DIY for YOU!

Hey Everyone!

    I hope you all had a great holiday.  Today I have a few do it yourself projects that you can gift or keep for yourself.  The first is insanely simple!

     Sharpie projects.  All you need is a good ole sharpie and some clean plates or mugs.  I like to get mine from the dollar store so this is a cheap, easy diy.  All you do is decorate your desired item, and bake it at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.

    This plate pictured above was a gift for my in laws.  I got all us kids to sign it and our niece.  Then found the perfect quote and made this for them at Christmas.  

     The next is a little longer, a little messier, but can be really cool and personalized.  Its a diy paint shoes.  The only supplies you'll need are shoes, (I just bought white ones from walmart), spray paint in your desired color, paint pens (can be found at most craft stores), and I recommend something you dont mind messing up (ie a box or sheet that can be damaged).  Also, you can use tape to tape off the bottom part of the soles if you wish.  I enjoy a slightly unfinished look, so I chose not to do this.  

     Spread a nice even layer of spray paint on the shoes.  Then you can decorate with writing or drawings or whatever you choose.  I chose to make Harry Potter shoes with my favorite quote on them.  Here are my results.

   Hope you all enjoy!

xoxoxo

     Trista

Gifts for Girls!

      Hey guys!   I'm so excited for Christmas!!  As promised, as I'm giving gifts away I am blogging about the ones I have already made.  Today I bring two very fun, cheap, lovely gifts for you.  

     The first is a body scrub I discovered on Pinterest.  The original recipe is found here.  It is the best recipe I have found yet.  Its only three ingredients and very simple to do.  

  All you need is:

• Glass jars.  Use glass!  I found mine for a dollar at Joanns.  Using plastic changes the chemical make up ( and the whole point of making it is to get away from chemical nonsense right?) and makes the scrub have a different make up, making it less effective.
• Coconut oil.  I recommend getting it from your local health food stores.  I got mine at Sprouts in the vitamin section.  It may seem a bit expensive, but it goes a long way and it has sooooo many uses.  
• Sugar
• Essential oils if you wish.  I used Lemon for this particular scrub.  

     All it takes is two cups of sugar, and about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of coconut oil.  Put your sugar in the bowl and gradually add your coconut oil, stirring every so often.  You want it to be moist, not soaking.  add a few drops of essential oils and mix it again just for good measure.  Then your mixture is ready to be scooped into jars and gifted away!  See, easy!  Plus the batch makes a good size quantity which makes it easy to get a lot of it done very quickly.  When using, just apply to wet skin and it will exfoliate and leave your skin feeling ridiculously soft.  

    The second takes a little more time but turns out to be really really cute.  They are mason jars in glitter.  The girls at work about died over them.  

  

   My recommended ingredients:

• mason jars.  This craft gets a little addicting as you play with color and if you mix glitter to make new colors like me, results in making a few little gifts for yourself.  
• glitter.  We used a variety.  I prefer Martha Stewart glitter.  That woman just gets it right every time.  Her glitter variety is nice as far as color and the grain size is perfect for coverage.  And just remember, a little goes a looooong way.  We bought huge jars of glitter and barely used any of them.
• mod podge.  Again a little goes a long way
• Sealant.  I got mine at Joann's.  It's a spray sealant that's about 8 bucks.  This will hold all your glitter to the jar and keep it from falling off.
• a cookie sheet.  This will help from getting glitter all over your work space and floor.  It will catch in there making for an easy clean up.
• a paint brush
• a funnel.  To help your glitter find its way back to it's jar home!

          So first things first.  Let's coat that mason jar in some mod podge.  Use your paintbrush to spread a nice, even, thin layer of mod podge to your jar.  I recommend only doing the sides of your jar so you can set it upright to dry.  Once your jar is coated, grab the color glitter you are going to use and start sprinkling it on to your jar over a cookie sheet.  As you roll your jar, some excess will fall, but as long as you have sufficiently covered it, it will stick make your jar beautiful.  For cleanup, just use your cookie sheet and funnel to move all your extra glitter back to its little jar home.  Let your jars dry ( I would say anywhere from a day to two would be more than suffice) before applying your sealant.  You should apply two to four coats, letting each coat dry in between.  Here are some results we had while making ours.

   

     Once they are all done, their uses are practical while being very pretty.  The smaller mason jars can be used for make up brush holders, pen holders, jewelry holders, or brush holders etc.  I have a larger one that I use to hold my most frequently used kitchen utensils.  

    Hope you all enjoyed this post!!!

xoxo  

Trista

The Rainbow Cake

Friends,
    I am about to change your lives as well as your parties.   This is all via the rainbow cake!  Dun dun daaaaahhhhhh!!!

    I got the original idea on pinterest.  It uses a lot of fancy ingredients like Sprite, jello mix, and some other stuff.  Mine is much easier.  All you need is food coloring, six bowls and spoons, white cake mix and the oil water and eggs as directed on the box.   Now lets begin.

    Mix your cake mix as directed on the box, then split the mix into your six separate bowls (Or however many colors you plan to do).  Add your food coloring and mix until you get the desired color.  Now, you will  dump the mixes into your pan.
 *note-every recipe I saw for this cake has you bake it into two 9 inch round pans for a layered cake. It also suggests that you have your mix separated from the most amount of mix (bottom of pan) to the smallest amount of mix (top of pan).  I did mine in a rectangle pan so really you can use the same amount of mixes.

     So, if you are doing the full rainbow, you're layers starting from the first you pour (so the bottom of the pan) are red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple.  It should hopefully look somewhat like this

Bake as directed on your box then use any icing you enjoy and Voila!   A fantastical rainbow cake.  Here are some more pics of the great outcome that I was super pleased with.

I really was super impressed and extremely happy with the outcome and my family really really enjoyed it.  Hope you all do too!

xoxo

   Trista

Just so you know....

Hey guys,

     I know I haven't posted much in the last few weeks.  That's a result of working retail, the holiday season being upon us and my already hectic schedule.  I've said it before, but I would be completely content being a housewife (eventually stay at home mom) who cooked, crafted, blogged, wrote and cleaned on a daily basis.  Imagine how this blog, my book and my pinterest would explode!  I do have a promise for all of you though, just so you know.  Once Christmas is here and done with, I will have soooooo much to share with you.  I have made a slew of presents this year that I am so excited to share, but as some of my readers are receiving these hand made gifts, I cannot divulge.  I can only promise, soon.

     Tonight however, I will share a few pinteresting recipes I have recently tested and loved (and so did husband!).  That's right, its all food, cus I heart delicious eats!

Recipe 1- yummer taters.

All you need is whole potatoes and the seasoning of your choice, and oil.  Just slice your potatoes almost all the way through.  Drizzle  some oil on them and seasoning of your choice.  I chose season all salt, garlic and pepper.  Throw in the oven at 425 for about 40 minutes.  Let it cool and enjoy.  It's a delicious, new, different way to enjoy baked potatoes.

Recipe 2- Crescent pizza

I did some slight changes with this recipe.  You will need all your usually pizza ingredients (sauce, cheese and toppings) and a tube of crecsent rolls.  Unroll all your crescent rolls, layer your sauce, cheese and toppings then roll up and bake about 15 mins at 350.  We also added garlic salt (you'll find we do this to about everything).  These were quick easy and filling.

Recipe 3- pizza cupcakes

Shut up, we like pizza ok?  Geez.  This one is also slightly adapted.  Again, you'll need basic ingredients plus a can of biscuits.  Once you get the biscuits out of the can, split them in half. layer your pizza toppings and place the top back on. throw in the oven about 15 to 20 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy.

 That's all for tonight folks.  Until next time.

xoxo

   Trista

Christmas Celebration!!!!!!!!!

Hey guys!!!!!  I know I haven't been on here in a while but I just had the craziest week! Anyway, today was a Christmas filled day at our house.  We got our tree, put up our lights and bought our nieces presents!

  However, I do have a few things to share with you guys!  I have tried a few new recipes that I have to share!  The first one is a really yummy breakfast treat.  All you need is a can of Pilsbury flaky biscuits, oil, brown sugar and cinnamon if you like.  Cut the biscuits in fours and plop them in your oil until they brown up a little bit.  Then coat with brown sugar and cinnamon.  It's delicious.  It did occur to me later in our day though, that if you did the coating in a shake and bake kind of manner, it would coat better and a bit more evenly.  I also had the genius idea to dip them in nutella.   These bad boys are awesome.  The original source can be found here.

 The next one I want to let you guys in on is a slow cooker spinach artichoke dip.  Prep time is about 15 minutes and you set it on high for two hours.  All you need is 1 cup of cheese, 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, 8 oz of cream cheese, garlic salt (as much as you prefer), a can of artichoke hearts (or fresh if you prefer), and a bag of spinach.  Throw it all into a slow cooker, mix it up, cover, set on high for two hours.  Then dip bread into it, and go to heaven.  My husband is over-joyed with this recipe (the original can be here) .  Looks like the Latz household is about to get a little fatter!

 Until next time friends.  

xoxoxo Trista

A Delicious Breakfast

            I have to have to have to share this recipe with everyone!  It is super super easy and extremely delicious.  Here is all you have to do and everything you need.

• Eggs
• hash browns or other potatoes
• onions, peppers, cheese, or meat whatever you'd like.
• muffin pan

         It's super easy.  Preheat your oven to 350 and grease your muffin pan.  We used frozen potatoes o'brien.  It already has all the onions and peppers in it so it's super easy. Cook those up on the skillet for a bit just to help speed up the process.  Now scoop some potatoes into your muffin tins. Next layer cheese and meat if you'd like.  Next, you'll want to beat your eggs (I also added a little flour to them to help it rise in the pan).  Now pour your eggs into your muffin tin, and throw in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.  

            And yummy!!!!  These little guys were a hit at our house, and we managed to polish off all twelve in a matter of minutes.  

The original site I looked this up at was something I found on pinterest.  You can find the original link here.

xoxo 

  Trista

Freaky Friday 2

           Hope all you guys had a great Thanksgiving!  I know we did.  We got to spend a lot of time with family and have LOTS of food.  It was great times!  So in celebration of Friday, I give you another story from the ghost files in my family.

           This story comes from my Grandma's old house.  She used to live in this house right by Cortez high school (the I-17 and Dunlap here in AZ).  It was the house my mom and aunt pretty much grew up in and it had quite the past.  At one point, a murder occurred in the living room, and someone died in a car accident when they drove into the side of the house.  In fact, at one point, the FBI came in and dug up the backyard looking for bodies.  Fact.  So this house had quite the past.

           When my aunt and mom were teens they used to see a man sitting on the couch; and it was all the time.  To the point where they would try not to leave their rooms after dark.  My aunt used to get locked in her room.  When I was 3, I saw my great grandfather in the spare bedroom; he had passed away a few months before this by the way.  There were some really weird things that happened over the years, these events take place the week my Grandfather passed away.

           A lot of weird things happened.  The faucets would start running for no reason.  We would hear the doors open and close, but no one would come in.  You would go to walk into a room and the door would shut as went to walk in.  The weirdest thing that happened occurred a day before he passed away.  We had gone shopping and my mom went into the main bedroom to try on the clothes she bought.  Now the way the house was set up, was in a roundabout way.  Basically you could walk a full circle through the house. The main bedroom had two doors that you could go in and out of.  While she was in there, both doors locked and she couldn't get out.  She was stuck in there about five minutes before my Grandpa could finally get in.  At the time it was terrifying and confusing.  Though this story is short, it is still something that scares the hell out of me.  With all the other weird stuff that happened that week and the fact that my Grandpa passed away in the midst of it all makes this one of my personal favorite stories.

until next time.....

xoxo

 Trista

Lazy Day

   Well folks, today was a lazy day.  We rested, bought groceries (I NEVER shop the week of Thanksgiving or Christmas. Grocery or otherwise), took advantage of a starbucks discount (2 for 1 holiday drinks), and watched tv together.  We did really good at the grocery store today too. I am so proud of us. We didn't buy any frozen or processed foods, and if we did splurge we did low sodium options.  I also bought flour, cocoa mix, and sugar so I can start making some of my own mixes for brownies, cakes, pancakes, and other yummy things.  We also got a crockpot which I am sooooo stoked about so now we can have slow cooker meals.  Basically all around, it was a great day.

    In addition we made all three of our meals today.  So here is our simple menu for easy meals, quick clean up and delicious lazy days.  Breakfast consisted of basically easy however you like it basics. Eggs, hash browns, biscuits and gravy.  Lunch is a new specialty of mine.  Garlic french bread pizzas.  You need a loaf of french bread, butter, pizza cheese (literally the bag says pizza cheese and they sell it just about everywhere), homemade pizza sauce(I chose ragu), garlic salt, parmesan, and any other toppings you like.  We chose onions and pepperoni's (for Bug obviously since I'm vegetarian).  All you do is cut the French bread in half, put some butter on both halves.  Then add as much garlic salt as you'd like. Next layer your pizza sauce, cheese and other toppings.  Pop it in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes.  It's delicious!

    Next we had fondue. For you're fondue, all you need aside from your fondue pot is 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup of white wine, tablespoon of butter, bread, cheese and a seasoning of your choice if you prefer.  We usually use cajun seasoning.   Add wine, water, and butter to fondue pot.  As it starts to boil, stir in your cheese and seasoning.  Then dip your bread in your amazing cheese fondue, and enjoy!

     Hope you all had a fantastical day.  See you all on the flip side.

xoxo

    Trista

Feminists you should be excited about right now.

        So I would like to think myself a feminist.  I know I joke a lot and may make it seem like I maybe don't think about all the rights I'm granted now, but I do think about it.  However, I think a lot of people aren't really aware of sociological factors and feminist waves that have happened and are still happening.  I'm not saying I'm constantly walking around pissed off about random things.  But once I turn on the awareness (or push my mother into taking a sociology class on campus) it's all over.  There are a few celebrity feminists that we should discuss then.  

• Ellen Degeneres- She doesn't really mention it on her show too much, but when she does, she makes a point.  In April of 1997, she revealed on her show that she was gay.  Her ratings declined, her show got cancelled, but now she's got her own talk show.  Proof that you shouldn't give up and that Ellen is also a good humanitarian.  Very recently when BIC released a line of feminine pens, she did this hilarious monologue.  

• Gloria Steinem-  If you use birth control, you should thank her.  If you are of mixed race and you have rights, you should thank her.  If you are female and have rights, you should really thank her.  She started as a journalist in the early 60's.  Her works precede even the feminine mystique.  She's been involved in politics since about 1970 and just about every election since the 1968 election.  She fights for equal rights, reproductive rights, and tries to bring about a more equal world.  In 1971, she began Ms Magazine.  You can check out their official website here and subscribe to the magazine here.
• Alice Paul, Carrie Chapman Catt, Harriot Blatch and Lucy Burns-  You can thank these lovely ladies for the right to vote.  They helped women and colored people get the vote and formed several groups to help further their movement.  They suffered through jail time, riot crowds, slander and non believers.  For more on their story, check out Iron Jawed Angels.

    These are obviously just a few of the famous feminists you should be excited about.  But do be proud of them. And celebrate you and your femininity!

xoxo 

Trista

Freaky Friday

As you may have read in my last blog, I believe in ghosts.  This means that I believe in hauntings and love a good ghost story.  And I have many ghost stories that have happened to my family all the way from West Virginia in the 50's to my apartment last week.  So, I give to you, a story from my family.

    Back in 1999, my great Grandmother passed away.  I was sad obviously, but also extremely grateful that I got to experience a great grandma, since many of the kids I knew never got to see their grandparents let alone great grandparents.  Shortly after her death, my Dad left and my mom and I were getting ready to move into her old house.  There was some minor work to be done so we got started.

    The day we did my room is when this story get a little haunted.  My bedroom was set to be the front bedroom that was formerly used as a guest room.  It needed new paint and my family is always the type to go big or go home.  We did a sky scene on the ceiling, daisies on the floorboards, a tree in the corner.  Again, go big or go home.  After a hard days work and many paint fumes and taking a few pics or our awesome work, we decided some pizza was in order.

     Quick sidebar, if you know me or my mother, you know we are pretty sarcastic.  We are basically craftsman at a well placed joke, comment or one liner.  We also never forget when someone does something stupid.  Ok back to the story and by the way this is important as you'll see in a few sentences.

      So all doors and windows had been open since we were handling mass amounts of paints.  And obviously, we had to close them since we were leaving.  Now these windows were old school style.  Like they crank open and closed and they stick so as in this case, someone has to go outside and push the window shut while the person inside cranks it to close it.  On this particular instance, my mom was the cranker, and my aunt the pusher.  As they were shutting the window, my mom used a well placed Polish joke (How many Pollacks does it take to shut a window) along with a jab at my Aunt's strength (come on Debb, put some muscle in it).  Once, it was all closed up, we left.

     As we pulled up to the house after picking up our pizza, something was off.  It looked like the windows were open.  When we parked it got even weirder.  Our gate to the back yard was wide open and the door wasn't shut all the way.  We walked in to the house and went straight to the bedroom.  It took a second to get in because the closet door was open up against the bedroom door.  Upon entering, the windows were all open.  In addition to that, the attic entrance was in my closet and it was open.  I was scared shitless.

    If that wasn't enough a few weeks later, we got the camera pictures developed.  In one picture, my great grandma is standing there in her best blue Easter dress.  With her hands crossed in that way all the ladies in my family do.

   Needless to say, I didn't sleep in that room for quite a while.

   Hope you all enjoyed and look for more coming soon!

xoxo
   Trista

I'm a weirdo

  Guys, I am a huge weirdo!.  Like huge.  I believe in all kinds of "urban legends" and stuff.  So for your enjoyment, I give you a short list of some of the weird stuff I believe in along with some slight elaboration.

• Ghosts.  I have had a few personal experiences, and plenty of stories to tell.
• Loch Ness.  I think it's possible.  I love a great Nessie story.
• Aliens or life on other planets.  I don't know if it's necessarily in our solar system, but I think it's possible.  And I lived on base when lights over Phoenix happened.
• chupacabra. I believe all them "crazy folks" that claim to have seen it.
• Kraken.  We've only discovered about  10% of the ocean and the ocean life, and about 15% of the life in the rainforest.  Pretty crazy considering water covers about 80% of this rock we're all riding on, hurtling through space.
• Bigfoot.  Call me a dirty redneck. He's real.
• Abominable snowman. cousin to Bigfoot.  He lives where it's slightly cooler to escape wandering eyes.
• Area 51.  Close to aliens I know, but still.  I think it's some sort of underground going ons.  

 

Now I know you are thinking I'm pretty crazy if you're still reading this.  But let me follow up with my own logic and see if you're still with me.    My whole thing is, why are we so determined to believe that we are the highest, most adaptable beings?  Couldn't it be slightly possible that something surpassed us?  In any shape or form.  I can't handle extreme cold (I bundle up), when plants bloom (allergies), or being tickled (attack mode is engaged).  But others are perfectly capable of handling this and many more things.

Furthermore,  I am utterly fascinated when others try to convince me that I am "wrong" and they are "right".  Ummmm excuse me (sir or ma'am).  It's called a difference of opinion and I am entitled to my own.  And because I am stubborn and female, when you try to prove me wrong and convince me otherwise (away from or instead of my own beliefs, within reason of course), it makes me believe my point of view even more.  Why would you bother trying to convince me otherwise?  What information do you have????

If you made it to the end of this, Thank you.  Believe what you will, and know that you too are allowed to.  Please, think whatever you will of me.  If you think I'm a nutter, just follow me on pinterest.  I just found a really good hot cocoa recipe....

Stay true, stay you.
xoxo
   Trista

Foodie

Hello lovelies.
    As most of you know, I'm a foodie.  I would weigh about seven thousand pounds if not for my metabolism.  If you browse my pinterest food board is currently housing 180 pins (which beats out my next highest board by around 60).  The only thing is that while I am a vegetarian, my husband is not.  Also, I'm a terrible cook.  I legit could probably burn cereal if I had enough time.  So whilst on pinterest, I'm constantly looking for delicious easy recipes.  Which is why I'm such a fan of those mini lasagnas from an early blog post.  Tonight I offer you all a side dish to try.  I like to offer this with just about anything. Goes good with pasta or a good chicken and sides meal.  So I present to you the easy zucchini garlic parmesan recipe.   I have altered this slightly from it's original post which is here.

You will need

zucchini
butter (spray if you prefer)
garlic salt
parmesan cheese


     Slice your zucchini any which way you like. I prefer round slices, but you can cut it however you choose.  Make sure your slices are slightly thick as once they cook, they get a bit thinner.  I made this mistake last time, again horrible cook. Place on your cooking sheet.  Add butter (spray and just a little bit on each one).  Add garlic salt and parmesan cheese as desired.  I baked mine at about 350 for around ten to fifteen minutes.  And as always enjoy!

    Seriously, if it was truly hard, I wouldn't be able to make it.  I would have burned my apartment down.  Hope you all enjoy!  In the meantime, I'm trying to finish up a craft project to post for you all within the next few days.

xoxo

Trista

DIY post for tonight!

Hey guys just wanted to share this post with you guys really quick!  I am trying to get the place cleaned up for girls night tomorrow and I have to post this remedy.  I have a few carpet stains by my couch that look bad since my carpet is so light.  Especially when you're trying to entertain a group of females and you boast about your baking a pinterest boards.  So I give you this: Carpet Stain Remover!

The original link is here.

All you need is:

Warm water
White Vinegar
Dawn dish soap (I still have some left over that I need to use up since it isn't cruelty free. I'll post a cruelty free one as soon as I find one!)
Bowl
Two towels.

Fill your bowl with warm water, vinegar, and dawn.  Use one towel to mix everything together and then scrub your stain with the towel.  Then use your dry towel to soak up the excess moisture.  And viola!  Stain is removed!   Enjoy lovelies.

xoxo Trista

Too Invested

        I am way too invested in my shows.  I get in way too deep.  I'm totally the type of girl who gets deeply obsessed in a show to an unhealthy point.  I don't know why or how, but I do know that its probably not good for me.  I even look at behind the scenes footage, actors profiles, past movies, fan websites, and all that crap.  And I re-watch the shows and everything.  It's ridiculous.  Below are just some shows I'm obsessed with to an unhealthy degree.

• The Walking Dead- I'm deep in this one.  I have a favorite and least favorite characters, my own predictions, and I watch the show after The Talking Dead.  Here is a photo of me after watching Sunday's episode.  It was super emotional for me.  

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer- I've seen all seven seasons multiple times.  I stay up late and watch them.  They are still all on que on my netflix. Even though I've watched through it twice just on that.  
• Friends-  I own all ten seasons, can quote most episodes, have friendships based around a love of Friends.  I even made my husband watch all of them.  They were a deal breaker for me.  Also I can make any real life situation Friends related in a matter of seconds.
• Breaking Bad- My husband and his best friend got in on this one way before me.  I'm really depressed that this is the last season.  Maybe not photo above depressed, but we'll see.  I also have taken to yelling "Yeah bitch" at random intervals and I follow Aaron Paul on twitter (click here to follow him too).  When he won his Emmy for best supporting actor, I yelled, "YEAH EMMY'S BITCH!!!!" and cried during his acceptance speech.  God I'm such a girl.
• Lost- 4,8,15,16,23,42.  That's right I still know Hugo's lottery numbers.  And a few years ago, when the jackpot hit 4 of the 6 numbers, Lost fans everywhere who had taken to playing them got split a prize.  About 150 each.  Also, when the obsession was at it's peak it prompted my husband to post this video to my myspace page.  (For you youngsters, myspace is the old facebook.)

       So those are just a few of my many tv obsessions.  I know you all think I'm crazy now, but hey,whatever.  We're all a little nerdy inside.  Stay true, stay you.

xoxo Trista

When I grow up

       I always love when people ask me what I want to do when I grow up. Well actually 

now that I'm 25, it's more like, "What do you want to do with your life?"  Here are some things I wanted to be growing up:

1. Paleontologist.  Jurassic Park had a big effect on me.  Don't ask why. Any reasonable person that sees that movie is like oh shit, dinosaurs. Don't eff with science. Not me.  I was obsessed with T Rex and Velociraptors.
2. A singer.  Don't ask why.  My husband, steering wheel, shower head and associates will tell you the following.  I know all the words to songs, I just can't sing worth a damn. 
3. FBI agent.  The only reason I didn't is because you have to have 20/20 vision.
4. Fashion Designer.  This was short lived, but I still have sketch books with my work in them.
5. Writer.  This comes in and out every few years.  I was very serious about it when I was very young, then it faltered.  Now its back with a fire like no other.
6. Talk Show host.  I still would love to do this, so I could talk more freely and openly and to a wider audience.
7. Astronaut.  I was obsessed with space.  I still am and I know quite a bit about space and everything, but the prep for it is so intense that I chickened out.  Plus you have to be like really really smart and good at math.  Ooooh look a kitty...

       My point is, I keep changing my mind on what I think would be cool to do with my life.  I have too many interests.  I wouldn't have done well in France (side note, in France, you have to choose at age 13 what to do with your life.  If you change your mind, you have to start over with a group of 13 year olds.)  Mainly, I want to grow up to be the best version of myself.  

xoxo 

  Trista

DIY post for the night!

Hello lovelies.  Tonight I wanted to share with you something I just tried and loved.  I have dry hair (as well as a dry scalp), luckily my curly hair helps hide that.  I wanted to share with you this DIY hair mask that I just did tonight!  See the original link here.
     All you need is 1/2 cup of honey, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a bowl, patience and a towel or shower cap. Mix your two ingredients in a bowl, then work the mixture into your hair, starting at the scalp down to the ends.  Throw a towel or shower cap over your hair and let it sit 30 minutes.  This one is a little messy so prepare to jump in the shower right away.  After your time is up, rinse the mixture out, shampoo and condition as usual.  And viola!  Conditioned, soft hair!   Enjoy!

     Now back to Jenn's cake for her birthday!!!

xoxo Trista

Things I Really Suck At

             Before I get into this, please watch the video below. There is some bad language so it's not safe for work of some ears, but it is my inspiration for tonight's post.  Enjoy

            So let me start by saying I love Jenna Marbles. She is something of an icon to me.  To be able to be so hot, tough, dorky and funny is truly a talent.  Now let me get right to it.  I agree that it is okay to suck at things. And lots of them. So here is a list of a few things I suck at:

• doing my hair.  It's pretty much just big and curly.  Any effort further than that, meh.  I look at all these things on pinterest and I'm like yea ok, I can do that. Nope.  However, I blame it on weak rotator cuffs (the group of muscles and tendon that control holding your arms up).  
• cooking/baking under pressure.  Normally, I'm okay at the simple stuff (see my earlier posts for bragging rights on pasta and cereal), and I love to make brownies and cakes.  but if it's for a big event, I will burn/destroy everything I touch.  But I'm the only child, so people will still eat it because they don't want to hurt my feelings. 
• remembering names.  It is very hard work for me to know your name.  I really really  need to work on it.
• Oregon Trail.  I have only beat that game once in my 25 years and it was literally last week.  I just make poor decisions.  Ford the river or float it.  Hell if I know.  Next thing I know my 326 pounds of bacon are floating away along with all my winter coats and then Jeffery has a cold.  
• First Person Shooting Games.  Ya'll I will die in a zombie apocalypse.  I need people who can shoot.  One time, I played Call of Duty sober with some friends who were drunk and I didn't even get one hit.    Not one.  I just kept dieing.  All my drunk friends laughed their asses off.  
• Follow through.  One time, my Grandma bought me a guitar and music book because I wanted to learn so bad.  I think I touched it once.  And that was to put it up.  I still can't play any instruments.
• Math.  I am terrible.  In college I took the lowest level math.  The class was like Math 076. And still I had to go early/stay late/go to math help classes and ask my husband.  So now, I just do basic simple math and have a calculator.  
• Dressing fashionably consistently.  I do ok for like a week, then I'm like nah.  I'm set. These jeans and tee's are comfy.  In my head and on pinterest I'm very fashion forward though.  I'm working on it!

            These are just a few of the many things I am TERRIBLE at.  Feel free to comment and let me know what you're terrible at.

xoxo 

    Trista

Yesterday

           

          Guys I am almost done Christmas shopping.  AMAZING!  And such a relief.  Mostly because I work retail and I know how crazy this stuff gets after Thanksgiving.  The only things left to do are buy the rest of the supplies for presents I am going to make and make them.  Not too shabby.  So today, I wanna talk about shopping and holidays for just a second.
             On my side of the family, we draw names and have a spending limit.  On my husbands side of the family, there is no such thing.  This leaves me to budget myself and try to be creative.  We tend to buy a family gift for everyone and then something separate for the parents.  This year, I am being especially crafty and making several presents. I'd love nothing more than to share them with you, but you'll have to stay tuned until after the holidays (simply because some of the people on the receiving end follow this blog).
            My favorite thing about being crafty about it, means that I will get to spend some quality time with family or just some much needed alone time (something I truly believe in).  Which is what the holidays are all about.  Not the shopping or the presents.  Which is why I am amazed year after year how rotten people get a mere two hours after having consumed more food than some people in other nations, and talking about the stuff we are already thankful for.  So this year, I challenge you to remember what it is really all about.  And when you do go out, please be nice to the retail workers.
           
Until next time,

 xoxo
Trista

WTF Wednesday

        Today I want to talk about faith in humanity.  Every morning when I wake up, I say hey to Clay; go to the bathroom and go to my computer.  I check facebook (who doesn't?) and I look at my second favorite website in the world, 9gag.  It's bad. I get distracted. Even just now, I looked to see what had been updated from an hour ago.  See?  I have a problem.
       Anyway one of the posts I saw today was this:

         Now I'm not gonna lie, I often struggle with humanity.  In a very general, cynical sense, I think people are pretty terrible.  Rotten.  Assholes even.  Side effects of working retail I guess.  In a logical sense, I recognize that there is good and bad in all people, we all make mistakes and that no matter what, all people have about a fifty percent approval rating (except me and Johnny Depp. People love us).  For further proof, look at the Presidential election in about a week.  Both will have about half.  But we aren't here to talk about that. We're here to talk about our faith in humanity.  

         So this poster kinda shocked me.  Which I find a little sad.  Why should we be surprised by random acts of kindness.  I'm not saying we need to do big scale things all the time, but we should be more giving.  Imagine the feeling you get when someone does something nice for you.  Now imagine us giving that as a gift to someone who might need it.  I know I've had incidents that brought a tear to my eye when someone helped me out.  Shouldn't we be trying to achieve this all the time?  

               If you have the time, please check out this blog post I found:

                               21 Photos that Restore your Faith in Humanity

          So I leave you with this friends.  What will you do to help a fellow human out? Think about this, we are all here together trying to figure out this crazy journey we call life.  We all encounter speed bumps, doubts, hate, praise, love, loss and hardships.  Extend that helping hand.  You never really know who might need it.   

xoxo

    Trista

Recent Obsession?

               If you know me in real life, you already know, it's Pinterest.  (Follow me here)  I am obsessed you guys. I check everyday and I repin or add pins every single day.  I will clog up your feed, just a forewarning.  This inevitably led to me becoming Susie Homemaker.  I always loved the idea of cooking and doing crafts, but I'm impatient and somewhat lazy after my work days.  I would rather watch some tv and hang out.  However, with a budget that needed to be enforced to ensure a great family vacation in October, we knew we needed to stop eating fast food twice a day.  Luckily for me, Pinterest has a whole section on food so your inner 5,000 pound girl can see what all there is to offer.
             Now honestly, I am great at basics. I make killer cereal.  Spaghetti? Fugedaboutit.  But I lack a certain ability to give things extra kick.  So trust me when I say, if I can do it, so can you!  Which is why I am so happy to bring you: Mini Lasagnas!
             For the original link to the recipe here.
Stuff you need:

won ton wraps (usually found in the salad section at your grocery store)
marinara sauce
ricotta cheese
mozzarella cheese
italian seasoning
ground beef if desired
parmesan cheese
cupcake pan

How to make it:

Lightly grease your cupcake pan and add one won ton wrap to each cup. Layer sauce, cheeses, and beef and repeat.  Sprinkle Italian seasoning on top.  Bake at 375 for about 15-20 minutes. Let it cool for 5 minutes.  Usually two to four cups per person (depending on appetite of course) and dig in.

Enjoy!!!!!

Hot Mess Monday: Me and the Reason Why

          Hello friends!!!!  As most of you probably know, my name is Trista.  When I planned on writing this post, It was going to talk about my decision to create a blog.  Funnily enough though, when I said I was making this blog, most of my (hopeful) followers were just excited!  Which makes me more excited and also adds a bit of pressure on me to keep entertaining YOU!  I will give you an explanation as well as an introduction now, even though you didn't ask.  ;)

         I was born in 1987 to my amazing mom Sue.  I would be the only child, niece and grandchild in my family, resulting in me living up to my full Leo potential of loving the spotlight, attention and a talent for weird entertainment.

        For Elementary school, I went to the school on the Air Force base, which was fun for me.  My mom volunteered in my classrooms and for class field trips and eventually worked in the preschool rooms. I found myself to be quite popular with the unpopular kids (something of a theme in my life).  I loved my teachers (save for one in third grade who found my lack of math skills to be detrimental.  Yea well I do ok Ms. Kelly, even without multiplication!)  Middle School was average, I ran around with the "weird" goth kids if you could call us that.  I favored teachers then too, and popular kids did not favor me. 

        In High school, everything went pretty well.  I was made fun of, but joined dance, did not date a lot, but met the love of my life, and didn't get valedictorian, but graduated all the same.  This is were I met Clay.  The  absolute love of my life.  Within two weeks of knowing him, I knew I would marry him.  Soon after   graduating, we went to ASU for two years.  He went for computers, I went for Dance.  After our two years I decided to move to Oregon.  This is where i really think I found myself and things came together.  I turned vegetarian, and really started to appreciate eco friendly lifestyles.  

       In 2010, Clay and I finally married, moved in together and started our life.  We still enjoy our dorky things (movies and video games mostly)  and we're both 25 years old.  Which means we are grown ups.  Which brings me to why I started the blog.  

        My whole thought for the blog was to marry my favorite internet and real life things.  Pinterest, crafts, free time and free thoughts.  I love the thought of making my own crafts and gifts, I love to speak my mind with some humor infusion, and I'm all about helping people.  Even if this blog only makes you smile for two seconds or brings a thought to you, or even makes you inspired.  I feel that I've done my job.  I love the idea of having something that is all mine but that I can share with you.  I hope you enjoy the ride.  :)