last summer blanks!

wahoo!  it's friday, and it's blanking time!  to play head over to lauren's blog and link up.

1.  over this labor day i will be  spending lots of time with friends and p.  we are having friends over tomorrow and one very special one is having a sleepover (yay!), and that's what we are up to all weekend.  probably lots of house work - as i keep mentioning there are lots of projects on the horizon - and a trip to ikea tomorrow morning.  i can't wait. 
 
2.  with the political debates right now, my thoughts are  [yay, i love this question] that i hope people are really paying attention and listening to what is going on. i know it's difficult and depressing sometimes with all of the mudslinging, but there is a candidate who is literally telling blatant lies to get votes [and who was actually called out by fox news despite the fact that he's a republican], who wants to roll back rights for minority voters and women, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.  i hope people are paying attention to what is going on.
 
3.  today  i have been productive.  8am and already transplanted my flowers, cleaned out my fridge [kinda], and blogged.  and i can't wait to go food and beer shopping tonight to prep for the party tomorrow!
 
4.  the best thing i've cooked lately  well, i haven't cooked lately. i tried to roast peppers and failed.  i guess i made some polenta two days ago that was decent.  but really this summer i've been in to crispy brussell sprouts, and have made them like 7-8 times this summer and will do it even more going into fall.
 
5.  the last thing i bought was  shoes, shoes shoes.  literally.  three pairs for fall.  flats, heels and killer boots.  can't wait to share.
 
6.  the best movie i saw this summer was  probably the batman movie. it was kind of awesome, and i loved the parallels to occupy.  but i saw lots of good movies this summer - we LOVE movies!  moonrise kingdom was great too.
 
7.  the best book i read this summer was  HA!  all my reading is for school.  so probably either the conscience of a liberal or the great american stickup.  i honestly read them both and love them both despite the fact that they were for a class.  i can't wait to start reading again for fun.

well happy weekend friends! i'll be back with lots of pictures and fun projects i hope!

xo

pinspiration #3: outlet covers

so you all know we've been working on the bathroom for a while now.  but there are a few things that remain unfinished (small details).  and one of them was light switch and outlet covers.  we haven't had them on for months, which i'm pretty sure isn't good for the wiring. 

which is why i was so happy to find this pin!

from the real housewives of riverton

seems easy enough.  all you need is switchplate covers, scrapbook paper, an exacto knife and modge podge.  which means i only had to buy four things at the store.  this was also my first experience with modge podge, which is much stickier and smellier than i thought it would be.  but in my defense, i didn't know what it was. 

switch cover one

close up

outlet cover

not bad...

to be honest, it wasn't worth the hours they took me.  outlet covers aren't expensive.  HOWEVER, having looked for months i know how difficult it is to find just the right outlet covers.  so i guess it wasn't so bad.  and since i have three more pages of scrapbook paper, i guess i could do a few more for our bedroom or something.

lots more house projects coming up! i have lots of cleaning and organizing to do before our party on saturday.

til tomorrow!

a very good place.

feeling super awesome today.

a few days ago i had an epic breakdown about school. heading into this semester i was very optimistic about not having night classes - that was kind of rough the last two semesters. this semester classes are over my lunch hour at work, which i thought was kind of awesome. turns out its really difficult to switch mind sets back and forth from work to school to work to homework at night.

but i am finally in a good routine i think. weekend classes don't start til after labor day, so i don't know how long this will last, but it's good right now. the end is in sight. my classes are interesting. work is going well. fall is right around the corner. and there are LOTS of fun things coming up to look forward to each month to break down the semester into more manageable chunks:

1. beer tasting party this weekend! we are having a bunch of friends coming over saturday for a gourmet beer sampling, which means i am by this week getting the house ready. finishing up trim painting, pulling weeks, cleaning, putting out some fall decor,
2. my sister-in-law n is coming out in the middle of september! she's never been out before me we have some very fun plans and day trips on the agenda.
3. trip to nyc the weekend after n's visit! a wedding, meeting my little nephew for the first time and seeing all our family and friends. not to mention a welcome 5 days off of school and work.
4. trip for p's birthday in october! this one is a surprise, so i can't say anymore than that. but it's going to rock.
5. thanksgiving in la - and we are road tripping! sure it's a lot of time in the car, but with a stop in the mountains and possibly vegas (not to mention its at least $400 cheaper) its perfect. a week off from school and getting out of town.
6. and by december it's graduation time. done and done.

keeping my head up and my heart strong!

til next time...

my awesome weekend

here were the fun happenings of my weekend in the form of a top 10 list (but not in order):

1. played mario kart with my brother & PI.
2. staropramen and becherovka at sobo 151.
3. moved stuff around in my house just for fun.
4. played taboo with my entire colorado family and my brother's friends.
5. moonrise kingdom.
6. did NO homework.
7. brunch at an awesome new spot!
8. got a little taste of fall.
9. slept in.
10. spent my ENTIRE weekend with family. 

and now it's back to reality. boooo.

i had school today again and afterwards had a quick stop in with my advisor, who did my degree audit.  all good for graduation in december!  now all i have to do is survive this semester with passing grades and i am done.


106 days!

fill in the blanks!

1.  my favorite thing to do on friday is   happy hour with friends. of course that would assume there is no school or work on saturdays... but that's the best thing for sure.

2.   this friday i am going out to dinner and a jazz club with my family!  my brother is here from boston again (whoooo!) so it's family all weekend - no school or work for me! :)

3.  the best thing about a weekend is  the relaxation and stress-free ambiance.  not having to do anything.  i love it when philip and i make use of our days and then rent a movie and order pizza... just no schedule. 

4. now that summer is almost over, i'm feeling  anxious and energized.  that means that school is almost over and the election is almost here!

5. the best thing i did this summer was  spend a lot of quality time with philip.  we got really close this summer (how can you get even close to someone you are married to?).  also getting classes over with.

6. the thing i'm looking forward to about fall is  the WEATHER!  i love wearing sweaters, drinking cocoa, and warming up in front of the fire.  we stock up on seasonal beer and make homemade green chili.  it's awesome.

7.  if i had to be stuck in one season for the rest of my life, i would choose  fall for sure.  my favorite.  the colors, the scenery, the smells and tastes.  we got married in fall because we both love it so much.

remember to head over to lauren's blog to play! 

have a GREAT weekend friends! xo

pinspiration #2: hairbow

this was too cute for words.  and since i am a new devotee of every-other-day washing (which i LOVE), i like having something fun to do with my hair on no-wash days.

i fell in love with this fun, flirty and easy style.  turns out it was just as easy as it sounds.

the pin

so while we were in boston headed out for drinks, i thought it would be the perfect time to give it a shot.

my take

 well the picture isn't as great, but it still turned out pretty good.  and it took about 5 minutes, which was the best part :)

the countdown has begun!

school update: my final semester has begun, and i have already had my last first day of school. which means i can finally start counting down the days, the minutes, the HOURS until i graduate!

111 days til i am done!

it literally can't come son enough.  i have passed my first 'hurdle' in getting approved for graduation - arguing for days with my adviser about having to take three last credits.  after talking to our department chair i think i have it all taken care of, but i don't think i can really breathe easily until i know for certain nothing will stand in my way this december. 

part of me things that this is going to be the longest 4 months of my life, but the other part can't even believe how fast it has al lone.  surely these next few months will be just as fast.  i have been so lucky to have such a supportive family who has helped me during every breakdown... and believe me, there have been a few.  

so the next few months will be busy. there may not be as much blogging, but there's only 4 classes to manage, so who knows.  there will be lots of fun though - all before the end of the year my brother is coming out, my sister in law (who has never visited before!) is coming out, we are headed to new york and LA, and who knows what surprises may come our way.  

trying to stay positive...

xoxo

pinspiration #1: coffee filter wreath

hey friends!

so i've decided to create a new series called pinspiration.  it's going to be things i have attempted to make from pinterest.  see, i'm not a very crafty lady.  in fact quite the opposite.  i love little handmade things, but i'd prefer to pay for the goods that others have made.  i could never color inside the lines, i never learned how to sew, and i don't own a hot glue gun

but since we've bought our house i've tried to start doing more things myself, very little things mind you.  so i am going to be taking on some new projects!  i have a pinterest board where i'm starting to collect ideas for new projects.

pin i love: coffee filter wreath

the pin

now how easy is this?  it looks easy, and i happen to know my sister in law b made one and hers looks fabulous - of course she's 1000x more crafy than i am.  but really, all you need a is a styrofoam circle of some kind, coffee filters, and a hot glue gun.  this required me purchasing my own glue gun at hobby lobby.  man those things get hot!  luckily i had all the coffee filters i need as a horrible coffee addict.

my version

so, in retrospect, i learned a few things. first, i should have wrapped the sytrofoam wreath in something before pinning on the filters, as you can still kind of see the green wreath.  second, i shouldn't have used the filters i had that are straight.  should have used the curvy kind.

i'm only a little ashamed to display it.  but i made it!  myself! 

my late-summer mantel this morning

i need to stop taking pics with my iPhone of my house, that looks awful. i am so lazy!

throwback weekend.

well, it was a pretty awesome weekend at the isbouts household.  friday night we met up with my bff j and her husband - j just finished up grad school! we had drinks at a local place we've been wanting to try forever - forest room 5.  the food and drinks were AMAZING and i can't wait to go back again.  not gonna lie, it made me daydream a little bit about my own graduation shindig in december and what i want to do to celebrate.  it's going to be great.

so besides going out and being social, philip discovered a way for us to play super mario world on my computer (at my request).  so since i had one full day to be between semesters and be kind of lazy, we decided to have a little throwback weekend and drink beer and play super nintendo :)  it was perfect.

so that's about it.  just relaxed and enjoyed my last weekend of no school until i graduate.  four more months...

surprising aj in boston

hey all! so last week it was my brother's birthday, so for his birthday this year we decided to fly out and surprise him.  with a little help from my dad, we were able to coordinate the whole thing and have an awesome weekend.  last year i surprised him in a different way, but this year we actually got to spend the whole weekend with him by ourselves.  kind of awesome.  obviously i couldn't blog about it before, so sorry for the delay - but here are some pics from out great time together! 

wouldn't be a trip to boston without dinner in the north end - at lucca

aj's amazing espresso martini at brunch at gaslight. always order your drink after him.

the man of the weekend, all growed up.

boston's history never gets old to my dad.

aj walking down the public alley to his place

taking a lovely stroll 

i'm a little intimidated by my boston cream pie 

it was an awesome weekend and i was so glad i got to celebrate aj's birthday with him!  next month we are headed to NYC, so more traveling to come.  can't wait!

little school update: i've finished up my summer semester and fall starts tomorrow already.   tomorrow is my first day of my last semester of school!  holy cow, i can NOT wait to be done.  can't come soon enough.

lots of exciting things coming up, so stay tuned! :)

xoxo

kind of how i'm feeling.

 

 just thought i'd share this, because this face right there is how i've been feeling the last two weeks.

i obviously haven't been blogging while i finish up school.  last paper of the summer semester is due saturday - just in time for fall semester to start monday.  yeah.  and there's been a hiccup with my fall classes, so i'm tryng to figure all of that out before relaxing to blog.  sooo ready for this all to be over with.

but we did find the time to make a surprise trip to boston last weekend - pics coming soon (maybe even tomorrow!)!  it was an awesome time.

hopefully my smile will be back soon, along with new house projects!  we've started a new one on the front yard - and it looks pretty good so far.




til next time...!  happy tuesday!

xoxo