Friday, February 27, 2009

This Fri just got a little more FAB!

WOW. I never win anything... but I just won this:



over here:




A big THANK YOU to one of my favorite blogs! This made my day :)

Fabulous Friday!



Have you seen Seleta's fabulous fridays? They make my Fridays brighter. Today she is giving away an amazing prize, so be sure to go check her out!

My fabulous friday post today is about fabulous paint colors that I'm crushing on now.


Blue Gray #91 farrow-ball.com via Domino



Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter via Suzie @ Decorpad.com



Glidden in Quiet Light via Domino (I apologize, I've posted this image before)



Benjamin Moore Deep Indigo via Suzie @ Decorpad.com



Benjamin Moore Spring Dust via Paint Guru @ Decorpad.com


& speaking of paint, I have a cute little paint-related giveaway coming up soon! I'll post it on Monday so be sure to check back then :)

Thursday, February 26, 2009

FREE designer jeans!

Today I wore my new free pair of Earnest Sewn jeans. Check them out:



I wore the wrong top to show them off, but I love them. I got them at Ruelala.com. Every time a friend of yours signs up and purchases something, you get a $10 credit. These jeans were discounted at $55, and I had enough credits for them to be free - score!

Info I copied from the site: Rue La La is an exclusive online destination of premier brand, private sale Boutiques that are open just two to three days each. Joining is free, but you must be sponsored by an existing Member.

Trust me - I don't work for the company, it's just that awesome. Today's boutique was Marc by Marc Jacobs! Swoon.

To sign up, click here at Ruelala.com/friends and type in my email address: brynalexandra@gmail.com

Thinking outside the Dresser

I'm not typically a fan of wall decals. I had to make an exception when I stumbled upon a new way to use them.... on dressers!


{country living}



Aren't these fun? And the best part - if you get sick of it, you can always peel them off and try something new.


I did a little make-believe of an inexpensive, fun dresser for your inspiration.

I picked the simple Kullen dresser from Ikea ($59.99). I thought it would be pretty painted in a light blue; this one is Handkerchief by Martha Stewart. Then I picked these awesome poppy decals (I love poppies!) in a bright California sunshine golden yellow ($30).

The whole project would cost you around $100*, not too bad for a brand new dresser with tons of personality!

*If you want to do the project for even less, check out Craigslist of junky old dresser that are practically given away. You could probably keep the project under $50, all you'd need is a new coat of paint!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

I got nothing but pretty pictures for you today...











{images from domino & design inc}

Monday, February 23, 2009

Your Questions - Answered!

I had fun seeing all your questions for me... hope you enjoy the answers!

What is your favorite moment of everyday?

My favorite moment of everyday has to be in the morning... Matt gets up and leaves the house very early - 5 am if he's going to work out and 6 am if he doesn't. My alarm goes off at 7, and I am out of bed around 7:30 - a good hour and a half after Matt leaves for work. My favorite part of the day is when Matt says goodbye to me. First he puts Charlotte up on the bed in his spot and says goodbye to her. Then he comes around, takes my earplugs out (he snores and I'm a light sleeper). He then kisses me goodbye. Sometimes I wake up and say bye back, other times I'm too unconscious to say anything. But I always know when he leaves. Almost everyday I turn over and put one hand on Charlotte's warm, soft fur, and then I fall back asleep for another hour (so nice!). This little routine is my favorite part of my day!

I want to know more about your hair! It's adorable. How did you have it cut, what do you use for styling, etc?

Thank you! I got it cut after seeing this fellow blogger's hair. It was so cute, so I printed a picture and took it to my hair girl. I've been cutting it like this ever since! As for styling, I'm pretty cheap so buy all my hair products at Target. I wash and condition my hair with Suave's Sleek shampoo and condition. Right out of the shower I wrap my hair, then I put on this awesome stuff:

This stuff is the key to awesome curly hair, I love it! It really works, it smells good, and it's cheap! I then diffuse my hair for literally a minute to activate my natural curl (this step creates my ringlets), and I let it air dry the rest of the way (as you can see in my thrifty threads, my hair is always wet in the morning!)

If you had to eat at only one restaurant for the rest of your life, what would it be? And what would you order?



One of my favorite meals (and restaurants) of all time is a little Mexican place in Dallas. It's called ZuZu. (I just googled and saw that there is also a location in Austin and also in St.Louis!)

I love their cheese enchiladas- they aren't greesy like most mexican places, their sauce is AMAZING and their black beans are to die for. They also sprinkle queso fresca on their plates, which is like icing on the cake. I could have this meal over and over and over. I really miss that place...

What brought you to California? I thought you mentioned at one time, that you grew up in OK.

I grew up in a suburb of Dallas, Texas. My grandparents lived in Oklahoma and we often visited. I then went on to go to college at the University of Oklahoma. It was then, in college, that I decided to move to California.

My husband's family moved out to California while my husband (then boyfriend) and I were freshmen. We visited them often out here and I fell in love with Southern California. We actually broke up, and I still made the decision to come out here post graduation. But alas, we got back together and came out here together. I moved into a place in Los Angeles, and he moved in with his parents. Los Angeles got old fast for me, so we decided Orange County is more our pace. What actually made me decide to move here was the weather - it really is perfect, like they say. Also, the hills. I spent my very young years in Boulder, CO and because of that I'm nastalgic for hills.

(However after being here for 3 years, I have to admit I miss rain, lightening and an occasional snow day. I also am starting to hate how ridiculously over-priced things are. It's been a nice ride while we're young, but we won't be here forever.)

What celebrity do most people think you look like and do you agree?

Once, someone mentioned I looked like Susan Sarandon's daughter, Eva Amurri. It was so ironic because I always thought growing up that my mom looked like Susan Sarandon! I googled her, and I think if I do look like a celebrity, it'd be her.



Are moms allowed to ask, or is that cheating??? If so, what are your top 3 or so best childhood memories?

Yes, Mom, you can ask! :) But you're getting more than three!
- The snow in Boulder. I remember the snow would be so high that our little dog Toby would run into it and disappear.
- The Snow White dress you made me, I LOVED that dress, you did such a good job!
- Blake as a baby. Was he not perfection?
- Your bathroom in Texas.... I could spend hours in there playing with your makeup and jewelry.
- Our backyard in Ohio... and playing in the mud with the boys.
- Remember the awful purple room we had to re-paint? I think it was in Ohio... even at 8 I cared about paint colors ;)
- Taking baths and then going downstairs and sitting by the fire to get warm (in Ohio specifically). I still sit that close to the fire.

I LOVE your style of clothes...where do you thrift?

Thank you! Here in Orange County, I thrift at:

Salvation Army - Lake Forest
Goodwill - Lake Forest
Main Place Christian Thrift - Tustin
Buffalo Exchange - Costa Mesa

I also have tons of Etsy favorites, you can see them all by looking at my Favorites under my Etsy name: brynalexandra

And that concludes your questions!

must.stop.

I seriously need to stop browsing etsy.

I stumbled upon these amazing vintage shoes, and what can I say... I'm a sucker for vintage shoes.





These new babies have been purchased by yours truly. I can't get over that tortoise heel on the first pair! The best part - they were both thrifty purchases: $19 for the first pair and $9 for the second.

The etsy seller has been added to my favorites. The store is appropriately titled "second hand addiction".

Oscar fashion favorites

I know, I know, Oscar fashion is going to be hijacking all the blogs today, but I just had to share my favorites....


Evan Rachel Wood is my top pick... it's so rare that someone can pull of a dress that is the same color as their skin; she did it perfectly. I love the nails, too!


And my second pick is Freida Pinto... the dress pays homage to her heritage and I think she won for "most beautiful".

Thursday, February 19, 2009

This quote is so me!

I just added Door Sixteen to my blogroll... I've loved the blog for a while, but her new white floors made me finally make the add.

I had to post this quote from her blog, though. Because it's so perfectly me. She took the words right out of my mouth!

When it comes to my personal life....

"I’m an awful communicator (and excellent procrastinator) in the best of times!" - Door Sixteen

It's true - I'm terrible at communicating with friends and family, especially when it comes to phone calls. I often never return (nor initiate) personal phone calls or emails... and it in no way reflects how I feel about the person, and it's something I hate about myself.

Anyway, that's just a little tidbit about me... I'm sharing my faults with you. So to make this post have somewhat of a purpose, I thought it'd be fun to make this an open thread for you to ask me anything! One of my favorite bloggers did this same thing, and I loved it (Check it out here).

It can be personal (not too personal), decorating related, food related, fashion related, marriage related, anything really! I'm an open book; I strive to use this blog to help me live transparently (like Darby) and to share my daily life, especially with those who I am so bad at communicating with (parents, brothers, friends).

So here it goes...

Do you have any questions for me?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Pork Tacos



This morning I threw a bunch of things in a crock pot, and out came an easy, inexpensive, good dinner! Here is the "recipe" (I use the term loosely since it's so easy!)

Pork Tacos

In the crock pot, put:

- 1 or 1.5 lb pork loin
- Half a can of low sodium beef broth
- Half a can or bottle of enchilada sauce (I always use Trader Joe's enchilada sauce in a bottle - so good!)
- Packet of low sodium taco seasoning
- 1 small can of diced green chilis

(you could put some garlic in the crock pot, too. I didn't because I love roasted garlic salsa, which is garlic-y enough)

Set on Low for 6-8 hours and it's ready at dinner time! We ate it with salsa, corn tortillas and cheese.

inky love

I am obsessed with dark navy/almost black ink colored!

It all started in this bathroom in a Pottery Barn catalog from either 2006 or 2007:



Then, my obsession grew when I saw this family room in the 2008 Cottage Living Idea Home:





My heart fluttered when I saw these rooms in Domino:





I'm thinking our next Master Bedroom will have to be inky blue/black. How romantic would that be?

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Comfy & Casual Eating

Here's an idea I'm filing away for the future....

I found this picture of a sweet little home in Atlanta on Southernliving.com:



I thought, how sweet is this? I'd love to have an everyday dining/breakfast room like this, that just consists of a love seat and a table. It'd make for really cozy dinners sitting next to the hub. And when you have guests, you can always pull up 2 or 4 more chairs.

If you love this idea, too, check out this little love seat from Target for only $250:

You wouldn't have to worry about stains, and how great would it look with a white table?

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Sewing: The Before

I treated myself to a little "me" time on Valentine's Day and headed out to Joann's Fabric. I was in search for the perfect fabric for Jessica's sewing lessons. I was there for a while looking at all the possibilities. I was drawn to stripes, but I decided against that for my very first skirt. I finally settled on a beautiful linen-look blue-gray fabric. I thought this would create a classic, pretty skirt and it's a good "beginner" fabric.





Click here for Jessica's skirt, and hopefully what mine will look like "after"!

V-day Dinner

Our Valentine's day was great... we didn't do anything out of the ordinary but we did have a great meal.

Halfway through the meal, my husband (who knows me well) said, hey! Take a picture for your blog, this dinner is so good!

So that I did.


(We did light some candles - it was like we were at a restaurant, but we had Char at our feet)

I got the core ingredients from this recipe on Food Network, but I have to say we barely followed it. Matt worked his magic and our dinner turned out so good! I asked him to help me write out how he cooked the meal... here it is:

Lamb with Potatoes & Veggies

Marinade:
1/2 cup red wine

1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
5 garlic cloves, chopped (we use our garlic press)
Fresh Herbs: mint, thyme, rosemary
Salt & Pepper

Ingredients:
6 small lamb chops
baby red potatoes (as many or as little as you want)
olive oil
Fresh Rosemary
Garlic Salt
Emeril's Essance Seasoning
Veggies of your choice

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Place the mixture in a baggie or Corningware with lamb chops. Marinade for 6-24 hours. (We did just 6 hours and it turned out great).

Next, chop potatoes into quarters and boil them until they are soft but not mushy. Drain the potatoes and mix with olive oil, rosemary, garlic salt and Emeril's "Essence" seasoning.

In the bottom of your Corningware place your veggies. We did green beans and carrots. On top of those, place your lamb chops. Place the potatoes around the lamb chops, filling on all the gaps. Then place all the marinade in the Corningware.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

A great love song...

We're currently putting together our wedding album (a year and 5 months later), so I thought I'd share some of my favorite non-traditional wedding photos:





Also, the real reason for this post. I don't often talk music on my blog, but I had to share this song with you, especially with the semi-lame holiday coming up. But you know what's not lame? This song... it's one of my all time favorites (it even made it to our wedding video). In fact, Ben Fold's entire first solo album is amazing.

Please ignore the cheesy photo in the video, put your speakers up, grab your love, and just enjoy :)



Friday, February 13, 2009

thrifty threads


February 12, 2009
thermal: Gap
cardigan: thrifted @ Salvation Army
jeans: Saks Outlet (Joe's Jeans)
belt: Banana Republic


February 13, 2009
turtleneck: Gap
skirt: Delia's from 7 years ago!
tights: Target
shoes: Payless

{Someone asked me in a comment why I always look down - I do it because in the morning I only have time for at most 5 shots, so I don't want to worry about what my face looks like :) I'll try to show more smiles more often.}

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

fabu-less

When I find things on Etsy, I don't really mean to be "shopping"..... but I had to purchase this fabulous vintage dress.

It was on sale for $9! Total: $15 (including shipping). Score.



I love navy blue right now.

I also love the etsy store I bought it from - erinliz - check it out!

While on Etsy, I also purchased a little something for a blog give-away. It was too cute (and budget friendly) to pass up, and I know you guys will love it! As always, don't stray too far... the give-away will be soon!

edit: this picture is not of me - it's the listing image :) I will post a picture of the dress on me when I get it though!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

thrifty threads: Tuesday, Feb 10


February 10, 2009
sweater: Gap
vest: thrifted from Buffalo Exchange
skinny jeans: Heavenly Couture
boots: vintage, ebay


I found a better lit spot today! Here's to better thrifty threads pics from now on.

Eye candy on a Tuesday

Remember I told you I grabbed some fabulous images from Domino? (And am still trying to do so until the site is taken down... I heard maybe in the next couple weeks)

These interior pics have the perfect amount of elegance and simplicity mixed with a bit of eclectic thrown in - which I've decided is just my style. I tucked them away safely in my inspiration folder for the future, and I thought I'd share with you!
















Monday, February 9, 2009

thrifty threads: Monday, Feb 9

I found this awesome dress at Buffalo Exchange. It's H&M so it was inexpensive to begin with, but I thrifted it so it was even less expensive. I also owe the booties & tights combo to Jessica over at What I Wore. She inspired me to stop wearing jeans everyday!


February 9, 2009

scarf: free
dress: H&M thrifted at Buffalo Exchange, $15
tights: old navy, $5
shoes: Payless $28
Total: $48

The lighting is better, but the hair is still wet... but it's all about the clothes anyway ;) Charlotte wanted to make an appearance to show off her inverse mohawk.
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