Help a Brother Out

You remember my brother Jared?


Well, he just got his very first job as a Cutco salesman so he can earn money for college and his mission (eee!).

Basically, he gets paid to go to people's houses and give a presentation on knives. He gets paid more if people actually buy something, but either way he gets paid.

So, I am putting out a little request:

Dear Local AZ People,

Would you let my brother come to your house and talk to you about knives for 45 minutes so he can go on a mission? You don't have to buy anything (but you can if you want)! Just listen and smile and think about how you're doing a good deed for this nice young man.

If you'd be willing, shoot me an email at KaylaMoncur (at) gmail (dot) com.

love and kisses and gratitude,

Kayla

A How-To: Illusion Framing

Apologies for the horrible pictures. Poor lighting plus reflective glass equals icky pictures but they help you get the idea

Aaron and I always like to order 8x10s of pictures we love. Unfortunately, getting them custom matted and framed is beyond our budget and lowly 8x10 prints in 8x10 frames don't have a whole lot of visual impact when hung by themselves.

When I redid our living room I has 7 B&W prints I wanted to hang but the 8x10s were too little for the space. I decided that I loved the wall color enough to let it shine through and hung the pictures in larger mismatching black frames with no mat. It's a super cheap and easy way to fill up wall space and they looks awesome in our living room and entry way!




Materials:

• Frame. I got most of mine at Goodwill 50% off day. You want one that will have a couple inches all around between your print and your frame. Check to see if it has hanging hardware on the back. It's fine if it doesn't, but just beware that adding your own hardware is a huge pain in the butt and not as sturdy. Also, no worries if you fall in love with a frame that has no glass. You just need to get two pieces of replacement glass instead of one. You can discard any frame backing. You only need the frame and the glass. Also, your frame should be wood.
  
• Replacement glass to fit your frame. Make sure you measure the existing glass in your frame before you go shopping! At Home Depot they usually keep the replacement glass in the very back by the big saw thing near the lumber.
  
• Glazier points (they look like ninja stars and are with the picture hanging stuff)
  
• Picture hanging hardware for the wall (and back of the frame if your frame has none)
• Paint scraper
  
• Paint for your frame (optional)
  

3. Paint your frame (optional). I spray painted all mine black. Add hanging hardware to the back if it has none. Be prepared to swear and hate life for a few minutes.

4. Clean the original glass and secondary glass thoroughly. You may need to use Goo-Gone on your new glass. The packaging is obnoxious and tends to leave a residue.

5. Place original glass back in frame.

6. Center your print face up on the secondary piece of glass. Secure with a little piece of tape on the back so it doesn't slide around.

7. Put the second piece of glass in the frame, sandwiching your print between the two pieces.

8. Place glazier points flat side down on the glass. Use your paint scraper to push them into the wood at glass level (this makes more sense if it's sitting in front of you. You'll know what I'm talking about). These hold the glass in and I usually do a minimum of 4. I'd take a picture of me doing this but Wes wandered off with my paint scraper and I have no idea where it is. You can see a point in action below:


9. Hammer in some wall hardware, hang, and you're done!

A How-To: DIY Sea Spray

Noelle requested a how-to and then I could not make up my mind which project to do so I did a few. They'll all be going up over the next couple weeks.

First up: how to make your own sea salt hair spray.

When I posted about the one thing I can't live without and the 4 things I really really like I had a lot of questions about and interest in my Sedu Beach Beauty spray. Coincidentally, while I was working on that post this post from notMartha popped up in my reader explaining how to make your own. I meant to link to it but then forgot. And then I ran out of spray and it became a how-to.

The recipe is really simple:
4 oz water
generous squirt of water based hair gel
1 tsp epsom salt

I just mixed it all together in the same bottle (but any of those little $2 drug store spray bottles would work) and voila:

New spray!

I have mixed feelings about the result. It doesn't have quite the same "stick" as the original (which could probably be remedied through the use of different hair gel but this CVS one was dirt cheap and I am dirt cheap and thus we were meant to be) and my hair got kind of tangly while I was trying to dry it but Aaron mentioned multiple times how awesome my hair looked tonight. So it works just fine, but if you decide to try it you might go with a different gel. The original post at notMartha mentions a couple gels in particular, so maybe try those. I might up the salt too, just to see what happens.

Also, the original has this amazing coconut smell and my version has this vague, watered down floral scent from the gel. I'm wondering if I can find some coconut scented oil or something to give my DIY version that same wonderful whiff of the tropics.

The big bonus of making my own is that I didn't feel like I had to be quite so stingy with it. I have tons of gel and salt left, so running out doesn't mean spending more money. Also, you can mess with the formula after it's mixed. Too sticky? Add water. Not enough stick? Add gel. Easy!

How I Am Royally Screwing Up Fathers' Day

Wes has been doing some SERIOUS teething this week. Like with lots of screaming and a crazy nap schedule and an occasional temperature and extreme neediness. Despite the fact that I've had the car several days this week I have gotten NOTHING done because we just couldn't get out the door.

Plus, less sleep than usual because he's been waking up in the middle of the night in pain and requiring mommy. On Friday night he woke up before I went to bed and I ended up staying up with him until 3. And then I had to wake up at 6:45 to go pick up our Bountiful Basket. And then I was busy nonstop all day so I finally made it to the grocery store for bare essentials at 10pm.

So when Wes woke up at 7 this morning I turned to Aaron and told him to go get Wes. And he said, "You're making me get up? On Fathers' Day?" And I said yes. Because I was too tired to care and I was trying to recover from my 3.5 hours of sleep the night before.

After a couple more hours of sleep I did care and felt really bad. And Aaron was obviously annoyed that the day had such an inauspicious start.

And I just realized that in my mad dash to the grocery store last night I didn't get all the ingredients for Aaron's requested dinner for tonight.

Plus, due to substitute teaching and calling related jobs on my part, Aaron will likely be stuck with our exceptionally grumpy Wes all during church today.

Sorry, Aaron. I wish I could have a re-do. Happy Father's Day! We love you!

In Which I Let Myself Go

I tend to put a lot of thought and effort into gift wrapping. Hand sewn appliqued shapes or initials, draw-string bags made specifically to fit your gift, handmade tags, etc.

In an hour we're going to a 1st birthday party and, although I've had the gift for over a week, I only just got around to wrapping it. We didn't have any wrapping paper suitable for a 1 year old boy and I didn't have any fabric in a good size. I was at a loss. Just when I was about to give up and declare we weren't going to the party and we'd have to deliver the gift in a few days when I finally figured out how to wrap it I remembered that I have a huge stack of saved gift bags and tissue paper in a cupboard. And such things make gift wrapping -gasp!- quick! And easy!

This is what it looks like:


And even though I loved that it only took me 2 minutes I feel horribly guilty about it.

It's possible that I might need an intervention.

Tour de Awesome

I recently rediscovered EmilyStyle and can't stop thinking about her Tour de Awesome idea.

Basically, she and a bunch of friends are turning 30 soon and each wants to do "something significant" to mark the milestone. Each person is hosting an event or challenge for their own birthday and Tour de Emily is a 5 day 250 mile bike ride. Another friend is doing something with hiking.

I've totally fallen in love with the idea and I'm seriously considering coming up with something for my 25th next year.

What would you do for Tour de You?

Monday Morning AWESOME

Please take a moment to appreciate my mom's awesome outfit in this picture:

The best part is, this is not her only jumpsuit. Oh no! She had lots of jumpsuits. This is just the only shiny purple one.

Also, my dad's hair and 'stache are awesome.



And, in a whole 'nother realm of awesome:


My grandpa was working in Pakistan when my mom was born so my mom spent her first couple years there. When they left, they toured Europe before heading back to the states. My mom has been to a whole bunch of crazy places and yesterday she unearthed this picture of her on donkeyback in Greece in 1964. She's so annoyed that she wasn't old enough to remember those travels!

Run from the Sun Half Marathon

We're doing it.

(Want to do it too? Even if you're not a runner, you have enough time..about 21 weeks or just over 5 months! Here's an 8 week couch to 5k schedule to get you running 3 miles and here's the 12 week training schedule we're following to get us from 3 to 13 (if you are interested, I have an excel document adjusting the rest days to Sunday))

A Wordless Photo Essay About Your Life

After seeing the great ideas I got from readers, Elisa asked for prompts from her readers as well. Despite still being in the midst of crippling writer's block myself, I was easily able to come up with a bunch of ideas for her. And after I shared them I realized some of them sounded like fun and decided to steal them.









(PS Noelle requested a "how-to." Anyone want to request something specific?)

A Poll

I have a handful of birthday parties/baby showers/etc. coming up and my gifts have ended up being a combination of new, homemade, and thrifted things. Which made me wonder:

poll by twiigs.com

Good Stuff

The other day Aaron and I started talking about maybe FINALLY putting in a backyard sometime in the fall. Nothing fancy, but some grass and maybe an extended patio so we can eat under the stars if we want. And hopefully a couple fruit trees because there is NOTHING like a warm, ripe orange or peach fresh off the tree.

And ever since we had that conversation I can't stop dreaming about my backyard. I've been imagining dinner parties on the patio with a pretty tablecloth and twinkle lights and barbeque chicken and lemonade. And ways I can disguise our A/C unit.

I stopped by the thrift store down the road today in the vain hope that they might have a wheat grinder or pressure canner for cheap and instead found these:

Two beautifully simple carafes for 99 cents apiece. So I bought them, of course, because what ELSE would I be putting that lemonade in when our supposed backyard finally gets done?

I was also hoping to find a ravioli cutter while I was there. But after a half-hearted dig through the massive box of random kitchen implements I gave up. An old man was also digging through, much more methodically than I was, and asked what I was looking for. I told him and then left to look through the children's books. I came back a few minutes later and he had found and set aside a 29 cent ravioli cutter for me.

I love nice people! And dreaming about my backyard. Oh, the possibilities!

(you know I'll blog about it in great depth whenever we actually do it. Be prepared)

Guest Posting

Kristi asked me to write a guest post for her blog while she's out gallivating. It made me feel Very Important while simultaneously totally stressing me out. I can't write on command, people! I changed my subject about 50 times and wrote 12 half posts before deleting them all because IT'S JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

My story still isn't quite worthy of the awesomeness that is Kristi's blog, but you can read my guest post here.

Bad Dating Stories

Heather's prompt.

My dear friends, in this I shall fail you. I have thought and thought and thought some more but man. That well is dry. I vaguely remember a weird blind date involving a hot tub sometime during freshman year but all the details are lost now (Nicole? Do you remember me coming home and talking about an awkward hot tub date?) and I never wrote about it anywhere so basically that lovely bit of awkward history is gone forever. I even bugged my sister for bad stories of hers that I could steal for my own blogging purposes and she swears she has none. NONE. How is that even possible?

AND I just found out my hairdresser is moving to California for the summer and now I'm all concerned she won't be able to squeeze me in real quick before she leaves but I neeeeed a triiiim. I'm getting shaggy and she can't leave me like this!

AND I bought a really cute skirt yesterday but Aaron hates it so I'm returning it because the only reason I buy the occasional long skirt is because he has an odd love for them and if he hates it then what's the point?

And basically, I threw those extra bits at you because the fact that I have no more bad date stories sucks and I'm trying to distract you from the fact that this is a non-post.

Sorry, dearies.

PS Does anyone beside Margot and Janssen use Delicious? If you do, we should be friends. If not, you should look into it. My life is so much better now.

PPS Feel free to share dating horror stories in the comments so the rest of us can be entertained.

It's the Little Things

My parents recently moved into a gorgeous house that is a couple thousand square feet smaller than the one they lived in before I got married. This means that there is a great purging going on, especially since they are about to get rid of the last child and have no need for the sheer level of stuff they currently own.

The other day I walked by a "toss" pile. On top was this blanket. It is old and hole-y and I can't even begin to guess how long we've had it. I've built forts with it, weathered colds with it, watched movies from under it, cried over the move from California to Arizona into it. A few of those holes are very likely my fault. And even though its time has probably come, the thought of it getting thrown away filled me with horror. So I snatched it from the pile and brought it home with me.

It now resides on my side of the bed and I have slept like a rock ever since. This house has been my home for three and half years now but it's so lovely to have this reminder of homes past. Places where I wasn't the grown up and someone else was in charge of paying the bills and checking the locks at night.

Products you can't live without

Janell's fifth and last prompt.


When I first read this prompt I was like, Oh man, how much time have you got?

But then I realized there's really only ONE product that I really can't live without. Like if I were to time travel to King Arthur's court and realized this product didn't exist yet I would find Merlin to conjure it for me because, seriously, I neeeeed it:
Yup. Chapstick. Not just any Chapstick either, the black wrapper original Chapstick. In a dire emergency I can use the blue kind but my lips just don't feel quite right unless I use the black kind. I think that might be a sign that my lips are addicted? In any event, leaving home without it is a code red emergency. My jeans have a chapstick shaped wear pattern in my left front pocket.


And yes. I do think about the discomforts time travel might force upon me. In case you're wondering: if I time traveled to medieval times I would also be sad without: my facewash, face lotion, toothpaste, toothbrush, floss, and 2-ply toilet paper. Try to pretend you haven't imagined something similar. But seriously, imagine the state of your face and teeth in those kinds of conditions. Shudder.


Things I could live without but would reeeaally prefer not to:

Sedu Beach Beauty Sea Salt Spray

This spray is new in my life but I already know we're going to have a long term relationship. For the first time in my life I have good hair. Hair that looks decent enough of the time that people occasionally bother asking who my stylist is. And while mad props go to Krystal for consistently excellent cuts I can also thank this lovely little spray. The idea is that you're supposed to coat your damp hair with it and then let it air dry into beachy waves. I use it more like a texturizer. I spray it all over and then blow dry. It gives my hair volume and just a little bit of "stick" that keeps it nice and shiny straight or holds the Whoorl curl like a dream.

Usually Aaron is the one in our house turning to me and saying, "My hair looks really good today" and I say, "mm, very nice dear." But, as Aaron can attest, I am now the one frequently singing the praises of my own hair.





St. Ives Oatmeal and Shea Butter Lotion

I've never had any particular lotion loyalty. If it keeps my skin moisturized without being greasy then we're good. One day I picked this up and stuck it in my bathroom without thinking there was anything special about it. But then I ran out of baby lotion and started using it on Wes. We would bathe him in the evening, slather him with this lotion and then wrap him up in footie pajamas for the night. After a night of baking in this lotion inside his pajamas he would smell like a little slice of sunshiney heaven. Aaron and I both mentioned how we were picking Wes up just to SMELL him. It's a very gentle scent but OH how I love it. I've stopped using it on Wes because I want it all for ME.


El Pato Salsa de Chile Fresco

I'm not sure if "Products you can't live without" extends to food items but this is my blog so I'm including it. Our taco and burrito consumption skyrocketed after I discovered El Pato last year. This sauce + chicken/pork/beef + my Crockpot + one or two more ingredients = something really delicious. I've started buying these cans in mass quantities.

The other day my sister, Nikki, was lamenting that she just doesn't know that many slow cooker recipes and I pretty much wrote a love letter to El Pato sauce in our gchat box. She tried it and lo, she has been converted. The Pato makes an appearance at least once a week around these parts and without it I would be a little confounded in my meal planning attempts.



My last item is for my girl readers only. Get lost, men. I'm about to share information you don't need to know. Seriously. Go away. I feel awkward enough about this as it is but my life is much more awesome because of this so I'm going to share.










Men gone?








Ok good.

A few months ago several girls from my freshman floor posted rave reviews about this on our private blog and convinced me to give it a try. I was skeptical because it seemed a little hippie crunchy for me but I gave it a try and it's one of those small changes that make a huge difference in your life and you want to tell everyone about it but can't because um no one wants to hear you talk about that. And because I'm convinced there are still some men lurking about I'm just going to give you the link and say no more about it. If you are curious and want a real review, email me and I'll happily tell you how it has changed my life. But seriously. Look into it.



And that's it. My one product I can't live without and the 4 I really really like. There are probably more but I think many of them are things I wouldn't realize how much I needed them until they were gone. So if that time travel scenario ever happens and it turns out that I go into shock when I don't have A, B and C at my disposal I'll let you know.

And, because I'm kind of curious, I'm posing the same question to my readers. What products can YOU not live without? Anything I should look into?