A place for all things I love...

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Go Utes!

So remember last week when Utah crushed Byu? Man was that awesome! Well back in the day I cheered for the Utes, & loved every minute of it. Being on the sidelines for the football games was by far my favorite. I really still miss it! I have a hard time watching games from the stands when I am used to being right there in all the action..
SO my dad reminded me of a commercial I was in with Eric Weddle (who now kills it for the San Diego Chargers) 
It's actually rather embarrassing, but I better just get it out now before it bites me in the butt later! As you can see I am a horrible actress..
hahaha oh man it's pretty bad. They had promised me they would get footage of the whole team cheering, but of course the used the roll of me dancing all by myself! Well hopefully this gives you a good laugh. :)
GO UTES!!!!!!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Dubstop Robot

How awesome is this video?? My Mom, brother & I have watched it about a million times already!
I want this to be my little brother Jax one day, I really think he has the talent to dance like this :)

Friday, September 23, 2011

They can't all be winners

So as I have mentioned I have been dabbling in designing & getting custom dresses made. I take fabric to my local tailor here in Mexico & she without a pattern pops out some amazing stuff. This time I have to say I was a little disappointed. I lost the inspiration picture for this dress, though it doesn't matter since they don't look anything alike. It was supposed to have a tulip skirt, and a ruffle top which I thought would be the perfect beach cover-up. As you can see there is no tulip bottom and the ruffle is more like just draping fabric. I guess I had not left her enough fabric, though unfortunately I think most of it was wasted on the top which is 3X's too big! You can't tell by the picture since I have it tucked under my armpit, but I could fit a whole watermelon in with me I promise!
Jeremy says I can't complain because even though she can be real flakey & this dress didn't turn out like I wanted, what can I really expect for $15? He is probably right, they can't all end up winners. Plus I think I enjoy the process more than I do the actual finished dresses :) I am crossing my fingers my little sisters homecoming dress turns out much better. I will post it once she has it on and is all done up for the dance :)
To see my other dresses click on custom clothing, under labels to your right---------->

For now it looks like I will be putting the dress making on hold since we will be in Utah every other 2 weeks. Yep we are still part time. I will see all my Utahians this Sunday!
xoxo
Cass 

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Book Review

Hey friends! For some odd reason I have been really unmotivated to blog lately. I'm not sure why? Maybe because I feel like nothing is going on, but I don't really know.. Since Jeremy always says the things we don't want to do are probably the things we should do, I will blog.
( no really he says this to me all the time)
So below I have made a book ratings system with 1-5 stars. I am super lame when it comes to describing things, my vocabulary just likes to stick to the basics so I thought this way you would better get the idea of how awesome or not awesome I thought the book was.
(as was pointed out by my sister in law Amy, awesome tends to be my descriptive word of choice :))
So here it is:
I have been reading a lot lately so I have a couple books to review, the first one is
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.
This book was recommended to me by my mother in law Sandy, who is the queen bee of reading & always knows the best books! This book is a historical novel about a orphaned white girl living in limbo between slavery & freedom. The main character Lavinia is deathly loyal to her "black family" though she must integrate into her expected role as a white mistress. I loved Lavinia's character & would like to think I would have been very similar in those same conditions. There is plenty of heartbreak, surprises & unexpected love in this book. I would highly recommend reading it, though be warned it might make you shed a tear or two. That being said I rate this book:
This next book comes from recommendation of my sister in law Erin who is also an avid reader. Actually come to think of it I think all book suggestions come from either Erin or Sandy :)
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurtson.
This book also happens to be about black heritage which I enjoy very much. Don't let the strange title fool you, this is not a highly serious or religious book like I would have assumed. The story is told from the point of view of a Southern Black women Janie. She is captivating as she tells her story of love, poverty, trials & hope. I really enjoyed her hardcore attitude & thought often times this book was pretty funny/quirky. Though I have not seen it, it has also has been made into a movie featuring Halle Berry. I rate this book:
Last on the book review for today is another book from Sandy,
Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson.
As you can probably see from the cover, this isn't your happy go lucky sort of book. If you get scared easily, it will probably freak the crap out of you! hehe. It may have given me nightmares one night.... Anyways this book is about a woman who through severe trauma, has lost her long & short term memory. Every morning she wakes up not having a clue who she is. As the day goes on she learns things from her doctor, husband, friends & horrifying flashbacks. She frantically writes things down in a journal each day, to try to figure how she came to be in this situation. It's terrifying when she finds clues & realize she can't trust the people around her as someone is not telling the truth! This is suspenseful on every page, so be warned! I rate this book:
I doubt since I usually get suggestions for all books I will ever give 1 star, but hey you never know. Hopefully this is helpful to you book readers. I have plenty more I need to review but for now this is all I can handle :)

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Felt Flowers

A while back I found myself bored in Mexico & so I was browsing the web to find something to make. I came across a cute tutorial to make felt flowers from notmartha & was happy that I had all the supplies on hand!
 I often see cute fabric flowers online, but think they are always geared towards little girls. These however I think look cute enough for adults to pin to a cardigan or clip on a headband. I even think they would look cute pinned to a groomsmen!

I made the red flower first using dollar store felt & a hot glue gun. Though it looks ok, I did not like how floppy the felt was & how bulky the hot glue was.. So with the purple flower I switched to craft glue & a nicer thicker felt I had purchased at the Renagade craft fair in LA last year with my sister in law.
 The only hard part of this DIY is how long it takes to cut out the petals + waiting for them to dry. I found clothes pins worked best to keep the individual petals to hold there shape while drying.
I need to remember to snap a picture the next time I pin one to my cardigan :)
Full instructions here.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Feeling Fall

I am so excited for fall! It is starting to cool down even here in Mexico & I loved pulling out my cardigans & scarfs. A couple looks I am looking to recreate this fall:
Bright tights
 layers & textures
 cute trousers
 colorful bottoms
 stackable bracelets
 and dresses with thick tights
Are there any fall outfits you are looking forward to wearing?
All links for outfits on my Pinterest Style Pinboard.

Friday, September 16, 2011

During the storm

As I was cooped up all due due to the storm I decided to get out my paints.
This is what happened..
I kind of like it if a squint my eyes making it blur...
Clearly I have a lot further to go as far as creative painting goes!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Floods = Mud.. Again!

Yesterday was just one of those days..
I was done with being in Mexico,
I was missing my family & friends,
I was sick of watching football games with my husband,
so when something I had been very excited to purchase went out of stock immediately,
I lost my mind!
Really I did. I was so devastated I found myself weeping in the tub.
Yep. Embarrassing but true.
Then to make matters worse it started raining..
Which made things seem even more depressing since I had planned to lay out at the pool that afternoon :(
But soon rain turned into more rain which turned into hail!
It went on like this for hours, which isn't good since San Felipe is not made for rain. It has only rained 3 times in the whole two years I have lived here! You can see HERE what happened the last time it rained hard.
When it finally slowed down we went to go take a look outside but saw that our garage was flooded & only minutes away from coming straight into our kitchen! Jeremy quickly backed his truck out & shut the door which saved our kitchen from being seriously flooded. Some water did get in, but I was prepared with towels. 
Once it was safe to go outside we walked around to see all the damage..
Not a pretty sight.
Hopefully that is the last rain storm of the year, because I can't take another day like this one! We were so glad the storm didn't hit in town (10 minutes from the Ranch) because the small homes have no protection and would have gotten destroyed..
That night Jeremy & I fought over who got to power wash the garage. Why we both thought it was so fun, I don't know.. maybe it was just one of those days where working makes you feel better.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Ella's Newborns!!

I am SOOOO excited to show you my very first newborns!!!
 I was so ecstatic when my cousin Brooke asked me to get some pictures of her brand new baby girl Ella! Everything really worked out amazingly as Brooke had a million perfect props, & little Ella must have known I was an amateur because she was seriously such an angel!!
So without further adieu I proudly present..
I made this little banner with gold craft paper & pink yarn as well as the cute headband Ella is wearing to match. maybe I will post the tutorial later.
Isn't she the sweetest?!
How precious is her little smile here?
Brooke made the cute green yarn E as well as her matching headband :)
I love this one with the stuffed bunny!
Since Brooke lives so close to my moms I came over two different days to make sure we got all the shots we wanted. When Ella was feeding or being fussy I took some pictures of her older sister Emmerson. Seriously she is the most photogenic little girl ever with her huge eyes & long eye lashes!
Here is a little peak into Ella's nursery
Brooke made this cute canvas by placing on stickers, spray painting it gold, then pulled the stickers off and Viola!! Sweet & Simple.
Sisters :)
How tiny does she look in her dad's hands? He thought he might die when she peed on him :) haha
I absolutely love these ones where we used Brooke's hand painted chevron canvas as the background!
Here Emmerson was waiting very patiently for baby sister to be ready so we could take their pictures together. :) She really was so good & sweet. Most 3 year olds would not last half as long as she did!
I couldn't believe how adorable these shots turned out of the two together!
 I know these two are similar but I just couldn't choose between her soft smile or serious face!
When Emmerson said "I think I need a pillow under my head mom". Too cute :)
And last but not least the money shot! This is not my favorite pose or anything, but seems to be a newborn staple picture so I at least wanted to try it.. I do have to say it is very difficult to get, and her father totally felt like we were torturing her..
but hey at least we got it :)
So sorry for the million pictures, but I just had such a hard time narrowing them down! Thanks again Brooke for all your help, your girls are the sweetest. Taking newborns may be my new favorite hobby!