Tropical Winter

Not by any means has my winter actually been tropical but I wore this outfit yesterday and I thought of some far of tropical place that I would love to be enjoying right now. We have gotten a few days of sun here and there this past week but the temperature has been in the mid 30s. Its awful and even worse my blog is turning into a weather report as I type this!

 I did have fun putting this outfit together. I knew I wanted to wear this maxi skirt which I haven't woren in forever it seems like. Then I just paired other similar and bright colors that kind of matched the skirt. I have noticed that I haven't been wearing many colors lately so to make a point to wear some colorful pieces was a good choice for my outfit.

As of lately I have been eating ice cream and froyo way to often. Like everyday way to often. It is the first round of midterms this week. I had one on Monday, I have one today, and tomorrow. Just got to power through! It almost the weekend however. And that is ALWAYS a good thing.
love, Carlee

Homemade Campbells Bean with Bacon Soup

This is the first homemade soup recipe that I have ever made! And let me tell you it will get made so many more time throughout my life. I have always LOVED Campbell's bean with bacon soup but realizing how my sodium those condensed cans of soup have in them scared me a little. I decided to make my own. And wow it was totally worth it. This recipe was my base but I made my own tweaks throughout. 

You'll need

1 lb bag of navy beans

4-5 slices of bacon

1-2 carrots minced

1-2 celery stalks minced

1 medium onion chopped

2 cans (14.5 oz) chicken broth 

2 cups water

1-2 bay leaves

1/2 small can of tomato paste. 

salt and pepper to taste.

Directions.

1. In a pot you plan on cooking the soup in, fry bacon on both sides not crispy. 2. Remove bacon, leave grease behind. Add carrots, onions, celery cook over medium heat and stir. 5-7 minutes. 3. Add beans, broth, water, and bay leaves. Partially cover and cook over low heat for 2 hours. 4. Chop bacon into tiny peieces. Add bacon and tomato past to soup. Cook another 20 minuets or so. 5. Blend 2 cups of the soup in a blender. Add back to pot and stir. 

Notes:

Let the soup simmer longer if the beans need to get softer. 

This recipe takes a while and it a good little project for a Sunday afternoon. But the directions are pretty simple and once again totally worth it. It is so yummy. I really hope you guys try this recipe if you like bean with bacon soup with will not be disappointed.
love, Carlee

*Since you are the best followers ever! I am offering 15% off your first purchase in my card shop with the code BESTEVER1 so make sure to stop by and order something. Code expires March 30th 2013 and is only valid for one time use. 

Green Plaid

Thank you all for the support and the views to my shop! If you have any questions about it let me know. I feel like I haven't posted an outfit in forever. I have some ideas so there will be more in the next few weeks. This outfit is a pretty good representation of the clothes I have been living in the past few days. Leggings, plaid, scarf, boots, socks!!! Perfect right? Oh yeah and my umbrella for that rainy Seattle weather. Enjoy Tuesday.

love, Carlee

*Since you are the best followers ever! I am offering 15% off your first purchase in my card shop with the code BESTEVER1 so make sure to stop by and order something. Code expires March 30th 2013 and is only valid for one time use. 

I opened an Etsy Shop: Little Sloth

This is so exciting! I opened a Etsy shop last night around 5pm. My shop is called Little Sloth and is full of hand-drawn cards for every occasion. I was thinking I would open at the end of February but I decided that I couldn't wait any longer. And I might as well get the ball rolling sooner then later.

Let me tell you a little bit about the story behind my shop. I have always loved hand making cards for people on their birthday's or for a special day. I used to do all of this will scrape-booking material. Then I started playing around with designing cards in photoshop. But you see I have never been good at drawing like ever! So I decided I needed to practice my drawing, I mean after all practice makes perfect right? That's what I did, I drew and erased and erased some more. I am very please with the graphics I have drawn and come up with. Each new card I print out and get to hold with my two hands makes it so much more excited to make handmade goodness! 

I am so proud of my shop. I know it has only been one day. But it is exciting to have something that I can call my own and be super proud of. Anyways I hope you check out my shop and like its Facebook page! Have a SUPER Monday. (I am excited can you tell?)
love, Carlee

Mustaches and giraffes

365. 21-27 January is almost over can you believe it! All I can say is wow this month went by super fast. I am not complaining though. This week was a busy one. Lots of homework due and studying for test. There has been a few days of sun throughout the week but of course today it is raining. :( 

These photos show my reading for the week. The weather. A sick roommate. Mustache socks that I got for Christmas from one of my friends. Homework. And isn't that giraffe umbrella just the cutest! It is one of my cluster mates! I like it so much. Our little purple Christmas tree is still up but it is purple and purple is one of our school colors so I think it is ok. I have been loving the 365 project so far. I have made it almost all the way through January! Happy Sunday. 

love, Carlee 

DIY: Lyrics on canvas wall art.

I know you have all seen this DIY many times but I have been wanting to try it myself for a while now.  So here it is. It is a mixture between A Beautiful Mess's version and Elise's version. I wanted to combine Elise's version which is messy and will always be one of a kind but ABM version that has a pattern/painting below it. I painted two different canvas one I did lyrics on and one I just painted with pretty pink colors. 

1. I used a canvas that I had already painted on. It was from a while ago and definitely needed something new. I used paint with water to make the colors blend well together. 2. After the paint was dry and was the way I wanted it to look. I used scrape-booking stickers to spell out a quote. I used the quote "This is our fate, I'm yours" from the Jason Mraz song I'm Yours. I love it. 3. Make sure the stickers are stuck down firmly. I used paint craft white to paint over the letters. And let it completely dry. 4. Once it was dry, I peeled off the letters. 5. Enjoy your beautiful and completely own of a kind creation. 

This has been one of my favorite DIY projects. I was pretty simple and easy and like I said above totally one of a kind. I am excited to one day put this up in my own home. I hope you enjoy.
love, Carlee

White Emerald

I really like these photos. The pop of emerald on the blouse with the white background of the snow is really pretty. At least I think so. However is was rather cold while taking these photos, 18 degrees I believe. But I toughed it out, it was definitely worth it. Pretty photos are always worth it. 

Recently, I have been doing some research into my family history. I am taking a class that is called People of the U.S. We had two options either research into the Great Depression in Washington State or research into our family history. I decided to research into my family history. So while I was home this weekend my mom and I dug through boxes of old photos and papers. It will be fun and interesting too dig deeper and look into my past. 

I think I am officially ready for winter to be over and spring to be here. I did all those winter activities already. I have skied, ice skated, sledded, drank hot cocoa, took pretty photos in the snow, and enjoyed the holidays. Now I am ready to have the temperatures increase and have the sun come out a bit more. What about you all? Are you ready for spring? 
love, Carlee

Long weekend home

As I mentioned I went home for the extra long weekend. My hometown is about 4 hours away from Seattle in North Central Washington so it is a little bit of a trek to get there. It is worth it though. I spent the weekend relaxing and watching movie with my little brother. We watched the new movie The Odd Life of Timothy Green, it is an odd movie but pretty good. We also watched Marley and Me which is a classic but it makes me cry every time. It is fun that my brother is only 11 years old it gives me an excuse to watch kid movies. Which are the best kind right?

I also made a few new recipes while I was at home which I will be sharing with you within the next week or so. My mom is on a kick of eating no white flour or white sugar. So I was challenged to make different recipes that called for stuff like bananas and honey instead of sugar and flour! Some of the stuff turned out awesome and some was a flop. Oh well. 

Another thing I was up to this weekend was getting supplies and researching more into starting my own Etsy greeting card business. This is one of my goals for 2013!! I have always been creative and loved making cards out of scrape booking material then I changed my ways and started doodling and designing cards on photoshop and sending them to my friends and family. I LOVE doing that and have been thinking for a while now to open my own shop. I just want to be prepared before I do anything. What do you guys think?

A long weekend means a short week so that is nice. I can't believe that we are already almost through January that is just crazy. February will be a good month though because my birthday is in February. (on the 12th!) Anyways have a wonderful week.
love, Carlee

Toffee Bark

One of my good friends that is still in high school asked my mom if she would make some candy for a bake sale that they were going to have this week. Since I was home I offered to make this toffee which was new for me. It turned out really well! My favorite part was definitely breaking it into pieces at the end. 

You'll need
8 cups pecans, chopped
2 cups butter
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 1/2 cups of sugar
1 pound milk chocolate
Candy thermometer

1. Butter a 12x 18'' baking sheet cover with 4 cups of pecans and set aside. 2. In a sauce pan combine butter, water, corn syrup, and sugar. Place over high heat and stir until it comes to a boil. Continue stirring until mixture thickens. Then reduce heat to low. 3. Clip on a candy theromometer and cook syrup to 290 degrees F. Remove from heat and poor over pecans. 4. Cool at room temperature for 1 hour. 5. Melt chocolate and spread over the top of toffee. Sprinkle the warm chocolate with the rest of pecans and press in lightly. 6. Allow to stand at room temperture for 24 hours. 7. Break into irregular pieces. 8. Makes 4 to 5 pounds. Enjoy
love, Carlee

Books and grilled cheese

365 project. 14-20 This week was a pretty good one. I looked forward to the long weekend all week and this week was also filled with lots of girl time with my friends! It was a good one. 

14. A down shot of my favorite comfy shoes my moccasins. 

15. This is a confession of mine, I play Sudoku almost everyday. It is almost always in the paper at UW and so I try to solve them in between classes and such. I hardly ever finish because I forget about them and sometimes they are really hard.

16. My comfy bed area with my computer. 

17. I decorate my door for each holiday with color photos. So when the holiday is over I put them on this wall and now I have a wall filled with holiday color pages! 

18. My books for the quarter. Used books are cheaper!

19. Grilled Cheese. I think I had three grilled cheese sandwiches this week. They just sounded good all week. 

20. Another shoe shot. 

Happy Sunday.
love, Carlee

Print and Pink

 I am in love with the print on this sweater. Isn't it just great? I am also kind of feeling navy and hot pink as you can tell. Wearing bright colors is great.

So I am headed back home this weekend for the long weekend. I am beyond excited to get to make homemade food, sleep in a big bed, and shower without flip flop on. Oh the life of a dorm living college student. It is definitely an experience. I hope everyone has a great weekend. It is so funny how on Mondays the weekend seems to be worlds away but Friday always seems to come.
love, Carlee 

Army family

People say if you marry someone in the military you are also marrying the military. I can definitely imagine this to be true and I am just a military fiance;) While over the break I took some photos of Clark and his family in Army shirts that Clark had brought back with him for Christmas break. I know we are already in January but I just thought these photos were to good not to share. His mom specifically wanted me to take these photos. I think they turned out great and this was the first time I used my new 35mm f/1.8 lens I got for Christmas and I love it, just saying.  His sister grabbed the camera and snapped a couple of us like the first one you see before. 

Have a great Thursday. Yay for it almost being Friday. 
love, Carlee