Monthly Archives: November 2012

Fake It ‘Til You Make It

It’s that time of year when people invite themselves over and intrude upon your private space because it is the holidays and they want to spend time with you. Sigh. Alright, we’ll play nice and try to accommodate the best we can. We gathered some tips on how to spruce up your apartment in a pinch and give the false impression that you live in a civilized manner all year round.

1. First Impressions.

Gerard Butler

(Make your boyfriend, friend, or roommate greet your guest at the door dressed as your personal butler. This is important in fooling your guest into thinking you are living a highly refined life. Actually one better, get Gerard Butler to dress as a butler and answer the door for you, whatever you do after that pretty much won’t matter.)

2. Tidy Up.

(Don’t have time for a deep clean? Don’t worry, there is an easy solution. Shove your scattered clothes, shoes, and spare tutu into your closet as quickly as you can. Then take your shoe rack and move it in front of your closet door in case your guest decides to get snoopy)

3. Mood Lighting.

(Class up the joint by placing a candle in a tiny little mason jar. But don’t stop there, tie some twine around the top so that you disguise the fact that you just stuck a candle in a jar)

4. Refreshments

(Someone told me that they once went to a super fancy dance club and there was champagne in the bathroom! Well, I drank all of mine the other night so I placed some extra beer and wine I had around the toilet instead which should do the trick! Whatever you do, make sure you keep a wine and bottle opener within reach so that your guest can pop their bottles easily)

Well, there you have it, 4 easy and totally doable steps that transform your apartment into a chic lounge that could trick any of your imposing friends into thinking you are classy.

I can’t help it, I like pretty things

I know the premise of our blog is typically humorous (at least we think) but sometimes I can’t help it.  I just love pretty things.  A lot of those pretty things tend to be in nature so I wanted to share some of the prettiest things I’ve seen recently.  Most things can’t be done justice in a photo but I do love to try.  Hawaii is heavenly and last week while I was there, I never fell short of inspiration.  I truly felt thankful to be spending time with my family in such a beautiful place.

(I loved the walking/running paths along the ocean.  You just can’t beat the views)

(The water is always warm)

(Sunsets that paint the entire sky)

(Unreal lighting)

(Vibrant colors)

(The baked goods are amazing)

(Unbelievable Sunsets)

The Hawaiian islands are magical for many reasons.  If you like pretty things the way I do, you will be in pure bliss.

DIY- Tealight Wreath

Lately, I have been really into creating my own decorations in my room. I have always loved candles so when I found some of these pretty tea light holders, I knew I wanted to try to use them for something. Below is what I came up with!

(Start with tea lights, tea light holders, an embroidery circle, twine, and plastic flowers)

(Because I love flowers and wreaths so much, I decided to wrap the flowers around the embroidery circle)

(I cut three pieces of twine in different lengths and pulled them through the tea light holders. I attached the ends to the embroidery circle and spaced them apart to my liking)

(I decided to hang it against my wall since I have high ceilings but you could also hang it from a hook in your roof too)

(I love the simple look that tea lights give)

Overall, I am pleased with the outcome but if I had a backyard or a garden, I would most likely keep the wreath there for summer nights!

The Writing’s on the Wall.

San Francisco is a city that embraces art and expression of many kinds. Graffiti and urban artwork can be found on pretty much every corner. While some of it is actually destructive vandalism, we wanted to highlight the mural art that shows true talent and adds color to some of the city streets.

(Our lunch walks often take us down Pacific Street close to the North Beach end. This mural is on the back of a very cute coffee shop and you know how we love getting our caffeine on)

(Haight Street is an infamous area that I live close to. It is full of all kinds of “colorful” people and the walls are no different. I read the word “Smile” in this, do you?)

(Brittany gets lost in the colors)

(This rainbow is full of tiny drawings iconic to San Francisco. The orange area is my favorite illustrating the unique look of the typical San Francisco home)

(Looks like I’m at the end of this rainbow)

(This reminds me of Medusa meets Alien. Brittany loved it so much, she had to give it kisses)

(I ain’t afraid of no alien)

(But a weird Frog King- I am terrified of!)

There hundreds of super cool murals in the city, could never share them all. But there are some that really brighten our days, proving that not all graffiti is bad!

Fool Proof Hangover Kit.

Whether you are a man or a woman, we all fall victim to the occasional hangover. Just last Friday, we had a beer each and woke up with the worst headache. Literally, one beer will do it to it to us sometimes but maybe it is because we aren’t serious drinkers. We gotta work on that. Luckily, we are serious about our hangover remedies and cover-ups, let us share them with you.

(First things first, start with a cup of coffee. These instant ones work just fine, keep one or seven in your kit)

(Pop a headache relief pill IMMEDIATE)

(Now, I am not sure what happened to your shirt but in case you don’t have a spare and are in a rush to get to work- get yourself a Tide-To-Go pen, they work on everything!)

(Bust out the baby oil to get rid of that tattle tale stamp on your wrist. You can never talk your way out of anything if you have a stamp from the night before anywhere on your body)

(Throw on some red lipstick and a pair of sunglasses- you are good to go! No one will ever think you had a beer the night before, you are ready for a hard day of work)

Our hangover kit has been proven to save lives. We don’t know how many but we are positive it has been a lot, so prepare one now, you want to be sure you are ready in case the big one strikes!

To Be Thankful.

With tomorrow being Thanksgiving, we were reminded of the countless things we are thankful for. Our family, friends, health- okay, enough of that crap let’s get to the real things we couldn’t live without.

(Yup, Beer Goggles! You know, when you have a glass or bottle of wine and decide that everything you see in the department store is something you just can’t live without. The next morning you wake up screaming “why did I buy another purple tutu?!” You wouldn’t have bought it sober and that would have been a damn shame, so thank you Beer Goggles, we are grateful for you)

(When Brittany and I were figuring out the details of this post, we originally meant Unexpected Cuties as in hot men we walk by from time to time. But you know what? I can live without a random cute boy siting, but how can I live without this face?! So cute! I could scream. I am. I am screaming right now. SO F@#*ING CUTE! AHHHH! I WANT TO EAT YOUR CUTE LITTLE FACE OFF!!!)

(There is nothing like a morning cup of coffee. Wait, there is nothing like a morning cup of coffee with a heart drawn in the foam. No, that isn’t right. There is nothing like a morning cup of coffee with a heart drawn in the foam handed to you by a super cute barista in a trendy coffee truck. We occasionally treat ourselves to a latte from Reveille Coffee on Pacific St in San Francisco. There is no joke here, their coffee really is made from unicorn tears or something, it is unreal how good it is. Sometimes our morning coffee ends in tears if one of us gets a heart in the foam and the other gets a leaf. A leaf. Who the F@#* wants a leaf?!)

(The Blow Dry Bar is the newest craze in hair beauty since the spiral perm. The best part is that they serve you champagne while you and your friends get your hair blown out. You always imagine leaving the bar looking like the model above. But after a few cocktails, you start looking like…

Hey, you can’t win ’em all!)

(Thank God I decided to put on tights before I walked out the door! I really dodged one major slutbaggy bullet there. I didn’t realize that my dress was the same length as my coat and if I didn’t have these tights on… Well, I would have been walking the streets of San Francisco looking like a flasher on my lunch  break)

We joke around a lot but we are honestly very thankful for our family, friends, health, and countless other things. While there are others who are less fortunate than us, we truly do know how lucky we are to live the lives that we do and wouldn’t trade places with anyone in the world. We hope you feel the exact same! Now, grab a trick fork and start grabbing the leftover stuffing from your brother’s plate when he isn’t looking- it’s THANKSGIVING afterall!

We’re Ballers, Shot Collars.

Lately we have been liking collars as accessories. The collar necklace is super trendy but we have been loving the way scooped collars have been appearing on understated shirts.

(Brittany has a beaded collar on a flowy shirt which looks great with her hair pulled back)

(Or her hair let down)

(Close up of the beaded detail)

(My cotton baby dollish tee has a silky collar that adds a little something)

(It can also be paired with a cropped vest for a less childlike look)

(Close up of the polka dot collar detail)

Something simple like a scooped collar can always fancy up a simple tee. It looks great layered for Winter, so if you see a collar you like, try it on with other layers like a thick vest or a cardigan.

DIY – Country Caramel Apple Cake Pops

With the weather getting colder, there is nothing better than a warm sweet treat to end a long day.  We find weekends are the best time to experiment with new cooking and baking recipes.  I saw this cake pop kit at Target and knew we had to give it a go.  Now that I’ve made them, I see how obviously you can make them sans kit.  However, if you are looking for a quick fix this is not your project.  These are pretty time consuming but come out great.

1. Bake the cake.  We chose apple-cinnamon since that is what the cake pops will end up looking like.

2. Make the caramel frosting (You can find a good recipe here).  Break up the cake after cooling for about 15 minutes and mix in half the frosting so the mix is a thick crumbly substance.

3. Ball the cake substance into about 1 inch balls.  Place in freezer until you melt the red chocolate in the next step.

4. Melt red chocolate chips (which you can usually purchase at your local grocery store). You can do this on a stove in a pan or in the microwave which is how I chose to do it.  Be careful though, you don’t want the frosting to burn.

5. Dip stick in frosting, then place stick in the middle of the cake pop.

6. Then roll cake pop in the red frosting.  You have to move fast through this process because the frosting starts to harden.

7. Place in pan so that frosting can harden.

8. Then dip lower half of the cake pop in  in caramel frosting (the half batch you have left from step 2).

9. Top off the cake pop with a little squeeze of green frosting (which you can make like the red frosting, however you don’t need much).

Voila!  You’ve got some adorable cake pops sure to fuel any persons sugar drive.

Enjoy!

Jailhouse Rock.

Sometimes when I am sitting at my cubicle I wonder how it compares to a jail cell.  Both are dimly lit and kinda cold but maybe a cubicle is better, it’s hard to say. The other day Britt and I came into work both wearing stripes- fitting, huh? I am always reminded of Alcatraz when I see people in stripes so we decided to escape from jail for a little while and snap some photos outside with window bars and brick.

(The trick to looking like you haven’t just escaped from anywhere is walking with swagger. I was feeling a little bit like a badass this afternoon with this new turtleneck on. No one ever suspects a person in a turtleneck of anything but being awesome…I think)

(My “just released from the Clink” look)

(Close up of the buttons going up my neck and would you look at that, it’s 12:15- time for some f@#*ing lunch!)

(Britt is loving her new sweater dress, just in time for Winter- those jail cells can get chilly!)

(Ahhhh, life on the outside, it’s nice!)

(Close up of the studded belt used to accessorize the dress, an inmate has never looked so good)

(A prize scored from a shanking victim. Too far? Fine, she got it at Topshop)

Happy Friday and we hope you get outta your cell, I mean cubicle, quick and make the most of your early release. Come Monday, it is back to the grind!

1 Shirt, 2 Looks.

My roomie was cleaning out her closet and gave me a shirt that I just love! Lately it has been feeling a bit like Antarctica in San Francisco so this short sleeved tee won’t cut it on it’s own. But that is the beauty of layering, you can essentially have two outfits in one day. I am all about wardrobe changes because I have found that the people (my fans and followers…my co-workers…okay, no one) are always asking me bring in multiple outfits because it just pleases them so. No, that doesn’t happen. I just like to switch it up because I wanna- take a look at how easy it is!

(Here is the shirt in all of it’s glory)

(The collar allows me to spice it up a bit as it peeks through the sweater in the next simple look)

(Voila! Throw a cropped sweater over it and you are instantly super preppy)

Throwing a sweater over anything is pretty easy to do but the key is to have a collar with a print you like because that is going to add the contrast that makes your outfit more interesting and fun.