long time no blog

Hello my darlings,
I am sorry i am such a naughty blogger and never update, but i have been incredibly busy the last month. Since my last post i have officially moved to Alabama! Although it was a bit of a bumpy ride getting here, I didn't know where i was going to be living until about 5 days before i was set to move. I had two living situations fall through, but as they say, it all worked out for the best! My cousin needed a roomie since she had just bought the cutest 1920's bungalow, i love this house! my bedroom is bigger than my last apartment, seriously, no joking here. The neighborhood is sort of in the middle of revitalization, which means it is like 2 blocks from the "ghetto" haha. That being said i really enjoy my neighborhood, i love the diversity, i love all of its little quirks. I love stalking my family and making them hang out with me :-) i actually get to eat dinner with them, and just pop in because im in the neighborhood, snuggle with my mommy. Its perfect! The only thing i haaaaaaaaaate is my job. yup. I hate it. Its really unfortunate because it is the same brand that i worked for before, but it is a different management company so they way it is run is really frustrating. I am currently in the process of searching for a new jobby. I have already applied to another establishment and am crossing my fingers i get it! If i do i will share what it is, it is slightly naughty and lots of fun, that is the only hint i am giving now. so stay tuned folks.

and the saga continues

I am the worst blog owner ever....seriously. I probably deserve to be banned from blogging for life but thankfully the blog gestapo haven't been trolling around on my blog so i guess all is good. To educate and update everybody on my life, I am planning on uprooting my little life here in the sunshine state and moving it back to sweet home Alabama. It was kind of a sudden decision but the moment that the idea popped in my head, i immediately surrendered to it, no point in fighting your heart when it is homesick. I am so excited to be a part of my family's life again, to possibly be able to go to school again, to have access to a huge library system and a crapload of awesome thriftstores so the dork in me can go hog wild! There are so many pro's to me going but there are a few major cons. I am going to miss the heck-o-la out of my handsome boyfriend! It is going to be incredibly hard to wake up with out my big strong man by my side. Im going to really miss not having my snuggle partner to watch movies with. I wish i could convince him to come with me but i know if he did he would be just as homesick as i am here. Till the day i move i plan on taking pictures of everybody i love here and every nit-picky little building that i drive by everyday and have grown to love because i dont know the next time i will be back. This is pretty much a bitter sweet kind of thing for me. Im gonna be moving to a new house (thank you precious lord in the sky! I am so sick of my stupid craphole apartment!) hopefully that actually has hot water (plz, plz, plz) I am going to be with my family every stinking minute, prob to the point where they are going to sit me down and tell me they need "them" time. I am going to start a new job (well same job, just different store) I am really nervous about this! The store that i work at I am seriously in love with all my co-workers and managers, no joking here, so the thought of going to a new place and that happening are slim to none i feel, but we will see, open mind open heart here. I have to come up with about a million dollars in 2 weeks which is craaaaazy! its not gonna happen but anyways, either way i am moving and that is final, whether i have to trow my stuff into a little hanky over my shoulder and hop freight trains i am going back home, but again i wish my ultra handsome man could fit into my hanky too then this would be ultra perfect.

Dog Bites and Diamonds

This weekend was filled with so much drama it was unbelievable! I had to "call out" of work on sunday because i was crying like a maniac. These tears were caused by my super adorable but super terrible puppies, who decided it would be a good idea to bite my neighbors dog. I know they sound vicious but trust me they are the complete opposite and the most vicious thing they do is run around my house and try to catch the flies that have broken into my house in their mouths. I mean these fur creatures are just straight up love bugs, and no i am not just saying that because they are mine and i am biased, it's the honest to dog truth! so anyways my one puppy, panda, escaped my clutches for a minute and ran around the other corner of my house where my neighbor just so happened to come out of his house to take his gorgeous collie for a walk and then the tragedy happened. panda nipped him! obviously I was pissed at panda, my neighbor was pissed at both of us and im pretty sure wanted us both in prison. I grabbed panda and roxie and ushered them back inside my house while repeating apologies, i felt terrible! I wrote my neighbor a note and stuck it to his door so he would see it when he got back continuing to apologize and appealing to him to let us have a fresh start as neighbors, about two minutes late this angry man came knocking on my door, threatening me with calling animal control and having my dogs quarantined. I broke down and cried like a baby in front of this guy, basically begging like an idiot. It was so embarrassing. I can totally understand his anger, but under the circumstances and the severity of the incident he was being a total dick about it. This is what my theory is, panda escaped from me, she went around the corner expecting freedom and a game of chase from mom, instead saw a much bigger dog, was surprised and scared, and in order to show the bigger dog she wasn't to be messed with, bit the dogs poor little bottom. There was no "dog fight" worthy biting it was a single nip so i think threat of police involvement and doggie foster homes was a bit of overkill. Oh well, I plan on making halloween cookies and taking them to my neighbor anyway so maybe they will get over it.

       Okay so enough drama, I want to talk about my secret guilty pleasure and i'm sure many of you women share this with me, secret engagement ring shopping! First of all, I am in no way, shape, or form in anyway about to get engaged. My boyfriend and I just got back together after taking a two week breakup from each other, but that doesn't stop a girl from planning her future wedding. You cant exactly tell your BF that you have been gazing at diamond rings all day without him getting weirded out, ya know? here are some of the beautys i have been coveting lately (and let it be known i am quirky and may not want an actual diamond, i cant decide)

here is my absolute fav! I am in love with rose gold.

Once again another rose gold ring, but so georgeous!

This one is just whimsical and cute! I love that it says oui' on the side!

and last but not least a more traditional style ring. (but still a little funky)

src1,2,3.,4

    So that about raps up my drama and my secret diamond shopping from this weekend, but don't worry folks i have more of my drama coming your way soon. Loves, Claire

they shine for you.

I live next to the beach and if you knew me this is not exactly the location you think i would hand pick because:

1. I do not tan,  in fact i am medically not allowed to, already had some nasty skin cancer taken off.
2. I am terrified of sharks, its a serious phobia, i even freak out about going swimming in the deep end of pools. you know, just in case a shark accidentally got in.
3. getting sand on my body, in my car, on the floor in my house drives me crazy
4. basically i am a vampire and don't exit my house until its dark outside. on the real.

 so there are the reasons why people think i am weird when i say i chose to live next to the beach but here are the reasons i love living next to the beach:

1. i live in a craphole of an apartment, i mean it is pathetic, if i lived in this same apartment away from the beach it would be called a crackden, but since it is next to the beach people say "omg! your so lucky! you live next to the beach!" not "omg! this is disgusting, this is not fit for a crackwhore, how do you stand it!"
2. I take comfort in knowing that the ocean is there, i mean i can hear it, i can smell it, it makes me know that the world is still turning and i am still on this planet
3. The stars! no place else can i go out in my backyard and not have trees blocking my view of the stars plus the lack of street lights and huge city life makes star viewing way more, well, viewable!    

So there you have it. and actually reason number 3 should be number 1. because star gazing is pretty much my current passion. I have made a habit of laying on this boat in my backyard and waiting for shooting starts. I refuse to go inside till i see at least 3 shooting stars which lately takes a million years but thats fine because our galaxy is literally the finest work of art! I get all emo and think about how everybody that has ever taken breath on this planet has looked at the same stars that i look at every night. I imagine them thinking about the same things i do. How small i am, compared to how big the galaxy is. How i don't know how i got to this place in my life. How i wonder if i will ever make a difference in this world. I know that everybody has to think those same things when they stare at the stars. It makes me feel connected to the earth, and this universe in a way i cant even explain. Is that crazy?

poppy fields

You know when you look at somebody that has used drugs for so long and completely ruined their life? You probably think why did they even start, i mean everybody knows what the end looks like, how could you possibly even begin. I think i finally understand. There comes a point in your life where everyday and every little scenario feels like you have been swimming for days and are waiting for the coast guard, you are so tired, waves keep splashing you in the face, salt water gushes into your nose and your throat and for a moment you stop swimming. As you begin slowly sinking you can see the the sun shining through the water and your air bubbles rising to meet the surface, you realize this is easier and decide not to try anymore. I feel like at the moment (tomorrow will be different im sure) im tired of swimming. Drugs are not in my future but it would be nice to live in opium den and never feel anything again. I know that if i just open up the one window in my house and see the sun i will feel differently, but here in my crypt of darkness i almost feel complete, this is the way i was meant to live.

health benefits anyone?

okay so i have an issue with settling down. It freaks me out almost as bad as spiders, and if you knew me then you would know how psycho i get about a little tiny spider. I have been known to jump out of moving vehicles if a spider has hitched a ride in my car (true story). I have a hard time keeping husbands (story for another day) boyfriends, phone numbers, and addresses. I am pretty great at keeping jobs though, those little papers with the funny men and green ink keep me coming back like a crackhead. That being said i have lived in my shoebox for a little over 6 months now and keep putting off doing cute things to it because (a. i am broker than a joker. and (b. im prob gonna move sometime sooooooooo i get lazy. I am slowly starting to realize though that i need more money, and i need a "career" (that word makes me want to barf in my mouth!) In order for me to be able to move to another city or another state i need to have some kind of skill that will make people throw dollar bills at me, so i have to come to the decision that i will be going back to college (another vomit word aaaaggghh) I found a program that i want to do reeeaaally bad but its very hard to get into, only 36 spots, I have to kick it into high gear and get my crap together so that i can get that spot! I realize that i will be exhausted because i plan on getting my nursing degree in less that a year from when i get to start school but holy crap, it will be so worth it! In a year and a half instead of slinging food and drinks i could be saving lives! I know this is sort of a random post but I dont know how to contain my excitement, i have finally figured out what i want my big girl job to be!

bye-bye dan. hello Mark!

okay ive been slack-a-lacking on posting lately, been crazy busy with work, started a new business venture (more on that later), and spending every waking moment with my boo. Im trying to squeeze all the boyfriend time i can in before he leaves me for 3 months. waaaahhh i don't want him to leave, and the thing that i hate the most about it is, i have no idea what day he is leaving. Its like a daily mind game for me, i trick myself into thinking he isn't ever going and then i get super on edge because it could be like tomorrow! aaahhh, i hate it. here is a mini list of things i am gonna miss about him

• cuddling, duh! 
• having somebody that makes fun of everything i do, seriously. I tend to take everything to heart and he really helps me let loose and laugh at the ridiculous little habits i have.
• i wont have a partner in housecleaning anymore! yikes! 
• I wont have anybody to baby (i guess myself.....so maybe that wont be a bad thing ha)

Anyways. Ive decided to stay busy when he leaves. originally i thought "oh i will just pick up more shifts at work and be a millionaire" then i remembered, ohhhh i hate my job! If anything i want to spend as little time there as possible.......but i still want to be a millionaire. Long story short i decided to become a representative for Mark. cosmetics!

 This is a company i have actually worked for since i was 16 years old, but I havent sold since i was 20! I decided to take the plunge again because

1. I honest to god love this company and their products!
2. I am way more confident about interacting with people that i was at 16. 
3. Insert the perfect way for me to fill my lonely anti-bf hours.
4. This company is all about social beauty, meaning having parties with the girls and playing with makeup, add a cocktail and you have my perfect evening! 

so anyways that is what i will be doing.........and if you want to check out exactly what im talking about, here is my website

http://bmcclendon.mymarkstore.com/ 

standing on my soap box: politeness/kindness

This is a subject very near and dear to my heart because obviously i am a waitress/bartender and have to deal with the crappiest of crap attitudes every single day. On a daily basis i am treated like the lowest form of life known to man, i am pretty sure people treat crack whores with a little more dignity that i am treated (and bless their hearts, i dont wish them any ill-will) This attitude that I encounter amazes me because hello people! i am in charge of the food you ingest, why would you want to make me mad? or tell the cooks what b-holes you have been? seriously. And no i am not saying that i would do anything bad to it, because i honestly wouldn't i am not that kind of person (and i have not personally seen anything bad happen to anybodies food btw, im just making a point), but what i am saying is that i am a complete stranger to you, and what if i was that kind of person would you really want to risk that?

Wow that whole paragraph sounded really creepy, im sorry. The point that i am trying to make is, I will never understand the need to be rude to a complete stranger who is doing everything in their power to try and please you?

I am in real life aside from my job probably one of the sweetest people ever, not trying to toot my own horn just telling it like it is. The desire of my heart is to make everybody i meet feel welcome and valued, i know it sounds cheesy but that is honest to god how i feel. My "life mantra" is that you cannot control a single thing in this world: not a man, not the weather, not politics, not anything. The one thing you are in control of is how you treat and speak to the people that enter you life. Every word that comes out of your mouth has the ability to uplift or destroy a person. I know which one i want to do, how about you?

here is some visual treats to back up what i said

getting nannyfied!

I was at work probably a few weeks ago and happened to have the pleasure of serving a table of moms taking shot after shot of tequila in front of their children, children that were under the age of 10 (let me just say, i am not a mom, but i do understand the need to unwind and have fun with your girls, but seriously for the sake of your sweet babies lives do this on a night when its just you and your girlfriends). This is kind of something i am not a fan of, and i got to talking to one of my friends about how when we were growing up our parents and none of their friends had those kind of shenanigans at a family dinner. We started talking about all the good old southern traditions of family and food and somehow got on the subject of pound cake. This turned into a whole debate over who's grandma had the best recipe and obviously my nanny does. Sadly i have never made her recipe but i remember looooving when somebody had the nerve to bring over a slice of their recipe because that meant out the blender and all the ingredients and she would show me "how a real pound cake should feel and taste" She doesn't know it yet but im pretty sure im gonna have to book a cooking class with her the next time i come home so that she can teach me her jedi cooking skills. Until then here are some pretty tasty poundcake recipes i found over at southern living. I especially want to try and make this buttermilk poundcake with custard sauce! yum!

photo by jennifer davick

looky what i got!

sometimes a broke girl can catch a break after all! I have been literally drooling over these kate spade earings:

they have been taunting me with their $98 dollar price tag. I know to some that may not be alot of money, but bless my poor little heart, to me it's like my life savings! 

Well I have some wonderful news for my ears and wallet! I found these little cuties as maurices for 12 dollaaaa!

Okay dont worry kate, i swear when i become rich (or at the very least middle-class) I will buy yours, but till them my little ears are oh so very happy!

butterfly away.

I just got off work about an hour ago, just so everybody knows that was at 12:30 at night, which just so you know sucks because it is impossible for me to fall right to sleep after running around like a crazy person. My nightly ritual usually consists of laying on my bed next to the computer and stalking blogs, window shopping on a gazillion websites, but mostly etsy. If i could somehow not have to pay rent or any bills I would probably sit at my comp with an i.v. drip of whatever it takes to live so i could check out every freaking thing on etsy..............anyways tonight i am totally freaking out about monarch butterfly inspired fashion and other things! here are some of my favs:

I actually am planning on buying this after i finish working this weekend as a reward for being awesome.

I really love this skirt! it is a little bohemian and definitely fun.

these are just precious and whimsical, If i ever have a wedding again i would love to use these!

and because i am a huge dork, i would buy this painting in heartbeat! haha (go team venture!)

and another dr. girlfriend themed photo, I wish this person was selling the whole outfit and not just the boots :-(

src. 1.2.3.4.5.

alright now i really should turn out all the lights and go to sleep but now i feel like i should have a venture brothers marathon!

fear and loathing in florida

At this moment in life i am so pissed, disappointed (or what my nephew used to call pissappointed), sick, worn out, just plain sad. 

1.My wisdom teeth are coming in at the ripe old age of 25 and it is making me physically sick, i cannot eat talk, drink water or anything involving my mouth without serious pain.

2. My boyfriend is moving out of state in exactly 2 weeks, he could be gone for 3 months he could be gone for six months....who knows. To make matters worse he is moving to Alabama my dear homestate and we were kind of hoping i could move too but that is definitely not happening.

3. My car is broken down right now, I am broke, meaning i am able to do nothing about the situation. 

4. I am broke....why did it have to be money that makes the world go round? maybe couldnt it have been kindness and grace because i have plenty of that to spare...but the denero? sorry senor. 

......soooo as I am about to embark on the journey of lonelyness i am trying to cheer myself up, and stay positive even though it is very hard and something i have to constantly think about because i can tend to wallow in debbie downerism a little to easily. 

here are some mantras and encouragement for myself and anybody else going through tough times

okay i think that is enought inspo for the day. i just have to keep reminding myself of these thoughts. 

(p.s. i found these on tumblr and i dont believe the posters were the original source, if you know who did these i would love to credit them and possible purchase some of these prints for my house)

 

getting nannyfied!

okay so my beautiful grandmother is not a meemaw, mawmaw, granny, or nana. She is Nanny, and she is fabulous! When i was growing up my Nanny was my moon and stars (who am i kidding, she still is) I spent the night with this woman every friday night from the time i was 5 till i was 16 and then when i was 17 my mother and i moved in for keeps. I find that as an adult she is my power animal when it comes to style. Nanny never met a gold shoe that she didn't like and i have to say this little peach didn't fall very far from that tree. i currently own about 4 pairs of mentioned gold shoes and i certainly don't plan on ending the craziness with that. I am hoping that once my bank account stops acting like a crazy bitch I can add these sweet babies to my closet

i am in seriously lust with these dolce vita tassled loafers! you can find them here

I actually came across these super adorable sandals at tarjay on sale for 13 bucks! i scooped up a slightly dif version that had leopard for the t-strap but still has the gold woven back, you can find this version here

Anyways i have so many amazing stories and inspiration from my Nanny i am fairly certain "getting nannyfied" is going to be a weekly bloggy thing. Lord knows that there will always be gold shoes to drool over

whistling dixie

so i tend to wake up fairly early in the morning, when it is still my puppies bedtime and sometimes mama needs some time to herself to check emails and whatnot, ya know? well my sweet angels must be able to hear my eyelids flutter open to greet the day because that cues the high pitched "whine" i dont know what to call it. So I cave and let them join in on my mommy-not-so-alone-time and then when i dont pet them i get the same "whine" my bf wakes up slightly and says "why are they whistling?" hahaha then i realized that is totally what they do! crazy babies!

a super old photo of my extremely adorable panda bear

and my roxie bear (another old pic, need to do a photo shoot super soon!)

RAaandom!

Just in case anybody was curious here is Clairebear 101:

1. I am a brat. I am used to getting my way in all things luckily what i want usually is for the greater good. I still at the ripe age of 25 cross my arms, stick out my bottom lip, and cry if things do not go my way. I know that sounds annoying but from what i hear it is extremely adorable, hence the getting my way almost always.

2. I suffer from a life threatening case of hypochondria.....yup its pretty bad apparently its untreatable, maybe someday there will be a cure....one can only pray. but on the real there is always something wrong with me, currently i am plagued with possible herpes of the ankles or maybe they are mosquito bites, who really know. Oh and im pretty sure my jaw is going to dislocate when my wisdom tooth finishes emerging straight into my jaw bone.....owwwies

3. I am extremely impulsive (which probably hits back to topic number 1) I currently at the moment have a half painted apartment, lots of shoes for which i have no matching outfits to cordinate them with. have gone from blonde, red, black, blonde with hot pink, brown, red, black......well you get the pic (currently i am raven headed.) I am super lucky to have my handsome man to make me stop and take 10 every once in awhile.

4. I am a cry baby, i can literally cry at the drop of a hat. I cry at the end of any good movie (especially beauty and the beast, i literally sob when beast "dies" yes i know he is going to come back to life but still my heart BREAKS!) I have been forbidden to watch nature shows with my bf i cannot stand to see animals getting hurt even if it has to do with the food chain.

I know this kind of sounds like a list of my worst qualities but actually I believe that everybody has their quirks that makes up the full picture of the people we love. I have to admit i am kind of in heart with myself in a totally healthy way and I am pretty stoked other people seem to find me a little bit amazing haha. does anybody else have some quirky traits they love about themselves? do tell! 

Southern Fried

Today is the forth of July! Go 'Merica! One thing that this holiday does is make me incredibly homesick and very nostalgic of the way I was raised. How was i raised you ask.......Southern Fried Baby! There is nothing that a southern girl loves more than a day full of bbq, themed outfits, family, flip flops, and fireworks. Its the honest truth. My sweet florida boy told me he had to work all day and when in fact he requested off weeks ago, because he knows I love being surprised! We are going to have a whole day of fun and fireworks! I swear to god I heart him so much! (I feel like this post is going to be raped by exclamation points so get used to it!) Even though we are going to be having so much fun, I'm still going to miss my family..............but I found this website on tumblr http://southernbellesecrets.tumblr.com/archive and thought i would share some of my favorites, they made me a little bit less homesick and mamma i know if your reading this you will get a kick out of it too.

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Alright I could just post every one of them but I wont so I highly encourage everbody to go check out their archive, there are some really great "southernisms" there. I guess im off to get ready for all the celebrating I'm going to be doing! I hope everybody has a safe holiday and make sure you dont blow your eyes or fingers off with them firecrackers y'all!

huff and ill puff and blow them candles down

Today is my birthday, turning the big two five. (25) I feel like people probably expect me to be a grown up at this point in my life, to have some sort of "life plan" or "career" but i don't.......The problem is that i have a really big commitment problem and I'm lazy. Hey, I'm just being real. Every time i decide "okay this is what i want my big girl job to be" i get really excited and look into it, possibly start school for it and then I'm like "ya know, this isn't for me, see you guys never." When i try to talk to my family about what i want to do, its almost like i can hear 1000 people say "yeah that's a great idea! you would be great!" Then i have to look for that one person that says "meeeehhhh i dunno, your really lazy, and that's alot of work and blah blah blah" then i get to back out of it scott free. This is the year that this cycle ends. I may not turn into a big girl or get a real adult career but i am going to start taking my goals more seriously so i have compiled a short list of things i intend to do this year

1) Paint a picture every week, so basically i need to have 52 painting by my next birthday

2) get big fake lumps of silicone inserted in my chest (yes its a shallow and maybe tacky but I WANT IT!)

3) go "glamping" in my backyard

4) learn french (well beyond saying tres and oui oui!)

5) pick a stinking color to paint my freaking apartment and just do it!

6) keep my apartment spotless (right now i am afraid it looks like an episode of hoarders, its very embarrassing actually)

7) do a food challenge, like eat the worlds largest hamburger or something.

8) what i really really really want to do is go on a few weekend trips to some of my surrounding southern cities like Savannah, New Orleans, and Key West.

9) finally get started in roller derby


I realize this list doesn't exactly prove that i am on a higher level of maturity, but i kind of felt like if i declared to the world what i want to accomplish maybe i would be more likely to complete some of these goals. If anybody else has any wacky or serious goals you want to achieve this year feel free to share them, maybe it will motivate you also.

the green machine!

I know i have mentioned before but i recently moved into a new apartment, one that i cannot stress enough is the size of a to-go box that you ask for at a restaurant. More like when you say "i need a small to-go box, the smallest one you have please." That is my apartment. At this moment i don't have an awesome picture of my place but to give you an idea it looks kind of like this (minus the amazing bay window, and add a fridge and a stove randomly against a wall.):

(I'm sorry i don't have the original source of this photo, i found it on tumblr)
As you could imagine a washer and dryer in a space this small are a no-go, especially considering that there is no hookup for them. I have been looking all over the Internet for alternate clothes washing apparatuses that do not involve electricity, and i decided to take the plunge on this one:

 The Rapid Washer - DIY Manual Hand Washing Machine

I have to say i am not a fan of this device, i received it yesterday and tried to do a small load of clothes in my sink. I work as a waitress/bartender so my clothes tend to get a little more funky than the average person, and i found that it didn't get the deep clean that i really needed. I'm sorry to say that for my personal needs it just didn't cut it, but with that said i still am boycotting the laundromat, so for the moment i will continue to hand wash my rags. 

Be Wise!

I know that everybody feels this way, but i seriously have the most amazing mother in the universe! She has always been my best friend and partner-in-craft.

 For those of you who do not know, she is one of the most talented portrait artist that ever walked this earth. When i was a little girl i would sit in her "art room" and watch her construct these amazing images, i was so fascinated by the many boxes of pastels she had and the way her finger tips would be covered in rainbows.

(a portrait she did of my aunt cherry who passed away recently)
She was always creating something amazing, whether it was with sewing, painting, jewelry making her imagination and creativity never stopped! As a teenager we would go shopping and if i liked something she would look at the pricetag and say "golly, i could make that" and honestly it would embarrass the crap out of me and make me mad because i would just want the stupid brand name tag, now i say the same thing (insert chuckling.)

While i was growing up we would always watch the classic movie channel together and one movie that we would most often quote was:

 we would always try and "make enchantment" like blanch, and until i was older and just recently watched the movie i didn't realize how many things we would quote from that movie. I guess this is just one of those mother/daughter inside joke things but its reason 1,000,008 why i love my mommy.

I could seriously write for years all the reasons i love her, but basically she is my real soul-twin, my treasure box, my inspiration, my shining example of a true woman. Mommy i love your gracious heart and your rose colored glasses, Happy Mothers Day!

stencil me in

At the moment I am in the process of decorating my apartment, something that is very hard for me because I am a very indecisive human being. I knew that I wanted to paint an accent wall and went as far as to buy paint samples and undertook the task of painting only half of my apartment in a color until I kind of realized it was not true love, thank goodness valspar has color guarantee.  I had to rethink my whole design plan, which still includes the accent wall, but now i am obsessed with wall stencils to create that look of wallpaper. After days and days of looking through every search engine I could find, my dream stencil and i met.

this stencil is from royal design studio on etsy, they have so many amazing designs!

this was the second runner up, also found on etsy by bluedoor17

I am so excited to go paint shopping again! This time I am going to go with my gut and pick what I love, instead of picking what i think a "grownup" would choose, i see pinks and blacks and lots of hounds-tooth!

if anybody is interested in any other stencil designs you can also find a large collection at http://www.cuttingedgestencils.com/ and http://www.stencil-library.com/ is one of my favorites, they pretty much have everything!

seal the deal

Today i am enjoying a very rare off day, usually i work six to seven days a week. I pretty much feel like i live to work sometimes, but lately i have been really trying to be productive in areas that i have neglected this past year (more like 5 years but whatever) Painting and drawing being number one of the list. That being said i took the time to paint my current obsession: A Baby SEaaaaal!

I want to do a whole series of seals, maybe some with bow-ties to honor busters hand. (If you have never seen arrested development, go now, watch it and love it!) I literally have sat at the computer looking at seals for hours at a time, but I'm sure I'm not the only one. (right?)

Devil Dogs

Tonight i pulled an all-nighter for the first time in probably 3 years. No, i was not protesting sleep for some righteous cause, or even partying down........I was held hostage by the boyfriend and his best friend and forced to watch a scary movie that i have seen 4 times now. (still scares the pee-pee out of me.) Then the boys decided to talk about "the old scratch" and his minions (a.k.a. satan, demons, and ghosts) Thanks to my over active imagination my eyes did not feel droopy once until now........the sun has finally risen and i am safe from the dark lord (well one hopes anyway.) I did manage to do one crafty/non-scary thing last night.

I present:

this little frenchie is not mine unfortunately. If i cant add another sweet wil' bebe to my furry family at the moment then at least i can paint my dream dog. I am gonna prop him next to my bed I'm sure he will protect me from all the ghosties.

buyers remorse

Today the boyfriend was really sick and decided to go to his mothers house because i guess I suck as a nurse. I thought i would be able to give my care giving skills another shot when i got off work (which was almost midnight) but the poor dear understandably was more comfy at his moms mansion soooooo, i found myself alone for the night. What is a very lonely unsleepy girly to do at such a late hour? Shop of course! Normally i have the boyfriend looking over my shoulder to talk some sense into me before i blow my pathetic excuse for a bank account balance on trinkets and lovelies. My Jiminy Cricket was nowhere to be found, so i went absolutely mad and now will be skating my behind to the poor house in my new gear. check it out yo:

my sweet new riedell r3's! 

and of course safety first peeps!

also i happened to purchase the coolest book in the world!

 def take a look see! there are tons of pictures from the book on amazon!

I am probably most excited about this book, seeing as i am kind of in the middle of moving into/ decorating my literal shoebox of an apartment. I plan on stealing every idea out of this book and trying to cram it into my extremely small space!

Anyway even though i can justify all my purchases (at least in my own head) I sort of dread explaining them to my honey bunny........does he really need know?..... ;-)

Holy First Post Batman!

Hello cyberspace! I have looked at you from afar and admired long enough, no more "from your secret admirer" notes anymore i want you to be a part of my life! intros are always awkward so here i go..............

My name is Claire, I am 25, I probably live in the smallest apartment in the whole world. I am a southern belle currently living in the sunshine state right next to the beach. I love crafty, retro inspired things and am in the process of blinging up my tiny space. I love! love! love! finding a bargain, something im sure i will be talking about alot.

.........and that pretty much sums it up folks.