Day Tripper Top - Embellish

Okay, this is my last update on the Day Tripper Top. This shirt is so cut and universal, I can't stop raving about it. It's also a really great top for beginners!

Don't be afraid to change the pattern up a little bit and have some fun! The orange gingham top, I cut the back into two pieces instead of just one. I like the look it gives! And I just love the gray one! I used a woven fabric on the back and for the pocket. I love how that one turned out as well. I threw the pocket on there so it wasn't so plain in the front. 

Anywho, enjoy the photos! Photo props goes out to Photography Hill! And as always, fabric is from Girl Charlee!

I recently purchased the Soho Top from See Kate Sew. I love it! It's so cute and the lining makes it look really professional. Stay tuned for updates and pictures on that! <3

And in the mean time, happy sewing!!  

San Diego!

Over President's Day weekend, Scott and I went to California! San Diego to be exact... We both had President's Day off from work, so what better to do than go out of town on a three day weekend!

It was a blast! And especially nice to get out of the desert. We did have a few issues with our hotel when we got there. We had three different rooms before we actually had keys to the room we actually stayed in. A little irritating. (Sometimes when you book online, the descriptions are a lie! Which is a little silly really..)

So whenever Scott and I are going to go anywhere and leave in the morning, we have a really bad habit of leaving 2 hours later than we wanted. This was definitely the case. We wanted to get up really early, leave around 630-7, which means we would get to the beach around lunch time...we left 2 hours later... (it's a terrible habit that we are trying to break!) So after we got to Cali, the first stop was the beach! Parking at Mission beach is a pain in the butt in the afternoon. We also walked along the boardwalk. And the weather was perfect.

The next day we went whale watching! That was SO much fun! We saw eleven whales! At one point, it looked like there was a little group of 4 or 5. Scott also was able to get some pretty good pictures of some tail fins! So with whale watching, there are a few tricks. Once you spot the spray, you will most likely see it again in another minute or two. If you see the tail fin, it means the whale is going for a deeper dive and won't come back up for about 5 minutes, maybe a little longer. It was definitely fun spotting them and trying to guess where they were going to pop back up again. I would do it again, and there are deals usually on Groupon!

We also were able to go to the USS Midway museum. Now that is cool! The ship is huge! I would definitely suggest going to see that. This older couple that was in front of us in line let us use their discount pass with them so we got it half off. I think she had a museum booklet pass thing that may allow you to have discounted tickets on a bunch of museums. I definitely have to look into that the next time we go.

We decided to go over to La Jolla Cove, but for some reason when we went, we were permanently in a cloud. It was so foggy you could hardly see anything! It was still pretty, but the cliff looking down to the beach was a little pathetic. You could barely see the waves break at the shore and then farther out was just fog. I would like to drive through there again sometime when it's less foggy. It's supposed to have beautiful sunsets! Next time... Oh, and the parking there is terrible.

The Mormon Battalion Museum was also really neat! I didn't even know it was in Cali until one of my friends mentioned it. It's has a lot of great history and the way they present it is interactive, great for little munchkins! I also didn't know that the Mormon Battalion passed through Tucson! (Where I'm from.) They also where a big instrument in the development of San Diego in the beginning. Pretty cool!

We also went to Balboa Park, which is something that we have to go back to. There are so many museums but you can't go to all of them because it would be so expensive! The zoo is also really close to the park, but we didn't make it there this trip.

Side note, when we were ALMOST to Balboa park, we got rear ended! What's up with that?! Don't worry, no body got hurt. It wasn't the worst news though. We were able to fix another little mark up on the car from a previous incident for a little cheaper! (The bumper was a lot of the cost to fix the initial issue, but then that was covered with insurance, so it made the rest not so bad.) 

All in all, it was a nice little break from Arizona, but never long enough! Maybe one of our next trips will get to be a cruise! (fingers crossed!)

See below for a few photos! :)

Technology: A Help or A Hindrance?

So in my class these last few weeks, we've been working on a persuasive essay. I hate essays and writing papers. They are the worst! But I'd like to share this one that I wrote and then a little more insights that I have as well. It's not the greatest, because I hate writing for school. (I'm so ready for next semester...math!)

Modern technology is simply an advancement of old technology and it advanced so rapidly that society scarcely noticed the significant impact that it has created. It began with the advent of the radio in the early 1900s, and then with the television (TV) in the 1950s. In 1969, the United States NASA program launched a rocket to the moon, landed astronauts on the moon, and returned them safely back to Earth using less computational power than what is found in today’s smart phone. That is remarkable but society now relies heavily on communication, information, and transportation technology to make life faster and more efficient. With this increase of modern technology, has society become too dependent? Is the development of the younger generation being hindered by this increased exposure to modern technology? 

With all things, there are advantages as well as disadvantages and there are many benefits to the increase of modern technology. Some of these benefits include easy access to information, improved communication, improved entertainment, and social networking. There are, however, disadvantages that include a decreasing amount of direct interpersonal communication as a result of increased use of social media and text messaging, and young children relying heavily on technology for the majority of their play, causing possible development delays.  

The conversation of technology and its impact on society’s development is not new; however, with the invention of the Internet and compact portable devices (e.g. cellular smart phones and tablets), technology’s influence is now everywhere. Many studies have been performed to determine whether technology is simply a distraction to children, or if technology is actually impeding a child’s development. One impediment is the evolution of interactive and realistic technology-based experiences, such as Role-Playing Games (RPG) and interactive social media sites. According to a research study performed by Judith Van Evra, a psychologist in Mental Health Care, “technology advances have led to slick and evocative productions in which reality and fantasy are mingled and often indistinguishable.“ A Ph.D graduate from Stanford University conducted a survey of 30,000 gamers that discovered from those surveyed, “nearly 40% of men and 53% of women who play online games said their virtual friends were equal to or better than their real-life friends.” More and more information seems to be pointing out that technology is more than just a distraction to young children. Another study that shows that 12% of boy and 8% of girl video game players exhibit pathological patterns of play, and fit the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) category of addiction. This study also shows that pathological gamers are twice as likely to have ADD or ADHD (Gentile D 2009). As you can see, young people are affected greatly and continue to be increasingly infused with all types of media and technology.  

It seems that a decade ago, children were more interested in playing outside, riding bicycles, playing sports, building forts and scraping their knees. Children back then didn’t require costly equipment or even parental supervision. Family dinners were full of conversations about what went on during the day, now home cooked meals around the dinner table are far less frequent. On top of that, instead of being engaged in conversations with one other, people of all ages are more enthralled with what’s happening on their technological devices. This can be witnessed just about anywhere. It is also evident that children are relying more on technology for their play and entertainment. Children ranging from 0-2 spend 2.5 hours per day occupied by technology, children ages 3-5 spend 4.5 hours per day, and elementary aged children use roughly 7.5 hours of entertainment technology (i.e. TV, video games, cell phones, internet, etc.) per day. Out of these elementary aged children, 75% have devices in their bedrooms (Kaiser Foundation Report 2010). These finding are also causally linked to developmental delays in children (Christakis D). The impact of rapidly advancing technology on the developing child has seen an increase of physical, psychological and behavior disorders that the health and education systems are just beginning to detect, much less understand. Child obesity and diabetes are now national epidemics in both Canada and the U.S., causally related to technology overuse. Diagnoses of ADHD, autism, coordination disorder, developmental delays, unintelligible speech, learning difficulties, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders are associated with technology overuse, and are increasing at an alarming rate. 

Society will continue to gravitate towards a more technological state. It makes things easier, faster and more efficient. Society needs to be more conscious of how technology is affecting the younger generation. More tests and studies also need to be conducted to determine exactly how children are being affected, both positively and negatively. Technology shouldn’t be used as a means to distract kids from other activities in order to give their caregiver a break. Children should be encouraged to actually go outside and play, ride bikes, and develop their creativity and imagination. There is more to life than what is found on a TV, smartphone or tablet. Let’s not allow our children to get trapped in the world of modern technology and ever glowing screens.

It's always interesting to see other families when Scott and I go out for dinner. Just the other day we went to California Pizza Kitchen and as we were leaving, we passed by this family. There were two boys, probably in elementary school, playing on their tablets and all the older kids or adults were focused on their phones. What an interesting family dynamic we have been slowly warped ourselves into. Our use of technology should have more thought put into it, especially when it is affecting our young children. Conversations should be made face-to-face and with eye contact, not the half listening, nodding while scrolling your Facebook or Instagram feeds. I personally don't want my future children spending immense amount of time staring at a screen. There are so many better things to do; going to the park, sports, swimming, hiking, bike riding, imagination, painting, coloring, reading. Or would you rather your kids doing this; Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo, Wii, Candy Crush, Mind Craft, World of Warcraft, Snapchat, YouTube, texting instead of calling, etc. Which do you think will help your child the most in their quest of development? Are you helping them to achieve greatness? Or are you holding them back without even realizing it? (A really good read here)

Steve Jobs, the master behind iPhones and iPads, did you know that he didn't even allow his own children to use iPads? (read the little article here) He said, "My kids accuse me and my wife of being fascists and overly concerned about tech, and they say that none of their friends have the same rules… That’s because we have seen the dangers of technology firsthand. I’ve seen it in myself, I don’t want to see that happen to my kids." Our society is addicted to technology and social media. Can you go a day, let along a week, without using social media and these mind numbing games? Let's try and strengthen the relationships around us by having real interactions! Going out to lunch, inviting another couple over to dinner, sit down and have a real conversation. Let's get to know each other on a more personal level.

True Bias - Hudson Pants

The Hudson Pants have got to be one of my favorite patterns! I've made two pairs but one I wear all the time and the other not so much. Mostly because it's made out of a more spandex material and it's still a little chilly outside for that. But anyway, you can buy the pattern here! (It's a downloadable PDF pattern) It was created by True Bias. I got my fabric from Girl Charlee. I have some purple sweatshirt fabric that I want to make another pair from...but I really want to get some fabric paint and stamp it up first! That way it's not so plain and purple. But I'm pretty pumped about that.

It took me a second to figure out certain parts of the pattern, but that could be because I like to just look at the pictures and ignore all the words that correspond... :) I also chose to opt out of the string tie. Two reasons: first, my button hole function is finicky and I really need to take my machine to get fixed before the warranty is out, which is at the end of this month (yikes!). Second, I wanted to do a yoga waist band style, but the fabric I used wasn't going to work, as hard as I tried to make it work... Too much stretch and not enough give? So I threw in some elastic and I think it's perfect. :) Probably a little thicker elastic next time though.

I call these my Christmas Pants, though I wear them a lot more then just at Christmas time. They are really comfy. Depending on the material you use when you make your own, they can be classy or relaxy! (I chose to be a little more relaxy) Oh and did I mention they have pockets?! And yup, I'm supporting TOMS. <3

Photo props to the lovely Lydia at Photography Hill

Cheers!

 

Sunflowers 101

I absolutely love sunflowers! They are so pretty and happy! I'm attempting to grow some and I am super pumped. These ones are the super gigantic sunflower. If they were in the perfect environment, they would grow up to 16 ft tall with a 10 in diameter for the bloom. That's huge! When I'm at work I sometimes think, "my sunflowers could be taller than the ceiling!" And if all goes well, I will have blooms by the end of April.

I have 12 seeds that I'm trying to sprout right now. I began my little project on February 12th and I already have 3 pretty little sprouts! (Keep scrolling for the progression!) And more are growing. They probably won't reach their full potential because I'm only going to be keeping them in a smaller pot. One day, I would like to have a field of sunflowers and daisies, and of course strawberries everywhere!



I am really enjoying this whole gardening thing. (One of my new found hobbies) It's so fun! And so far my thumb is green. :)

So sunflowers, like its name, need sun. They follow the sun and thrive in full sunlight. They take about 2-3 weeks to germinate and they take 65-75 days to bloom. Another great thing about sunflowers is their seeds! You can harvest them to roast and eat, or use them to plant some more. I'd prefer to just use the seeds to plant some more! In the Phoenix Valley, the best time to plant sunflowers are in-between the months of February-July. The approximate harvest time is 90-100 days, but that also really depends on when the back of the sunflower starts yellowing. (A good sign its about time to cut the flower for harvest) Also, if you are planting them in a garden, some good companies to the wonderful sunflowers are cucumbers, corn, peppers, tomatoes, and soybeans.

This is the little greenhouse I got for my flowers. Just add water! 

See? Ta da! Ready to plant!

2/20/15 Already have some seed activity and only after one week!

2/22/15 The first sunflower is about to fully pop out! 

2/23/15 And one day later, we have a seedling! See the disruption in soil in the second one from the top left?

2/24/15 This is right before I replanted it because the big one was toughing the top of the greenhouse.

2/26/15 Ta da! Look at that?! Four more!

2/27/15 This is the three that are newly planted. Nine more to go! (they are happily under my new grow light!)

I can't wait to see what they look like in a couple weeks! And then in another month! Especially now that I bought a grow light for them, they should have great progress. :) Can't wait for pretty flowers. I also can't wait for the progress on all my other plants! Hooray for springtime!!

Stay tuned for more updates! And check out my instagram for more current updates!

Orchid 101

I love orchids. They are so pretty! One catch... they can be pretty difficult to keep alive. I would know, because I pretty much killed mine and have since been bringing it back to life

Somewhere around March or April of 2014, Scott bought me an orchid! I wish I had a picture, but I guess I forgot to take one... I think I had it at my parents house while we went to New York for the summer, and it pretty much died. At one point it had WAY too much sunlight. (I used to think sun was good, but its bad. However, sunlight is good.) After coming back, I have been determined to nurse it back to life! And reviving it has been quite a process. Orchids are such picky plants. Direct sunlight and the leaves will burn. Too much water and they will rot. Dry air is bad. Not enough airflow is bad. Normal soil is bad... I have my orchid on my windowsill in the kitchen right now and it seems to be doing quite well. You can see in the pictures below!

My first task with this plant was repotting. There were these teeny tiny little bugs in the bark and bugs are never good... So repotting was a must! I used this website for some assistance. The first step is to determine if it needs to be repotted. Bugs should also be on the list because bugs eat roots, which is bad! I also didn't soak my orchid potting mix overnight...just for a couple hours maybe...and I did strain it because you just want mainly the bigger pieces of park and straining/rinsing will help with getting rid of any possible bugs hanging out in the potting mixture!

I think I did fairly okay with my repotting since the orchid is growing a new root!! (New roots come from between the leaves and will grow down. Flower spikes come from the leave and grow up. Also, flower spikes are usually green, not purple like my new root. More about that here or here) My orchid had some pretty nice leaves, and one stunted leaf. Maybe I'll get lucky and there will be a new flower spike in the near future!

Anywho, check out my orchid progression photos. I included the dates of the pictures as well. :) 

Orchid as of 10/09/2014

Orchid as of 10/22/2014

Orchid as of 2/03/2015

Orchid as of 2/11/2015
Repotting

Those roots look so sad! 

Pretty new pot! 

Orchid as of 2/12/2015
New growth! 

Orchid as of 2/21/2015
Do you see that beautiful new root growth?!

Orchid as of 2/21/15

It is just looking so beautiful! I'm excited to see how this thing looks in a few months from now. Stay tuned since I'll probably update again eventually.

Also, be sure to check out my instagram for current updates.

Cheers!

Gardening 101

If you follow my instagram, you may have seen my attempts at growing an avocado tree from a seed, reviving my orchid and trying to grow a baby pineapple into a plant to get another pineapple. It is now time to officially test out how green my thumb is! I went to Home Depot the other day. I was pretty stoked and bought some things to grow and plant, replant, etc.

Here are the things I got at Home Depot:

1. Kellogg Patio Plus (1.5 cubic FT): $5.97 
• There are a lot of different soils out there that will work fine. The gentleman in the gardening department suggested this particular one to me. You get a LOT for a little. He also said that this soil is good for both flowers and fruit/vegetable plants. Win - win
2. Vitamin B-1: $5.98 
• This helps stimulate root growth and helps prevent shock. It's a really great deal as well. For each use, you only use 2 Tbsp's that will be added to a gallon of water. It will basically last a long while. I got it mainly for my strawberry plant (I'll go into it a little more in that post)
3. Miracle Grow Orchid Potting Mix: $4.77 
4. Jiffy 12 Peat Pellet Greenhouse 
• This helps grow seedlings before planting to a larger pot
5. #3 Black Nursery Container (the bigger one): $3.57
6. 8" Newbury Plastic Planter: $2.67
7. 5.5" Glazed Clay Pedestal Bowl: $6.98
8. Strawberry plant (2 little bushes): $3.68
9. Sunflower Seeds (American Giant): $1.58

Here are my to do's for my mini gardening:

1. Replant orchid
2. Plant avocado seed (it has been growing roots from sitting in water)
3. Plant pineapple plant (it also has been growing roots from sitting in water)
4. Pot my strawberry plant
5. Plant my sunflower seeds in the little seedling starter
6. Grow an orange tree from a seed

Since I have so many different plants that I'm attempting or working with, I'll be updating them individually. (I don't really want the posts to be ridiculously long...and I'm sure you don't either.) For my gardening to do list, I will be linking the initial post for each one (once I have posted it) to each number on the list. So stay tuned!

Also, feel free to check out the Gardening tab at the top of the blog to keep updated with everything I've been doing in reference to gardening and planting.  

Come with me on my gardening journey and maybe you will decide to plant some things too!

Cheers!

Weekly Ranting

Recently, I read the most ridiculous thing ever, at least the most ridiculous in the last week... So on facebook, your friends occasionally—or a little more often that you'd like—share or "like" different little buzzfeed stories or something along this nature. I occasionally will read the ones with the lists, mainly out of curiosity. This particular one was 12 Things No Woman Should EVER Do in Front of Her Husband. Naturally this sparked my curiosity because I am married and I was interested to know what this lady thinks I shouldn't be doing in front of my hubby.

Oh my goodness, this was so silly! So after the first couple of them, I didn't even read her reasonings, I was just dying to know what else she didn't think was okay. And apparently after 10 years of marriage, she didn't do any of these twelve things, which I think is CRAZY honestly. Showering, urinating, have babies, laugh until soda came out of your nose, and sleeping are all okay to do in front of your spouse, but here is a list of things that a woman should never EVER do...

1. Be sick to your stomach (the number 2 kind of way)
Okay, what? It's not like anyone would have a choice on this matter, right? Besides, if I wasn't feeling well, I wouldn't hide this from my husband. I wouldn't appreciate him knowing so if I were to need anything, he would be able help. Obviously I wouldn't make him stay in the bathroom with me... unless he really wanted to. lol

2. Pick your nose
Stupid. Just stupid. I won't pick my nose in public with people watching, but I'll totally do it in front of my hubby. No shame.

3. Clip your toenails
This is also stupid. There is nothing wrong or gross about clipping your toe nails or any nails. I'm pretty sure I've clipped Scott's nails once or twice. But it's only gross if you leave your clippings everywhere.

4. Pick a wedgie 
Really??

5. Floss your teeth
Also stupid.

6. Shave your face (for exfoliating or for removing hair)
She thinks you should NEVER let your husband see you do this. Personally, I think shaving your face as an exfoliant is kind of weird. If you have hair on your face, so what? You shouldn't have to hide it from your spouse who is supposed to love you for everything that you are, flaws and all.

7. Pop your pimples
Stupid. I bet there are a lot of couple that assist each other on this one. Sometimes there are hard to reach ones and what's better than to ask your trusty sidekick to help?

8. Belch
I'm sure this would be annoying for anyone if it someone did it ALL the time. But still, I think it's stupid.

9. Remove any kind of hair
Stupid.

10. Poop
Stupid. What, are you ashamed? It's your spouse. No big deal.

11. Drive badly
Also stupid. It's not like people drive badly on purpose. (unless you are naturally a really bad driver) Besides, I don't see how this is really that big of a deal.

12. Criticize his "manhood"
This really is just stupid because why would anyone do this anyway? This is a no brainer.

SERIOUSLY? Stupid. I was under the impression that when you get married to your eternal companion, you can be 100% yourself and 100% comfortable with them. I don't think there should ever be anything you can't do with your spouse. I mean, I must be a terrible wife if we've only been married for a year and we have both probably done these things multiple times (not including number 12). You shouldn't feel the need to be ashamed or embarrassed to do anything in front of your spouse.

I love my hubby for all that he is and I'm sure he loves me for all that I am. What would life be if we couldn't have someone to be silly, gross, comfortable, goofy, and everything else with, right? That's one great thing about marriage! Total comfortability. No shame.

Anyway, don't listen to this silly list of nonsense. You definitely may need to hold off on most all of these things, and then some, when you are dating, but once married, who cares! :) Your hubby should love you no matter what! Flaws and all. <3

Anyway, that's my rant for the week.

Cheers!

Easy Garlic Chicken

Hello! It's time to share one of my favorite chicken recipes! Garlic Chicken! I found it awhile ago over on food.com. (We also had it for dinner over the weekend.) It's really easy (I promise) and there are only four ingredients! Prep time is about 10 minutes and cook time is about 20-30 minutes, depending on how thick the chicken is. I would suggest pairing it with some butter noodles or something similar. Yum!

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 garlic cloves, minced (I have a jar of pre minced garlic. It's super convenient)
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• additional herbs and spices, as desired. 

Directions!

1. Preheat oven to 450°F, line a baking dish or cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat with cooking spray or lightly brush with oil. (I wouldn't suggest a cookie sheet. Mine always comes out fairly juicy!)
2. In a small sauté pan, sauté garlic with the oil until tender. 
3. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar. Add additional herbs and spices as desired. 
4. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place breasts in prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture. (It may be helpful to prepare the chicken in the dish first, and then sauté the garlic)
5. Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes, or until juices run clear. (I honestly don't know what this means... But I normally take it out at the earliest end time, cut the thickest part of chicken to see if it's done or not and either take it out, or put it back in the oven for a little longer.) Of course, cooking times depend on the thickness of your chicken. I personally don't like my chicken super thick, so I always cut it in half.

Voila! That's it. Fairly simple and painless. This time when I made it, I cut up some onion that I was going to place on the bottom of the chicken (so it could absorb the juices) but I forgot. So I placed them onto instead. Also, the next time I do this recipe, I'm going to see how it goes in a crockpot! 

This was just before I put it in the oven

That's actually 4 chicken breasts that I cut in half :)

If you can't tell.. I used a LOT of garlic. Yum!