Four Years of Cash

Today is a very special day! It is Jonathan Cash Moreno's 4th birthday guys!  For those of you who do not know, this is Jonathan Cash Moreno...

He is four years old today, my parents got him when he was just a couple months old and I honestly cannot remember what I did before him.  We've always had dogs growing up but Cash is not a normal dog.  He's more like a human than a dog.  I realize people say their dogs are like humans all the time but I am serious. Neve have a met a dog who has such human emotions; never before have I met a dog that hates me so much.  He is constantly annoyed with everyone, he actually gives dirty looks, I swear to god.  It's like having a mute teenager in the house at all times.  

Here is a list of other things that Cash does that makes him interesting:

• Does not know how to bark
• Is in love with a cat
• Hates affection
• Sleeps on a bed of fur and silk
• Is terrified of spoons
• Loves wearing clothes
• Loves to sleep with his leash and harness 
• Doesn't understand the concept of playing with other dogs but loves to look at them

Those are just a few things that make him the one and only Cash.  The past four years with him have been full of adventure and inconvenience.  Like the time I took him and Roxy (RIP :( ) to the vet and he had to be put in an air conditioned cage for 30 minutes until they could vaccinate him because he was so excited that he had rose his temperature too high to vaccinate.  Or the time I got a call from my dad asking if I could pick him and Cash up down the street from their "walk" because Cash had laid down under a tree and refused to get up.  There are dozens of "Cash stories" I could tell you, I could probably write a novel on them.  But for now I'll just leave you with a few pictures of him through the years...

Happy birthday little brother!

My Nest

I call my room my nest, I firmly believe everyone should have a nest.  When your room is a nest it means it's homey and cozy and a place for you to unwind.  When I moved into my current home in August I did a mini room tour but here are a couple of snippets of my room today...

What is your "nest" like?  Is your nest even a nest? If not I strongly advise your make it one.  You'll need:

• Things that make you happy 
• something that smells good like candles, linen spray etc.
• cozy throw pillows and blankets
• and you'll definitely need a pillow pet (I strongly believe world peace would be achieved if everyone had a pillow pet)

The Dollar Store is a Magical Place

Now I understand that for some people the Dollar Store may not be magical but it is one of my favorite places in the world.  I can go crazy in there, so it can be dangerous.  Today I went with my roommate, spent under $10 and got tortillas, cotton balls, hand soap, noodles and these...

These little placks were $1 each (obviously) and they are absolutely adorable.  I'm waiting to put them up when I move again in August and finally have a cute house I can decorate. Counting down the days!

And I don't think I need to explain this mustache mug.  I firmly believe everyone needs one.

I honestly could have gotten so much more stuff, and I probably will once spring break is over.  I'm planning on getting some seeds and a pot from the dollar store and trying to plant my own flowers, something I have never done before.  It could go very poorly but it's only $1 so why not?  You only live once right?

What are some of your favorite things you've found at the dollar store?

Tell me about it, Stud.

Allow me to please talk about how excited I am that big studs seem to be back in.  For a while it seemed like I could not find a good pair of study earrings anywhere.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love my dangling earrings and all that but sometimes a girl just needs a good pair of studs.  For a while I thought I could only find stud earrings I liked at thrift stores and such.  I like my studs big, and old fashioned (coincidentally also how I like my men).  Now these vintage inspired studs seem to be everywhere.  Here are some of my favorites.

Which are your favs?

High Five for Friday!

Happy Friday blog world!  That means it's time to link up for H54F!

1.  In & Out lunch date with Arpi.  Grilled cheese and animal style fries, so bad yet so good.

2.  Sunday was my childhood friend Alissa's bridal shower.  Still can't believe she's getting married.  Where did all the years go? How am I old enough to have friends getting married? It's pretty surreal but I couldn't be happier for her and her fiance Jeff!

3.  Of course deciding to get back into blogging this week was a huge highlight! As a huge highlight is my new blog design that I spent all weekend working on.  Still might make a few changes but for now I'm happy with it.  And I'm thrilled to be writing again!

4.  Almost finished reading "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me: And Other Concerns" by Mindy Kaling.  I definitely recommend it.  An excellent book and laugh out loud funny.  I've been sitting in the school library between classes the past week laughing to myself as I read it like a creep.  Also, if you're looking for a new show to watch I would recommend her show "The Mindy Project."  I'm in love with it; she is definitely one of the best and funniest writers out there.  Comedy writing isn't just a man's world anymore!

5.  Lounging around with some Chips Ahoy, iced coffee from my Keurig and my new one dollar candle from Ikea.  Perfection. 

DIY Headboard Inspiration

I have decided on a second goal for the year 2013; (my first is to build my lipstick collection) I need a headboard.  There is something about having no headboard that screams, "I am a 17 year old boy."  I am a young woman God damn it, time to grow up and take control of my life, a.k.a. get a headboard.  Of course I am not grow up enough to just buy a new bed frame and headboard, so time to get creative.  Luckily for me, Pinterest exists and it's full of ideas just waiting for me.

Here are a couple of headboard ideas I'm keeping in mind for when I move again in the summer.

source

source

source

source

Which idea is your favorite? I'm kind of in love with the distressed wood idea with "Love" painted on them.  Of course if I could find an old fireplace as beautiful as the one in that picture that would be pretty awesome too.

Me, Myself, and I Round Seven!

After my hiatus I sort of forgot about all of my regular link ups but then, while going through my bloglovin' feed I realized that today was "Me, Myself, and I" round seven! Pretty exciting, so here it goes...

1. Do you celebrate St. Patty's Day? How?
I am not Irish but I was raised in a Catholic home and a home that loves any excuse to celebrate so we would do our best to make March 17th a celebration.  My mom would make cornbeef which I always hated as a child and as I got older I stopped eating red meat so I usually just had chicken.  She would also make Irish soda bread and her and my dad would have a beer.  This year they celebrated the same I hear but living on my own now I was free to make my own St. Patty's Day feast. Of course though, I just made a grilled cheese and called it a day.  This year though I also attended my friend Alissa's bridal shower that morning and got drunk texts from friends who could afford to go out.  Ah to be twenty-two and broke right?

2.  It's March which means spring break!  We want to know how your spring break went or if it hasn't happened yet, what will your spring break consist of?
My spring break is the first week of April so I am anxiously awaiting its arrival.  I have postponed my jury duty for that week because I know I will be out of school so I suppose most of my plans will depend on getting out of that.  However, for Easter Sunday, my family and I usually plan a day in Newport that consists of whale watching, a late lunch, and Sprinkles Cupcakes.  I am pretty excited for that.

3.  A Zombie Apocalypse happens and you're stripped of all your luxury items. What beauty product would you miss the most?
One word, Cetaphil.  Without it nothing else matters, everyone will probably think I'm a zombie anyway because my dry skin will fall off.

4. What is one cause you feel most passionate about?
I have always been a huge animal lover and feel passionate about helping animals without loving homes, that just tugs at my heart strings thinking there are puppies out there with no one to love them.  I also feel strongly about anything effecting women.  Having family members and friends who have been effected by breast cancer definitely makes me feel connected to that cause.  And of course women's rights, I am definitely a feminist although I think that word has a negative connotation attached to it sometimes, mostly by people who do not understand it.  I won't get on my soapbox here and bore you all but all us women should support each other and should absolutely never sit back and watch someone try and take away our rights and make our decisions for us.  And that's all I'm gonna say about that....for now.

5. Whats the number one most played song on your ipod?
Probably "Ho Hey" by the Lumineers.  I know it's gotten to be so popular and some people are tired of it but I adore all of their songs. I listened to their album on loop this summer when I was in Washington and now that's what it reminds me of, which is pretty cool.

I also just want to say how good it is to be back! Can't wait to read everyone else's MM&I posts!

Strawberry and Nutella Smoothie

Today my class was canceled and I decided that I would spend the entire day in front of my television watching SVUesday (Law and Order: SVU marathon on USA every Tuesday).  While in front of the TV I thought of ways I can use my strawberries which were going bad when I came across a few smoothie ideas on pinterest. I decided to improvise with what I had around the house.

What you'll need:

• Strawberries
• Almond milk
• Nutella
• Ice

I used four large strawberries, (sorry the fifth strawberry in the photo is misleading. Also misleading is the Stella Rosa in the back, that is not needed.  Unless you find you need it, no judgment.) a cup of ice, two generous spoons full of Nutella, and about a cup of almond milk.  Just put it all in the blender and blend!

And enjoy with your lovely roommate!

I'm Baccckkkk

Okay, so I took a bit of a hiatus.  It was much needed to concentrate on school and then during the holidays to concentrate on spending much needed down time with my family.  Instead of telling you all what I have been up to the past couple of months I'll let you see in pictures.

I turned 22! This picture was taken at my sushi dinner before I got completely trashed and danced to The Backstreet Boys in my kitchen.

Finished my first studio class at State! Pretty proud of my final project for Design class.

Spent a day back in my home town Christmas shopping and day drinking at a country club with this lovely lady.

Spent Christmas at my parent's house with my family.

Celebrated Valentines day with my roomie Arpi with a sushi date, flowers from out waiter, margaritas and cookies.

Spent a day at Sea World with my sister.

Went to Sprinkles in La Jolla for Regdor's 50th!

Got a Kindle! Now I'm a reading machine!

Arpi and I traveled to my parent's to help my little sister celebrate her 18th birthday. We got cupcakes, shopped for her prom dress and went to dinner with family friends.

Those have been my highlights over the past few months. So happy to be back blogging. I've got a lot coming up I can't wait to share, including finishing my first year at State, another move, and maybe another summer in Washington.