Tuesday, April 23, 2013

The Nitty Gritty

I've got it bad.

I've found the kind of satisfying happiness that only comes from knowing you are exactly in the right place at the right time.  It's comfortably easy and effortless.  I feel like I could accomplish anything, take on any new piece and do it right.

I'm in love with an electrical tool, my Bosch R0S10 hand sander.  I bought it two weeks ago and my life will never be the same.



Lately I've come across some incredible pieces of furniture that need more TLC than my elbow grease can muster.  Two weeks ago I caved and bought my little baby Bosch.  I'm OBSESSED, I can't stop thinking about what to sand next.  Also I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to buying power tools.  Yikes.

This got me thinking about other thing in my life that have forever changed me and I will not go without.  Not counting the new love of my life Mr. Bosch, here are my top five in no particular order.

1. Walk-in closet
2. iPhone
3. Bite Guard (TMI?)
4. Kindle
5. Chi Hair Straighter

I'd be curious to know what other people cannot live without.




Thursday, April 4, 2013

Saw it Pinned it Did it - Easter Chicks

Today's my first link-up with the saw it pinned it did it girls (Stephanie and Katie).  Loving this Thursday blog.  One, because it gives me the chance to highlight some of the fun Pinterest projects I've done and two, as the weeks FLY by it keeps me blogging at least once a week Ahh!!

I took advantage of a chance to show off a little Pinterest ability to the fam this weekend and made everyone dessert for the weekend.

I found these adorable little festive cupcake chicks and had to give them a try.


Now I have an idea what those of you know me are thinking and it's either one of two things. "Good job Kaleena (in a sweet accomplished voice), or "Oh yikes how did they taste."  Friends and family have been witness to cake batter without water, over cooked chicken and panic attacks over rice that just won't cook.  I spent much of my weekend thinking of what the opposite of Martha Stewart's name would be.  I absoultly love to create, I love to make things, I just hate doing it in the kitchen. 

Basically cooking is messy, too structured and not enough room for error for me.  But sometimes the mood strikes me and I'll say my motivation was making something cute for my nephews to eat. 

I made 24 cupcakes using two cake mixes and two cans of frosting.  I had enough left over for a pie size cake that my Dad could enjoy the week after Easter.

My Mom taught me something new (as she always does) and that was that she always adds an extra egg to all cake mixes.  Something that she learned from my Grandma because the size of eggs are so much smaller than they really should be.  I also over filled the cups because I wanted them to be large enough to rise above the rim.

So in the oven go my over filled, not fully mixed, extra egg cupcakes.

I let them cool and frosted them with cream cheese frosting that I turned yellow with food coloring.

Sneak peak of the next step...

I bought yellow sprinkles at Michael's, dumped them in a bowl and rolled the cupcakes until they were fully covered.

You may be noticing that we are a chic short.  It was at this time that my nephew Dominic realized what was happening and his love for food and sweet little voice earned him the first taste.  He says "chocolate" and "cake" more clearly than "Dad" or "Grandma."  He is passionate about his sweets!

At this point I am still enjoying the process.

Time for the details...
Chocolate chips for the eyes with a drip of frosting for dimension.  I turned frosting orange in a sandwich bag and cut the tip to create a cake tool to make the beaks.  


And here I stop, so they end up more like peeps than chics but they still accomplished the "ooos" and "ahhs" that I was hoping for and the kids got a big kick out of them!


Saw it Pinned it Did it, yum!



      




Thursday, March 28, 2013

Saw it Pinned it...BOUGHT IT

My blogging girls turned me onto the fun of Thursday blogging and the "Saw it Pinned it Did It" trend.  I can't wait to get started posting some of my Pinterest projects.

But for today I'm focusing on my skill of shopping.  Here is my "Saw it Pinned it Bought It" for this sunny Thursday morning.

Sonia Kashuk, Shimmering Sands Eye Shadow Pallet
Found at Target - $13.99


I snagged this pin from the beautiful Betsy Veach.  It's everything a girl could want in a summertime shadow pallet.  Very natural with peach hues.  Perfect for a slightly sun-kissed face. 




I was especially interested in how the sparkle quad would wear.  It's pretty true to picture!  The sparkle is larger than most shimmer shadows but not obnoxious at all.  I wore the shadow yesterday for the first time but added dark brown to the corners for dimension.  


I can't wait for summer and the sun to really highlight this shadow splurge!
Saw it pinned it bought it!




Monday, March 25, 2013

Totally "Junk - Drunk" this Weekend

In the past I've been excited about salvage finds even had days of total antique-intoxication, or resale-high.  Saturday I was totally and completely junk-drunk.

My friend Mary introduced me to a wonderful outlet experience.  Foggy-eyed and totally tired we went to the Good Will outlet at 8:00 a.m. sharp on Saturday morning.  When a line was forming at the door I should have realized this was going to be more of an event than I thought.

At eight o'clock sharp the doors opened and people rushed in attacking bins full of donation center left-overs and furniture priced so low I almost had a panic attack.

The set-up is unreal, and you have to be in the mood to dig.  I have the system down now and I know exactly what I'll be doing Saturday mornings this spring!

Here's what the outlet looked like....


Here are a couple of my furniture finds, stay tuned for exciting re-furbs!


My receipt: brace yourself

Two solid oak end tables, and solid oak coffee table set - $25.00
Ornate wooden chair with cushioned set - $1.00
Odd's and ends priced by the POUND - $0.65

I can't wait to get to work!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Guilty Pleasure - Online Boutiques

10:30 coffee chat, 1:00 lunch, 2:45 afternoon stretch and 3:30 boutique break - the best thing to happen to me and the work girls since Cyber Monday and online store coupons.

I'm not sure who is to blame for introducing me to today's guilty pleasure (I'm blaming credit to Julie, the girl in the red shoes for it) but if you haven't checked out online boutique sales you are missing out!

The best way to describe them would be Etsy refined, trendy sales pieces that are priced low enough to ignore the three clicks to purchase.

Here are some of my favs.

StyleLoveLiving

This blue necklace is my favorite purchase from this boutique so far!


GroupDeals

Bought the adorable dainty heart bracelet for the girls this year for Christmas



Very Jane



I also frequent zulily, iDELI and ModCloth just to name a few.
If you have other suggestions please share!




Monday, March 11, 2013

Face lift!


Welcome to the new Live Happy!  Thank you Girl in the Red Shoes for inspiring me to give the blog a make-over and upgrade.  So much is going on with Live Happy that I can't think of a better time to pause-and-refresh!

Live Happy is actually a place now, we are creating DIY up-cycled merchandise for sale at Maryanne's Antique's in the good ole' hometown, Manistee.  We are branching out into other markets as well.  Stay tuned for fun new products and ventures!!

Along with the new look I'm experimenting with the wonderful world of social media connectivity.  Follow me on Twitter, see what I'm loving on Pinterest or who I'm reading on my fav blogs.

30 is amazing and I have to say fits me well!  I promise to blog more and as always keep in interesting.



Monday, October 29, 2012

30 by 30, Part Three


By 30, you should know…
How to quit a job, break up with a man, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.

Quitting a job, people do that in this economy?  I did, I left a great job and close friends to find normalcy in life.  I love the hospitality industry; I've been doing it since I was 14.  My Grandma opened a restaurant the day I was born for crying out loud.  But I hit my breaking point at 9:30 in the evening sitting in an office with no windows counting cans of pizza sauce.  I just couldn't do it.

Confronting is such a harsh word.  Thanks to truly amazing friends I've learned how to communicate effectively, how to stand up for myself and how it feels to be a true friend and understand that no matter what you will be there for each other.

Breaking up, here’s what I say about that.  



What can I say I'm a work in progress.  I do know that taking a chance on a relationship far outweighs the unknown outcome, and the process of finding out is totally worth it.

By 30, you should know…
When to try harder and when to walk away. 

This is such a toughie for me.  We are taught never to quit, to give it our all.  There weren't very many times a coach said ok you've done all you can, or a boss lets me stop halfway through a project.  When do I walk away?  Stay tuned, I have a few weeks before the big 3-0, still time to learn this lesson. 

By 30, you should have...
A youth you're content to move beyond

Approaching 30 and I still feel like a big kid.  I do not feel old in the slightest.  I do have a youth that I look back on fondly.  I have amazing family memories, a pretty good balance of mistakes and accomplishments, of fights and make-ups and I'm at the point where I am alright putting the past behind me and moving forward with the people that truly mean the most and will be characters in my life for the next 30 years.  A wise pinner said "You become like the five people you spend most of your time with, so choose wisely."  I'm very fortunate to have more than five people who provide balance and inspiration.



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