Cute Gift Ideas for Your Special Someone

This past February was our two year anniversary.  I was trying to think of good gift ideas that came from the heart and it was tough, being that our anniversary is right after Valentine's Day and right before my fiancé's birthday.  So, I decided to make a picture book of all our adventures together over the past two years using Shutterfly. The website is super easy to navigate and it was a fun project for me!  I also wrote some inside jokes and some descriptions of the pictures in the book.  I know that I didn't spend a lot of money on his present but I spent a lot of time and put a lot of thought into this gift.  I know it will be something he will always cherish and he can look back on all the fun times we've had together.

Another neat project I've created using Shutterfly is a personalized wall calendar.  I created a calendar for my  fiancé for Christmas using some of the engagement pictures we had taken.  I also put in family and friends' birthdays with their pictures as reminders since he is a little forgetful with dates! ;)  I'm very happy with the way it turned out!  Again, this is another personalized gift with a lot of thought and love!

Hope this gives you some cute gift ideas!
 

The Designer Bag Project

So, I've been seeing this project all over Pinterest, and I thought to myself, what a great idea!  You take designer shopping bags that you have kept because you don't have the heart to throw them out and you frame them!  If I had a huge walk in closet, this is where I would want to hang them!  Since I have a pretty small apartment and very little closet space, I decided to utilize the hallway from the bedroom to the bathroom.  On the one side of the wall I have a shelf with all my necklaces hanging and our wicker hamper.  Since the other side was free, I decided to ask my fiancé if it was alright if I hung the bags there and of course he said yes!  So I went to Target and bought some cheap white frames; all different sizes.  Unfortunately, they didn't have a lot of white frames, so I bought a couple wood frames and just spray painted them white.  I then took some bags that I had saved and cut the backs off so they would fit nicely into the frames.  It took a little time trying to get them to fit nicely in the frames but eventually they fit!  I then simply hung them on my wall., and voilà! A boring white wall turned chic!  I'm very happy with the outcome and looking forward to adding more to my wall! ;-)

Day Date!

My fiancé and I were supposed to head out to Shelter Island this past weekend for his cousin's wedding, but due to Hurricane Irene, we decided it would be best to stay in town.  Since we had already planned on taking Friday off from work for the wedding, we decided to head into D.C. and do some touristy things.  Number one on our agenda was an exhibit at the National Geographic Museum that my fiancé was dying to see, The Etruscans.  We had a great time looking at all the old tombs, jewelry, eating utensils and many other items from this ancient Italian civilization.  It's pretty amazing to think that these things were used in their day to day life. 


Next, was something I've been wanting to visit for quite some time, the United States Botanic Garden.  All the flowers and trees were so beautiful, I couldn't help but have a smile on my face when I was looking around.  The rose garden smelt phenomenal.  You should really stop and smell the roses every once in awhile. ;-).  I could have spent the whole afternoon there! 

Our last stop was to visit The Capitoline Venus at the National Gallery of Art.  It is a sculpture that is on loan from the Capitoline Museum in Rome.  It was a very pretty sculpture which looked to be in remarkable condition.  It's on display until September 5, 2011.

We wanted to stop by and see the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, unfortunately, there was no parking and it was awfully crowded.  That is on the top of our list for our next D.C. adventure.

It was such a wonderful day with my better half.  I sometimes forgot that we live in such a wonderful city, so much is at our fingertips!  

Hurricane Irene = Eating and Drinking FEST!

So, with threats of Hurricane Irene coming, my fiancé and I stocked up on food and craft supplies (for me!)!  I decided to make a red sangria, my first time making it and I'm pretty happy with the results!  I pretty much followed this recipe  Red Sangria.  My fiancé seemed to really enjoy it to.  We decided to have a fun night and watch "Road Trip" and play the "mustache game"  Never heard of the mustache game?  I hadn't either until that night.  My fiancé drew 2 different types of mustaches on 2 pieces of tape.  Then he taped them on our TV screen.  Whenever a face from the movie lined up perfectly to where a mustache should appear, you take a drink.  If it lined up on the face of a girl, you take two sips.  Needless to say, we had a lot of fun!  I also decided to do some baking.  I made these cake batter bars from this website Cake Batter Bars and they turned out really well.  I only took a bite (wedding dress fitting soon) but my fiancé seemed to really enjoy them!  I'll update my blog with one of the crafts I did over the weekend sometime this week!  Hope everyone was able to survive the storm and enjoy a relaxing weekend with their loved ones!

Lilly...Going Once, Going Twice, SOLD!

As most of my friends know, I'm a HUGE fan of Lilly Pulitzer!  So when I heard about their BIG sale on Tuesday I went a "tad" crazy.  I mean, how often can you buy a chiffon Lilly dress for $39?!  I figured I would be stocked up for awhile with Lilly and could just return what I didn't like/want.  I guess with all my excitement, I forgot to read the fine print that said all sale items returned would only be given store credit.  As much as I love Lilly, I don't need store credit when I should be saving for a house.  So, needless to say I was a bit upset at myself for buying all of this Lilly stuff and finding out I would just be receiving store credit.  I was telling this to one of my co-workers who is also a Lilly lover and she asked me to show her what I bought.  She fell madly in love with one of the dresses, I did too, unfortunately it was too short on me, and she asked if she could try it on.  So of course I said yes!  She absolutely LOVED it and looked amazing in it!  Word got around the office that I had brand new Lilly dresses for sale in my office at great prices!  I was able to sell all but a small tote bag.  The tote bag was a little small for my taste but figure I can keep it and give it as a gift.  I'm still waiting on 2 more shipments from Lilly, so there might be another Lilly sale in our office.  Now I know there are many other Lilly lovers in my office and will have to make sure to get their opinions before my next Lilly purchase.  Overall, this turned out to be a great experience; I got to bond with my co-workers over my love of fashion! :)

My First Earthquake Experience

So, I grew up in Texas and experienced all sorts of crazy weather, including tornadoes.  One minute the sun was shining and the next minute the sky would be green.  Maybe living almost 15 years with this crazy weather is part of the reason I'm deathly afraid of thunderstorms.  So then I move to the east coast and experienced my first of many hurricane evacuations.  Luckily none of the hurricanes I've experienced have been that bad, just usually a good excuse to have week long "hurricane parties" in college.  Then yesterday I had my first earthquake experience and it was in DC!!  Of all places, DC?!  I thought I was safe here?!?!  I was sitting at my desk at work and I thought I was just getting dizzy and about to pass out then I hear my co-workers yell out "EARTHQUAKE!!!"  It was the most surreal feeling I have ever experienced.  No one knew what to do.  Natuarally I just stood inside my doorway, I thought that's what you are supposed to do in an earthquake, no?  Then everyone was running towards the stairs, so I followed. (probably not the smartest thing to do when the building is shaking).  Everyone was trying to get through to love ones but the phone lines were busy.  Luckily I was able to get through to my fiancé via text.  Never in a million years would I have ever thought I would be in an earthquake in DC, let alone a 5.9 magnitude earthquake.  After about 25 minutes of standing outside we all decided to go upstairs and grab our laptops and go work from home.  I went and picked up my fiancé from his work in DC.  When we got home to our apartment the "aftermath" of the earthquake was the picture above.  Hopefully I won't have to experience another earthquake in my lifetime, but if I do, I will know what to do!


And this weekend my  fiancé and I are headed to the Hamptons for his cousin's wedding where hurricane Irene might be headed.  Cross your fingers it changes it's path!

My First Post!

Welcome to I Am Quirky!  I've been wanting to start a blog for quite awhile as a gateway to express my other interests besides taxes.  I've always loved fashion and would love to someday get a job where I could deal with fashion on a day to day basis.  Anyone looking for an assistant buyer or personal shopper?!?! :)  I absolutely LOVE social media - Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest (I'm always checking them on my iPhone!) I also thought I could use this blog as a way to express my thoughts, feelings and quirky things that happen to me on a daily basis in the Nation's Capital!

I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog and getting to know me.  If you have any ideas for my blog or any questions for me please comment; this is all new to me!