Web Wins

I used to feel guilty about spending so much time on Pinterest. I probably should still feel a little guilty about spending so much time on Pinterest -- you ultimately end up spending hours finding things that you likely will not look at ever again, much less attempt to cook, build, or style in real life. BUT! Sometimes there are gems on there that are well worth the discovery that you say to yourself, if I hadn't lied on the couch all morning in my U of M sweatpant capris on my laptop, I would've missed on on this.

My primary obsession with DIY's and making things from scratch is not really to be all-natural or anything like that. Although I do greatly appreciate knowing what ingredients are in something I'm eating, if you leave a plate of the chemical storms of horror that I am sure Oreos are in front of me, I will eat them and not think twice. The driving goal behind my missions is to save money. Some things are such a ripoff that it drives me absolutely crazy. We get the bill at a restaurant like Longhorn and I about faint, because that chicken and rice was not worth that much, let alone some beers.

I am all about saving money! Then I can buy more stuff for me that's fun! :) Right, Darin?!?!?

THE BEST FINDS THIS SUMMER

1. Peasant Bread

I am in disbelief at how beautifully this bread turned out. It was so mega easy that I can actually see myself making it on a semi-regular basis for our ordinary bread usage -- sandwiches, toast, anything. You don't have to knead it, and and if you stick the dough in a Pyrex bowl, it can rise and bake in it without any fuss. It was way tastier than I had imagined. Try slicing it up and serving with this outrageously delicious and simple feta dip. These two recipes comprised my dinner last Sunday all by themselves. If you are not culinarily blessed -- try this bread! It's almost foolproof!

A nice buttery, crispy crust!

2. Homemade Laundry Detergent

Way back in the winter time, I made my own powder laundry detergent. And it sucked. I probably should have put all of it in a food processor or blender to make the particles smaller, but I was afraid of my smoothies tasting like baking soda for the rest of my life and left the mix as it was. Chunks of soap would keep not dissolving in the wash (especially since I like a cooler wash to save energy) and would subsequently melt in the dryer and just be a big fat mess. Lame. Luckily, I found this alternative recipe for homemade liquid laundry detergent!

The best choice was buying Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap. I hadn't heard of it until I read this method of making detergent -- it's a really neat company that is fair trade and has all-natural ingredients. And this huge bottle was under $15.00. The amount of soap I used for my huge batch of detergent was like, two tablespoons. I found it at Meijer, so I guess it's pretty mainstream now and at most regular stores.

(Pic from Amazon where you can buy it as well)

I poured my detergent mix in a huge Tupperware bin and just give it a good shake before scooping a cupful into the washing machine, and there you have it! Saving mega dollars and no dyes or irritating stuff, in case you have people with sensitive skin in your life. I feel like a pioneer when I use it and that works for me.

3. Creamy Cauliflower Sauce

Now there is no way to make alfredo sauce with healthier ingredients that won't sacrifice taste a bit. Accepting that fact, I gave the above recipe a try and was really, really pleasantly surprised at how good it was. If you are okay with the mild taste of cauliflower, this sauce is really good! I found myself tasting it over and over when it was heating up just because I straight up liked it. 

I melted a good bit of parmesan cheese into it and mixed it up with some tricolor pasta and grilled chicken and Darin ate it, so that's a healthy meal success in my book! But this sauce's tour de force for me is as the sauce on a healthy pizza. OH MY GOSH! I had it for dinner tonight and it was every bit as satisfying as a real white sauce pizza. I toasted a healthy flatbread (this kind from Aldi, which is really really tasty) and put my cauliflower sauce on, and some chicken and a half cup of mozzarella cheese, and had an awesome under-400-calories dinner that I couldn't even finish.

Melty goodness with pesto chicken on top. 

4. How to Shave Your Legs Less

Yes, please. Where was this tutorial in February where our bathroom was so cold that I chose not to get razor burn from all my goosebumps and just my leg forests thrive? (Ew, sorry that I wrote that.) I only tried the first step, and rubbed my St. Ives Apricot Scrub on my legs and rinsed it off before shaving, and HOLY WOW did it make a difference. So soft and fancy. I am now on an exfoliation mission -- it probably solves many other skin woes. This was one of the few beauty/health tricks I've encountered that actually worked in a noticeable way, not just a placebo effect. I think? Maybe I'm losing it.

Nevertheless, give these four Pinterest discoveries a try. 

Now enjoy photos of what we have been up to lately. 

In my opinion, a sweet shot of the Ambassador Bridge as Darin and I locate a certain rum that my dad wanted that we could only find across the border.

Darin and I enjoyed a nice shower at DTE Energy Music Theater (or Pine Knob, if you prefer) to watch Dave Matthews Band.

Our view from our room at the wonderful Yorkburg Manor Bed & Breakfast. I seriously loved this place. 

Happy to have arrived after a painful, painful many miles over hot sand dunes.

Love the photobomb of my sandal in my hand.

Lake Michigan is very pretty... and very freezing.

Sleeping Bear Dunes is a neat place. I highly recommend not trekking across them to the beach -- next time I will be content to roll down them like the little kids do.

It was sweet to get some fresh air on our anniversary in Williamsburg & Traverse City. We had a great time! 

Shower #2

Can you say "coming up fast"!? Dang. 17 days until my love arrives in Florida, and 20 until we become Mr. & Mrs. It needs to feel as soon as it is -- there's a lot to do that I am twiddling my thumbs about! I always work best under pressure but school is probably a little different than my once-in-a-lifetime day of getting married. :|

I had an absolute blast at my second bridal shower in Tampa! This one was focused on the friends I made while I attended USF, whom I met through Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru, btw), dorms, classes, and all kinds of school-tastic things. My roomies/bridesmaids Lauren and Skylar, as well as one of my best friends Katie, all set up that delightful little apartment at the Pointe that I called home for a year to be a proper English tea party. Everything turned out SO FREAKING CUTE. Lauren borrowed a bunch of tea cups and saucers from her grandma and mom, which were gorgeous and legit china. We hung some cute colorful bunting on the wall over our table of foods:

1. My FAVORITE kind of salad: spinach, romaine, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, almonds, feta, and raspberry vinaigrette. Mmmm. I got thirds of it during the shower, haha.
2. Lemon cake with lemon curd filling and vanilla frosting
3. A fabulous strawberry trifle (keeping with being all British and whatnot), which I didn't really use a recipe for. I just got a sweet $3 clear bowl from Ikea and layered cubed pound cake at the bottom, followed by vanilla pudding, then sliced strawberries, and then whipped cream, repeated a few times with a pretty pattern of sliced strawberries at the top. SOOO yummy.
4. Absolutely not negotiable... tea sandwiches! One had sliced cucumber with cream cheese mixed with seasoned salt (just because it was all we had haha), and the other with my signature chicken salad recipe. I love mixing canned chicken with mayonnaise, spicy brown mustard, Craisins, chopped onion, salt, and pepper. Delicioso.
5. Of course, the classic Girl Scout Punch, but with some cherry limeade soda we found at Walmart and lime sherbet! Talk about YAY!
6. We also did up some homemade sugar cubes! Follow the directions at this tutorial.

The somewhat last minute favors we concocted were these adorable Ikea cookies with soft chocolate hearts in the middle... take a look here. We got some little Wilton-brand treat bags at Walmart and sealed them shut with yarn. Cute and easy!

It was so much fun catching up with friends, especially some I hadn't seen in a while! We had a memories jar where we got to reminisce about fun stories and such. And, without my knowledge, Skylar and Lauren played their own game where they wrote down what I said while opening presents and later presented it to me as what I will say on my wedding night. I haven't laughed so hard in a while -- watch out Darin! I am even weirder than you suspected all along!

It was the most fun and super fancy day. (I look so much taller than my mom! Yay!) I love my friends and am so glad to party with them before the big day arrives! Thank you guys for your love and good spirits!

Love, Lara

Sunday Funday Crafts!

You know what I love about Sundays? That I am able to rest. No one expects you to be incredibly productive on Sundays, so you have the freedom to do so if you are all revved up to get something done, or you can lay back and relax until the next day. I usually like a balance between the two -- doing something that I enjoy energetically but not things that are stressful or unpleasant when possible.

Today I took on a project that I have held onto for quite a while that sounded so much fun. I saw these awesome sandals on Etsy where you can change out the colors of the straps and tie them up differently to create infinite look possibilities. Being curious more than stingy, I wanted to find out if there was a way to hack some ordinary sandals to make them more like the base model for these magical, customizable ones. Let me show you how they turned out!

I bought sandals that were essentially set up like this to begin with:

by Billabong

Mine at the toe had a strap that obviously looked like it was a loop, so that if you cut the strap that goes lengthwise down the longest part of the sandal, it could be pulled out and leave a little loop at the top of the sandal. Having loops on the sides, or a piece that could be glued down to make loops on the sides, is the other thing you need to make your own customizable sandals. Take a look at the real deal on the Etsy shop and see how you need at least one pair of loops on the sides of the sandal to put ribbons or cloth through to make it work. I'd also recommend getting ones of good quality that have comfortable soles so you aren't in pain walking around in them. Got it?

Mine ended up like this after cutting out the parts of the sandal that I will replace with ribbon and gluing down part of the sides to make my own loops:

Those pieces of leather on the sides are secured down with glue specifically designed for durability and able to be used with leather. It was about $6 at JoAnn fabrics. (Use a coupon, they have tons!)

This is what it looks like with ribbon pulled through the loops. Also purchased at JoAnn. I determined that you are best off getting about 3-4 feet of ribbon per sandal, depending on how much you want to be able to wrap it around wherever and however many times you want. You wanna keep them from falling off, you know?

And the end result... (drumroll!)

They are so cute!!! I think you'd have even more leeway to be creative if you had two sets of loops on the sides, one closer to the base of your toes and one back by the ball of your foot. (Again, the Etsy shop has the design down perfectly and is what you want to emulate. Or just buy. For the quality and versatility, those sandals are a pretty good deal!)

I can't wait to buy some lace and other, more colorful ribbons to use, or some thin cloth strips to try out, too! These will be so much fun to change around depending on your outfit. And even better, if you want to make it match something new, just pick up a little more ribbon on your way and slide it through, almost making a whole new pair of shoes for just a couple bucks!

On, and in case you were wondering, my toes are painted with my FAVORITE polish: Kim-pletely In Love, Nicole by OPI. Yes, it is a Kardashian Kolor. (Yes, I spelled those right.) But it is so smooth and the perfect shade of pink, and has the best teeny-tiny blue glitter in it that makes it different. I'll be running out soon -- gotta go get more sometime! I live in a pitiful, girly world. But at least I have pretty toes! ;)

I hope you had a Sunday as relaxing and fun as mine, or some other day of the week to enjoy!

Love, Lara