BF and I have dubbed 2012 the “No Fear Year.” No, we’re not trying to bring back that awful brand from the 90s… (which apparently is still around?) we’re just trying to live without… well… fear. Fear stops people from doing things that they’ve dreamt about  – whether it’s an appearance change, a career change, a location change – or anything in between! I’m not saying that it’s going to be perfect… but this year, I hope to take more risks and live a little closer to the edge.

So how am I doing so far? Well… as of just under 2 weeks, I am no longer blonde (<click to see a pic of me with blonde hair for reference)! AH!!! I’ve been blonde literally my whole life – going from toehead blonde to regular blonde… and then onto dirty blonde in early college before having to lean on the bottle (of color – not alcohol)  to keep up my “natural” color…. Well – no more! After collecting an obscene amount of red head photos, I went for it!

Haven’t quite perfected the color yet (It’s darker than I had hoped for but it is a little redder in real life)…

What!? I was trying to catch the light in my hair so you could see the red! Didn’t really work… Not gunna lie… Kinda miss my blonde but happy to switch it up for a bit

Happy (late) New Year everybody! Glad to be back!

I want to be heris a blog that highlights a different women and their style each day. Sometimes the women are sketched, sometimes they’re photos. Sometimes they’re women the blogger knows, sometimes they’re women she simply saw in the supermarket & etc.

The main author of the blog, Andrea Linett, used to be a creative director for Lucky Magazine and is the current director of eBay Fashion. I felt a bond with her immediately when I read in the “About Us” section:

“…I want to be a different woman every day. Sometimes I see her on the street, sometimes I see her in a magazine, but I always want to try her clothes on even if it’s just for one day.”

Love that. That’s totally me. I often get bored with myself and feel inspired by other peoples’ style – even if it isn’t something I would ever consider (slash have the guts to wear). The other blogger, Anne Johnston Albert, is the illustrator and fashion designer. She takes Andrea’s self-described “notebook scratchings” and turns them into visions.

Each of the women featured on the blog get some kind of background painted about them and then different aspects of their style are highlighted. I don’t know about you, but I’m totally inspired. If only I had the funds to revamp my tired wardrobe!

Here are a few of my favorite looks:

Check out “I want to be her!” You may get some new style ideas! Which styles are your favorite?

I recently ran across this video via Loobylu and now… I want to go to Iceland. Who’s with me?!?

Aren’t the people in the video fun?! I want to be their friend.The song is by an adorable artist named Emiliana Torrini - see real music video here. 

Ps… “Inspired by Iceland” is a whole series marketing Iceland – brilliant.

Spinach Dip Mini Bread Bowls!

These obviously aren’t the ones I made… but they actually came out looking pretty much the same (surprisingly enough)!

Ohemgee these guys were good! I found this recipe a few weeks ago and obsessed over them every day for an entire week until I made them. They were totally worth obsessing over. The recipe makes 10 – but I dropped one on the floor so BF and I ate all 9 the day I made them. They were AWESOME and really easy- no weird ingredients or anything!

Need a recipe idea for an upcoming party? Try these.  Or other recipes by Picky Palate. You’ll be the most popular person there!

***click on the image above for the full recipe.***

So a few weeks ago, BF informed me that we had plans “from 1-3 on April 24^th” but it was a surprise. This obviously led me to immediately be overwhelmed with curiosity – for 2 hours? On Easter!? I bet he’s taking me to church (—just kidding…).  I had no idea.

Finally, Easter morning rolls around and, after a breakfast consisting mostly of Starburst jelly beans (my fave!), he informed me that we would be sipping wine, eating dessert, and painting that afternoon! He had (via LivingSocial – love it!) discovered Uncork’d and planned a surprise date!

Uncork’d, based in the DC Design Center, is such a cool concept! They invite local artists to come and be a guest “instructor” of sorts. Each “instructor”/artist comes with their own style – creating the “theme” of the session – and a unique experience everytime (as I can only imagine, at least – I’ve only been once.)

Our “theme” was abstract art (our session was “Just for fun”) and the artist who was our “instructor” was Lisa Jones. Lisa is a pretty well-known artist and has done some work for some famous athletes.

There are other themes offered by Uncork’d including: Couples Retreat, Alter Ego, Ladies Night, and Stress Reliever Saturdays. Check them out!

BF & I had so much fun sipping wine and being surrounded by creativity! It was fun to see the different paintings that resulted from Lisa’s painting (which was displayed to be everyone’s ‘insipration’). Here are some photos of our day:

The Uncork’d session we did (again, it was called “Just For Fun”) makes for a great date! I can imagine it being an especially good spot for newish daters because a) it’s during the day (or can be…), b) you’re not forced to sit across the tables, staring at each other as you awkwardly make small talk and c) it’s fun and you walk away with new art or at least a souvenir!

But I have good news!!! I have discovered a solution and I’m totally stoked!

CraigsEasy is a website that, with the risk of sounding like a cheesy infomertial, makes searching Craigslist fun again.

Here’s how it works:
1. Go to their website and add their “Easy” button (remind you of Staples?)  to your “favorites” tool bar.
2. Go to Craigslist, search what you want (ex: chair under $100 – see image below) and as soon as the page pulls up, hit the “easy” button. CraigsEasy will then do its magic – changing the mindnumbing gray and blue plain-ass website (no offense CL, it does the job…ish)  into an eye-pleasing, easy to search website that simply lists images, cost, and location of each post. It makes searching Craigslist so much faster and allows you to kiss way less frogs to find your prince – or “Soulmate [insert item here].”

If you’re not as stoked as I am about this, then there’s something seriously wrong with you. Just kidding…

… kinda.

Happy hump day! Happy Craigslist hunting!

Thrillist is a website that I discovered from… actually I have no idea how I discovered it. But I love it.

Thrillist is basically a giant resource website designed for dudes. The topics range from alcohol and bars, to food, girls, fashion, alcohol and bars, and did I mention food? Just kidding… sorta. Their topics on the website are: Bars, Food, Sex + Dating, Home + Gadgets, Money, Sports, Style, Cars, Travel, Music, and Entertainment — I was close, right?

I like this site because it’s a great resource to stay up-to-date on what’s going on in the social world… but I especially like that they send out daily newsletters highlighting the latest and greatest in your area and recommending places to go, eat, and see. (I think I can honestly say that their newsletter is the only email I at least skim every time I receive it – well, besides my mom’s chain emails, of course (hi mom!)). I’ve even converted BF to a Thrillist fan – and that says a lot. He’s a hard sell.

They currently have Thrillists custom to Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Hamptons, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and, finally, Washington DC.

Bored at work? Want to find a new restaurant, a cool art show, or some new clothes? Check out Thrillist, sign up for their newsletter, and maybe even get their (free) app (iphone and droid)! Just as a warning… this, most likely, wont be the last you hear me talk about them. With the risk of sounding stalkerish… I’m kind of a fan.

So today’s post might be kinda familiar to some of you but… I just wanted to share with you, once again, my brother’s blog/talents and update you a little.  Below is a shortened version of a post I wrote a while back. With an update at the end.

…

Good morning!

Today’s blog is actually belongs to my (older) brother, Matt. He went to Virginia Tech and majored in Industrial Design. In other words, he may actually like art and design even more than ME! Matt is really into making things…

7Side Design …. allows you to peek into his artsy brain; from his hands-on projects and hobbies to his unique inspirations and experiences. This guy, who designs BOATS by day, leads a seriously awesomely art-infused life (in FLORIDA no less!)!

I think my favorite thing that Matt has created is one of his first 7Side projects, the Sanguine Dresser. I mean… it’s a dresser AND a shoe rack AND a headboard… how cool is that?! Another one of my favorite projects that Matt… made me my very own “e.” I seriously love it. (see below. )

Honestly, I think that 7Side Design is a great up-and-coming blog/company (and I’m not just saying that because he’s my brother). I seriously can’t wait to not only SEE more but hopefully one day OWN more of Matt’s creations!

…

Since that posting, a little over a year ago, Matt has done more work, like his wooden wall installations. Originally, I was thinking about having him come, and/or send me the supplies, to install our very own wooden wall up in our loft. Then I realized that the only real wall the loft has continues into a stairwell, and down the stairs, into the “entryway” – way too much wooden wall (especially for a rental..) – so we may have to make it more of an accent PIECE instead of accent WALL.

His walls look so cool though! I love all the different shades (which are totally natural!) The walls are seriously something straight out of Anthropologie (only one of my favorite stores of all time). Below are pictures taken from the 7side Design Blog:

Visit 7side Design’s blog and check out all his awesome creations! Happy Hump Day!

Hope you had a good Valentines Day! BF sent me flowers yesterday at work- Sunflowers to be exact. My favorite

So I may see a glimmer of hope at the end of our apartment decorating tunnel…. the glimmer of hope meaning… we finally bought a couch!!!! It’s a big deal. but it hasn’t arrived yet.

Here’s a pic of it I took on my phone at the store – don’t mind the ugly pillows.

The reason this couch is such a big deal is because… well… I’m waiting on it to pick the wall color, to choose the rug, and the chairs, and hang the art – none of which I have yet. I think the couch will get the ball rolling. And I’m stoked. In the meantime, I finally took some “before” pics of our place this weekend!!

Please don’t judge I took most of these with my cell phone. Plus… We’ve only been here a month tomorrow.

Living room - taken from kitchen

Bathroom - the counter is made for a basketball player!

Loft!

I was going to take pics of our bedroom, too… but it’s looking extremely messy. That will have to be another day.

Have a good one!