front page alias

joel and i were together for about a year before “dante” made his first appearance. we were at his apartment, and i overheard him making a reservation under the name dante. but what surprised me what that he said it with a straight face, like its nothing new.

there was another instance when we went out to eat with a few friends, and i went up to the hostess and asked where joel’s table was. she looked at the list, and by the puzzled look on her face, i knew he had done it again. so i hesitantly asked for none other than dante. sure enough, it was there.

not that its weird to have an alias because i have one too. except it’s a completely believable, normal name. it started my freshman year outside the union when a random guy was all like “hey gurl, what’s yo’ name?” as i was passing by. totally annoyed but not wanting to be rude, i simply replied “amy.” it just came out. i don’t know where i got it from. i didn’t even know anyone named amy at the time. then a few years later at a halloween party, i went as a sorority girl and was amy all night. i only use it when i don’t want people to know my real name and even then it doesn’t happen very often.

so a few days ago, i got a text from joel saying that the reveille took his picture for an article they were writing. i thought it was cool and couldn’t wait to see if it made it in or not. so you can imagine my surprise when yesterday, i got a text from a friend who thought they saw joel on the cover of the reveille but wasn’t sure because they didn’t have his name right.

oh yes. dante has officially made his way out of restaurants and onto the streets of LSU. but wait! to make it extra believable, joel even added a last name this time.

i just don’t know how he does it with a straight face?? he actually looked the reporter in the eyes, told her that he was a social work grad student, and his name was dante oblivion. and she bought it. wow.

click on the pic to see it better. so funny. :)

lunchbox craving

so i'm on my lunch break right now at my ever so wonderful new job (post coming up real soon on how much i love it :) ), and i'm realizing how beneficial a lunch box or bag would suite me right now. I bring all my food and what not in my purse, which is just annoying bc its already so full of other things that don't need to be there.

*side story: yesterday some co-workers invited me to go have lunch with them, i gladly said yes, and then as i was going to grab my purse...i feel a stab in my finger. turns out it was a needle with thread attached to it caught in my zipper! how that got my from sewing kit to my purse zipper i will never know.

anyway! i did a little search on etsy seeing what they have to offer, and then it caught my eye. the beauty of all lunch bags,(insert angelic music here)...







isn't she gorgeous just sitting there in the sunlight waiting for something to fill her and give her meaning?? i would like to be that someone...if she would have me.

maybe its amy butler that i'm so obsessed with, but regardless, i LOVE this bag. i want it. i need it. oh baby. oh baby.

hello birthday list!

clipboard crafting

my close friend and college roommate's birthday was thursday, and she is less than a year away from being a teacher. she's going to be an amazing teacher. i've been meaning to give her this clipboard for sometime (since she graduated from undergrad in may--yeah i'm a bit of a procrastinator) but i never found the time to finish it.

so when i found out that a few of her friends and family were getting together to go eat and celebrate her 24th year, i made sure to find the time to finish. she seemed that she liked it when she unwrapped it--or at least pretended to if not. :) it definitely has its imperfections, but it was a first, and i was overall pleased with how it came out.

i think presents are that much better when you make them. every detail in just this clip board was something that i thought she would like from the paper colors/pattern to the font of her "k" and her name. i just hope she gets to use it. i don't know a lot about teacher supplies, but i know mine always had clipboards in reach. so i guess we'll see!

here are a few more pics with the clip board on paper since our carpet is hideous :) :







how to:
it was pretty easy, i just get distracted easily and rarely finish craft projects in one sitting

what i used:
:: 2 sheets of coordinating 12x12 decorative paper from hobby lobby/michaels
:: white paper
:: modge podge or another type of decoupage glue
:: hot glue gun
:: a clip board
:: white acrylic paint
:: thick ribbon
:: optional a thinner coordinating ribbon

:: first, i painted the clip board's edges white--it took a few coats
:: next, i cut/fit the paper to the board, glued it down then glued over the paper to give it a shine--repeat on back (looking back, i would have cut the paper shorter on the back, so it didn't show after the ribbon but live and learn)
:: while i was waiting for it to dry, i found a "k" font i liked in word...blew it up and reflected the "k" in word (this was so i could print it out directly on the back of the decorative paper and just cut it out, so it would facing be the correct way).
:: after i cut the "k" out, i glued it down and brushed over it with the glue to keep the edges down

i apparently let the glue for the "k" dry for about 5 months...i picked the project again here:

:: i hot glued the thicker ribbon at the top (i had to make sure the two ends were in a place where you couldn't see them, so i hid them under the clip)
:: after the hot glue was dry, i brushed over the ribbon with the glue to give it a finish
:: then i tied the other thinner ribbon to the top of the clip
:: the last thing i did was find a font i liked with "miss sherer" and typed it twice at the bottom. after printing about 10 sheets, i cut them down the middle and clipped them to the board