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.

A Robot Accessory Love Story

Meet Nerdbot:

He was a Christmas gift from a good friend (who clearly knows me well!) and we've been biffles since we met.  As you can tell by his sharp attire, he works hard for a living and firmly believes in the power of a good suit and tie.  He has a heart of gold and a unique ability to brighten your day with his sparkly eyes.

Last weekend while shopping at Charming Charlie's, the mecca of accessories, I found a ring that I knew would be a perfect match for Nerdbot!

A girlfriend for Nerdbot!  She clearly understands the power of accessorizing, as she thought far enough to match her bow to her eye color.  She enjoys long walks on the beach and putting on her dancing shoes.  

They've only known each other for a few days, but I'd venture to say it's a match made in heaven.  

Music Monday--Tommy & the High Pilots

Happy Monday!  I know it's going to be a good Monday, because tonight I'll be seeing these guys at Lincoln Hall!

Organizing Solution--Chalkboard Clipboards

Keeping track of papers on my desk has always been an issue for me.  I constantly feel like my desk surface spontaneously generates a mixture of coupons, pretty pictures, and grown up paperwork.  In an effort to turn the crazy into order, I came up with the following solution:

It's SUPER easy to execute.  All you have to do is:

1. Buy traditional hardboard clipboards.  (Fun fact: clipboards are twice as much at Staples as they are at Office Depot!  At least, this was true when I did my price matching.)
2. Paint clipboards with chalkboard paint.  This a) turns ugly brown clipboards into more attractive black clipboards and b) allows for easily changeable labeling!
3. Hang clipboards with clear 3M command hooks.  (I promise 3M is not paying me for an endorsement--I'm just obsessed with how easy they are to use!)
4. Label clipboards with chalk, and then load up with papers!

I love how it clears up horizontal space on my desk, and also gives me a visual reminder of things like to-do.  Also, because they are clipboards on hooks, you can easily take down a clipboard to tackle that to do list and empty out the clipboard!

Etsy Shop Update

I've been sewing like a madwoman, and am proud to introduce a new addition to Fits of Wanderlust Accessories--clutches!

They come in several different fabric designs, and are made mostly out of flannel and woven cotton.  I'm a little bit obsessed with big bows, so I figured I'd make that bow functional by pairing it with a grommet to secure the flap!

I think I had the most fun pairing up fabric and lining combinations, and went for pops of color in many of the clutches.  Who doesn't love opening your bag to find a hot pink surprise?

Check out all of the designs here!

Music Monday-Be My Valentine?

A little late, but here's the playlist that I sent out to friends for Valentine's Day this year.  I've been making Be My Valentine? mixes for 5 years now--thank goodness there is no shortage of love-themed songs out there!

Angry Birds Cake

It was a no-brainer when choosing the theme for my mom's birthday cake last month.  Ever since we got her an ipad awhile ago, she has been obsessed with Angry Birds.  Obsessed.  I first thought about making a round cake and adding angry birds characters on top, but somewhere along the line decided on a cake rendition of an angry birds level, complete with slingshot. GO BIG OR GO HOME.

It actually ended up taking less time than my brother's Mario cake a few months ago.  I think that's partly because I might be getting better at fondant?  But a large factor was probably also that I decided to just frost the cakes, and not cover them in fondant.  (A time saver to note for the future!)  

I had the help of my younger brother (in between arguing over how to make tower structures, we work quite well together!) and we had to wait until my mom went to bed to prevent her from finding out our plans. But it was quite worth it.  She was surprised and we pulled off a pretty cool cake!  I don't think I'm ever going to become comfortable with the cake cutting process though.  

Crayon Art DIY

I've seen this idea all over the internet, and last weekend finally got around to testing it out myself!  It's a simple process--hot glue crayons to a canvas, and then take a hair dryer and melt the crayons down until you get the look you're going for.  

There is a lot of splattering involved, so make sure you cover your space adequately!  The good news though, is if you happen to get crayon wax on your mom's laundry room floor tile, it's pretty easy to scrape off once it's dry again.  Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.  

The hair dryer I used had a concentrator attachment on it, and that definitely helped a lot in melting the crayons.  It made the hot air more focused and effective, and allowed me to minimize splattering as much as possible.


I might be addicted now, and have already bought another canvas to experiment with.  It would be cool to make canvas with only one or two color groups!

Surprise Ball DIY

Last week it was one of my friend's 25th birthday, so I decided to give her something fun to unwrap with a surprise ball.  These are super simple to make--just find a bunch of small presents, grab some crepe paper, and start wrapping!  I found most of these small gifts at the dollar store, Target's dollar spot, and World Market.  You could make these with virtually any theme for any holiday, but in Colleen's ball I included sillybandz, tic tacs (she's obsessed with them), worry dolls, shower gel, a finger puppet, mini colored pencils, bangle bracelets (which work well in helping making the surprise ball more round!) and for the grand finale, a Hello Kitty mega blocks.  As much fun as they are to make, it's even more fun watching the person unwrap the ball and discover their presents!

Simple Bracelet Solution

I recently decided to attempt to wear more bracelets, so I dug out my box of old assorted jewelry to find some.  I went through a huge bracelet phase in high school, but haven't really used them to accessorize in a long time.  (I think part of the reason for this is that I had the wonderful honor of having to wear wrist braces for a year or two due to carpal tunnel, and that period of time broke me of the habit of putting anything else on my wrists.  Gawd I'm cool.)  I've been seeing the trend of layering tons of bracelets on your arm, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  The result:

I kinda like the look, but halfway through the evening I realized that the majority of the bracelets on my wrist were purchased and worn during the golden age of 1999-2001, also known as junior high.  Thus, the following conclusions: a) I do indeed have slight hoarding tendencies, as these bracelets survived the mass cleansing of personal items that happened before my move a year ago and b) If you hold onto something long enough, it WILL become fashionable again.  Who knew power beads could be worn in the new millenium?

After rocking this look for a night and making 13 year old manda OH SO PROUD, I decided I needed a better way to store bracelets to encourage future bracelet wearing.  They currently were shoved away in a box, allowing my "out of sight, out of mind" tendencies to reign supreme--so I wanted something in plain sight.  Enter 40 cent IKEA solution!

I bought a pair of these vases for 40 cents each in the As-Is section of IKEA about a month ago, and they make for the perfect solution!  I can quickly throw bracelets on and off the vase,  and keep them in sight so I remember to add bracelets to my outfit in the morning.  And so, a simple solution to enable...err...encourage my accessory addiction!

Music Monday-Gold Motel

Lollapalooza 6.7.11

As ready as I am for fall and all of its hoodie-wearing opportunities, I will never turn down the sunshine summer feel that a Gold Motel show provides.  This Chicago local band is by far one of my favorites, and I've been to going their shows since they got their start in December of '09. They played a set at Middlewest Fest for the second year this past Saturday, so I took the opportunity to hike out to DeKalb, pick up my brother who goes to NIU, and head to see my favorite locals play.  (with the added bonus of getting to finally check out a Company of Thieves set, and a Tokyo Police Club set!)  Gold Motel's brand of pop is intelligent and so very catchy...best listened to with wayfarers on and the open road in front of you.  (But also effective as an injection of summer for those cold February days!) 

Check out their latest single here.

Flashback Friday-Birthday Edition

My birthday is in 10 days, and I am turning the incredibly-intimidating-and-grown-up-sounding age of 25.  I also have the wonderful honor of sharing my birthday (sorta) with one of my bffl's, Lindz.  She was born on the 18th, and I was born on the 19th, giving me a birthday twin to celebrate with!  (In super cool and coincidental news, we also share the fact that our dads share our birthdates, but in July.  As in, her dad's birthday is July 18th, and my dad's birthday is July 19th. AND her sister has the same birthday as my mom! Weird, huh?)  Our plans for celebrating this year are still in finalizing mode, but I know one thing for sure--it's going to be hard to top our epic celebration of last year.  Since we're birthday BAMF's, we decided to celebrate for two full days.  Some highlights of last year included:

Seeing a fav local band, The Noise FM

Eating crepes at an adorable place owned by a French man

Glow in the dark mini golf!

Going to the grand opening of Chick-Fil-A

Wandering an awesome used book store in Wicker Park

A truly epic celebration...I can only hope this year will be as much fun!  (and equally distracting from the cold hard truth of getting older.)

Throw some glitter, make it rain

File this under things that WILL happen in a future home of mine:

My favorite part is that the best technique to ensure even placement of the glitter is to throw it up in the air as you apply it.  An excuse to throw glitter, AND a sparkly floor as the reward for your efforts?  Sign. Me. Up.

Check out the directions here.

A Belated Weekend Recap

This past weekend was one of those weekends that was crazy busy and full.  Tons of fun, but also a little bit exhausting!  On Saturday I had the honor of attending one of my best friend from high school's brother's wedding.  The ceremony was at the Sheraton downtown, and was so incredibly beautiful and interesting, as it included a traditional Hindu ceremony.  I really appreciated that the priest performed the different sections of the rituals in the native language, but then paused frequently to explain what was happening and why it was significant.  The ceremony started off with the Baraat, in which the groom's side danced into the ceremony to meet the bride.  There were even fireworks and a white horse involved!

The reception was also gorgeous, and filled with dancing. So. Much. Dancing.  My friend's entire family knows how to bust a move, and aren't afraid to get out on the dance floor!  I've already requested that she send me a video of her dad dancing to Twist and Shout, to watch on those days when an anti-cranky serum is needed.  Overall, an incredibly beautiful way to spend my Saturday!

On Monday a few friends and I attempted some Labor Day deals shopping at the outlet mall. As one of my bffl's put it, it was like Disneyland at spring break.  So many people, in every direction you looked.  However, we did manage to score some deals!  We combined our items into one transaction at the Gap Outlet, as I had an coupon with a minimum spending of $75, and we managed to save over $100.  I purchased a gray cardigan, and promptly realized that I have a slight addiction to cardigans.  But I was so excited that we are finally reaching the type of weather that is conducive to cardigan-wearing that I had to celebrate with another purchase!  *cough cough *shifty eyes.  I swear I'm done with cardigan purchasing...mainly because I've pretty much purchased one in every possible color.

In between dancing my nights away and shoving my way through bargain hunting crowds, I did manage to finish up new necklace designs for my Etsy shop.  I'm really happy with how these necklaces turned out!  

Several of the photos I used were taken throughout the summer, so they have bright colors and a summer-y feel.  I also found a new 3-dimensional glue to apply to the backs of the pendants, that gives them a resin-like quality and a more durable finish.  Check them out here!  I'm finishing up a few more designs, so also be on the lookout in the next few days for more jewelry goodness!