Stress-Mania

Let's just say I have finals next week, homework this week, and an 10 storage boxes and a car to pack all my belongings into.
Soon my car will be looking like this

and my room will be looking like this


I am a little on edge these days.
So here are some things to brighten my day (and maybe yours)

Cute literary tshirts introduced to me by Miss Emily Petzel

Old people that are adorable.


This beyond adorable dress.


I would get this shirt for my summer job hunt...except I have no money.


These are the cutest. I will be making some of these for our apartment next year!


I love these handmade stamps from pictures! I want one of me and Noey ♥

There now, I feel better.
Now back to homework.

XO, Ashley

Collections

Hello there! Today I would just like to share a few of my collections (or things I would like to start collecting). My mother would probably call me a pack-rat, but I would prefer to call myself a well-rounded collector :) Here are some of the things I am acquiring...

I have a slight obsession with photobooths. I try to get pictures whenever I find one, which can be difficult since they seem to always be out of order! I have about 9 pictures so far.

Recently I began collecting vintage viewfinders. I like the idea of having them around my place for people to look at when they're bored, kind of like coffee table books. I have two finders and am now collecting the reels to look at.

My Buns of Steel collection began when my roommates and I decided to do the original Buns video. It really does work! I highly recommend it...Anyway, I now own all of the collection except for a few videos, including the pregnancy one and men of steel. It took me almost a year and a LOT of thrift store browsing to find them all!

I would definitely consider my shoes a collection. I have soooo many it's astounding sometimes...I don't even really like to show people how many I have. The dropped jaw gets a little old sometimes.

Blame this on my future profession or not, I love children's books. This is also a practical collection because my children can use it one day and my classroom. So far all I have are a few of the classics...I have to make sure my collections don't get out of control since I have no room to store them anywhere.

My vintage Pyrex collection was a big obsession last year, until I ran out of cupboard room and had to stop. The collection is still on hold due to my current living situation, but all of my dishwear is stored safely away in my shed at home :) I looove hunting for pretty bowls and dishes with patterns from the 1970's. They just don't make Pyrex like they used to...

I have a very small collection of records currently, mostly due to my financial situation. Yes, it is easy to find cheap records, but I want to make sure my collection is filled with vinyl I really love rather than just whatever I found at Electric Fetus or the thrift store. I currently love all of the albums I have. My most prized possession is the complete works of Simon & Garfunkel.

A few years ago my grandma gave me all of her vintage teacups. I also have those stored away at home. So far I haven't added any to the collection-once again because of the difficulty of storing and transporting glass cups when you move twice a year. I can't wait to have some means to display them, they are all so pretty!

I have such a love for antique tins, but so far I only have one. I want to develop this collection so badly, but these little gems cost nearly 60 bucks a tin! Ridiculous I know! I hope to find some for very cheap when I head home and hit up some second hand and antique stores...so far my search has been in vain.

Aaaand finally my pipe collection. This started out with just regular pipes, but my friend Emily gifted me a pipe hand painted from Africa, and my parents gave me one as an Easter present this year from El Salvador (how cool are my parents?)! They are so awesome...I'm thinking I might need to start a new collection of pipes from foreign countries? : )


Obviously I need an intervention. I've had many other collections including cards, paint by numbers, locket rings, and many more, but right now most of them are on a halt until I have my own place. I'm not sure if it's the thrill of the hunt or the actual treasure that I admire most. Do you have any collections?

XO, Ashley

Killer Time Killers

Here are a few websites that end up sucking away a lot of my time, but that are totally worth it:

My Life Is Average
For those of us who lead a...well...average life.

Dear Blank Please Blank
Dear blog readers, please visit this hilarious site.

Ugliest Tattoos
It might make you feel better about that night of your 18th birthday when you and your friends decided to get matching tramp stamps...

Tacky Weddings
Truly inspiring whether you're engaged or not!

Stumbleupon
Biggest time killer with the most random things you could ever stumble upon on the web.

Lookbook
For when you don't know what to wear in the morning.

Makes Me Think
And it will!

XO,
Ashley

In Bloom

Spring is (kinda) finally here and it is (kinda) warm outside!
I can't tell you how ready I am for sunshine and the ability to walk outside without getting windburned and having your body parts tingle in pain....

However, I have been feeling the end of semester blues lately, and am not completely satisfied with the 55 degree weather. I'm kind of over being not miserably cold but not yet warm. So to liven my mood and to add a little spring to my room I decided to make my dead branches tree blossom with paper flowers.

You may recall from my room post back in August the tree branches I placed in a mason jar
Before:


After:


The flowers didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, I didn't take into account that one side of the paper was white and not orange. But after I had made them I was too lazy to start over.



These flowers are so easy to make, just cut paper into a square, draw a spiral, cut out along the spiral, and roll it up from the outside to the center. So simple and pretty cute if I do say so myself!



Spring is finally here, if only in my room ♥

XO, Ashley

My New Favorite Thing

Strange things happen when you're trapped in a 3 hour long night class. Sometimes, those things can be pretty wonderful though. Don't ask me how, but tonight I ended up searching for the ugliest wedding dresses I could find.
It all started with this lovely little number:

Honestly, it's like the most putrid combination of all horrendous wedding dresses in existence. Of course, after getting a good laugh at this, I had to Google image more, I just couldn't get enough. It was like an insatiable desire for massive amounts of tulle, lace, satin, and bows had come over me. My search produced some more lovlies:





Of course, then the search moved on to accessories
I had to deal with my jealousy that the two weddings I'm in this summer don't have such incredible bridesmaids dresses as these


There were some pretty great wedding photos dispersed in there as well


Aaaand I finally ended up on theme weddings


That photo is literally of a woman who sheered her favorite sheep to make her dress.
The search eventually led me to the website www.tackyweddings.com. Seriously, you must check it out. I have never seen more camo incorporated into weddings before in my life. It's hysterical.

Thank you, Apologetics class. You have truly been an experience tonight!

XO, Ashley