OOTD

Hey peeps! Long time, no see! I have been super busy lately and haven't had much time to catch my breath but I thought I'd squeeze in a few minutes for a quick Outfit of the Day post. This morning when I woke up I had one thought, "must.wear.dress." Sometimes you just want to feel pretty at work, you know? So I picked out my "heart" dress I got from Old Navy a couple of years ago, the pattern on the dress is made up of various sized hearts. I must say I love the neckline of this dress.. I paired the dress with a cardigan I bought from Kohl's and finished it off with a pair of grey semi-dress shoes to complete the look. I think I love wearing dresses so much because it's like a one piece outfit; no muss, no fuss. Of course I did have to choose to wear a dress on the one day this week that the weather decides to be overcast and rainy. Oh well, I still look cute...

Yeah, I was sorta feelin' myself...lol

Have a wonderful night loves!

xoxo,

Cass

Random Fact for the Day:

(In honor of National Hi-5 Day..) The world record for the most high fives in one minute is 212, held by Deepak Sharma Bajagain at the GoldenGate International College in Old Baneshwor, Battisputali, Kathmandu, Nepal, on August 12, 2013.

A Week in my Co-Worker's Style

If you didn't know already, I am an engineer. Being an engineer, and working in an office in general, doesn't always provide the most exciting of atmospheres on a day to day basis and, due to my aversion to the mundane, I periodically need to create opportunities to entertain myself (and those around me). In October, it was dressing up for Halloween. I actually succeeded in getting a few people in my office to join me in dressing up.  I was a scarecrow.

 

Somewhere along the way in the past few weeks to months I got it in my head that I wanted to dress up as a few guys at my job, not to be spiteful or mean, I just thought it would be fun. I picked 5 guys that, to me, have very distinct styles and pieced together outfits from my closet, with the help of my husband, that I though represented their individual styles...

My first project was Thomas:

I would describe Thomas' style as a cross between metrosexual and hipster.  He's usually the dressiest guy in our office, looking like a clothing ad from GQ Magazine. In the picture above I actually think I'm dressed more like the usual Thomas than Thomas is (I blame it on the fact that he came in earlier than usual that day, so he was a bit more casually dressed than he would have been if it were a normal day).

I'm wearing an American Rag button up and paired it with a tie from my husband's closet. I chose black jeans because they helped me create a stylish outfit but keep it young and fresh. The shoes were the closest I could find in my closet to loafers. And although I don't believe Thomas wears loafers, they're the closest thing I have to men's dress shoes, plus I thought they completed the outfit.

Next up, Anthony:

I'm not quite sure I can articulate Anthony's style in words because I don't really know what to call it. Anthony's style is very simple, he usually has a neutral base with a pop of color. I went with the grey men's sweater from Banana Republic with a coral polo underneath and paired it with (my version of) a simple black dress pant. Anthony alternates between blue jeans and dress pants so I could have paired this outfit with jeans too if I wanted. The shoes I'm wearing are black booties from Target, mostly to make me taller like Anthony. 

 If I had it to do over again I probably would have gone with a purple polo, I dont think I've ever seen Anthony in a red shirt, unless it was an OU polo...


Wednesday was Brad:

We almost matched that day!

I would describe Brad's personal style as eclectic, although he doesn't necessarily dress eclectically from day to day. I should actually say that Brad has eclectic pieces that complement his style, his most notable, the bow-tie.  Any time I've ever seen Brad dress up for an event, meeting or just to feel snazzy around the office, he is sure fire to be wearing a bow-tie. He also has a wooden bow-tie that he's worn to work! (Hence, eclectic pieces..) I don't actually own a bow-tie and neither does my husband, so for this outfit I just made a bow and tied it around my neck using ribbon. I actually made two (the other shown below), because I can get pretty indecisive, and ended up going with the lace. Both will soon be re-purposed into hair bows for one of my nieces.

For my 'Brad-outfit' I wore a floral denim button down and paired it with a khaki colored sweater over it. Brad is pretty casual and goes for stylish comfort so I paired that with a pair of blue jeans and my canvas Tom's. And of course, the bow-tie finish.

Next, Cody:

For Cody, I had to take it a step further and assume a character. The most notable thing in Cody's style is his beard, and if you can't tell Cody's a ginger.. Being that I am obsessed with craft projects and also being weird, coupled with the fact that I have little shame and don't embarrass too easily, I had to do the beard..

I made the beard using cotton balls that I dipped in a bowl that had water, orange food coloring and paprika. I blow dried the cotton balls with my hair drier and proceed to hot glue my beard into fruition. For Cody's clothing style, he is very casual so I decided to go with a tee similar to one that he wore often (his said "keep calm, and chive on") and paired it with jeans and black sneakers. The beard definitely made the outfit though..

Last but not least, big boss-man Phil:

Yes, Phil is our boss. He was undoubtedly the outfit I was most excited to wear all week, which is why I saved it for last. Unfortunately, Phil was out of the office that Friday so he didn't get a chance to see me dress up as him, sadface. Phil's style is pretty simple, mainly because he's like an urban cowboy. He's usually in a button down, polo, or sweater and that is always, always paired with a pair of blue jeans and cowboy boots so it was pretty easy to choose my outfit.

For the top, I went safe with one of our company's Nike Golf polo's and paired that with a pair of blue jeans with a semi-worn look and my brown boots, which are not actually cowboy boots but they were the closest I was getting without buying a pair.

Dressing up as some of my male co-workers was the little jog I needed to get me out of my little wintertime funk. It's really easy to let the stresses of adulthood bog you down so it's good to remind yourself  to have fun in whatever you do, even at work! I hope my co-workers found my tribute to their style as entertaining as I did. Hopefully no one shows up in a skirt & blouse next week dressed up as me...

xoxo,

Cass

Random fact for the day: 

On this day (February 9) in 1971, pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige becomes the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Goals in 2014

My first post of 2014 is coming much later than I had hoped. With work and vacation and planning events with family I haven’t had much time to just sit down long enough put my thoughts on paper. I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and a happy New Year as well. We spent both with family, which is always fun and interesting, I just wish our break was longer, oh the good 'ol days of college and having a month off to do whatever came to mind.. I started thinking recently about goals and New Year’s resolutions and this year I decided to make one. I haven’t made a New Year’s resolution since I was probably in high school; I began to think they were pointless, just hopeful wishes that people wouldn't have the will power or drive to follow through with so what was the point? Obviously since then I have grown in my understanding of people and the power of goal setting but I still have not had the desire to make a New Year’s resolution in recent years. I am not sure what sparked this decision to go ahead and make a resolution but I feel that it comes from a deep desire within me that I am not yet fully aware of enough to put into words or even to recognize it fully myself. I do, however, want to find out where this takes me so I have decided to follow that spark and see where it leads me. That being said, my New Year’s resolution is to do more. Sounds broad huh? Yeah, that’s because it is. I want to be more in life than just this being that lives life consuming without giving anything in return so I have decided that if I want to be more I need to do more. I want to grow in knowledge and skill so I have decided to set goals for a certain amount of books I would like to read each year. I want to be more independent and skillful so I will be honing my sewing skills so that I can mend my own tears and create things that right now I can only see in my head. I want to be more social. I want to grow my network of trusted people and have reliable sources that I can count on and who can count on me and to do that I will need to get out more and, you guessed it, do more. I love my family and friends so I want to involve myself in more activities with them. That may be the easiest task to accomplish, our house is usually the hub for family activity; however, I want to do more outside activities like going to school plays for my nieces and nephews, going to dinner with our siblings and parents, having game nights with friends. I just want to be more involved in the lives of the people that I cherish most and not just be someone that is in their life and that’s it. Finally, I want to give more. I love volunteering and I think I have multiple skill sets that have served me well in my volunteering opportunities; however, I have sort of fallen out of the volunteering game in recent months and would like to get back in the groove. In addition to rejoining the volunteering game, I want to also grow in my volunteering. I want to use as many of my skills as possible to give back, as well as picking up a few that may serve me well in the years to come. It is not always about giving money or things, sometimes it is just about giving your time and right now that is the most valuable thing I have and would like to spend it in a way that not only makes me a better person but makes a positive impact to my community. There are many more goals I have listed for myself and my growth but those I plan to accomplish over a longer period of time so perhaps I will save them for another post. I haven’t quite figured out how I will accomplish all of my goals for the year, they are pretty ambitious objectives but I plan to take it one day at a time. The best thing I can do for my self is to not make any excuses. Excuses can be the downfall of any good-hearted person. I hope to make the best of my time and to help anyone I can stay on track with their goals for the year. What’s your New Year’s resolution?

xoxo

Cass

Random fact for the day:  In Ancient Athens ostracism was a procedure under the Athenian democracy in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years.

Last Minute Thanksgiving Decoration Ideas

With Thanksgiving days away, and given the fact that I, for some reason, volunteered to host the dinner for my family as well as my husband's family that we have in town, I was stricken with the craft bug this weekend. I just wanted a few things to spruce up the house and make it feel a bit more festive. Now for me this means a few simple and subtle decorations around the house, I am not one for clutter and gaudiness in decoration. Keeping this in mind, I came up with four simple decorations that were quick and easy to do that could help our house to look a bit more eventful. 3 of the 4 I either saw on Pinterest or YouTube one is pretty much a variance of one of the other decorations. So let's talk DIY:

1. Monogram Burlap Wreath

I have been seeing these all over Pinterest lately and got the bug to make one when a friend of mine from high school posted a pic of one that she had made the day before. After talking with her and getting advice on how she made hers and watching numerous YouTube videos on how to make burlap wreaths, I pretty much just made up a way that I felt was right on how to make it look good. I actually have no idea how exactly I made the wreath but I do know it took less than an hour. I would suggest looking at a few Pinterest pictures and just playing with it until it looks the way you want.

2. Glam Glitter Candles

For these, I took candles that I already had and taped halfway through the candle with scotch tape. Next, I used a paintbrush sponge to coat the bottom half with mod podge. While it's still wet I poured glitter all over the bottom  of the candle. I would suggest using an adhesive spray after this step just so that the glitter doesn't end up all over everything you place it on. (A lesson I learned the hard way..)

3. Gussied up Glitter Candle Holders

For these, I used some candle holders I got at the dollar store and using a paintbrush, I painted a pattern in mod podge and poured glitter over the outside of the candle holder. This literally took less than 5 minutes and it looks like something you bought!

4. Burlap Lace Table Runner

I saw a pin for a burlap and lace table runner and thought "How gorgeous!" However after seeing the price tag, I though, "hmmm, I wonder if I could make that myself?" And thus the journey began. For the record this is the pin is is based on:

Pretty right? And if I might add, looks awfully close to my diy creation :). So, a quick pictorial on how I made the table runner:

Materials: one 15' roll of 12" burlap, two 9' rolls 2.5" lace ribbon (even though I am only showing one...), fray check (optional), hot glue gun (or fabric glue if you're fancy..) I started out using fabric glue but switched to hot glue because of the mess and trouble the sewing glue gave me...

 Roll out your burlap..

 Measure the length you want the table runner to be (in my case 8')

And cut!

I added some fray check to the cut end of the burlap to ward off any unraveling or loosening of the burlap weaving.

I glued the lace down one side at a time. I wanted the lace to lay flat and pretty much stick to the burlap on all sides. If you want you can just run the glue down the middle of the lace and let the edges hang free.  The rest is pretty much just gluing down the edges of ribbon to the burlap. If you use hot glue, be careful not to burn yourself because the holes in the lace and burlap will try to make it really easy for you. In the end you'll have a quick and pretty creation that will look like you either spent a lot of money on it or spent a lot of time working on it..

And if you're a more visual learner, check out this video...

I actually love planning and hosting events so I'm pretty excited for Turkey Day, not just for the break from work..I'm in it for the food...

Happy crafting,

xoxo,
Cass


Random Fact for the Day:
Four is the only number that has the same amount of letters as its actual value..

It Feels Good to be Back

A possibly over-used sentiment but it is so very true, I am glad to be reunited with my laptop and my blog. I didn't realize how big a role my laptop played in my life until I didn't have it. A few months ago my hard drive crashed, causing me to pretty much freak out and lose a lot of things I had been working on over the last few months. You see, I hadn't backed up the last, oh, YEAR of my entire life..don't ask me how that happened, I will just say that when you are so used to having something so quickly at your disposal you tend to take it for granted. That was my relationship with my external hard drive. I must say though, now that I've been reunited with my computer I have been keeping that baby awfully close. I am almost obsessed with backing everything up at this point, I'm sure that will fade eventually but for now I am grateful to have the opportunity to create a copy of the things I hold most dear in case such a catastrophe happens again. The verdict is still out for my laptop's original hard drive (fingers crossed that my pictures and videos can be recovered) and I will hopefully find out soon one way or another on that case.

Anywho, so much has happened in the past five or so months that I haven't had a chance to write about but let's do our best to give a quick recap of some highlights... I graduated with my Masters in May...Woot! Currently the only pictures I have from that weekend are the ones on my phone..sadface. I really just want the pictures from graduation and my graduation party. Honestly, those documents are my only concern from the past 6 months, just because it is a milestone in my life and I would like to have the pictures to remember what an awesome weekend that was celebrating with friends and family.. Moving on, I became an aunt for the 30+ time! (counting mine and my husband's siblings' kids..). A gorgeous niece was added to the bunch and she is such a little diva! I lover her so much and cant wait until she's old enough for me to steal and take her to do girly things with. My husband and I both started new jobs, well I started a new job, he pretty much just changed companies. I am still transitioning into full adulthood and working all day five days a week is taking some getting used to . It is definitely tiring but it makes the weekends all the better. I definitely do not take them for granted anymore lol.

There are countless other small events and happenings, like my birthday/house-warming party and our family's labor day kickball tournament, but instead of looking on the past, I'm excited to look to the future. I have a lot of projects lined up and am excited to get back to writing and this little recap was just what I needed to get me back in the game. I look forward to sharing my new projects and things I'm learning along the way. I hope everyone's week has been great!

Positive affirmation for the day: "I welcome with open hands all the success that comes."

xoxo,
Cass

Job Hunting and Interview Tips

It’s official, summer is here. And with that comes the search for a summer job to occupy your time and hopefully add to the stash of money you have hidden away in your closet. Or maybe you’re looking for a summer internship or even a full time job after graduation. Whatever your search entails, here are some tips to help you land that interview and job. It doesn't matter if you are a teenager looking for your first job or a college graduate in search of full time work, everyone could use a reference on improving your job hunting skills.

1.      Start looking now. The best time to look for a job is today. Well, let me amend that statement; it is good to stay alert and be cognizant of potential job opportunities. You never know when your shot will come so you need to stay ready for it. If you are in high school looking for a summer job it is good to start looking about a month or two before the semester ends. If you are a soon to be graduate looking for a full time professional position the best time to start seriously looking and getting interviews is around October. First, this shows companies that you are serious about your job search and that you are forward thinking if you start your job search that early in the game. This also gives you enough time before graduation to scope out companies and do your research to find the right fit for you, which leads us to the next tip.

2.      Do your research. This is crucial to landing not just a job, but the right job.  Whether you are looking for part time summer work, an internship, or a full time position, researching the companies and positions that interest you will go a long way.  Companies want to know that you care, not just about finding a job but doing a good job and one way to display that is by putting the work in to conduct worthwhile research. Researching a company and having the ability to display your knowledge of the company and position you are applying for is a great way to show initiative, which is looked at highly favorably. It shows that you have the ability to think and to make decisions on your own.

3.      Get the word out. More people you inform of your job search the more opportunities for networking you create. Networking is not a bad word, or it doesn’t have to be. I will admit, I used to associate a negative connotation of selfishness and self-serving attitudes to the concept of networking but when you really understand it, it is actually a whole different animal.  Networking is nothing more than a connection that mutually benefits both sides. Clear cut, I know. Let’s use an example, for instance, if you are in a college club and they pay for the students to go to a banquet for a professional association. This would be a perfect opportunity for the students attending to connect with the professionals also in attendance to learn more about companies in a specific industry and gain contacts. These contacts could then lead to future job opportunities. On the other side, another example of networking is your mom introducing you to the spouse of one of her coworkers who is looking to fill a position in a field that you happen to be interested in.. See? It’s not all bad. Also make sure to take advantage of your school's Career Services center if you are in college. That is one of the best ways to connect with companies to find the right job for you.

4.      Dress like you mean it.  When you finally receive that interview, you should walk in as professionally dressed as the occasion calls for.  Usually this means a suit and tie (or blouse for ladies) and nice shoes.  If you are a teenager applying for a summer job that option is probably not necessary, (unless you just really want to impress them…) dress slacks and a nice shirt and tie for guys and a business skirt or pants and blouse for ladies are good options. If you are applying for a full time position or internship, your best bet is a suit. However if you do not have the suit and cannot afford to buy one, the option of dress slacks and tie or blouse is still applicable. Here are some examples: 

Bottom line: do not, under ANY circumstances walk in to an interview wearing jeans, t-shirt, or tennis shoes, even if you have to borrow clothes from a friend. But you already knew that, right?

5.      Be prepared. Review your resume and make sure it is up to date. Also, make sure to familiarize yourself with what is on your resume and be prepared to give detailed accounts on some of the activities and roles included in your resume.  You should also practice. Practice practice practice. I can’t say that enough. We’ve all heard the saying practice makes perfect. Well, in this case, practice makes better, which is what we are going for.  Mock interviewing and practicing your interviewing skills will be an immense help when you finally have to face the real deal. You will already be rehearsed on how to approach some of the potential questions thrown at you and because you already got most of your jitters out with the mock interviews. That isn’t to say you should come to your interview with some rehearsed script that you spit out to the hiring manager but practicing will help you come in to the interview much more relaxed and will allow you to be yourself.

6.      Show off. Not in the arrogant, “I’m all that” kind of way; but it is perfectly fine to play up your strengths in an interview. I think it is pretty much expected. While a hiring manager doesn’t want to hire some arrogant know-it-all, they do want to see that you have confidence in your abilities and can speak on leadership roles you have assumed.  Leadership roles can be found in a number of places, whether it’s past employment positions, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, holding a position in a club on campus or organizing events on campus or at school. These are all highlights you can point to in your interview to display your dedication, hard work and responsibility.

7.      Be yourself.  Don’t walk into that interview room trying to be someone you think they want to see. Employers want to know what they are getting so transparency is key. I’m not saying to start throwing all of your flaws on the table for everyone to see but it is important to remember that hiring managers are not dumb.  Fabrication can be seen from a mile away so it is best to be yourself and if they like you, great! If not, you probably wouldn’t have liked working in an environment where you didn’t fit in anyway. Their loss.

8.      Follow up. After your interview it never hurts to pass along a letter thanking your interviewer for the interviewing opportunity. In this time you can also reiterate some of your strengths and why you would be the ideal fit for the position.  This helps to keep you on the employer’s mind after the interview and lets them know that you care enough to take the time to thank them.

I hope these tips help. If you are a teenager looking for a job click here for a video talking about some of these tips. If you are a college student or graduate, click here for interview tips.

Stay cool kids,

xoxo

Soap Test

Hello. My name is Cassondra and I am addicted to Pinterest.  I pin so many things on Pinterest I figured I should probably start trying some of these things instead of just looking at the pictures.  I decided to try to make liquid soap from a pin on my DIY board. I followed the instructions given by the Farmer's Nest blog. It was pretty simple to do and didn't take much time to do. I'm pretty much a liquid soap aficionado now.

Here's what I used:

1/2 gallon distilled water (plus probably another 2 cups)

1 Tbsp vegetable glycerin

4 oz bar of soap

1 cheese grater from the dollar store

cutting board

stock pot

My main ingredients

                                                                

First, I grated the bar of soap. Here is what it will look like once you start grating

Next, I added the water and shavings and stirred in the glycerin 

Stir on medium heat until the soap is completely dissolved. It's pretty much a translucent liquid at this point.

Let it sit for 10 hours to congeal. Here's what it looked like after about 4 hours

When I checked on it about 10-12 hours later it was way to thick for the soap pump, I could take a slice out of it.

I added some water and beat it into the soap mixture until it was the consistency I wanted. I think I ended up using about 2 more cups of water.

That 1 bar of soap made about 90 oz of liquid soap.

I don't think I can go back to paying someone else to make me liquid soap after this. Try it out and let me know what you think. I would recommend starting out with more water if you do try it. Happy venturing.

<3 Cass