sad + happy

it's been a crazy week... and it's only tuesday. i spent today getting official college stamps, signatures, recommendations, and transcripts ready to send in for a scholarship {xx fingers crossed xx}. i don't want to be in school. is that bad? i find the entire school system utterly and completely ridiculous. mostly because professors fill our minds with information that we hold onto long enough to barf up onto an exam. we are required to take so many courses that have nothing to do with what we want to do, and if you find one you do want to do, there's an infinite list of prerequisite classes you must take. if we could all learn what we wanted to learn at our own pace and through methods that don't test what we think possibly remember but really only know how to regurgitate, we might actually have harder workers, dream chasers, and a happy successful environment to enter after college.

this is what i enjoy. can i take a class on better design? networking? photography for simple cameras? html? maybe even an advanced sewing class? psssh. no tasmin, you silly girl. you don't have the prerequisites for half of those and the other half are fake. i guess i'll google it.

in the meantime, i will share some happy things with you! here are a couple blog posts i especially enjoyed today.

foliophoto: collection {bedsidesign}
nesting: mismatched cloth napkins {a beautiful mess}

and just a couple of blogs that i enjoy, too.

stories of kel
we took the road less traveled
sunny with a chance of sprinkles

more upcoming happiness includes a recipe for my my home-made, gluten free crackers that are legit and that valentine's project i promised i'd share {it's totally not exclusive to valentines}.

the pinterest challenge

today is a special day. it's a monday.

but it's also the day i begin my pinterest challenge. if there is one thing that helps me justify my 2,500+ pins and 600+ likes, its that i actually go back and do those things i pin. not all 2,500, don't get me wrong, i have done plenty of repinning and never gave them a second thought. but today is a new day and i am going to try several new pins. thanks to this lovely gal and her sisters, i give you:


the rule of this game is to pick 6 pins and work on them over the next 6 weeks. then i will report of my progress! don't judge me for picking simple ones, i'm a student. school is hard. give me a break. the fact that i use pinterest for the greater good of my family and home is an accomplishment!

so here are the six i picked:

one: i have been wanting to try this forever. natural hair color enhancing with natural ingredients you can find in your kitchen. there's a recipe for blonds, reds, and me's {or brunette}. i know one day when i am preggers i won't be able to dye my hair {chemicals, ya know?... yeah, not pregnant yet, don't go getting ideas}. i'm trying it now because my hair is its natural color at this moment, so i will be taking this opportunity.

two: do these pizza stuffed chicken breasts not look delicious?! i am completely in love with chicken rolls of all kinds and these just look amazing! not too mention that this site is amazing for health lovers. all of her recipes come with the nutritional facts, too. super helpful!

three: well, as you know from my pinterest promise, i am trying to de-clutter. this handy helper of a pinterest clean up is perfect! it helps you find the original picture of things you pinned that may be marked as spam, just bring up a picture, or are broken links. this one may take me awhile... just sayin.

four: i love this girl's blog! all about fashion. she is currently doing a series on how to start your wardrobe from scratch. this is actually the second step, so i guess i will be doing the first one, too. this second step is picking a color palette for you closet so when you go shopping, if you stick with your palette, anything you buy will match everything else. genius right?! why did i never think of that?

five: i love this simple antique button necklace. and i have a handful of buttons just like that! I love statement necklaces and don't have any. dumb. so i will make one!

six: this is a tutorial on how to pack like a ninja. i am going home for spring break in 17 days {not counting. miss my mama} and i will only be taking a carry-on. i. need. this.

and there you have it! wow... only one recipe. weird. recipes are the pins i use the most often. but i guess this challenge is helping me get out of my bubble. if you want to join or do your own, please go to the original post and add the button to your post. happy pin-doing!

i'm the kinda girl who... {link up}

i decided to join my very first link up. surprised?? i am. i love reading them, and have loved all the ideas, but this particular one was just fun. and so i'm doing it. ...smile...

i'm the kinda girl who...

...sings every time a song comes in my head.
...loves cooking, but hates dishes.
...would rather be barefoot.
...wishes on falling stars.
...talks about my husband. like all the time.
...loves swinging on swings and ending in a somewhat pitiful leap into the air.
...squeals when i see an old friend {or sometimes friends i saw two days ago}.
...can sleep anywhere.
...never gets tired of movies. i can watch them over and over and over and over and...
...eats at chick-fil-a once a week {usually, sometimes every two} even though i am trying to be healthy.
...talks to myself in public, out loud, and normally doesn't notice 'til it's too late.
...can't swim. yup.
...laughs at dumb things way longer than normal people.
...laughs at really funny things way longer than normal people.
...laughs at things that happened last week... generally way longer than normal people.
...hates being late, other people being late, and lateness in general.
...runs down the hall in socks into a legit slide at then end.
...trips on air and runs into doors.
...always tries to be positive when others are down, but can never be positive when i am down.
...loves sunshine.
...plays in the rain {but still loves the sun}.
...is obsessed with scarves.
...dreams of big things.

anyone else want to give it a go? what kind of girl are you??

date night! {sushi + painting}

i love date nights. one thing that brock and i pride ourselves on in our marriage is that we are pretty good at having date nights. we don't go having them every single week because we are home together every night. but we do go on dates. and they are not always dinner and a movie.

this past weekend's date started with some sushi {i literally haven't had any since january last year} and the second part was inspired by my friend over at besidesign. she is fabulous and blogged about this idea {and her results!}. i loved it so much that i planned for it with brock. he was skeptical at first, but he enjoyed it!

basically, we took turns painting blind folded, picking each others paint and just feeling ridiculous! it was super fun and the result is going on my wall! brock didn't agree with that either at first, but our handy work is growing on him. lucky me, i got a deal on canvases, two for the price of one ;) so we might be doing it again sometime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

love the husband

i just wanted to say thanks to all of you, through texts and comments, on your hair advice. unfortunately, each one got about the same amount of votes! haha. it made me laugh. i still haven't worked myself into cutting yet, but it will either be monday, or neeeext monday.

that aside, i just want to let the world know that i have the greatest husband ever. don't be jealous.

we don't have a dishwasher, so we do dishes every night after dinner. last night, i was feeling especially drained and also had a killer headache.

sweet brock hopped in the shower super fast {we had just worked out before dinner}, while i was doing dishes, and then forcefully took over the massive pile - we hadn't done dishes all weekend - so i could take a relaxing bath. he knew what i needed before i even knew i needed it. and he made sure everything was cleaned and ready for me to just hop right in bed after my bath.

he is so thoughtful. i just adore him.

i really am not a fan of valentines, but i decided to do something this year. i can't wait to share it {it has to wait, in case brock reads this}. i have always been anti, but i think now that i'm an avid blog reader, i'm getting the bug. it's weird. i don't really like this feeling, but i am succumbing to it. don't tell anyone.

what are your plans for love day?

pixie haircuts {can't decide}

happy friday out there.

while you're filling your weekend with chores, errands, maybe advendtures and visiting friends. you might trapped in a blizzard {be safe!} or sitting on your beach {i hate you}. in the midst of that, will you give some advice?

i can't quite decide. i want to cut my hair again, but which way? or are they all the same? here is me: you have my first pixie cut and what it looks like now {well, it's a little longer now, but you get the idea}.

 

ok, now you have an idea.... which one should i go for???

one | two | three | four

i absolutely love the side-burn look on anne {do you even call it that on women?} and i love the short bangs. can i pull that off? i just don't know. i like the highlights in number three. makes it summery. and emma is just gorgeous. she looks good in all hairstyles so i had to include her.

thoughts please?
and then you can get back to your weekend.
kthanksbye

a pinterest promise

i am making a pact right now. this is my pinterest promise because i am getting slightly out of hand and it's taking up more time than i really need it to.

i'm doing it on this here blog so that it is public, official, and i am held accountable by the world.

i, tasmin, vow to only repin pins that i have verified {meaning i have been to the site, know they work and are from the direct link}, and that i adore. i vow to not pin pins that are unrealistic to my life unless they inspire me to create a better realistic life {realistically}.

i also vow to not repin anything else until i have organized the pins i now have and have pinned all of my likes to their appropriate boards.

the end.

to check out why i am making this vow, click here.
for more pinning tips, click here.
if you want to clean up your pinboards, too, click on this one. very helpful.

a craft to go with breakfast

i have something of a habit of wanting to make "beautiful" food. i never realized until my mother-in-law pointed it out to me last night. she said...

i'm not like you, i don't look at food and go 'oh how cute.'

true story. i do that. and even today, i was on my healthy pinboard looking for some meal ideas for the week and asked brock what he thought of the mexican haystacks.

'isn't it cute?'

that totally came out of my mouth. i just love food. i'm trying really hard to stay away from the delicious sugar.smothered, or fried.in.tons.butter, or just packed.with.amazing.things.i.should.never.eat. it's really hard because those things are so pretty! but healthy food is pretty, too! don't judge it just because it's good for you, ok? i have to try not to, so you should, too.

that all being said, i also love pretty dishes and pretty places. so i made some place-mats for our kitchen. i want to make tons and tons. but i just have one set for now. it was quite simple, once i got the dern thing cut {my fabric twisted a tad when i washed it and the stripes weren't straight. p.s. this was a test, you probably don't want twisting fabric for place-mats because you will wash them again and again}. i just hemmed up the edges and hand stitched a little on the corners. and ta-dah! sitting under the breakfast of champions. {will post later!}

what do ya think? si or no?
now i just have to say...
let's eat!