Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Procrastination Station


It seems every week I find something outside of my usual routine and hobbies that I get fixated on. I procrastinate instead of getting chores done and daydream about new gadgets that have made it the market, new music I can't get out of my head or more often than not adorable animal videos that make my heart melt. I'd like to share all these weird, little things with you...welcome to the Procrastination Station.

Lake Street Dive



Based on the cover of their most recent album, Bad Self Portraits, I knew I would love this band. Lake Street Dive is an indie jazz and soul band that was founded in 2004 in Boston, MA. They're a few albums in now but I believe what got them buzzing on the internet was their sidewalk rendition of I Want You Back by Jackson 5. Give them a listen - try their most recent single Bad Self Portraits, you will not be disappointed!


Mac Mart Food Truck



Food Trucks have really blow up in the past few years and Philly is no exception. Last year at our annual Manayunk Food Festival there was a line of food trucks along Main Street but all I cared about was Mac Mart food truck. I'm a sucker for a good bowl of mac & cheese and I must say this truck delivers the goods. They have different takes on mac & cheese like the "Wit" Mac -a nod to Philadelphia cheesesteaks and Return of the Mac -a grilled mac & cheese sandwich! Crazy, I know...but crazy delicious. I follow them on Facebook now and get inundated with beautiful mac & cheese pics day after day...let's just say it's tough. As you can tell from my above instagram post, i'm obsessed.


Levenger Circa Notebooks



I've always been a bit of a stationary and office supplies nerd after working in a stationary shop during High School and for a while now i've been on the search for a customizable notebook to carry around with me to scribble notes in, keep as a planner, and make lists...lots and lots of lists. I've found everything i've ever wanted in the Circa Notebook from Levenger. Their system of notebooks, paper punches, paper refills, and accessories encourage flexibility and lets you organize projects to suit your needs. There is a Levenger store in Boston that i'm hoping to check out next time N and I are up there visiting his family!


Secret Agent Raccoons


Need a good laugh? Check out this Buzzfeed Article 16 Secret Agent Raccoons that showcases hilarious gifs of Racoons getting into trouble. I can't stop watching #8 and #15. Pretty sure my friends thing i'm crazy busting out in laugher at this article time and time again.


What's going on in your Procrastination Station?


Friday, March 21, 2014

Weight Watchers & Phillies 5K

This year I decided to take my New Years Resolutions seriously - how did I do this? I threw money at them! Just hear me out. My goals for this year were to get fit and feel better about myself. 

I knew the only way to do this was to eat right and exercise. I also knew that although it sounds easy it was going to be a very tough task to keep myself motivated. That's where the money comes in. I knew that without set goals with very real dates I would slack off and this year would be like all the years past where New Years Resolutions were made but never followed through on. 

With those thoughts in mind I paid up and joined Weight Watchers at Work -a ten week program in which I would be weighed in every Friday for 10 weeks. I also signed up for the Philadelphia Phillies Charity 5K which was set for mid March. I figured after paying to make these goals 'real' I just had to follow through on them. And guess what, I think I was right! 

It's been a couple months now of weigh ins and doing the Couch to 5K running program on my own time to get ready for the 5K. Of course I had some weeks where I lost no weight and where I slacked on the running but overall I made some great strides towards my major goals. I've officially lost 12 pounds and went from feeling like I would die after 1 minute of running to being able to run 10+ minutes straight and feeling great about it. 


UPDATE: 
The Phillies Charity 5K came and went and I couldn't be happier with my results!! My only goal was to run the 5K in under 40 minutes and I managed to run it in 39 minutes!! Not to mention I ran almost the ENTIRE thing! I've NEVER run 30 mins straight in my life but this past Saturday I did it. It felt amazing. And when I came back to work this week I was actually able to tell people I had fun...running...I had fun running. Who knew!? 




My next goal is to just try to run the 5K faster and sign up for more races. Look at me, i'm a runner. :)


Thursday, March 13, 2014

Chocolate Chip Butterfinger Cheesecake Bars

My best friend Liz's Birthday is in March and for the past two years i've been wanted to make her treats inspired by her favorite candy bar - Butterfinger. Yes, I know two years is a long time..i've been slacking, ok? 

It took me a while to decide on what to make. I went to Pinterest to find all my options. In the end I decided to make Chocolate Chip Butterfinger Cheesecake Bars. I found the recipe on the blog That Skinny Chick Can Bake. Check out the link for the recipe.





I must say these were a hit! Though I hear the boyfriend of the Birthday girl has devoured most of the treats, haha.








Thursday, March 6, 2014

Road Trip: Where To Go!?

Next month my brother, his girlfriend, N and I are going on a 5 day road trip. We weren't sure where to go we just knew we were going to drive somewhere far and hang out. This is probably the first trip I haven't planned every second of and that i'm taking a very casual approach to. I can't wait to just get where we're going and relax for a few days and not think about work or chores or whatever. 

Since we'll be starting our journey in New Jersey and we only have five days we decided to go somewhere only about 8 or so hours away. We came up with two options:

1. a trip to Maine and New Hampshire


2. a trip to upstate NJ and Canada to see Niagara Falls



Both trips had their pros and cons. N lived in Maine for a few years and would know his way around the city of Portland and the outer lying areas. Seeing Niagara Falls (for the second time for my brother and I) and visiting Canada would feel like a bigger more exciting trip. Since it's winter we had to be conscience of what activities we could still do in the 40 degree weather. 

As of now we're searching for passports and trying to make a decision. :)

UPDATE:
We made a decision! We're heading to Portland, Maine! We're staying right outside of Portland and are planning to spend a day in New Hampshire. Here are some of the activities we have lined up:

City of Portland - minutes away (5 miles): old district - restaurants, shops, and pubs; mall; outlet stores

Allagash Brewing Company- taking a brewery tour!!

Portland Observatory -beautiful views of the Maine coast

Colby College - 1 hr away (N's alma mater): see college, eat at Big G's Sandwich Shop, check out downtown

Brunswick - 50 mins from Colby: Sea Dog Brewery - brewery & restaurant

Kennebunkport - shopping/restaurants - nearby is Cape Porpoise the Cape Pier Chowder House!

Freeport - 20 mins away: shopping - giant LL Bean Store & outlet shopping

Day Trip:
North Conway, New Hampshire - Funspot: 3 story arcade with go carts, bowling, indoor mini golf, cash bingo; outlet shopping nearby (kitchen outlet, new balance, nike, stonewall kitchen, white mountain cupcakery)

I can't wait! See y'all when i'm back from my mini vaca!




DIY Repost: Hanging Jewelry & Accessory Knob Boards

Reposted from my old blog The Sweet Shop:

DIY Vintage Knob Jewelry & Accessories Display Board

I found an amazing DIY hanging jewelry & accessories display online one day (Pinterest? Etsy? Can't quite remember where I saw it)...it's the perfect piece to organize and display your favorite necklaces, bracelets, scarves, you name it. The ones below are made up of wooden molding boards, glass/ceramic/metal knobs in various shapes and sizes, two screws and some bolts and washers. A short list of materials..but it requires a wide array of tools, which is why I enlisted my Dad who i'm pretty sure owns every tool ever made!


We created a few different pieces: two long boards - one with small mismatched knobs and one with slightly larger mismatched knobs. a short board with extended knobs to hang towels in the kitchen. two blocks used to string up sunglasses.

My Mom ordered a ton of drawer knobs off Ebay, she found some great groups of 2-4 knobs in multiple colors. The knobs she found were amazing! I loved that we had so many to choose from.

The molding boards were purchased from Lowes, where they were willing to cut them into the sizes we needed. We had one more cut to make at home so we used a Mitre box with a saw to cut the molding.


The prep work involved deciding the array of knobs for each board as well as the spacing between them. I spaced the knobs about 2" apart to allow space for fluffy scarves.



After deciding on placement & spacing I punched a guiding hole where the knobs would eventually be placed. We then used a drill to create holes all the way through the board so that the screws on the knobs could pass freely through the opening. Don't forget to drills a hole on the end of each side of the board, this hole will be for the screw to mount the board on the wall.

We then had to countersink the back of the board so that the washer and bolt would lay flat against the back of the board. This is needed so that the board lays flat on the wall.

There was a lot of trial and error during this part of the project. Since the knobs are all mismatched sometimes the countersink needed to be adjusted, sometime the size of the knob screwed were inconsistent and the drilled holes needed to be adjusted.


We inserted the knob screws through the board while placing a washer and bolt on each side of the board to keep it in place.

Note: if you want to hang larger items on your board you can use the washer & bolt to create the length of the screw on the front side of the board. I kept my knobs flush on the jewelry & accessories display board but for the kitchen board, on which I wanted to hang towels, I kept the knob about 1 1/2" from the front side of the board.


The next step is to tighten the bolt, make sure it's flush with the back, in most cases the screw will need to cut down. My Dad used a saw to cut it down then sanded down the metal until it was smooth. You don't need an electric sander for this,  but it sure does help.



Ta Da!



I was able to use square wooden rossettes (that I painted white) to create my make-shift sunglasses/eyewear display. Any type of thread/yarn/rope can be used to create the strand that the sunglasses will hang on. Just mount the two rosettes level with each other about a foot apart then tie the string the thread/yarn/rope to hang from each knob.




To mount the boards onto the wall we used two long screwed that were painted white to match the molding board. The real trick while mounting is to use a level so that board isn't crooked on the wall, I know that would drive me crazzzy everytime I looked at it.


And voila, here you have an entire accessories display area. I added in my jewelry bulletin board (see my past post) and an IKEA mirror & cubical storage shelf and the area was able to hold most of my accessories.


Thanks to my Dad for my help with this. Shortly after we made this project (yes, it took me months to post this) he had his surgery. I can't wait for him to be fully recovered so we can get back to making more projects together. <3




Thursday, February 27, 2014

Flea Market Finds

I've always been a fan of craft fairs, flea markets and thrift shops. I still remember afternoon trips with my Dad to an indoor flea market 30-45 minutes away from my parents house on Sunday afternoons. A year or so ago I went to a flea market in Philly and signed up for email alerts about EVERY flea market in Philadelphia. I'm proud to say i've finally been to each different one and i've taken friends and family back to many of them. I've even developed a set of negotiating skills...I can't get enough of that thrill of the ultimate find! 



I wanted to show off some of my favorite flea market finds. I'll post about my favorite Philly flea markets in the near future. :)

Vintage Bread Box <3 <3 <3

Wicker Chairs

 Squirrel/Nut Jar and Gold Etched Shotglasses

 Gold Etched Ice Bucket and Glasses
Mustache Mug!

 Vintage Coca Cola Wooden Crate aka Shotglass Holder

 Pan Am Travel Bag
(w/ a The Beatles Pam Am playing card)

 Geometric Squirrel Necklace <3
(from the Santa Monica flea market)

And these are just the favorites. ;)

Sign up to get weekly emails about flea markets in the Philadelphia area: Phila Flea Markets