What's on my wish list

I fancy myself a creative, do-it-myself person with a passion for structure and clean lines.
Here's what I have on my wish list to capture all the parts of me:


For the get-out-and-explore side:
White Moustache Food Tours (Seattle, Portland, Vancouver BC)
 Little Show of Horrors theatre show
A night out at the ballet to see Sleeping Beauty

For the hands on side:
Flour sack towels to practice my fabric stamp printing on
The Kreg Rip-cut tool for smooth, even lines when cutting
A Step-by-Step Guide to Upholstery Guide so I can finally conquer all the furniture!

For the "loves to shop small-business" side:
White planter pot with hanger $42
Anything black bears, like this print $12
Unique, cute printed cloth napkins $43
a bold, new necklace
Or a print of one of my favorite cities (I already have seattle and pittsburgh!)

For the practical, meal-planner side:
an everything mac + cheese cookbook
or an easy breakfast for dinner guide

Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch Nonstick 3-Piece Cookie Bakeware Set

For the needs-pampered side:
Gift cards for SpaFinder, Coffee Shop, or my favorite hair place!

Pantone - color of the year

Thank goodness they've picked something a little more flattering than the bright orange two years ago and 2013 emerald is cool, but kinda boring, amiright?!!

Color of the year: Radiant Orchid

I could really appreciate a few shirts in this color... a hue that goes well with brunettes and blondes alike; also very nicely pairs with all skin tones.

Unfortunately my house is evolving into the blue, green, grey color scheme - so I don't see much use of radiant orchid as a rug or throw. 

How are you going to use Pantone's new color of the year in 2014?

Pinterest is already jumping onboard, and it's delicious!

Roundhand Lettering

This is gorgeous.
The lines, the weight, the flow. Mesmerizing.

via swissmiss

For your typography nerds

Found at: SophieBrowneHandmade

Start It Today - Planning Dinner

I talked briefly about meal planning last month - what to do and how it helps.

Let's elaborate, but mostly, I'm gonna focus on DINNER.

Each week, either Ben or I make a grocery list with between 4-7 dinners on it. Depending on inspiration and quantity of groceries (sometime meals can be made with things on hand, cutting down on $$ and time spent at the grocery store = more dinners added to our list.).

This also includes what we will eat for breakfast, snacks, lunch, and dinner. I've learned  over many failed attempts at "dieting" that if you don't plan out all your meals, you won't ever actually know what you're eating, and somehow a whole bag of chips will be your "snack".

Some guidelines for choosing my dinners:
- All dinners must have protein source and vegetables. As a rule of thumb, no starchy carbs (bread, crusts, etc) at dinner unless it was a workout day. I'll be the first to admit that I've made this for dinner, and didn't feel guilty about not following my own rule.
- I aim for "one pot meals" -- it makes for less things to keep track of, and it lends to more of a well blended, flavorful meal.
- Meals must take less than an hour to make. It hurts, but I hate having meals where we spend 40 minutes chopping 15 different vegetables. One day I hope to get this down to where we spend Sunday or grocery day chopping and preparing the meals for the week. (dreaming. I know.)
- At least half the dinners should create leftovers for lunches. This means we usually always include a stew or chili just because it creates a ridiculous amount of leftovers for our work lunches. 

Have emergency dinners ready!
I always have brown rice, polenta, chicken/ turkey sausages, canned white/black/garbanzo beans, and canned/frozen veggies on hand. there have been many cases where I three of those ingredients up and call it done. It also helps hang us over until we can get to the grocery store. Again, think: protein and veggies and low carbs for dinner.

Where to find Recipes
Like I mentioned, at home we primarily use Smitten Kitchen, Dinner: a love story, and It's all good. We also Liked the simplicity of this college cookbook.
On the web, we have found consistent luck with Smitten Kitchen, Whole foods, and Blue Apron.
note: blue apron is an ingredient delivery service, but their food is right on target (calorie and taste wise), so I've used their recipes but never their actual service.

Experiment!
- Don't be afraid to change up ingredients. Swap out rediculous hard to find items with easy, all ready in your cabinet items (Martha Stewart is not watching or judging you!). 
- I often find myself writing on post it notes to Ben to omit this step, and do this instead to save time. Aka - one of my favorite Gwen recipes says to roast garlic for an hour - no thank you! I just add the minced garlic to the pan first. Side note: Ben is usually the one that cooks dinner because he's awesome and lets me spend most evenings kicking my own ass at the gym.
- We've taken a few cooking classes with a local Seattle chef - Chef Ricky, where we have learned a ton of techniques and recipes. Look for a local chef or take a class somewhere - it might save you money and time on future cooking adventures. Note: chef ricky turned me on to ceramic knifes, and I have never looked back. Those things are AMAZING.

Wear this.

 

DRESS: MARA HOFFMAN $396
SHOES: JEFFREY CAMPBELL $220

year two

August 20th this year marked our second wedding anniversary... and in typical Ben-Dana fashion, we didn't exchange gifts (all I - always - want is to spend time together and maybe dress up & go out to eat). This year we've made tremendous strides in paying down our debt and gaining some financial stability - that it seems silly to give each other gifts when all we want is to use that money to buy paint, wainscoting, build our savings, or a new couch.

The other weekend we saw someone's save-the-date on our friend's fridge. It was cute, as it showed a short timeline of when they met, fell in love, proposed, and are getting married. Ben compared our timeline:

2005, met.
2005, fell in love.
2009, started dating.
2010, proposed.
2011, wedding.

Sooo, we were a little out of the normal cycle but it worked out perfectly IMO. I was crazy for Ben the moment we met in physics lab. That kind of - needtobearoundyouconstantly kind of love. It provided literally the best friendship I ever had. I was really busy with schoolwork (of course, we had the same degree/classes) and beyond involved in SWE and another half dozen organizations on campus. I didn't have time for dating my future husband.

But I kept him close.
And he kept me close.

And when it was time to graduate, grow up, and move across the country, I finally listened to my heart. And I made sure I would never be without Ben, my best friend.

xxdana

Being aware - health

 

 I've been feeling really good lately - having those moments where my body feels clean, my mind is sound and my clothes have been fitting looser. I'd like to attribute it to a few things:

1) Getting out of my workout safety net

2) Meal Planning

3) Getting more sleep and having more fun

1) Getting out of your workout rut - you've heard this before, I know. Me too. I've always loved work out, instructor led classes. They can be tough, intense, but also a little repetitive. So after I got my strength and toughness back from working out at a local fitness center, I signed up for a weekly running club and started cycling once every other week. I started noticing a huge difference after three cycling classes. The combination keeps me fresh and working on all aspects of my body.

2) Meal Planning - We primarily use three recipe books to plan out our meals each week (also the internet, if we have a certain ingredient we want to use up! We use Smitten Kitchen, Dinner: a love story, and It's all good. They are great books that we are always finding more recipes from. We also buy our breakfasts and snacks (we eat at work) during each shopping trip. My breakfast currently includes plain greek yogurt (less than 5g sugar) with a handful of berries, a half cup of almonds or cashews to snack on, a piece of fruit.  Lunch is always leftovers, and the afternoon snack tends to be a vegetable (cucumber slices, carrots, broccoli) dipped into hummus. My 2pm carb cravings have  significantly decreased eating this way. I also try to avoid coffee (or at least sugar laced lattes and mochas!) as best I can. Needless to say, this saves some serious cash - going from $12/day (latte, breakfast snack, lunch) at the work cafeteria, to about $6 when I bring and make my own food which is a lot healthier.

3) Get more sleep, be more fun. For the last four years I was always tired. I wasn't losing any weight and I couldn't seem to find myself out of this constant rut cloud. I would get tested for thyroid problems and the tests would come back normal. Then I got a new job, had less stress, and started managing my work, workouts, my SWE to-do list, social and work on the house schedule a lot better. And it helped because I didn't have to be at work really really early, and I made going to bed early a priority. It is so obvious now, that the days I cheat and binge on crunchy carbs, are the days when I am running on less than 7 hours of sleep.

What are your triggers or pitfalls? 

are you actively tackling them?

Oscars on sale

Stumbled on this dress today online. It reminds me of the very gorgeous jennifer lawrence at the Oscars 2013.

PS. BHLDN is have a big sale - lots of  wedding and bridesmaid dresses and wedding items at much more affordable prices!

Seattle Craft Fair - Recap

Twice a year, I trek down to Seattle Center and support my local artisans at the Urban Craft Uprising Fair. Each year, the show grows and gets more diverse and I am constantly impressed at what crafters, makers, creators, and builders are able to do. The show is well curated, and there's never an niche that's too overpopulated. There were homegoods, handbags, ice cream, jewelry, toys, clothes, posters, prints, and many many more.

Here is what I walked away with:

Laura Berger - bought two prints, will buy more!

SNASH Jewelry - double ring $70

Graphic Anthology - Bought this
and another simple print

Marshall's Haute Sauce Gift Pack - $25

LunaSol - necklace $45

Didn't buy, but definitely staying on my radar:

A Summer Afternoon - wooden toys

AMiRA Jewelry - necklace $68

Tako Fibers kit from Assemble Shop

Square City Maps - Archie's Press

Keep it real

Another fantastic print 

by Gemma Correll

Buy print here

Few things

Sorry for  the lack of things going on here. I've been consumed for the past month with our basement repair and rebuild it hasn't left me with a lot of free time. We're trying to get it complete by end of July so we can move on to more exciting places in our house (upstairs guest bedroom and future nursery and the garage needs some serious TLC)!

We also started planning a few trips for the rest of the year! We're driving to Sacramento in August (camping in Oregon along the way) and Flying to Austin in November! Any tips or tricks?

in the meantime, how fun are these!

found at: HelloMerch

27 Birthdays

27 Things I'm Thankful for this birthday

1. For having matured up enough to fall in love with a husband who thinks I'm really really awesome.
2. The way Yogi sleeps in our bed and usually kicks me out of it by morning.
3. A house that's turning into a home.
4. The cubbiest (ok, ok, big furred) cat. ever.
5. The bravest cat ever. (Yogi is no calm bear)
6. A body that continues to let me destroy push it.
7. Finding a new job that surrounds me with encouragement and support
8. Engaging in volunteerism and charity. Two values that have helped define who I want to be.
9. Finally learning how to live without the credit card "safety net"
10. Finding a habit in making a weekly breakfast-lunch-dinner grocery list.
11. Living in a city filled with people who love it so much they will put up with a week-straight downpour
12. Having friends across the US that provide us somewhere new and fun to travel to.
13. Packing a lunch everyday to save calories and cash (over two months straight so far!)
14. Living minutes to hours away from the BEST wine in Washington
15. Talking to my mom, and always ending the conversation like it's the best conversation we've ever had. I really like being able to make her smile.
16. My dad joining Facebook and liking all my pictures and posts. I like to think it shows him how much I am my father's daughter.
17. Air popped popcorn with fancy salts.
18. Finding and Buying a 8 by 10' rug for under $300 this past memorial day wknd.
19. The cats running downstairs the moment they think yogi is gone.
20. Hearing the cats run and chase at all hours of the night in all areas of the house.
21. Yogi's very low, long  and sleepy growl to any imaginary or real noise at night. He's so goofy.
22. Having done some major, although unexpected, remodeling to our basement. & so far, so good.
23. Finding success and peace in a financial plan both Ben and I could agree to.
24. Free wifi at coffee shops
25.Warmer weather each day, fewer raindrops
26. Attending Ballets routinely since moving to Seattle
27. Cucumbers and Hummus to hold me over until dinner.

Feel Good Friday

Kimbra has some of the best music (and videos) out there. fact.

Quantity of clothes, closets, and needing to clense

 

National Geographic: Teenagers run and play on
large white sand dunes in New Mexico, 1957.

I've talked about going on a clothing cleanse before - and it was moderately successful. I learned about quality of clothes and how to remove items I wasn't wearing instead of just buying more clothes. I learned to try everything on, and if I don't LOVE it, that I should not bring it home. I learned that if I wouldn't have paid full price for it, that I should not bring it home. This was a valuable foundation to finally learn and grow on. Finally, not being able to use the credit card to purchase clothes has TREMENDOUSLY cut down on buying clothes (especially online).

Over the past year and a half I've been very picky about what clothes I buy - What is its purpose, can I wear it to work, Is having another sundress really worth it when I don't have summers off anymore?

Unfortunately, I still have a lot of clothes. As in: 

1) One White Ikea closet that holds 90% of my dresses.
2) One standard dresser that holds my Stockings, Tank Tops, Skirts, Sweaters
3) One Tall dresser that holds my knit/ summer dress, Unisex T's, summer swim and shorts, and PJ's including sweatpants.
4) Built in closet that has my everyday items: button up shirts, pants, jeans, shoes, work out gear, and a million v-neck pocket t's.

Luckily, and maybe the only thing going for me, is that most of the drawers aren't packed or stuffed with clothes - so there's room for condensing.

What I think I would like to do is get a closet organizing system (like ben has!) to utilize 100% of my closet. 

This way I might be able to move a lot of my standard dresser items into the closet and move that dresser upstairs. I think I still need to sell or donate about a third of my clothes still, but I think it can be done. Right now our bedroom is just over crowded: three dressers, nightstand, cal king bed, and X-Large dog crate.

What are your spring cleaning ambitions?

Really Snazzy

My baby's foolin' around with some space cat...

Weekend Links

source here

Article I'm Reading

Gender Norms

Dress I'm loving

Grecian V-Neck Dress by L'Agence at Gilt 

Blog I'm following

writingchapterthree

Item I'm eyeing

 

Dinner I'll be cooking

Chard and white bean stew

Trend: Floral

Trend: Floral by sonodana featuring steve madden shoes

Dorothy Perkins / Topshop / Lined jacket / Warehouse jumpsuits and romper, $38 / Keds / Leather boots / Steve Madden shoes / J.Crew j crew jewelry / J.Crew vintage jewelry / J.Crew j crew jewelry / J.Crew j crew jewelry / Charlotte Russe fedora hat

Delicious Prints

found at: ANEK

yum!

Iceland Day 4: Golden Circle (Part Two)

Let's catch up Day 1, Day 2, Day 3. 

And now it's day four that we'll break down into two parts.
Part One: Þingvellir, Geysir, and stood in awe of Gullfoss.
Part Two: Local horses, Skalholt cathedral, and Kerið crater

We finished out the golden circle with a drive through the countryside, a stop at the historic Skalholt Cathedral, and lost our keys (briefly) at Kerið crater before returning back to our hotel.

The pictures hopefully speak for themselves. everything was gorgeous although pretty cold - around 32F but with bright/clear skies.

Dogs. In my experience.

I've spent a lot of time, in Yogi's youth (he's turning 5 in September!), finding the perfect dog boarding place. It also took me a year to figure out what type of place Yogi needed.

I would first like to point out that Yogi wasn't always crazy, I think. You see - owning an active/ smart dog is a lot of work and more than I thought it would be. As a soon-to-be college graduate when I got Yogi, at the ripe age of 8 weeks old (End of October 2008), I thought dogs just had an "instinct" to do what dogs are supposed to do. Turns out - No.  So I was constantly learning and reading about what to do -- the internet is full of conflicting information, so it wasn't much progress on my part.  Anywho, his first problem was the crate - Oh gosh, he hated it. And he hated it until we got a trainer in Spring 2009, after I made the transition and move to Seattle from Pittsburgh. Among other things he counter-surfed, chewed on anything with a corner (bedding, rugs, chairs), and had major separation anxiety (yes, that's why he hated the crate).

Long story short, when I made the investment in Yogi's training, he was really, finally manageable. I super highly recommend lifelong training. 

After I moved to Seattle, I just couldn't find the time, living by myself, to wear Yogi out enough to put up with the crate when I left for work. Also, I didn't want to leave yogi in the crate/at home for longer than 8-9 hours so I couldn't do anything after work. Life was very stressful to say the least. So I found a close Doggy Daycare place and set up a 3 days/ wk plan until I could get his separation anxiety (constant barking in the crate) under control.  This is where I think Yogi picked up his dog anxiety at. The close quarters, lots of dogs, and lots of chaos makes Yogi one very stressed out dog. So when I hear "I love my Daycare, my dog leaves exhausted!" It makes me nervous, because that's not always a good thing. Unfortunately I didn't have any other options between being a Single dog mom and his separation anxiety.

Finally, around Spring 2010, I got smart and had figured out what made Yogi tick and what Yogi needed to not be anxious or stressed out when he was boarded.

a) space!  Lots of boarding places have one big yard and kennel them in a dog run at night. I knew I needed a place that was comfortable (kennel-less or standard crates you can tuck away) and a large yard Yogi could run around in, only play with equally energetic dogs, but also give him a place he could hide or zone out in (i.e. needed trees or hills or distractions).
b) Owners/ Handlers that knew how to actually handle a dog. Oh, you love dogs and that makes you able to open a boarding place - not good enough. I wanted former trainers, certified handlers, and people who knew how to break up a dog fight and see the signs of aggression. Handlers should never step between dogs or put their hand between fighting dogs, that's the stupidest thing to do. I literally interviewed a half dozen places and asked how they handle dog fights. The answers were a great measurement guide to their training style (Cesar Millan vs. Nicole Wilde).

FYI - We found that at Dogs-A-Jammin had what we needed - acres of land, sectional fencing, lots of movement, and skilled handlers. 

Working with Yogi is a never ending project. We are constantly adapting and training; whether it's on a walk or learning how to live with the cats, there's always a training opportunity available. 

Some other great resources on owning a crazy dog - 
Nicole's Blog
Yellow Dog Project
YouTube videos for training
local radio show about dogs and cats

happy marriage / happy kid

I've read a lot of places that when couples have children, they are less happy, less fulfilled, less in love, etc etc. What a downer!

I believe, and am deeply attached to the notion that when I married Ben I was marrying forever. That no matter what happens, I am going to be there for him, and him there for me. It's a growing support network, that changes needs - and we adapt and grow with it. And while there are moments of challenge, there are greater, and more moments of joy and love. It would be a big bummer if we "lost" that when we decide to have children.

To speak honestly, I remember a lot more fighting than hugging between my parents growing up. That's not to say they weren't in love - there was just a lot of tension and choas that got in the way. I learned about love by the way my parents loved me, not so much by watching them love each other.

I was a happy enough child, I played sports, had friends, and got good grades - never excelling in either department (I'd like to think I was just above Average). I was angry, annoyed, and sad during my teens. I mostly blamed it on my middle-child syndrome. But what if (isn't that a dangerous phrase!) there was more love and happy when I was growing up?  Would I have been happier, more confident, excelled more? Or maybe I would have been a flake or not determined enough to achieve what I have?

Either way, I've thought endlessly as to what kind of parent I want to be -- The kind of parent that loves my spouse and fills the house with care, respect, and good conversation (all three things I learned from my parents).

Pinterest

Gah, isn't pinterest amazing? Remember when you liked something on the internet and you would save an image, but never remember the source... or lose it in the seas of your bookmarks! Seriously. I love this site.

found this. love this.

made by Virginie Millefiori, 

The mini hot air balloon necklace is $55

Feel Good Friday

bank accounts: joint vs individual

 

 

Before we got engaged, I came into the relationship with increasing debt from my one credit card, a car loan, phone bill, and student loans - all accounts that needed paid monthly. I also had been using my PA-based bank, exclusively. On top of all that, I was really financially private and (honestly) very ashamed of my constant indulgences and money-smithing I was doing to get everything paid. No questions were allowed to be asked, and I took great offense to any budget discussions (sorry ben!). 

When we got engaged, the idea of being a jointly operated unit was pretty daunting. We were already living and financially operating together - paying the rent with two separate checks, alternating who got what utility, whoever went grocery shopping paid the bill, etc. And I kept thinking what a pain it would be to transfer my automatic bill payments (see: monthly payments, above). I had asked other recently married folks but they all seemed  to already have a joint account, years before getting hitched. Surprisingly, they also seemed to have a greater difference of pay (Ben and I get paid very similarly). This further confused what we should do and how to handle it.

We settled on a slow transition and complete honestly. I had to also change, monthly, how my direct deposit from work was being divided up between my old acct, new acct, and joint acct.

Step 1 - set up new accounts (individual and joint). 

Step 2 - stop using old bank account

We both agreed I was nuts for having a bank account that had the nearest ATM 2300 miles away. Step 1 - stop using old bank account and take inventory of what was linked to it (Groupon, Car, Phone Bill, Roth IRA, paypal, credit cards, amazon, etc). I then grouped them into easiest to update bank information (Groupon) to hardest (Car Loan). I had transitioned everything except my car loan and my credit cards by the time the wedding came around. The idea was that I was going to finish out my car loan (paid off December 2012!) and just use the money in the acct to pay off my credit cards, so they didn't affect my "spending money" in my new acct. Dumb idea, and it really just slowed down the pay-off process. 

Step 3 - agree to what comes out of the joint acct. 

We decided that Rent/Mortgage, Utilities, Groceries, and out-to-eat adventures. It sometimes includes Dog Boarding, vacation excursions, and other "together" events. But getting to this point was hard to do when I still had money in my old account. It wasn't until I moved everything and closed the acct that I had enough "cushion" in my new personal account, could I share the joint spending burden. The joint acct is viewable from both our individual accounts - so there's no sneaky spending or hiding. For more information, because we get paid very similarly, we both put in equal amounts of our paycheck into our joint account to pay these joint purchases. I think if our pay had a greater difference we would do a proportional pay into our joint acct (and savings).  

 --------------------------------

Final Thoughts

- Be open about financial worries with your spouse. My dad said it the best when I asked for his advice: "when you get married, your debt and his debt is now both of your problems" - we're a team and needed to be able to ask for help. Your financial habits will affect your family.

- Don't judge. the past is done and the money is spent. The best way to go about it is to be understanding and help each other make better decisions. 

Anything you want to discuss? 
What are some of your financial stumbling blocks?

more from the money series

TOP photo from our engagement photos, taken by an amazing photographer friend - check out his stories and pictures here
BOTTOM photo from our wedding, via Cardens Photography in PA