Here are five of my favorite posts of the past week in the blogosphere!
Angie at Country Chic Cottage made a list of the best cleaning and organizing printables. WIN!
Kimberley over at A Night Owl Blog posted this yum Cherry & Vanilla Shake recipe.
Cheesy Sausage and Potatoes. Makes my tummy grumble already!
Homemake Flour Tortillas over at A Bright & Beautiful Life
I love finding excuses to use my mason jars! Check this out at A Thoughtful Place Blog!
Here we are, two weeks later. Another Award show. I will go ahead and post who I think is going to win the Screen Actors Guild awards tonight!
So I went to Fred Meyer (part of the Kroger family) and they had a sale on some of their more basic picture frames. I picked up a 8×10 frame for just under $4. I then went over to Photoshop and made this weekly calendar and popped it in the frame. Easy right? I use the removable mounting tape for most of my wall decorations, and used the Velcro kind so it makes taking it down easy if i want to write on my desk or replace the calendar style!
This actually came to be because my dear husband forgot I was going out to dinner with a girlfriend on Monday after work (he and the kid had off because of the holiday) and he freaked out because I wasn’t home. I couldn’t hear my phone because it was in my purse and we were in a loud, small, crowded restaurant and he worried.
Even though I write everything in my planner I can put plans on there and he knows where I am.
I have been in a music listening mood lately and have been looking for new (and new to me) music the past few months. So I figured I would share some of what I have been into lately. Most of my musical choices either fall under the Indie spectrum or under hip hop. I chose to omit the hip hop from today’s post.
Band/Artist: Bastille
Song: Pompeii
Album: Bad Blood (coming March 2013)
Genre: Indie Alt. Rock
The band Bastille is from London, England. Their debut CD is set to come out in the spring of this year. I am utterly in love with their song Pompeii. Another song they have released is called Flaws
Band/Artist: Ellie Goulding
Song: Explosions
Album: Halcyon
Genre: Indie Pop
Ellie Goulding is another UK artist, but she has been relevant in the US for the last year or so. This song, Explosions, isn’t a official single, but it was used for a commercial and people started loving it.
Band/Artist: HAIM
Song: Don’t Save Me
Album: N/A
Genre: Nu-Folk meets 90′s R&B
The band Haim are three sisters that hail from California. They have been compared to Fleetwood Mac meets 90′s R&B. You remember that right? Yeaaah. It’s great music that I would work out to, if I were motivated enough to move.
You can purchase Haim and Ellie Goulding online at like iTunes. Bastille isn’t available yet for download.
Edit: So. I forgot to publish my posts this week. Here they are!
Chili-Mac over at The Crafted Sparrow! Yummy!
Ugh. I want to make something like Amanda over at Kevin & Amanda did. It makes my little organized heart wish I had a house and not a apartment.
Styrofoam Canvas Art from The 36th Avenue.
I think I need to make these ASAP. Love everything that Krystyn at Lil Luna posts.
Peppermint Crunch Dream Pie from Michelle’s Tasty Creations. I am a sucker for anything minty.
(Edit: So. I forgot to publish my posts this week. Here they are! )
I am so sorry for the lack of posts this week. I have to do some over time at work and it was unexpected so I hadn’t really planned ahead. I will try to make it up to you. While I was thinking about this, I realized that I should let you all know a little bit about myself, so you have a better understanding of how crazy I really am.
Home/ Personal Life
I am 28 and have been living in Portland, Oregon with my 4 year old daughter, Olivia/Mini Me and my husband, Mr. Chaos for the last 6.5 years. I met my husband online and moved out to Portland from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to be with him.
I am Puerto Rican, have 3 siblings, an insane number of cousins, aunts, uncles nieces and nephews. I grew up in Wisconsin, and don’t really have a Hispanic accent. My husband is not Hispanic, which makes our marriage entertaining to say the least. He is an only child with minimal extended family. Sometimes he doesn’t understand why I talk to so loud, but when you grew up trying to get a word in edgewise among tons of other loud people, you kind of have to be loud.
We are nerds. I am struggling with balancing a cute, neat home with my husbands “collectibles”. I am a total anglophile and am saving up to go to London for my 30th birthday.
School/Work
I work full time for a healthcare system in their hospital billing department. I just started this position in November, after being with my last employer for almost 5 years.
I also am considered a full time college student. I am in a accelerated program, where you take one class, Monday nights for 5 weeks and earn 3 semester credits. This is year round (give or take a few weeks off here and there) and while I only go to class one night a week, I have about a semesters worth of papers, reading, homework and group projects to cram into that time. I am just finishing my first year and am working towards a end of 2015 graduation date.
Somehow in between all of this, I find time to hang out with friends, do things with my daughter, shop and watch way too much UK TV.
I hope this gives you an idea of what I am doing in my life. i am not 100% how I do it all, but I will let you know as soon as I do.
I will be back up to regular posts this weekend.
Thanks for your patience,
Karla
Edit: So. I forgot to publish my posts this week. Here they are!
This goes out to my best friend, Kristen. Happy Birthday!
If you haven’t seen the movie, The Help, you need to.
Hello, and HAPPY FRIDAY! I hope everyone had a good week and is getting ready for their (for some people) long weekend. At my home, Mr. Chaos has Monday off and for Mini Me, preschool is closed for MLK Jr day so they get a long weekend. I on the other hand, work on Monday. Boo. Oh well. For those that don’t know, I am also working on my Bachelors degree and while we usually have class Monday night, I am off! So there is a woohoo for me too!
This weekend, I am finishing up a project that is a birthday present for a friend, having lunch with a friend/former co-worker and trying to catch up on laundry!
Anyways. On to my Friday Fave Five!
Angie over at The Country Chic Cottage, posted this yummy granola recipe. I immediately added ingredients to my grocery list. I need a good snack for work.
Sarah over at Crafting & Creativity made this super easy and terribly cute decor piece. I now have to go to Ikea and a dollar store. Gee. Thanks. 
Tatertots & Jello has this ADORABLE Valentine Printable.
Two Ingredient Chocolate Mousse. Yes, please.
![Chicken Burrito Recipe_thumb[1]](http://simplisticchaos.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/chicken-burrito-recipe_thumb1.jpg?w=560&h=422)
I must be hungry, seriously. Last but not least, Freezer Chicken Burritos
Anything I missed that I should check out? Leave me a comment in the speak bubble! (upper right)
Back in November, I posted about Birchbox. My plan was to post what I get in my Birchbox every month, but then December came, and I was SO busy, that I completely forgot. But, now we are in January and I got my January Birchbox and figured I would post it on here.
What is Birchbox? For those that don’t know, Birchbox is a subscription based monthly delivery service. You pay a subscription fee, which is $10 monthly (I believe you get a discount for purchasing a year in advance), and every month you get a box that is full with samples of beauty products. The reason that I used Birchbox, is because it gives me the chance to try hair, makeup and skincare products that I would normally not think of buying. Every once in a while one of my items will be full sized instead of sample size.
I love getting a little pampering treat every month. You can learn more here!
Ok. Enough of my blabbing. Here are the pictures!
This is the box on the inside. Believe me, they are everywhere in my room!
I love how they wrap it like little presents. The card has a description of all the times that we in the box.
Included was:
Aerie – Shimmer Perfume Sample
Caudalie – Radiance Day Cream Sample
Eyeko – Liquid Eyeliner
Number 4 – Shampoo Sample
I did the math, and my samples were worth a total of around $25! Totally worth the $10 I paid.
Also, when I got the box I tested the eyeliner on my hand.
About 3 hours later, the lines on my hand are still a strong black. I can’t wait to try this in person!
So, in this post, I mentioned about my find at a goodwill. I had a total of 4 picture frames and I found a home for the fourth one over the weekend. I was complaining about how I needed someplace to hang costume earrings, but I don’t own too many of them to begin with. I grabbed the frame, found a printable (my Motivation Monday for this week) and TADA! I also clipped some random hairpieces that had no home!
