A How To Vlog

I'm posting this early, but wanted to make sure that if any of you wanted to make your own 

St. Patrick's Day wreath, you'd have plenty of time to shop, create, and hang it up on your door.

I put together a festive St. Patrick's Day wreath to send to my mom and also Chris' mom for their front doors. Mom, if you are reading this, GO AWAY and wait by the mailbox.

I based my idea off of this one, but really only used her tutorial to figure out what supplies I'd need. If you'd like to see how I made these St. Patrick's Day wreaths, please watch the video below! (I recorded this video using the Flip I received for Christmas and [crappily] edited it using iMovie.)

Some notes:

• Since I am mailing my wreaths to other people, I double-knotted the front part of the fabric. I believe the original tutorial just used a single tie to attach the fabric. I think either way looks fine.
• In the video, I call the green fabrics felt. It's actually flannel fabric. I purchased a yard each of those and ended up with a lot of fabric left over. I made 2 wreaths and still had at least 1/2 yard left. If you are only planning on making one wreath, you could get away with buying 1/4 yard.
• I purchased a 1/2 yard of the yellow fabric. Again, I had more than enough so purchase less if you are only making one.
• Be sure to check for coupons online before going shopping! I was able to use a 10% off coupon at JoAnn's by just showing them my phone. I know that Michael's always has coupons so it may be worth it to buy a styrofoam wreath there (this was the only item not on sale at JoAnn's).
• There were a lot more options for accents, but I happened to like the shamrocks and the hats. There were gold coins, beads, pots of gold, etc. and all of those would look good on the wreath. I ended up only using the door hanger on one of the wreaths and the ones without it still looked great.
• The finished wreath was hanging up in my bathroom, which explains the yellowish-tint to the room. Sorry!

Tuesday...

• I am still ticked that I didn't get Monday off. Instead, I had to dress up because our company president was visiting the office for the day. Ironic? At least they served us free lunch.

• I finally got my hands on Maybelline Baby Lips and I love it. It's lip balm but it adds a nice color to your lips. I have been trying to buy it for at least a month, but it has been sold out everywhere. I picked up the very last one and I didn't even care what color it was. I was just happy to get one and I'm even happier I ended up liking the color - Cherry Me. (FYI: You can print a $1 off coupon for any Maybelline product at Target, which will make this lip balm $1.99!)

• Starbucks grande size is a joke. It is so small and they end up adding so much ice anyway, you practically have to order a venti to have more than a few sips of your drink.

• I know it's early, but I'm already thinking about St. Patrick's Day. I will have a how to video blog up next week on an easy project. It's my first vlog! Much like the last time, I couldn't stop laughing every time Chris tried to film me. He gave up and left me to my own devices so it's not perfect but at least I got it done. Look for it next Monday. Sneak peek below:

• I have to talk about my new favorite pants. They are from Target and they remind me of the J.Crew Minnie's, but for only $24.99. I put these pants on and they fit like a glove. Perfect in the waist and more importantly, the perfect ankle length and width (skinny!). I bought them because I needed some pants for dress up day at work (see first bullet), but I know that I will wear them all the time! I wore them all day and they didn't stretch or get baggy in all the wrong places so I know they are a winner. They might not look like much online, but they may surprise you. Go check them out - they come in black and blue!

• We watched The Artist last weekend. I really wish that I could be more cultured and appreciative of a movie like this, but I didn't really like it. Unfortunately, I'm of the age where The Vow knocks my socks off and a beautifully done silent film bores me. Sad. I know Chris is very disappointed in me (seriously, he told me). I can still appreciate the acting and the story it told, but I won't be dying to watch it again. I did love the dog, though!

• If you follow me on Instagram, then you already saw this picture. On Saturday I woke up and made pancakes for Chris and got a little creative! Fun, huh?

That's all I've got for today!

Happy Friday!

In a few short hours, the weekend will be here!

I hope all of you have a fantastic 48 hours off,
(or 72 if you are lucky enough to have President's Day off)

enjoying what you love most!

Source: weheartit.com via meghan on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Galit on Pinterest

Source: justlittlethings.tumblr.com via Kylie on Pinterest

Source: iamblessed.tumblr.com via Naomi on Pinterest

Source: sundayinbed.tumblr.com via Jieun on Pinterest

Thursday's Thoughts

• How was everyone's Valentine's Day? Chris & I had a relaxing evening at home with take-out, television, and backgammon! I swear I'm 27 going on 67...There was a fun scavenger hunt waiting for me when I got home and the clues led me to my presents! I was running all over the apartment like a crazy woman! Haha, so fun! I got a box of chocolates, a Chick-fil-A gift card, and a bottle of one of my favorite beers that is hard to find.

• I received my tax return yesterday and was able to pay off some bills! I'm so excited to watch my debt decrease each month, even if it is a little bit slow-going. This month will be my last payment on a bank loan I took out 3 years ago for a little over $12,000. That was a stupid decision to take out the loan, but it feels good knowing that I will finally have it paid off in less than 2 weeks.

• It's only the middle of February, but is it too early to start thinking about my birthday? I've declared on many occasions that my birthday is my favorite holiday! Here are my last two birthday celebrations - 2010 and 2011. Chris has already said that I cannot plan this year's birthday events because I did last year, and it kinda sucked. We are thinking of a weekend trip for this year (destination to be determined) so I'm hoping that works out! Here's my birthday list: an iPad and an engagement ring...I know, keep dreaming! Haha!

• Last night Chris & I went out for dinner. We found a sushi place near our house with great prices and equally great reviews. It was delicious! Here is a picture of the Dragon Roll - I've never seen such a creative way to present sushi before. We also had the green tea tempura ice cream and it was phenomenal. Have you ever had anything like this before? It was a ball of ice cream deep fried in tempura batter...yeah, heavenly!

•  After dinner we stopped at CVS because we had a $5 extra bucks coupon to use. We were able to get all of the following items for under $30! With the sale prices and the coupon, we ended up saving $25. We should be set for awhile on body wash, Cetaphil cleansing bars (these are expensive full price!), toothpaste, and deodorant. I love a good deal!

 

• I was sad to see Beverly eliminated from Top Chef last night. I really wanted her to beat Lindsay and Sarah because they had been so awful to her the entire season. Now I'm rooting for Paul!

That's about all that I have going on. Anything new with you?

A Day...

I've seen people post about their daily routines so I thought it would be fun to share what a typical day for me is like. Prepare yourself for all the excitement I get to experience on an everyday basis :)

I wake up anywhere between 7:30 and 8:15 every morning, and it all depends on if I am riding my bike to work that day. Today I was going to ride so I got up at 7:30, but I looked outside and it was raining (which was not in the forecast last night when I checked). I ran out the door at 8:40 and was at my desk by 8:57!

I always eat breakfast at my desk, usually by 10:00. Today I had a really sad breakfast - a granola bar and banana.

I spend a little bit of time checking my emails and favorite websites, like Suri's Burn Book, Hip2Save, and Facebook, usually while I'm finishing my breakfast. I don't spend a lot of time doing this because I always have a steady flow of assignments to work on.

My office is right in front of the kitchen and common area so I am constantly interrupted by my co-workers, wanting to talk or gossip. I also have the responsibility of answering the main door, signing for packages, and directing visitors to where they need to be. Sometimes it makes me want to rip my hair out, but most of the time it's not too much of a hassle. Today, I've already answered the door 4 times, and it's only 10:30!

Work, work, work...

At 1:30 I'm hungry again! Time for my lunch. I had a Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers pasta today. I hadn't tried these before, and I wasn't sure what to expect. It turned out to be okay, but not nearly enough. Since eating took all of 10 minutes, I decided to drive over to Target just so I can get out of the office.

I bought some cute Valentine's to give to my friends at work and a few surprise treats for Chris. We are not doing gifts or anything, but I wanted to at least have a card and some candy for him. How come every trip to Target ends in me walking out with something, especially when I planned on buying nothing?!

I already told you that I am addicted to Oreo's, and I flipped out over these Birthday Cake Oreo's! I can't wait to try them for dessert!

Back at work and it's too boring to document...

Finally, it's 6:00 and I'm free! One day down, 4 more to go!

We decided on Thai takeout for dinner. We really do cook in A LOT, but not tonight. Besides, I need time to do my cookie decorating. I meant to take a picture of my food, but was so hungry that I completely forgot.

I spent wayyyyyyy too long trying to make cute cookies and I've decided that they are just not my thing. I'm not very good at the whole royal icing thing so I just covered up all the mistakes with sprinkles! I've officially made a mess of the kitchen.

Time to get settled in front of the television - The Bachelor and Hawaii Five-0 are our must watch shows on Monday night. We also record Alcatraz and Smash but will watch those later in the week.

Yup, it's finally bed time. I made it to 12:00 tonight and I'm already regretting staying up so late. It's going to be hard to get up in the morning! If I had the choice, I would've been in be a few hours earlier. Goodnight!

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I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my day. Seriously, I'm living the life...lol! By the way, all of my pictures were taken using Instagram. I've had this app forever, but I just realized that my profile was set to private all of this time. I made it public and would love to have you follow along and follow you also! My username is sweetteadiaries.

And, Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! I hope it's filled with lots of sweets, love, and pink presents!