happy halloween!
don't forget to come by the haunt tonight! the scaring starts at dusk..
alaina
10/31/11
10/30/11
pumpkin cookies
my absolute favorite thing about the holiday season is pillsbury sugar cookies!
turkey ones for thanksgiving, christmas tree ones in december, and of course..
pumpkin ones for halloween!
look at how cute the little pillsbury man is!
lilly always helps me clean up..
**don't forget to come to the haunted house on halloween night!
turkey ones for thanksgiving, christmas tree ones in december, and of course..
pumpkin ones for halloween!
look at how cute the little pillsbury man is!
lilly always helps me clean up..
**don't forget to come to the haunted house on halloween night!
alaina
10/29/11
patience
"be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. and the point is to live everything. live the questions."
- rainer maria rilke
but sometimes this just makes more sense:
: P
happy saturday!
alaina
10/28/11
halloween costume DIY: ms. pac man
my friends and i usually go out to the bars the weekend before halloween. and obviously, i have to dress up!
this year i really didn't know what i wanted to be. i really wanted to be a sock monkey, but opted not for a couple reasons:
-it costs $55!!!! i'm not made of money, people!
-i was a baby last halloween, which involved me wearing a one-sie, and i was really warm the whole time. not too interested in doing that again..
so i was looking on all those halloween costume sites, and kept seeing this pac man ghost costume:
and i thought: that would be so flipping easy to make!!
i already had a yellow/gold tank dress from american apparel that i got years ago. and a light bulb came on:
i'll be ms pac man!!!!
~how i did it~
i went to joann (a craft & fabric store) and found these squares of pre-cut felt that were 4 for $1. i got 2 sheets each of red, white, and black felt.
the eyes were super easy. i traced an oval-shape i found around the house (i think i actually squished randy's double extra gulp cup from 711) onto the black felt. tip: if you fold the felt in half, trace your shape, then cut, you can make two pieces of the exact same shape!
then, i cut little triangles out of them like the picture of ms. p above. i made white eyelids by cutting smaller half-circles and fitting them to the eyes. then i made two eye-lash shape things and cut those from the black felt. i pinned everything in place then sewed it all together.
randy actually helped me with the lips. those were more touch-and-go since i don't have anything lip-shaped around the house.. i folded the felt in half and made half of a lip shape (think of when you make paper snowflakes..). then i cut them in half to make two separate lips. i placed a piece of black felt behind the two pieces so her mouth was open (because she's such a cheery lady) and pinned and sewed everything together. yes, this method was all randy's idea.
once i had her necessary facial features, i sewed them onto the dress. i was going to use fabric glue, but thought sewing would hold up better. also, i pinned each item in place while i was wearing the dress, so i'd know exactly where everything would hit on me.
at the craft store i found small red christmas bows that were on sale (3 for like $1.50). i removed the top two 'loops' so that it looked like a regular girl's hair bow and cut the tail parts shorter. it already had a twisty-tie on the back, so i just attached it to one of the straps of my shirt.
then for fun, i cut some letters out of felt (using a stencil i made on the computer) and put 'ms. pac man' along the back.
and there you have it! it was ridiculously easy, cost less than $5, and i have a feeling it will be a pretty unique costume.
and i must say, it certainly has more character than the one you pay $30 for..
this year i really didn't know what i wanted to be. i really wanted to be a sock monkey, but opted not for a couple reasons:
-it costs $55!!!! i'm not made of money, people!
-i was a baby last halloween, which involved me wearing a one-sie, and i was really warm the whole time. not too interested in doing that again..
so i was looking on all those halloween costume sites, and kept seeing this pac man ghost costume:
and i thought: that would be so flipping easy to make!!
i already had a yellow/gold tank dress from american apparel that i got years ago. and a light bulb came on:
i'll be ms pac man!!!!
~how i did it~
i went to joann (a craft & fabric store) and found these squares of pre-cut felt that were 4 for $1. i got 2 sheets each of red, white, and black felt.
the eyes were super easy. i traced an oval-shape i found around the house (i think i actually squished randy's double extra gulp cup from 711) onto the black felt. tip: if you fold the felt in half, trace your shape, then cut, you can make two pieces of the exact same shape!
then, i cut little triangles out of them like the picture of ms. p above. i made white eyelids by cutting smaller half-circles and fitting them to the eyes. then i made two eye-lash shape things and cut those from the black felt. i pinned everything in place then sewed it all together.
randy actually helped me with the lips. those were more touch-and-go since i don't have anything lip-shaped around the house.. i folded the felt in half and made half of a lip shape (think of when you make paper snowflakes..). then i cut them in half to make two separate lips. i placed a piece of black felt behind the two pieces so her mouth was open (because she's such a cheery lady) and pinned and sewed everything together. yes, this method was all randy's idea.
once i had her necessary facial features, i sewed them onto the dress. i was going to use fabric glue, but thought sewing would hold up better. also, i pinned each item in place while i was wearing the dress, so i'd know exactly where everything would hit on me.
at the craft store i found small red christmas bows that were on sale (3 for like $1.50). i removed the top two 'loops' so that it looked like a regular girl's hair bow and cut the tail parts shorter. it already had a twisty-tie on the back, so i just attached it to one of the straps of my shirt.
then for fun, i cut some letters out of felt (using a stencil i made on the computer) and put 'ms. pac man' along the back.
and there you have it! it was ridiculously easy, cost less than $5, and i have a feeling it will be a pretty unique costume.
and i must say, it certainly has more character than the one you pay $30 for..
alaina
ps. don't forget to come visit me at the haunted house on halloween!
10/27/11
10/26/11
best haunted house in long beach
i'm sure you're all aware that monday is halloween!
if you live in the long beach (ca) area or in any of the surrounding areas, you can't miss the best local haunted house in the los angeles area!
i'm telling you this not only because it's the best free haunted house in long beach & the surrounding areas, but also because my dad participates in it!
there is also a special performance that happens every 45 minutes or so...
and if you're close, you especially have to come this year because i'm doin' it - i'm working the haunt!
so please come by and let me scare you!
if you live in the long beach (ca) area or in any of the surrounding areas, you can't miss the best local haunted house in the los angeles area!
located on [2012 edit: no haunt this year, location removed] in long beach. this is a movie-set-quality haunted house with spooky attractions both inside and outside the haunt. it starts around 6:30 and goes until 10 pm, but if i were you, i would get there early!
i'm telling you this not only because it's the best free haunted house in long beach & the surrounding areas, but also because my dad participates in it!
there is also a special performance that happens every 45 minutes or so...
and if you're close, you especially have to come this year because i'm doin' it - i'm working the haunt!
so please come by and let me scare you!
alaina
10/25/11
rockin' baby gear *coupon*
my work, ore originals, is offering 20% off our dia de los muertos products in honor of the latin holiday (and in honor of halloween, too!)
enter code BOO11 @ checkout. valid until 10/31!
happy h(a)unting!
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happy h(a)unting!
alaina
10/24/11
10/23/11
my favorite halloween decoration
this is by far the most awesome thing i have ever bought for our place!
i found these at target. they're little window/mirror squishy stickies that look like dripping blood!
so awesome..
alaina
10/22/11
blowfish shoes deal madness!
the other day, something magical happened..
i saved $20 on a pair of boots!
(and you can too!)
blowfish shoes has 'daily deals' that they offer on select pairs of shoes, and they're extending all of this week's deals until tomorrow!
 |
| shop now shop now! |
the 'jackie' was my boot of choice. this fabulous pair of shoes is on sale for $75 (from $89!).
beautiful, isn't she?
as if that isn't enough of a deal already, i used code bfsweet15 @ checkout and got an extra 15% off!
the cherry on top was the free shipping..
i mean seriously, have you ever seen anything so beautiful?
and if you take advantage of one of these crazy amazing deals, you'll be making your wallet and your heart happy because blowfish is donating a portion of every sale made in october to the beautiful day foundation for breast cancer research!
alaina
10/21/11
10/20/11
theit camera bag coupon!
so no, i didn't win one of these fabulous bags : (
but, i am in possession of a 15% off coupon code!
enter loveannie15 @ checkout! and you can pick up a 2nd one for me if you'd like ; )
valid until 10/31
 |
| get yours here! |
but, i am in possession of a 15% off coupon code!
enter loveannie15 @ checkout! and you can pick up a 2nd one for me if you'd like ; )
valid until 10/31
alaina
10/19/11
what i wore
i know i suck at doing these, but here's a 'what i wore' for you all to enjoy on this wonderful wednesday!
so, i cannot quite explain to you all how excited i was when i finally coordinated an outfit that revolves around this scarf i bought from forever 21!
and yes, i know the first picture looks creepy. lol.
alaina
10/18/11
better than a maid.. + coupon code!
2 weeks ago, i bought randy and i a little present..
this little baby is the black & decker sm1620 steam mop with smart select technology.
i tried to win one from sometimes sweet, but that didn't work out.. so when amazon was offering it for $54.99, i jumped on it.
in our household, i am many things. randy's girlfriend. lilly's mom. and the maid. i do the vast majority of the cleaning in our place (i put randy on trash duty, but that's pretty much the extent of his housework responsibilities).
before the wonder mop, i would dust, use our swiffer dust vac thing to pick up all the lilly hair on the floor, and then use wet swiffer pads and floor cleaner to do the dirty work. but i felt like even after the wet swiffers, the floor still wasn't that clean. not to mention the swiffer refills add up after a while.. $$$
i hadn't really looked into other alternatives for wet-cleaning our floors before. i entered danielle's giveaway because i'll take pretty much anything that's free. but then the deal popped up on amazon, and i thought, why not?
i tried it out the day i got it in the mail, and i loved it right away. it was ridiculously easy to put together (randy wasn't home at the time, so i had to assemble it myself) and i love the fact that it only uses water - no special (or pricey) cleaners that you have to have to make it work.
i tried it on 2 small places in our apartment, and i was shocked at how dirty the pad was! i literally cleaned probably 24 square feet's worth of floor, and this is what happened:
can you believe how disgusting that is?? but i'm impressed that it picked up that much only using water!
the other thing i love about the steam mop is its reusable pad. my mop came with 3 pads, and since they're washable, i figured they'd last me a while. my only concern was that they're white, and as you can see above, dirt is black. so even though they'd be clean, they'd probably still look a little gross after being used and washed. so i popped the one you see above in the washer, and it came out looking like magic:
another thing i love about the steam mop is that it has a power cord. as i mentioned, we have one of those little swiffer vacuums, which i love as well. but, it has one of those chargeable batteries, which i don't love as much. our place is pretty big (about 950 square feet) and we have hard wood throughout. if the place is moderately dirty, the swiffer vac has a tendency of pooping out on me about half-way through my cleaning. at which point i need to plug it back in and try and find other ways to clean while it's charging, which takes utterly too long in my opinion. with the steam mop, there's no ticking time bomb to worry about. randy says he isn't as crazy about the fact that it plugs in, but he also doesn't use either the swiffer vac (for more than cleaning up his head shavings) or the steam mop, so he can suck it : )
anyway, if you're looking for an alternative to a mop + bucket, i highly suggest the black & decker steam mop!
**i just found out this morning that black & decker will be offering 20% off purchases of $50 or more on outdoor products with the code fallyard at checkout. hop over to their website to check it out! valid until 10/31.
this little baby is the black & decker sm1620 steam mop with smart select technology.
i tried to win one from sometimes sweet, but that didn't work out.. so when amazon was offering it for $54.99, i jumped on it.
in our household, i am many things. randy's girlfriend. lilly's mom. and the maid. i do the vast majority of the cleaning in our place (i put randy on trash duty, but that's pretty much the extent of his housework responsibilities).
before the wonder mop, i would dust, use our swiffer dust vac thing to pick up all the lilly hair on the floor, and then use wet swiffer pads and floor cleaner to do the dirty work. but i felt like even after the wet swiffers, the floor still wasn't that clean. not to mention the swiffer refills add up after a while.. $$$
i hadn't really looked into other alternatives for wet-cleaning our floors before. i entered danielle's giveaway because i'll take pretty much anything that's free. but then the deal popped up on amazon, and i thought, why not?
i tried it out the day i got it in the mail, and i loved it right away. it was ridiculously easy to put together (randy wasn't home at the time, so i had to assemble it myself) and i love the fact that it only uses water - no special (or pricey) cleaners that you have to have to make it work.
i tried it on 2 small places in our apartment, and i was shocked at how dirty the pad was! i literally cleaned probably 24 square feet's worth of floor, and this is what happened:
can you believe how disgusting that is?? but i'm impressed that it picked up that much only using water!
the other thing i love about the steam mop is its reusable pad. my mop came with 3 pads, and since they're washable, i figured they'd last me a while. my only concern was that they're white, and as you can see above, dirt is black. so even though they'd be clean, they'd probably still look a little gross after being used and washed. so i popped the one you see above in the washer, and it came out looking like magic:
another thing i love about the steam mop is that it has a power cord. as i mentioned, we have one of those little swiffer vacuums, which i love as well. but, it has one of those chargeable batteries, which i don't love as much. our place is pretty big (about 950 square feet) and we have hard wood throughout. if the place is moderately dirty, the swiffer vac has a tendency of pooping out on me about half-way through my cleaning. at which point i need to plug it back in and try and find other ways to clean while it's charging, which takes utterly too long in my opinion. with the steam mop, there's no ticking time bomb to worry about. randy says he isn't as crazy about the fact that it plugs in, but he also doesn't use either the swiffer vac (for more than cleaning up his head shavings) or the steam mop, so he can suck it : )
anyway, if you're looking for an alternative to a mop + bucket, i highly suggest the black & decker steam mop!
**i just found out this morning that black & decker will be offering 20% off purchases of $50 or more on outdoor products with the code fallyard at checkout. hop over to their website to check it out! valid until 10/31.
alaina
10/17/11
10/16/11
tattoo progress
on friday i had another appointment with my rock star tattoo artist to work on the flowers of my rooster/poppy tattoo!
so let me tell you really quickly about how absolutely crazy i am.. i wanted him to finish both flowers as well as color in the leaves on friday. he got pretty damn close, but man, i totally did not anticipate how crazy those flowers were going to be! he tattooed me from 7pm until 12:30am and he still needs to finish the larger poppy in the back. but that's definitely not to say he didn't get a butt load done!
i mean look how crazy-intricate that is! and there wasn't even color at this point!
here's the back flower that will be finished at my next session. it still looks pretty awesome with that veining though!
and now for the money shot..
excuse my language, but how fucking beautiful is that flower? like, is that not ridiculous??
this one was taken with my cheapy camera, but here's what my tattoo now looks like overall.
jr (my artist) is just fabulous, that's all there is to it!
for those of you wondering, jr is located in san gabriel, ca; his email is donsancheztattoo@gmail.com and he's super nice and sweet and insanely talented. you'll be a very lucky lady or fella to have a piece of his art on you ; )
so let me tell you really quickly about how absolutely crazy i am.. i wanted him to finish both flowers as well as color in the leaves on friday. he got pretty damn close, but man, i totally did not anticipate how crazy those flowers were going to be! he tattooed me from 7pm until 12:30am and he still needs to finish the larger poppy in the back. but that's definitely not to say he didn't get a butt load done!
i mean look how crazy-intricate that is! and there wasn't even color at this point!
here's the back flower that will be finished at my next session. it still looks pretty awesome with that veining though!
and now for the money shot..
excuse my language, but how fucking beautiful is that flower? like, is that not ridiculous??
this one was taken with my cheapy camera, but here's what my tattoo now looks like overall.
jr (my artist) is just fabulous, that's all there is to it!
for those of you wondering, jr is located in san gabriel, ca; his email is donsancheztattoo@gmail.com and he's super nice and sweet and insanely talented. you'll be a very lucky lady or fella to have a piece of his art on you ; )
alaina
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