21'st Birthday!

Ok, even though my birthday isn't until June I've already gone way overboard planning my party.

I can't help it, I get too excited about things!

If you hadn't already guessed, it's going to be 90's themed (since I was born in the 90's!)

Which means tacky bike shorts, Nsync, Britney Spears & bubble tape! I AM SO EXCITED!

I've decided to order some custom print fabric from Spoonflower so I can make my own costume!

Along with the black splatter pattern above, I've made two other possible fabric designs!

I may be alone on this, but geometric shape prints definitely take me back to elementary school!

& another paint splatter, I couldn't decide between black & white, so I made both!

The white is kindof bad though, it's the first one I made & when it's tiled for the fabric you can see a definite line on the right edge. But I can fix that! 

I'm going to order samples of each since I'm having such a hard time deciding! 

I'm making slap bracelets for the gift bags (those are 90's right?!) & I'm splattering glow in the dark neon paint on the fabric for them! 

Since I'll be in Colorado the week of my birthday, I'll have it the Saturday that I get back. Which means I wont have time to make a cake! Unfortunately I'm too much of a control freak to let any of my friends make it for me, so I think this year I'll have to order on from a bakery.

But at least that means my cake will be near perfect! 

I'm obsessed with this cake I found on google, I literally show it to everyone I talk to!

This one with the furby & gigs pets is really neat too!

I know I'm going way overboard with the splatter thing, but I just really love the idea of my outfit, invitations, cake & party favors all matching!

The coolest part is that one of my employees is in a band & offered to play 90's covers as a birthday gift!

Really the whole band is just stoked they get to dress up in awesome 90's clothes c;

We were also thinking of having a slip n slide, but that seems a little bit too high school cliche. 

But then again it IS a 21st birthday AND it's 90's, two thing allowed to be outrageous!

Ah! I just can't wait! 

Bad babies!

This morning I caught Piper & Toulouse eating the marshmallows from the marshmallow cone Keith got me on Valentine's Day...

Those little stinkers! Toulouse had one he was licking, & Piper swooped in & gobbled up two. 

(he actually ate the one above the second after I took a picture)

Bad, bad, but very cute, babies!

I've also made a little rule for myself that I'm only going to use the manual mode on my camera for a while. I've become way too reliant on auto! 

My morning

I woke up & did some yoga while Toulouse eyed me from Piper's bed. Now I'm enjoying a bagel & some Piper time before work. Today will be a good day!

Headache update!

So far in 2013 I've attempted so many different diets to help my headaches it's crazy!

First I tried being vegan; that went well for two weeks, then on date night I allowed myself some queso & things went down hill from there.

So then I decided to stick to a vegan diet on the weekdays, but allow myself meat & dairy on the weekends. This also went well for a week or two, then I ate donuts on a Monday & couldn't stop.

 My mom forwarded me this email about refined sugars, so I started trying to cut most sugar out of my diet. This one lasted two days until I saw the gas station by my house carried red velvet cake ice cream pints....

With all these crazy changes in my diet it's been easier for me to figure out how certain foods make me feel.

 I THINK breads are one of the foods causing my headaches. I'm not completely positive about this, but it seems like I'll be fine until a bit after I eat a sandwich. This may be a complete coincidence, but my next "crazy diet" is going to be cutting gluten. This actually shouldn't be too hard for me, I work at a restaurant that specializes in gluten free food! Plus during my vegan days I stocked up on some gluten free pastas, so hopefully this will be easier & help my headaches!

DIY Faux Canopy Bed

I've always loved the look of canopy beds, but thought they would be too hot for me to sleep in.

I fell in love with the faux canopy look in one of the photos I posted in my bedroom inspiration post.

So of course I had to try & recreate that look in my own room. 

I started out with a very very long window panel I picked up at a thrift store for $3.
The first thing I did was run a piece of yarn through the panel casing at the top of the curtain.
I used a needle because I forgot about the casing, but it'd be much much easier to do without a needle as it kept pushing through the fabric & was such a pain.

Then I pulled the strings tight, bunching the entire panel together. I tied a little knot & then tied that to a nail.  It probably would've been smarter to use a a nail with a bigger head, but I was impatient and a tiny nail was all I had. My whole panel will probably fall off one night, I'll just deal with that then though! Then I hammered the nail straight up into the ceiling while balancing on a laundry basket on top of my bed!

Next I folded the panel in half horizontally & found the center. With my finger marking the center I pulled the panel to the wall with enough slack to create a nice shape. I hammered a nail into that center spot on the wall, and another right below it for added reinforcement. I did the same to corners of the panel & then in between those nails.

I hung my tapestry at the very top of the wall (off centered, of course) , overlapping the fabric from the canopy. Even though it isn't perfect (or ironed), I really like with how it looks. It especially looks nice when you're laying in bed looking up.

Please ignore my messy, duvet cover-less bed, ugly pillows, night stand & lamp, I'm in the middle of a makeover here!

I'm finally decorating my bedroom! 

I've been planning this for so long, its so exciting that I finally get to bring all my ideas to life! 

Here's a collection of images that really inspire me:

I cannot wait to get started! I love the idea of using lots of different fabrics, not only to create texture but to bring all the colors of the room together through different prints. If you're looking for different textiles I've found Urban Outfitters & West Elm have some great tapestries, rugs & pillows. Also World Market has some beautiful lamps & wall decor items. My grandma is letting me dig through her storage trailer on Monday, so I'm hoping I can find some wonderful pieces that I don't have to buy!   

Lightning

Cutest baby, Lightning, we may adopt! He's been neglected & is so so tiny even though he's a year old! I wanna save him so bad!