Lace Top) 4.) Precious Metals & Rings (Lace Top)

5.) Take Ten Tuesdays // Lace Inspired 6.) Lace Style TOMS (love these shoes)

7.) Wear Ware Where (Lace Slip)

WHAT I WORE : THE LACE KNITTED TOP

2012-02-29T04:20:00.002-06:00

While on our date night a few weeks ago the mister and did a bit of shopping. I found some cute shoes, these Jellypops and a few tops. This lace knit top I found over at Forever 21 and it was pretty excited about it. I don't own anything like this currently so it's a nice add of something different for my wardrobe. I've been dreaming of warmer weather, blue skies and fresh cut green grass but as you can tell by the background in these photos our poor dormant yard is just not ready for Spring. We loved the sepia and brown tones which worked beautifully for the photos: which were all graciously taken by the mister. Happy Wednesday!

Lace Top : Forever 21
Black Shirt : Mossimo. Target
Jeans : Mossimo via Target

Belt : Thrifted
Feather Pendant : Halls

Bird Pendant : Etsy Shop Arete

Shoes : Etsy Shop Maggies Farm Vintage

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TAKE TEN TUESDAYS : NAIL INSPIRATION

2012-02-28T13:17:00.001-06:00

I've really been on a nail kick lately. I'm truly wowed by all the possibilities out there. And if you don't like how they came out, you can just wipe them clean and start again. I am loving some new nail polishes by Essie I added to my collection. They are a little pricier than I would normally pay (I'm kinda a 99 cents nail polish gal) for but they seem to hold up well and the colors are to die for. What nail polish colors are you loving lately? If you painted your nails I'd love to see them so link me to your photo below in the comments window. Happy Take Ten Tuesdays!

1.) Peter Pan Collar // 2.) Multi Colored // 3.) Aqua/Orange // 4.) Black/Silver // 5.) Minx

6.) Bows/Dots // 7.) Ombre // 8.) Black/White Stripes // 9.) Black Teal Diamonds // 10.) Teal Gold

YUKSEK'S OFF THE WALL VIDEO

2012-02-28T04:08:00.002-06:00

(image via)

I recently came across the work of Yuksek (Pierre-Alexandre Busson), a French born electronic music producer, remixer and DJ. This video and the making of this video are awesome. The boy and I really enjoy playing with Photo Booth and you can see us goofing around over here. So when I came across this video I just knew he'd enjoy it and boy did he ever. It was an instant hit and we couldn't stop giggling over everything. His favorite part was the huge eyes. I love the music too, it's kinda a catchy little ditty. Enjoy!

images - eyeball image & keyboard // image with flags

HOME PROJECTS / KITCHEN RENOVATION

2012-02-27T10:31:00.001-06:00

Well I hope not to bore anyone but I wanted to share a few beginning photos as we start on our kitchen renovation. Some of you may look at the top photo and be wondering but why it's kinda cute. Well honestly, it is cute but we've made due with what we've had so far and this is actually an update since we bought it. We found our lovely home 6 years ago and feel in love with the layout and the huge yard, and location, but this was pretty much it. We looked past the blah decor and the yucky paint choices an saw it had potential but would take some serious work. We were ready for the challenge though. We've always had a vision of updates and it's been a slow process (due to things adding up to cost a butt load, like who knew a front door could be so pricy) but we've actually got around to bunch of the things on our to do list. Now this huge project (gutting the kitchen) is on the top the agenda. I'm gonna have to hunt for photos when we did our home tour cause boy was it ugly! Way different than what you see above, the kitchen was painted dark maroon with white cabinets top and bottom, a white counter, and white with tiny pops of maroon diamonds backsplash. The girl before us obviously had no clue how to paint either cause the ceiling trim was all painted maroon too, which that was lovely to repaint as it took so many coats of primer before we could get it white again. Our kitchen sadly has no storage though and 90% of our food is kept down the hall in a pantry area (built by the mister). That one wall of cabinets you see there, that's all there is, hence why we're remodeling it and now it will have an L shape layout plus more cabinets!!! We've been waiting 6 weeks for the cabinets to come in and we got news they'll be here Wednesday!!! My rents come to join us shortly after to help assist in cabinet hanging. It's time this baby gets some proper cabinets which have rollers, and don't leave sawdust on everything in the drawers when they scrape against the wood beams. I'm a wee bit nervous but way more excited about what's going to happen. I'll update you all with more photos soon. Wish us luck! Happy Monday, hope your weekend was awesome. :)

p.s. There are some current photos of our kitchen and home here if you wanna peek around.

old cabinets are slowly falling apart, house built in the 50's. these are the original cabinets.

helping remove hardware from all the cabinets.

we packed up a bit but made a few make ready shelves to get us by. this one and the one below.

snacks, cookware, baking goods.

and so they asked us if they could sleep here...

sadly we had to say no, ha! the bottom cabinet miss p is laying on is not dirty.

the paints been scratched to bits from cookware pots and pans.

and i promise it's clean though it looks terribly gross.

MINI COLLECTIONS : FAMILY NECKLACES

2012-02-27T04:07:00.001-06:00

Happy Monday! Hope you had a great weekend. Ours was packed with activities and the beginning stages of a huge kitchen renovation, my next post, up later this morning will be an update on this. Today's mini collection are family necklaces. Now they are not handed down to me from family members but gifted to me and have stories behind each of them and I hope to someday hand them down to my kiddos. From left to right (above photo).

1.) Necklace gifted to me after the birth of miss P, you can see another photo of it here

2.) The cross was from the mister and w for my first Mothers Day (day after w was born)

3.) Turquoise stone is the newest to my collection, gifted from my younger brother this holiday season. We celebrated the holidays all together (rents and us kids) first time in the past 12 years. This is now a keepsake from this special time together.

4.) Cape Cod Ball Necklace. Gifted to me from my parents after graduating High School. This style and design is very popular back home (Cape Cod), and reminds be of where I'm from. I have a matching bracelet too which I never take off so I always have a constant reminder of family.

5.) This Ivory Carved Flower is real and very fragile. I don't wear it often as I am worried of it breaking or loosing it but I found it while hunting online for jewelry to wear with my wedding dress. My parents graciously gifted it to me as a wedding gift and I wore it for our special day. It was just the ivory pendant so I carefully wired it to be a necklace. Boy was I worried I may break it when doing this.

So do you have any family/personal jewelry with a story behind it?

Happy Monday! I'll be back in a bit with those kitchen photos. ;)

QUOTES : I WILL (AND YOU CAN TOO!)

2012-02-26T08:38:00.000-06:00

I see a lot of inspirational quote online, Pinterest is a great resource for a bunch of them. Words of advice which speak to me. Things that I look over and/or take for granted on a day to day basis but really need to remind myself about how these little bits of advice can have a huge impact on life. This one is great. I wish vs. I will! You know what I'm talking about? We all surely have said it at one time or another. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it and lie, lately our home's been a bomb. We've all been messy and I know I'm no better than the others since I've been leaving messy little piles of stuff cluttered about our home. Piles of papers, DIY projects left unfinished, sewing projects pilled high on the dresses waiting for time to complete, dirty clothes dropped on the floor over in placed the hamper. I've been bad about all of this, and when I saw this quote it his really hit me. I've been saying "I wish I had more time to clean that" but ya know what I need to do is kick it up a notch and ditch the I wish thing (though wishing is good for some things like wishing about winning the lotto, if only we played it though) but in this case, it's time to take charge, it's time to make a change. It's time to clean up my mess. I know I'll need to start small and work my way up or else it may be to daunting. So it's time to forget the I wish for _____, and have the confidence that I can and I Will! Ya know what I mean, right? You're amazing and you can do it too I know you can! Last night we started removing everything from the kitchen ( a full kitchen remodel is coming) so now pardon me as I run off to tidy up our messy home some. :) Hope you're having a great weekend!

(Image) Edited by me

MOVIE REVIEWS / WHAT WE'VE RECENTLY SEEN

2012-02-25T02:09:00.001-06:00

The mister and I watched a bunch of movies (8) over the past month. Some were good and some not so much. Plus I ventured to the movie theater for 2 of the movies on my own. A rundown with our ratings, plus a little info about each. Listed from our favorite to least fav. Enjoy!

DRIVE - My rating A (misters rating A)

Ryan Gosling (oh swooon, need I say more, I kinda have a new crush for him) plays a mechanic/Hollywood stuntman and a getaway driver which gets stuck in the middle of a shady deal while falling in love with the neighbor and her son next door. I really liked this movie. Not just because of Ryan Gosling but because of the overall story and action, car chases, and drama which took place throughout the movie.

50/50 : My rating A- (misters rating B+/A)

Inspired by a true store. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a journalist that discovers he has a rare cancer with a survival rate of 50/50 (hence the title). His best friend, Seth Rogen joins along his side for this movie about love, survival, friendships and find humor in unlikely places. I won't lie I did cry some from time to time, I think it's now that I'm a mom I see things differently, but I really enjoyed this one!

REAL STEEL - My rating A- (misters rating A)

Hugh Jackman is a retired boxer. This movie take place in the future where people use robots to box (kinda like sparing/fighting). He finds a new champion in a discarded robot and reconnects with his son who he hasn't seen in 11 years. It was actually pretty impressive. We thought it was going to be worse but we liked the special effects and the story.

WHATS YOUR NUMBER - My rating B/B+ (misters rating B/C+)

Anna Faris looks back on her life and the twenty men she's had relationships with and wonders if one of them might be her one true love. Chris Evans (from the newest Captain America movie, kinda have a crush on him too) plays her neighbor who helps her hunt down info about her previous Ex's. It's a rom/com (romantic/comedy) which I LOVE watching. This one was so cute, kinda girly but I enjoyed it.

THE DESCENDANTS : My rating B- (mister didn't see it)
George Clooney plays a husband and father of two girls, who has to re think his life and embrace his future when his wife suffers from a boating accident. Traveled to the theater with a handful of co-workers to see this. They all loved it but in my opinion, it was just ok; not bad but not my favorite.

RED TAILS - My rating B- (mister didn't see it)

Historical movie about African American pilots who were facing segregation issues during World War II. Myself and co-workers went to see this movie for research purposes and it was actually very knowledgeable/educational.

ABDUCTION - My rating C (misters rating D)
Taylor Lautner (that werewolf kid from Twilight) sets out to discover the truth about his childhood, after he finds a photo of himself on a missing persons website. This is an action/suspense movie and it was not at the top top but rental worthy.

COWBOYS & ALIENS - My rating D (misters rating D)
I've pulled a write up, cause I kinda don't have words for this one. I'll let ya decided for your selves. IMDB says: A spaceship arrives in Arizona, 1873, to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. A posse of cowboys and natives are all that stand in their way." Let me just comment the mister and I didn't care for this one, at all, ha!!!

So what movies have you seen lately?

(image 1) (image 2) (image 3) (image 4) (image 5) (image 6) (image 7) (image 8)

ARTIST : SARAH ESTEJE

2012-02-24T04:47:00.001-06:00

Ahhhhhmazing! How realistic do these look? Seriously, pretty darn amazing right? Wait till I tell you that they were drawn by French photographer and illustrator Sarah Esteje, who often uses nothing other than a ballpoint Bic pen. What!!! Yup you heard me right, a pen. All of these pieces are via her Tumblr page so link on over to check out more of her mind blowing work. Have a good weekend friends, Happy Friday!

SARAH ESTEJE // PERSONAL SITE

(images credit)

BLOG DESIGN // BUTTON UP BUTTERCUP

2012-02-23T15:09:00.000-06:00

Sweet Mandy over at Button Up Buttercup has been a sponsor on my blog a few time, and I've loved getting to know her more. She's very happy going and did some fabulous inspiration boards to give me an idea of her style, which is a twist of pretty/modern with a bit of bold patterning thrown in too. Mandy knew exactly the look she wanted and I was thrilled work with her and help her achieve a new look for her blog. Isn't it cute, I love the black and white with pops of color. If you have a sec jump on over to check it out, and make sure to say hello to this sweet lady!

Needing some help with a mini blog makeover? Email me and let's chat.
Would you like to see some of my other design work >>> Click Here

WHAT I WORE : JELLYPOP'S

2012-02-23T00:31:00.002-06:00

Over the weekend, when we had our date night, the mister and I also did a little bit of shopping. I found 3 tops and 2 pairs of lovely shoes. Four outta the five items were way down on clearance or else I wouldn't have come home with them. One of the shoes were these cuties. I'd never heard of this company before but these are by Jellypop. Don't ya just love the name, they sounds so fun to me. They are a bit taller than everything else I own (these are 4" heels) so I was excited to put them on and be able to now stand eye to eye with the mister... but knew also that I'd really need to be careful not to dive bomb the floor while walking. I wore them out all day yesterday and did perfect, no wipe as of yet. I love my new Jelly Jelly Jellypop's! Do you have a favorite pair of shoes?

p.s. My hair is a bit bluer today thanks to the sweet Bird + Cleaver duo, who graciously gifted me some fancy blue dye. Thanks friends, you're the best! :)

Bird Cardigan : Mossimo, Target

Navy T-Shirt : Thrifted
Red Skirt : Thrifted. Altered by me.
Belt : Thrifted

White Tights : Target
Flower Hair Clip c/o Jenny (frecklewonder)

Shoes : Jellypop's Spoken Gray

mine purchased at Off Broadway Shoes

Over here at DSW for $40
Hair Color : Pravana Hair Color Vivid Blue (buy here)

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WEAR WARE WHERE (33)

2012-02-22T15:59:00.001-06:00

It's was sunny out today. A bit of yellow inspiration.

And how awesome are those tights! I so want them. Happy Wednesday!

wear: Bouba Tights (£40.00 )

ware : Hell'o Monsters (artwork)

where : Lemons. Oahu & Kauai, Hawaii

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THANKS FOR READING! WANT TO SEE PREVIOUS POST IN THIS SERIES CLICK HERE
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MUSIC : FUN. FEATURING JANELLE MONÁE

2012-02-22T04:33:00.059-06:00

Lately I've been listening to the radio. Which isn't a normal thing, cause I kinda I don't care for the DJ's yapping nonsense between tunes. It's more chit chat than music so I usually switch to cd's instead... but a few weeks back, I decided to do some channel flipping and see if I could find anything good. And I did! I heard a song which I instantly loved but needless to say the DJ's skipped over the name and I was stumped who it was by. The mister has a rather impressive collection of music so I figured he surely must have it or be able to tell me who it was by. I'm a professional hummer (ok or maybe not since the mister never can figure out what I'm singing). I sang what I thought were the lyrics over and over in my head and aloud to the mister to see if he knew it " let's set the world on fire... and something higher... to the sun". As you can see I couldn't remember much and Google did me no justice when I kept trying to search for this. So I gave up the hunt... until last week while driving home and I heard it again! In a frantic panic and probably looking like a crazy lady while driving on the interstate, I scrambled for my phone and called the mister and said, "hurry turn on the radio, this is the song I like can you figure out who it is?" Well he surely knew who it was and go figure he even said we have it on cd. So here you have it, my new favorite song of the month, We Are Young by Fun featuring artist Janelle Monáe. Enjoy!

FUN.

WEBSITE // FACEBOOK // TWITTER

I love both versions, this one's acoustic, but link here to see the official music video.

(Image 1) (Images 2 & 3)

LITTLE DEER & THE SWINGING STORAGE CANISTER

2012-02-21T10:50:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, while on the hunt for buried treasures I came across these two little finds. I'm always looking for simple storage solutions for my assorted knick knacks so this 4 tiered canister was perfect! I loved that it swings open and closes right back up to save on space. The deer was to add to my small collection. She's a little salt shaker but sadly she's missing her other half, I found her all alone to fend for herself at the bottom of a basket with mixed odds and ends but she cleaned up nicely and now is happily hanging out with her cousins on the curio. So what treasures have you found while out thrifting lately?

TAKE TEN TUESDAYS ARROWS + AN INTERVIEW ON BLUE CORDUROY

2012-02-21T04:38:00.071-06:00

I'm still loving all the Valentine's inspiration out there and though the holiday has already passed, the month surely isn't over yet. Some of these arrows are Valentine's related but in general here's a mix of a few of my found favorites. Enjoy and Happy Take Ten Tuesdays!

House of Harlow 1960 Cuff ($229) // Design Sponge DIY // Earrings. RedTruckDesigns ($17)
Kate Space ($58) // Eames Objects, House Industries // Fellow Fellow DIY // Creature Comforts DIY
Wooden Arrows // Jacquie Aiche Arrow Cuff ($132) // Pattern via Ashley Goldberg

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I have a little interview over on Blue Corudory Sewing stop by if you have a sec and make sure to say hello to sweet Emily while you're at it. She's a peach and the fabulous handmade etsy artists behind one of my all time favorite hats. Thanks again for reading and have a great day!

PSSST... A GIVEAWAY ON MY GIRL THURSDAY

2012-02-20T10:28:00.001-06:00

Pssst... If you didn't already see this, guess what...

I'm hosting a giveaway on My Girl Thursday

and I'm sure you're not gonna to want to miss this one. ;)

WHAT I WORE : THE FANTASTIC MR FOX DRESS

2012-02-20T04:00:00.043-06:00

On Friday the mister and I had a date night and I knew right away that I wanted to wear this wonderful Fantastic Mr Fox Dress from Doubledutch Boutique. After I spotted this dress I was instantly googly eyed over it; and so excited when I found out it came in my size. The print is probably my favorite yet and the color palette is just perfect. Doubledutch Boutique seriously has some of the cutest stuff I've seen, and they are always adding new items to their shop. These photos were shot outside in the SUN! And can you tell by the smirk on my face how happy that makes me. It's starting to feel like Spring here, yippy!!! Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was fantastic! :)

Fantastic Mr Fox Dress (+ belt) c/o Doubledutch Boutique

Long Sleeved Shirt : Target

White Tights : Target

Red Socks : Target

Boots : Heirlooms in Walnut by Nicole

Necklace : Early Jewelry

Watch : Vannen Watches / Chris Ryniak

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BLOG DESIGN // MADE BY SODAPOP

2012-02-19T16:00:00.000-06:00

I've recently been working with the lovely Dayle of Made By Sodapop to give her sweet blog a mini makeover. Dayle has such an amazing eye for design and she came to me with a few ideas which I was thrilled to work with her. Her new blog is a bit more graphic, sophisticated and has a modern twist to it. If you have a minute jump on over to check it out, and make sure to say hello to this fabulous lady!

Would you like to see some of my other recent design work >>> Click Here

LINK LOVE : DIY HEART PILLOW OVER ON NOODLEHEAD

2012-02-19T07:04:00.000-06:00

I know, I know, Valentine's just passed us by and I actually was meaning to share this a bit sooner but I guess I just forgot. You've all probably seen the vintage enamelware heart bowl (like this one) by now; if not isn't it such a lovely bowl. I love it! Well, Anna over on Noodlehead shared this lovely tutorial earlier this month on how to make this pillow above. Isn't it wonderful! I think I may need to make myself one, or two or three, ok or maybe four. Make sure to look around her blog, she offers a bunch of other great DIY's projects. Happy link love! Hope your weekends been great!

JEWELRY I'M LOVING // MONIQUE PÉAN SPRING 2012

2012-02-18T13:00:00.000-06:00

I'm currently loving these bangles from the MONIQUE PÉAN Spring 2012 Collection. Aren't they wonderful! I'm guessing being by a designer they are way above my price range but I can dream, right?

COLOR PALETTE : MUSHROOMS (18)

2012-02-18T07:23:00.004-06:00

This color palette is my new favorite! That light blue and yellow color (far right 2) look exactly like colors of rooms in our home. I guess I know which other colors to now pair them up with. All of these neutral colors are such a perfect blend together, I love it! Enjoy and I hope you're having a great weekend!

Photo Credit via Machel Spence Photography

VALENTINES DATE NIGHT

2012-02-17T13:43:00.001-06:00

Photo via Skunkboy Creatures blog // DIY via Oh So Lovely

I mentioned a few days ago, on Valentine's, that the mister and I opt to do our Valentine's a bit differently. We dress up and give each other cards n' candy for the special day but then we pick a random day later in the week when our schedules allot us a bit of time together and have a mini celebration. We beat the crowds this way, things cost a bit less cause the holiday just passed, and we can enjoy a quiet little dinner together with a bit less stress than overall hustle an bustle of the Valentine's crowds. Tonight's our date night and I couldn't be more excited! The mister was so sweet, and was trying to surprise me but kinda slipped and said something cause he was to excited too. He planned a little staycation over at the Chateau Avalon!!! (insert HUGE smiles here) Last time we visited this place is it was fabulous, so I've decided I'm leaving the laptop at home to enjoy some much needed time with my mister... but don't worry I up late last night, typing you some awesomeness for while we're away. So have a great weekend and I'll see ya all soon!

ARTIST : DALTON GHETTI'S PENCIL SCULPTURES

2012-02-17T04:04:00.002-06:00

Aren't these phenomenal! I'm just in awe as I continue to look at them. I don't even really know what to say except that the craftsmanship is AMAZING and to think that someone hand carved these pencils. Wow! Who knew a simple no. 2 pencil could become such an intricate piece of artwork. Enjoy!

DALTON GHETTI : PERSONAL WEBSITE

All images credited to Dalton Ghetti.

WHAT I WORE : FREEZING BY THE FREIGHT

2012-02-16T13:08:00.000-06:00

So let's chat about how I felt like and ice pop for these photo. I usually shot about a zillion (ok exaggerated some) photos when I do my outfit posts. I use my trusty tripod and cross my fingers for maybe a handful to be in focus for me to choose from. On this particular day though, last Friday after leaving work, and the temperature was already dropped to a nice high of 18º, and I stood near the trains with no trees or walls for barriers... well, imagine that, I pretty much froze! The camera timer is for 10 photos max and sadly that all I shot cause any longer outside and I may have seriously become an ice cube. I ran back to my car so fast but my hands from the shock were cold for a good 10 minutes. Way to go silly, what was I thinking? (Don't worry you don't have to answer that.) When the weather warms up I'm going to shot a few more photos near the freights. They look so cool, especially this silver one. And they sit right outside of work over at Union Station. So what do you think of the altered dress (photo down bottom). Better? The mister said this one looked like little house on the prairie but after it was shortened he told me he liked it. The hunt is on as I think I need some cowboy boots. ;)

Thanks for popping by and

I hope you have a lovely day!

Thrifted Dress : No maker. Altered by me.

Shoes : Heirlooms in Walnut by Nicole

Tights & Socks : Gray. Target

Jean Jacket : Charlotte Russe

Hoodie : Mossimo. Target

Glasses : GlassesUSA iSee025 Tortoise

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ONE YEAR BLOGIVERSARY!

2012-02-16T02:19:00.003-06:00

image via a cup of jo

One year ago today, I started the AdaLou Blog. Honestly... I really wasn't to sure what to write or how to even initially jump into things. Some how the months have passed me by and now a year later, and I can't even see myself without this place. I love to share daily inspiration, like my first little post about miss Orla Keily (oh I love her work)! I'm no writer (and sorry for any typos which you've caught over time) but I've learned to stayed true to myself, write what I know, put my heart into what I create and all of this in return has brought me overall joy and happiness! This blog has kept me inspired and I hope some of this has helped keep you creative too. I've meet great friends here, and I can't even begin to thank you all enough for your support and sweet comments on a day to day basis; it means the world to me! I hope you've enjoyed reading along and that you'll continue to hang on tight for the ride. It's been a Happy One Year my little blog and I can't wait to see what's in store for us next. Have a spectacular day sweet friends!

p.s. is blogiversary even a real word?

INSIDE UNION STATION, KANSAS CITY

2012-02-15T11:10:00.001-06:00

Doors to Amtrak. Fact # 5

A few of my last What I Wore photo's were taken over at Union Station which is connected to my work, and located downtown Kansas City, Missouri. It a fabulous historical landmark which still serves our local Amtrak (train). This building hold so much history and the architecture is amazing to say the least. From 97-99 there was a complete restore and now it houses a Post Office, Irish Museum, Science Museum, Plantarium, Extreme Screen Movie Theatre, a few gallery rooms, a coffee shop, gift shop and a handful of restaurants. This place is HUGE!!! A few facts about Union Station...

1.) The building encompasses 850,000 square feet
2.) The ceiling height in the Grand Hall is 95 feet high (holy moly that's tall!)
3.) The 3 chandeliers (noted below in my photos) weigh 3,500 pounds each
4.) The Grand Hall clock has a six-foot diameter face
5.) In 2010 it was the 2nd busiest in boarding/detraining. An average of 400 passengers daily.

Now if you ever travel thru Kansas City be sure to stop by Union Station. I'm sure you'll love it! Enjoy!

Grand Hall. Noted Fact # 2 I took my Black and White (What I Wore)

dress photos down near the end on the right side. Right by the Ladies sign (below)

Look at that wall detail. Amazing! Even the bathroom sign looks pretty.

Grand Hall Clock. Noted above in Fact # 4

Ceiling details above hanging chandeliers. Noted Fact # 3

These are right thru the doors on your way into the Amtrak station.

Top photo of the doors, when you enter those doors these are to the immediate left.

In the Post Office. They kept all of the older details which I love!

Look at this ceiling & those three hanging chandeliers. Noted Fact # 3

Outside view of Union Station, KCMO.

WHAT I WORE : A BIT OF RED ON VALENTINES

2012-02-15T04:00:00.028-06:00

Howdy lovelies! I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day. The mister and I aren't big for crowds so we usually plan our Valentine's date a night or two after the special day. We'll be celebrating on Friday (which I can't wait), but yesterday I still wanted to dress up in a bit of red. The mister wore my favorite pink button down shirt too. He's sure swell like that. I've been meaning to wear this dress for a bit now but hadn't. I found it thrifting and feel in love with it because it twirled oh so nicely. It's a vintage square dancing dress so go figure why it spins wonderfully. I know, silly reason to love a dress but a girl needs to spin about every now and again and this is the perfect dress for doing so. Last week I shared photos taken inside Union Station and today I took pictures right outside this amazing building. I'll be back before noon to share a few photos inside this AMAZING historical landmark. Enjoy & Happy Wednesday!

Braids and a Bow! I'm excited it's finally at a braid worthy length.

I know I posted my nails yesterday but I was pretty excited about them :)

Thrifted Dress : The Square Dancing Dress Co.

Shoes : Black Kathan's by Mossimo. Target

Tights : Chevron Pattern by NuNu Couture

Coat : Merona Wool Coat. Target

Glasses : GlassesUSA iSee025 Tortoise

Bow : Tied ribbon and bobbypin

Nail Polish : Sinful Colors - Gogo Girl (Red), Pink Forever (Pink)

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FREE GIVEAWAY OVER ON CURIOUS DAMSEL

2012-02-14T15:19:00.000-06:00

Hey friends just wanted to let you know I'm hosting a little giveaway to win a free copy of my "Love Letters on Valentine's" prints over on Curious Damsel. Have a wonderful Valentine's!

VALENTINES DETAILS

2012-02-14T06:00:00.000-06:00

Tiny handmade details which make our Valentine's Day oh so special. Above, handmade by the mister and myself last night. Cut craft paper, woven with yarn and stuffed with conversation hearts for the kiddos. Below, the Letterbox I made for my DIY workshop with Katie stuffed with a few small treast for the kids. Check out how to make your very own Letterbox over here. And look at that, I painted my nails for the special day. Boy was this hard. I can NOT paint my right hand, how do you do it? The hearts kept coming out like blurry blobs but I finally got it to look half decent. Our Valentine's is pretty low key, as usual, which I love. Dinner and a night in with the kiddos watching one of our new movie I would imagine. Shhhh don't tell them but they're getting Lady and the Tramp and Dumbo for Valentines day gifts. Are you doing anything special for Valentine's today?

812... nope not our address, our anniversary date :)

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE // FREE DESKTOP

2012-02-14T04:00:00.002-06:00

Hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Hand doodled lettering from a Beatles quote.

Desktop Wallpaper measures 1680 x 1050 pixels

To download, while holding the alt/option key click image.Enjoy!

EASY HIS & HERS SUNDAES FROM BIRD & CLEAVER

2012-02-13T11:00:00.002-06:00

Hello, Adalou readers! John and Lindsay here from Bird + Cleaver. We are thrilled to be back to share another recipe with you, this time for Valentine's Day. When we first started thinking about what sort of recipe would be appropriate, we had a few good ideas, but then reality struck! It happens to fall on a Tuesday this year. Don't know about you guys, but for us that is right in the midst of an already chaotic work week. It is also a day where we will come home to children high not only from the excitement of their perspective school parties, but also the huge quantities of sugar they have consumed. Not to mention dinner, the inevitable sugar crash and bedtime. It leaves little time for whipping up a seductive treat. So we decided to simplify. A couple of things from the store, and a small amount of time in the kitchen. We figure this should leave more than enough time to enjoy the treat itself, and then still have a little time to...........

So, this is one of those recipes where you can do a little, or you can do a lot. Homemade Ice cream is great, and so are freshly made doughnuts and brownies. But, there's no shame in a quart of Haagen-Dazs and a box of Krispy Creme either. We opted for a little from the store, and a little from our kitchen.

HERS

fresh strawberries // sweetened whipped cream // strawberry ice cream // brownie (you could make a pan or buy a few from a local bakery) // hot fudge :: recipe follows

HOT FUDGE

2/3 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 corn syrup
1/4 light brown sugar
6 oz chocolate ( good quality)
1/4 cup cocoa
pinch of kosher salt
2 tablespoons butter

Combine cream, syrup, brown sugar, chocolate, cocoa and salt in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly. After chocolate is melted, remove from heat and add butter.

HIS

handful of pretzels, broken // hand full of chocolate chips // coffee ice cream // glazed doughnut (if you are really ambitious, you could make these, otherwise buy some from your local shop) // bourbon caramel :: recipe follows

BOURBON CARAMEL

1 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons corn syrup
1/2 cup of cream
1/4 cup bourbon

Combine sugar and water together in a saucepan. Whisk together until the sugar is evenly wet. Cook over medium heat until caramel turns a rich amber color. DO NOT STIR during this time. Remove from heat and add heavy cream whisk together. Let the caramel cool slightly (about a minute) add the bourbon and return to low heat. Cook until mixture thickens (about another minute) Remove from heat. Let cool to desired temperature.

**Both of these sauces can be kept covered in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

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Yum, yum, yum! Thanks John and Lindsay for sharing such a tasty treat. make sure to go say hello and see what else this dynamic duo is whipping up lately over on their blog, Bird + Cleaver. Thanks again and Happy Monday friends!

MINI COLLECTIONS : DOODLING SUPPLIES

2012-02-13T02:51:00.003-06:00

L to R // Marker Pen, Brush Pen, Fine Point Marker, Mechanical Pencil, Eraser, Pink Eraser & Lead.

Today's mini collection may throw you for a loop but I promise, it's still a collection. Though I tend to think of collections being all matchy-matchy, similar in shape, color or size they don't always need to be exactly the same. This collection I use often. A grouping of my all time favorite doodling supplies. I love my mechanical pencils, I could probably survive on this alone but I love to doodle so a few of the tools I used are pictured above. Do you like to doolde? Enjoy & Happy Monday!

Top photo - Marker tool, far left. Love this Marker!!!! Can't read the writing, not English.

~~Not sure who it's by but I'll try to find out though and update this post when I do. :)~~

Ok found more info on it. Pilot Pocket Brush Pen - link

Top photo - Brush Pen by Tombow, 2nd from left.

Tombow Dual Brush Pen in Black - link

Top photo - 4th from left, mechanical pencil.

Last nights daily doodle "Hello"

DIY VALENTINES LETTERBOX BY KATIE

2012-02-12T01:45:00.002-06:00

Boy do I have a fabulous DIY for you, as today, I'm soooo excited share a wonderful Valentines DIY from Katie. Katie and I are friends thru work. And when she recently mention about doing a DIY tutorial over lunch one day for her fabulous Letterbox's (see her's first one down bottom, in green, made for her wedding) for Valentine's Day I was so happy to partake in a little demo. And it got us thinking that you may enjoy making a special Valentine Letterbox too. All of the photos, notes and this DIY tutorial are credited to Katie. You can also say hello and see what else she's up to over on her blog. Ready to make a letterbox? Go grab your supplies and let's get started!

MATERIALS
2 cereal boxes, one slightly larger than the other
large piece of colored paper (approx 20”x26”)
template, to modify and use as reference
pencil
x-acto and self healing mat
scissors
pen or marker for linework – a white Sakura gel pen works well
spray mount or xyron or other adhesive
hot glue gun

* Katie's Template - click here

1.) Grab noted materials. Find two cereal boxes, one slightly larger than the other. The smaller box will become the postbox. The larger box will become the extra material for the detail pieces. The template is based off 2 cereal boxes sized approximately 6.25" x 8.5” and 7.625" x 10.125". For other sizes, you will need to modify the template. 2.) Use the template *(see link above with Materials) as reference to make all detail pieces (post box body, columns, shield, flap border, card insert border and banner) Open the larger box at the side seam and lay flat. Using adhesive, attach paper to front (color printed) side of LARGE cereal box. 3.) Lay out template on back (brown) side of LARGE cereal box. Trace pieces with pencil. 4.) Cut out each piece with an x-acto. Place pieces to the side, for now.

5.) Put adhesive on the rest of your paper. Place back of cereal box flat, adhering the paper to the cereal box. Leave enough extra paper to cover all sides, and ¼” paper border on front. Start with the left and right sides. Pull up paper, allowing it to adhere to the side of the cereal box. Pull up paper on top and bottom, adhering to the cereal box. Cut edges flush with the box edge. Use hot glue for top ¼” border if needed. Place post box to the side, for now. 6.) Lay out all pieces onto the ‘post box body’. Make sure everything is exactly where you want it to be. With pencil, trace inside the ‘card insert border’. Trace around the outside and inside of the flap border. Remove all pieces from on top of the ‘post box body’ piece. 7.) Cut just outside your pencil line for the ‘card insert border’. The lines from the ‘flap border’ will help you create the ‘flap’. For the ‘flap’ cut half way between your pencil lines, on the left, bottom and right sides. DO NOT CUT the top line. Score the top line lightly. Lay your ‘post box body’ onto the small box. Make sure the two pieces are lined up how you want them. Trace the inside of the ‘card insert border’ and the inside of the flap opening. Remove ‘post box body’ and cut about a ¼” outside of all traced lines – create two rectangular openings on your small box.

8.) Draw your line work on all pieces. Hot glue ‘card insert border’ piece onto the top opening, making sure the edges are covered. Hot glue ‘flap border’ onto flap, making sure edges are fully covered, and the top of the border lines up with your score line. The border will overhang the flap slightly allowing it to lay nicely. Hot glue rest of pieces into place. Finish any other line drawing. Using hot glue, adhere ‘post box body’ to the front of the small box. Make sure all openings are lined up, as well as the sides and bottom. YAY! Your postbox is complete!!! Now write notes or cards and place inside postbox for someone you love! :) Katie

Katie's first Letterbox, created for her wedding. How fabulous is this! Awesome, right!

Thanks so much again Katie for sharing such an inspiring DIY.

Enjoy and Good Luck with your own Letterbox's!

MY MISTER COOKS // DENVER OMELET CUPS

2012-02-11T04:33:00.088-06:00

Last weekend the mister and boy got up early. Um, wait, scratch that, let me rephrase... Last weekend the boy (who always wakes up early) woke up at the crack of dawn, as usual, and the mister kindly rolled outta bed, half way awake, to join him. After being up for a bit, they decided to make us (miss P and I were lazybones and still sleeping in bed) breakfast. They prepared these oh so delicious Denver Omelet Cups, yum, yum, YUM!!! We love our Martha Stewart everyday day food issues. Yah know, those tiny little magazines jam packed with tasty goodness. I think they're one of the best little cooking magazines which we turn to often to find quick and easy recipe ideas for the week. So here you have it, yet again, another fabulous meal by ~~Martha~~ the Mister & boy. Enjoy & Happy Weekend!

DENVER OMELET CUPS
(Approx Time 30 Minutes // Serves 6)

Ingredients
5 teaspoons unsalted butter
4 cups frozen hash browns (1 pound), thawed
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 small red onion, diced small
1 small red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced small
4 ounces ham steak, diced small
3 ounces cheddar, grated (3/4 cup)
8 large eggs

Directions
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Coat 6 nonstick jumbo muffin cups with 1/2 teaspoon butter. In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt 4 teaspoons butter. Add hash browns and 2 egg whites; season with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Place 1/2 cup mixture into each muffin cup, firmly pressing into bottom and up side of each cup. Bake 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small nonstick skillet, melt 1/2 teaspoon butter over medium. Add red onion, bell pepper, and ham steak. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide vegetable mixture evenly among cups and top with cheddar. Bake 2 minutes. Remove from oven and crack 1 egg into each cup. Season with salt and pepper and bake until whites are set but yolks are still runny, 8 to 10 minutes. With a small offset spatula, remove cups from pan and serve immediately.

Extra Note In place of ham steak, you could swap with crumbled sausage, bacon pieces, diced turkey or maybe go vegetarian with extra peppers, onions or maybe even mushrooms too.

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RECIPE SOURCES

Denver Omelet Cups - Martha Stewart Food Issue 89 // Jan. & Feb 2012 // Page 39

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The mister does not care for runny eggs so he made his a scrambled one instead.

VALENTINES INSPIRATION : HEARTS

2012-02-10T04:20:00.006-06:00

1.) Heart Tote. ModCloth // 2.) Heartlette Crown. Giant Dwarf // 3.) Heart Shirt

4.) Heart Chair. Kireei // 5.) Fabric Hearts. Ashley Meaders // 6.) Heart Blossoms. PaperAltar

7.) Heart paper clips. How About Orange // 8.) Heart Necklace. Lulu Bug Jewelry

9.) LOVE Print.(Ok maybe not a heart) Beauchamping // 10.) Love in Black Card. Blancucha

Happy Friday friends!

WHAT I WORE : CASUAL ATTIRE WEDNESDAY

2012-02-09T11:35:00.003-06:00

Thank you all kindly for your sweet comments on my altered black + white dress post, I appreciate it! As most of you know I'm a mom of 2, work a full daytime job and juggle multiple tasks; so sometimes dressing up (well what I call dressing up is wearing dresses in my case) isn't always in the cards. Not that I don't want to, cause I surely do, but sometimes you just go to bed to late and then over sleep and then just want to grab a blanket and head out the door to work in your pj's, (how my Wednesday was going) but mind you I didn't. My sweet friend Caitlin over on To Make Love Stay posts her photos every week of "What I'm Honestly Wearing Wednesdays" which got me thinking, I should show you what a typical days attire may look like too. So last night after returning home from a busy day at work, I grabbed my camera and moseyed into miss P's room (hence the HUGE P on the wall) and shoot a few photos of my casual attire. Being a mom, for me, involve clothes which is comfortable, practical and casual... but can still look cute non the less. Today's attire includes jeans, gray platform shoes, a navy tee and a bird printed cardigan. So what are you honestly wearing today?

Miss P in her cool shade (belong to W) as she entertained us all at dinner last night. :)

Jambo Printed Tee : Love is Waiting

(friend sold these to support her adoption)

Black Wrap : Derek Heart for Kohls

Jeans : Mossimo, Target

Shoes : Black Kathan's by Mossimo, Target
Geometric Bangle : Voz via Etsy

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THANKS FOR READING! FOLLOW ALONG - RSS // BLOGLOVIN' // GFC
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WEAR WARE WHERE (32)

2012-02-09T04:39:00.002-06:00

Loving those tights, I seriously need to find some before Tuesday. The necklace reminds me of an older postal stamp design and that pathway, oh my where to even begin. It's illuminated with lighting and seating throughout. Amazing, just so beautiful!!! This walkway is located in China at the Qinhuangdao Red Ribbon Park and if I ever travel there this will surely be on my list of first things to see. Happy Thursday!

wear: Love Necklace ($30)

ware : Tights (actually selling shoes $39)

where : Qinhuangdao Red Ribbon Park, China

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THANKS FOR READING! WANT TO SEE PREVIOUS POST IN THIS SERIES CLICK HERE
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JEWELRY I'M LOVING // METAL HEART CHARMS

2012-02-08T14:30:00.001-06:00

Being that it's the month of hearts, Valentines, I've been on the hunt for heart inspiration. I've seen a lot of jewelry out there, bracelets, earrings, watches, but I'm really loving these tiny metal heart charms. I'm not to sure if its the metal tones, the antique like colored hues or the simplicity but I'd gladly take one of each please. Which colored metal do you love, silver, brass, gold, etc.?

1.) Gold Heart ($26) // 2.) Vintage Heart Charm ($25) // 3.) Vintage Block Heart ($24)

PRINTABLE VALENTINES FROM AMY @ THANK YOU CARDS SHOP

2012-02-08T10:49:00.002-06:00

Recently, Amy from the Thank You Cards Shop was in touch with me about these wonderful free printable valentines cards she was offering up over on her blog. We thought you all may be interested in them too, since how cute are they? Super cute right! Such an easy DIY you could print out and do in an afternoon. For those of you who haven't met Amy yet, she's the Vancouver based designer behind the beautiful graphics above and owns a little shop called Thank You Cards Shop. Her blog is filled with inspiration, discounts, free printables, and the occasional contest too. So grab yourself the collection & enjoy! Thanks again Amy and Happy Wednesday sweet friends!

WHAT I WORE : BLACK AND WHITE

2012-02-08T03:32:00.014-06:00

I own a few black dresses but this one, well I think I found a new best friend. I picked up this vintage beauty before Christmas and I'm just getting around to wearing it. Yup it's been like 2 months. Let me explain though. I've been soooo busy lately and getting around to hemming (cause I alter most dresses shorter due to my height) just hadn't been on the top of my list. I also was unsure about altering the sleeves and if I should have kept them longer. You can see the dress before my alterations below, and boy excuse that half awake, no makeup face, I guess it was a rough morning kinda photo. So I settled on short shelves and now it's by far my favorite little black dress. I'm a bit monochromatic here... black dress, white tights, black shoes and ya know some black nail polish to pull it all off. I love that little moon necklace too, which is from a local boutique, artist unknown. Now is it just me or does that dress say "maid go clean my house" I guess next time I'll pose with a mop and broom ;)

p.s. I can't stand house cleaning, I guess better not wear this around the house or I may be signing myself up for some serious chores.

Vintage Dress : Thrifted + Altered by Me

Necklace : Local Boutique, unknown artist

Shoes : Black Kathan's by Mossimo, Target
White Tights : Target

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THANKS FOR READING! FOLLOW ALONG - RSS // BLOGLOVIN' // GFC
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DIY DIECUT HEART CARD & ENVELOPE

2012-02-07T10:57:00.003-06:00

I love hand making cards for my family. And with Valentine's Day being one of those holidays where you can pull off giving multiple cards and notes to your loved ones, I figured I'd share with you one of the cards I recently made. I had found some inspiration via Etsy where the artist cut and glued various hearts to some paper. I like this look but pulled it off with slightly a different approach. I'm pleased with the overall outcome and besides the measuring part (which may take you a few minutes) the overall making of this card was fairly quick. Would you like to make your own handmade card with me? Grab some supplies and let's go!

1.) TEMPLATES

I doodled up these design and noted all of my dimensions below.

2.) ENVELOPE INSTRUCTIONS

Measure and Cut Template shape. The only tape is on the 2 side folds.

I also cut and taped a heart to the envelope once it was completed.

FOLDS * (asterisk sign on template)

Note the fold lines on template, please do not cut them.

We'll erase the lines we drew on the template after you fold each crease.

3.) CARD INSTRUCTIONS

Measure and Cut Template shape

QUESTIONS?

If you're feeling lost please leave me a note in the comments section so I may reply to you.

Good Luck! If you make one please link it in the comment window, I'd love to see it!

VALENTINES PARTY + FREE GIVEAWAY ON PUSSYCAT VINTAGE

2012-02-07T09:40:00.003-06:00

Hey all, I wanted to let you know I'm helping kick off an awesome Valentine's Party with this Hearted Kitties Necklace (pictured above). So get your butt on over to the Pussycat Vintage blog today to get yourself signed up and make sure to stick around to join in for the Valentine's party fun. It's going to be a bunch of fun! Did you see todays Take Ten Valentine's inspiration yet? Oh and I'll be back at 11 with a DIY I'm hoping you'll all enjoy! See ya soon. :)

TAKE TEN TUESDAYS : VALENTINES INSPIRATION

2012-02-07T02:47:00.002-06:00

1.) Crayon Heart Valentines // 2.) Paper Heart Garland // 3.) Little Boxes

4.) Yarn Letters // 5.) Painted Stones // 6.) Candy Lips // 7.) Movie Themed

8.) Conversation Hearts // 9.) Wire & Yarn Love // 10.) Paper Arrows

ARE YOU THE DOUBLEDUTCH GIVEAWAY WINNER?

2012-02-06T15:01:00.000-06:00

Thank you to all who entered the giveaway, we appreciate all of your support. An a HUGE THANK YOU to the ladies over at Doubleducth Boutique for offering up such a wonderful giveaway for all of your lovely readers. And now for your winner.... a Big Congrats to Jay (Comment number 21) who is the lucky lady who won!!! Jay when you have a minute please email me your contact info to adalou1(at)hotmail(dot)com
Thank you all again and Happy Monday!

GROWING UP : UPDATES FROM MISS P

2012-02-06T11:08:00.001-06:00

I love both of my children equally, there's not doubt about it. But lately, I've been enjoying a bit of Miss P time. She loves reading books, counting (she can make it to 6!), playing with puzzles, setting up her toys to play house, and singing. She's such an observant little copycat but it's oh so cute! Her vocabulary is blowing up and we're just in awe of how much she already seems to know; we believe some of this is due to watching her big brother. She's slowly been asking us new questions with a few combine words, like "needs uice peas (i need juice please) or "play, pony, room" (play with ponies in her room). She's telling us the things she loves (and doesn't care for too). Her favorite show & song by the The Fresh Beat Band, has now become a part for her daily chit chat as she loves telling us "great day, super day, spend together" (these words are in the closing song). She pretty much goes nuts when the song comes on the tv and it's the cutest thing to watch her get excited over. She has a little monster voice (deep raspy voice) which she uses from time to time trying to be silly. She's currently the comedian of our household and we just love her to pieces! She's been making every effort to talk to us and we're sure she has so much more to say. I can't wait to see what the next months have in store. :)

Playing ponies. One of her new favorite things to do.

Hamming it up with Daddy. These two are hilarious together. :)

MINI COLLECTIONS : CHILDHOOD JEWELRY

2012-02-06T01:56:00.000-06:00

So these pieces are from my childhood. Aren't they too cute. I've had these in my collection... oh, since I was 4 or 5. I love, love, love that rainbow hearts one (3rd over from the left). I wore these all as play jewelry when I was a kiddo and my mom was so nice to keep all of them for me and give them to back to me when I was much older to appreciate the fact that she kept them. (Thanks mom you're the best!) My plan is to restring the ones where the elastic is going, and then let miss P play with them when she's maybe a year older (3+) cause right now she loves to put things in her mouth so I could see a scary ER trip from a bead up her nose or in her ear. So we'll just wait a wee bit longer to be safe. Did you keep jewelry or have a favorite piece you wore from your childhood? Happy Monday!

FIRST FRIDAY FINDS : LADYBUG LUCK

2012-02-05T11:32:00.001-06:00

Ladybug Luck signed Screenprint by Charley Harper.

Well I mentioned in my last post that I found some treasures on Friday and with a little hunting they were all affordable, well kinda...

First I spotted a smaller ladybug screenprint that was noted "unknown artist" which honestly, I passed on it not knowing about it myself at first. I loved it, it looked kinda familiar but passed over it... how foolish of myself. I rounded the corner and walked down to another vendors booth and spotted a larger piece (below) by Charley Harper (his name boldly printed and signed) and did a take and then a double take and called the mister all panicky about buying it before someone else snatched it up. I hunted a bit more and then excited about my big (which mind you, I broke and sold my left leg to acquire) purchase I had complete forgot about the first little ladybugs I had seen. I guess I was on cloud 9 to even put 2 and 2 together but as I got back to work (oh ya, this was over a quick lunch break) it all clicked and I about passed out yet again. I realized what I had passed on, which was another Charley Harper signed piece. I left work a tad bit early and soon booked my butt back to the store in hopes to still find the lucky ladybug piece and it surely was there, calling out my name. Score! The owls and cash register were from another outing to the Salvation Army this past week, way more my price range for things. I've also been on a cat kick lately, not to sure why, but isn't that cat plate sooo cute? So which items have your freaked out over while thrifting? Did you end up buy them?

Fisher Price Kitchen Stove

Lithograph from 1977 show. Signed by Charley, Edie (wife) & Brett (son) Harper.

ABOVE.

glasses frames // avon owls (perfume bottles) // seashell book

vintage cat plat // clip on bow tie // crochet collar

Did you get yourself signed up for the Doubledutch Giveaway, it ends tonight. Good Luck!

ARE THRIFT STORES ON THE RISE?

2012-02-05T04:38:00.006-06:00

You want how much for that? I've noticed some rather odd activity at my favorite places to thrift. I'm guessing it's happening elsewhere as I've overheard a few close friends mention it in their hometowns too. Even the Goodwill's here are pricing dresses starting at $9.99 which seems a little cuckoo to me. I can buy new at Target for less than this. I mean, people donate these things to thrift stores and then they price it so high, to what? Make tons of money. Really? Such a major turn off in my opinion. Sadly, Friday I noticed more of the same. I went out over lunch, and though I did manage to find a few treasures (which I'll share in my next post) the rest of it I had to pass on for now. So why do you think prices are becoming unruly, is buying vintage the next big thing? Please note that this post isn't to a be a downer about thrifting, because I love the hunt, but to show you that when I'm out looking it's not always butterflies and rainbows. Happy Sunday!

THEIR TRIP TO THE ZOO

2012-02-03T11:01:00.002-06:00

On Wednesday the mister took advantage of the warmer weather and took the kiddos to the Zoo. Both kid (especially Wyeth) love bears so when their first stop was to see the Polar Bear exhibit it was pure joy. Can you see the excitement on Penny's face as she repeatedly said "Dad, bear, bear, bear, bear, Dad bear" and as W explained all things about the bear and what it was doing. When they reached the Hippos there was more excitement yet again as miss P loves hippos! Sadly I wasn't there to see all the smiles but the mister aways sends me texts and photos when they go. One text he sent me made me smile ear to ear. He even caught a snapshot in action below. I guess Penny (miss independent) said "no" on multiple times to holding the misters hand while walking the zoo but when Wyeth asked her she said "yup". What a great big brother, always watching out for his lil sis. It made my heart melt just thinking of how these two are the best of friends. I'm hoping it will stay this way in the years to come. All in all they had an eventful trip and saw all of their favorite animals. So what's your favorite animal?

Our Favorite Animals

The Mister : Chimpanzee

Myself : Cheetah

Wyeth : Polar Bears

Penny : Hippopotamus

The mister's really hoping his home team wins the Super Bowl this weekend. ;)

Photos from their fun filled day were taken by the mister & edited by me. Enjoy!

COLOR PALETTE : PROMETHEUS (17)

2012-02-03T04:30:00.001-06:00

The beautiful illustration above is titled Prometheus by artist Sachin Teng.

ARTIST : FALCONWRIGHT

2012-02-02T09:00:00.003-06:00

Falconwright is a beautiful line of affordable, stylish, screen printed leather purses, handmade by Canadian artists, Sandi Falconer & Danielle Wright. Aren't these clutches so swoon worthy. I love the gold and black tones. That pink one (no.3) is so cute, I'm not really a pink person but it screams 80's to me and I really could see myself with one. Make sure to peek at their January 2012 Lookbook, the print and patterning is just lovely.

FALCONWRIGHT

SITE // BLOG // BIGCARTEL // TWITTER

top left (4/13) // top right (same as image 2) // images 1, 2 & 3

LOVE LETTERS ON VALENTINES (PRINT)

2012-02-02T01:35:00.002-06:00

I've been doodling away at nights, trying to gather all of my favorite pieces for the handmade shop, Benandi. The shop is temporarily closed while I'm work on getting my ducks in a row, so I may reopen the shop for full business this Spring. I'm working on a bunch of new artwork which I'm excited about but in the mean time I will update you here when I post something new to the shop. Like this new print above, titled "Love Letter's on Valentines" which you can now find over at the shop. Hope you like it! :)

$50 GIFT CARD to DOUBLEDUTCH BOUTIQUE (CLOSED)

2012-02-01T11:56:00.002-06:00

Happy February!!! I'm so excited to be kicking off this month with a special giveaway thanks to my fabulous friends over at Doubledutch Boutique! If you haven't had a chance to swing by this lovely shop you surely need to. They have the cutest dresses, tops, accessories, purses, shoes and more. They carry a variety of items for everyone; and I can't help but love all of their vintage style dresses. Today they are offering one lucky reader the chance to "Win a $50 Gift Card to the Doubledutch Boutique". To enter see the details below. Good Luck, Happy Wednesday & Happy February 1st!

~~HOW TO ENTER~~ (CLOSED)
Main Entry (Open to All Readers)
Visit the Doubledoutch Boutique and tell me what item(s) you're lovin' and would purchase if you won this fabulous giveaway.

Additional Entries (please leave one additional comment per entry)
1.) Follow Doubledutch Boutique on Twitter
2.) Tweet this giveaway: Win a $50 Gift Card courtesy of @doubledutchgrls over on the @adalouvintage blog >>> http://tinyurl.com/7ctbm8j
3.) Follow the AdaLou Blog via Bloglovin'

* EXTRA INFO
Giveaway ends 11:30PM CST on Sunday, February 5th
Winner selected via Random.org & announced the following week.
Please make sure to include a way to contact you (email, site link, etc.)
so I may contact you if you're our lucky winner. Good Luck!!!

FAV FIVES c/o NICOLE FROM PUSSYCAT VINTAGE

2012-02-01T02:25:00.002-06:00

Hello AdaLou readers! I'm back with a very cozy edition of Fav Fives for you this month. The winter here in Indiana has not been typical, but has still been cold enough to need some cozy attire! Nothing makes me happier than getting into something super comfy and warm after a long day. Here are five items that I think would be perfect for snuggling up next to the fire with in these cold, dreary months. Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you are all staying warm this winter!

Images : sweater // shorts // tea kettle // tea // socks // blanket

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Thanks so much Nicole for starting off the month in style. Nicole and I swap Fav Fives on both of our blogs, you can view my swapped collection with Nicole over at Pussycat Vintage.
Happy February 1st! I'll be back at noon with a special giveaway, see ya'll soon!

DIY FELT VALENTINES DAY TAGS

2012-01-31T11:49:00.003-06:00

I thought it would be fun to make some simple handmade Valentines. The kids enjoyed doodling more of their own valentines this weekend and I enjoyed a bit of craft time too. I made these simple hang tags which I plan to hang on their little doors with a special message. Are you ready to make some tags?

SUPPLIES

Stick It, Peel and Stick Felt (found at Hobby Lobby), Scissors,

Hole Punch, Pen, Ribbon, Ruler, Paper

NOTE : Your letters will be backwards if you doodle on the reverse,

keep this in mind and double check before you cut them out.

Create other elements to stick on front of tag. Hearts, words, letters, etc.

You may then personalize the reverse of tag with a message to your loved one.

I cut my letter and left the counters (filled in area on letters like the P) which I liked this look.

You may need an x-acto knife for smaller or finer details.

When your design is done, run a ribbon thru the hole for hanging or attaching to a gift.

Easy peasy, right?! Hope this makes sense and you had fun. Enjoy!

p.s and i thought a fun background and header for tomorrow is only appropriate, whatta think? :)

MEET THE JANUARY SPONSORS

2012-01-31T00:38:00.000-06:00

When I do my monthly sponsor calls I'm always so excited to see new faces. I love meeting new people and then I'm even more excited about introducing them to you. These lovely ladies below, and also everyone else to the right sidebar, have some of the most wonderful blogs and shops which truly make me smile. So will you please say hello to my January sponsors. I'm so honored to have had them here all month long. Thanks again sweet friends for all of your support of the blog, and Happy Tuesday!

p.s. I'm taking a break from todays Take Ten Tuesday (I'll be back to it next week) for a Valentines DIY up at noon. See ya'll soon!

FOLKLURE : BLOG // TWITTER // SHOP

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BLUE CORDUROY : BLOG // FACEBOOK // SHOP

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ANNA Z : BLOG // TWITTER // PINTEREST

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A BEAUTIFUL FEATHER : BLOG // TWITTER // FACEBOOK

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BLYTHE PONYTAIL PARADES BLOG // FACEBOOK // FLICKR

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ART BY KELLIE : ETSY // PINTEREST // BLOG

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LISHYLOO : BLOG // SHOP // PINTEREST

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FUZZYMAMA : SHOP // FACEBOOK // BLOG

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PHOTO FUN + A WEEKEND UPDATE

2012-01-30T09:23:00.000-06:00

There was a paper shipping tube which was sitting in the living room corner and not being used. Honestly, I'm not even to sure where it was from, and who knows how long it's been there, but either way Wyeth asked if he could use it and we said sure. At first it was a bazooka... hmmm. Well, we don't own any guns, and don't talk about them often, honestly we don't care for them at all, so he musta seen it somewhere else. But he walked around the house trying to shot things. We had a quick chit chat about the gun thing and pointing it at people so then it became the car launcher (photo down bottom), which was such a better idea. Then there was a bit of car smashing involved... this all must be a boy thing... the guns and trying to break stuff parts. A bit later the tube became a photo prop, and we all enjoyed a good laugh. Even Penny's baby doll partook in the photo fun. This weekend we wrapped up a majority of the Valentines and Miss Mess enjoyed some painting time while I worked on DIY project which I'll share tomorrow. So how was your weekend? Can you believe February is a day or so away, nuts! Happy Monday! :)

MINI COLLECTIONS : EMALOX

2012-01-30T04:16:00.000-06:00

I collect bowls, plus own a rather large collection of enamelware pieces, but this small collection of vintage bowls (plus one plate) is by Emalox. A Norwegian company which made various aluminum products in bright colors, dated from the 1950's - 80's. They are light weight tin coated in enamel and overall very durable. They add a lovely pop of colors to our home and we use them often throughout the year as trinket dishes to hold candies, coins and other small items. You can find them online (via Etsy here) but if you hunt thru thrift stores, which is where most of these have come from, you can score yourself a small affordable collection. Happy Mini Collections! :)

HELVETICA COOKIE CUTTERS by BEVERLY HSU

2012-01-29T11:11:00.002-06:00

If you're a designer who loves fonts & lettering, you may be drooling (or in awe) over these, because I know I am. I so want them, though it appears they are the only ones created by artist Beverly Hsu. Her love for design and baking had been merged as one when she created this wonderful Helvetica cookie cutter alphabet set. For those of you who are confused by the term Helvetica, it's one of the main fonts used for web and design publications. There have been a few great books written about this font and one movie I can recall watching. If you'd like to know more about the artist an her lovely work, please click here. Enjoy and Happy Sunday!

Images via Beverly Hsu

WEAR WARE WHERE (31)

2012-01-29T00:02:00.002-06:00

How wonderful is that blazer, and the little pleats/ruffles on the bottom of it, cute, cute! Loving that necklace too, I have a thing for geometric shapes and this bamboo cut pendants is beautiful. Let's also chat about how awesome that mural is. While on the hunt for surfing inspiration I saw a tiny cropped image of this. Being drawn to the muted color tones made me enticed to see more and to my surprise it's a painting. Um, Awesomeness!!! Wow, if I only had painting skills like this. Enjoy, Happy weekend!

wear: Blazer

ware : Honeycomb Necklace

where : Wave mural

2 THINGS I'M CURRENTLY LOVIN' : BRAIDS & DOODLING

2012-01-27T14:56:00.000-06:00

BRAIDS - I use to have long hair, can you image it, like halfway down my back. I've cut and donated it a few times and now I am impatiently waiting for longer hair again. It seems to take forever to grow an inch, but will ya look at that! I was able to pull off a partial braid/ponytail which made me pretty psyched!

DOODLING MORE - Lately I've been making a bigger effort to get back into the habit of doodling. I'm on the computer for 10+ hours a day so picking up a pencil and paper has slowly become less and less familiar. I'm making all efforts to fix this and doodle a little bit each day. Which I'm loving mind you. I do occasionally wish my pencil had a Command + Z (computer undo) button though.

What are you loving lately?

Have a happy weekend friends! I'm off this evening to see Elmo Live with the little Miss. It's her first live show/concert and I'm seeing crazy baby aisle running in our future. Wish us luck!

MY MISTER COOKS // CHICKEN MINESTRONE & HOMEMADE BREAD

2012-01-27T04:05:00.001-06:00

As the weathers been up and down in temperature we've been enjoying a lot of soups lately. I don't mine, I love soups! This past week the mister graciously made this Minestrone Soup which was soooo yummy! He also remembered to turned on the bread machine and baked some tasty Garden Herb Bread. Mine you the house smelt like a gourmet meals was about to be served when I came home from work. This soup was very tasty (but my all time favorite is Artichoke Bisque)! Which soup is your favorite?

RUSTIC CHICKEN MINESTRONE
(Approx Time 30 Minutes // Serves 6)

Ingredients
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes
Chicken Soup Base (10 cups broth and 4 cups shredded chicken)
3/4 cup small pasta shells
3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
1 Parmesan rind, plus grated Parmesan (optional)
1 medium zucchini, diced medium
1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Missing Ingredient from above...
The recipe also called for "1 bunch kale (preferably Tuscan; 3/4 pound), tough stems and ribs removed, leaves cut into 1-inch pieces (4 cups)" but the grocery store was out, so we did without Kale, it was still very tasty though.

Directions
In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and cook until softened, 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add tomatoes with juice and cook until liquid is evaporated, 4 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add pasta, carrots, and Parmesan rind, if using, and cook 5 minutes. Add zucchini, and chickpeas and cook until zucchini is crisp-tender, 5 minutes. Stir in chicken and cook until warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove rind before serving. Sprinkle with Parmesan, if desired. Serves approx 6.
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GARDEN HERB BREAD
Bread made with a bread machine cooked on basic white setting. Ingredients in order by placement.

Regular Loaf - 3/4 cup Water, 2 Cups White Bread Flour, 1 Tbsp. Dry Milk, 1 Tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Salt, 1 Tbsp. Butter, 1 tsp Chives, 1 tsp. Marjoram, 1 tsp. Thyme, 1 tsp. Basil, 2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast (or 1 tsp. fast rise yeast)

Large Loaf - 1 1/4 cup Water, 3 Cups White Bread Flour, 2 Tbsp. Dry Milk, 2 Tbsp. Sugar

1 1/2 tsp. Salt, 2 Tbsp. Butter, 1/2 Tbsp. Chives, 1/2 Tbsp. Marjoram, 1/2 Tbsp. Thyme, 1/2 Tbsp. Basil, 3 tsp. Active Dry Yeast (or 2 tsp. fast rise yeast)

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RECIPE SOURCES

Minestrone - Martha Stewart Food // Issue 89 // Jan. & Feb 2012 // Page 86

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COME VISIT ME GUEST POSTING ELSEWHERE TODAY

2012-01-26T12:43:00.005-06:00

Hey Friends I'm guest posting elsewhere today. You may visit me on the Folklure blog as I share my Winter Favorites. And you may also visit me over on Pussycat Vintage where I'm sharing an all new Fav 5's Just click on the attached images to be redirected to these ladies wonderful blogs. :) Enjoy!

ARTIST : SÉBASTIEN MONTAZ-ROSSET

2012-01-26T04:05:00.062-06:00

Today I wanted to share with you artist, Sébastien Montaz-Rosset who is a French born, freelance Film maker, Editor & professional mountain guide. His passion and enthusiasm for the mountains lead him to his full time obsession and interest in film. Self taught and working closely with his camera he has created a few wonderful videos which I'm pretty much blown away by. I had been searching for extreme sports and boy did I find them. The angles he's captures and the overall subject matter is just phenomenal and I can't even begin how to explain it. I hope you like watching the video clips and make sure link on over to his site so you can see more of his documentations. Have you done extreme sporting you care to share about, I'd love to hear. Enjoy!

SÉBASTIEN MONTAZ-ROSSET

SITE // TWITTER // FACEBOOK

All 3 photos via Sebmontaz Website

MAKING VALENTINES

2012-01-25T17:27:00.001-06:00

The kiddos started making their Valentine's last Sunday, and I can't wait to finish them up this coming weekend. Their attention span is only so long and to create such master pieces this kinda thing can't be rushed. Cause in our case we noticed one small melt down near the end when "these crayons weren't working right". I'm so excited Wyeth has been showing a huge interest in writing, now mind you he's 3 1/2 so its not perfect just yet, but he's trying and it's surely the cutest thing ever. Are you making handmade Valentines this year?

JEWELRY I'M LOVING // CITRINE STONES

2012-01-25T01:41:00.000-06:00

I thought it would be fun to start a new small series call Jewelry I'm Loving! I'm always coming across necklaces and other jewelry which I adore. I wear the same few pair of earrings often and I've been on the hunt recently for some new ones to add to my collection. How beautiful are those two pair below (Images 3 & 4) and all these necklaces, oh swoooon! This stone is called Citrine which if your birthday is in November this lucky birthstone is all yours. Enjoy!

Images 1. // 2. // 3. // 4.

TAKE TEN TUESDAYS : ANIMALS OF WHITE

2012-01-24T11:06:00.000-06:00

I'm dreaming of snow, can you tell. Like snow, I find white animals so interesting and beautiful. We currently don't own any pets but when it's time again the boy (like when he's over 8+) has been requested a white dog. In college I use to own Miss Cleo, a white colored rat... yup a said rat. ;) Do you own any white pets?

1.) Lion // 2.) Horse // 3.) Llama (Print $10) // 4.) Peacock // 5.) Cat

6.) Deer // 7.) Polar Bear // 8.) Owl // 9.) Wolf // 10.) Mountain Goats

A CALL FOR FEBRUARY SPONSORS (CLOSED)

2012-01-24T04:02:00.004-06:00

photo via

(CLOSED)
February! Really? It's here. We've managed to skip out on the snow so far, but I kinda wanted some. Did you have snow? So how would you like to win yourself a FREE AD SPACE for the month of February. Free to the first 10 people to reply below. And please include a way for me to contact you. I'll be back in a bit with a Take Ten Tuesday post, till then, Good Luck!

DESIGN HOW TO'S : COLOR ADJUSTING PHOTOS

2012-01-23T11:06:00.002-06:00

On Friday I posted a Q & A, which feel free to leave me a question, and I'll try my best to quickly respond. There was a question though asked by Tabetha who said... "I'd love to hear your advice on photographing for a blog! Your photos always looks fresh and bright-- what is your secret?" so today I wanted to share just that. First off I'm no photographer, far from it for that matter. I shot with a Canon Rebel Xsi and then do editing thru Adobe Photoshop CS5. Now there are many ways of achieving the end result of a pretty photo but I wanted to share some tips and tricks I use, for those of you who may be curious "how-to". I don't want to bore everyone else, so those of you who doesn't care for designing this post probably isn't for you... but for those of you wanting to fix those silly photos, then click HERE to see the tutorial. Thanks again Tabetha for your question! Enjoy!

MINI COLLECTIONS : STONEWARE MUGS

2012-01-23T01:19:00.002-06:00

Well last week I shared some glassware from our home. I know I have a problem with too many glasses, cups, drinking items in general. When I buy one more to add to the collection, it's not so much the thought that we need another piece to drink from, but the thought that wow I love that design! So there you have it, I buy glassware for the design alone. Something in each of the pieces I've acquired has an element of art, design which I love and I just couldn't pass by. They're honestly kinda like little pieces of artwork. All so different and unique. And todays collection is another peek into my mug addiction. These are all stoneware with Typography which I loved!!! They all get great use an not only are the perfect size for soups and chili's but also for tasty scoops of ice cream or a small bowl of cereal while cozied up on the couch. Notice I don't have any Mom one's though... we need to work on that, I just haven't seen any while thrifting yet. ;) Hope you're weekend was happy!

p.s. I have a special post up at 11AM in reply to Tabetha question on my Q & A post.

Hope you'll check back later :) Happy Monday!

WEAR WARE WHERE (30)

2012-01-21T01:43:00.002-06:00

We're in the beginning steps of remodeling our kitchen. Just ordered the cabinets and

now have 6 weeks to wait while they are being made. But in the mean time,

I've been on the hunt for kitchen inspiration. You can see more of my favorite things

over on my Pinterest : Home Envy Board. What does your kitchen look like?

wear : Floral Apron

ware : Hootch-Owl Corkscrew

where : White Kitchen

Q & A and A BIT ABOUT BLOGGING...

2012-01-20T12:18:00.004-06:00

Glasses c/o GlassesUSA

I started my blog almost a year ago (and twitter too) because a friend mentioned "do you have a blog" which I kindly replied to her, "well, no I don't". In general, I've been reading blogs for quite sometime, and I've made some amazing friends this way, but thinking about the idea of blogging myself (though it crossed my mind often) just wasn't at the top of my list. It's not that I didn't want one, because I did. I loved seeing all the pretty blogs out there and thought, how fun to have a creative space to share with others. But weighing options in my head always lead me back to, what if I can't do it, what if I can't think of what to write about, I'm not a writer so how badly will this all sound. But ya know what, the more I really considered these things, the more I thought why do I even care about those things, why not just write for me and write what I love. It's not a job (though now I wish it was my full time job, I love doing it so much), it's suppose to be something you enjoy, something you look forward to doing from time to time. I began to write as way to stay creative, refreshed and renewed. A sketchbook if you will, for all of my gathered inspiration. Now, almost a year later, I find blogging part of my daily routine as I love sharing my favorite finds with you. I'm not to sure why it took me so long to realize these other things didn't matter and that me staying true to myself when I write is what matters most and what will always make me happy. I've really enjoyed meeting new friends this way, and thank you for following along too, I so appreciate it!

Q & A
As I continue to blog I would love to hear from you, is there anything you want to ask me which I haven't answered on the blog yet? Also what have you seen on the blog you don't care for? Or would you like to see on the blog more? If you just want to ask random questions to me too, like, how many siblings do you have (2 younger brothers) or is your hair actually teal (nope it's actually dark brown) well then feel free to leave those below too and I'll answer them as quickly as I can. If it's more of a question you're not comfortable asking aloud email me adalou1@hotmail(dot)com and I'll email you back. Hope you have a great weekend and feel free to pick my brain some.

ADALOU :: Shop Update at Noon!

2012-01-20T01:27:00.000-06:00

Click here to visit the AdaLou etsy shop! :)

ARTIST : PRESENT /&/ CORRECT

2012-01-19T11:53:00.002-06:00

I stumbled across Present /&/ Correct on Etsy a while back when I spotted this and absolutely feel in love with their bold colors and graphic design style. The modern look to each of these pieces quickly caught my attention. I really want that pencil box above. Look at the detail, isn't it amazing! Make sure to check our their personal site and blog too, to see what other inspiring pieces they have in store. Enjoy!

PRESENT / & / CORRECT

SITE // ETSY // TWITTER // BLOG

Images Above : 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5