Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friends. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

S+ A Wedding Ceremony

Yesterday, I posted about the pre-wedding Mehndi Ceremony.  Here are some photos from Sunday's wedding ceremony:




All the ladies received white flowers to wear in our hair

The lovely bride reaches for her groom



Colorful saris 




The beautiful couple

Monday, April 29, 2013

Mehndi Ceremony

This past weekend I attended the long-awaited wedding of a dear college friend.  It was an especially beautiful event, full of color, tradition, delicious food, and of course, love.

Here are some photos from Saturday's Mehndi ceremony.  (To see photos from their wedding ceremony, click here.)



Mehndi being drawn on a friend


Such beautiful and intricate artistry


The bride's lovely hands

This shot reminded me of a scene from a Bollywood movie

The lovely hands of long-time friends


Thursday, April 4, 2013

DIY Studded leather gloves

Guess what I made while Chuck took a nap yesterday?
A pair of studded black leather gloves for a tough chica friend


Although Spring is right at our doorstep, I had been meaning to make these leather gloves for quite awhile.  Last winter, one of my college friends came into town and we did a little window shopping.  She found a pair of black leather gloves at Urban Outfitters and debated whether or not to get them.  In the end, she left them behind.

I kept thinking about her studded gloves for the next couple of months.  When the weather got warmer, tons of stores had winter sales to clear out their merchandise.  Once I saw this pair of black leather gloves on sale, I snatched them right up.

Here are the materials that I used:  
- Black leather gloves
- Sharp pair of fabric scissors
- Chalk
- Golden cone spikes



The spikes contained two parts:  The sharp spiky cone and the screw 
Directions:
1.  Use chalk to mark where the spikes will go.

2.  Use the pointy part of your fabric scissors to pierce the top of your gloves.  (Make sure not to pierce through the bottom as well!)  Poke your screwback through the leather and screw the cone on.


 And that's basically all you need to do to make a pair of tough girl gloves.  The spikes are surprisingly easy to screw on and the screwbacks didn't bother my hand one bit.

What do you think?  Rock star fashion statement?  Or, tough chic weapon? 


Thursday, February 28, 2013

Bridal Shower

I can't believe I've known these girls since college
.
Life is certainly one crazy, wonderful, beautiful, and scary adventure.  
Thank goodness we're not making the journey alone.





Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Make a Sharpie decorated plate

I never know what to get people as gifts.  Maybe you're like me?  I walk through the entire store several times.  Each time around, I find different treasures and then mentally debate the pros and cons of the item for several minutes.  Then, I inevitably change my mind and movie onto the next item. Then, after about 2 hours of mumbling to myself like a crazy lady, I finally leave empty handed, with only a grouchy hubby and fussy baby to show for my effort.

So when I was invited to a friend's bridal shower, I knew I was in trouble.  If buying gifts for the building's superintendent already caused me grief, buying a gift for a longtime friend should have sent me into cardiac arrest.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?), Chuck's been having a rotten time with teething, so this time around I just took the easy way out:  gift card.  Packaged money.  And honey, who doesn't want money?

As I walked towards the cash register that nagging voice started whispering in my ear, "Leslie.  Is this really the best gift?  You've known her for how long?  Isn't this a bit impersonal?"  I tried responding back, "Shush. Chuck's actually behaving nicely.  If we leave now I can get good parking.  And I don't need to buy wrapping paper."

But the nagging voice continued, and I finally succumbed.  But this time a crafty idea also came to me and I took a quick trip to the kitchen section and grabbed a plate.

Because after seeing the gorgeous DIY Anthropologie knock-off mug from Home Heart Craft, I had to get into the Sharpie plate decorating market.

And after a couple of hours, I came up with this lovely plate:

I really like how it turned out.  It's beautiful, personal, quirky, useful, and *fingers crossed* long-lasting.  (I didn't try washing it... so I'm hoping the marker holds.)

Want to use Sharpie markers to unleash your creativity on some unsuspecting pieces of china?  Read on!

Materials:
- Oven
- Plate (I got mine at Target)
- Sharpie markers
- Paper
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Tape
- Q-Tip

Directions:
1.  Trace your plate onto a piece of paper and cut out the resulting shape.  Now you know how big to make your design..

2.  Come up with your design.  (This was super hard.  I knew I wanted to practice my handwriting skills and include something romantic and slightly naughty.)

3.  Turn your paper over.  On the back, rub your pencil over the back of your design.  (Guess what?  You've essentially made your own carbon paper!)

4.  Tape your design to your plate.  Trace over your design with your pencil.  Lift up your paper and you'll find a faint imprint of the design underneath.  (Magical!)

5.  Use Sharpie to trace over your design.  I have shaky hands, so I did this very slowly and carefully.  Some parts of the lettering came out a big uneven, so I retraced over parts to make sure that everything looked uniformly black.  Once my Sharpie dried, I brushed off any visible pencil residue with a Q-tip.  Feeling inspired, I also free handed a design on the back.

6.  Pop your work of art into the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.  Then, admire your handiwork and wrap it up.

(Have you ever tried to draw on plates or mugs with Sharpies?  Did the Sharpie marker stay on even after you washed the item?  I'm hoping my design stays on.  Hubby received this lovely mug decorated with Sharpie from his students last year.... and the message they wrote washed away after several rinses.  Luckily we took a photo of the mug before everything disappeared... but it was still pretty disappointing.  *Crosses fingers*)

Monday, January 28, 2013

We ♥ music class

You know when you're in the middle of doing something you love.... and you just don't want to stop because you love it so much?  That's how I feel during our weekly music classes.

Seeing the kids' responses to the music just makes me so happy.


Music time from Pink Stripey Socks on Vimeo.

Special thanks to quick thinking Elizabeth for capturing this special moment on her iPhone.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Cowboy party






When we first moved back to New Jersey, I was afraid that we wouldn't find community.
Silly me.

Last week our toddlers group held a cowboy party for the kids.
Costume?  Party?
Yup.  I've found my kind of people.

Psst- Tomorrow I'll share how I crapted Baby Chuck's cowboy costume from felt, cardboard, and a cake tin. 

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Mommy date

A couple of days ago I went on my first date in New Jersey... my first mommy date that is.  Another mommy and I planned to go out for lunch by ourselves (without the kids!) and I was kind of a nervous wreck.  I felt like a pimply faced boy going on his first unchaperoned date.

As I got ready, a whole slew of questions popped into my head.  Some questions were a bit easier to answer...

What do normal women wear when they go out?
Is this shirt too dirty to wear out?
Do I have time to wash my hair?
How should I do my hair?  
Will I look like I'm trying too hard if I paint my nails?

And others questions pointed at deeper worries...
What if I'm too boring?
What if I have nothing to say?
What if I forgot how to just be... me?

Hubby was really sweet and gave me a good pre-date pep talk.  He also helped me to pick out an outfit.


And  look, I even wore an accessory!







We ended up going to a nearby restaurant and having a really fun time.  
Sometimes it's nice just being me... instead of mommy-me.

Oh yeah, in case you're wondering- here's a picture of my hot mommy date.  :) I look forward to going out with her again soon.



Monday, December 17, 2012

Graham Cracker Houses

Hubby and I have been still thinking about Sandy Hook.  This past weekend, we struggled with whether we should still hold our gingerbread house making party.  At first it felt kind of wrong.  Hold a party to make small houses out of crackers and candy?  Were we being too frivolous?  Was it ok to have fun while others grieved?

In the end, we still held the party.  And you know what?  I'm really glad we did.

Two gal pals came over and we spent the night eating, talking, and building.  We shared what was happening in our lives.  We listened a lot and laughed even more.

*Sigh* What happened in Connecticut was really really horrible.  But maybe this was our small way of battling the darkness.  Where one candle glows, darkness cannot win.  That night, I imagined our small apartment glowing with good friendship and love.

And doesn't the world need a little more of that right now?



Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Guest Post at About Proximity


Today I'm writing a guest post on my friend Lisa's blog, About Proximity.  Lisa and I met in Michigan and she's seriously one of the warmest and kindest people I've ever met.  Because of her openness to share about her faith and life, I felt that her blog was the perfect place to share about my decision to quit my PhD program.

Click here to read my guest post.


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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Hello

Baby Chuck is currently taking a loooong nap.  He's had a rough couple of days.  He's still fighting  off a cold, yesterday he had a mild fever, and last night he had lots of problems sleeping (which meant that hubby and I also had lots of problems sleeping.  Eek... for all the parents who go to work even after long sleepless nights- I salute you!  You are troopers.  I don't think I could do it....)

While he rests, I'm taking a brief moment to write this post.

One of my best friends recently stayed with us for a couple of days.  It was wonderful seeing her again and catching up.  It was also extra-special wonderful to introduce her to the new guy in my life.

I think they hit it right off.





Sunday, November 18, 2012

Friends

Here are some photos from this past weekend.  I had a lovely weekend hanging out and catching up with some college friends.








Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!