Braid, Braid, and Another Braid!

I'm not loving the length and style of my hair right now, so my solution this week has been braiding it all up. I've had to get a bit creative so as not to do the same thing each day. Here's what I've come up with so far this week...

MONDAY

A braid across the forehead with the rest pulled into a bun in back. There's a tutorial here on Free People's blog on how to do this type of braid. 

TUESDAY

 A french braid starting from one ear to the other. Finish the braid and rubberband, then pin the hanging part around the bottom of your head continuing up the the other side until you finish pinning the whole thing. (PS-Sorry for the serious look. I meant to take a pic of the back only using the timer on my camera, but I turned around just as it was taking the picture!)

Here's from a different angle. 

TODAY

Kind of a mix between Monday's and Tuesday's. I pinned a little side bun with the hanging braid.

I've kind of run out of ideas, but we'll see what I come up with tomorrow! If it's any good, I'll post. 

Free People Video (September Catalog)

I love this video from Free People. It's so inspiring to me.

Free People - September 11 catalog from FreePeople on Vimeo.

Make Your Own Almond Milk

Henry and I drink almond milk instead of regular milk. I don't have anything against regular milk, but we've just always had almond milk ever since we started dating. We would eat cereal with vanilla almond milk as a late night snack every night we were together! Fond memories...

Anyways, almond milk is fairly expensive when you're buying multiple cartons per week, so I tried making my own using this recipe. 

Turned out good! I'll have to tweak the recipe a bit until I come up with the perfect batch, but it's definitely cheaper buying a bag of almonds instead of cartons of almond milk! Plus, I just like to make things. :D

D.I.Y. Jewelery Hanger

Yesterday I browsed jewelery holder ideas. Here are two of favorites...

I love the idea on the right so much that...

 I made one for me!

I used a picture frame that I had painted a light aqua blue then sanded to make it look vintage. I took out the glass, then nailed sticks across the back. I had previously nailed a bunch of little nails into the sticks to hang the necklaces on it. Wallah! 

My Two Styles

I have two main fashion styles that I love, and sometimes they seem to really contradict each other. One, I like to call my "Rag-Doll Style," shows my cutesy, girly side. The other is

 a Bohemian, rugged, earthy kind of look that makes me feel edgy and more mature. Both of my styles call for vintage stuff, and both make me feel creative! 

Here are some Rag Doll examples...

Leggings, socks, mismatching patterns, you get the idea.

Look! A hair bow! No really, I made my hair into a bow. Got the idea from A Beautiful Mess blog. 

I love love love bobby socks!

Now to the other style (I need to think of a name for this side of my personality). Here are some examples...

I need to find out where this picture was taken and live there.

Some of these are kind of Rag-Dolly. Yay! My two styles can work together!

Love this Free People model. She always looks like she's having a good time. 

Me in my first really fall outfit of the year! I was roasting when I actually went outside though... 

Beach and Birthdays

October's been a month full of friends! Our good friends James and Stacey came into town for a few days, so we had to get "Soul-Jah" (Henry's old singing group which included James, Mauli, and Qis) together for a beach day!

The Soul-Jah Wives!

Stacey, Chantel, Me

The boys are very competitive (Henry and James versus Mauli and Qis). Henry and James won! 

Stacey, Chantel, and me again.

For my brother-in-law Josh's birthday, we went Go Karting! I let Henry drive, because I knew I'd be too slow and careful. 

We had Josh and Noura over for dinner for Josh's birthday present. I made Chicken Parmigiano, spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce (I'll put up the recipe in another post), spinach salad with a maple-mustard dressing, and homemade breadsticks. For dessert we had that really simple, delicious sorbet that I posted a while back. Happy Birthday brother!

 Look who else had a birthday...

Happy Birthday Chantel!

Go for a Walk!

I've been going on walks every morning. Sometimes just around the block real quick to get my day started with fresh air and movement. Other days when I'm not in much of a hurry, I take my camera and wander aimlessly. Here are some pictures I took from last Saturday's aimless wandering...

I don't know why, but I really love moss.

I love the morning sun seeping down through the trees!

We have lots of stray cats in our neighborhood. From what I've heard from our old neighbor, the majority could actually be my Gracie's kittens that she had before we adopted her...

My favorite part of this scene is actually the paint-chipped brick at the bottom.

I like this car.

Bougainvillea, my favorite!

I see you white cat!

This is my favorite of the pictures I took!

Anyway, go walk and explore sometime! You'll be amazed all the inspiring things you can find right in your own neighborhood. 

The Many Uses for Vinegar

I just finished cleaning my house and had to post real quick about how awesome plain old white vinegar is! I use it in my homemade multi-surface cleaner, as fabric softener when I do laundry, as a natural ant repellent, and I just tried it as a floor cleaner and loved it! As you can tell from a lot of my posts, I love things that are natural, home-made, and super cost-efficient. Check out this link for more uses for vinegar.

  

Little Hair Bows!

I wanted to make a birthday present for my good friend Chantel, and I remembered her really liking some little hair bows from Forever 21. I looked up how to make them (A Beautiful Mess blog had a tutorial). Here are some of the bows I made...

The ribbon ones are fun. You wrap the ribbon around your hand a few times then follow the same instructions from the tutorial. I decided to sew on buttons instead of a ring of fabric.

Thanks for modeling Gracie!

I wore one in my hair on Sunday and really liked how it looked. Shoulda taken a picture... I think the white ribbon ones would be cute clipped on a collared shirt like a bow tie! 

No More Procrastinating!

I've stopped procrastinating finishing the unpacking and decorating in our little red house. Here's what I came up with for the living room...

My goal is to have this room feel like an old-fashioned cozy study. I want to paint the walls a dusty-rose color and get an area rug. I'm going to collect old books with the pretty covers to stack around the room. I'll keep a load of interesting library books to read and use for decor. 

I remembered my favorite Urban Outfitters catalog from fall last year and had to search for some of the pictures. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a lot of my favorites, but I like these ones. I think I'll do the bedroom kind of like these...