Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte

Alrighty then, I have scoured the internet for the perfect clean eating pumpkin spice latte. I never found one I was really into so I made my own, adapted from a few I found on Pinterest. I'm not one to want my morning coffee to taste like dessert. There is a time and a place for everything and 6:30 a.m. is not that time for massive sugar consumption but it is a good time for flavor. So here is my adaptation, feel free to adapt. I love everything in a mason jar. Makes it looked ho made.

1 15-oz. can pumpkin puree

2.5 c. unsweetened almond milk (plain or vanilla)

1/3 c. cane sugar/agave nectar

2 T. pure vanilla extract

1 T Pumpkin Pie Spice

Directions:

In a blender, combine all the pumpkin spice mixture ingredients. Puree for about 30 seconds. The mixture should be super smooth

To assemble:

The ratio is relative to your taste buds. I like ¼ cup of pumpkin spice mixture to 1 cup of coffee/espresso. In a coffee cup, microwave the pumpkin spice mixture for 20-30 seconds, then add your coffee and stir it up. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. Or if you are looking to get crazy, put some chocolate shavings in there. NOTE: This is not very sweet since I don’t typically like my morning coffee to taste like dessert. That’s just me adjust the sweetener as needed but most of you are sweet enough already.

The rest of the pumpkin spice mixture will fit nicely into a quart mason jar or anything else you have laying around with a tight lid. Store in the refrigerator. When you make another, just shake it all up to remix. This survives for a week in the fridge.

From the Window to the Wall...

Sometimes I can't believe how effing boring I am . I mean this before wall below, WTH? It was inspired by Pinterest but come on, my execution was terrible. LOL

 I am much happier with the "after" wall and will add more to it as I find stuff. The whole living room has a black and gold and teal theme and to be honest this picture doesn't really do it justice but It's my blog and Ill post if I want to. I cant wait to keep adding crap to it. 

Before and After Part 1

I've been revamping my life lately. Change is good and I always feel like you'll keep being the same person you are as long as you keep doing what you've always done so do some different shiz now and then.  So anyway, fall is coming, I HOPE, and in honor of my life makeover I figured I'd start tweaking the house. So here is one of the walls in the living room. It started off as functional but looked pretty boring so a color injection later, this is what happened. 

So now it's ready for fall with a lot less crap to dust. I hate dusting. 

 A sweet little side view. 

 Looking at this picstitched before and after below,  just shows you what a stab of color can do. It is well with my soul. Namaste. 

Cute, Easy and From the heart

This weekend was Raelynn's birthday. She's easy to please. Loves anything cute so getting creative for 

her gifts is super fun. 

Mason Jar Soap Dispenser

Not much is needed here and it's super simple. It's more of a do and then wait game. Drill a hole in the top of the can top to accommodate the size of the pump. Then decopage the can top in whatever type of paper, fabric, stickers, paint, etc. you like. Let it dry. Boo! Once it's dry put the pump in the opening in the can top and silicone/glue it to the top. Let it dry. Wait. wait. wait. Once that is dry, size the tube that runs from the pump to the bottom of the mason jar. Super easy to cut, get out yo scissors. Screw the whole thing together, add rafia, a ribbon or leave it plain. Super easy.

Wine Bottle Bird Feeder

The concept is simple but drilling the holes with the spendy diamond bit is time consuming. After the holes were drilled, bailing wire was wrapped around the top, with a loop added in the beginning for hanging the feeder. I glued a small plate to the bottom of the wine bottle for perching of talons. More waiting. At least an hour depending on glue type. Fill and add a cork. So cute. 

Play Me a Song Piano Girl

Last year for my 31st birthday I went out and bought myself a gift that's a little random to some people, for me, not so much. This is a 1930 Hobart M. Cable Upright piano that had been stored or moved to be stored since it was purchased. It had a few dings and chips and scratches but nothing that didn't make it lovable. 

Fast forward to yesterday August 25, 2013, I decided that I was inspired by all the painted pianos on Pinterest and wanted some collah up in my life. So I trekked on over to the Home Depot and got hung up on two teal colors. I couldn't decide on the two until I read their names. One was Surfer and the other Mermaid Treasure. Mermaids for the win. Makes me think of sweet Callie Clifford and all her cuteness. 

 

 So to make a long story short, I painted an 83 year old piano and I have to say that I'm completely obsessed with the outcome. It's a whole new bright spot on my day. 

 It needs to dry completely before I decorate it but it's doing the job making me happy just like that. 

Bath Time for Everyone

People bring me random stuff all the time. Here Leah, here's this gnarly thing from my house, have it. Well to those people I say, Thank you! My most recent afternoon project started out life as a lamp from Bailenes house. It ended yesterday afternoon as a bird bath in my jasmine garden. Pretty cute. Now to catch the birds using it.

DIY Walk In Cloffice

I love my cloffice. That's code word for closet office and she is beautiful. 

Fred and I live in a three bedroom house. One bedroom for us, a guest room and a room we throw our crap in. One day Fred said to me, why don't you make that junk room a walk in closet for yourself. 

At first I was like no, I'll have myself a giant craft room, yeah a craft room! That lasted all of two seconds and I was back to cloffice.

Yay, craft room? NO

The other thing is, given my history of changing and moving and rearranging everything all the time, I didn't want to do built ins in the cloffice but I still wanted it to look nice. Now I don't know if I just suck at googling or not but really the info for that was so limited on what people had done and HOW they did it. There are a ton of search results that say add crown molding! put in a dresser! Im like okay but really what to use for the shelving and hanging without breaking my piggy bank on something I may change anyway?

So here's what I came up with-I bought two of these cabinets at Big Lots. Frickin perfecto for shoes. Cabinets Big Lots -

http://www.biglots.com/p/c/bookcases-and-office-storage/dark-russet-5-shelf-bookcase

Then I knew I wanted -around the room- shelving to keep things up high and away from the animals so I went to the Home Depot and got enough shelving to go along the long wall and its perpendicular wall on the left side.  http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rubbermaid-12-in-x-48-in-Black-Shelf-FG4B8100BLA/100118601#.Ucx9IOt4XdQ
Then on to Target where they have a plethora of racks and storage items for all kind of DIY closet making and organizing. (it can be overwhelming so take your time so copy and paste at your own risk)

http://www.target.com/ssearchTerm=closet&category=0%7CAll%7Cmatchallpartial%7Call+categories&lnk=snav_sbox_closet

Once, I got the layout down, I started arranging clothing, shoes, purses, etc. Really, it's a personal space so you gotta do what works for you. Of course adding a table in the middle for aiding in packing for trips, folding laundry to be put away and, in my case, for crafting, is absolutely necessary.

For the actual office workspace, I started by taking off the closet doors. Who needs those guys anyway? Then, I went to work adding this rad wrapping paper I found at World Market. You have to do math here to make sure you get enough. Then, when you buy enough, buy four more rolls. Just saying. I attached the "wallpaper" by using french furniture nails I got off of ebay. 3000 of those suckers for $9.99. What a deal. I painted the trim in a gold leaf color to match the wallpaper.

After all of that was said and done, I pretty much used what I had laying around the house. The white dresser was left over from the move and just needed some touch ups. The white desk tops/shelving came from the five second stint the cloffice was just a craft room and the rest is just organizing and pleasing yourself.

Oh the little makeovers in life

DIY Gluten Free Granola

3 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 cups of dried fruit

Sprinkle of chia seeds

1/2 cup seed of choice

2 cups of mixed nuts roughly chopped or pummeled, it's your granola. 

1/2 cup vegetable oil of choice

1/4 cup of honey

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1 tsp of spice of choice (I love allspice or cinnamon or cardamom or...fill in blank)

Put all the dry junk in a bowl and stir ( leave out dried fruit)

Mix all the liquid and your spice of choice together. 

Drizzle liquid over dry until mixed

Spread onto baking sheet 

Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 stirring every 5-7 minutes until brown
Add in dried fruit after baking. 

Eat it. 

While I was busy being an AHole and drinking Modkas...

I managed to take to cross a DIY line item off my list.

Took this table that my friend donated to my pile of unfinished projects and gave it a new life.

 It turned all sparkly like Cinderella sat on it.

Loves its new home in the cloffice. It's nice to sit at and drink coffee and admire all of my shoes

How NOT to Spray Paint Like an Asshole

You can google how to spray paint and get about eleventy billion search results. Most of them are going to be the same shit, different font. I spray painted a table for my cloffice (closet office) over the weekend and thought I'd share what I learned.

 

1: Get your crap together

The last thing that needs to happen mid project, is a trip to ye ole box store. I suggest wearing a mask while spray painting. Unless you dig black lung, you'll need this.   Other things are, sander deglosser, sandpaper, primer, spray paint and some sort of sealant.   If you don't want spray paint on your hands ( you should be wearing gloves to protect that mani anyway), have arthritis, or just like buying gadgets, buy your sweet self a spray paint handle -- It also prevents you from getting a rather large case of "the claw" <---what happens to my hand after long term spraying. Rawr.

2: Get Preppy

Clean the object. This means soap and water and some sort of lint free cloth. Wipe. The. Whole. Thing. Down. Then let it dry. Completely. A lot of people sand. I use the sanding deglosser stuff and sand in between spray coats. I hate sanding. Sometimes it is necessary, sometimes not. You make the call! Wipe again after either method.

3: Prime Time

4-6". Ladies I know we have a hard time with this. We have been consistently lied to for eons over what 6 inches actually looks like. Get a ruler, a measuring tape, etc., find 6 inches and study. Throw rocks at husband. Just kidding. 4-6" is the magic distance between your primer hand and the object you are spraying. Any farther away and you'll be painting for the next 2 years and any closer, the paint could run. Do NOT skip primer. It covers a multitude of sins. Cover the object completely with primer. Let dry. Drying times vary. Read the can and check your surroundings. A light sanding after this is advisable. Wipe down with a damp cloth after. If it looks good to you, screw it, move on.

4: Add Some Color Up in Here

Again with the 4-6". Cover the whole project with a light coat. Build up to the color by doing multiple light coats, long even strokes. Do not get crazy with your can here. Believe me, this is way better than drips and dribbles. 

5: Protect it and Do NOT Touch it.

No, you may not need it, but you've come this far, done this much -so why not preserve it? Get out your water based poly acrylic and do work. Spray that sucker down so you can enjoy it for much longer. Now leave it alone. For 72 hours. Yes, 72 hours. It will be nice and hardened by then and way less likely to scratch.

The man friend wanted to add that 1. it's not nice to spray paint next to his open office or his trucks  and 2. Don't leave my projects all over the yard. Apparently that makes me an asshole and you should avoid this.

Life on a mini farm...

Is never dull

Stick head through fence, eat branch, get stuck

As of yesterday

As of yesterday I was super stoked for the weekend. Weekends mean super project getter done mode. Today hits and  I'm pooped. Big dreams for tomorrow. 

Currently in the Land of Leah

I'm not sure who I imagined I'd really be by the time I turned 31, but I was sure that wherever I was and whatever I was doing I'd be having fun. So I was surely surprised when I turned 31 and found myself miserable. Don't get me wrong the scenario was perfect. High salary, top position in the company I worked for, I could make my own hours, in theory, but I found myself depressed and completely unfulfilled. There were only so many creative outlets available in my job, all of them not necessarily beneficial to my life. And what I said about making my own hours? Yeah, scratch that. That place owned me and I felt like I was locked in a basement somewhere. Be advised I'm not saying that I was mistreated, I'm just saying that this was someone else's dream, not mine. So I did the only thing that seemed logical to me: I quit. Without another job lined up. Then decided to go on vacation. And that's what I'm waiting on now, June 28 and my new life. So big thanks to Instagram and US Weekly for being the vessels that delivered my confirmations pictured above. 

there are things that should be, but are not. such as, vodka lipgloss

Like instructions, real instructions, for all of the crap on Pinterest.