there is no non-awkward way to do this.

This is my first video tutorial. 

I never notice my baby voice until I listen to a recording of me.

Hahaha.

And despite what the still frame looks like, I do not sing in this video.

Maybe some other time!

Flawnt It: Dimples + Giveaway Winner.

The winner of the CSN Store giveaway is.... #14 Victoria from Recording the Journey! 

Congrats, girl! Send me your email address so that I can get you your little gifty!

Next we have a Flawnt It post from a [mostly] virtual friend of mine, Jenn! 

I love what she has to say...

Hey all my name is Jenn! Maybe you know me from my blog it should be the little things? If not feel free to take a look-see! I am so excited and honored that Sarah wanted to feature me in her blog! This is such a cool idea, yeah?!

Hope you enjoy the post!

Yes, it's true everybody.

When I smile or laugh I have huge dimples that pop up on my face.

I used to be SOOOOOOOOOOO embarrassed of it, especially when people would be so kind as to point it out and say something like "aw look you have dimples!"

Really, I do? Thanks for telling me...

Anyway, I used to hate when pictures would come out and my dimples would seem to be magnified like 583 times as big as they really are. So, I would instead try to turn my face to the side that has the smaller one when I would smile or I would try to just do a different smile so that way it wouldn't be as noticeable. Or, even better...just make funny faces and hope they didn't show up. Those pictures would usually come out looking really weird or I would be cross-eyed or something trying to cover my "flaw."

[excellent examples of me turning away from the camera to not have it be as noticeable!]

Honestly, I have just learned to embrace it. It's how I was made, so why not just smile and laugh all want and not care about how it looks or whatever.

[not that having a dimple supposedly makes you look bad- I'm just crazy]

I've noticed that when I smile my best for a picture is when I smile normal and big while my dimples are in full swing right there on my face, and those are the pictures I usually end up liking the most anyway!

Instead of being self-conscious all the time, it's fun to just be happy with what you've got and let others see it too!

Thank you so much for participating, Jenn! I love your story and always love when girls can accept their "flaws" and learn to love them! And I've always loved dimples and wished I had some of my own!


If you're interested in doing a Flawnt It post here on Frills email me at frillsthrills [at] gmail [dot] com!

Awkward and Awesome

Scarf:Thrifted, Black Shirt:Gift, Grey Sweater:Ross?, Belt:Thrifted, Leggings:Ross, Socks:Gift, Boots:Kohls


Here is my list of awkward and awesome things (from The Daybook) that happened to me this week.


Awkward:
-I've never used a "Bump It" before, but it looks like I have one in these pictures...
-My sentimental look and just plain stiff pose in the first pic.

-Shaking hands with someone you've just met and over-explaining the fact that you just washed your hands and that's why they're wet.

-Gunner's mid-yawn burp. Seriously, dogs burp?!
-The weather today... snow storm, sun, snow while sunny.

-Sitting on something wet.
-Posing for pictures when you have something in your eye.

-The post office not having packaging tape meaning that I had to go all the way home to tape my box and bring it back the next day. 
-The awkward lull after the waitress asks "Are you paying together or separate?"

-Being the last to arrive and first to leave a birthday dinner.

-The Regurgi-Cam at the Blazer game.
-The 600 lb. woman on the Tyra Show that wants to gain 400 more pounds...'nough said. 

Awesome:

-Taking some of the cutest kids ever to the zoo.

-An evening walk with Ian and Gunner.

-Getting dinner at one place and eating it at another.

-Watching Ian geek out  at the Blazer v. Laker game last night.
-My large pile of french fries that didn't help my stomach ache but I had to have.
-Ian's new shoes. He asked what I thought and I gave him a slap on the butt--which means I like them.
-Dinner with my family tonight before they leave for Israel in the morning.
-Eating breakfast for dinner two nights in a row.
-The 50% off everything sale at Value Village.
-Getting lunch with my best friend and talking WEDDING.
-Netflix instant queue.


I'll be back tomorrow evening to announce the giveaway winner as well as a new Flawnt It post!

my life is a vacation.

Gray Shirt:Gift, Vest:Ross, Belt:Thrifted, Jeans:Forever 21, Boots:Shoedazzle

This is seriously the longest weekend EVERRR! 

We started our Saturday taking the cutest little kids ever to the zoo! My arms almost fell off and my back almost went out. Then we went to church on Saturday night all exhausted and then I went to an old friend's birthday dinner at Papa Hydn's.

I slept gooood that night!

On Sunday I played with a bunch of toddlers at church. Boyyyy do I want one of my own!

But not yet.

We had an Africa meeting then came home and napped. 

Blah.

Monday was a holiday so Ian and I went to Value Village's 50% off sale and came home with some treasures! We had lunch at our favorite burger place in Bridgeport Village... Joe's Burgers.

Mmmm!

Today is Ian's day off, so we've gotten to spend a lot of time together. 

It's been fun. 

Tomorrow we go back to reality which, for me, is the same old nothingness!

I don't work. 

I don't go to school.

It's not as fun as it sounds but I'm not complaining!

Also, don't forget to enter the CSN Store giveaway! Winner will be chosen this Friday!

perfectly imperfect.

Scarf:F21, Purple Tank:Target, Sweater: H&M, Jeans:F21, Boots:Shoedazzle

Sometimes I like imperfections. Actually, I always do. I think other people look great when they have every hair sprayed, eyelash combed, and lipstick smeared into place, but I get tired of looking at them after a while. Just sayin'.

I mean, I definitely love being "put together" but I never try to look perfect (sorry babe) because that's just no fun and I know it'll never happen for me.

I don't really care if my shirt has some wrinkles in it. My hair is never perfect. I actually think a little acne can be cute. I usually have smudged eye makeup. A chipped nail. And I even get the occasional "green thing" stuck in my teeth!

I love that everyone is different. And I guess I just try extra hard at maintaining my uniqueness (in a non-freakish way, of course)!

Hahaha. What a random post!


Don't forget to enter the CSN Store giveaway! 

i think he's cute + giveaway.

Meet my husband, Ian:

I think he's really cute.

Glasses:Amazon, Tee:Old Navy, Sweater:F21Men, Watch: Target, Jeans:H&M, Shoes:Burlington Coat Factory

Oh, and I am hosting a giveaway for CSN Stores. They literally have hundreds and hundreds of websites where you can find all sorts of furniture and home decor. Whether you're looking for an LCD TV Stand or a crib for your baby, you can find them on one or more of CSN Stores multiple sites.

So today they're giving away a $35 gift credit to one lucky winner from Frills! Here's how you enter:

-One Entry for being a follower of Frills for Thrills and leaving a comment.

-Another entry if you "Like" Frills on Facebook and leaving a comment here on the blog telling me that you are.

-Another entry if you follow my other blog and leave a comment on this post telling me that you are!
-And a fourth entry if you blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post! 

Citizens of the U.S. and Canada only, are eligible to win this giveaway! 

Good Luck!

Winner will be chosen next Friday, February 25th!

so i embarrassed myself.

Earrings: Gifted, Vest: F21, Dress: H&M, Tights: Ross, Clogs:F21

Awkward:

-The fact that I'm wearing the same tights and clogs in these photos as I am in the last outfit post.

-Getting cut off, honked at, and a parking space taken from me (when my blinker was on) in the CHURCH PARKING LOT.

-Trying to make a quick trip to the public restroom and every time I pull out an inch of toilet paper it rips.

-Taking teeny tiny, what must look like prissy, baby steps walking down a really steep sidewalk in heels. I could feel eyes watching me, but I just kept telling myself that it would be more embarrassing if I fell. So I continued with the little sideways steps.

-Taking Gunner out to pee and hoping he doesn't poop in front of a neighbor because, let's be honest, I am not picking that up!

-Calling AAA because our battery was dead and asking if they even fix "battery type things" because our car "keeps twitching every time we try to start the engine." The lady liked me.

-The AAA guy arriving and telling me to get in the car and pop the hood and I just stand there for five minutes trying to unlock the car with the clicker... he kindly prompted me to use the key since the battery was dead. Oh.

-Tripping and almost toppling over in the parking lot on Valentine's Day... Yes, I still get embarrassed when I do something dumb in front of my husband.

-Sitting on the end of the front row at the Blazer game last night, right by the security guard. I felt like he was watching me the whole time because every time I turned around, he was. I must've looked suspicious.

-Almost running into a girl  in the bathroom and then shuffling back and forth with her attempting to avoid an actual collision. She finally stood still and I bashfully apologized and went my merry way.

-Receiving a package in a HUGE box when the actual size of the item was only eight inches.

Awesome:

-Spending 12am-6am in prayer with other women from church. Read more here.

-Sitting by Ian at The Bridge (our college ministry) because he wasn't teaching.

-Pet-sitting Gunner over the weekend.

-Listening to Ian teach on Sunday morning.

-Eating breakfast for dinner on Valentine's day.

-Devouring my twelve inches tall frozen yogurt last night at the Blazer game.

-Sitting in the front row courtesy of a friend!

-Multiple nights in a row spent relaxing with my honey.

-Netflix Instant-Queue giving me unlimited episodes of Ugly Betty to cheer me up when I'm having a bad day.

-Sampling gummy candies with Ian as part of his Valentine's treat.

Why can't I think of more awesome things? Does this mean that I'm more of an awkward person than an awesome person? Probs. And, I think I'm ok with that!

What is something awkward that happened to you this week? 

-

P.S. Come back tomorrow for an awesome giveaway! 

Curing the Recurring #6.

You know when you find a super cute scarf and everything about it is perfect except that one thing... it's too short to tie around your neck.

I hate when that happens but I've found a little tricky trick that makes all my scarves wearable--even the shorties.

So if the scarf has fringes on the ends, just tie a few of them together so that it makes a big circle:

and if the scarf doesn't have fringes just sew or pin the ends together at the top, bottom, and middle.

Then you should have a big circle scarf so wrap it around your neck twice and stay cozy all day!

Do you have any scarves you can try this with?

 Tonight Ian and I are going to a a Blazer game! I am super excited but my throat feels like it is starting to hurt so I just won't be able to cheer as loud.

keepin' it classy.

 Scarf: Thrifted, Necklace: F21, Top: Gifted, Skirt: Thrifted, Bag: Urban Outfitters, Tights: Ross, Knee Socks: Target, Clogs: F21

I went to Ikea with a friend yesterday. We were shopping for her baby nursery hoping to find items from the mood board I created for her and her hubs.

When she dropped me back off at home I was supposed to start cooking salmon, rice, and asparagus. But it was already after six and I had a hankering for pancakes-- more specifically the syrup. So when Ian walked through the door I brilliantly suggested we go to Denny's to have breakfast for dinner! My favorite! I knew there wouldn't be a crowd, I mean hellooooooo [!!!] it's Denny's. 7:00 pm. Valentine's Day. So we got thoroughly overdressed and ate the most carb-injected, syrup-saturated, romantic meal Portland has to offer ; ) 

We were the only couple in there besides some retired folk. The rest were families.

After we ate we went to the mall. Yes, the mall. It was freakishly deserted but it made for a more efficient trip. I'm all about getting things done as fast as possible. And I hate crowds. Of course, under circumstances like such as (yes, that was a Miss Teen USA reference see here), we had a successful shopping trip! In and Out. 

Even though we were still digesting our dinner we decided to get a smoothie from Orange Julius. Mmmm! And we shared it with one straw, we're just cute like that!


When we got home I decided I was craving pickles and before we even got out of the car we thought it would be a good idea to run to the grocery store because there were three other random items we needed. That's where these pictures were taken.


This was our second Valentine's Day married, but our first married V-Day that we actually celebrated because, you see, last year Ian had a work thingy and I went to sushi by myself. So this year was a special treat and really, I love any chance I get to spend time with my honey.

Toodles!
xoxoxo

i did it.

After reading this post this morning, I went out and did it. 

I went thrifting, but only for clothes. No home decor like usual. I usually don't buy clothes at thrift stores because every time I approach a clothing rack I get overwhelmed, but for some reason I was feeling fearless and I went for it!

I got:

5 sweaters

3 blouse-type shirts

1 skirt 

2 scarves and

2 belts 

for only: $49.40!

Isn't this wonderful?

What I love about it now is that you can go buy 5 sweaters (like I just did) from the same store and not only get them in all different colors, but all different styles and brands too! I was originally going to shop at Urban Outfitters for some cardigan sweaters I saw there the other day, but instead I ventured to the thrift store and think it's safe to say I SCORED. 

boo-yahhhhhh!


Be sure to check out the last Flawnt It post!

Flawnt It: I Mustache You to Keep My Secret.

This Flawnt It post comes from Leslie at Just Love.
Leslie is so amazing and has a lot of exciting things going on in her life right now, so you should definitely stop by her blog and join her and her hubby on their journey! 
I am so happy to have quite randomly "met" Leslie here in blogland and hope to see her  in real life sometime too!
Now for her post:

I really can't believe I'm doing this.  But ::sigh::  here I am.  I love the idea for this blog series and decided a while ago that I would like to participate.  Which lead me into a long thoughtful evaluation of my flaws (which generally isn't the greatest idea haha).  A lot of my flaws I have come to love, but the one that I am forcing myself to write about... I can hardly even say it.

After reading the title of this post, I bet you brunettes know where I'm going with this, don't you?  You're not really going to make me say it, are you? Welp, here goes nothing.  I've got a slight "hair on the face" flaw.  It manifests itself in two places.  My eyebrows and... and... 

my upper lip.  

Oh gosh... there it is. I said it on the internet of all places. Before I go any further, can you just scroll this page up a little bit so your husbands and friends and cats can't see what I wrote?  K, thanks.  And before you continue thinking I'm a hairy ogre or something, here's a picture of my husband and I so you can see what I really look like:

See?  No hairy ogre-ness.  Nothing but normal womanly-ness tapping out words on this keyboard.  And clearly from my bashful writing, this really isn't a flaw that I flaunt.  But it's something about myself that I've embraced and that I've learned to deal with.  It's something that keeps me humble, and something that allows me to relate to other women easily.

I think it's really important to recognize, deal with, and get over our flaws.  I also think we should use our areas of weakness (internal and external) to help others along the way.  Like this little issue of mine I'm sharing today.  I happen to have a 14 year old sister and rather than her having to go through the traumatizing, "Honey... there's something I want to talk to you about..." conversation with my Mom, I decided to talk to her about it a few months ago.  One day after coming home from the salon, I just pulled little sister aside and laid out the facts.  The facts being, almost every woman in our family does it and baby sis, you probably will too.  and if you DO realize that you will also have to have another woman rip hair out of your face assist you in a salon, don't feel embarrassed about it because we all have this.  So if it happens to her, and hopefully it doesn't, I've got my fingers crossed that she'll let me know and we'll go tackle that little flaw together.

Me and little sis.

Because as women, we're all in this crazy thing called life together.  We all have areas of insecurity and I love the idea of turning our flaws into ways to help others along their own personal journey.  Are you with me?

And, um, if you could still keep my little secret... that'd be great!

Thank you so much for participating, Leslie! I love your honesty and appreciate when other women recognize their "flaws" and own them! 


If any of you are interested in being featured in a Flawnt It post (it takes guts, but you can do it!) email me at: frillsthrills [at] gmail [dot] com!

Property Lust.

Today was Ian's day off and we went driving in some of the neighborhoods we dream about living in. Our dream home includes:

Built in the 1950's-1970's

Big huge windows

Lots of bedrooms (or at least three)

Decent sized yard

Livable fixer-upper

Good location

And our pluses are:

Big deck

Basement

Four Bedrooms (because then we wouldn't ever outgrow it)

Car port

A view

Swimming Pool

Ian had seen this particular house on his way to a Super Bowl party on Sunday and he knew he had to take me back to see it. So we went there today and my senses were on overload. My bones were aching because I HAD TO HAVE THAT HOUSE. My palms were sweating. I wanted to cry. I could already see our family growing up in this home. This house had everything BUT the pool and I could live with that since the 1/2 acre lot could allow for a pool addition sometime in our future.

I mean, talk about eye candy...

(Not sure if it's creepy/legal that I'm posting these pictures of someone else's house, but the link to the listing is at the bottom of this post so hopefully that keeps me out of trouble.)

Ok, so this isn't the American Dream type house, but it's our dream. 

It reminds me of the cover of one of our old fashioned Better Homes and Gardens magazines:

And my imagination was exploding with decorating ideas, particularly for the basement:

(I think these two images are from House Beautiful Magazine)

As we were dreaming driving away I typed the address into Google and up came the listing...

It's only TWICE OUR BUDGET.

Ugh. 

Bones aching...

You might think I'm being dramatic, but buying a house is my ultimate dream in life right now. Since we are waiting for our apartment lease to run out and for Ian to have a longer employment history at his current job, we're left to dream.

I know God will bring us the most beautiful house in His perfect timing. And I'm not just saying that. He has totally proved us wrong before when we were pushing for something and He had something better planned all along. So I'm really trusting Him.

But still waiting : )

Look for Less: Blake Lively

I love this look from Ms. Blake Lively. 

Although the proportions are a bit off, her use of bright colors and bold pattern work surprisingly well together. Plus, the drama of her outfit distracts the paparazzi from her relaxed hair and make-up. 

If you're feeling bold enough to pull off this look, I already went shopping for you and found these budget-friendly items:

Coat: French Connection's "Leopard Love Coat" $59.99

Dress: Delia's "Twist-Front" Knit Dress $39.95

Tights: Jessica Simpson $7.99

Shoes: Aldo Plotner $34.98

And since I realized that I have similar pieces in my own closet, I put it all together and here's what I got:

I don't think I'd wear this out in public because, well, I just can't think of any place I'd wear it too! 

Would you be bold enough to try this look? If not all at once, which individual pieces would you wear?

A Day Off.

The weather has been so amazing this week, so for Ian's day we decided to be out and about as much as possible! We started the day off by going to my favorite little coffee shop here in a random part of Beaverton, called Metro Perc. 

{via}

Even though I always think of it as our little secret place (compared to a Starbuck's or Peet's) we still ALWAYS see people we know there! This time it was a friend of Ian's who is also a pastor/author in the area. I was kind of geeking out because he was asking our advice on the cover of his new book coming out and we gave him some pointers. Does this make me cool now? Probably not, but I thought it was fun! Helping a successful real life author with the cover design of his new book... ok I'll stop talking about it now.

Ian ordered a cheese quesadilla and I ordered a turkey panini. Both were good!

After coffee/lunch we went to the store to get Gunner some toys because we were going to take him to the dog park and wanted to play fetch. I had never been to the dog park before (obviously, since we don't have a dog) but this was the funniest experience of my life!

Let me first explain who Gunner is... Gunner is our friend's dog. I fell in love with him the first time I saw him and when his owner, Tony, was going out of town over Thanksgiving I offered to pet sit. I fell even more in love with him. Now Ian and I just borrow Gunner whenever we want because Tony is amazing and shares his perfectly cute and well-trained beagle with us. One time we went to the beach and picked Gunner up just for the day. Mostly though, we just pick him up once or twice a month and keep him for a few days because he's fun to play with. And snuggle. 

There were seriously like 25 other dogs at the dog park yesterday and Gunner was one of the smallest ones. But he was being so social, and by "social" I mean that he kept sniffing a lot of doggie butts. One gray dog kind of attacked him, but Gunner was ok and just avoided him for the rest of the time.

We were only there for a half hour because I was getting numb and scared of the massive dogs that kept drooling on me. Gunner was pooped!

Notice his left ear sopping wet... I think he got peed on when he was underneath this big dog trying to sniff his rear. 

We made a stop at Krispy Kreme on our way out and it was so delicious. I got a chocolate glazed donut with sprinkles (obv.) and a tradition cake donut. Ian got two classic glazed donuts. Yes, we both had two.

We stopped by a big Goodwill to see if there were any treasures there and we left empty-handed. 

When we got home I cleaned the car (because Gunner dirtied the windows and seats) and Ian bathed him. He sat surprisingly still in the tub but when he got out it was as if he was possessed! He kept running around really fast and penguin sliding on the carpet trying to get dry. It was sooooo funny!

I had the best day with Ian and Gunner. Oh, and if you're wondering why we don't just get a dog of our own it's because none of the beagles for sale are as cute as Gunsie.