Food Love //* Random

The other day my friend Jenn made the most delicious dinner for her family & I! We rarely get to see each other due to busy schedules so it was really nice to finally talk to her and relax together! Pesto pasta, ceasar salad (without anchovy paste), garlic bread, wine, and [not pictured above] brownie sundaes!

I also recently baked some delicious banana nut muffins for my family. I like cooking with soymilk but I haven't tried vegan recipes just yet. I think it's so interesting to see how much can be done with no animal products whatsoever!

I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a complete Chipotle addict. My fave:

Veggie bowl with black beans, rice, pico de gallo, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, and cheese. Add some green pepper (or chipotle) tabasco sauce and mix together. Get their amazing chips, dip into bowl, and eat away! Soooooooo good.

I realize this isn't a WIWT post but oh well! I recently found this dress hiding in my closet and forgot how much I loved it.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I spent mine going out with friends and tonight I finally have my date night with the bf :)

Love,

Leti.

DIY //* Phone Case Deco [Decoden]

As I mentioned in my post below, my amazing penpal Heather sent me an early Valentine's day gift- Cabochons from one of my favorite Etsy shops! It was just the thing I needed to get some inspiration to finally deco my iPhone's case! I wanted to share the process with you guys, and in return please do me the favor of not using these photos without asking me beforehand- I worked very hard on this project! Also, please remember that I did not read any tutorials beforehand. This is just my opinion on how I think it's best to deco! But I'm sure there are many other equally effective ways as well :)

The main thing you will need is good crafting glue. I love E6000 glue. My tip when using it is to keep a sheet of notebook paper next to you at all times seeing as some excess glue does come out when you set it down, so set it down on top of the paper. I also suggest not squeezing the bottle too hard because of that. It's good to use the tip of the glue bottle to kind of smear the glue around so it isn't too thick.

This is my little kit. I think the best kit you could have/put together is one with different sizes of pearls/rhinestones. This way you can fill the empty spaces easily since you will have various sizes to choose from. I like to separate the sizes so the whole process is easier and quicker.

Always start off with the borders. This will help make it look more even and "professional". Even do the borders of the camera-hole, etc.

I let the first few borders dry overnight so that the rest would be easier to work with and the pearls wouldn't be moving around as I worked on the rest of the case.

As I stated above, separating the pearls beforehand can be a lifesaver. I usually place mine on the table since I don't use tweezers to pick them up with. I simply dab my finger on top of the pearl so it naturally sticks on it and place it on the glue. After the first border is finished, I begin the second row. I came up with a pattern on the table before gluing it down. Doing patch-by-patch rather than the whole line makes it much easier. The glue dries relatively quickly so you don't want to overwhelm yourself by speeding through it. I normally do about 6 pearls at a time.

I then do one last border before starting with the rest of the case.

I chose whichever cabochons I wanted to work with first. I decided not to use any "sweets" so it could be a more consistent theme.

Before gluing the big pieces down (which is the next step), I played around with them to find a good spot. I suggest spreading them evenly throughout the case so that one spot isn't more bulky than another.

I then began to glue around the pieces. Specifically the bow first. You can do a border on the top of the case as well, but I like to let the pearls naturally fill the top space since I had various sizes.

I normally start gluing around the big pieces first, working my way out.

And voila!

(One last tip: let it dry overnight before using it!)

Feel free to ask any questions if I left something out! I hope this helped everyone at least a little bit :)

Love,

Leti.

"I No Did!"

Yesterday my bf and I both had the day off together. He got his hair cut and then took me to Michael's to get some crafting supplies for my penpal's gift! I was lucky to have found a coupon or $$-wise I would have been screwed! That's why I love Craft stores... awesome discounts. Afterward we headed to his parent's house to spend time with his little brother (he's 5 and already calling me to tell me he loves me!). We watched Ponyo with him, made fiesta salads, and played Wii. Unfortunately I'm still sick... so today I'm heading to work late. Then off to a brief dinner at Jenn's (after I have ingested a ton of dayquil)!! Excitement.

Such cute brothers!

Oldschool joker!

That's what Mr. Potato Head looks like after a few helpings of Chemical X.

I'm so in love with his new haircut!

My first hand-sewn pouch :) The inside fabric is zebra print (it was for my boss, don't judge my tacky choices! Lol).

This is what happens when you run out of wrapping paper, your mom's birthday comes sooner than you calculated, and the only supplies you are given is construction paper and deco tape.

I organized my hair/headbands, necklaces, & sunglasses inside my little nook.

No luck growing these so far... but for $1 I didn't expect much.

I now leave you with Waffle.

Love,

Leti.

My Monday Afternoon

Yesterday couldn't have been better! I had an awful day at work as usual, but when I came home my brother received his college acceptance letters (I'm so proud of my little bro!), I received amazing goodies in the mail (who doesn't love mail?), and I found out my bf and I have the same days off this week and one of them just happens to fall on the day his baby brother has to have surgery, which means we can be at the hospital with his family!

I made some hot cocoa with soy milk (mmm!)

I've also been feeling a bit sick (my dad has been sick and my immune system is awful, so I need to be extra careful), so I took some Chinese herbs my boss gave me and had some echinacea tea.

Of course my posts aren't complete without me being a crazy cat lady. I love Waffle :)

I am SO in love with the things I received from Cait! Her etsy is amazing.

My amazing penpal Heather sent me an early Valentine's day gift!!! It was one of my "fave" items on my etsy list! She's sooooooo sweet! I'm seriously in Cabochon HEAVEN! I can't wait to deco with these!

Bad photos of my nails recently.

Whisker centralllll.

Waffle still loves the gift Auntie Debb gave him.

I keep forgetting to post the photos of my hard work from this past weekend! I organized everything, including my jewelry.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Love,

Leti.