i dress my dogs up for halloween.

I'm one of those people. I know, it's bad. It might even be animal cruelty. But the pups don't seem to mind! Here are some photos of them all dressed up: Liney was a lobster and Patty a mermaid.

I think they look precious.

I had to improvise a little with ribbon, especially for Liney's outfit, because he was too darn big! The ribbon matches pretty well, I think. I got the outfits last year at Target after Halloween on clearance. Large is the biggest that the outfits got, but that wasn't quite big enough for him. But we fixed it, no problem.

When we came inside, they didn't put up a fight about their outfits - they just sat down. I think that means that they like the outfits and want to wear them more often... right?!

sephora friends & family finds

I got some goodies last week from Sephora that I thought I'd share. I love reading product reviews online when I'm looking for new things. First up - Lorac Double Booked Full Face Collection. It looks nicer in person than in my not-so-bright bathroom. My camera skills are clearly lacking.

The case comes in a bigger case with an elastic band inside, which is a great presentation. There's a cute buckle on the outer box, which is super cute. It would make a fantastic Christmas present for a makeup lover. The inside has eye shadows, two glosses, and two blushes on this 'page' and then the same thing, with brushes instead of glosses on the second. I should have known it would flip like a book by the title, but I didn't realize that. It's kind of annoying. But the colors are great (very pigmented) and overall, I really like it. Other Sephora purchases were the Two Tone Portfolio Brush Set (great), Makeup Forever HD Invisible Cover Foundation (awaiting review - so far, so good), shu uemura eyelash curler (save your money), and some boring stuff like brush cleaner. You can still use the Friends & Family discount through Nov. 2nd! I'm going to get some Christmas presents closer to the end of the sale - they'll still be within the return window. Is that cheap? I'll call it thrifty.

My other recent makeup purchase was some eye makeup from the Christian Siriano from Victoria's Secret line. Remember him from Project Runway? If I was skinny enough, I'd dress up like Christian for Halloween and say his catch phrases all day. Maybe next year.

I got the Kajal eyeliner in Eclipse (the only color - a deep brown) and the silky eyeshadow in Sahara. The packaging is super cute and Egypt-inspired. And fierce. If you watched PR you get the reference. If not, sorry. Carry on.

See the inside? Super cute. But you throw it away so the fun is short-lived. The gold tone to the cases is fun and the eyeshadow is shaped like a pyramid.
This is the inside - hard to see in my bathroom! The eyeline is different than any I've ever used. It's very creamy and easy to apply. The eye shadow is nice too - not as pigmented as the Lorac but nice nonetheless.
My newish resolution is to look nicer makeup wise. It might sound vain but I had seriously been using the same colors every. darn. day. And my foundation was always looking rough my the end of the day. (Sorry Clinique, just sayin'.) I'm trying to mix things up. Not crazily made up with wacky colors, but professional with a twist. Here's to it!

homemade applesauce: sugar free and it doesn't taste like crap

Today I made applesauce! I was initially looking for a recipe using a crock pot, but after I started looking, I found one that only cooks the apples for an hour and then uses a food mill. I was hooked when I read 'food mill.' I registered and received one for the wedding, but had never taken it out of the box. Wishful thinking? Just a little.

If you have a food mill, all you need to do is cut up the apples into 1/2" chunks (don't peel or core them ahead of time - just remove the stems). Cook the apples on low for about an hour or until they're mushy. Stir them a couple times so they don't stick to the bottom. Don't worry if you see black on the bottom - it's sugar from the apples.

Run it through the food mill (the mill will separate the peels/seeds/other unsavory stuff), and you've got applesauce. Don't worry, I didn't forget any ingredients - all your need is apples. No sugar, Splenda, etc. Trust me! Whenever I see 'sugar free' products at the store, it scares me, but this is good. Really. Here's my photo commentary:

Wash your apples! Mine had lots of filmy stuff on the outside. I went with McIntosh apples because they were on sale in big bags at the store. This is not a recipe for pretty, large Costco apples. Regular apples are just fine.

This is a shot of the apples cooking away. I added them to the pot as I was cutting them instead of cutting them all and then cooking them. It saves time and doesn't really matter in the end.
My knife of choise is a Wusthof 4.5" Sankotu.
Here's a shot of the food mill blades. Medium on the left and fine is on the right.
I used the coarse one for a chunkier applesauce.
This is a good shot of the food mill. This is from Crate & Barrel and is now on sale in the Outlet section. I think it works well - based on my one time use!

This is what the apples look like in the food mill. You turn the handle and the cooked apples start to go through the sieve.

The feet suspend the mill over your bowl of choice. This one is from a set from C&B and they're great. I try to use glass over plastic whenever possible.

This is the finished product. Before you stay "ew!" just remember that it's just apples - no lemon, no sugar, no coloring. It's not the shit you buy at the store. But it's good, it's HEALTHY, and it doesn't taste like Splenda. Splenda tastes funny to me. I read about super tasters one time and I have some of the characteristics, but I love Diet Coke and that's supposedly a food that super tasters don't like, so who knows.

Here is the finished product. I got out some of my grandma's cut glass dishes that she used to use for applesauce and fruit with dinner. The verdict? I like it, the husband not so much. Why? He doesn't like the texture. I left the peel on and though I don't mind it, the small bits aren't appealing to him. Next time I might make it without to see what the texture and color are like without it. But I will make it again!

frame up: artscow.com prints

Last week I told you about artscow.com and their marathon shipping, and now I have the finished products to share! Last Saturday at Costco I picked up two 2-packs of 11x14 frames. They had a few choices, but I went with plain black with a bevel. They were $19.99 for 2, which is a sweet deal. The frames actually included mats to be able to frame 8x10 prints, but since I had bigger prints, I skipped it. They're nice mats, not the fake kind that are really pieces of heavy paper instead of mat board. This is the finished product in the bedroom. Obviously, the husband measured and hung them since they're level and aligned. I really like them. The cheapo prints are still a little bubbled underneath but you can't see them unless you're really close. Total cost? $11.24 each including the prints, which is a crazy good deal. The master bedroom is definitely a work in progress (blah beige paint!) but we're getting there.

over the top meme

Cheryl at My Sweet Life gave me an award and tagged me to complete the following question/answer. The rules: use only one word, pass along to six favorite bloggers, and tell 'em you did so.

1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Your hair? BLONDER

3. Your mother? lovely

4. Your father? practical

5. Your favorite food? carbs

6. Your dream last night? nada

7. Your favorite drink? beer

8. Your dream/goal? success

9. What room are you in? bedroom

10. Your hobby? martha-ing

11. Your fear? boring

12. Where do you want to be in six years? unknown

13. Where were you last night? home

14. Something that you aren't? tall

15. Muffins? top

16. Wish list item? acadia

17. Where did you grow up? mellencamp

18. Last thing you did? dinner

19. What are you wearing? black

20. Your TV? office

21. Your pets? peanuts

22. Friends? far

23. Your life? busy

24. Your mood? blah

25. Missing someone? always

26. Vehicle? blue

27. Something you're not wearing? socks

28. Your favorite store? crew

29. Your favorite color? turquoise

30. When was the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? week

32. Your best friend? smart

33. One place that I could go over and over? beach

34. One person who emails you regularly? mom

35. Favorite place to eat? expensive

liney's gotcha day

Both of our dogs are rescues, so we aren't sure when their birthdays are. October 4th marks the 3rd year that we've had Linus. It's hard to believe! It seems like yesterday that we saw him on the dog rescue website and met him. He was such a timid dog at first but he acclimated to us and now he's not afraid at all. He doesn't even get out of the way when I vacuum, silly boy.

I stopped by the dog bakery to get a sweet treat for him. Yes, dog bakery. Can you even believe there is such a thing? Yeah, I can't believe I shop there. I'm a sucker. So anyway, I got him this: It's a dog birthday cake! Complete with dyed sesame seeds 'sprinkles.' And because I believe in equality, Patty got a pumpkin treat too. That's the heart on the right. He wasted no time in wolfing it down. And in a few seconds all that was left was a few crumbs.

And then he relaxed and enjoyed a belly rub. We're so lucky to have you, Liney!

home tour continues: my closet

The next stop on the unofficial home tour is my closet. We have a 4 bedroom house, no kids, and when we moved in the husband promised me a giant closet all to myself. Obviously, I took him up on it! We consider this a test run for the closet that will eventually go from the master to the empty attic space over the garage. Everything in here is built to size by the husband. Here is what you see when you walk in - the shoe racks are along the back wall:And this is my helper for the photo tour: As I was taking photos this guy sat in the middle of the room, ready for his photo to be taken. Such a sweet boy! This is the right side, with hanging pants and sweaters: Here's a close-up of a cubby on the right. I couldn't find a good jewelry solution to fit the space, so I bought a couple of Portofino jewelry storage pieces from the Container Store. (Use code 'savenow' to save 20% on everything right now!) I bought a big jewelry box, two drawers, and two cubes, and it fills the space and provides storage. The brown blends in with the wood too. This is my solution to store chunky necklaces. I found the jewelry tree at Pottery Barn a few months ago. It's nice to have things out where I can see them, and in the closet I can do that, whereas in the bedroom I'd rather have those things put away. You might notice that behind the tree I have a glass mosaic... ...which I made in art class in high school. Recognize the image? Yeah, I was a little obsessed with the Dave Matthews Band. I still kind of am, though their newer albums are a little lackluster to me. My closet is a good place to still see it but keep it out of the main areas. It took a loooong time to make. This is the space behind the real closet door in the room. It's immediately to the right as you walk in. I found a big mirror at TJ Maxx and I have two robes on hooks. And in the closet I have big bins with clothes in storage. This is the left side of the room that has button downs, tops, and jackets, suits, and dresses. And purses and hats on the top shelves. The step stool is from the Container Store and it folds flat - very handy! I need it to reach the top shelves, so it's out almost all of the time. This is a painting my Great Aunt L made for me when I was born - it's Tenderheart Bear! She is an awesome artist and I'm lucky enough to have a few other pieces in the house.

Here are two of the bins I was talking about - I'm in transition between summer and winter clothes. Here's a photo of the listing when we started for reference - the room is definitely smaller with the shelving but hey, it's well used.

And that concludes my closet - often it's my favorite room in the house!

hard candy and wal mart, oh my

This evening I ventured to Wal Mart to find the new Hard Candy line. I say new because it's new to Wal Mart, but now new new. I had a bottle of blue Hard Candy polish back in the day, and I thought I was pretty hot stuff. It was middle school, after all. I desperately wanted to be Cher from Clueless, but that's another topic altogether.

The Baked Eyeshadow on left is Rock N Roll, and the one on the right is Love Bug. They're pretty big containers in person. The lipstick is 201-Flirt. I'm not crazy about the juvenile packaging but the color is a nice light pink shimmer. I also got an eyeliner that I accidentially left out of the photo - it's the Take Me Out Liner in Chop Suey, which is turquoise.

They're not my usual colors, but that's a good thing. I'm trying to branch out and not wear the same thing every day. I'll have to report back with how they work. Next time though, I'll probably take advantage of Wal Mart's 97 cent shipping on beauty products - I hate Wal Mart. I try to avoid it because ours is always crazy busy and messy. For cute makeup, I'll make an exception though!

I hit up the mall quickly to return a blazer to Banana and then look around the Gap. They emailed a mystery coupon so I had to see what mine was! I got $10 off my $40 purchase. I also stopped at Anthropologie and picked up these cute earrings:

They're gold with faux aquamarine. They're so cute! I also got two long necklaces that I can layer together or wear seperately. I can't find the on the website and my photo is fuzzy.

So that's my boring post of the day - I'm going to try my new makeup!

one of those costco people

I'm officially one of those people that I used to judge. Those people milling about the giant boxes of cereal and pasta, loading up like they've giving the shit away. Those people with their carts so full of Costco crapola, you'd think that the apocalypse was upon us.

Yup. That's me. I had this realization as I was pushing my giant ass cart throughout the store on Saturday by myself, which meant I had to navigate the heavy beast through the crowds and try not to run over any small children. I think it was the fake Ugg boots that pushed me over the edge. Yes. I'm now the {not so} proud owner of what I like to call Fuggs, but they are oh-so comfy. And they were $35, which is a steal. They're almost the exact same as Uggs. I wonder if they're made in the same factory. Go ahead and judge me, I don't even care. I'll have warm feet around the house this winter!

I also got 300-count sheets for $60, a tub of cookie dough for $5, cases of Vitamin Water for $12, and photo frames - 2 11x14s for $20. And a bunch of other stuff.

If you can't beat em, join em... now get your kid outta my way because you know I can't see over my full cart.

wild things in high definition

On Friday, the husband took me to see Where the Wild Things Are at an IMAX theater. He got the tickets about a month ago and was excited to see it.

It's too bad that the tickets he bought were for an IMAX at a theater on the opposite side of town. Luckily, he realized in enough time for us to leave and be there as the movie was starting!

Overall, I did like the movie. The special effects were amazing and of course, the screen and detail with IMAX are crazy real. However, it left me kind of down. It's hard to take a 20 page book into a hour and a half long movie, and there really wasn't an 'ending' to the story. That said, if you remember the book and like special effects, you should see the movie. If you remember the drawings of the charaters from the book, the movie really does them justice.

artscow.com - good deal or bad idea?

About a month ago, I saw a deal for artscow.com - 4 10x14 prints for $4.99 shipped. I'd never heard of the site, but it didn't look half bad - I mean, it's cluttered and busy, but I figured it was fine. I uploaded 4 photos from our wedding, gave my credit card number, and didn't think much about it.

My order was placed on September 16th, and shipped on September 18th. The site said to allow 6-12 business days. So I waited.

And waited.

Around the first week of October, I looked on their website for contact information so I could give them a call. I found a 800 number, a Hong Kong long distance number, and a US address - no number. I started to wonder. I emailed them and received a choppy email telling me to wait longer. So I did, and finally, FINALLY, this week, on the 14th, almost a month after ordering my cheapo prints, I received them.

And the verdict? The quality is okay, but they came shipped in a tight roll and they're currently under some heavy books to flatten them out. The paper is on the thin side. I plan on putting them in some new frames on our photo wall upstairs. I'm not sure if I'll use the site again. They have crazy good deals, but a month to receive my order?! I have a feeling some people around the holidays will be left empty-handed when it comes to their gifts!

family room overview

I love seeing other bloggers' home tours! Although our house is definitely a work in progress, I thought I'd share some rooms that we're working on. This is our family room. It looks out to the backyard, and you can see our shed's window outside in the middle of the picture below. The wall color is Hubbell House Clayo from Valspar.This is what you see when you walk in. The floors have just been replaced and as a result, we don't have baseboards installed yet. I'm currently looking for an area rug. The wood is gorgeous but needs protecting from our animals. When you walk into the room, this is on the wall on your right. It's an original watercolor of peonies. It used to be in my parents' house, but my mom gave it to me. It's my favorite piece of art in the house. Peonies are my favorite flower!

This is our TV cabinet. I've had it since I lived in a condo solo. I now notice that the cabinet is not aligned with the frames above - the cabinet needs a little shove to the right. The prints above were from TJ Maxx and the husband got me the candle holder when we were dating. It has a reclaimed piece of wood with a bunch of votives. And you can spy my Wii Fit - which has not been touched in some time. Maybe if it promises not to go "oh!" when I step on, I'll get back into things. This is the right side of the room. It has two chenille chairs and a little table. I got the barn stars at TJ Maxx. I would like to take this time to thank the builder of this house who installed the thermostat in such an awkward place. No woman would ever put it there. Not to be sexist, but you know a man did it, come on now. This is one of my least favorite things about the house - the fireplace. It is brick but has been painted a fuchsia color. In some light, it reminds me of Barney the dinosaur. It's double sided into the kitchen, but that side is painted white. The bookcase was wood when we moved in but I painted it white. There are books and photo frames on the bookcase, along with a set of wood drawers that my dad restored. They were my grandfather's. This is a close up of the oil painting on the mantle. It's also from my parents' house. I have been debating reframing it but the painting is from the late 1800s and I think the frame is original. I doubt it's Antiques Roadshow material but hey, you never know! You can also see a duck decoy on the right. It's from my grandma's house. I remember it on her bookshelf next to her fireplace and it reminds me of her. Notice a trend? Ha!

So that's our family room. We still have things to do, like:

• prime and paint window trim
• install painted baseboards
• reorganize bookshelf
• add some accessories
• paint brass on fireplace glass with high temp paint
• paint or replace mantle on fireplace
• find a rug both the husband and I agree on - DONE

Whew, that makes me tired! I'll keep you all updated on our progress.