Cinema magic

My favorite movie theater when I was growing up was a local place called the Tivoli that had one screen, a live organist before the show, and charged $1 for a movie ticket. Though the Tivoli got movies after they'd be in the big box office theaters for several weeks, the atmosphere, price, and the incredibly buttery popcorn couldn't be beat.

I haven't been back to Tivoli or the town it's in for years, but with the popularity of pricey, multi-screen theaters, I wouldn't be surprised if it's been torn down or if movies cost $10 per ticket like they do near me now.

While I'd pay a lot more to experience the magical feel of the Tivoli once more, I was thrilled today to find a deal from the site Plum District for four movie tickets redeemable at any theatre on Fandango.com for just $25. To purchase, just click here, search for San Diego (though the deal is good for any city), sign-up and buy!

Since I've got movies on the mind, I thought I'd also share three of my favorite movie houses of all time. All pictures via Hooked on Houses.

The closest to perfection I've ever seen in a house is the gorgeous home in Father of The Bride. I LOVE this house and the movie!


The English cottage in The Holiday looks like the perfect place to hibernate for the winter.


If I could go back in time, I'd live in the Victorian mansion from Meet Me in St. Louis and sing with Judy Garland.

Wide open spaces

While checking out Design*Sponge awhile back, I stumbled upon what must be the most gorgeous wedding backdrop that ever was ...





So perfect it almost looks fake! Click here to see the rest of the photo shoot.

The end

We recently picked up and made-over an adorable bookshelf for our living room, but I don't want to share any photos until it's styled-up to the nines!

I've been on the hunt for some bookends to help spice the shelf up a bit, and found some cute vintage ones on Etsy that I think might be just the right amount of kitsch.

I like the look of these hands holding the books up and the white color looks clean and fresh!


Pick them up here.

This siesta pair has just the right amount of Southwest flair for our San Diego home.


Get yours here.

So cute! I love the yellow against the wood.


Yours here.


And these are just so fun! I think they may be my favorites.


Find them here.

Fright fest

Derek and I picked up a pumpkin at a nearby patch this weekend and are going to carve it tonight so it's ready for any trick or treaters we may have this Sunday.

To make the night a little festive, I'm cooking Pumpkin Turkey Chili for dinner from this recipe on Love and Olive Oil. I can't wait to taste it!

Derek is pretty set on going with a traditional jack-o-latern carving, but I have my eye on a few of these cool designs ... maybe we should've gotten two ...

I love this gorgeous display but I think it calls for a few more supplies and a prettier front porch than we currently own. Found here.



This mummy look is pretty do-able with what we have and I think the trick or treaters would love it!



If only I would've seen this before Saturday, I would've picked up some gourds! From here.



Our apartment was newly renovated before we moved in and they've yet to give us a visable apartment number which makes life pretty tough for the FedEx guy. I think this look could be a fun, seasonal alternative (via here).



I think this last one could be a great compromise! Standard jack-o-latern with a twist! I love it.

All lit up

I think that at the top of my wishlist for my next living space would be a cozy fireplace to curl up by with a book or a boyfriend.



Image from design*sponge.

Quite a pear

My favorite dinner I've made lately was the Pear and Brie Quesadilla I found here, which I served with a salad and salmon in a white wine sauce. The sweet, sticky quesadilla was quite tasty especially on the chilly, drizzly nights we've been having in San Diego this week.



I've never cooked with pear before, but this recipe has me looking for more. I've pear-ed it down to two sweet and two savory recipes I can't wait to try.


Pear Crisps with Vanilla Brown Butter from Smitten Kitchen look like heaven on a cool night.



The praline topping on this pear spice cake from Joy the Baker looks deadly good.



Martha Stewart's recipes are always so gorgeous. I love this Pear and Sausage Pie.



A grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and pear would be an awesome flavor combination from Simply Recipes.

Design filter

Can you guess what this amazing DIY latern project from Parlour Home was crafted from?



Coffee filters! Over 1200 to be exact. Isn't that amazing! I think a small version might look great somewhere in our apartment or perhaps a basket of bitty-sized ones would be nice! Now just to wrestle over 1,000 filters away from my caffeine-addicted boyfriend ...



Found via Full House.

Easy on the eyes

I had a pretty tough Monday so in case you did too, I thought I'd start off your week with some eye candy.



OK, so that's pretty good looking. But the real project here is our TV stand. Derek and bought this wooden nightstand for $12 on Craigslist. Derek had free creative reign over this project and I was stunned with the gorgeous outcome! It's perfect for our small-ish living room and a huge improvement from the big, pressboard monstrosity that was in his old place.

Keen on Keaton

I wish Diane Keaton would invite me to borrow her house for the weekend ...





Via Hooked on Houses

Coasting by

I was recently hunting for some adorable, bright coasters to fit our living room aesthetic but couldn't find a thing that suited my taste! Every set I saw was very brown, stodgy, and pricey!

I decided to take matters into my own hands with a DIY project instead. The end result was the adorable coasters below and cost less than $8 to make!




Here's the how-to:

Materials-
1. 4 loose tiles, Home Depot, $0.12 each
2. 1 piece scrapbook paper, Michael's, $0.40
3. Modge Podge Matte, Michael's, $4
4. Cork board roll, Michael's, $2
5. Ribbon and buttons, lying around the house
6. Scissors
7. Glue

Steps-
1. Trace an outline of the tile on the corkboard and cut out a square slightly smaller than this outline. Repeat four times.
2. Glue the corkboard squares to the back of each tile piece and allow to thoroughly dry. The corkboard will prevent the coasters from slipping or scratching.
3. On the backside of your scrapbook paper, trace the outline of the tile and cut out exactly. Repeat four times.
4. Cut four ribbons to the length of each coaster.
5. Using the Modge Podge on both the tile and on top of the paper, secure the paper onto the tile.
6. While the Modge Podge is still wet, add the ribbon on top of the paper and secure with more Modge Podge on top.
7. Allow to dry then repeat with a second coat.
8. After the tiles are dry, use glue to add a button to the center of the ribbon.
9. Allow to dry and voila! New coasters!


P.S. The candle holder in these pictures is also a DIY project created from a $3 thrift store milk glass lamp!

Dog days

After a short work trip tomorrow, I'll be spending the rest of the week/weekend with my sister and my mom in my sister's Houston home. I'm very excited to check out the city but mostly excited to see my sis and her cute little family - one boyfriend and two dogs.

My sister's dog is a Chihuahua named Nigel. He's smaller than a cat with a personality larger than a Saint Bernard. I just love his little attitude. Thinking about Nigel made me want to head over to Hamburger's House, the hilarious little side blog started by two of my favorite bloggers, Sherry and John from Young House Love.

If you are looking for some amazing decor and DIY tips, head over to their main page. But, if you happen to be in the mood for some cutesy Chihuahua pictures, make sure to see Burger's page. Here are a two of my favorites:

The writing on the wall

One of my birthday presents this year was a pretty set of apron and oven mitts from Anthropologie. Since they are gorgeous and I use them all the time, I wanted a pretty spot in the kitchen to display them, while creating a useful workspace to write down recipes, notes, or grocery lists.

Derek and I came across the below wooden frame for $3 at a thrift store. I nearly forgot to take a before picture so this is mid spray paint, but as you can see it was an ugly gold tinged color but had a cute shape!



We spray painted it white then bought a piece of scrap wood and had it cut to the frame's size at Home Depot (cost $0.50). Once we spray painted the wood with chalkboard paint, we inserted it in the frame and nailed it down. Three $3 Home Depot hooks and a power drill later, we had an adorable chalkboard rack for the kitchen!



The whole project was incredibly cheap and easy and I'm delighted with the outcome! Now to decided what else to chalkboard ....

Chalk it up

After looking through hundreds of design photos, I knew one of the things I definitely wanted in my new apartment was a chalkboard, either near my desk for jotting work notes, or in the kitchen for writing recipes and grocery lists.

Last weekend, Derek and I completed our project, creating the perfect chalkboard for under $15. Check in tomorrow to see the finished product. For now, here are some of my favorite chalkboards from around the web!









First five images via design*sponge; sixth image via Three Men and A Lady; seventh via Cupcakes and Cashmere .

Have a delicious weekend!

I hope your Saturday and Sunday are this cute ...



Via A Little Sussy

Busy baker

While I love to cook just about anything, my first obsession in the kitchen is baking. The sweet smell coming from the oven and the warm gooey results make the experience totally rewarding(not to mention I love to sneak a spatula full of dough).

Since I bake pretty frequently, I wanted to buy a cookie jar for our kitchen. I was so excited when we came across this adorably simple glass creation at Pier 1. The bit on the front is chalkboard, so you can write down what sweet surprise is inside!



The first cookie to go in it are these amazing cakey pumpkin chips from a recipe on Joy The Baker. However, at the rate Derek devours cookies, I'm sure to be going through a lot of chalk.

Here are a few of my favorite cookie recipes I've made recently to rounds of applause. Thanks to the creative bloggers who dreamed these up!

Crisp salted oatmeal white chocolate cookies from Smitten Kitchen - I think I have to go to rehab for these.


Toasted coconut washboards from Bake or Break - made these using the leftover white chocolate from the above recipe. A large debate ensued over which cookie was better and a resolution may never be reached.




Giant s'mores cookies on My Baking Addiction - I think this picture speaks for itself.

A working home

Part of my move to California means I'll be working from home full-time. To make this new style of work, work, I wanted a desk that was both functional and made me feel great.

While Craigslist surfing, I came across this black, solid wood desk for just $40. I loved the bamboo detailing and the roomy drawers, but hated the black lacquer color and fabric glued to the top.



Lucky for me, I live with quite the handy man. Derek put a ton of effort and perhaps a few brain cells into getting the lacquer off of it with some serious chemicals and a lot of elbow grease.



Sanded and primed away the ugly dark color...




and then together we painted it a cool grey with white drawer faces.



I found some adorable drawer pulls for just $3 each at Gracious Homes' going out of business sale in NYC (originally $25 a pop)! Since the colors we chose are so muted, we thought it would add a fun pop to mix up the handles with a few different designs and shapes. I love how it turned out and think the desk can be easily updated in the future just by switching out the handles!



I needed a place to sit while I type at my beautiful new desk so we bought a cheap antique chair at a consignment store and reupholstered the seat with some pretty grey and yellow/green fabric. The chair is nice and roomy so I can curl up while I type and I love how the colors mix with the desk.




To complete my workstation I added a few of my favorite things so I'm surrounded by good thoughts while I'm putting in my hours. On the right side I have my favorite picture of my Mom and I, an April angel in honor of my Nana, a mini wine box with my name on it, my rainy day fund in a chubby bank, and a medal Derek earned in the Air Force and gave to me.



On the left side I have a glass slipper my Nana got me in Disney World years ago, a photo of the prince charming/handy man I was waiting for, my handsome Grandpa in his Navy uniform, and my Papa's pocket watch. The milk glass lamp I found as a thrift store for $3.



So far I love my work area! I can't wait to see how it folds in once we have the rest of the place done (i.e. ignore the ugly tan microsuade couches, covers are in the mail) and know this will be a special piece I'll keep around for years to come!