doodle day

Whenever I have a free moment I try to doodle, whether it's using a pen, pencil, paint or pixlr.  So I thought I'd start a new weekly post called "doodle day" where I post one of my drawings, cute, funny, strange or otherwise.

Today's doodle was drawn with pencil:

smoke house 21

The other weekend when I went to Portland to surprise my dad, we ate lunch at a place called Smoke House 21.

We were walking around NW 21st, just killing time, when we were stopped dead in our tracks by the most amazing smell of smokey meat.  We had reservations at Nuestra Cocina for dinner with some friends in just 3 hours but we had to stop in and find out what that delicious smokey smell was.

All the tables were wood burned and stain painted with different images, like the parts of a pig or chicken. 

We sat down at the PBR can and cows getting abducted by UFOs tables and ordered some beers, all of which came in these fun koozies (I, of course, had to buy one - thanks to Briana for the 2 bucks!).

Then we ordered our food.  Just enough to tide us over until dinner...or at least that was the plan...

It was so amazingly delicious. Everything was out-of-this-world good, and every time the waiter came over to ask how it was, we just made yummy noises so we wouldn't have to stop stuffing our faces. Once the meal was over my dad asked the our waiter if they had won any awards and when she replied with a simple "no," he decided that he'd have to make them one. I am so excited to go back there the next time I visit home. 

After this incredible culinary experience I went home to The Man and told him that we had to get a smoker...

Thankfully, he agreed.

mani mondays

I know it's actually Tuesday but yesterday was a holiday!!

Did everyone have a good weekend? Memorial day is the first day of the year that we get off from work so I'm always really excited for it!

 For this weeks nails I used Va Va Voom (by Orly) and Golden Eye (by OPI - from the Skyfall collection)

doodle day

Whenever I have a free moment I try to doodle, whether it's using a pen, pencil, paint or pixlr.  So I thought I'd start a new weekly post called "doodle day" where I post one of my drawings, cute, funny, strange or otherwise.

Today's doodle was made on pixlr:

 dancing ladies found via Gems

surprise!

Well, it went off without a hitch!

This weekend was my dad's 60th Birthday.  That's right, the great man of STUFEST turned the big 6-0!  Over the past few months I racked my brain trying to think of the best 60th birthday present, until I finally got it.... ME!

Since March my Mom, our friend Briana, and I have been scheming and keeping secrets about the big day, and Friday night the plan was finally set in motion.

Friday I left work a little early and ran to the airport, where my plane was of course an hour off schedule. Briana picked me up when I landed around 10:30 and we headed to her house to go over the details and try to get enough rest for the big surprise the next day.

Saturday we woke up and headed to my parents' house.  Briana went in with the excuse that my mom had to show her some luggage, which may sound strange to you, but it's so completely normal, that my dad didn't suspect a thing.  She "grabbed the mail" on her way in and, along with some random junk mail my mom put in the night before, there was a birthday card from me (we even ruffed it up a bit so it looked like it had been handled by the post office).  Dad opened the card and Briana went to go get something she'd left in her car.

She came outside and got me and this is what happened next:

Surprise! from Aly Flint on Vimeo.

When it was all said and done we were all a big blubbering laughing mess. Then, like always with the people you love, everything felt like I never left.  We took showers, ate breakfast and got on with the STUFEST Festivities.  It was such a wonderful weekend, and I really wish it wasn't over.

Happy Birthday Daddy! I love you so very much.

p.s.  I was hesitant to post the video at first because it is a personal moment for our family and my dad's reaction was so heartfelt and emotional (if you couldn't distinguish it those are the combined sounds of tears and belly laughs). But when I watch this video I'm filled with so much joy, and I wanted to share that feeling with all of you. 

Sorry for getting sappy and corny, and thanks for watching!

mani mondays

Hippo nails!!
I hope everyone had a great weekend, I know I did!!  It is officially STUFEST! That's right the festival of Stu Flint's existence is in full force, so grab a frosty beverage, find a sunny spot and do absolutely nothin'.

And speaking about the weekend, I have something special to share with you all tomorrow, so get excited!

When I was doing these nails I couldn't stop singing the Hip-Hop-Popotamus song from Flight of the  Conchords.

a lazy lady's exercise

As you can probably tell from my haphazard posting and, well, the title of this blog, I'm a lazy person.

My nights are spent lying on the couch, and my weekends are spent lying in bed.
I love tv and movies and netflix and hulu.
Getting cable was probably both the best and worst thing I could have done for myself.
Even my showers take 20 min.

So, when it came to exercise I'd never been one for going out of my way.  If it wasn't convenient it wasn't happening.

I recently ended a three year relationship with XSport Gym, we didn't see much of each other in the past two years, and when he told me I'd have to spend more money to go to the gym that's closer to my house, I thought it was time to end it.

Since then I've bought ankle weights and tried carving out a part of my day to devote to "bettering" myself.  But it never sticks.  Then a few days ago I found this exercise routine via Cup of Jo.  It's the Scientific 7-Minute Workout.

Each exercise is done for 30 seconds:

You'd think 7 minutes wouldn't be enough time to do anything beneficial, but scientists say it is, so it has to be true!!!  I've only done this routine for 2 days but I already feel it (especially in my tush muscles).  I've always had trouble with not only the time commitment exercise took, but also pushing myself to keep going when it gets dificult.  When you are exercising alone it is really easy to stop or slow down when you start to feel "the burn," but this workout is so short and well planned that there is literally no time to slow down, and 7 minutes later I'm back on the couch where I belong.  Hopefully I'll keep this up...we'll see how it goes.

doodle day

For sometime now I've been tweaking my photos with pixlr, a free online dumbed-down pseudo-photoshop.  It's really great for people like me who are too cheap to buy software.

Lately I've been messing around with it and drawing random doodles to get comfortable with all the tools.  Whenever I have a free moment I try to doodle, whether it's using a pen, pencil, paint or pixlr.  So I thought I'd start a new weekly post called "doodle day."  Where I post one of my drawings, cute, funny, strange or otherwise.

Here's the first one... let's put it in the strange catagory:

Don't ask me what it's about,
I really don't know.

happy mothers day

Happy Day Mama!
I have the best mom in the whole world, no doubt about it. 

She is funny, and stylish, and loving, and smart, and a really great advise giver.  I love love love her.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom

I lovalovalova you!

c'mon!

Speaking about lamps, I was on Design*Sponge the other day and found out that designer Terence Conran has teamed up with JC Penney and put out a line of affordable (ish) pieces exclusive to JCP stores.

I spotted this lamp and I am in love...

But of course this doesn't actually exist.

wah wah

It does exist in a table lamp which is also very beautiful...

But I have no table surfaces on which a lamp can sit.

Don't you just hate that? When a store takes pictures of their products surrounded by object they don't sell?  I understand the need to accessorize for a photo, but c'mon!! They have plenty of real products they can use for staging, there is no need to make fake lamps and give my hopes up.

p.s. I watch Cougar Town, yes, Cougar Town.  Give me a sitcom staring any actor from Friends and I am there.  

But now whenever I think the word c'mon, I hear Andy:

the hutch {sketches}

I have a pyrex obsession.

Or more like a fancy-dishware-that-I-don't-allow-anyone-to-use obsession.

I've been collecting pieces here and there ever since high school, and although I try to be selective, it's hard not to scoop up a piece when it's at a great price.  So here I am in our wonderful, but lacking in storage, apartment, with a bunch a beautiful dishes and nowhere to display them.  This is where having a furniture making Morning Man comes in real handy.

A few weeks ago The Man and I started discussing what we would want our hutch to look like.  Almost all of the furniture in our apartment is The Man made and it's very modern (and gorgeous!).  I wanted the hutch to fit with our other furniture but I also wanted that classic hutch look with lot's of molding. So we did some sketches, and then he took off with it.

(the final drawing is always the messiest)

It's not complete yet, but I'm getting so excited for the final result.  We decided to paint it black (glossy black by my request) and used knotty pine for accents, so that it would go with the uber-modern totally amazing dining room table he made.

I can't wait to show it to you when it's all complete and stuffed with dishware! Hopefully it will be soon!

mani mondays

It's finally getting nice outside, so this past Saturday we fired up the grill for The Man's birthday.  We had a great time with great friends, and ate lots of burgers and hotdogs.  I also made The Man a birthday cake that I wanted to show you but we made it and ate it too fast to document.

What he requested was strange but delicious. It was a banana bread cake with mini peanut butter cups in it and cream cheese frosting on the top.  YUM!

 For this week's nails I used mint candy apple (by essie) with diamond shapes in chick flick cherry (by opi).

Happy Monday Everybody!!
How was your weekend?

wishful wednesdays {floor lamps}

One thing this Lazy Lady does best is fantasize about the future.  I'm not very good at living "in the now," I'm always thinking about the next recipe we should make, or couch we should buy, or city we'll live in, or job I could have, and where we'll be in 1, 3, 5, or 15 years.  It's not really the healthy way to live, buuuut sometimes I come up with some really great futures, and every once and a while those futures come true. . .

When my parents came to visit back in September, The Man and I got to talking about how bare our apartment is.  We've always been a more "slow and steady wins the race" couple when it comes to home decor, but mom and dad wanted us to step it up!  My dads first thought "Get a Lamp!!!"  My parents are all about alternative lighting in every room, but The Man and I had honestly never thought about it.  It's true that some lower lighting makes a room much cozier, but when I began the hunt for a floor lamp I soon came to realize why nothing had ever grabbed my attention enough to want to take it home.

Floor lamps can be soooooo boooring!

Since then I've looked high and low.  And after stringing some white Christmas lights around the living room, back in December, I really can see how nice it is to have some accent lighting.  It's warm, and romantic, and makes it so much easier to see!  So, let's take a look at what's available out there, and maybe you can help me pick something out.

Most floor lamps I see everywhere are just a stick with a shade on top

1, 2, 3

And then there are the embellished sticks with a shade on top, which I appreciate a little more, but I'm still not completely sold on.

 1, 2, 3

(I actually completely love the chandelier on a stick look, it's fancy, weird and silly all at once)

Or the stacked crystal ball look and chunks of curvy wood look:

1, 2

1, 2

There are tons of paper lanterns and single bulb fixtures hanging from curvy sticks with variations on how many lanterns or fixtures.  From one, to three, to five, to...?

 1, 2, 3

Speaking of curvy sticks, there are also the beautiful and super trendy arco floor lamps, with either drum shades (which are all over Crate and Barrel) or the space-agey up-side-down silver bowl shades.

1, 2, 3

I love them, especially when they have a thick base made out of marble or a beautiful piece of wood.  But they are crazy expensive!!!

I think spotlight lamps are pretty cool, I think it would be fun lighting for the studio.  They are so dramatic.

 1, 2

I am a big fan of tripod lamps

1, 2

I've almost bought number one about 4 times.  It's affordable ($179 at Home Depot), and I love that the cord is hidden inside one of the legs and doesn't peep out until the bottom.  The shade is pretty cheap looking but it could always be replaced.

The only lamp The Man and I have agreed on so far is the Hektar from KEA.

via

It's kind of a combination of a spotlight and a huge desk lamp.  The head swivels up and down so you can point the light at what you're reading or showcase a beautiful piece of furniture (of which we have many!). 

How about you? Have you ever even thought about your accent lighting? Do you already have floor lamps in every corner, or are you like The Man and I and rely solely on overheads?  Do you think stick lamps are boring? Or do you revel in their simplistic beauty?

Tell me I want to know!!

p.s. There are many other styles but for the most part the ones I omitted I did so because they are terrible!!