Five Friday Favorites

1. Happy Fall Y'all! 

Despite the 90+ degree weather, I am so happy that it is practically Fall because it is my favorite season! Pumpkin Spice Lattes are baaack in full swing, Oktoberfest is in stock, and its almost time to wear my plaid shirts and riding boots! Plus, I am really looking forward to the cooler temperatures, hopefully sooner rather than later {fingers crossed}. I painted this cute sign the other day with leftover wood from my DIY Boat Cleat Towel Holders and I even changed out my wreath to my Fall one in an effort to push this heat and humidity out the door asap. Who's with me?!

2. Cold Brew Coffee 

If you are a fan of cold coffee, please do yourself a favor and order yourself a cold brew coffee maker. It is the easiest way to make delicious cold coffee every time! I ordered this one off of Amazon and it is just under $20. Basically you put the grounds into a reusable filter that comes with the brew pot and then pour cold water over the grounds. At first, you will only see the coffee seep a slight bit making the water a light amber color, but place the pot into the fridge (I usually make mine right before bed) and leave it for 8-12 hours to seep and when you come back the coffee will be dark and luscious. Put some ice into a mason jar with your cold brew, a splash of milk, and a cute straw and your life will be instantly better! Okay, okay maybe not instantly but you are definitely off to a great start. 

I have started getting my coffee grounds from World Market now. *If you buy coffee on Wednesdays and are part of their rewards program they will give you double points for every bag of coffee you get and once you get 6 points (bags), you get a free bag!* I've tried the French Roast and Vanilla Bean so far and I am definitely more of a fan of the darker grounds for sure. 

3. Beauty Blog

So there are two things that you will probably never read me blog about because I am eternally a newb when it comes to both of these subjects: makeup and cooking. Lucky for you, 1. I have a sister that is the all knowing when it comes to makeup and style and 2. she started her very own beauty blog called Baltimore Beautiful. (Fun fact: she also got the cooking gene from my Ma that apparently jumped right over me.) Go check it out and give her some love in the form of comments and long term readers! ;)

4. Twigs & Pinwheels

I think it's safe to say I have an addiction to Etsy. My latest handmade purchases have been this Twig necklace that I LOVE and these fabric Pinwheels that are super adorable. 

5. The World is Your Oyster 

I fell in love with this print by Rifle Paper Co. and I had the perfect place in mind for it to hang in our kitchen but I just could swing the $50 price tag. I am all for paying money for handmade products (see #4), but sometimes I just cannot fathom spending money for something I know I can create myself. Hence, why I grabbed some mat board and paint and painted my own version that resembles the poster I so loved. Just like I thought, it is the perfect addition to our kitchen and only costed me about $8. How great is that phrase too!

Real Version Via.

My Version!

Have a great weekend! 

Peace, 

Allison 

Five Friday Favorites

Welcome back to my Five Friday Favorites! It's been a crazy busy last few weeks with work and some extra training added into the mix. Fun, fun...not! :) Any whoo.... let's get down to business!

1. Sam Adams Summer Ale 

If you haven't tried it yet, it is a must for summer time. It's our new go-to beer this season. So smooth and refreshing! While I can't believe it's basically summer already, I am excited for summer brews and parties in our backyard at our firepit! Oh and of course going to the beach! 

2. Sushi Dates

We are officially fans of sushi! You don't know what a feat this is for two very "meat and potatoes" kind of eaters but we officially like sushi, and no not just the California roll ;). Plus, I've found out that if you make it for the lunch specials, or in this case early bird dinner specials (thanks, night shift schedule!), sushi can be really affordable! Delicious food and not too expensive  are two of my favorite things. 

3. Oil Pulling

If you were clicking around on Pinterest like I was this past week or following me on Instagram, you may have seen the pin below or the picture above. Seeing as I have never been in good graces with the dentist (or I have a GREAT relationship with them, whichever way you look at it ;) ), I figured I would give it a quick read. What I found is this thing called Oil Pulling. 

Via

Apparently, swishing a tablespoon of organic, unrefined Coconut Oil in your mouth (I found mine at our local health food store) for 20 minutes preferably as soon as you wake up in the morning helps detox any bad things left in your mouth as well as helps to prevent or reverse cavities. Then, you just rinse your mouth with warm water and brush your teeth like normal. 

I have only done a few rounds of this so far, so I will keep you updated, but my mouth did feel pretty darn clean after. FYI, even if you really don't like the taste or flavor of actual coconut like myself, the oil is not too overwhelming tasting so by microwaving it for a few seconds, the butter consistency of the coconut oil becomes liquefied and is easier to swish. Apparently, this oil pulling is becoming a trend too because the lady at the health food store where I got my Dr. Bronner's Organic, Unrefined Coconut Oil said that lots of people have been coming in to purchase it and that it can also be used on your face, I'm assuming as some sort of mask. 

4. Nike + App 

I have been using this app since last December and it is really my favorite. I don't use any other workout apps because this one does everything I could want for my routines. I do not have the sensor to put in my shoe that would be useful for running on a treadmill, but for outside runs, you don't even need it (although I would like to get one eventually for use at the gym) because the GPS tracks your phone. 

I like this app because it uses pretty accurate GPS to track my outdoor runs, updates me when I hit each mile giving me my pace per mile and total time running, and syncs directly with my iTunes playlists allowing me to pick a playlist and skip around to different songs while running (which I do a LOT of!). 

I also really like the way Nike + tracks your runs and shows you stats. Above, is what the app shows you after you have completed your run. It shows a map of where you ran, the total distance, allows you to put how you felt (shown by the emoticon), shows the weather for the day, how many miles you have on your specific pair of running shoes, and obviously the final time and calories burned. Below it also shows you the breakdown of each mile pace and how each one differentiated which is helpful. 

Being the Type A personality that I am, I love looking at the stats, so I try to use the app every time I do an outdoor run so that I can compare it all afterwards. The app also tells you when you've beat your own records for things such as mile time, 1k time, and 5k time so I like to use that to motivate myself to get my times down. Finally, it shows you in bar graph form all of the runs you've done each month and the difference in mileage which can also help as a motivating factor. 

I have recently read a lot of great reviews for the Fitbit, so I am anxious to get one and try it out for myself in the near future. Have any of you tried it? I'd be anxious to hear your thoughts.

5. Breaking Bad

 We just finished the first season of Breaking Bad, thanks to our neighbors for lending us their DVDs after we had heard so many good reviews from my cousins, our neighbors, and lots of friends over the years. We literally watched the entire season, minus one episode, in one night thanks to our night shift schedule. I'm not sure why it took us so long to check it out because we are officially hooked! Gonna have to get some Netflix, at least for the free month trial, to indulge our new addiction. :) 

Hope you have a great weekend!

Peace, 
Allison 

Five Friday Favorites

Welcome to my first installment of Five Friday Favorites! I can't wait to share some of my favorite things of the week every Friday (as often as I can)! Knowing me, literally my tastes can change week to week so it will be fun to see what's catching my eye through the year and depending on the season. 

Let's get started!

1. My family is coming to visit this weekend! 

I am very excited about this not only because I will get to see my Sister, Brother, and Mom and catch up with them all, but also because they are staying at our home so we finally get to break in our {now} functioning guest bedroom. I love the feeling of my home being full with people we love and we haven't had many/ any overnight visitors since our wedding time in September so it will be nice to wake up to the voices of those I love and show off some of the updates we've done since they were last here. 

2. My New Coffee Spoon 

It says, "Love you a Latte"

I have been eyeing up similar coffee spoons on Etsy, but never went through with buying one until I saw it in a store with local handmade items called The Nest, in downtown Columbia. It was the right price so I snatched it up! 

Also, I had been wondering about the process of making these hand stamped spoons, so when we got home I looked it up and realized I actually have a set of the metal stamps you need to make them that I got from my Grandpa's shop after he had passed (see below). I am actually super excited about the possibility of making these and I already have a ton of ideas swirling inside my head for sassy sayings for them! Stay tuned for this new possible business venture. ;) 

Love that it has his name on it!

3. Dripped Iced Mocha // New Coffee Place

In other coffee news, Brandon and I tried a new {to us} coffee shop downtown called Drip. It is on Main St. in Columbia for those of you locals and it is awesome! I figured I would step outside of my Starbucks addiction and try something new and man am I glad I did. I tried their Iced Mocha that you may have seen on my Instagram {if not, you should follow me!} that was like heaven in my mouth. It even had an edible chocolate straw that was deeeelicious. 

Nom, nom. 

4. Car Monogram // Monograms in General

I dunno if it is just since we got married or the fact that we live in the South now, but monograms have slowly but surely grown on me and now I can't get enough. In fact, I recently fancied up my ride with a monogram I purchased from Etsy and I love it. I may or may not have also gotten a shirt recently with my monogram on it...I told you, I'm a little obsessed now.

5. Getting Featured! 

I have recently started linking up a lot of my DIY projects as you may have seen at the end of a lot of my posts recently. To those readers who are not bloggers, this means that I have added a link to my project on another blogger's profile in what is known as a "Linky Party." Basically, it is a conglomeration of lots of bloggers DIY projects so that new bloggers and others can get their projects out to the masses. Then, typically the host of the Linky Party picks a few of their favorites to "feature" on the next week's link-up. The Linky Parties are typically held on the same day every week. 

In an effort to get more readers (don't get me wrong I love my fam and friends who make up most of my readership!) and hopefully get my projects seen by others, I have been linking up a lot of my original projects. Since doing this I have gotten my Ikea Hack: Fabric Covered Tupplur Blinds featured on Yesterday on Tuesday, DIY Vintage Chic, and The Silly Pearl, my DIY Nautical Boat Cleat Towel Hooks featured on DIY Vintage Chic, and today I just found out my Nautical Outdoor Oasis was also featured on DIY Vintage Chic. To most seasoned bloggers, this probably doesn't mean quite as much, but I'm gonna let you know, seeing someone pick my project our of hundreds of projects totally made my day, actually my whole week! And to see my Ikea Hack curtains featured THREE times {eek!} was just beyond awesome! Brandon probably thought someone died with the way I screamed when I saw my projects picked the next week hehe. 

Anyways, hope you have a great weekend! 

Peace, 

Allison