Spring Cleaning

After taking a bunch of stuff to the GoodWill yesterday, I feel inspired to do some spring cleaning. I'm going to get together the clothes I don't wear anymore and try to sell them to Plato's Closet. If you've never heard of Plato's Closet, check it out. It's a consignment shop with clothes from Forever21, American Eagle, Abercromie & Fitch, Hollister, and Old Navy, just to name a few. You can bring in gently used clothes, and they'll look through them and buy a few from you. Not for a lot of money, but it's better than just getting rid of them. Whatever they don't take I'll send to GoodWill. My only problem is getting new ones to replace the ones I just got rid of - the Super GoodWill has a rack of cute Target clothes, and today is half off clothes day!

Besides cleaning, I've been getting into the spirit of making the house look nice with crafts. My favorite is a spring wreath I made, inspired by Sweet Charli. These two women have amazing ideas, and are so crafty.

Here is my version of their spring tissue paper wreath:

And here is Sweet Charli's wreath and their tutorial.

Matt and I are going to go shopping today! Under Armour for him, and GoodWill sales for me! I'll try to squeeze in a workout and more craftmaking as well. Oh, how I love weekends :)

Spring Pictures

Last week we took Eve to Sears and got Spring pictures taken. They were really simple, but I feel like simple worked well :) She is such a perfect mix of Matt and I, but I think in these pictures she looks just like I did as a baby! I know I'm biased, but she truly is a beautiful little girl.

Hometown Vacation

We're visiting our hometown for Matt's spring break this week. I never realized how long it would take to pack and make sure we would have a clean house to come home to!
For some reason I decided to wake up early on "vacation." I got Eve & I ready, grabbed some Starbucks, and the visits began.
First I stopped by my old job at the gym to show off my pride and joy. While I was there I did the post pregnancy no-no: I weighed myself. Hoping to have lost even a pound, I was very upset to see I had gained two pounds. I could have been complacent with at least staying the same weight, but gaining gave me a new sense of frustration. I guess cleaning the house really isn't a form of exercise.
I left the gym and headed to Michelle's house. Let me just say that I love hanging out with moms. I love chatting with people who understand my new lifestyle because it's theirs as well. Not only am I able to talk about my life with Eve, but they understand that I still enjoy having a small part of my life outside of Eve as well - just for me. I feel like that is important; even though Eve is the biggest part of me, I don't want to lose the ability to talk about myself and do things for me.
Michelle's daughter Colleen, who is beautiful and has the cutest personality by the way, is a year older than Eve. It was interesting watching Colleens mannerisms and knowing that in months to come, Eve will develop some of the same. Michelle gave me some of Colleen's toys and clothes she outgrew. I am so excited to put spring dresses on her! I enjoyed the visit so much that I didn't even realize that hours had gone by.
I took Eve to Sharlene's house after that, and we met her two month old daughter Brooke - so cute! We talked about being new moms and vented about adjusting to it, while the girls hung out next to each other on a blanket. At one point Eve burst into a fit of laughter, and I was amazed because she has never laughed that hard before! Sharlene also got to hear Eve say "hi," proof that it's not just my imagination.


I had a busy first day back, but today I have been relaxing and playing with little Miss Energetic. Matt went out to visit a friend, and told me when he comes back, he's taking me out for a date! I'm looking forward to it :)

Try this Craft Blog

I haven't been able to load any new pictures because my camera won't link up right to my computer, but I have been working on some fun crafts I want to share soon. Some of my inspiration has come from this amazing blog, Sweet Charli. They have really amazing ideas for decorations and accessories. Take a look at what they have, I guarantee you'll want to start crafting!

They're currently doing a really cool giveaway for gorgeous necklaces!

Crafting: Stenciled Lamp Shade

I've decided to get a hobby. No, really. I know I have mentioned my issues with finding things I enjoy and that I am good at, and I have decided to do something for myself: craft making. I want it to be a regular thing, taking on bigger crafts as I get better at it. I dragged Matt to Michaels last night before our dinner date at Red Robin, and went craft supply happy.

Before our date... Evee came along this time :)

My first project was stenciling our lamp shade. My room in college was full of bright colors, in hopes that I would always be in a good mood. While it had that effect, I always had trouble relaxing in it. So for Matt and I's room, I wanted it to be a place where we looked forward to winding down and falling asleep. The furniture is while, and the room has various blues and teals as the color scheme. It has a hint of a beach vibe to it as well.

Awhile back I found a white lamp base and teal lamp shade on clearance at Target (my favorite store for everything.) I loved the color, but wanted to add a little detail to it.

the before

and after!

These are the only materials I had to use:

(stencils, paint, brush, tape)

I found little themed stencil books a long time ago at Michaels and ripped out the pages I wanted to use. Any stencil will work, as long as the material is bendable.

I think that was the most trying part of the whole project for me: getting the stencil page to conform to the lamp shade shape. If it is not completely flattened to the shade, paint will get underneath the make a blobby looking design. After being unsatisfied with the first and second design, I used a twice to amount of tape and less paint on my brush, and they turned out a lot better.

And when you take off the stencil... finished product!

Next project: denim flower headband, inspired from a few craft blogs I have been following.

Cold Cloudy Typical Tuesday? Not!

Even though the sun is not out, there is something about today that makes me feel empowered. I am going to have a good day. I am going to get things done. I will adjust my attitude. No more "poor me" because some of my friends do not understand my new life, nor try to be there for me. The true friends will be there without me having to beg them.

I will stop talking about my negative body image, and do something about it. I hate that I could not control gaining weight during pregnancy, but now I can. I will not diet, deprive myself of treats, nor live in the gym, but rather be healthy and get my exercise a few times a week. Ten pounds will be no problem.

I am going to try more craft projects. There is just something about being creative that feels so good. I want to make girly accessories and decorations for the apartment. And in the near future, I'm going to try my hand at sewing. I would love to be able to fix up clothes for Eve, and myself as well.

So I am going to go enjoy my cloudy day. Do not get me wrong, even though I want to find ways to enjoy winter days, I cannot wait for spring, and especially summer!

Date Night: Alex Grey

A couples of weeks ago, Matt and I had a really cool date night. Courtney babysat Eve for us so we could go Sonar in Baltimore to see a show involving artist Alex Grey & his wife. His paintings are very unique and may seem weird to some, but I find them fascinating.

family photo before our date

When we got there, we grabbed some drinks and walked around the different rooms. There was a club area with techno music, a room with his paintings lit up by black lights, and an area with a stage where Alex & Allison Grey were holding discussion. He explained the four quadrant map of reality, with the dimensions including subjective, objective, intersubjective, and interobjective parts. These are also known as the inner self (spirit, thoughts, feelings,) outer self (appearance, movements, reactions,) systems (technology,) and culture. I was really inteigued by what he had to say. He seems like a wise and laid back man, with a very spiritual side.

After discussion, Alex Grey sat at a table for meet and greet time. Matt & I want to put some of his art up on our bedroom walls, so we bought a poster of his artwork, "Kissing."


We stood in line for an hour, but it was definitely worth it. We were very lucky, Alex's Grey's wife cut the line off right after us, so we were the last ones to meet him. He autographed our poster, and Matt took a picture with him. They share a lot of the same views on consciousness and spirituality.


I love our date nights, because even though they're rare, I feel like it makes them more special that way. For our next date night, we want to go to a sports game. Maybe the Wizards or Caps :)