Gettin' Quirky at Target

It's pronounced tar-get. You knew that right? On my weekly (yes, weekly) trip to Target last week I happened to come across some unique finds in the home section. Apparently Target is trying to jump on the hipster train too with all sort of quirky knickknacks. I was kind of loving it and probably spent a good twenty minutes checking out every little thing they had. For instance, who doesn't need a Buddha Butter dish?

Or a Solar Queen (there's a solar panel on her purse that makes her wave!)

What about a gorilla piggy bank? Is it weird to anyone else that it's still called a "piggy" bank even when it's another animal?

For those of you that don't know me that well, I have a small collection of Salt + Pepper shakers (some from my grandmother that she used to collect too). So naturally, I was all over these salt + pepper shakers. Salt & Pants. It says: The most fun you can have with your pants on. Yep. 

Salt + Magic. These were particularly awesome. 

Then there's the classic Chihuahua with hipster glasses.

Welcome to the mustache section. 

I liked this little guy. He just wants a cookie.

Can't forget the irony.

And my personal favorite, the ninja-bread-men cookie cutters. I totally should have snagged these up, but there were around $10 and I was being a cheap-o. Aren't these sweet though? 

They had a ton of other stuff too. It was pretty entertaining. I didn't end up getting anything since there was nothing that I couldn't live without, even though I am still thinking about those cookie cutters (they're cut out for action!) 

Do you ever find anything unexpected and quirky at your favorite stores? It was a nice little surprise for me! Oh, and if you need even more quirkiness, check out the Queen of Quirky, Zooey Deschanel on SNL. 

Summer is Here!

True to form, Seattle summer is finally here. I don't think I've ever heard it as much as I have this year - "Seattle summer doesn't start until after the 4th of July." Like clockwork, the sun showed up (even on the 4th!) and for the next week at least we will have sunshine (I may have even taken today off to enjoy it:)! 

Our 4th was pretty low key this year, which was fine with me since it was in the middle of the week. We hung out with two of my sister-in-laws and ate a lot, played games, watched the fireworks on the telly (yeah, we're hard core like that - ha!). But seriously, if you've never seen the fireworks in person at Gasworks Park in Seattle, shame on you. Next year you should definitely plan on going. They have the best music (an awesome mix of the good oldies, modern and classics), best fireworks (synchronized to the music) and best location (a view of the water with the Seattle skyline in the background). Zach and I have only been once, the year before we got married and loved it. It was amazing, so I highly recommend it (now you just have to wait a year...)!

Have you heard about the Seattle's new Great Wheel? I am so excited for this! We are planning on going tomorrow to try it out. Tickets are a little pricey at $13 each, but I don't care. I want to go! Ever since we went to London and didn't go on the London Eye, I think I have wanted to go on a Ferris Wheel to make up for it. Of course I'll share with you next week how it is!

Other than that, we'll probably do some yard work (still have to get used to this living in a house thing), take BBoy on lots of nice long walks in the sun (with sunscreen of course), and just relax since Z just finished his first full week of rotations(!). I'm so happy the sun is finally here! I don't think I realized how much I've missed it from Arizona until recently, because summers in Seattle really are the best. 

What are you up to this weekend? Going out on the boat? Laying out in the sun? Whatever it is, I hope you can enjoy this beautiful weather! Have a great weekend!

Photo source

DIY Chalkboard Planters

Is anyone else in shock that 2012 is half over already?! Hello, July! I just hope it starts to feel like summer up in here. C'mon Seattle! Get with it. The rest of the country has already!

Well, I finally got with it and hopped on the chalkboard paint bandwagon. Took me long enough, but I'm really diggin' it. I needed a cute solution for one of my little succulents. So I picked up a little planter and some Martha Stewart chalkboard paint at Michael's and got to work. I opted for the paint instead of spray paint because well, they were all out of the spray paint at the store. Next time maybe I'll try out the spray paint and let you know how it compares.

Three coats did the trick using a regular paint brush with even strokes.

I let it cure for at least a day before I tried any chalk. But when I did, I was pleasantly surprised! It worked really well writing with the chalk and then just wiping it off with a kleenex. So I had a little fun with it (as you should with chalk!).

This would be such a fun way to give a housewarming gift, thank you gift, bridesmaid gift, anniversary gift, or a just because gift. The possibilities are endless!

Here's a cost breakdown:
Planter - 89¢
Succulent - about $2.50
Chalk - about $1
Chalkboard paint - $8(!) Yeah, this was a little expensive, but it will last me a long time and I can use it for other projects too!
Total Cost - $4-5 (approximately)

What would you write? What other weird (or normal!) things have you painted (or spray painted) with chalkboard paint? I have another chalkboard project coming up soon, too!

50 Things (Not 50 Shades...) Gift Idea

As promised, I want to share with you more about the gift we got Zach's mom for her 50th birthday. But first, a little bit about our other weekend shenanigans.

Friday we celebrated our 4th anniversary(!) with dinner at Purple (yes, I most definitely devoured the lobster mac n' cheese) and then Les Mis at the 5th Avenue. A funny thing happened on the way to the show though... we forgot our tickets! Yeah. This almost never happens to me (Zach is a different story  though:) and I was pretty mad! Luckily, we had dinner reservations pretty early (5:30) since that's all that was available for us procrastinators and we had just enough time to drive home to Renton (from Seattle) and back again with about ten minutes before the show started! Phew. 

What did I think of Les Mis, you might ask? Well, I thought it was really good. Zach loved it and thought it was amazing. The music is amazing (some of the best voices I've ever heard!) and the set design was fantastic. The big turn off for me was that I knew nothing about the storyline before we saw it and I got a little lost/confused throughout the show. It jumps ahead a few years (a couple times) and there are so many complexities of the story, that is was hard for me to follow. I think if I would have read the book before hand (like Zach) or watched the movie it would have helped and I would have enjoyed it a lot more. But, that being said, I still thought is was really good! 

Saturday we headed over to Poulsbo to celebrate Renee's 50th birthday. We had a lot of fun with close friends and the whole Kane clan (first time all together since Christmas!). Lots and lots of laughs and food and good times were had.

And now on to the super sweet present we got her. I had this idea months ago with the original inspiration via Pinterest from Nothing But Bonfires. I loved the idea of 50 Things We Love About You on Your 50th Birthday. Originally I thought I could just put each thing on a piece of paper and then put the 50 pieces of paper in a mason jar, but my sister-in-law Katelyn suggested that I put it into a book. It turned out being even better than I thought because we got to put in photos of Renee and the family along with our "50 Things." I had a lot of fun gathering all the "things" from all the family members and putting it together. Such a fun way to honor someone on their birthday. 

Here's some shots of how the book turned out. I used Shutterfly and really liked how I was able to put it together more like traditional scrapbooking with embellishments, stickers, etc.

Renee loved the book - it was a big hit! Happy 50th Birthday Renee!

Have you made any photo books recently? Do you make one every year or are you a few years little behind like me? Do you use Shutterfly, iPhoto, MyPublisher? What's your favorite?

Have a Happy Happy Weekend!

First off, welcome to all of you that hopped on over from Better After yesterday! I'm really glad you stopped by and hope you enjoy reading! I have lots of fun sharing my projects and adventures with all of you!

OK, now on to another random Friday post. :) So did everyone see SYTYCD on Wednesday night?!? Can I just say that I. Love. This. Show. So. Much. It's amazing! These kids are so talented it blows my mind. I can't wait to see what else the season has in store. I'm especially glad they are going to have two winners this year (one boy and one girl). It seems more fair that way since women and men are so different in dance. You guys have any early predictions?

This weekend is a busy busy weekend for us (honestly, when have we not had a busy weekend lately?!). Tonight we are celebrating our anniversary with dinner at Purple Cafe & Wine Bar and then going to see Les Miserables! Ahhhh! I'm looking forward to the lobster mac & cheese at Purple (it's my favorite :) and I can barely contain my excitement to see Les Mis. Supposedly I heard that maybe it's pretty decent or something. :)

Let's see, what else? Saturday we are celebrating Zach's Mom's 50th 29th birthday! It's going to be awesome. I can't wait to give her her awesome present (and then I can share it with you guys too). She's pretty awesome as far as mother-in-laws go and I can't wait to celebrate her.

Then Sunday is my sister-in-law, Katelyn's birthday and we are celebrating some more! Lots of partying! 

What are ya'll up to this weekend (that's right, I said ya'll)? Any big plans? Any 29th birthdays to celebrate?

Four Years + Lobsters

Four years ago I married my best friend and eight years ago I saw his '65 mustang and fell in love. I love this guy so much! It's kinda crazy how much. You know when you just have so much fun with someone you never want it to end? Or when no matter what you do or where you are you are just happy to be with them? Well that's what I've got and it's pretty sweet. 

One of my new favorite traditions is when Z makes me a handmade card for every birthday/valentine's day/anniversary. He is so thoughtful and comes up with some pretty creative stuff. Today, it was lobsters. That's a little girl lobster (complete with purse) on the left and a boy lobster (complete with watch) on the right. Yeah, they're holding claws. Sweet, right? Inside it says Did you know lobsters mate for life? and then a bunch of other mushy stuff that made me cry and wonder how lucky I got to have the best husband ever. He also surprised me with some flowers this morning (the same flowers we had at our wedding - pink gerbera daisies!). Husband done good.

I'm feeling like a pretty lucky girl today. :)

Happy New Home Gift Idea

Last week as part of the wedding festivities we met up at Meghan and Eric's new house for a little get together. They have cute little home with a great yard (and garden!) in Seattle and it was so fun to see it with all the new paint and furniture (last time we saw it they had just bought it). As a housewarming gift I used this inspiration from, where else, Pinterest!

I love this idea. Especially since jars are so big right now. Plus, you don't have to deal with all the wrapping, but instead they have a jar they can still use (not that I don't love a pretty bow or two). I shopped around and found some cute stuff to plop in the jar.

Since Meghan and Eric's new kitchen is gray/white/yellow, I thought I'd keep with the yellow theme for all the goodies. First, at Target I picked up a yellow candle, a yellow cow creamer and yellow kitchen towel. Then I stopped by Ross and got the two soaps. 

Then came the fun part... putting it all together. I thought I had it planned out but the poor little yellow cow didn't stand a chance. He was too awkward to fit in the jar.

Everything else fit quite nicely though.

I added a little scrapbook paper and voila! A cute and functional housewarming gift. The whole package cost about $20 and was the perfect way to welcome the happy new couple. 

What fun gifts do you like to give as housewarming presents?