Lake Murray Trip

 

Skies were great the other day! Manpiece and I both had the day off, so we took a day trip somewhere new. Lake Murray, in Oklahoma. It wasn't worth going to, so unless you have a family, enjoy fishing, and want a small beach for the kids to swim in during the summer (if the lake is high enough), skip it and go to Turner Falls or somewhere a little more fun. We drove all the way around the lake. It was a nice drive.

This was probably the best shot of the trip. That sign says "keeping kids safe project".

I guess it fits since Chuck is a GIANT CHILD. haha

Around Ardmore, there is a shop. I couldn't tell you the name of the place (though it's probably somewhere on one of my photos). I can tell you don't bother going inside. It's an over priced store filled with typical southern woman clothing and jewelry. The huge rhinestones and the crosses and turquoise and all that. Of course, the woman who worked or owned it was there. Just as I guessed, she had the 'typical southern woman' hairstyle. Short. Stacked. More blonde highlights than needed. She was also pretty darn rude.

The outside of the store on the other hand, was filled with overpriced COOL junk. Flamingos, pink painted bikes, mannequins with beards, doll heads, what looked decorations from an old mini golf course. (you know, the huge hollow animals). Oh, and some $4000 each chairs. Plastic and shaped like hands.

At least it made for some cool photos.

 

Uproar Fest and Rain

Last weekend, Uproar Fest was in Dallas. We went for free. Well, got in for free. 

The stuff they sell inside, and the 4 hours roundtrip is anything but free. :-)

Chuck, the manpiece, has a habit of getting free things from the radio station. You know how they run those contests asking trivia questions about bands and whatnot. On his days off he usually listens to the radio. I can not count the number of free movie tickets and local hockey game tickets we've won. More common than that is 2 free passes into our favorite pub for what ever band may be playing there. (it's normally only 7 or 8 bucks to get in, but still. free is free!!). I'm at work one day and get a text from him asking me to go to Uproar, an all day music festival in Dallas. At what will probably be $40 a person, I tell him I only like a few of the bands playing and lets skip it. Then he tells me it's free. Whaaat?! You know what he did in order to get these ones? They played a few seconds of a song BACKWARDS and he named it.

 That guy has more music knowledge than is probably good for him!

So we went to Uproar. It rained. All. Day. Not that downpour, but that light drizzle. It would take about 2 hours to get completely soaked, but once you are, you're cold and there isn't any drying. We ended up stopping for lunch and skipping the worst of the rain and didn't get there until around 2pm. 

He looks a little happier than I do here. Note the orange poncho. We stopped and picked up two of them at the store outside the venue. By the time I took this photo, you can see it's getting dark. It was around 7pm maybe. It had pretty much stopped raining and I was so sick of being under plastic, I took mine off! 

 

Fozzy was probably the best on the smaller stages. If you recognize him, that's because his name is 

Chris Jericho. Y2J. He used to be a wrestler!! His band was pretty awesome. 

 

I love how you can see the rain coming down in this one!! Deuce. He was kicked out of Hollywood Undead. Looks like he's doing pretty good for himself still. :-)

We skipped P.O.D because I can't stand them. Redlight Kings I was excited about, but they were not impressive at all. So we wandered around after this. Grabbed some overpriced drinks and then headed into the main stage area. Since our tickets were free, they were in the grass area. Way in the back. We picked out a good spot on the grass right over the walkway where we could also people-watch.

 We couldn't even see the individual people on the stage we were so far back!! 

Sat there through Adelitas Way, Staind, and Godsmack. Then something pretty amazing happened.

A couple walked by and motioned us down to them. Chuck went down and they talked for a second, then I watched him leap off the little wall and ONTO the man, giving him a bear hug. 

They were leaving the show early, and gave us their second row seats for the last band. The ONLY thing that would be in between us and the stage is the pit area, and one row. That's it!!!

Oh. Hello. 

Shinedown.

So nice to see you SO CLOSE. Ahhhh!! Shinedown was the main reason I wanted to go. How did we get so lucky that we not only nabbed free tickets, but also got free front row spots!??! That above photo is NOT zoomed in at all. That's how far we were!!!! They were amazing. One of the best shows I've seen.

If you ever are leaving a show early, give your tickets to a few strangers. It can really make their day.

We got to spend the last hour at the venue dry, under a roof, close up, with seats.

A little kindness goes a long way. :-)

Seafoam Collection

SeaFoam by cmp200 featuring a box clutch purse

Lace top, $22 / Black jacket / Balmain distressed jeans, $1,240 / River Island high heels, $40 / Alexander McQueen box clutch purse / Lace jewelry / Nialaya crystal jewelry

 

DecorAllure came across some great DIY ideas for your kitchen island. 

Stick a wooden top on a painted dresser.

 

MijuAndYou offers a dip dyed copper arrow ring. 

 Via pinterst. Get a paint sample that has 4-6 shades in the same color story. Buy a small "sample" can of each one for the front of your dresser or anything you may have with drawers.

Recycled Tire Scupltures

YONG HO JI RECYCLED TIRE SCULPTURES

 

These tire sculptures are beyond cool.   

Stop by and visit the artist and the artwork!

One photo bracelet DIY

 

 Let's ignore the quality, shall we? 

I've never embroidered anything in my life before a few moments ago. Really. haha!!

I may try this again, only with a bit more 'planning'.

What you need:

-Denim scraps (have you made jeans into shorts recently?)

-Embroidery floss (friendship bracelet style)

-Sewing needle (large enough eye for the thread)

-Clasp (hobbylobby or ANY craft store)

-Jump rings or split rings, and chain in case you make it too small (oops)

-Ribbon Crimps. I got mine here on etsy.

-Scissors and jewelry pliers.

Start by taking your piece of denim and cutting a long thin strip. Wrap this around your wrist and mark with a pen where you need it cut. Mine has a chain because I cut it too small for my wrist, so make sure you cut it long first, then take off little pieces until it's perfect. Thread up your needle with the thick embroidery floss.

I would recommend drawing out whatever design you want with a pen to be sure you have an even guide to follow, and that it will all fit (so it doesn't need to look like mine. Another oops lol!!)

Start threading through the back so that your knot and edge of the thread aren't visible. Stick with straight lines. The back won't be visible so focus only on the front and your clean lines.

Once you have your writing done, grab your ribbon clamps and your pliers and close one on each end.

 Add your jump rings and clasp, and DONE!

Optional: Before adding the end clamps, cut another piece of denim to the same size, and use fabric glue to glue it to the back of your designed piece. This will make it a little more sturdy, and will hide any thread on the back side. The clamps will still easily fit over top of both pieces after they're glued together.

Optional: Buy a product called "no fray" (i think that's what it called?) 

to spray on the edges of your denim to stop any fraying of pieces off the edge.