ode to the shrunken sweater

I shrunk my first sweater tonight, folks (cat head for scale). It's not my favorite, so I'm not too bummed, but how the heck do you wash these things?? Do you?? Do you get them dry-cleaned (hassle)?? Darn. In sweater related news, I am loving animal print this season. I bought these fake uggs from Old Navy today for $12 (not listed as $12 online...sorry & extra score for me). I think they're fun and they are lined with "fur" so they are super warm (like I had to take them off inside warm).

I've been pinning cropped tops for some time now and I finally picked one up for myself :) animal print, of course. It's not MAJOR cropped. Baby steps.

How do you feel about cropped tops? How do you feel about headless pictures? I'm a fan of both.

Two posts in one night?? And my house is clean?? Must have a term paper due in the near future...yep.

meet Benson

Okay, this post is WAY overdue. Meet my new (and so sweet) baby, Benson. I adopted him from the City of Bryan Animal Center. This is NOT a no kill shelter...his days were numbered. The city caught him in a trap somewhere in Bryan and he was a little sick when he got home. Needless to say, this little guy got lucky. I'm a bit of a cat lady and Banks didn't even know how much fun a little brother could be!! They are seriously cute. I'll let you decide for yourself :)

No one has any privacy in this house anymore. If you count me (taking a picture) everyone in the house at the time was watching Banks as he used the litter box. I like to consider it a "close family."

They play and wrestle, chase each other around the house, clean ears and hard to reach places, cuddle and keep warm, and are super cute and funny together. If you have one cat, may I suggest you get another? Really, it's better than I thought it would be. Do your research first, though. Figure out what kind of cat would go well with you current one. I don't think I could have a better match for my Banksy bear. They are two peas in a pod.

:)

banks' christmas sweater

I bought Banks a Christmas sweater from the dollar spot at Target. Cats don't understand sweaters.

But he looks so cute!

holiday braided scarf DIY

I realize I may be jumping the gun a little with this one. It's not so much of a holiday scarf as it is a Christmas scarf and we haven't celebrated Thanksgiving yet, but I saw this super cute (and easy) braided scarf tutorial and had to try it out. I've had my eye on this snowflake/reindeer knit at JoAnn's for a while and have restrained myself while wearing shorts and flip-flops. The weather is very confusing here in Texas. 

Anyway, fun and easy tutorial complete with a video in case the "braiding" part get's confusing. 

october mash-up

Remember when I said that October was going to be obnoxiously crazy? Well, it was. Crazy good and bad. My iPhone camera roll tells it best. 

The first weekend in October, I was in Dallas for a recruiting event and to watch the Ags play Arkansas. Rhett works in Ft. Worth-ish, so he met me there just in time for the Aggies to break our little hearts.

While at the recruiting event, Dr. Loftin, the PRESIDENT of Texas A&M University, stopped by (bow-tie and all) my booth and posed for a pic in front of the over-sized heads on our College of Geoscience backdrop. 

Reveille was there, too. She is so precious and well behaved. In case you are wondering, she is just mild mannered, not on drugs. I asked.

The following week, Rhett and I headed up to Minneapolis, MN for a few days. Rhett had already put in for vacation time over my birthday weekend (how sweet :) :) ) when I found out I had to go to a geological conference that exact week. He is super flexible. I was less than thrilled about going at first, but when I called him all he said was "BOOK IT!" He wasn't feeling 100%, but you'd never know. Always relaxed and having fun. The weather was gorgeous and downtown Minneapolis is incredibly clean and beautiful.

We ate at fun places like The Local, Hell's Kitchen, and Cafe 128.

Did I mention my birthday gift came in a baby blue box?? :) You can just barely see it on my right arm in the pic. Love it! Love him :) and I actually loved Minneapolis as well. Too bad we were a few weeks early or we might have seen a heartbroken Kris Humphries moping around town. Too soon?

Just a few days after returning to College Station, iGeo began! iGeo is a weekend program hosted by the College of Geosciences for HS students interested in our degree programs. It's three days jam packed with awesome stuff. Needless to say, I was mostly fried before it started (the kids had  already given me 4 strikes by dinner on the first day!) and I was totally done for after it was over. 

October was not the time for resting, though! Literally the last day of iGeo, I packed up early and headed to the Guadalulpe Mountains with my Carbonate Rocks class. I did not take the above pic. I stole it from a classmate. Pretty cool, right?? The trip was actually pretty good. The weather was gorgeous and the outcrops were spectacular. 

How much do you love this blue house? The story goes, way back when (think late 1800's) this guy falls head over heals for a true city girl. She marries him and everything is great. He thinks he is pretty suave and buys a really awesome piece of land in NM (above). He builds her this adorable house and brings her out to enjoy a breath of fresh air and a new life together. Homegirl stays one night and packs her bags. Thankfully she gave him the option to join her and he took it. His brother, sister-in-law and their toddler moved in and raised cattle on the land for a few years before a drought hit and forced them away. Pretty neat story, huh? I should mention that we drove an hour on a dirt/large rock covered road to get here leaving us with our second flat tire of the trip. I might be able to see where she was coming from, but one night??

Banks stayed at my parents house for a good bit of October, and though he is particularly fond of their yorkie, Reggie, he was happy to be back at our apartment and so was I.

[most pics taken with the Camera+ app. LOVE]

Happy November! I am so enjoying my boots :)

DIY covered ottoman

This covered ottoman has been one of the most fun and easiest projects ever! The hardest part? Finding a cheap and functional coffee table and fabulous fabric. I started gathering materials for this during a super busy and stressful time in my internship (presentations to management--eek!), so it took me a few weeks to get the finished product (and a few months to blog about it), but this could easily be done in a weekend. Above is the finished product after quite an extreme makeover. I bought this coffee table for $13 at a Goodwill. Kinda gross, but not too bad for $13. It had potential.

I sanded it down a little and gave it a fresh coat of paint followed by a light coat of glaze (glaze not shown).

I cut a piece of plywood to fit the top of my coffee table then sanded the edges and rounded the corners. 
Because my coffee table was so long, the craft store didn't have 3" foam that fit the dimensions, so I bought 2 rolls of 2" foam. I cut them to the correct dimensions and used spray adhesive to glue them together and then to the plywood. I don't think you necessarily have to glue them, but the plywood is a bit cumbersome, so it made it easier to deal with for the next step.

 I used a serrated kitchen knife to cut through the thick foam which left my edges a little messy, so I covered it first with thick craft batting. Smooth it out on the floor and turn the plywood board over with the foam face down onto the batting. Batting rips easily, so pull firmly but don't go crazy. Staple around the edges.

When you come to the corners, fold and staple to get a smooth edge. Then go around and cut the batting off fairly close to the staples.

Now add your fabric! Staple it the same way you did the batting, but if you are using a pattern like I did, make sure your pattern is straight! You can put a few staples in on each side then flip it over to make sure you aren't cock-eyed. Flip it back over and staple until your little hand can't staple any more! Seriously, staple a lot. 
More staples = less riples. 
Also, pull tight! Over time your fabric will loosen up, so you want to start with a tight fit. 
Use a few screws to attach the top to the coffee table from the under side and you're done. All for about 100 bucks!

I found the perfect rectangular tray at Stienmart :)

Go ahead and put your feet up.

In traveling news, Rhett and I are headed to Minneapolis this weekend for GSA and a birthday celebration! Hello beautiful weather and Mall of America! 
The following weekend, I'm off to New Mexico for a field trip to study carbonates with m new pair of wool socks. The Guadalupe Mountains are going to get realllll coooool at night. Good thing I have a never-been-used mummy bag hanging in my hall closet. Winning! 
Insert iGeo right in the middle and October gets pretty crazy. We have selected our high school participants and busily preparing for their arrival on campus! October is usually one of my favorite months, but this one will fly by. November, see you soon!


Did you make it this far?? Then you must be Rhett...or Mom :)

knorr spinach dip awesomeness

Have you made the Knorr spinach dip? My aunt introduced me a while back and it's awesome/super easy. I'll share the ingredients here, you know, so you can make your grocery list before you get to the store. 

1 packet of Knorr vegetable recipe mix

1 cup mayo

1 can water chestnuts drained and chopped

Several green onions chopped (sliced?)

4/5 bag of fresh baby spinach chopped

(the packet says frozen, but it's so much better with fresh though it does take a bit longer to set up)

Put it all in a bowl and put it in the fridge for 1.5-2 hours. Enjoy with your favorite crackers!

I made this dip tonight for a dept party and it it delicious. Try it and report back.

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yoga pants maxi skirt

First and foremost, I know it's been a while. Again. I think it's time I move out of denial. That's the first step, right?? I've got quite a Thanksgiving feast on my proverbial plate right now and sometimes weeks go by and I have no clue what my name is or what I had for breakfast (did I remember to eat breakfast???). Life is busy. We all know that. I'm not giving up on my blog. I'm still doing crafty stuff when I can/need a creative break! I still try and keep up with all the goings on in the blogging world, you just may not hear from me 3-5 times a week for now. 

Whew. Anyway, did anyone else swoon over this maxi skirt on pinterest last week?? I did. Majorly. I ended up making a quick and last minute trip to Houston on Sunday and my mom and I whipped this baby out in one evening! I consider myself a sewing infant (I'd go as far as to say fetus but that creates a gross mental image. Sorry!). That's a testament to how easy this sewing project is! I am loving my yoga pants maxi skirt and plan to scoop up any knit fabrics I see & love to make more in the future. 

It's so long and soft. I could wear it to bed. If you are planning on making one, I have one suggestion. Make the waist smaller than you actual waste. The fabric is stretchy, people! I made the waste my exact waste line to start, finished the whole thing (almost), tried it on and it was seriously XL. I didn't scrap it, but I had to do a lot of it over again. Just a tip. Also, I didn't use elastic thread and it turned out just fine with the zig-zag stitch. This was a last minute rushed project, remember?

My favorite part is the yoga pants waistband :)

I know I've been saying this for a long time, but I do have some fun stuff to blog about and I will try and post again soon :)

I'm searching the blogosphere for tailgating recipes and fun stuff!!! Love. football. season.

Minute-to-win-it party

Friday we had a family minute-to-win-it party. Huge group + competitive couples + 60 second adrenaline blasts = awesome family get together. Really, you gotta have one.

Game 1: Bounce the ping-pong ball into the cup. When you catch one, move that cup to the bottom and try to catch another. 7 cups total.

Game 2: Shoot a rubber band and knock down a tower of coke cans. Turns out it's a lot harder than it looks.

[Rhett and I are soo focused :)]

Game 3: Sort M&M's in a row by color. Also harder than it looks considering the time constraints.

Game 4: Stack nuts on top of each other using chop sticks. I think this could be easy or hard depending on what size you get. 

Game 5: Flip a cup and make it land upside down on top of a bottle.

I may have missed one? Anyway, there are many sites with ideas for minute-to-win-it games, so it's different every time! In fact, I though it would be so fun to have a minute-to-win-it tailgate since football season is right around the corner! I think it may be too involved for tailgates, though.

In other news, I'm officially employed post-grad! All I have to do is start and finish a thesis by May. No biggie. :) I just can't seem to get into the "school" mode after working all summer.

AND, I have a TON of furniture related posts coming up soon. As soon as I finish organizing my apt so I can take pictures without having to move piles of junk around, I'll post.