Don't you just love a job well done?

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So I thought since June is over I would do a recap on my 8 goals for the month of June. I think I did pretty well considering it was a short month. No I didn't accomplish everything, but I made dents in almost all of them!

1. Cut the soda completely.
I can officially say that we have cut out soda from our diets! Wahoo. The hubby made a cocktail last weekend and the only mixer we had for it was Diet Pepsi. I took a sip off the can and made the Whiskey face. It was gross! Tasted like aluminum. Also I have sipped some fountain soda, which tastes better, but still tastes gross! I guess we can say mission accomplished!

2. Blog at least 4 times a week.

I was really good about this with the exception of the first week. I was out of the office and didn't have anything scheduled. Other than that at a minimum I posted 4 blogs....and they weren't the fluff blogs (IMO) either.

3. Do 30 days of P90X.

Yea....I didn't even start this one. I got caught up in everything else this month. I did little at home workouts, but not the P90X. Guess we'll start this in July.

4. Complete 3 D.I.Y.'s
I completed four technically. The Diaper Straps, a taggie blanket, I fixed some shorts and made outdoor cushions for our patio set. I still have some tutorials to write for you all! Stay tuned for later in July!

5. Re-vamp blog and header.
This is in process! I am trying to streamline everything and make it more user friendly. Stay tuned for that in July also!

6. Complete another check off our Bucket List!

On my birthday we went to the Getty Center Museum.

7. Finish all the books I have started

I finished one book....The Girl who Played with Fire. It ended in a cliff hanger so I had to start the third one. Sorry Harry Potter.....your gonna have to wait!

8. Celebrate my 30th birthday gracefully.

If you read my birthday recap I think you will agree that I did complete this goal. I didn't go crazy wanting people to fawn over me....we just had a quiet weekend just mom and the hubby. It was just what I needed!

So I guess that means I need to come up with another monthly goal list. It was really helpful to have it up on here and for me to be held accountable. They were achievable goals and even though I didn't make it through all of them, I am proud of what I did! What goals, short term or long term, do you like to make?

How I passed into another decade

As many of you may have read, I turned 30 this past Monday. I share my birthday with my adorable fur baby so I let her have the spotlight, since she turned five and is now officially older than me. How sad is that! Our baby is all grown up! So many people have big parties and plans for their 30th birthdays, but since mine happens to fall in the first weekend of summer every year, planning a party (especially when my hubbies is so close (July)) seemed a little difficult. So here's a recap of what I did. (photo heavy....sorry in advance)

Friday night - We BBQ'd chicken and had corn and beans with our close friend Mr. P. We hung outside, drank our cold beverages and just had great conversation while enjoying the cool night air.

Saturday - I woke to my breakfast shake from the hubs and while he prepared for work I caught up on vlogs. Once he left I tidied up our apt a bit and prepped to make our outside cushions. By way of cutting the foam and making sure I had everything I needed. Then I got ready once my mom confirmed she was on her way. She swooped in and picked me up for a pedicure and a little bit of shopping. It's so nice to have your feet rubbed!

After that we went home and made Italian Subs, and crafted up those bad boy cushions (tutorial to come!)

Sunday - We slept in relatively late....I mean 9 is late for normal, I wish I could sleep until eleven. Man are those days long gone. We got cleaned up and made our way to the Getty Center Museum. My mom had never been and there was a great new exhibit on L.A. in the future....all things Los Angeles from 1940-1990. It was really cool, but I couldn't take photo's inside the exhibit. *Sad face. The Getty is known for it's architecture so I spent some time clicking away some cool shots on my phone.

Close-up of the limestone facade.

The Entrance building

One of the fountains.

We made our way through a couple exhibits and then went down to the gardens. They looked pretty run down and trampled but I was able to get some nice shots of some pretty flowers. It was so busy we didn't really look at anything for very long. The manicured topiary center is something that lots of people like to take photos of.

View of the Garden

The Hubby and I

Me and Momma

Poppies

The bees were busy populating

I really enjoy looking at craftsman items....furniture, glasswear, statues. The delicate things that can break easy! Mom wanted to look at the illuminated manuscripts, which honestly looking at those I understand why only the rich had books. Those things are works of art in itself! Perfectly preserved! I didn't get any shots of those either. We did not make our way to the paintings as they didn't really interest our party, but on the way out I saw they had a Degas on display and I will have to make another trip back to see that! We spent a lot of time looking at cool old (600+) furniture and the craftsmanship that it takes to build that stuff to last forever!

Inlaid French parquet floor

French inspired sitting room.

Giant forged iron Urn

Storage cabinet

Chaise lounge

Dancer Sculpture

Inlaid table.

After we had our fill of museum goodness we decided that we wanted to hit up Ikea (on a Sunday) which was very harried but we all found something interesting to look at. We bought a potato masher....hey we didn't have one, and some swiss milk chocolate! YUM. Then we walked 2 blocks up the road for buffalo wings and fries at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was yummy. We headed home, had some frozen yogurt and watched Drop Dead Fred on Netflix. How my mom has gone my entire life without seeing that I'll never know! But it was even better as an adult because the jokes were all adult related (for the most part)! I opened my gifts early too. I got hair styling tools! Yea buddy. All of my tools were so old that they weren't making my hair look any better! I got a new hairdryer (thanks hubby), straightener, and clipless curling iron (thanks mom and dad). Also my mom got me a new Bluetooth since my old one just disappeared! 

Monday (The Day) - We got up early to take my car in for brakes.....which ended up being brakes, (2) rotors, a brake flush, and (2) new tires. Sigh. Getting old SUCKS when you have to deal with responsibilities! We had a relaxing afternoon with my mom and I took a nap before we headed to see Now You See Me. It was better than I expected it to be! I recommend it! We went home, fixed up some cereal for dinner and had a quiet evening. My Mom #2 sent me a pretty Pandora bracelet, and I also had many cards to open. Also all the Facebook messages just made it a perfect day! Since we also checked off another item off the bucket list also!!

So there it is....the story of how I left my twenties. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, and honestly I don't feel any different. Next up is the hubbies in July. Maybe we will do something fun for his!

A Little Teaser

I know I said that I would do a weekend update and I will! I promise. But in seeing how it was my birthday I have to put together all the photos from the weekend and compile the post. I did a LOT this weekend. I thought I would share with you a little teaser of a craft I put together this weekend!

We needed chair pads for our outdoor patio set and everything I saw in the store I wasn't thrilled with spending a ton of money on something I didn't really like. Of course the ones I really liked were around $100 a pillow. So....I looked at the construction and said "I can make that!" And I did!! Stay tuned for a tutorial later in the month! I had such fun with these and they look sooooo cute on our little dinette set!

Mixtapes and Memories - Tuesday Topics

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Music is my life's soul brought out into the world. I love music so much and most of the time it relates to my life in one way or another. I have said in the past that my brain is 70% song lyrics and the rest is filed away neatly in the other 30%. So when this weeks Tuesday Topics came about I really had to think about which five songs bring back the most memories.

#1. Chantal Kreviazuk - Feels Like Home
The first time I heard this D and I went out on a date to see How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. We fell in love with song and it has been "our" song ever since....it was our first dance song at our wedding and every month or so we play it loud and slow dance to it!



2 Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
It is my quintessential jr. high/high school song. I don't remember when I bought it, but it was the very first cd that I bought with my own money. Double album of rock greatness "Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness." I can listen to this song over and over and will not get old. The beat and the lyrics are just all around perfect!



#3 Billy Rae Cyrus - Achy Breaky Heart
Please don't judge me for this song. My mom had this tape (yes tape) and we played this song over and OVER every time we were in the car singing the lyrics loud and proud for all the other drivers to hear. We didn't care and did it with many other songs. This one is the funniest one though. I still sing loud and proud in the car for ALL to hear!



#4 Grease Soundtrack - Summer Nights
This is D's and my go to karaoke song. He knows every word to this song!!!! Probably because it's his mom's favorite movie. It's always fun for us to sing this as the example pictured below!

#5 Legally Blonde Soundtrack - Hoku "It's a Perfect Day"
If you remember back in April when I wrote this post about my best friend from high school. I talked about him falling asleep on his dvd remote and having to listen to the Legally Blonde intro song over and over for hours! This is that song! Good song, but not over and over!


There you have it. Five songs that bring back some really great memories for me. I hope you all love music as much as I do and these songs can make memories for you too!

Psst. I wanted you to know!

Wishing my puppy dog Shelby a wonderful and happy 5th birthday today! We love all the excitement that you provide us on a daily basis! Nothing makes us happier than to see your furry face! I am so happy to share my birthday with you and we will give you cookies galore today!!!

Today is the day I leave my twenties and enter into a new decade!! I am doing it gracefully and like an adult by going and getting brakes on my car!! Fun fun. We had a great weekend at the Getty Center Museum and I'll be sure to give you a weekend update tomorrow! Have a happy Monday!

Etsy Crush - Cantu Creations

A couple weeks back I was perusing my Instagram feed and while scrolling I noticed a gorgeous piece of turquoise jewelry. I immediately scrolled back up to see who posted it and realized it was a friend that just so conveniently lives in my city. Also in the description she linked her Esty shop; Cantu Creations. I had no idea that she had a jewelry shop. I headed on over and realized that she creates beautiful natural stone jewelry, and its also affordable! And since I am NOT a jewelry maker, yes I dabble in all other things crafty, I thought that I would share this wonderful shop with you all and hope you give her some love!

She has a bunch of different styles in all types of stones. Seriously look at these colors! Aren't they amazing!

Amethyst

Turquoise Jewelry

Quartz and Gemstone Arrowheads

Please head on over to her shop and have a look! Tell her I sent her your way!!! Diane :-)

GFC No More

Many of you know that Google Reader and with that the possibility of Google Friend Connect is going bye bye as of July 1st, 2013. If/when this happens there is the possibility of not having our followers or favorite blogs to read that we have collected over the years when we sign into our dashboards. Have no fear! There is another site out their called Bloglovin'. Many many bloggers have already made the transition over to it, but in case you haven't heard of it yet, then you might wanna keep reading.

With the loss of GFC you wont be able to follow your favorite blogs or have followers anymore through this widget anymore. Bloglovin' acts the same as Google Reader in the sense that you can follow your favorite blogs, but it goes one step further in the way that you can categorize your favorite blogs also. I have categories like crafty, beauty, family....things of that nature. This way you can locate your favorite blogs in an instant, instead of scrolling through your feed.

This is not going to be a tutorial on how to work Bloglovin' because the site is really easy to navigate and many other blogger have done those tutorials also. (see below) I encourage you all to sign up, link up your blogs and start following your favorites over on Bloglovin' if you don't already do so!

Here's a couple of good tutorial's for you if you need some help! Comment below with any other good ones! Also leave me your bloglovin' account so I can follow you!

Replacing Google Reader with Bloglovin' by The Kimmie Chronicles
How to move your Google Reader RSS feed to Bloglovin' by IFB
A Bloglovin' Tutorial by Nutritionella

My Top 6! - Tuesday Topics

This weeks Tuesday Topics is 6 favorite products. I'm not really sure if they are favorites but I do use them everyday!

1. Mary Kay Intense Moisturizing Lotion. Seriously, I'm 30 years old and I still have yet to figure out what skin type I am. Although I started using this moisturizer and it has made a world of difference in my complexion. I'm starting to think I have dry skin. 

2. Phillips Sonicare toothbrush. We started using this electric toothbrush system a couple of months ago and honestly I don't think I will ever go back to using a normal toothbrush. My teeth feel super clean after and I have noticed that I don't have to whiten as often! Bonus. That could also be because I cut the soda. But well go with the toothbrush. 

3.  Bali Mango body scrub. Pictured is the lotion, which I also have, because I couldn't find the scrub online. Maybe it's in the store. I love the smell and the exfoliation that makes my skin feel so soft! It's a twofer!

4. Silk Pure Coconut Milk. We cut out dairy milk about two weeks ago. This is a solid replacement and it tastes yummy. We use it in our breakfast shakes. Gonna try the almond milk soon because we can get a three pack at Costco for significantly cheaper!

5. Yankee Candle "Beach Flowers". I'm usually a clean scent person, like soap scents but this one has just enough flowery scent that its not overpowering! It still smells clean too. 

6. Sirius XM Satellite Radio. I have had this in my car for almost two years and honestly I can never go back to regular radio. I love that it doesn't cut out as I make my way through the cities and I can listen to the same station for hours. Yes certain stations have commercials, but it's one then back to music. Not six minutes of commercials for every two songs. Thanks to the hubby for that one!

There you have it. A couple of my favorite products! Next weeks topic is going to be great! 5 songs that bring back memories......I am gonna have to do some serious thinking about this one!

Pops, Pups, Pillows and Pageants....otherwise known as the Weekend Update.

You guys, I have been REALLY slacking on my weekend photo taking! Coupled in with the fact that I am on day 7 of my no soda regime and I spilled my water all over myself while driving this morning, it's really been a Monday already. But I'm still here for the weekend update!!!!

Thursday - I know not the weekend, but it close enough. I went and picked up some more sewing machine needles. I started another baby shower project last Sunday, but broke my last machine needle and I couldn't finish it. So I finished that project and I also fixed a pair of shorts that had holes in them.....tutorials to come later!

Friday was a low key night with BBQ for dinner and relaxing for the Saturday to come.

Saturday the hubby helped to move his sister from one apartment to another. I spent the most of the morning and early afternoon with my Mom #3. We chatted, went to Michael's and spent almost two hours roaming the aisles for crafty projects and had lunch. We moseyed over to the new apartment to see what it looked like then D and I made our way back home to get ready for dinner with my parents for Father's Day, but not before taking a couple of photos of our fur baby. We went to The Yard House, and while the food and company was great....the service was horrible! I neglected to get any photo's at dinner.....sad face.

Sunday I awoke relatively early and caught up on my blogs/vlogs until the hubby got up. Then we made breakfast and attacked our kitchen and pantry. We needed to clean our dishwasher, damn hardwater, and seriously overhaul our pantry because it was driving me crazy! We then headed out to the patio where D swept all the lovely mess from our surrounding trees and I cleaned his grill. Pupster hung out on the balcony all day until it was time to head over to D's folks for Father's Day dinner, but not before we made a pitstop to Best Buy to look at some electronics and then to Michael's to select some fabric and to buy foam for a project for our outside patio! We cannot find any chair cushions that we like....so I am making those bad boys myself!

After dinner we went home to relax, flicked on the t.v. to see that the Miss USA pageant was on. I clicked on the channel to see if we had missed the swimsuit competition, which we had but the evening gown competition just started. I went to click away, thinking the hubbs wasn't interested, but he told me to leave it. I am not going to start in on the interviews and Miss Utah. If you haven't seen it, just go to YouTube, but I am going to give a huge raised eyebrow to Miss Conneticut/(now the current) Miss USA 2013 evening gown. Um yea....the bodice was gorgeous, but she had this sheet looking piece of white cloth hanging off the bottom and it made her lower half look less than flattering! For these women who spend months getting into bikini shape; why would we put a baggy, saggy mess right at her lower abdomen making her look frumpy? That's just my opinion. She answered her interview question wonderfully and took home the crown with grace! Congrats! Pick a better dress for Miss Universe....please!

Source

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Linking up with Sami!

Meatball Sub Sammie's

Ok. This post has been in the pipeline for a couple if weeks but I keep forgetting to post about it. In my almost 30 years of life I have never had a meatball sub sandwich. I dont know why, but something about it just didn't seem appetizing. I love meatballs, and pasta sauce, I just thought that it was strange. Well a couple of weeks ago, not wanting to have spaghetti, but wanting to use up our frozen homemade spaghetti sauce I decided to make some homemade meatballs and make some sandwiches one cold evening. Totally yummy and will make again considering how easy it was! You can buy store bought meatballs, but making your own just tastes better!

What You Need:

1lb lean ground beef
3 cloves garlic (minced)
Bread Crumbs
1 egg (lightly beaten)
Dry Parsley
Parmesan Cheese (Optional)
Favorite Pasta Sauce (We use homemade, but jarred works too!)
Kaiser Rolls

Baking Sheet

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl combine ground beef, egg and  garlic cloves (minced) with your hands until thoroughly mixed. Add in about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and some dry parsley (about a 1/8 of a cup or so). Spices and bread crumbs are done by eyeing it. Make sure to include enough so that they stick well together, but not too much. You can include some Parmesan cheese at this point if you desire. Mix in well with your hands. Honestly, I don't think there is a better way to do this than to just get in there and get dirty!

2. Take about a handful of your meat mixture and smush (technical term) the mixture to compact it. Then roll between your hands to make a ball. Each ball should be about 2" in diameter. Place on a baking sheet spaced about an inch apart.

3. Place baking sheet in a preheated 350 degree oven. Watch them and turn when about half cooked/browned. Total time about 20 min or so. Will make about a dozen or so 2" meatballs.

4. Take meatballs and place in your heated pasta sauce for another 15 minutes to let that yummy saucy goodness seep into the meat. Then place 2-3 meatballs on your kaiser rolls and dribble some sauce on the top. Serve!

Makes 4 sandwiches.

DIY - Diaper Straps

It's been a while since I posted a DIY tutorial. So here I am again with another quick and easy baby shower gift! The Diaper Strap! I saw this originally on Pinterest and thought that it was so cute and different from the wipes case!

What You'll Need:
(1) 8" x 18" Patterned Fabric
(1) 8" x 18" Muslin or solid
3" strip Sew on Velcro
Decorative buttons

Directions:

1.Layer fabrics together and press in half. Open your layered fabrics and press in your short (8") edge 1/2".

2. Press the bottom to meet the middle and press the top to meet the bottom.

3. Press the top and bottom together. Sew a 1/4" seam around the edges of your strap. I sewed two lines down the middle portion as well, this is optional.

4. Sew on your velcro so that they match up. Attach your button to the top and admire your work!

These are so cute and easy to just throw in one or two diapers with a pack of wipes into a purse for a quick outing! If you don't feel like packing a diaper bag! It's even easy for dad! Just toss him the strap o' goodies and the kid and off he goes!

I hope you enjoyed this simple and quick tutorial!