currently: january.

Feeling so insanely excited over finishing my 2014 Project Life album.
Devouring book after book lately (currently reading Landline, with Big Little Lies on deck).
Making an effort to do more DIY projects and cooking/baking in the next few months.
Figuring out what items I have left to do on my 25 Things list before my birthday in March.
Compiling a few things here and there for my 26 Things list, this year's birthday project.
Planning posts further and further ahead of time and really working on making sure they're all lined up in advance.
Taking photos of my coffee every morning and deciding if I want to change my 30 days of: project into a 365 project, since coffee was my favorite installment of the 30 days of: project so far.
Finishing up 30 days of: shoes regardless.
Laughing at this photo progression I made of Skylar #secondchildprobs.

Watching so much Parks and Rec, and losing my shit at scenes like this one and this one.
Loving that I'm getting to spend so much time with my chickens in the interim between jobs (even if they're asleep half the time).
Missing the city and my friends, but trying to keep focused on finding my next career adventure.

january beauty favorites.

1. Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 Mascara // 2. Fresh Black Tea Age Delay Eye Concentrate // 3. Philosophy Time in a Bottle for Eyes Daily Serum // 4. Dior Diorshow Mascara // 5. Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask // 6. Duri Rejuvacote Nail Growth Top/Bottom Coat // 7. Sigma F80 Flat Kabuki // 8. Benefit High Brow Highlighter in 'Champagne Pink' // 9. Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in 'Rose`'Because I never did a November or December favorites, I had a bunch this month (some of which I'm pretty sure might be repeats, but they made a reappearance this month, so I'll pretend that I didn't) that are either new favorites or have been since November.

Firstly, I have become quite the mascara sample hoarder over the last six months or so between Sephora gifts and ipsy bags, so the last few months in lashes has been incredible. This month I loved the Tarte mascara, and purchased the full size because it's really great for both top and bottom lashes. The Dior mascara is something that I don't think I would necessarily purchase because of its price tag, but the sample has done wonders for volumizing my lashes. With my lashes looking good, I've been keeping the rest of the eye area simple except for a bit of the Benefit highlighter under the brow bone and in the inner corner of my eye for some brightening.

While on the subject of the eye area, I've been using two sample eye cream/serums, the Philosophy Time in a Bottle during the day because it's really light, and the Fresh Age Delay overnight because it's a lot thicker. My under-eye area is definitely much smoother, and I've noticed that my makeup seems to go on smoother as well, which is a plus. As for the aging benefits, I'll get back to you in twenty years. Hold.I am not sure if I've talked about the Sigma F80 brush, but man, I remembered I had it now that my skin needs a little more help in the morning (#winterstruggles), which means a little bit more concealer to apply. This brush spreads makeup like room temperature butter on a slice of toast. It's super soft, doesn't eat your makeup, and is generally a delight to use.

I know that I've talked about the agave mask from Bite Beauty, but now that winter has rolled around again, I've been using it on my lips almost every night. I always wake up with smooth, hydrated lips, and can't stress enough how delicious it tastes (like vanilla). Also for the lips, I've been keeping my chapped lips at bay during the day with the Fresh Sugar lippy. I have the original one, but the rose` one adds a tiny bit of sheer color, which is fancy.

The Duri top coat could possibly have been mentioned before as well (it's been a while, oops), but I wanted to throw it in here because I am the laziest person in the world and haven't been making any effort at all to keep my nails done. I throw some of this on them, and it dries really quick and keeps me from biting my fingernails. It is a growth and strengthening formula as well.
*some links affiliate.

project life 2014 // end page + what I learned this year.

I finally finished my 2014 project life album, and I couldn't be more excited. Though it was a year and a bit in the making, it sumultaneously feels like I've been working on it my whole life, and that I just started it. I don't remember the book getting so heavy, or the rings getting so full, and I may not remember all of the little moments that made it into the pages, but every second I spent on this project was worth it. 2014 was for sure the craziest year of my life so far, which I feel like I've harped on enough, but I could have never known that little detail when I decided late in 2013 to start an album for the upcoming year. I'm so happy that I have this album that I can't possibly imagine not continuing with the project this year.I learned quite a few things about the way I approach the project both while doing it and then blogging the spreads.
// I need to have all of my materials in front of me. So it's not something that I can sit down and do unless I have a little bit of time put aside. When I only take out half of my kits or tools, I find myself restricted and don't usually end up loving the spread as much as I would when I have all of my things available to me. This doesn't meant that it takes me forever to finish one week, or that I overload my photos with embellishments and stickers, it just means I feel like I'm choosing the best materials to go with the photos I chose for that week.
// Even when I was behind it never felt like work. As soon as this project starts to feel like work, I'll know that I'm ready to move on to a simpler method (though what I do already is pretty simple), or maybe a different documentation form. However, I don't see that happening any time soon, so I'm going to keep on keeping on with the way I do things for now.
// Sometimes the blogging part got a little monotonous. I am going to try and change the way I blog the spreads a little bit, make it a little more brief where it can be brief. When I read other people's posts on their project life spreads, I always like seeing what materials they used, which is why I list mine with links, and I always like to know what they felt was a special part of the spread, which is why I usually take a close-up photo of something for each post. So not much will change, but just enough that it feels different for me sitting behind the keyboard.That's really it. I love this project so much more than I ever thought I could, and I am excited to continue it and watch it evolve in the same way it did over the course of last year.

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Materials used: midnight core kit (and then...), studio calico PL kits: sandlot (live fully); walden (be you tiful); poet society (stay golden, I'm still learning),  design A pocket pages, fiskars corner rounder, staz-on jet black ink, smash date stamp, zig writer for vellum marker in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (on journal cards), and photos printed from snapfish.com.

Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here, & see all of my PL 2014 posts here. Some links may be affiliate links.

banana cake bomb.

I set out to make this banana cake, and ended up with the most dense cake (more like a bread) I've ever seen/tasted in my whole life. I'm not exactly sure where I went wrong (though I have suspicions), but either way, I wanted to share it because I think it has serious potential, and the frosting was incredible.For the cake:
// 3/4 C butter
// 2 1/4 C sugar
// 3 large eggs
// 2 tsp. vanilla
// 3 C flour
// 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
// 1/4 tsp. salt
// 1 1/2 C buttermilk
// 2 tsp. lemon juice
// 1 1/2 C ripe banana (about three bananas)

1// Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth, then add the three eggs one at a time and the vanilla.
2// Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda, then alternate adding this mixture and the buttermilk to the butter/sugar/egg mixture.
3// Mash the banana and mix in the lemon juice, then add bit by bit to the mixture.
4// Bake at 275* for an hour, then take out and put in the freezer for 45 minutes.For the frosting:
// 1/2 C butter
// 8 oz. cream cheese
// 3 1/2 C powdered sugar
// 1 tsp. vanilla1// Cream the butter and cream cheese together, then add the vanilla.
2// Add the powdered sugar little by little until mixed.
3// Try not to spoon it into your mouth.

The issues I think that my cake had were that I forgot the baking soda completely, and an hour in my oven might have been a little too long, so it was a bit overcooked. That combined with the time in the freezer immediately after baking just made for a way denser cake than intended. But the flavor was completely there, so I'll have to try again. The frosting, even though it was simple cream cheese frosting, came out ridiculous. Highly recommend.

adapt definition canvas.

I spoke a bit about my One Little Word for 2015, ADAPT, here, and once I chose a word I knew that I wanted to make a piece of art to represent it, in the same way that I did last year for my word, GROW.In my post that explained why I chose this word for the year, I used the definition as a starting point for my goals, keeping the most raw form of the word in the back of my head so that I don't overthink it in the upcoming months of the year. That kind of stuck with me, so in the same style as the quote canvas I made as a Christmas gift for a friend, I made myself a piece of art to remind myself of why I chose the word adapt this year, why it means something based on its rawest definition.All I used for this project was a 12x12 canvas, a gold paint pen, and google definitions. Boom. Whether you've chosen a one little word for this year, or just want to display a word that means something to you, I think this is a really simple way to do it.
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One Little Word is a workshop run by Ali Edwards in which participants choose one word to focus on for an entire year. Read about Ali's OLW here, and see all of my related posts for OLW 2014 here, and 2015 here.

cut-out city canvas.

As a Christmas gift this year, I decided to make my friend Alyssa a piece of art to represent Boston, where she went to college. I've seen these types of canvases on Pinterest before, and decided to kind of go for it and just make something I thought she would like.First, I lined masking tape to make stripes on the canvas that were about the same width, but I didn't measure or anything, just kind of went by my eye. (I think it came out fine, but you can measure if you feel the need).Then I painted black over the tape, waited for it to completely dry (overnight for good measure), and then peeled the tape off the next morning.While I was waiting for the paint to dry, I cut the shape of Boston out of glitter paper by printing it out backwards and then taping the printout to the back of the paper. Rather than tracing, I just cut it out directly. I cut out a little pink heart from a post-it to put over Boston University, where she went and spent most of her time, and glued both the city shape and the heart down with tacky glue.I used a gold marker when everything was all finished and glued, and wrote Boston along the side of the canvas as a final touch. And that's it. Without waiting for the paint and glue to dry, the painting and cutting and writing probably only took about thirty minutes. It's a perfect gift idea for long distance friends, as a graduation gift, or just for the avid traveler.

project life 2014 // weeks fifty one & fifty two.

December 15 - Decemeber 28. I'VE DONE IT. IT'S DONE.What went on these two weeks: In the first week I had a few work things going on, including the holiday party, an original DIY project for a post, and a long overdue photo-session in a giant sweater. The next week were the holidays, which were a little difficult for my family this year, as my grandma passed on the 21st. We had a really downplayed holiday, and then my entire family was together the weekend after Christmas, which was something we would not have done had it not been for the circumstances because everyone is literally all over the world these days, so it felt a little like grandma made sure we were together anyway.About these spreads: Neither of these really had any type of color scheme going on, and to be honest, I really just wanted them both done so that I could do the end page and then start on my 2015 album. So I chose what I felt worked for what the photos had going on.Details + interesting tidbits: I didn't have what I consider to be a full spread of photos (4 3x4s and 7 6x4s) for either of these, so I used a lot of journaling cards, and left a transparent spot as well (which is why  the second spread is taken out of the album).Photo breakdown: phone photos: 7 & 2 // DSLR photos: 1 & 3 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me, the self-timer, and shutter remotes. (Photo of me and the jar taken by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed, photobooth photos by Bosco)Materials, supplies, and tools I used: PL core kits: midnight core kit (kraft heart card, week in review card, striped card, foldover striped card); dreamy core kit (chevron 6x4); seafoam core kit ("recorded" card, thick striped card), Studio Calico monthly kits: bluegrass farm ("happiness" card); camelot (sky card); poet society (grid 6x4, "tell your story"); walden (gold/black stars); park ave (orange date card, roses card), design A pocket pages, elise joy stamps, fiskars corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, zig writer for vellum marker in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (on journal cards).

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here, & see all of my PL 2014 posts here. Some links may be affiliate links.

project life 2014 // week 50.

December 8 - December 14. ALMOST THERE. #prayersforalessia.What went on this week: This was a really busy week at work, which included meeting Shay Mitchell, designing holiday cards for kids, and participating in BuzzFeed Life's first ever Onesie Day Worldwide (#weareonesie). I also spent a few hours with my little babes on Sunday, so Skylar got a little feature on the right page amidst all of the work photos.About this spread: A lot of the photos were not taken by me, but by the amazing photo team at BuzzFeed, so I put all of those in a line at the bottom of the spread because they were super colorful and obviously, supremely amazing.Details + interesting tidbits: Besides the random orange card I used to write down something Shay said during out mini photoshoot, I kept everything neutral because the red and yellow in the BF photos were a little crazy and overwhelming. Everything else was kept super simple as a result, including stamps and embellishments.Photo breakdown: phone photos: 6 // DSLR photos: 4 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me, the self-timer, and shutter remotes. (Photos with Shay Mitchell taken by David Bertozzi for BuzzFeed, photos of onesies taken by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed).
Materials, supplies, and tools I used: PL core kits: midnight core kit (kraft heart card, week card); dreamy core kit (kraft polka dot card, kraft stripes), studio calico monthly kits: the underground ("she said" card); park ave ("original" card), design A pocket pages, fiskars corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, zig writer for vellum marker in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (on journal cards).

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here, & see all of my PL 2014 posts here. Some links may be affiliate links.

the easiest quote canvas DIY project in the world. yes, the whole world.

A couple of years ago I made this quote canvas as a gift, and I decided I want to do another one (partly because I'll never see that one again, oh well) as a gift for my best friend. She's constantly putting quotes up on her instagram and is really motivated by having quotes around her room, so I thought I'd choose one that she had previously put on the 'gram and test out my new paint markers (which I am now obsessed with, by the way #allgoldeverything).It feels silly to even write a post about this because it was so easy, but the other quote canvas is one of my most popular posts because apparently everyone and their mother searches "quote canvas" on google.All I did was use the smaller paint pen to outline the text, and then I decided once that was dry to go back over them a second time and add fake calligraphy lines by thickening all of the down strokes (wherever the pen naturally moves downward while you're writing). Obviously the quote can be whatever you want, but I chose a shorter one so that the text could be larger. And that's it - super simple, really quick, and a great gift idea or just something to fill a spot on an empty wall.

project life 2014 // week forty nine.

December 1 - December 7. Still chugging, and keeping up with the goal to finish out the year by the last week of January (while simultaneously starting 2015, might I add). #prayersforalessia.What went on this week: My parents were away this entire week, so I had a crap ton of alone time, which was actually really relaxing and productive. At work I finally hit my first million views on one post with this tattoo post, and then my second million on Sunday with this post, so it was a pretty sweet week for me.About this spread: I used a lot of blog photos for this spread because I didn't take a lot of photos of things going on during the rest of the week, and it's amazing how much cleaner the spreads look with the nice natural light that comes through on my DSLR photos.Details + interesting tidbits: I actually love the way the right page turned out with the one spread out 12x4 photo and the three photos making up the 8x6 in the top right. And I had been trying really hard to figure out a reason to use the sweater weather card because it's not really one that I would use as a week card, so since I was missing a 6x4 photo this week it was the perfect opportunity.Photo breakdown: phone photos: 4 // canon t3 photos: 4 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me, the self-timer, and shutter remotes.
Materials, supplies, and tools I used: PL core kits: seafoam core kit (today is good card); midnight core kit (striped card), studio calico monthly kits: far far away (blue swirl card); the underground (sweater weather card, diamond stickers); poet society (alpha stickers), design A pocket pages, elise joy stamps, elise joy calendar card, less is more stamps, recollections kraft alpha stickers, fiskars corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, zig writer for vellum marker in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (on journal cards).

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here, & see all of my PL 2014 posts here. Some links may be affiliate links.

project life 2014 // week forty eight.

November 24 - November 30. Still chugging, and keeping up with the goal to finish out the year by the last week of January (while simultaneously starting 2015, might I add). #prayersforalessia.What went on this week: This was Thanksgiving week, and not a lot went on other than the holiday and normal weekly stuff. Mockingjay came out the week before, so I saw it with a couple of friends (and loved it), and the weekend was another blog focused week full of taking photos and crafting posts. About this spread: I didn't have that many photos for this week, so I used a lot of journaling cards, particularly from the Far Far Away SC kit, which is definitely my favorite one that I've received so far. The colors are perfect and the cards are all useable and exciting and of the usual color schemes that I like to use most.Details + interesting tidbits: I paperclipped my movie ticket next to a little movie summary journaling card, and included the photo of the ebook cover, because I read the first half of the book before seeing the movie. I like the way all of the colors worked together, not necessarily within the photos, but everything was pretty cohesive in the end, which makes me happy.Photo breakdown: phone photos: 4 // canon t3 photos: 5 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me, the self-timer, and shutter remotes.
Materials, supplies, and tools I used: Studio Calico monthly kits: bluegrass farm (habit card); far far away (movie review card, dog card, "all I need" card); park ave (dotted card, everyday "paint" card, hello week card), design A pocket pages, less is more stamps, fiskars corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, zig writer for vellum marker in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (on journal cards).

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here, & see all of my PL 2014 posts here. Some links may be affiliate links.

project life 2014 // week forty seven.

November 17 - November 23. Still chugging, and keeping up with the goal to finish out the year by the last week of January (while simultaneously starting 2015, might I add). #prayersforalessia.What went on this week: Not a lot went on with me this week, other than pre-Thanksgiving dinner with my best friends and paper bag speed dating. I wrote a whole post for BuzzFeed on this experience, and made sure to journal about it in this spread because it was interesting for sure. The weekend was a full-on blogging weekend, which included organizing/condensing all of my studio calico kits into a more manageable set-up.About this spread: I didn't have that many photos for this week, so I used a lot of journaling cards from a lot of different Studio Calico kits. It's helping to have everything organized, so I feel like I'm really getting use out of everything, and when a new kit comes I feel excited to organize it with my new system, rather than annoyed that I have another box laying around.Details + interesting tidbits: I used a lot of materials this week - I went all in on stickers, journaling cards, markers, and embellishments. I really love the way that it turned out and feel like I captured the week well even though not a whole lot went on. That's the reason why I started this project in the first place - to document all of the little things.Photo breakdown: phone photos: 3 // canon t3 photos: 3 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me, the self-timer, and shutter remotes. (photo of Julia and I with our paper bags by Lauren Zaser for BuzzFeed).
Materials, supplies, and tools I used: PL core kits: seafoam core kit (striped card); midnight core kit (this happened card), studio calico monthly kits: sandlot (good stuff card, "written by" stamp); the underground (b&w striped card, diamond stickers); park ave (week card, pink & tan card, wood banner); poet society ("am/pm routine" stamp); penny arcade (pencil card), design A pocket pages, elise joy stamps, less is more stamps, xyron create-a-sticker, recollections kraft alpha stickers, fiskars corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, zig writer for vellum marker in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (on journal cards).

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here, & see all of my PL 2014 posts here. Some links may be affiliate links.