Spending Time with Heifetz

I've been spending a lot of time with the great violinist Jascha Heifetz this week (that is, of course, figurative as he died in 1987). I've made a decision to do everthing it takes this year to become the best violinist I can be, so Heifetz is the one to go to if I want to feel completely terrible about my playing yet motivated at the same time. :D He was so good. Perfect even. I've been very motivated by watching his master classes on You Tube (I pretend he is my teacher and I have to have my pieces ready for him at my next lesson).

I picked a short piece for those of you who don't have a long attention span for classical music. :D

I plan to put some of my playing up here on my blog as I get my stuff learned and polished. 

Inspiring Pictures November Week 3

I love anime art! Here are a couple of girls who took it to the next level...

I'm seriously considering getting a pink wig for fun nights out... 

Beautiful don't you think?

A Peak at Some Holiday Decor

Well, I think everyone might as well start putting up their Christmas decorations. You put in all that work and Christmas comes and goes so quickly, so I decided to decorate earlier this year.

This is the kind of decorating I like...

I personally like the winter wonderland type of thing more than the Santa decor.

Here's the very first Christmas decor that's gone up in my place (it's the small blocks down at the bottom)...

Mom painted these blocks to spell different holiday words on all sides. For Halloween I had them turned to, "BOO!" Such a good idea!

I'll take some pictures of my Christmas decorating when I do it this weekend.

Happy Birthday to Me! :D

Last Friday was my 25th birthday. I've anticipated this one since I was little since it was the "11/11/11" birthday. I can't believe it already came and went! 

Henry had told me months ago that he wanted to take me away for my birthday weekend. He said he was taking me to some place called "Laughlin" in Nevada, and I didn't bother to check the geography, so when he mentioned that he wanted to stop in St. George, Utah for lunch, I didn't think much of it (St. George is a place my family frequently visits since Grandma and Grandpa have a house there. We love eating at the Pizza Factory when we go, so it didn't make me suspicious that Henry wanted to stop and eat there). At one part, I did start thinking, "Oo maybe Henry will surprise me and have my family meet us there," but at that moment, mom texted me with a picture from work saying, "Here's what it looks like here at work. Send me a picture of where you are!" Tricky mom...

Anyways, we arrived at the Pizza Factory and asked for a table upstairs (at the time I wasn't sure why Henry wanted to sit upstairs), and lo and behold my family was there with birthday balloons! I almost started crying, because it's been months since I've seen them, and I was just so touched that everyone cared about me enough to drive 5 hours to meet us for my birthday! Thanks guys.

Here are some pics from outside the Pizza Factory...

My sisters and I had fun with this little phone booth. (Kryssie, Me, Paige)

Paige ("Pooch")

Kryssie

Hayden and his twin

We went thrift store shopping pretty much the rest of the day (my favorite). Here's one thing I bought...

A pastel blue swan pitcher. I think it's beautiful...

Friday evening we got to eat some of Grandma's pumpkin pie, which I have severely missed being away from home for seven years now. Thanks for making it for my birthday G-Ma! We also went out for some Japanese food for dinner.

At 11:11pm on 11/11/11 I wanted to do something memorable to end my long-anticipated birthday. I decided to write some birthday wishes on a balloon and let it go right at 11:11. Sadly, I accidentally erased the video of me letting it go, but here is a picture of my birthday wish balloon...

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Mom and I went for a walk Saturday morning. We took some nice desert pictures and just spent time together! I really miss being able to do that whenever. Here are some of the pics we took...

This is the dress I bought vintage shopping with Henry earlier in the week (also the gray lace top in the first picture of this post). 

Love the contrasting reds versus pale greens in these two

The desert really does make for some neat pictures!

After our walk, we found out that there was a flea market going on in the neighborhood! We made it just before everyone started packing their things up, and as dad would say, "I made a killing!" (It means I got a lot of good stuff.)

After lunch on Saturday, we did a bit of a walk down memory lane. Grammie used to live in St. George right down the street from a place we called "The Indian Rock." The rock has Native American petroglyphs etched into it! When we were little, my siblings and I used to walk over and play there when our family took a trip to visit Grammie. So many memories...

Mom, Dad, Danny, Paige, Kryssie, Me (We're just missing Danny who had to stay in Salt Lake for school and work.)

The sisters. 

We have a picture like this when we were all little. We need to display them side by side!

Henry and me

I don't know who took this pic with my camera, but I like it!

Classic Kryssie glaring at Paige. 

Kryssie doing a crazy pose. 

The rest of our Saturday consisted of the Utah vs. UCLA game, BBQ take-out, and hilarious rounds of the game "Mafia." Thanks so much family for making the trip! Love you and miss you all so much.

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On our drive back to LA, Henry and I had a good talk about life. Even if I resist him at times, I'm glad he's always pushing me to become a better person. Henry really believes that people can accomplish ANYTHING they decide to accomplish, and I'm starting to understand what he means and believe it myself. Thanks baby for a wonderful birthday weekend and for being such an amazing example to me. Love ya.

Fashion Inspiration November Week 3

As usual, I've collected some fashion pics that I love this week! Hope they inspire you too.

I love the "boy clothes" style. 

Definitely have to try this braid, but don't think I can do it on myself. Anyone wanna be my guinea pig?

I actually had this idea to wear a scarf behind my braid today, then I saw this pic! Cool.

My outfit today, not that you can see it real well (it's hard to take pictures of yourself by yourself :D ).

Gorgeous... So fairyesque!

Guilt-Free Bread

I had to post this recipe I tried today because I'm so excited about it! It's a recipe for almond-flour bread! I love bread, and I can get feeling a bit guilty about eating too much of it. Ya know, carbs and too much gluten/wheat isn't real good for you. Well this bread is gluten and guilt free! It also doesn't have very many carbs and is packed full of protein and other nutrients.

Here's a link to the recipe. I used honey instead of Splenda. 

It's a bit dense, so I'm going to try making some banana bread with almond flour to get a moister version. I think I want to try making breads out of other healthy, guilt-free things too. Maybe oatmeal bread? I don't know I there's such thing, but I like learning and experimenting.  

Inspiring Pictures November Week 1

Here's me weekly collection of inspiring pics...

Love these little bra tops. I've been wanting to try and make some that go straight across at the neckline so I can wear them under lower-cut shirts. Plus, look how cute they look all hanging in a row! 

Wildflowers from my friend Debra's house.

Teapots!!! I love tea sets... I'm starting to collect mismatching plates to hang on my wall.

FollowUp on My Homemade Essential Oils

I told you I would let you know how my homemade essential oils turned out. I burned my first batch the other day, and I'm happy to say I could smell it in the room! It wasn't as strong as I'd hoped for, but I'll keep learning and experimenting. I burned mostly orange oil with a bit of clove in my oil burner thing. I can't find the glass dish that goes with the base, so I used this little plate instead. Maybe the aroma would be stronger if I used the right dish... 

I need to research more about making oils so I know I'm storing them right and everything, but I'm really enjoying making them! My cat apparently likes them too, as I caught her liking the oil out of the dish. Weirdo. 

Lemons! Who knew?

I'm SOOO happy I have a lemon tree in my yard! I've been using lemons for cosmetic purposes a ton lately. Here are two super easy recipes to get you skin and hair looking lovely! 

Ok the first recipe is for a skin-lightening face mask. It evened out my skin tone and dried up some zits of mine that otherwise would probably have been there for weeks. It does actually lighten your skin a bit too, so if you're trying to have a tan, even though I've never really understood why people feel like they need to have a suntan in winter, it might not be what you're looking for.

1 egg (whites only)

Juice of 1 lemon

Mix it together, rub it on your face, leave it on for 15 minutes or so, wash off with warm water, and store the remaining in the fridge for a few days. 

The second recipe is so so easy, and it's really only for blondes. I've heard this all my life, but finally tried it: lemon juice will give you natural highlights. It seriously worked after just one rinse and didn't turn my hair orange like that "Sun-In" stuff! I've tried it two different ways...

1. Mix 1-2 tablespoons in a gallon of warm water. Pour it on your head in the shower after washing your hair. Don't rinse and style like normal. 

2. Mix 1 part fresh lemon juice to 4 parts water in a spray bottle. Spray on your hair every day. 

For all you non-blondes, here's a link to some natural hair-color recipes.

Fashion Inspiration November Week 1

Here are a couple fashion-related pics I've loved and collected this week...

Funky hair color mixed with vintage. Love it!

I'm seeing hints of fancy collars these days. Whether it's an actual collared shirt with a decorative collar, or these necklaces that look like collars, I'm liking! I think I'll try making some out of fabric then decorating them with something I find in my craft drawers. I'll let you know how they turn out! 

Also, I regret not taking a picture of this, but I pinned one of the fancy little bows I made and posted weeks ago to my collar like a bow tie. I thought it turned out really cute, so you should try it out.  :D

Early Birthday Fun

Henry took me out vintage shopping for an early birthday present today! He's always so thoughtful. I had some fun taking pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Nice Henry!

I loved this scene.

I'm so excited about the new glasses he bought me!

I bought two other things, but I'll put up pictures next week after I come up with cute outfits for them.

After shopping, we went to our favorite place to eat called "Thai in LA." I always get the yellow curry and he always gets the Pad Thai.

Thanks baby!

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On Monday, we had our every-other-weekly Armenian Group "Family Home Evening" (FHE). Henry and I are part of the "Armenian-Speaking Group" in our church. No, Henry is not Armenian, he's Arabic, but nonetheless he was called to be a part of the group. We've grown to really love the Armenian people, and we've seen many miracles as the work moves forward! Anyways, this week at FHE they celebrated Antonia, Elder Morrel, and my birthdays. It was also the year anniversary of the formation of the group!

Antonia, me, and Elder Morrel being sung to. 

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An "incantation" that I've been saying to myself for the past two days that has really helped and empowered me is... "I choose my life, and I'm choosing to enjoy it!"

Do you ever feel like your life controls you instead of you controlling it? I realized again this week that I don't have to let my "to do's" rule my life, I don't have to settle for anything less than the life I dream about, I have the power to change things right now if I don't like how they're going!

Music of the Week: Muse

I seem to go through phases each week of what I'm really into listening to while I clean and get ready. I've recently been really into listening to Muse. They're so out of this world! I imagine their concerts are unreal. Take a listen to one of their most popular songs called "Uprising"...

"Lady Fire" and "Sabriel"

One thing that I've started doing and really enjoying is every time I finish a good book, I draw or paint a picture of one of the characters. It's a fun way to remember the books I read, and it gives me a sort of outlet for my imaginations about the book. I've only done two so far...

"Lady Fire" from Fire by Kristin Cashore

"Sabriel" from Sabriel by Garth Nix (Yes, I was completely influenced by the painting I posted earlier this evening.)

There will be more to come since I'm almost finished with the sequel to Sabriel! 

D.I.Y. Essential Oils

This week I got in to making my own essential oils. Essential oils can be used as fragrances (either burned in a glass dish over a candle, or I think in a bottle with those reed things). They can also be used in cooking, cosmetics, and other homemade concoctions. I started making some since a recipe I found for natural spider repellent called for orange oil. 

Basically what you do is fill a little jar maybe 1/4 the way full with the spice, herb, flower, etc. you are trying to make oil out of. I think it's best if you mash your ingredient a bit. Then, fill the rest with oil (use olive oil if using for cooking, almond oil if using for cosmetics, or canola if using for general purposes). Screw the lid on tight and label. Place the jars in the sun for a couple weeks or for faster results, place the jars in a saucepan of water and boil for a while. 

I tried basil oil, clove oil, orange oil, and cinnamon oil. I found a site for making your own fragrances, and one of the fall recipes called for orange, cinnamon, and clove. 

When you're ready to use the oils, you're supposed to strain the contents using cheese cloth (I'm planning on just using a tiny strainer I have), and save just the oil in a dark place. I haven't gotten to this point yet since I'm going to let it sit for a while longer. I'll let you know how my fall fragrance turns out!

PS- I think it's funny how I've always had this crazy obsession with small glass jars and bottles. Good thing I've had a hard time throwing them out! I'm going to need a bunch if I keep this up. 

Art Inspiration

I ran across these pictures on the internet this week, and absolutely love the style. I wish there was a name for this style so I could search for more like these...

I loved this one so much, I even tried one of my own in this style (I'll post it on in my "Arts and Crafts" tab). 

Take Time to Dream

Hi everyone! I've decided to dedicate Wednesday evenings after I finish teaching to blog posting instead of trying to do it multiple times throughout the week. I'll collect my ideas and pictures during the week, then it will be more like a weekly news letter from the Little Red House! 

Last Wednesday was my friend Liz's annual "Witches Tea Party." I think it's such a cute idea, and I always have such a good time! My favorite is the pumpkin soup... Another thing I really like this year was the cheese and crackers with the cheese cut out in little pumpkin and moon shapes (she used tiny cookie cutters). Such a cute idea! 

Liz bought these Halloween drink labels and put them on over the regular labels.

Two of my favorite little girls. The one on the right is my violin student. 

Speaking of violin students. I held my first studio recital since being on my own teaching! I only had two students perform plus two guest pianists and myself, so it was a short one, but my studio is growing and I'll soon have enough to fill an hour-long recital. The kids did great, and I can tell that performing made them feel really proud of themselves and excited about the violin. Those are my main reasons for teaching!

 One of the moms had this banner made and gave it to me! Looks like we'll have to keep this a tradition. 

Me in my rag doll costume.

Lilli playing Allegro

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I've really been working hard at progressing each day towards the life I dream about. I've set goals which involve my violin performing and teaching, financial goals, and a goal to have the Little Red House completely unpacked, decorated, and set by December 1st. Every morning, I think about all the things I'm grateful for and then I picture myself with my dream life. It really helps me feel excited about the day. It also makes it easier to work at my goals since I have the end result in the front of my mind. Here's a picture that always pops into my head when I'm doing my dreaming...

The land, the flowers, the girl's beautiful, healthy procelain skin... I love the simplicity and calm!

Anyways, I'm a huge believer in taking time in the morning to read scriptures and other inspiring books, ponder about how to make myself and my life better today than it was yesterday, and to DREAM! 

One more quick thought here on my journaling post... I was so inspired by this quote I read in Daughters in My Kingdom, a book my church came out with this year about the history of our women's organization:

"The Holy Ghost satisfies and fills up every longing of the human heart, and fills up every vacuum. When I am filled with that Spirit, my soul is satisfied, and I can say in good earnest, that the trifling things of the day do not seem to stand in my way at all. But let me lose my hold of that spirit and power of the Gospel, and partake of the spirit of the world, in the slightest degree and trouble comes...You cannot impart comfort to me that will satisfy the immortal mind, but that which comes from the Fountain above. And is it not our privilege to so live that we can have this constantly flowing into our souls?" -Eliza R. Snow  

So even though I'm always dreaming of the life I want, I don't have to feel a terrible longing for it. The Holy Spirit helps me feel satisfied and fulfilled all along the way there.