Ready, Set, Shop!

• Surprise sale over at Kate Spade! Up to 75% off until 11:59 PST, no code necessary. Go now! (I think there's some website trouble, according to their facebook, but they're working on it.

• Julep is hosting their first warehouse sale, with some $14 dollar polishes going for $3. SO, have fun. No code necessary.

I know it's not much, but I couldn't not say something.

DIY: Necklace Storage

A couple weeks back, I took my grandma over to Goodwill so she could drop off a trunk load of donations, and as I was helping her unload I caught sight of this big framed painting. Turns out it was a gift given to my grandparents when they got married, and it was about to meet it's thrifted fate. I threw it back into my car, with big plans. Let's consider this the second installment in my Addicted to Gold series. Part one can be found here.


Select whatever spray paint you like. I used Krylon metallic and got it for under $4 at Walmart. I got my cork squares from Walmart as well for about $5. Off to a pretty good start, I should say.

Make sure your somewhere well ventilated for the spray paint. I chose the front yard, so all the retirees that live in my neighborhood can walk their dog past me and think about what a young hoodlum I am for tagging this Bob Ross realness. Make sure to wipe down the frame beforehand, and allow to dry completely before you do any painting. Depending on your frame, you may want a primer first. I am impatient and reckless and did without.


After the frame has dried completely, pop out that canvas and bring it inside. I attached to cork right to the canvas using the sticky backing it came with. They secured it just fine, and although I was considering a spray adhesive, I wasn't sure if it would damage the cork. Also, this was the free option, so. The cork did not fit exactly, so I trimmed the excess by putting the canvas cork-side down on a cutting board and using an x-acto knife.


So close, but the cork is a bit of an eyesore. I knew those seems were going to drive me crazy, and the frame looked washed out next to the cork. Undeterred, I found a beautiful piece of fabric for $10 at Moona Fabrics and covered the cork up. I just secured it to the back of the canvas frame with some thumb tacks and voila!


So much better! This frame is so big that it does double duty of being art and functional storage. With limited wallspace, that's a huge plus. Also a plus? The fact that all the supplies I actually had to go out and buy cost me $20. Not bad at all.

Have you ever made your own necklace storage? I'd love to know what you did differently.

Review: Covergirl Jumbo Gloss Balm

As a big ole fan of Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains, I knew it was only a matter of time before I bought a couple of the equally long-winded Covergirl Lip Perfection Jumbo Gloss Balms. They must have hired the same marketing person to name these things because seriously.

The two colors I picked up were Coral Twist (a warm pink with a tinge of orange) and Haute Pink Twist (a cool, very bright, pink). Want pictures? BOOM, done.

(Left to right: Coral Twist and Haute Pink Twist)
(Coral Twist)
(Haute Pink Twist)
Color options: This collection has 16 different shades. Comparing them to the Revlon balm stains, I see more "wearable" colors for me in the Covergirl line. What I don't like is that the only place you can find the name is on the throwaway plastic seal. ...Really, guys?

Opacity: Can't speak for all of them, but there is a lot of color in the balms that I got. The pictures show the color after two solid swipes. You can do a lighter touch for less or add on in layers, definitely.

Long lasting: As with the Maybelline Color Whispers (which I reviewed here), I keep the one I'm wearing in my purse for reapplication. They don't stain you lips like the Revlon balms. (P.S. I would be very wary to leave these things in heat. They just scream "MELTABLE" to me.)

Overall: Love 'em. What can I say? I can't get enough of these "not-lipstick" options that all these companies are putting out. They're so much more practical for everyday wear Haute Pink Twist is like, my new favorite thing. It's so bright but totally wearable. I can just throw on some mascara and this and I'm done. is that easy and breezy or what?

Price: $6.99 at Target. Usually about $8.99 at drugstores, but if you want multiple colors I would try that route because they're almost always BOGO 50% off, which ends up being a little cheaper. Also check the Sunday paper for those Redplum and P&G coupon booklets. I have a $3 off any two Covergirl items from those ads, and they put them out pretty regularly.

For real, though: I wrote this review on my own accord, with products I purchased on my own. All the opinions are my own and done just because I enjoyed it.

May Flowers And Zoo Trips

Fact: I love giraffes. They are majestic and wholly unnatural looking and basically badass. We live nearby the zoo, and if you drive by and look, you stand a good chance of seeing their heads popping out above the trees alongside the road. This is what happened to me earlier this week, so when the weekend came around and we were contemplating a picnic at the park across from the zoo, we decided to go!

Also, society and fashion finally wore me down because I bought my first ever maxi dress yesterday at Old Navy's 30% off sale. And yes I am so late on this, but I freaking love it. Why didn't anyone tell me how comfortable they were?! I wanna, like, sleep in it. Ugh.


The park was full of Cinco de Mayo celebrations and BBQ, but we were content with our giant sandwiches. It's so refreshing to get out of the house and just go relax somewhere and people watch. You forget about how hard the ground actually is, or the bugs that slowly try and sneak up on you and get all up in your food, when it's perfect weather and there's just the right amount of breeze blowing.


The park has a beautiful flower garden. I mean, really cute. And full of all different kinds of puppies getting toted around. But it's also full of those giant black devil bee creatures from hell* so I basically ran around with Ryan trailing behind me and attempting to calm me down.

The Sacramento Zoo might not be very big (at all), but I love it nonetheless. Who can stand and look at tigers and chimps and giraffes and not think it's awesome? The San Francisco Zoo has gotta be my next zoo adventure, but until then I at least have this!

* Okay so they're called carpenter bees and multiple site assure me that they're virtually harmless but how can we ever really be sure?

DIY: Painted Planters

Do you ever just have a weekend where you seem to get more done than you thought your procrastinating self was capable of? That was me over the last couple days. From groceries, to general errand running, to cooking my grandma's delicious chicken flavored rice. And finally, in the midst of all these other things, I went out and bought a can of highly needed spray paint. As a result, I became slightly addicted to painting anything I could get my hands on. Which brings me to my first DIY project in what should be called an Addicted to Gold series.


WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
• Spray paint color of choice (I used Krylon metallic gold)
• Planter pots
• Painter's tape/anything to protect the parts you don't want painted.


Tape off whatever design your heart desires. Remember to go over the edged really carefully to create a tight seal. I cut open a couple of plastic bags and taped them along the edge to make sure everything I didn't want painted was covered.


Spray away! I chose not to use primer on these, and I was still satisfied with the result I got. I did three coats on each piece, giving a couple of minuted in between each coat, which a good half hour after the last coat to let them dry in the sun. The can says it only takes fifteen, but...whatever. When you're certain that your color is even and you won't smudge it by touching it, go ahead and peel the tape away.


And voila! I bought some red and multi-colored poppies and planted them in these yesterday. I can't wait to watch them spring up!