Ista-life.

Follow me on Instagram! @mrskhanson

Can we talk about finger nail polish for a minute?

I love finger nail polish. I paint my nails one to two times a week… for fun! I think it’s so relaxing and I love having pretty fingers. 

Not too long ago I discovered the Sinful Colors Gel Tech line of finger nail polish (about $2.99 per bottle at my Walgreens) and it’s amazing! The colors are so beautiful, it lasts forever and is super shiny! It really does look like a gel manicure, yet you don’t even need the lamp! 

So far I have three colors and I love, love, love them…

Tan Lines, 24/7, and Alfresco

What is your favorite color to paint your nails?

 

Recent Favorites.

I love finding products that I can’t get enough of. Here are some products that I’ve been loving lately:

NYC’s Applelicious Glossy Lip Balm…. omg. That’s all I can say. These are AMAZING. All of the colors are super flattering and super sheer. Not to mention the smell is INSANE. Do yourself a favor and go buy at least 5 of these… at $2 per tube how can you not? 

Every summer Estee Lauder comes out with a variation of this Bronze Goddess fragrance. Which always lures me in, but I never have broke down and purchased it. This year after spritzing some of the body oil on while shopping at Nordstrom I realized I just couldn’t live without it. It smells amazing, literally smells like summer! I have been wearing it everyday! I decided to get the body oil rather than the fragrance because I found the staying power of the body oil to be a lot stronger than the fragrance. 

In my town we have a Charming Charlie. If you have never been to a Charming Charlie you are seriously missing out. I always tell people that it is a lot like Forever 21 accessories (except slightly higher quality, I think) and roughly the same price. These are some bracelets I’ve picked up from there since the store opened last year. I love, love, love them! Even if I’m not wearing them I love looking at them on my table. 

 

I found this Kate Spade pouch at Nordstrom Rack on clearance and instantly fell in love. The color is amazing and it fits credit cards just perfectly. i knew it had to be mine! I didn’t expect to love having such a small wallet, but I have really been loving that. It makes it so easy to change purses day to day. I just grab this small pouch that houses my cards and I.D. and I’m good to go! 

So there you have it! My latest obsessions! What are yours?

 

Cozy life.

For the past two weeks I have been putting off trying to finish my work sample. It’s my last task before I become an official teacher. I must admit, I am enjoying my little vacation a little too much.

I’ve been drinking tea like it’s going out of style.

I’ve been reading magazines.

 

I’ve been munching on pistachios.

 

I’ve been lighting candles.

 

And most importantly, I’ve been wearing slippers non-stop. 

 

So what if I’m lazy, right? At least I’m cozy. 

Porch Clean-Up

Not too long ago, I decided I wanted our porch to be a functional space that we could sit and eat dinner on, or have a glass of wine. Up until this point, our porch was covered with spider webs and was only a space we traveled through to either get to the storage closet or to grill some food as quick as possible. One of the first things I did once I had time after graduating was clean off my porch.

We already had a small cafe table that my parents had given us but I felt like it wasn’t enough. I wanted to add some color, maybe a rug, and of course some porch lights. 

I am very happy with the results, and I am even more pleased to say that we have actually eaten dinner on our porch two times since this clean-up! I’d say this project was a success!

 

 

 

(Pillows and rug from Ross, outdoor string lights and solar lamp from Target)

Making Terrariums for Mother’s Day.

Hello! I know it’s been forever! But I had a good excuse… finishing grad school. But now I’ve graduated and have time to blog again. This year for Mother’s Day I decided to make terrariums for both my mom and Tristan’s mom. I always have the hardest time picking out Mother’s Day gifts and decided it would be fun to craft something for them.

Not too long ago, I decided to make a terrarium for myself after seeing Pinterest posts like this, this, and this. I’m not much of a directions reader… I just like to jump in and try and make things look like they do in photos online. However, I decided for this project I was glad I did because my, oh my… it takes quite a few more supplies than soil and succulents to make a terrarium!

The items you will need are as follows:

1) Soil- any soil will work, I specifically got soil for palm and dessert plants… but I was just being fancy.

2) Activated Filter Carbon- we got this in the aquarium section at Fred Meyers.

3) Rocks- for your foundation, we also got these in the aquarium section at Fred Meyers.

4) Spanish Moss- more for decorative purposes.

5) Plants- the best part of this whole experience is picking plants! I googled a list of plants that are best for terrariums, but generally, if you stick with the plants that are around the succulent section at any store you will be fine. I think it’s fun to play with texture and color at this point. I tend to pick plants that are different colors and different sizes. This adds some interest to your terrarium.

6) Vase- of course you need something to hold your terrarium! I got mine at target for $12.99 each! Not bad!

So now, lets get started building our terrariums!

First, fill the bottom of your vase with rocks:

Next, pour your carbon on top of the rocks:

Now it’s time to add your soil! Beware of adding too much! You can always add more later… but you need space for your plants and all of their roots!

Finally, its time to add your plants! Position them in the vase and push soil all around them to steady their positioning. Add more soil if needed!

Last, add some moss around the different plants to pull it all together. After this step, I like to water my terrariums so I know they are good to go! 🙂

So there you have it! Making terrariums is so simple and yet so fun! Plus wouldn’t you be thrilled to receive one as a gift?! I’m not going to lie, the initial cost of buying all of the supplies adds up… BUT, once you buy all of the soil, carbon, rocks, etc. the only items you will need to buy for next time is your plants and your vase!

Good luck and let me know how making your terrarium goes!

Nail Combo.

The other day I bought two Milani nail polishes in tip toe pink and gold. Let me just say, I am loving them! This gold sparkle polish is unlike any other… it’s a little difficult to work with but comes out really neat. I definitely suggest giving it a try! 🙂  

 

#partynail (as Tristan’s sister would say!) 

Cozy Home

For the month of January I have had no student teaching and only class on Tuesday/Thursdays! I can’t tell you how amazing it has been! I have been relaxing, playing with my cats, and generally feeling good! It’s really nice to just have a month to re-focus and get ready for the upcoming craziness! 

Here are some shots I’ve been taking around the house.

What do you like to do when you have nothing on your plate?

 

The Goodwill Lamp.

As mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been getting super into home decor lately.

One of our favorite activities around the Hanson house is going to thrift stores and digging for “treasures”. In the past, Tristan has found brand new iPhone bumpers, I have found some nice dishes, etc. 

This past weekend we decided we were in need of new side tables. Currently we have these Ikea side tables which basically came with me from college and kind of suck. I actually have four of them due to their low price. Basically, everywhere you turn in our apartment you’ll see one of these tables. Anyway, as there are no drawers, the cats plague us every morning and night, attacking all of the wires that lay across the table. We decided enough was enough. 

As we went out in search for the perfect side tables, I was hoping to find something shaped slightly like THIS, and then I would paint it that exact gorgeous color. 

Unfortunately, furniture this weekend at all of our Goodwills was slim pickins… so we tabled that search (pun intended) and just began looking for other treasures. 

I came across a lamp base that I fell in love with. It was only $9.99 and was fairly large so I thought, hey why not get it? One trip to to big lots and a $10 lamp shade later and the lamp was complete! I am pretty happy with the way it turned out, what do you think? 

Also the best part is that the wiring was broken, so my husband had to basically re-wire it, which seemed simple enough at first but then became more complex when he realized it was an old Ikea lamp with metric wiring (??? I could have this statement wrong) and he had to work some magic. At one point he even pulled out his dremel. 

At the end of the day, we are pretty pleased with the outcome and all of his hard work just makes it that much better! 🙂 

Home Decor.

Getting into decorating a space hasn’t been an easy road for me. I always felt like I just didn’t have enough stuff to really make a space pop, and honestly, I would have rather bought make up than home goods. However, lately I’ve been getting more and more into home decorating, in part thanks to pinterest! 🙂

My biggest project lately has been to de-clutter. At first as a newly married couple, we didn’t have enough stuff and now we have boat loads! I really am loving simple, modern, clean style like THIS, THIS, and THIS.

The other day after perusing pinterest longer than I’d like to admit, I went crazy in our bedroom and threw away a bunch of stuff.

I am loving the look and honestly, it makes the space really feel more relaxing. Check it out:

Yes, I organized my books by color.

What is your home decor style?