Pinteresting crafts!

While I was home for Christmas, I dabbled in two DIY projects I had my eye on vis Pinterest.

First, the famous "nut" bracelet seen here.
I ended up making two bracelets and a necklace. I am SO in love with these. They are kind of edgy, but they look expensive and shiny (and we all know shiny is important). I'm not going to go through the steps since the original tutorial's linked. This did take some getting used to; It took me a bit to find a twine solid enough to hold the nuts in place. This is all starting to sound a little weird..

Some finished/modeling pics:

Next up: baseball bracelets found here. All you need is an Exacto knife and a baseball! I made these from a baseball that I got from my first tour that has sentimental value. I'm really not going to do anything with the actual ball (it's been sitting in a drawer for almost 2 years), so this project was appropriate. It was a little harder to dig the exacto knife into the baseball than I thought, but not so bad. Now my best friend Tiffany (who was touring with me) and I will have matching sentimental friendship bracelets. Cute, I know:

Side note: It has been mentioned that I chopped up a signed ball for my bracelet. The ball has more value to me as something useful. A thought was to make the other leather part into a cuff, but it seems my excess material from this ball was thrown away while I was away.

Have you made anything on Pinterest lately? I know I'm not alone in my obsession!

NY for the holidays!

So glad I got to go home to NY for the holidays. I surprised my mommy, saw some friends, spent some time in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and cuddled with my pups. The perfect refresher!


Some photos I snapped while home:

My best friends for almost 20 years! We could go forever without seeing each other and it feels like we were never apart. Park Slope, Brooklyn.

This girl was tied up outside of the shelter I volunteer for so I took her to be cleaned up; "Before" and "After" shots!

Cupcake making class at Butter Lane. New York, NY:

 

An authentic LV at a consignment shop in Manhattan -$50. Not the biggest bargain ever-but pretty damn good for Manhattan.

And how could I finish a "Home for the Holidays" post without pictures of the unhappiest Christmas dogs you ever did see?!

And we're back to Louisiana...

"I can't resist the day"

One of my favorite things about New Orleans is that every time I'm here, I discover new things. This time around I'm staying in the suburbs on the east side. I'll go out on a limb and say most tourists don't stay here and don't make it a point to visit. It's really interesting, but sad, because so much of the area hasn't been touched since Katrina. That's 6.5 years. I'm staying right near the abandoned Six Flags, which was one of the places that stuck with me in 2007. I drove up close to it yesterday and then researched it, because I'm sure I'm the first genius who thought it must be a waste of money to let that much equipment go untouched.

It's actually quite an interesting story. I won't start rambling on here (Am I too late?), but definitely check out this site for amazing photos:
 (not my photo->linked)
And Wiki for the full story

Also in New Orleans East is this little gem of a thrift store:

 (looks high-end, eh?)

The women who work here are SO amazingly nice. That alone makes me want to buy everything, but I spotted shoes by: Stuart Weitzman, Cole Haan, and Coach for under $7. I normally wouldn't want to share my secrets with the internet, but I won't be able to visit this spot regularly, plus all the employees I've met are so friendly that their hospitality should be rewarded. Meet my $2 vintage Coach purse (which will get a bath when I go home) and $3 vintage leopard print shirt:

Not bad!

I haven't gone out much since I've been back in New Orleans, but I'll leave you with a shot from the rooftop at Tsunami in Baton Rouge. Another spot I would definitely recommend checking out..

Back to Baton Rouge!

It looks like I'll be spending the next (almost) month in Louisiana!

I spent the past week in New Orleans:

I checked out Kenner, Metairie, and Mid-City to better acquaint myself with new-to-me areas of the city.

I spent my Saturday at The Freret Market, which I fell in love with.

I've checked out some local/craft markets since I've been on tour, and this one reminded me a lot of the Brooklyn Flea on a smaller scale. Freret has truly talented artists offering unique items from gorgeous handmade jewelery, to natural bath/body products, to home decor.
They have live music, and THREE dog rescues with adoptable pups! The atmosphere was amazing and I think it's a MUST do if you're in New Orleans while it's open.

Saturday night took me to Coop's Place in the French Quarter, which my parents have been raving about since they came back. I'm embarassed to say that this was my third time in New Orleans and I have barely indulged in Cajun/Creole. Small, yes. Amazing food, yes.


Sunday was the Saints game. The wind was a little rough, but my event was great! An infamous reality star stopped by our set-up. Is anyone a reality addict, like me, and remember this clip from various "Best Reality Moments" specials?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOpva_iit-8
One of my local staff recognized her, which is great because I wouldn't have. Her daughter is a cheerleader for the Saints, so I assume she goes to most of/all of the home games.

You'll have to excuse my unfortunate appearance.

So, that's my wrap up of (this trip to) New Orleans. Let me know if I've missed anything-I will be back shortly!

"New Orleans ladies..A flair for life, love, and laughter...."

I've been spending the past few days in New Orleans which means I'm a happy girl.
I've done some thrifting, discovering some new areas, and obviously eating.

Speaking of eating, I need to report on these "cake truffles" I made awhile back, which I happen to be really craving right now.

Let me start my saying I'm the worst cook ever.
There are several recipes floating around the internet, but I found this one to be most appropriate for making in a hotel room with minimum...everything. Just try to not eat spoonfuls of the dough..

My method was SLIGHTLY different than the recipe.

-cake mix
-chocolate chips
-1% milk
-condensed sweetened milk
-vanilla extract

I didn't measure anything (blame it on the lack of everything in a hotel). I just mixed my cake mix with the sweetened condensed milk and a few drops of vailla extract until it had a "cookie dough" consistency. I rolled them into balls and put them in the freezer for a bit. If the "dough" is sticky, you can try freezing it or very slightly wet your hands while rolling the balls (thanks, mom).

I also didn't have the ability to use a double boiler (blaming it on the hotel again), so I used a method I learned from working with a chef. I put the chocolate chips with the milk in a bowl. I microwaved the chocolate chips with milk, slowly taking them out and mixing them on occasion. Melting chocolate chips in the microwave with milk ensures you don't burn the chocolate.

The chocolate on the outside never became fully solid-so I'm almost glad I made them in the hotel room and ate them all myself. I'm not sure if this was because the milk was included in the chocolate chips, or because the second ingredient in the chocolate chips I bought was cocoa butter.

 Regardless, these were delicious, easy, and they would be a hit anywhere. I would definitely make them again, but ideally NOT if I'm the only person eating them...

Thanksgiving

Being in Auburn, AL without your family on Thanksgiving is kind of awkward. It's a small town that revolves heavily around the college, which is pretty much shut down on Thanksgiving.

I thought it would be fun to go to Tuskegee National Forest, which is only about 10 minutes away from my hotel.



Time to be thankful for nature, yea? It's a small National Forest, but it was still beautiful and incredibly quiet (probably because we were the only people spending Thanksgiving in a Forest). We went for a short hike through 2 trails:

"Nature awakes to life and activity."

Following the "hike", we munched on some food picked up at Winn Dixie. We decided to spare the turkeys (not worth it if it's not cooked by my dad!), and do a non-traditional feast.

So many things to be thankful for this year. Wish I could have spent Thanksgiving in NY with my fam, but I had a great day in Auburn, too!

Birthday wishes from the South

Yesterday was my mom's birthday and I'm quite sad I wasn't home to celebrate with her:

 

(mom with Tia Torres from Pit Bulls and Parolees on Animal Planet.)

My mom has kind of a funny expression in that picture, but it's the only picture I have of her on the netbook  I travel with. My mom's beautiful and she has the most beautiful skin. I hope I have skin like hers when I'm xx years old (I think I already have more wrinkles on my face than her!).

Speaking of loving dogs, I miss these two:

That's my Riley and Molly. Are they not the cutest pups? (I told you I can use a real camera!)

HI to my new followers. I assume Kate from -Every Mile a Memory- sent you all over (thanksya Kate<3). Introduce yourselves!!