Shimmy and Shake

Hello! Thought today I would bring you some good time tunes. 

I found this Indie band a couple of months back and have been totally hooked since then. They are super popp-y and amazing! They formed in Nashville and just released their full length album, "1992".  Seriously just take a listen and I'm sure you'll get on this train.

If not.. then you must not like to dance. Ha!

With All My Love,

Pati

What I Wore: Green With Envy

Good Morning!

Look at me doing an outfit post. I haven't done one in who knows how long..

Not going to lie, I've been kinda upset with myself for the little bit of weight I've put on. Boo.

I'm working on it. Plus, this is who I am right now. So no lying. No being ashamed, right?

That's what I'm trying to do. Be positive and be comfortable on here. I am in real life.. 

It's weird how when something goes up here you want it to be perfect but life isn't.

I'm just me!

Clearly, you can tell that I chopped off my hair? Right? 

Did you just completely forget what I looked like because it's been that long? I don't blame you.

Anyway, I cut off a couple of inches of dead weight and colored it green. I was on a blue/purple kick for a bit but wanted a change.

I'm so glad I cut off that amount of hair but I constantly miss it. It was a necessary thing though. My curls are back to normal and I'm not constantly complaining about how much hair I have. Win. Win!

This is one of those slip on and go outfits. It's so comfy,stylish, and put together at the same time.

I love this shirt I got at the thrift a couple of weeks back. Perfect for this weather.

Also, don't you just love the necklace? A chicken claw is what I call it. I found it at TJMAXX and knew I had to have it!

They had earrings too that I left behind and when I went back a couple of days later they were already gone.

Meh. It wasn't meant to be. 

Shirt: Thrifted
Skirt: Who know? OLD!
Shoes: Vans
Necklace: TJMAXX
Bandana: Wal-Mart (pretty sure)

Hope you're not roasting in this sun!

With All My LOVE,

Pati

Meet Me In Outerspace

Via

Hiya! 

I've been thinking a lot about how I want to decorate my room in the last few days.

It's funny how I always leave the rooms for last. The minions rooms aren't really decorated either and I really want to change that! It's so bare in my room at the moment. I have a few scattered things here and there. 

I decided that I wanted to have an overarching theme to everything and I chose space/stars/night. Space is my go to place to feel safe. It's so weird to think of it like that..but clearly I have a thing for outer space, hello blog name!

In the next couple of days I want to paint some stuff to put up on my wall and buy some stuff also. 

I'm head over heels for this print above and already purchased it yesterday. 

Hoping all my efforts will make my bedroom a sanctuary I can retreat to at the end of the day instead of  a mess of hodge podge things. 

My time has been spent on so many creative outlets lately that I think sometimes I'm spreading myself too thin. 

One of them should grab me and yell at me to keep down that path! It's a tad bit frustrating to not know how achieve an end goal.

It'll come I guess!?

::sigh:: wish me luck.

With All My Love,

Pati

Seven Years Old: PiaLoopsy

Helloooo Ladies!

I hope everyone had an awesome weekend just like I did. All the crafting I had been doing for the last week and half came together for Pia's party. I couldn't have asked for a better turnout. She had a blast and everyone enjoyed themselves. The best part was her "thank you's" and hugs all throughout the party. She turned seven. SEVEN guys!! It's completely insane to even think she's that old. Weird. Here are the pictures from throughout the day...

The cupcakes I made mere hours before the party and they were a hit with everyone! Her little table.. I was kinda bummed I couldn't hang anything on that wall though. Boo. Nothing sticks to stucco. I made labels for almost everything. It makes it look more finished and put together in my opinion. Yes, I even glued buttons to disposable silverware. I know. I'm crazy. She's my little princess though.. I wanted it to look cute!

I'm completely obsessed with this picture above. If you still had doubts that they were mine.. doubt no more. Silly for life! She looked so pretty throughout the day. I bothered her a million times for pictures with friends. I'm sure she'll enjoy the pictures when she's older.

All the little girls who came are her best friends. She was on cloud nine. I'm so glad that I got to snap these pics of them. They're all so awesome. My mom got her the best cake. It's a ballerina lalaloopsy. She was obsessed with it!

I snapped loads of pictures of her opening her presents.. but didn't wanna bore you. She finally got a suitable bike for her size. I'm stoked for her! That's my mom above with her by the way. Isn't that an awesome pic? I also went a little overboard with the presents. I always say I won't get them too much. Never works. They get tons of stuff from me. Even though the presents were nice she was just thankful for all the decorations, time with her friends, and the party as a whole. I have a good one on my hands. 

Hope you enjoyed this photo dump!

How was your weekend?!

With All My Love,

Pati

Crafting, a Kitty, and Pialoopsy

Hi Guys!

So I've been a busy little busy bee for the past week or so crafting for Pia's birthday party on Saturday. Every night I try to make something new so that I'm not going crazy on Saturday. The pictures below are from the treat baggies that i'm currently stuck on. 

This is the first real thing that I've sewed and I'm pretty proud of them. I'll show you the finished results hopefully on Monday! 

Allllsssoooo they are part of goals for the month that I wrote up for myself at the beginning of the month. I've pretty much accomplished all of those. Woo hoo! 

Halfway through me sewing Ali decided to show up and start pulling at the felt circles. She was driving me nutso for a second there. I couldn't very well stay mad at her though. Her face is too cute and tiny.

I leave you with this menacing paw :)

Wish me luck on all the things that are still unfinished. Whew!

With All My Love,

Pati

HOMEbrewing Adventures

Hiya!
I hope everyone had a good and relaxing weekend. Mine was really, really quiet. The boy was up in Austin on a boys trip and I stayed home and ODed on my newest obsession.. Breaking Bad. I know I'm super late to this train. Hey I'm here now. LOL. Also been preparing for Pia's party this coming weekend. Pretty stoked on that but also super nervous.. only one little girls mom confirmed that she was coming. I hope I don't put all this work into a party and no one comes. That would be a total bummer for sure.
Today I thought I would show y'all some snapshots of some homebrewing we did a couple of weeks ago. I was waiting until I got pictures from the bottling so that it could be one entire post. I also have a video on Instagram if any of you are interested in the bottling process.
So the brewing itself doesn't even start until you get everything cleaned and completely disinfected. Which is the biggest pain in the butt ever!

After all the disinfecting and cleaning for a bit we turned on the propane to get the water a boiling. Bob was a little apprehensive about the propane, kept saying he felt like everything would explode as soon as he turned it on. Needless to say, we were all fine. Nothing caught fire. We're all alive. The beer got brewed!

After the water reaches a good boiling temperature you steep the grains to make the wort (beer). It's pretty much like making tea. You have to hold the grain bag to make sure that it doesn't burn and let the grains out into the wort. You do this for around 30-45 minutes. You don't want to leave it too long because, just like tea, it gets bitter. This is done to release sugars and enhance the flavor. The malt + the grains release the sugars that get fermented, which turns into the beer!

These three pictures on the top are the addition of the malt into the wort. It has the consistency of like porridge when you add it into the boiling water. Pretty icky looking. I hope you're not entirely lost.. it's a straightforward but also complex process of measuring and timing. It's actually super interesting to read about. I'm just barely scratching the surface with my explanation of the whole brewing process. I didn't get to take pictures of the hops that got added to the wort. They were added twice actually.. on brewing day and later on when the primary fermentation was over. 

So here comes the lame part of me documenting this.. I fell asleep not too long after brewing when the wort was being cooled. Bob brews way too late! I will hopefully change this and document it at another date. 

I didn't get pictures of the wort being cooled or it being put into the fermenter, which is just a plastic carboy. The yeast gets added to the wort when it goes into the carboy and it sits for typically around a week to a week and a half to ferment. Then it gets transferred to another carboy so that the yeast sediment can be separated and a secondary addition of hopping can occur. Ok, so now that your mind is spinning around that... bottling day!

The picture above shows the carboy it went into for the secondary hopping. We had just uncapped it. As with brewing day, bottling day requires tons of cleaning and disinfecting as well. As soon as we have enough saved up we will be kegging. Bottling is a paiiinnnnn. 

These show the siphoning of the beer into the bottles and then all of them capped and ready to sit for a little while longer to ferment. I guess I didn't even tell you all what kind of beer this was! A double Ipa! So super hoppy.

I hope y'all enjoyed my brief explanation of the brewing process. Hoping I didn't bore you to death!

Do any of you brew?

With All My Love,

Pati

Stand With Wendy

Source
Good Morning Ladies!

Today I had a completely different post to put up but thought this was way more important to voice my opinion on. The Texas Senate is voting on the anti-abortion bill today. After it having been VERY loudly contested by the public it keeps getting passed. Rick Perry of course is going to sign it into law as soon as it gets to his desk. I have been sitting on the edge of my seat for the last couple of weeks and following it religiously. Oh, how I wish I could be at the State Capitol today standing in support of women's rights. OUR rights! 

If you don't know about what the bill, HB2/ SB1, entails here are some points: 

• No Abortions after 20 weeks gestations
• All abortions must be performed in an ambulatory surgical center, imposing burdensome and unnecessary costs on outpatient clinics.
• All doctors performing abortions must have hospital privileges within 30 miles of the clinic, a severe restriction in rural areas.
• Women seeking a medical abortion must have two in-person meetings with the doctor

This would leave Texas with only 5 abortion clinics! FIVE! Really Texas Legislature? This is what you think of Texas women? The only word I can think for this mess is disgraceful. None of the amendments that the Democrats tried to pass with HB2 on Wednesday passed. These included exceptions for rape, abuse, diseases.. I am at a complete loss for words today. There will be a HUGE mess of demonstrating today at the Capitol if it gets passed in the Senate. 

Even though not all of you are in Texas this still affects you. It is only a slippery slope from here.. what next? This is an intrusion into our rights and we need to take a stand. I know I might offend some when saying all of this but these are MY opinions and MY thoughts. I am only in support of WOMEN. 

With All MY Love,

Pati

Splish Splash Summer

Hellloooo!!!

This post was actually suppose to go up yesterday but I've been crafting a lot and trying to prepare for Pia's birthday party! I'm super excited for it. I haven't gotten to throw her a REAL party in a couple of years. She picked out lalaloopsy as her theme which I was stoked about. Hoping to show you some pictures from the preparations soon.

Anyway, Texas weather has been ridiculous.. I'm sure it's been like that for most of the country though. It's completely unbearable outside unless you're in some kind of water. That's exactly what I've been doing... along with the minions. 

These are some pictures from my parents pool over the weekend. ENJOY!

You like the sequence of events in the last two pictures? She was trying to do a canonball.. clearly she's doing a running man?! Who knows really. Haha!

With All My Love,

Pati