Iowa Invasion
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Dashboard Diaries, Happy Homemakers, Random Musings
Last week our best friends came to visit us for a week. We impressed ourselves with how much action we crammed into 6 days. Prepare yourself for an avalanche of photos, celebrity sightings and LA fun. Away we go…
We spent our first day soaking in the sun on the beach and doing a little bar crawl along the boardwalk. Big Deans, The Whaler and The Waterfront Café if you’re ever in the area and in need of adult beverages and an ocean breeze. We felt extra cool on our bicycle built for two. The boys were slightly mortified.
Day two was spent taking in the fanciness that is Beverly Hills. I can’t help myself, every time we pass the Beverly Hills sign I start singing Cookie Time from Troop Beverly Hills.
Here we are in all of our touristy glory!
We made a quick detour for Sprinkles Cupcakes (Red Velvet for me and Blueberry Lemonade for Matt) on our way to Hollywood for our Starline Double Decker Bus Tour. But that adventure deserves its own post. I mean it is on our Sand Bucket List and all!
We spent another day at The Grove hunting celebrities. We saw AC Slater filming his show Extra and Vince Vaughn. For journalistic integrity I will conceded that the boys were the ones who actually saw Vince Vaughn. Mel and I were too busy scouring the sales racks at Anthropologie. Executive decisions were made that it still counts as a celebrity sighting because we have a picture. So there.
After our brush with celebrity fame we were off to the Dodgers Game. New Dodger gear for the boys. I find this traitorous as they are both Cubs fans.
Another celeb sighting at the Dodgers Game. Nakia from The Voice belted out the Star Spangled Banner and Take Me Out to the Ballgame.
We wrapped up the last day of whirlwind fun at Universal Studios. Plenty of fun and food was enjoyed there!
Whew! Just recapping our adventures makes me tired. We had so much fun with our Iowa pals and can’t wait to have them back. Hopefully they’ll bring their super cute baby Emma with them next time!
What’s the most touristy thing you’ve done while on vacation? Ever rode a bicycle built for two?
Tags: Beach Fun, Beverly Hills Tour, Bike rides, dodger stadium, Hollywood Tour, Sprinkles Cupcakes
Chair Affair
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Steals and Deals
I’ve had my eye on this chair forever. Like a year and a half forever. I loved the linen fabric and the clean lines. I had been begging Matt to allow it to come live with us but he wasn’t sold on its gloriousness. I was beginning to think this was going to be an unrequited love. He finally relented once I schemed found out that we could buy it with our credit card points. Yay! It arrived earlier this week semi-assembled and I tore right into it.
From the moment I opened the box I knew we had a winner. Look, Target is actually congratulating me on such a fine decision to purchase their furniture. I was feeling pretty smug about my new fandangled chair.
On a side note, does anyone else think this packaging is a little on the gruesome side? Maybe it’s because we’ve been marathon-watching through seasons 1 and 2 of Dexter and we’re thinking more grisly than the average chair purchaser.
Anyway, there were 2 chair legs (surprise!) inside the box but that’s not the horror of the story. Oh no, this unassuming chair was a pain in the arse to put together. I’ll say it now and without guilt. I hate the cursed Allen Wrench! I love Ikea and Target and all of their glorious cheapness but god I loathe putting together the furniture. After a series of meltdowns Matt gallantly stepped in and finished the chair assembly for me.
Look at that fanciness! I moved our new lamp over there in hopes to convince the Allen-Wrench Hero that we need another side table with lamps on either side of the couch. The picture below is looking from the dining room back into the living room. See how we need more light? A call to the commenters…tell Matt us we need another table lamp!
So like any good love story, the chair and I had ups and downs but we are now living happily ever after. Tell me that I’m not alone in my with my Allen Wrench aversion. Have you bought anything with credit card points? Was it something you wouldn’t have bought normally? Do tell!
Tags: Allen Wrench Fiasco, Target, Target Dolce Chair
Summer in the City
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Happy Homemakers, Random Musings
Since Memorial Day has come and gone and you know what that means…Summer Time! This is my favorite time of year, I could seriously skip through the streets throwing daisies the day it hits 75 degrees. It definitely doesn’t hurt living next to the beach to add to my gleeful mood. With my favorite season upon us I decided to whip up a list of my summertime favorites (golf clap for my Photoshop skillz, please).
1. Everyone needs some good summer time tunes. Kenny Chesney is my main man to set the drinking, grilling, good time state of mind.
2. I, along with the rest of the blog-o-sphere are in love with these outdoor pillows. At $24 for 2 you can’t beat the price. I think these will be making an appearance on our patio shortly.
3. Toms. These comfy, casual shoes are rocking my world. I had never heard of them until we moved out West. The company is actually located about 5 blocks from our place. I love their styles and their mission. For every pair of shoes purchased, a child in need gets a pair.
4. Homemade ice cream. I don’t think there is anything better! We have the Ahrens’ secret family recipe that we’ll be relying on this year to beat the heat.
5. My beloved Townie. I can’t stress how much I love this bike. It’s pink, it’s a cruiser and it has gears. Glorious.
6. The smell of burgers on the grill is the official sign “it’s summer!” We were gifted this fabulous grill for Christmas. We need to put it in a place of honor instead of balancing precariously on our old bench.
So, what’s your favorite season? Any summer time must haves that I need to add to my list?
Tags: Favorite Stuff, Homemade Ice Cream, Kenny Chesney, Summer, Toms, Townie Cruisers, Weber
Green {Report} Card
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Cleaning Party, Green Living
Remember way back when I decided to start greening up our home essentials? I thought we would re-visit what has been working for us and what we’ve been slacking on.
So we’re closing our eyes and handing over our green report card. Spoiler alert…it hasn’t been all A+ grades for us on this.
First up, we swapped out all of our hand soap from the $7 economy size Softsoap to the $11 Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap.
Honestly, this was the hardest purchase to pull the trigger on. We have 3 hand soap dispensers in our tiny little place and we go through a lot of soap (what can I say, we’re hand washers!). Surprisingly, this soap lasts a LONG time. We haven’t even used half of the bottle since we’ve had to water down the soap. Our fancy Target soap pumps were getting clogged up after a day or so when we put Dr. Bronner’s in the bottle. We checked the label of the soap and it says “may clog soap dispensers”. Boo! Definitely annoying but we didn’t want to give up on our $11 soap so we decided to water it down. It took us a few tries to get the water/soap solution right. Happily, we haven’t had anymore clogging issues and we both agree it is still lathering right up.
Grade: A for us…adapt and overcome! We give Dr. Bronner’s a B. We love the smell of the soap and it’s eco-friendly recipe but are still annoyed about the clogging issues.
Next we decided to upgrade our 99 cent Dawn dish soap for Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day in Lemon Verbena. It’s obviously more expensive (about $4) but it is SO worth it. We both loved the smell so much we grabbed the Countertop Spray and the All Purpose Cleaner. The Countertop Spray replaced our Clorox Cleanup and the All purpose Cleaner replaced our floor cleaner and acts as a refill for the Countertop Spray.
Grade: A+ all around. Extra credit: We whipped up our own floor cleaner-vinegar, hot water and a little All Purpose Cleaner.
Our laundry routine got an overhaul too. We switched our Tide for Charlie’s Soap Powder. We also cut out the fabric softener sheets and stopped bleaching our whites (vinegar keeps them looking bright!). We still keep the bleach around for our white slipcovers though.
Grade: B- for us (for the bleach use) and an A for Charlie’s Soap. We love this stuff. It makes our clothes super soft but doesn’t leave behind any fragrance.
We were off to a good start with the shower switcheroo. I traded Matt’s generic shampoo out for Alba and we both were using Jason’s Body Wash. Matt jumped ship after we ran out of both. He likes his Old Spice soap and wasn’t really enjoying the Alba shampoo smell (too girly). I also traded the Alba for Avalon Organics and Burt’s Bee Body Wash.
Grade: B-, I’ve stuck with the organic stuff but It think Matt might be cancelling me out using the generics. Let this be a call to the organic soap people-make more manly smelling stuff.
Our last change we wanted to implement was the dishwasher and all of it’s necessary soaps. We haven’t ordered the Shaklee’s detergent yet and we’re still using the Lemishine. Our detergent is Palmolive Eco Plus, phosphate free. It’s definitely a step in the right direction but it still contains Chlorine Bleach which we want to move away from. Once we run out of our current soaps we will be switching over to more eco-friendly versions.
Grade: D, at least we made an attempt with the Eco Plus detergent.
So there you have it. I think we’re doing pretty well incorporating eco-friendly products into our usual routines. Of course, there is always room for improvement. So tell us, how have you greened your routine?
Tags: going green, green cleaning products, household cleaners
Hip Hip Syrah!
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Dashboard Diaries, Happy Homemakers
We spent the weekend celebrating Matt’s graduation in the Santa Ynez Valley wine tasting at the Bridlewood Winery. It was a perfect day to spend outside wine tasting.
Our family friend who works at Gallo Wines suggested that we take the cellar tour at Bridlewood Winery. I definitely recommend it! Our wine tour guide (Amy?) took us to the cellar where they do all of the barreling and aging.
We were able to taste 2 wines that won’t even be able to purchase until 2012. They were pretty delicious and had an almost a bubbly taste. Our guide said that was due to the fact they hadn’t been bottled yet.
We learned a lot about the actual process of wine making which was really interesting and fun since we’re definitely novices. This winery hand harvests their fruit and bottles everything on site.
After the cellar tour we took a horse drawn carriage around the property. The estate was originally an Arabian horse rehabilitation center. The pond below was used for water therapy before they added a hydro-therapy pool.
These are the Syrah grapes that are grown on the property. This winery boasts the 5th best Syrah in the world. We were lucky enough to have a taste. Delicious and I don’t even like red wine that much.
We definitely left the winery stocked up on wine and Matt’s parents even signed up for the monthly wine club.
We had a great time in Santa Ynez and will definitely be back. My favorite wine was the Reserve Viognier. It was so crisp and fresh. What’s your favorite kind of wine? Have you been wine tasting lately, where should we visit next?
Tags: bridlewood winery, california, Dashboard Diaries, Sand Bucket List, santa ynez
In to the Wild
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Dashboard Diaries, Happy Homemakers
We finally made it to the Wild Animal Park in San Diego for Mother’s Day. Our last attempt was rained out but this time the weather was perfect!
This place was so great! It was a lot different than a regular zoo. The animals are all grouped by their natural habitat and are allowed to roam around with other animals (with fences around the perimeter).
We loved seeing all of the animals interact with other species that are normally found in their natural habitat. Of course, they keep the predatory animals by themselves. No one wants to see a gazelle get mauled on the safari.
The best part of the day was while we were out at the African viewing spot and there was a stampede of animals. It seriously looked like the beginning of the Lion King.
THEN…the pack (herd?) of Rhinoceroses came right up to the viewing platform. It was so cool. I felt a little geeky about getting so excited but it was amazing.
This wasn’t taken with a zoom lens. So cool!
Here we are all geeked out over the African Outpost.
We then hopped on the African Tram Safari and got an up close and personal with the animals.
Moral of the story…we loved it and would happily visit again. Plus, we got to cross off one more thing from our Sand Bucket List. So tell us, how did you spend Mother’s Day? Have you ever been on safari, at the zoo or in the wild?
Tags: fun in the sun, San Diego Animal Park, Sand Bucket List, vacations
Start Your Engines
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Dashboard Diaries
Well, better late than never…Matt and I made it to the Long Beach Grand Prix a couple of weeks ago. We made the executive decision to take the Metro Blue Line from LA to Long Beach. It was definitely an experience! It was really nice to skip the traffic and the parking though. We met up with our friends at their place for drinks and fun. Then we headed over to watch the race.
It was SO loud but really fun! We didn’t really follow the race too closely. It was just nice to be out in the sun enjoying all of the action.
A picture of Matt and I from the top of the parking structure. The PERFECT race watching spot.
We grabbed after race drinks and snacks at the Congregation Ale House.
Then it was a quick walk back to the Metro and we were headed home! We’ll definitely be back and it’s a lot of fun, even for people who don’t follow racing closely. PLUS, you know what that means, we’ve crossed another to-do from our Sand Bucket List.
Has anyone gone to the Long Beach Grand Prix before? Maybe attended an event that wasn’t your favorite but ended up loving it anyway? Do tell!
second racing picture found here.
Tags: adventures on the road, Long Beach Grand Prix, Sand Bucket List
Ceiling Saga
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Before & After
Our little abode had its first brush with catastrophe. Our upstairs neighbor was happily loading and running his leaky dishwasher unaware our ceiling was slowly filling with his dirty dishwasher. It all came crashing in last weekend. Literally.
Moldy insulation, drywall and gallons of NASTY water all over the kitchen!
Our contractors, and I use that term very loosely, showed up 2 days after the initial wreckage and rigged up a temporary solution. They ripped out the rest of the ceiling and taped up a garbage bag. Yes, a garbage bag.
A day later a new set of “contractors” showed up to patch the ceiling. Here’s what it looked like. Excuse the brutal iPhone pictures, I was try to be sneaky while texting Matt, OMG…this is how they’re patching our ceiling!
Apparently, mud and drywall tape cover a lot of mistakes. They managed to get the ceiling patched up and painted. The next tenants will be none the wiser. I’m just glad that experience is over. Between all of the phone calls back and forth with the property manager, contractors and taking time off of work it would have been easier to just patch the ceiling ourselves! Ah, such is the renter’s life. So, have you had any unexpected projects crop up lately? Had to clean up someone else’s dirty dishwater?
Tags: apartment living, collapsed ceiling, dishwasher disaster
Ork if you love LA
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Random Musings, Steals and Deals
Matt is big in to maps. Loves them. When I asked if he wanted anything from the flea market he requested a globe. He could spend hours on Google Earth. Just for fun. It’s not my idea of a good time but different strokes for different folks I guess! Knowing that my main man loves maps I snagged this humongous typographic city map of Los Angeles from Ork Posters for Valentine’s Day. Yes, it took us a month to get this baby framed and on the wall.
I was originally looking for a Des Moines map but couldn’t find anything out there. So I pressed purchase and waited for my gift to arrive. Well wouldn’t you know, the fates had aligned and Ork Posters and Raygun (Greatest Store in the Universe) collaborated on Iowa posters. Cue the Whomp whomp sounds. After getting our poster in a frame ($25!) and on the wall we’re convinced that we love it enough to add a Des Moines print to the mix. Check out Andrea’s here.
Not only is our poster cheering up our bland hallway, it hides an ugly apartment secret. Our circuit box is smack dab in the middle of that wall. Hello, architects, NOT aesthetically pleasing. Bottom line, we love our Ork Poster. Have you snagged your neighborhood print yet? Or better yet, are there any other map enthusiasts out there?
Tags: apartment decorating, Los Angeles Art, Ork Poster, valentine's day
Organization Blitz
Posted by Brittney | Filed under Before & After
Since Spring has sprung in Santa Monica already (please don’t hate me Iowa people) I’ve had the itch to declutter and organize our place. Since our space is small it’s been even more important to keep the clutter to a minimum. I’m usually pretty tidy and I’m a tosser. Matt is definitely a saver. But alas, I realized some of my junk was piling up. The worst offenders- magazines and recipes I find via blogs and other sites. I have 3 magazine subscriptions and I get countless catalogs each month. I tackled the magazine pile first since I already had a semi-system in place. I say semi-system because I don’t really keep it up as much as I should. Luckily, Ashley had just posted the perfect motivator for me to keep up with my catalog clutter.
So here’s how it all went down…I grabbed my magazine stack and pulled out all of the inspiration pictures or articles I loved and I recycled the rest of the magazine. Please forgive me, in my zeal I forgot to take a picture of my ridiculous stack of magazines. Bad blogger.
[ INSERT PICTURE OF ME RUTHLESSLY EDITING MY HOME MAGAZINE IDEAS AND CATALOG INSPIRATION]
After I had my keep stack I just threw them into plastic sheet covers and into my “house ideas” binder. I printed off Ashley’s cute cover design and that was that.
Just to add another level of crazy OCD, I added categories. They are: Living Room, Kitchen, Dining Room, Bedrooms, Accents and Outdoors. I used my trusty label maker and I was done with that project.
Since that took me less than an hour and I was all hopped up on organization juice I decided to put all of my recipes that I had either printed from the internet or torn out of magazines into a binder. Luckily, I remembered to take a picture of that hot mess. You’re welcome.
I went through all of the recipes and sorted out the duds and organized them into easily searched categories: Appetizers, Desserts, Breakfast/Breads, Chicken, Beef/Pork, Pasta and Seafood.
I found a lovely Recipe binder cover via Prudent Baby. I printed that out, put the recipes into plastic sleeves and went to work printing my category labels. Easy peasy.
I love these dividers for this binder. They have little pockets in the front. So when I find a recipe we want to try I’ll put it in the appropriate category pocket. If it’s a winner, it gets put into a plastic sleeve, if it’s a dud, I’ll toss it out. Hopefully that will keep the recipes from getting out of control again.
Looks great next to all of my other favorite cookbooks!
But, wait! There’s more to organize! I was looking at our 4 baskets (yes 4!) of DVDs and thought, there’s a binder for that! I may need a binder intervention.
I bought a DVD binder from the Container Store. LOVE that place, by the way. I took all of the discs out of their cases and put them in the sleeves. Easy as that. Well, actually first I had to endure the ruthless commentary from Matt based on my collection of DVDs that starred Ben Affleck or Matthew McConaughey.
Finally all of my errant collections were happily placed in their new happy binder homes. Tell me I’m not alone in my organization bliss. What’s have you categorized or labeled lately?
Tags: apartment living, DVD organization, magazine binder, Organizing, recipe binder
