Delicious : Pastries from La Farine

         

Surprise pastries!

On a whim, Kim brought home tasty treats from the Piedmont branch of La Farine Bakery - and I can safely say they were super delicious! The pastry cream was on point, and awesomely offset by chocolate ganache. 

So. Good.

Happy Feet!

This week Isaac headed back to Missouri for his sister's graduation (Congratulations, Theresa!!), so it's been just us two ladies in the house. In a fit of girlishness, we decided to paint our toenails. (Fun fact: this is only the second time I've ever painted my toes. Somehow, I always forget about them.) The awesome lotus tattoos belong to Kim.

With happy colors on our feet, we're gearing up for summer. 

I can't wait!

Desktop SS : Blue May 2012

Clear days.

Right now my head is a bit stuffed with over-thinking, deadlines, decisions and what not. The air of quiet reflection in this wallpaper reminds me to chill out, and breathe. May is going to be my meditation month!

(Extra bonus: there's a tiny sleeping cat on the left side of the bus stop. He's super adorable!)

If you're interested in the wallpaper, you can grab it here.

Here's to the beauty of blue skies.

Crafty : DIY Glitter Gauges

Back in 2005 I decided to gauge my ears to 00g, with the express intention of acquiring hanging white wings. (A decision I've never once regretted!) Somehow to this day I still haven't gotten my hands on a pair of gorgeous wings, but I have obtained many other cute gauges, both hanging and not.

Recently I inherited a pair of hanging, black spiral gauges. 

I love them! The only problem? The color got completely lost in my dark hair. 

That means it's time for a mini-makeover.

- Scissors

- Masking Tape

- Base Color Nail Polish 

- Glitter Nail Polish 

- Top Coat 

- Gauges

- Something to hang your gauges from while they dry (I used a laundry hanger, shown later in this post)

- Optional: Small paintbrush

The colors I used were : Sephora by OPI's "Frankly I Don't Give A-dam", Milani's "Diamond Dazzle", and Sally Hansen's "30 Second Topcoat".

* The gauges I painted were water buffalo horn. I'm assuming this would work for wood, acrylic, and plastic plugs as well, but I haven't tested this theory.

STEP 1

After you've cleaned your gauges with soap and water, and they're completely dry - cut two pieces of masking tape and use them to tape off where you want the color to start. (You may need more than one piece of tape to make sure the line is uniform around the curve of horn.) I opted to leave the part that would go through my ear bare, as I'm not too keen on the idea of absorbing nail polish chemicals through my skin.

STEP 2

Got that tape securely in place? Nice. Now it's time to slap on the first coat of base color - light grey in my case. I used the nail polish brush to paint the whole thing, and well... it definitely works, but it's a pain in the butt. It may be easier to use a small paintbrush, but I didn't think of that until after I was done. ^-^ Don't forget to paint the inside of the swirls, and try not to drop your brush or the gauges. (I dropped both, twice. Beware of carpet!)

STEP 3

Hang those bad boys up to dry!

Let them hang for 10-20 minutes, depending on how quick your brand of nail polish dries.

STEP 4

Time for the second coat of base color! 

This is somewhat optional if your polish is super opaque, but I chose to do a second coat for high gloss and intense color.

STEP 5

Hang those gauges up for the second time, for another 10-20 minutes.

STEP 6

Now it's glitter time. Use your glitter polish to go over your base coat, and don't forget about the inside of those spirals! (Feel free to do two coats of glitter if you wish, I only needed one.)

STEP 7

Hang those gauges for the third time! Let them dry for 10-20  minutes.

STEP 8

The finish line is in sight. Slap your top coat over the glitter layer, making sure to hit those tricky inside parts of the spiral as well.

STEP 9

Carefully peel off the tape.

STEP 10

Hang those gauges for the last time. If you've got a quick dry top coat, they should be done in about 10 minutes. I let mine sit for a few hours, just to be sure they were really dry. After that, you can go back and clean up any smudges along your cut off line with nail polish remover, if you feel so inclined. I didn't have too many smudges, so I let the imperfections stay.

You're totally done now, woo!

Time to show off your sparkly new gauges to the world!

Street Art : Urban Crochet & Graffiti

I found my first urban crochet!

  (Technically this wasn't completely crocheted onto the bench, it was just a really long scarf woven through the slats, but I'm still excited!) This plethora of pink was chilling in a small communal area in the Piedmont neighborhood, right across from the theater.

I found this fun guy on a walk to the Grand Lake area. I can't tell if he's dancing, or telling me to speak up. Shrug. He definitely caught my attention though!

What are your thoughts on street art?

Panda Poet

When I'm winding down at night, or just need a break from life - I love getting lost in puzzle games. Panda Poet is awesome because it's a combination word/strategy game, with relaxing music and lots of adorable pandas!

(Source: Lost Garden)

You can invite friends to play against you, or hop on a local match (which is usually what I do). There's also a small chat box on the left side if you feel like chatting up your opponent. I do recommend going through the tutorial as well. Even though it's a pretty simple game, half of the game is stealing your opponents pandas - which could be a bit confusing for new players.

The only tricky thing is : you need to have a gmail / google account to play. That's it! You have to deal with a few minor ads, but for such a cute game it's a price I'm more than willing to pay for a free game.

The other thing I love is that the games can continue for a long time. If you only have five minutes to play, no big deal - your game will be saved and you can even receive emails when it's your turn to play, if you wish. I like to have about ten games going at all times, so there's always a game for me to come back to. And if you have a great game with someone, you can challenge them to a rematch after the current game is done! Awesome.

I play as CardiganNoir (cardigannoir@gmail.com). If anyone's interested, I'd love to battle you with words! ^-^