In a Dream

Playing with polyvore today- made a set using all things Ruche from their summer lookbook- isn't this look dreamy?

In a Dream by Marshmallow Dreams featuring hair bands accessories

Dress
$45 - shopruche.com

Flat shoes
$59 - shopruche.com

Summer tote bag
$40 - shopruche.com

Ring
$14 - shopruche.com

Carved jewelry
$13 - shopruche.com

Hair bands accessory
$28 - shopruche.com

Elastic belt

$15 - shopruche.com

Foto Friday

Happy Friday everyone! Can anyone guess where this photo is taken? ....anyone...??

Hooray for warmer, sunnier days heading our way next week...have a great weekend!

Tea Time Talks Polka Dot

(also comes in navy)

Okay so remember my last post where I said that I was trying to be good and cut back on shopping? Well, I wrote that post last week but this week I gave in! I just couldn't resist Ruche's tea time talks polka dot dress anymore- it's such a simple, pretty dress that can be dressed up or down, and styled in so many different ways....so it's worth the $59 right? Right!! And even better, I didn't even have to wait for shipping and picked up my dress directly from their office in Fullerton- score!

I wore this dress the first day I got it- I kept the styling minimal and what I love about this dress is that I still felt "dressed up" without being over-dressed....know what I mean?

I love this dress so much I wore it again 2 days later, this time adding a floral touch (btw, the dress is even cuter in person- there's adorable little white polka dots all over that the camera didn't pick up).

I searched my closet for other ways to style this dress and here are a few looks I came up with...


This look is dressy, especially with the gorgeous glitter shoes and clutch!



I'm planning on wearing this look to a garden bridal shower (gorgeous robin's-egg-blue shoes here).




 This simple look gets a pop of color with red shoes plus red lips and nails



Now that I've styled this dress in so many ways, I feel less guilty about spending the $59- come to think of it, I think it was a very good bang for my buck!

Can you see this dress on you? Do you have a dress that you love to style in different ways?

Eek! gorgeous clothes on Ruche!

So just when I decided I need to be good and stop shopping so much, Ruche came out with their summer lookbook- I just love everything they sell! I mean, everything- so vintage, girly, and affordable. I'm going to stay strong though and try to be good...sigh.....

But for those of you that can and want to shop, take a look at their summer lookbook.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces that will be perfect for this spring and summer:


If I were to buy something, it would be this one- click here



So so pretty in a gorgeous neutral color- click here



This would be pretty dressed up or down- click here



I can see this styled so many ways- click here

 

So girly and vintage- but sold out :(

 

I might just have to buy this one- click here

How gorgeous is this top? Click here



Just adorable- click here

 

I would use this..like everyday! Click here.



So so vintage- click here

I want! Click here


Is there anything you like? Comment on your favorite pieces...or are you gonna try to stay strong and cut down on shopping? If so, I'm sure this post didn't help- so very sorry.

Embossing Fun

Ever since I was a kid, I always loved going to the craft store- I could spend hours wandering the aisles. I love DIY crafts, especially with paper products, and I never throw away the bits of scrap paper left over because they are just too cute to throw out! So over the years, I've collected a bin of leftover paper and I finally decided to do something with them-  so I got out my embossing tools to make some cute cards! It was really easy and simple, and each card only took a couple of minutes to make.

My bin of scrap paper

Items you need:

1) Stock/scrapbook paper

2) Embossing heat tool

3) Embossing powder

4) Stamps and stamp pad

5) Optional: ribbon/embellishments

You can find all these products at your local crafts store 

Steps:

1) Ink your stamp and stamp the image on your paper

2) Pour some embossing powder onto the image while it is still wet

3) Tap the excess powder off (put it back into the bottle to use again)

4) Heat until the powder melts and becomes shiny (usually takes 10-15 seconds)

I made thank you cards, congratulation cards, I love you cards, thing of you cards, etc! I guess I won't be needing to buy cards for awhile. Do you like to do arts and crafts? If you do, you probably have lots of scrap paper saved up too. Well, now you can finally use them up!

DIY Vanilla Extract

As you probably already know, I LOVE to bake. I probably bake weekly, sometimes twice a week. I love trying all different dessert recipes but there's one ingredient that probably goes into almost everything I bake- vanilla extract. So it's no surprise I go through this ingredient like no tomorrow but I hate when I'm down to my last drop because this key ingredient is not cheap! In fact, it's probably one of the most expensive ingredient I use when baking. So that's why I decided to make my very own vanilla extract!

My friend Linda makes her own all the time and told me how very simple it is. She gave me a bag of vanilla beans to get started...the only other ingredient I needed was some vodka- which was not hard to find. In fact, I searched our freezer and sure enough, I found an unopened bottle (shhh, don't tell the hubby I used the whole bottle on making vanilla extract!).

What you'll need:

1) Vanilla beans (grade B)- Linda says you can find whole bags on eBay for a good deal

2) Vodka 

3) A dark empty bottle with a tight seal (I used a dark green wine bottle)

4) A sharp knife to cut the beans

5) Optional: a blunted knife to scrape the goo (caviar) out

Steps:
1) Use the sharp knife to cut a slit lenghtwise down the middle
2) Optional: with a blunted knife scrape the vanilla beans out and make a pile on your cutting board
3) Optional: cut the vanilla beans in smaller pieces

4) Put the vanilla beans and caviar into the empty bottle
5) Fill with vodka and seal tight
6) shake, shake, shake!

7) Store bottle in a cool, dark place (I put mine in the kitchen cupboard)
8) Shake the bottle once a week for the first month, then every few weeks after that
9) The best part- you can use the vanilla and continue adding vodka

The extract can be used after 4 weeks but the 6-8 months will be better..... perfect for Christmas gifts if you start now! If you want to gift the extract, just get little bottles, a funnel, and some cute ribbon and labels!

Check out this site for cute details on how to gift these

For some serious detailed instructions on making vanilla extract, click here.

Anyone thinking about making this for yourself? Or for giving away as gifts? Well, don't be surprised if you get these from me for Christmas!

Pasadena Night Lights

For some reason I've been a little intimidated of night photography. While I love looking at nighttime photos of light streaks, star trails, and especially the city lights of Los Angeles, I've been a little afraid of trying it myself. Here are a few reasons why:

1) First of all, I'm a little scared about venturing out at night alone...especially since I won't be paying much attention to my surroundings (besides what in my camera's viewfinder) and I think I'd be too preoccupied with my camera to notice if someone snuck up being me or tried to attack me. I'm a wimp. 

2) Tri-pods intimidate me. They look all complicated and the only one I've ever used is this crappy one that I bought from Best Buy for $30 bucks, and even that one was hard to use. Plus, when I see other photographers using a tri-pod, they intimidate me too- especially when they're snapping away with this awesome pro camera while I'm having a hard time mounting my Nikon D60. Also, I'm a little clumsy.

3) When I try to photograph cars driving by, I feel like the drivers are starring at me saying, "hey, why are you photographing me, stop that!" I don't think they realize that I just want to capture their "light streak" and not their actual face or license plate...well at least that's what I'm imagining but they could very well not even notice me standing there.

4) Lastly, I would love to photograph the Los Angeles lights, sunsets, and traffic but have no idea where to go for this. I've seen photographs online but I have no clue where these people are taking the photos from. If someone could come up with a list of places with the address that I can GPS, that would be great. Because I get lost easily.

SO ANYWAYS, last weekend when the hubby was away (in Vegas for a boys only trip!) I decided I was going to do something new- and I finally gave this nighttime thing a shot. I headed to the Pasadena bridge, where we usually watch fireworks from, and I was surprised at how easy it was! It took me a little while to set up my tri-pod but once it was up, it wasn't all that bad. There were also 2 other small groups of photographers there so I wasn't afraid of being attacked, and they were super friendly and not intimidating at all. 

Here are a few photos I took from the Pasadena Bridge:

Pretty huh? I need to work on my composition and technique but overall I was happy with my first night time photography attempt. I will for sure do this again- maybe next time on a weekday so I can get more of the traffic streaks (there weren't too many cars driving by on a weekend night). And my awesome hubby said he'll go with me and even photograph some himself. Perfect!

Have you tried something that you were a little intimidated of and found out that it wasn't all that bad?