Monday, February 27, 2012

Vintage Wants

I have a few items that I'm always on the lookout for when I'm thrifting or antique shopping. Apparently they're either bizarrely uncommon in north Texas or I'm just unlucky, because I have not been able to find any of them anywhere but online. And unfortunately I hate buying vintage things online. The shipping is always ridiculous and I always feel like I'm somehow being scammed.

This probably stems from the fact that last year I won a BEAUTIFUL antique agate locket necklace on ebay for $30! 30! Look them up, you're lucky if you can find one for less than $100. And of course, it got lost in the mail, never to be found again. British post said it was in America and it was out of their jurisdiction and the USPS said it was still in Britain and out of their control. "Tough luck, kid."

So I just really don't like buying one of a kind items online. I have too many control issues to not obsess over where the package is at all times.

Obviously it doesn't stop me from scouring the internet for vintage stuff anyways.


1. Vintage Stand-Mixers


I love the appliance colors of the 50's. The turquoise and pale pink, buttery yellow and mint green. My kitchen theme is totally based off of these colors. I throw red in too so it doesn't seem too easter-eggy though.


My goal is to find 4 of these to display in my kitchen somehow. Most of the houses I've lived in or visited have a lot of empty space above their cabinets and most are filled with vials of oils with peppers soaking in them or fake fruit and greenery. If I happen to have those spaces, I want old stand mixers to be displayed up there.


one two three


2. Vintage Melmac Lunch Trays


I plan on having kids and if they are even a fraction like me, they will have the worst case of butterfingers anyone has ever known. I drop everything. So, I'd rather them eat off of awesome old lunch trays than breakable plates. Plus, I love the aesthetic. I'm hoping to eventually find a set of mint colored ones, preferably 4 or 5. Hah, we'll see.



3. Celluloid Hand Mirrors


I actually already have a small collection of these. I remember seeing Katie's (from I go by Katie) collection and I fell in love with the aesthetic she had created on her wall with them. I copied her idea and started collecting and displaying my celluloid mirrors.


I haven't bought any new ones in awhile since I normally have to buy them online or in an antique shop since I've never actually run across one in a thrift store.


This is something pretty affordable and normally you can find a better deal on ebay but I hate posting ebay links since it's more likely that they'll be sold before an etsy listing.


one two three four


Eventually I'll find all of these things. But for now it's nice just looking.

-Becca

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Mom's French Toast

As a child, I remember ordering french toast at a restaurant thinking it would taste similar to my mom's french toast. No. It tasted like scrambled egg on bread. If that's what you like, that's cool. But this is not that.

This is a caramelized sweet version of french toast that I've personally only tasted in my mother's kitchen or my own.

Also, you should feel free to reduce the amount of sugar, I've already reduced it from the original recipe because Ryan really likes maple syrup, whereas when I was a kid we never really used it so the sugar was necessary.

Have I ever told you about how I only use jam on my waffles? Not a big fan of maple syrup.

Anyways, without further ado:

Mom's French Toast

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Recipe yields about 4 pieces of french toast (2 servings)

Ingredients needed:

2 large eggs
1/2 c white sugar
tsp of cinnamon (optional)
4 pieces of bread (stale bread works best) I used fresh honey wheat

Instructions:

1. Warm frying pan or skillet on stove (be sure to spray cooking spray or butter because these babies will stick (even to nonstick pans)
2. Crack eggs and whisk until they are scrambled consistency, mix in sugar and cinnamon until well blended. I normally like to mix them together in a shallow bowl or a deep plate so that it's easier to coat the pieces of bread. I got my shallow bowls at Pier 1 and they're a life-saver for marinating and coating stuff.
3. Turn skillet to medium heat.
4. Dip piece of bread into egg/sugar mixture, one side at a time. Turn piece of coated bread until excess drips off.
5. Place coated bread into now hot skillet and let cook on one side until the sugar has caramelized, then flip and repeat. (you can check if it's caramelizing by lifting up a corner of the toast with your spatula.)
6. Repeat step 4 & 5 until you finish all four pieces of toast. (Remember to respray the pan each time!!) This should use almost all of the egg/sugar mixture. You may be able to make a 5th piece of toast, but 4 is normally plenty to split between 2 people.

Serve with syrup and powdered sugar or plain (they're sweet enough!).

-Becca

Friday, February 24, 2012

Snippets

This Must Be The Place by Talking Heads on Grooveshark




It's been pret-ty boring around here. I'm either at work or if I'm at home, I'm doing my commission work (and farting around on pinterest).

I'm expecting some exciting things to arrive at my doorstep within the next few days though, so keep yer eyes peeled.

-Becca

Thursday, February 23, 2012

The Wind in the Willows

So for the last month or so I've been watching The Wind in the Willows stop animation series on Netflix (sadly, it's gone now). All of my friends, including Ryan are disturbed by it, but I think it's super soothing and I love watching it while I go to sleep. Haha, I would recommend it but everyone I've recommended it to has either not gotten back to me about it or hated it. So maybe it's not for everyone.



The show centers around 4 friends: Toad, Mole, Ratty, and Badger and their "adventures". I say "adventures" because most of the episodes consist of Toad doing something incredibly stupid, Badger scoffing at Toad, Ratty talking about the River and Mole making jam. I love it because it is so incredibly simple and a tad bit boring.. And the sets are precious!

I hadn't even gotten through all of it! There were five seasons of it! Five! Each with at least 12 episodes. I'm really upset with Netflix for only having it in their queue for a few months. So rude.

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It only took three days after it ended before I decided to order the book by Kenneth Grahame online. I bought the Puffin Classic version of it on Amazon to add to my growing collection of Coralie Bickford-Smith designed Penguin Classics.

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I've only just begun reading, but I'm already feeling better about not being able to watch the television series anymore.

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-Becca

p.s. photo layouts with the cropped corners provided by pugly pixel. She has great freebies and tutorials for anyone interested in learning photoshop!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Movie Monday - Bunny & the Bull

Bunny & the Bull, starring Edward Hogg, Simon Farnaby, and Madeleine Worrall.

I actually really love this movie, but I feel like I haven't loved it long enough for it to become one of my favorites. I watch my favorite movies & tv shows hundreds of times, sometimes three times within a day. And until I've done that for a long period of time, it's hard to categorize it as anything other than a good movie that I liked. I'm bad about being really into something for months and months and then suddenly never wanting to look at it again.

I think this movie could easily be a movie I love and want to re-watch forever, but I also thought that about Little Miss Sunshine and I was wrong.

The movie starts off introducing you to Stephen Turnbull, an obsessive compulsive shut in who hasn't left his apartment in a year. Through a series of flashbacks all re-enacted within the walls of his apartment, the story leading up to his eventual isolation from the rest of the world is slowly revealed.


The movie is really beautiful visually. Using stacks of newspaper, snowglobes, and other items from Stephen's cluttered, albeit organized apartment, we see him travel across Europe with his best friend, Bunny.  And the story, while truly funny and a bit bizarre, is ultimately very heart-wrenching and relate-able.


The humor is similar to The Mighty Boosh, if you've ever seen it on Adult Swim. If you haven't, I highly recommend it. It's British humor, (which is apparently different from American humor?) so take that into account I suppose. I don't really know, funny is funny to me but maybe I'm dense. Granted, I recommend lots of things to my friends and it's always hit or miss. Either my tastes are really eclectic or my standards are too low? Whatever, I like what I like, no apologies made.


It's not family friendly though, I'm pretty sure you see Bunny's privates in a scene but I didn't really commit it to memory so I can't guarantee that. But there is quite a bit of "foul" language (haha) and other stuff.


But ultimately, the movie is really beautiful and touching, while still being really funny. It explores the complexities of friendship and the strange happenings of life, while telling a cute love story.


It's available on netflix now or, if you're feeling daring, you could always roll the dice and purchase it on Amazon.

Let me know if you check it out. I'd love to know what you thought of it!

-Becca

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Outfit Post + Wine & Cheese

French Navy by Camera Obscura on Grooveshark

Well, finally back home and settled. I've technically been home since Monday, but I hadn't been in the mood to even attempt a post about anything. I spent the better part of the week cleaning and organizing my apartment in preparation for a Wine & Cheese Party we had on Friday.


Everyone brought a wine and a cheese and we played a game of 20 questions. Actually, I don't know what the game is called to be honest. It's the one they play in Marie Antoinette and Inglorious Basterds where you have a noun (person, place, thing) written on a piece of paper on your forehead and you try to guess which one you are.

I really didn't take any photos since I was busy cutting cheese or wrangling Coco. It was really fun and it was nice getting to see everyone (esp Taylor, Katy & Catherine)! Can't wait for the next one.

I also didn't dress up for the party at all. In fact, I wore my ugly sewage green pocket tee with holes in it and some jeans. Fanciest host ever.

So here's an outfit I'm wearing today while I sit inside and paint. I haven't really had the chance to dress up since I was working Valentine's Day and I didn't want to look like an idiot decked out in red and pink the night after. I'll probably end up taking the tights off but for now it's fine.

dress: asos curve, tights: ebay, shoes: nine west


This is one of my favorite dresses. When it first came out on ASOS Curve last year, I couldn't afford it and it sold out super fast. Eventually people returned ones that didn't fit and I snatched one up. It's honestly a little too big for me but it just makes it more comfortable.

The tights are from a seller on ebay. You'd be shocked how difficult it is to find a pair of heart print tights for women over a size large. I seriously looked for three months and these just randomly showed up one day when I was scouring ebay. They're from the UK though, which explains a lot. The people designing American plus-size clothing have terrible, out-dated taste. But I'll talk about that another time...

As for the shoes, they're from Nine West Outlet. My sister works at an outlet in Houston and always gets the BEST deals! I'm pretty sure with her discount these were around ten dollars at most. The women in our family have predominantly Nine West brand shoes thanks to her job. Thanks Kait!


The only drawback to wearing this dress is I hate wearing tights. I think they're super cute but they drive me up a wall. And right now it's too cold to throw on a pair of bike shorts underneath (that's right I said bike shorts, I wear bike shorts under my dresses)instead.

But for sitting around the house it doesn't really matter, I just thought the tights would be a nice touch since they're new and have hearts on them!


Here are some comparable options similar to what I'm wearing:
dress: 1 /// tights: 1 2 /// shoes: 1 2 3

Oh, and sorry for the random snippets of an outfit, it looks pretty but you don't really get a good straightforward look at the outfit. I'm without Ryan at the moment and I still don't have a remote for my camera so taking photos is quite the challenge. Next time will have more of a full body shot.

-Becca

P.S.
If you haven't ever heard anything by Camera Obscura, you're missing out! Check "French Navy" out at the top of the post.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Instagram

I'm stupid in love with my new iphone, so instagram was the first app I downloaded when I got it for Christmas. I've never had a smartphone so the novelty of the internet and other technology fitting in my pocket was a bit too much for me to handle. I went app crazy.

I've settled down a bit now but I still use instagram most of all.








My username on instagram is ribbonsincurls if you want to follow me!

Review: Lush

A few weeks ago, Taylor and I visited Lush for the first time. I'd been reading great reviews about their bath bombs online and I'm always looking for something to help with my anxiety so I thought maybe it was worth looking into.
Before I go any further, I'd like to say that I'm not a shopper that requires much attention. I like knowing that there's an employee available to help me if I really need it, but I like looking around on my own and trying things on my own. I also have issues with strangers touching me...so, there's that.

The employees at Lush were very attentive. I would say almost too attentive. The guy who helped me was very friendly, but I really didn't feel comfortable having someone slather things all over my arms. I felt like I constantly needed to be apologizing despite not asking for his help. If I decide to purchase anything again, I will most likely purchase online because it was just a little too much for me. I felt trapped and afterwards one of my arms was kind of greasy and smelled really strongly and the other felt normal which actually felt really off-putting.

Aside from my anxiety about ever returning to a physical Lush store, I really loved most of the things I purchased.

My Loot (clockwise from left): MMM Melting Marshmallow Bath Melt, Helping Hands sample, Heavanilli Massage Bar, R+B Hair Leave in Cream sample, Twilight Bath Bomb, and Honey Trap Lip Balm
MMM Melting MarshmallowBath Melt

I picked this up after reading Charlene of Dainty Dresses review. She mentioned that you should use the whole thing to get the full effect. But, because I'm cheap and stubborn I used half at first and then realized you really should use all of it in one go and added the second half.

MMM Melting Marshmallow Bath Melt - $7.95

It made the bath water sososo soft and the prettiest pale pink and it smelled very lightly of marshmallow. There weren't any bubbles (which I prefer) and it left my skin feeling really soft and moisturized.  I really loved the sweet scent and the way it made the water ridiculously soft. It fizzed a lot slower than Twilight did, but I didn't mind it at all. It was a really nice way to start my day and feel like I'd pampered myself.

I would definitely buy it again but hopefully Lush will have a sale or deal soon since $7.95 is kind of a lot for me.
Twilight Bath Bomb

This was by far my favorite item. I loved how it smelled like ovaltine and lavender. Normally, I can't stand lavender but this was just subtle enough and the ovaltine complimented it in just the right way that I actually really liked it. So much so, that I'm planning on buying the perfume!

Twilight Bath Bomb - $5.95

When it hits the water it spins and fizzes, turning the water a dark purple and leaving streaks of pink and blue foam on top. I didn't see the blue glitter in my tub afterwards, but my bathroom is dimly lit (cave) so that probably had a lot to do with it. It's supposed to be calming so I waited until I'd had a particularly stressful day before using it. It was super relaxing. I don't know if it was just a placebo effect but I felt way better afterwards.

This is the item I will most likely repurchase from Lush since I loved how it smelled so much.

Heavanilli Massage Bar

This massage bar is supposedly scented vanilla, though I personally think the smell of vanilla is annoying and over-used, this actually smells more like buttercream frosting to me. It's much more buttery smelling than anything else and I really enjoy the way it smells and the way it looks is precious! Which is why I so easily swayed myself into buying it.

Heavanilli Massage Bar - $9.95

This was one of the items that I had slathered on my arm and was more of an impulse buy. I realized I wanted something from their valentine collection and I liked the way this smelled and I figured I might like it since it's essentially lotion in a bar form. I have mixed feelings about it though to be honest. It does moisturize well and it makes your skin soft and it has a nice light smell to it on your skin. Trouble is, I always feel a bit greasy after using it and that is not something I'm fond of. Plus, the massage bar begins to melt in your hands while you're using it, so you can't grip it properly and storing it is a bit of a joke. Plan on using a plastic baggy or using the lush bag it came with for storage. So glamorous.

Overall, will probably not purchase this again because it's just not for me.
Honey Trap Lip Balm & Samples

This lip balm smells heavily of bee wax and a bit of vanilla. It was also a bit of an impulse buy since I wanted to try more than the bath bombs and the only Lush near me is at NorthPark Mall, which if you're familiar with the DFW area at all, you know that it's not close to Denton at all really. So I was attempting to purchase a small range of products since I wouldn't have the opportunity to make it back out for awhile.

Honey Trap Lip Balm - $6.95

Alright, well, there was really nothing special about this lip balm. It mostly smells like bees wax and it doesn't really come off on your finger easily, it has to warm up first which is sort of a hassle when you're trying to swipe on some balm before doing something. If I wanted to spend more than a few seconds on my lips, I would be applying lipstick. Plus, I'm not a big fan of pot balm because I'm a bit of a germ-o-phobe and despite washing my hands incessantly, it still freaks me out a bit.

So, unless you're really convinced this is worth trying, I would recommend spending your $6.95 on something else.

The Samples

To be honest, I haven't really tried these whole-heartedly so I can't give much of a review on either of them but when I do, I'll be sure to post another review.

So, if I take everything I've reviewed and learned anything from it, it's to:

1. Research Lush products before buying them. Impulse buys, while fun in the moment, will cause you nothing but sadness and loss over your $17 you essentially just flushed down the cosmetic toilet.

2. If you plan on visiting a physical Lush store and you also have issues with being touched, let it be known! I'm sure they will leave you alone if you tell them politely that you just want to browse.

Thanks for reading!


P.S. Taylor bought completely different things than I did and recently posted a review of her purchases on her blog, A Thunder Heart. Check it out!