Off to NYC!

Off to New York for a few days of Broadway shows, hipster-hunting, cupcake eating, and exploring! 

DIY Glitter and Paint Chip Notecards

Last weekend, thanks to the enabling of my mother and some pretty sweet Michael's coupons, I ended up buying a whole lot of glitter:

That darn Martha Stewart.  Her craft supplies are so annoyingly irresistible.

I also accidentally picked up a bunch of paint chip samples from the hardware store, even though I have no intentions of painting any rooms any time soon.  (I'm sorry, Ace Hardware. My bad.  I saw the colors and went a little crazy.)

I was itching to use the new glitter in some way, so I decided to make a notecard to send to a friend.  One of my goals for this year is to send more letters to friends--because who doesn't like getting unexpected mail?

Using ALL OF THE GLITTER

I decided to make the theme of the notecard "Happy Spring!" because I am indeed incredibly happy that spring has made its appearance.

A little paint chip grass and paint chip flower, et voila!  Instant spring notecard.  Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go glitter everything I can get my hands on.

Music Monday--Noah & the Whale

Somehow Noah and the Whale were able to encapsulate the beginning of spring perfectly--I pull out this album every March, and it never fails to disappoint.

St. Patty's Day Nail Art

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays, mainly due to 1) being Irish, 2) the abundance of green, and 3) shamrock shakes!  The other day I decided to make my nails festive for the occasion.  The materials needed:

Martha Stewart's glitter in aquamarine is my new Windex.  It will solve any problem, I swear.  The nail polish colors are Essie's Pretty Edgy, and Essie's Navigate Her. (Insert dirty joke here.)

Simply paint nails in Pretty Edgy, and paint the disco nail (ring finger) in Navigate Her.  Once you've done two coats and they are dry, dip a q-tip in clear nail polish, then the glitter, and then apply to the tips of your ring fingers.  (Or if you're feelin crazy, ALL OF THE NAILS!)  After the glitter is well in place, cover with one more coat of top coat.  Et voila!  Instant Irish pride!

Things I Want to Buy: Rain, Rain Go Away

This has certainly been the weirdest winter ever in Chicago--I feel like it never truly became winter.  Instead, we had a constant see-saw between winter and spring, back and forth.  The past few days have been very spring-like though, so I'm crossing my fingers that spring will stick this time.  The warmer weather has gotten me thinking about the rainy weather that April will most certainly bring with it, which of course got me thinking about a few essentials I'd like to upgrade. To the online shopping mobile!

Penguin rain boots from Target!  I already own a pair of rainbow heart boots from Target, but they're a little worse for the wear and there's a hole in the right boot. A fact that I sadly did not discover until jumping into a ginormous rain puddle last spring...that was a very soggy walk home.

Raincoat from Target! When I was five, I had the coolest reversible raincoat ever, that could be purple OR pink.  I've basically spent the rest of my life trying to find a grown-up version of that coat.  This is the closest I've come to so far!

Rainbow polka dot bubble umbrella from Totes! I love the look of bubble umbrellas, but they aren't the most compact or practical when folded up.  But this one is so adorable I may have to get it!

Here's hoping spring sticks around for awhile!

Music Monday--State and Madison

About a week ago, this arrived at my doorstep...

...and I haven't stopped listening to it since!  State and Madison hail from Chicago, and have been one of my favorite local bands for a long time.  They've finally put out an LP, and it is an amazing collection of music.  Check out the single here.  

They put on a mean live show--if you know what's good for you, you'll be at their record release show on April 6th at the Beat Kitchen!

Obsessed.

You guys.  I am obsessed.  I made the mistake of putting a sample of this on my keyboard at work, and I have found myself re-applying more often than a 13 year old girl who just spent her entire weekly allowance at Walgreens' makeup counter.  But in my defense, it actually moisturizes!  And smells like roses!  And has just a hint of color, so no one can tell that you've put on 50 layers before lunch.  That, in my book, is a win win.