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printable oscar ballots
it’s almost time for the oscars, you guys! i’m actually more excited than usual, because this year — I SAW LIKE MOST OF THE MOVIES. that’s right, i totally did. i can’t tell you how.
SEE:
the grand budapest hotel, birdman, nightcrawler + guardians of the galaxyDON’T SEE:
inherent vice (snooze), foxcatcher (snooooze), american sniper (ok, kinda meh)I STILL WANT TO SEE:
whiplash (SO BADLY), selma, the theory of everything (although i’ve heard VERY mixed things)I STILL DON’T WANT TO SEE:
imitation game (meh), instellar (like no not whatsoever, unless you liked it?)ok so maybe i didn’t see that many, but it felt like i saw a bunch more than usual.
also – remember last year when i said i was the best all the time in the oscar pool? well that same last year, gideon demolished everyone. he got ONE WRONG. ONE WRONG!
oh and last also – don’t judge me on my movie stubs. i see a lot of comedies and a lot of horror movies in the theatre. and yes, i saw stepford wives in the theatre for some reason. but i’ve been collecting my movie stubs since i was a teenager and it’s really fun to look at them every once in a while and remember how i saw the royal tenenbaums — alone, 6 times, at the same theatre. (it was when i first moved to LA at 16 and i didn’t have friends or a car yet, ok?!)
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the new blogzilla studio (+ win a free theme!)
after a LOT of hard work and time spent — we have given blogzilla studio a HUGE facelift. you can now buy themes directly through our website and we’ve hopefully made it much cleaner and more streamlined process for our customers. we now have a ton more info + answers on the site for customers with questions! AND – we have a dope new logo by jay adores – which we are stoked on. go check it out!
we’re also launch a brand new theme today, because we’re totally in “new” mood. and now for the fun part — to celebrate the launch of the brand new blogzilla studio, i’m giving away a free theme of your choice! all you have to do is check out the site and comment here with the theme you love most.
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heading to tahoe
even though i used to ski all the time when i was a kid on the east coast, i haven’t been in waaay over a decade. but today i’m heading to tahoe on my husbands company trip. we’re getting a snowboard lesson but i’m mostly going to be drinking cocoa and hopefully enjoying snow for the first time in years. if i never blog again, i totally died.
you might be wondering what this amazing vintage snowsuit is? it’s my failed attempt at finding an outfit for the weekend. i bought it and paid for expedited shipping to get here, but it is HUGE on me. so if you’re interested in buying it, please buy it from me. PLEASE. it’s a size small and if you’re interested, email me and i can give you more size + price details.
anyway, hope you have a great weekend! check out some links i like this week :
+ a really insightful article about copying + crediting
+ also, i love love love these beaded coasters
+ beautiful printable abstract gift wrap for your next gift
+ a pretty pattern to pretty up your desktop
+ perfect inexpensive valentines day gift idea
+ six hacks for homemade french fries
+ i kinda feel like i need a dozen of these
+ i’ve watched all of these — just wish they’d do them with more celebs i like (SJP + daniel radcliffe are my faves) -
how we spend valentines day
when gid and i first started dating, we would get dressed up and go out to dinner, like most people do – on valentines day. but then we decided we were never doing that again. those crazy expensive prefixes and the huge crowds of people is just not our thing. so we made a new tradition a few years ago that we’d stay in and cook ourselves a fancy dinner in our pajamas. this year we decided on mussels. they’re so easy to make and they’re also really hard to screw up. want the recipe? ok i’ll post that too!
urban outfitters asked us to show how we celebrate our love on valentines day, and i was so excited because i love UO as you guys know from years of wish lists. they have a pretty dope curated gift guide for valentines day this year, whether it be romantic records or gifts for him or gifts for you (you can just send it to your guy and let him choose)
i was also excited to have the excuse to clean up and show you a lot more of our apartment than you’ve ever seen.
in case you and your valentine aren’t big on cooking — our other favorite valentines day date to avoid the crowds at restaurants… the early bird specials. no seriously. we went to a fancy restaurant one year at 5pm and not only was the prefixe menu like 50% cheaper, but we had the place to ourselves and every waiter was there for us, along with our own live music. (sadly, the restaurant was red o and they don’t seem to be doing early bird specials anymore)
SHOP THE POST
PHOTOS BY LILY GLASS
THIS POST IS IN SPONSORSHIP WITH URBAN OUTFITTERS. ALL OPINIONS ARE 100% MY OWN. -
diy marble valentines chocolate box makeover
it seems like forever ago that we were seeing bill cosby perform on valentines day, last year. ick. so much can change in a year. but my love of marble still hasn’t! here’s a super easy way to makeover cheap chocolate boxes from the drugstore, along with an item you can also buy at the drugstore, contact paper!
so basically, you wrap contact paper onto your chocolate box! it’s a little tricky around the sharp edges and rounded curves, and it really doesn’t look that amazing once you open it — but it’s valentines day so it’s the thought that counts. also, they won’t notice because it’s filled with chocolate.
to do the edges of the box, i just layered little pieces on top of each other. the sides i use long skinny pieces and the top i just laid a big piece on top. then trim. then give.
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favorite not too mushy valentines day cards
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riviera maya, mexico
after we left tulum — and i have to be honest, i was crying as we drove away from our new honeymoon friends and our hotel, we headed past playa del carmen to the viceroy riviera maya for the last couple days of our trip.
i originally wanted to stay in tulum the whole trip, but we got a really great deal and decided the last leg of our trip would be for complete R&R since we were going going going in tulum. it was SUCH a different experience than tulum, the resort is insanely gorgeous – and they make you feel like royalty. no joke, they have “butlers” that do whatever you want. it’s pretty cray.
all the rooms come with their own private patios and pools – we got to our amazing room and it started raining. remember how i said it didn’t rain once in tulum? so we just relaxed and ordered room service and rented DVDs from the lobby. until it kept raining and we got a few leaks in our roof, so they moved us into a new [bigger!] room.
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tulum, mexico
well, i’m FINALLY posting about our honeymoon as promised. tulum was a magical place that i absolutely fell in love with the first day we were there. and honestly, i’d be happy going back every year. when we went in october, it was low season — so there were some pros and some cons.
the PROS were : hotel rates were cheaper, the town itself was super quiet and serene. there were no lines anywhere and we had the beach to ourselves. we expected some rain, but the weather was perfect everyday.
the CONS were : a lot of restaurants were closed, the bugs are REALLY intense, there’s more seaweed on the beach thus a funky smell sometimes.
regardless, though — we had such an amazing trip and i highly recommend tulum (just like everyone else in the universe). if you want a quieter more relaxing experience and prefer to not have tourists everywhere, then i recommend low season.
we stayed at the beach hotel, and based on our visits to a bunch of hotels – we were so happy with our choice. every staff member was so friendly and fun. the vibe of the hotel was also so relaxed – we barely ever wore shoes and ziggy’s bar had 2 for 1 happy hour everyday. and they had swings at the bar. so yes, i loved our hotel.
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diy mudcloth pillow
i have been wanting to make little updates to our apartment ever since the wedding ended and we decided we’d hold off a tiny bit for house hunting — and i’ve been searching for new throw pillows everywhere. i’ve wanted a mudcloth pillow for a few years now, but have never taken the plunge to just get one. so natch, i decided to make my own.
there are no process shots for this DIY, because it’s pretty self explanatory. you draw on a pillow for crying out loud.
materials
a light colored pillowcase + a permanent fabric marker
directions
01. lay out your pillowcase on a piece of thick foamcore or cardboard. tape down the edges, and stick some cardboard in the pillowcase to prevent bleeding through to the other side.
02. choose your design and practice. (i bought two pillowcases in case, and i blew it on the first one in about 2 minutes because i didn’t practice. my marker was too thick and i was working too low to see if i was drawing straight.)
03. decide how much width you want for each row. tape off every few inches (or whatever width you’d like each row) and draw within the guides. this is something i also learned after i messed up the first pillow.mine still looks wonky and i messed up the pattern a few times, but i love the look of it.
this pillow on the left is the other side of the first pillow. the marker was clearly much thicker and made it hard to do intricate patterns. so use a thinner marker, you guys.
also, if you’re watching a good tv show or movie while you do it, try not to pay attention to it even if it’s super good, because you have to focus on the pattern OK?! i learned that the hard way.
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i link you
it’s been a loooong time since i’ve linked you. but it’s back. here are six DIY projects i would love to make. but most likely won’t.
01. beautiful watercolor tableware by fall for diy. but i’m pretty afraid of these porcelain paints claiming to be non-toxic, so i’d play it safe and use for catchalls
02. i’ve been wanting to make some gods eyes, and i love the handmade vibe of this one by elise vaughn for simply grove
03. dude. they made incense. apparently you can like make incense, by heidi’s bridge for poppytalk
04. i would probably put one of these scented satchets by house tweaking in every single room
05. most likely the prettiest jump rope of all time by turning it home
06. simple leather keychains by homey oh my that i want to make for every set of spares we have laying around
