Apparently my cat is “weird”

-Emmy

yup – that’s the official diagnosis. straight from the mouth of of the veterinarian herself.  after waiting 45 minutes yesterday for my kitten’s rabies shot, the vet held ida up by the scruff of her neck and said “what a WEIRD kitten.”  then charged me, brace yourself, 120 bucks for the privilege of hearing this highly professional assesment. coencidentelly, that same vet just lost herself one really ticked off patient (not to mention one really traumatized kitten.)

anyway, i have no idea what she was talking about.

we’re anything but weird around here. just look up average, typical, standard, or routine in the dictionary, and you’ll see a picture of our family for each one. duh.

it all started when ida refused to eat a cat treat meant to distract her from the 4 shots she was given. “ida doesn’t eat cat treats,” i said, “she prefers lima beans.”

i think she thought i was kidding. “oh and brocoli with soy sauce too,” i added. and i was serious – ida will eat anything other than milk and cat treats. she really does prefer vegetables…

to prove me wrong i think, the vet then tried to feed her some of that disgusting spray cheese from a can off the tip of her acrylic manicured, hot pink fingers. “ALL kittens love this, just watch!” ida turned up her little nose in disgust and pranced herself right back into her cage, a place she doesn’t normally willingly go to, as if to say “get that nasty stuff away from me woman.”

chillin' in the shower. totally normal.

anyway, i told ida that we didn’t need to pay $120 dollars to be told we’re weird, and gave her my full parental consent to bite the heck out of anyone who ever said that to her again. and to that vet i say, lets see you eat some of that spray cheese out of a can while someone’s sticking needles in you. i doubt you’d like it.

moral of the story? i’ve been called weird enough times throughout my life to cover all of us. and what’s normal anyway? not eating vegetables? i guess so…  anyway, ida and i went home, ate some broccoli and macaroni, and called to inform the vet that sadly we would not be returning. so there.

chowing down on mac and cheese

Happy Things

-Emmy

today should have been a monday in my opinion. at least then it would have had a reasonable excuse for being such a generally lousy day… i expected better from a tuesday…

i guess i’ve just been feeling altogether rather down in the dumps lately (although if you’re my father, that’s a good thing, as the city dump is a popular destination for him, but that’s another story for another time:) ) i think it has something to do with the combination of minimum wage jobs, a wretched case of poison ivy, expensive vet bills, and an unfortunate summer class that’s about as interesting as a bag of hammers. all of those things tend to be gloom-inducing.

what i normally do when i’m bummed out is bake – last time this happened i made a key lime pie and then accidentely on purpose ate the whole thing in two sittings…because i’m the only one who likes it, and it’d be a shame to waste, right?

in the meantime, since key lime pie is unavailable, here are some cheer-inducing thoughts to stay focused on whenever a tuesday feels like a really bad monday:

Listening to Django Reinhardt on a rainy night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpmOTGungnA&feature=related

Next weekend is the 4th of july, and another opportunity to get cool fireworks pics like this one. poor ida will be so terrified…it’s her first 4th of july:(

And speaking of which, it’s pretty impossible to be upset when looking at pictures of kittens in boxes

Oh, and having our blog added to the favorites list of this very awesome blog!  http://thebigmacblog.com/ definitely helps with the tuesday blues:) (check her blog out by the way!)

here’s wishing everyone a very awesome wednesday<3

I wish I was in Paris :D

– Eliza

After planning to go to see Midnight in Paris with my mom and Emmy, I decided to come up with a hair do that felt vintage and Parisian!  Here’s what I came up with 🙂

Enjoy!

Bored for a new 'do?

then start with an inspiration....

then an idea....

step 1: brush dry hair out really well....

step 2: pull front part of hair down and secure to get it out of your face....

step 3: take a section of hair from the top of your head and loop it twice....

step 5: then "fold" hair into a small bun/lump (think of making a bump-it out of your hair) and pin....

step 6: take front part of hair out of ponytail and brush back over your bump-it....

step 7: pull hair back and secure with a few bobby pins....sorry for the bad photo 😦

The next part is up to you: you can leave your hair how it is, put it in a ponytail or in a messy bun….

simple, but oh so chic!

the classic ponytail 🙂

and a beautiful bun - tres chic!

the final product!

I’m not sure how this hair do will work with someone who has *ahem* normal hair – I’m not sure you’ve noticed, but I have three times the normal amount of hair!  I would love to hear if you try this ‘do and how it works for you!

Au revoir!

My vintage photoshoot :)

– Eliza

A few months ago, I spent some time putting together a photoshoot (I used a black backdrop and the self -timer on my camera) – here are the best photos

Enjoy!

     Au revoir!

Julia Child’s Bruschetta

-Emmy

i have a tendency to shy away from any recipe that looks even the least bit gourmet or fussy. when a recipe says to carefully sift your flour, i just scoop it up and dump it into the bowl. when martha stewart herself says that you must use only the finest Valrhona cocoa powder in a chocolate cake, i use wal-mart brand. so far no one’s died from this or spit anything out in disgust as far as i can tell.

as much as i hate to admit it, i’m more likely to make a rachael ray recipe for dinner, than something from say, giada de laurentiis (even though she annoys the heck out of me, and i cringe a little everytime she says e.v.o.o.) i think i may have a mild case of gourmetaphobia or something, which is why i don’t normally make things like this bread – why go through so much trouble for an appetizer? anything by julia child and featured in the movie julie and julia would surely be hard to make, right? wrong! this is the easiest thing ever. and SO good. even the boyfriend, who swears he hatessss tomatoes gobbled it up. if you think you already know what tomatoes on bread tastes like, you’re wrong, this is so much better than you’d expect, trust me.

try this recipe- i guarantee it’ll seriously kick your run of the mill monday night up a notch or two:)

1 loaf of crusty italian bread

1 glove of garlic

olive oil

assorted chopped tomatoes ( i used a mixture of roma and cherry.)

fresh basil

salt

Chop the bread into thick slices. Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry the bread until just crispy and golden brown. Rub the bread with the garlic clove while still warm. Toss the chopped tomatoes in a small bowl in olive oil, chopped basil, and a little salt, and let marinate for a bit. Then scoop the tomatoes onto the bread, sprinkle with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese, and dig in.

Paris love <3

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Paris love ❤ by vintagerosegirl95 featuring a pleated mini skirt

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voi.0101.co.jp

Acne pleated mini skirt
£520 – brownsfashion.com

Betsey Johnson platform wedge sandals
$90 – nordstrom.com

Rebecca Minkoff canvas tote
$150 – rebeccaminkoff.com

Of Casts & Men

-Emmy

I know that irony shows up in everybody’s life from time to time, but i must say it sure seems like it’s especially prevalent in mine. i try to become blonde, i end up with purple-ish black hair, then when i finally get the color right, i get lice. and that’s just my hair….

just one night before i stupidly smashed my hand and broke it, josh (the boyfriend,) had just been complaining about how much he hates dishes, and how he would rather do literally any chore in the world, including scrubbing toilets, rather than wash dishes.

so of course, as we all know, i broke my hand a few hours later, and literally had doctors orders to not wash another dish (or do anything that would get my cast wet,) for the next 4 weeks. aka, josh not only had to do his, but every dish in the house. haha…the timing was rather amusing, although probably not so hilarious for him:P

during the course of my extremely un-extensive research, i’ve noticed the following 2 rules about men:

a.) their cooking skills and other domestic talents seem to mysterious appear and dissapear with the tides, and only come out of the woodwork when absolutely needed for survival.

 b.)and when they do suddenly recall how to cook, macaroni is always the recipe of choice. is there one guy in the world who doesn’t have a bachelor guy macaroni recipe? according to my research, no.

josh tends to perfectly represent both rule a and b, yet surprisingly, for 4 weeks, the first 2 of which i couldn’t even chop an onion, i was fed fancier meals than i ever have the energy to cook, and the dishes, although occasionally allowed to pile up, were scrubbed clean, dried and put away neatly with minimal complaints. it’s amazing how much better food tastes when you know in the back of your mind while you’re eating  it that you literally can’t help clean up. so thanks josh, for boosting your entire gender’s reputation a little bit, and for making those 4 weeks pretty swell. i almost was sad to see the cast go – almost…

destination: Cote d’azur, France

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polyvore

– Eliza

Here’s a look at what I’m currently craving – enjoy!

destination: Cote d’azur, France by vintagerosegirl95 featuring long gold earrings

Diane von Furstenberg pleated dress
785 – harveynichols.com

Mystique white sandals
€155 – pret-a-beaute.com

Forever21 bracelet
$7.80 – forever21.com

Long gold earrings
$207 – alexisbittar.com

Vintage fedora
$18 – modcloth.com

Claudio Cutuli scarve
€119 – jades24.com

Summertime…

summertime a couple years back

-Emmy

A couple of years ago, a broken hand and a cast halfway up my arm right smack in the middle of summer would have absolutely meant the end of my life. i would have pitched the fit to end all fits, like it was the end of the world. back in those days, i didn’t exactly have what you would call a well sorted list of priorities, but then again, who does in high school? (no offense liza.)

wonder how many bottles of this stuff i went through...

it used to be that goal #1 during each and every summer was to spend my days in the pool, applying boatloads of lemon juice to my hair until it turned a crispy, fried “blonde”, (see above picture) and hanging out with my friends every waking moment  of the day.  minus the lemon juice, which is just never a good idea fyi, that still doesn’t sound too bad, but nowadays i find that my needs are a little more laid back and simple.

i guess going to “real” school for the first time after a life of homeschooling, and working two jobs, just makes me appreciate the heck out of summer, or any downtime i get. even if all it involves is my couch and watching gossip girl re-runs, that always sounds pretty good to me lately. my 16 year old self would be absolutely outraged if she could see me now- 16 year old emmy would never have been content to spend her weekends baking cobblers and reading novels, yet strangely, it suits me just fine now.

so yes, having a cast during summer is annoying, and very itchy i might add, but it’s fine – i’m not dying of boredom as i would have in years past, ( i am, however, stocking up on self tanner  in anticipation for my sure-to-be pasty white hand.) point is – i’m definitely just not one of those people thats gonna be the life of every party, but the simple things in life aren’t half bad. and even if it takes a fractured pinky and a cast to make me slow down and smell the figurative roses, read 4 novels just for fun, and chill inside with my kitten, not getting skin cancer or frying my hair, i think it’s been worth it.

Satin, pearls, balloons and blue skies….

– Eliza

A few months ago, a good friend of mine asked me if I could model a dress that she was entering in a contest and I (of course) said yes!  So the weekend before last, I got all my stuff together (a change of clothes, extra makeup, my camera, my cell phone, lots and lots of water and all the jewelry I could find!), went by publix (in full makeup which I hardly ever do), bought some bright colored balloons and made my way out to her house.  We had a blast taking the pictures – it was fun looking at the shocked faces as I stood in the grassy median of the road, holding a bunch of balloons and wearing a floor length ballgown!  Several peopled honked their horns and stopped to see what we were doing 🙂

Here is the website for the contest – let me know what you think!

http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/86774/voteable_entries/24017068?ogn=website&order=recency&view_entries=1

Au revoir!