30x30 Remix Week Four Recap

Monday, April 29, 2013

Back again for another thrilling installment of 30x30! (Okay so its probably not so thrilling and lets be honest I am just happy you came back!) This week I only have three outfits for you due to my lovely work schedule and such. Not a lot to say about this week in general. So with that I will just get to the point. Here are this weeks outfits:
Day Thirteen 
Day Fourteen

Day Fifteen





What do you think? I would love to hear how you guys think I am doing with this whole challenge. I think its going pretty well and accomplishing what I wanted it too. I cannot wait to shop the rest of my closet! Also I do not miss shopping for clothing as much as I thought. Who knows I might just keep this shopping ban for the rest of the summer! (At least I may just say no new clothes and only purchase things that are from thrift stores)


What did you guys do this week? Anything exciting and out of your comfort zone? As you may notice in the pics above I have bangs now courtesy of me! That's right I cut my own bangs. (They are not perfect but I love them and I love that they did not cost me a trip to the salon.) Hope everyone has a fantastic Monday!


Today I am Linking Up With:

Let's Get Rugged

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Jose and I participated in our first ever Rugged Maniac on Saturday. Haven't heard of such a thing? Then visit here to learn all about it. Doing this race was Jose's idea. He wanted to see what it was like to do a mud run with obstacles before he signs up to do the Spartan Races next year.

So off to North Carolina we went on Friday night. Due to my poor planning we actually slept in the back of the Prius at a rest area Friday night. (Apparently a lot of people do this race and had already booked hotel rooms. Who would have thought?) Anyway we woke up around seven am on Saturday and headed to where the race parking and shuttle were. Oh did I mention that in North Carolina it was not the wonderful eighty degree weather we had been experiencing down south. Instead we woke up to forty degree weather! Once we reached the race site we checked in and mentally prepared to get down to the business of running this race.

We ran in the first wave and I am so glad we did. I think I would have lost my nerve if I actually had to watch people doing this crazy run. I will let the pictures speak for themselves on this one.














A few other highlights from the race were that Jose lost his glasses on the giant water slide, I fell in the water within the first half mile (and inhaled a good deal of lake water), Jose completed every obstacle until he lost his glasses, and we both sustained minor cuts and bruises. If you are wondering if I would do this again, well I think a few conditions would have to be met first. For instance I would do one of these in the dead of summer so when I fell in the lake first thing I did not freeze the rest of the day. Jose however loved it (apart from losing his glasses) and will more than likely do many of these in the future.

How was your weekend? Do anything challenging? What about any running? I would love to hear about it. Just leave us a comment or shoot us an email. We love to hear from you!

30x30 Remix Week Three Recap

Monday, April 22, 2013

Happy Earth Day Everyone! Hope you are doing something great for the planet today. So another week has come and gone and I am another week closer to finishing this challenge. This week was supposed to have five outfits but Wednesday was a pajama day for me. Do you ever have those days where you don't want to bother with getting out of your PJ's? I have those often (mostly my first day/night off of work).

Anyway here are the outfits I put together this week:

Day Nine



Day Ten

Day Eleven


Day Twelve


What did you do this weekend? Jose and I completed the Rugged Maniac on Saturday. Come back Thursday for pictures and details about the race.  Any new outfit choices? Any home projects get completed this weekend?


Today I am linking up with: 


A Mini Chalkboard Tutorial

Thursday, April 18, 2013

So if you are as Pinterest obsessed as I am then I am sure you have noticed how useful chalkboards can be. The are great for anything from photo shoot props to home decor. Well since I am not a photographer I am going to show you how I made a mini chalkboard for our living room/entryway.

I absolutely love the idea of chalkboards. We have a giant one in our office. I love that Jose and I can leave each other notes since sometimes our paths do not cross for a few days. I decided to scale down this concept and put a mini chalkboard into our entry way gallery wall. I wanted a space to leave happy notes that we would see as we were leaving to begin our days.

This was probably one of the fastest, cheapest, and easiest craft projects to date. It took me thirty minutes from start to finish. (that's including drying time between coats.) And the cost was practically free. I bought a frame with no glass in it from the thrift store months ago and we already had chalkboard paint left over from painting the large one in the office. Also I had some foam poster board left over from the fabric built ins I made a few weeks ago but if you do not have this on hand the Dollar Tree sells large sheets for a buck. I dare say this is the first project I have had everything on hand already. (Imagine me jumping for joy because I feel like a real blogger now!)
Never mind imagining I will show you my dorky happy face.

So here's what I did:

Step One: Gather all supplies. I used foam poster board as the backing but I am sure you could use just about any sturdy, paint-able board.


Step Two: Cut the foam board to the size of your frame.

Step Three: Shake the crap out of the two year old chalkboard paint. All while dancing around your house and getting judgmental looks from the dog and cat. (Oh you bought yours today. Well then skip this step because the handy shaker at the hardware store did this for you)

Step Four: With a foam brush lightly brush on one coat of chalk board paint. Let this coat dry and apply two more coats the same way.


Step Five: Let the chalkboard paint dry in the sun until dry to the touch.


Step Six: Pop your brand new chalkboard into its frame and hang on the wall





Step Seven: Wait very impatiently to write on your new chalkboard for about a day. (oh if your are not an impatient person like me then just wait patiently)

Have you guys done any quick craft projects lately? If so I would love to hear about them. Just leave me a comment. I would love to hear what you have been up to and what you think of my mini chalkboard.


Linking up today at: 

30x30 Week Two Recap

Monday, April 15, 2013

Well its that time again. Time for me to divulge what fashion masterpieces I came up with this week. (please read that last line as dripping with sarcasm) I do not have much to say about this week other than I am glad the spring/summer weather is finally here and I can wear my dresses and shorts. Although please ignore my pasty white legs. Hope everyone is having a happy Monday!

Day Five


Day Five Headband

Day Six


Day Seven



Day Eight


Try any new fashion combinations this week? What about home projects? I know with the warmer weather I am wanting to get outside and make our yard a bit more presentable. Also don't forget today is tax day. Hoping its a good tax year for all!




Today I am linking up with: 

The First Homemade Bread Recipe Created by Me

Thursday, April 11, 2013

I finally did it. I attempted to create my own homemade bread recipe, and guess what y'all, it actually worked! (If you didn't notice that statement is me channelling my inner Paula Deen.) Unlike Mrs. Deen my bread does not contain a stick of butter (not that we don't all love butter but this was an attempt at healthy).

I struggled somewhat with sharing this recipe. Mostly the self deprecating struggle of thinking people would hate it. However one of my good friends texted asking for a good whole wheat bread recipe and I thought why not send it to her and  see what she thinks. I sent it and she loved it. Then she posted a picture on Instagram of it and people started asking for the recipe. So then I thought if they want this and she loved it why not share it on the blog so everyone can love it.

I'll stop rambling now and share the recipe. Thanks for listening and I hope that you guys love it as much as Jose and I do!


Charity's Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients: 
1 package of rapid rise yeast

1 3/4 cup of warm water

2-4 Tablespoons molasses

1 teaspoon salt

2-4 Table spoons vegetable oil

4 cups of flour ( For whole wheat bread use 3 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 cup all purpose/bread flour)

Directions: 
1. Add molasses, yeast, and warm water in mixing bowl, whisk to combine and let sit for 3-5 minutes. Or until bubbly on top. 

2. Once bubbly add oil, salt, and half flour. Mix until combined

3. Add remaining flour until the dough is slightly sticky (add more all purpose/bread flour if necessary)

4. Knead dough in mixer (or if your are feeling frisky by hand) for about 10 minutes.

5. Place dough and mixing bowl in a warm place and allow the dough to rise until doubled in size. Takes about an hour. ( I put mine in the oven with a bowl of boiling water and the oven light on)

6. Once doubled punch dough down and turn out onto a vegetable shortening covered surface. 

7. Separate into two equal sized portions. 

8. Pace one half into each bread pan (make sure you have coated the bread pans with vegetable shortening as well)

9. Allow bread to rise until the edges are slightly above the sides of the pan. 

10. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes until top is golden and crispy. 

11. Turn out onto wire racks and allow to cool before cutting. 


30x30 Week One Recap

Monday, April 8, 2013

Hello and welcome back if you are following me along on this 30x30 journey. Never heard of 30x30 remixes before then check out this post and this one. They have the rules and the objectives.

Now onto the fun part; the clothes! Without further ado here is what I managed to come up with this week:





Overall I think week one was rather easy for me. (With good reason I had endless possibilities as to what to wear.) The hardest part was visiting my mother in Myrtle Beach and we went shopping! Just window shopping for me though. The one thing I did not adequately prepare for was the weather. I prepared for seventy degree days and two of these days it did not even get out of the fifties. Next week should be easier to dress because (fingers crossed) it is supposed to be close to eighty most days!

How was your week? Try any new clothing combinations? Do any house projects over the weekend? Feel free to let me know what you think of the outfits I put together. (Please just keep in mind I do not claim to be a fashion blogger!)

30x30 The Clothes

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Disclaimer: I am by no means a fashion blogger or even fashionable most days. I just wanted to do this challenge. I know I am going to probably mess up and put together something awful but I guess that's part of the challenge and part of expanding my style. 

Before I show you what I picked for this challenge there are a few more rules I forgot to mention.
1. You cannot wear the exact same outfit twice.
2. Accessories don't count towards the 30 items. 
3. NO Shopping! (I know I mentioned this already but I need the reinforcement!)

With that said here are the items I picked from my closet: 


I hung all the items in the front of my closet so I cannot be tempted by the rest of my closet. After doing this I realized I might have a small shopping problem. Thirty items looked like five hung next to all my other stuff. Maybe this challenge will make me want to pare down my wardrobe? Probably not but at least I am hoping it will make me learn to remix things for new outfits instead of always rushing out to buy something. 


Have you ever done a 30x30 remix? If so how did it go? Did you realize you have more than you need for clothing? Or did you feel too constricted sticking to 30 items? 













I'm Jumping on the Bandwagon. . .

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

So as I have mentioned in a few of my recent posts our home is finally starting to feel finished. Now don't get me wrong our to do list still feels a mile long. However we are reaching a point where I am not sure there will be things to blog about every week.

With that in mind I have decided to branch out a bit, I mean after all I want this to be a lifestyle blog not just a home decor blog. I am going to be putting together my own version of Kendi's 30x30 wardrobe remix. Have you guys ever heard of this? If not here is a synopsis of what I'll be doing:

1. I will pick 30 pieces from my closet (not including accessories) and remix them for the next 30 days. 
2. Unfortunately due to my work schedule (got to love night shift). The 30 days will not be consecutive. This means that what takes most bloggers one month will be taking two months for me.
3. I will do a synopsis of what I wore on Monday's (Thursdays will still be devoted to home/life projects.)
4. I obviously will not be including my work uniform in these 30 pieces. (Besides I do not really find Caribbean blue scrubs to be very fashionable.)
5. No Shopping (for clothing at least): This is probably going to be the hardest part. I find so many things a my favorite thrift shop every time I put a no shopping ban on myself!

So what do you think? Have you ever tried to only wear 30 pieces from your closet? I am hoping this will show me how to wear things different ways and to expand my creative limits when it comes to dressing myself.  This is also going to help with my new years goal of getting dressed everyday. I know shocker right that I do not get out of pj's most days I am off. (I blame night shift!)

I will be back on Thursday with all the pieces from my closet!

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