Oh hey, I made that. What the what?? Yes, I did, but I’ll get to that in a second. I haven’t posted a blog update in I don’t even know how long, but I’ve been super busy with Be Skinny By Tomorrow because everyone wants the it works body wraps after seeing my own results. BUT! Dan and I also moved into our new place a couple of months ago, and I’ve been tied up with “making it a home”… which brings me to this fabulous project I just finished the other day.

DIY Faux Fireplace

Ages ago, I saw a post by Mandi over at Vintage Revivals (LOVE her stuff) where she dressed up her living room with a faux fireplace that she built out of old cabinet doors. Friggin genius.

Needless to say, I fell in love with it and I had to have it. Before Dan and I moved, I already prepared him months in advance that at some point after settling in, yours truly would be taking on this project, and he was being enlisted to do anything that involved a scary power tool with sharp teeth. I could drill. I could electric staple gun (even through the obnoxious loud bang). Just keep me away from a saw.In the process of trying to gather the things I needed, it was becoming almost impossible to find old cabinet doors on the cheap, least of all ones that were the same size. Enter frustration. We didn’t even start yet and already Dan was getting fed up lol. No more cabinet doors… I had to redo this entire idea. So during one of my thrifting trips to the local Habitat Restore, I walked by the door section and spotted bi-fold closet doors for $15, and immediately I knew we could make this work. Because they already had the typical frame inset design, this was perfect because now it wouldn’t look like just plain wood. We got 2 pairs of the bi-folds and cut them in half since we would need 4 in total – the wider parts for the sides of the fireplace, and the thinner ones for the front. You’ll see what I mean in the photos below.

I won’t have a step by step tutorial because I just don’t do that lol… but I WILL show and tell you what we did.

After cutting down the doors to the size I wanted, I used some small corner braces to drill them together. We found some staircase spindles at Habitat Restore for $3 each, so we added those into the front of the design for a little more detail.

We painted the interior black to add depth and shadow where the “fire” would be, then used some standard hardboard paneling for the backing, and nailed it into the two sides.

I decided to be a crafty biatch and chalk paint the backing before attaching it. That way I could make a cheesy but adorable fake fire… or write out romantic quotes… or whatever. No matter what it would be, I could simply wipe it off and change it anytime. Chalk paint is seriously my newest obsession.

The two sides were tied in together with a shelf I actually found when I went to throw away my garbage, lol. People leave stuff there all the time. I guess someone was getting rid of what looked like an Ikea or Walmart standard black bookcase/shelving unit, so I snatched it up figuring I could use it for something one day, and one day finally came. Dan calls me a “bloody pikey” because I get all excited when I see something good that I could use from someone else just throwing it out. LOL, but it’s not like I go dumpster diving for this crap. It’s only if it’s sitting OUTSIDE, and I know its clean, etc. And just for the record, Barbara Corcoran from Shark Tank, who is a MULTI-million dollar real-estate mogul does this stuff all the time… thank you Nate Berkus for that eye-opening episode. Haha.

Moving on… here’s what it was starting to look like:

I painted the entire thing (3 tedious coats, mind you) in satin white and let it sit out to dry, and then Dan went back in to cut down the backing to line up with the sides.

At this point I was getting antsy to put together the mantel and call it a day, so we got a 1.5″ thick board from Lowes, and then used the scrap wood to double it up and make it thicker. I didn’t want a skinny little mantel. Dan sanded everything together and rounded off the corners so it would all look like one piece, and I went in and started painting. Again. He also added in a “lip” to the bottom of the middle piece just to give it slightly more detail.

After all was said and done, we carried it into the living room, put the mantel right on top to sit, and I went OCD with all of my decorating choices.

This was actually starting to look REALLY good. Considering what you’re looking at are closet doors? I’d say it’s a win, lol. Being that its December and Christmas is around the corner, we put up our tree right next to it, and prettied it up. But this is the final piece as it is right now…

For the fake fire, I am still in the process of finding a cheap/thrift fireplace grate or something similar…. but in the meantime, I opened my living room closet door last night and saw the “came with the house” old VHS movie holder that goes on the door. You know exactly what I’m talking about, don’t act like you never had one… in 1993. Anyway… I took off one of the shelves and put it in the fireplace for a slight “grate” effect, and it actually didn’t look that terrible, lol. I propped it up on a small black shelf for the time being, and then added some random flicker xmas lights bunched up. When the lights are on, I swear out of the corner of your eye you would think its a fire flickering. LOVE. And then of course on the backing, I used some chalk and drew a log and some flames. I’m eventually going to add in actual logs and then wrap them with the xmas lights, but for now, this will do. Cause I actually really like it.

- Jessica

but what i never assumed would happen, is that a LOT of you think i’m just selling a product because it “sounds” good. i’m constantly getting asked if i personally tried it myself. i thought everyone would naturally just see the pics of me on that website where i wrote about my whole experience using the wraps… but i guess i just assumed. no biggie. that being said, i’m gonna shout this loud and clear. or at least caps lock this bitch so you KNOW i am yelling ;) hahaha.

YES!!!!!! i have used the It Works Body Wraps!!

LOL ;)
i’ve used them… on MY BODY!
i put them on in MY HOUSE!
…AND i haven’t been able to stop talking about them since!!

i didn’t just sign up to some random company to make money and sell their products, post photo after photo of people i don’t know… and just expect you guys to listen. haha.
I SWEAR ON THE BABY JESUS… IN HIS MANGER… WITH THE THREE WISE MEN AND THEIR BANGIN LITTLE GIFTS….

I USED THE IT WORKS BODY WRAPS MYSELF.
AND I LEGIT HAD INCREDIBLE RESULTS!

i even posted my result photos for the world to see. i honestly think everyone is doing this on purpose so i have another reason to post these and want to hide under a rock lol. STOP IT! i’m showing you plain as day my results.

seriously. stop making me post this haha. i don’t appreciate having to point out my BEFORE, thank you. but i’m doing this to prove to you guys that i used the damn thing!!
k?
okay.
the time frame between the first and last photo was 5 days. NONE of this was water weight. it was my fat cells releasing their toxins and shrinking. but then again you would know all of this if you would read what i took the time to explain on the Be Skinny By Tomorrow website lol.

oy vey.
so thats that. i realize people won’t always believe the photos of other customers that i post, and thats fine you can be skeptical. actually i would prefer you to be skeptical, because if you do buy the wraps, once you see your results you. will. freak. out. haha.

i’ll tell you something else though.

dan, my lovely bf that you all know about… he was probably a bigger skeptic than any of you reading this. HE, who is supposed to be supporting his gf… told me from the get go, “i hope you know these aren’t gonna work.” lol i was like… uh.. what? and he said, “i know you’re all excited and i know you really believe this works, but i think its bullshit. i’m totally supporting you… but i dont want you to put all your eggs in one basket. i mean, i’ll see it when i believe it i guess. i just don’t expect anything to happen, sorry.”

this was followed by me telling him to shutup, you dont know what you’re talking about… curse word curse word curse word… stop ruining my happy time…curse word… i hate you.

curse word.

lol.

fast forward to the day i took that last photo in the white bra. you people would think i had a new boyfriend with how he was going on and on. HE WAS SO EXCITED, that he convinced me to sign us up (notice i said US) to become a distributor for the body wraps and sell them for the company. he checks the sales and stats while he’s at work and updates me before i even have a chance to see for myself. he is OBSESSED haha. forget about actually believing in the product now. if it were up to him he’d throw me on top of a car and drive around orlando shouting from a megaphone “the body wraps work! look at my girlfriend!! the body wraps work!!”

…and i wish i was joking. ;)

so the point of this story is this… he watched me try the product. he saw with his own eyes the results that it gave me. and he was sold. and if HE could believe, trust me, anyone can. and will. we started the very next day as distributors, and im currently sitting here praying that my new shipment gets delivered like yesterday so i can wrap myself again. i wouldn’t be doing this if it didn’t work. nor would anyone else.

if you are still skeptical and have questions… ASK ME. i’ll answer anything. i tell you this all the time lol. or just read. i have a ton of information on the site. but i will tell you anything you’re curious about knowing when it comes to these wraps and what they do. there’s even a live chat on there so you can speak to me immediately. otherwise, if you are ready to get your wraps and change your body – ESPECIALLY that summer is NOW HERE… click the link below and head over to the site!

Be Skinny By Tomorrow

here is what i was talking about yesterday… saying i found out about this amazing weight loss thing…?

go to my new site for it (ITS THAT GOOD)
and read everything… look at the pics…check out my story and results… and thank me later ;)

CLICK HERE: Be Skinny By Tomorrow!

another perk… dan has been giving me new nicknames.
“my sexy skinny gf” is in the lead for my favorite. hehe ;)
but the point is… he sees me ALL the time, so if he’s able to notice changes… then it’s for sure working better than expected.

amen. and thank you jesus.

speaking of… i’d also like to thank jesus for KALE.

yes. the green stuff.
i just started introducing it into my smoothies, and it’s INCREDIBLY good for you… which hopefully you’re already aware of. i’m still in the process of trying out which food combinations i like best for this kind of smoothie, so bear with me until i get some great tasting ones to write about. and if anyone has some that involve kale, feel free to comment with a recipe! either way though, it’s high in fiber and packed with vitamins and antioxidants. it will make your skin GLOW, and WILL cause you to lose your waistline. it’s basically a dream food if you’re trying to lose weight the healthy, yet fast way.

anyway, i was scouring the web last night looking for visuals to back my decorating ideas.

i’m in love with this desk… and basically this entire look. i love love LOVE old distressed furniture. when you add in a chandelier and some random little pieces, it brings such a romantic feel to it. this is kind of what i want my office to look like, but not too girly considering dan will be there too. lol.

i’m crazy about this bedroom. if it were up to me, every thing in the world would be in shades of gray. lol.

however, this is my latest obsession. mandi from vintage revivals (one of my favorite DIY websites thanks to the nate berkus show having her on as a guest) made this to spruce up her living room. there was literally nothing between those two windows but a wall. i saw it, fell in love, and it has since become my number one project that will be going into the new place. i’ve already weasled dan into helping me build it. thankfully, he and i have almost the exact same taste (i really lucked out there, because i can be normal and weird all in one on most days lol), and he loves the idea. i can’t wait to move just so i could do this now ha.

oh! real quick. going back to the shred stuff. i ran out of my whey protein the other day, and i went out looking for the EAS powder that i suggested in a previous post, but i couldn’t find the same one anywhere. i don’t know if EAS changed their formula or packaging, etc… but the only ones i could find were bigger in size, and 2g of sugar instead of 1g. no big deal, but just a heads up. this is the one i bought. i did a thorough read up on the info and its the same thing as before, just the slight change in sugar. also, the serving size is 2 scoops but i only ever use 1.

just finished day 6 of the shred. i had to skip yesterday because i was up and out early and didn’t get home until after 11. i’m a little shocked though, because i’m already down a pants size!!!! craziness. and last night, dan and i were in downtown disney, and i had short shorts on and my wedges. i walked past my reflection and i actually saw my legs looking awesome. IN 6 DAYS things are starting to be noticeable. super excited for the rest of this thing!

so also, i just wrapped up a huge design project for planned parenthood’s newest campaign called TeensRise!. in addition to a full website, i had to create posters for bus shelters, as well as smaller versions for the actual interior of the busses. anyway, so i’m driving by my house the other day and coming back from the stores, and i damn near almost crashed because i saw one of the bus shelter posters along the road. haha. i did a double take at first and i was like wtf its printed already?? holy shit. so i pulled into the walgreens lot a few feet from it and hopped out to take a pic.

i had to. i was super proud! :)

in other news, i saw dark shadows last night. it was a LOT better than i thought it would be… even though i still went in with high hopes being a huge tim burton fan. but it was the perfect burton movie. just enough weird, but still VERY funny. johnny depp was of course fantastic, and helena bonham carter’s character was hilarious. if my mom is reading this… i’m SURE you saw it on opening night, lol, and i hope you loved it :)

a few months ago i was persistently looking for a desk to refinish as my first big DIY project. i want my office to have a vintage shabby chic kind of feel, but only certain aspects of it. the desk being one. i stopped looking recently, and low and behold, dan surprised me the other day with one that was pretty much exact to what i was looking for. and cheap too, only $25 off the front porch forums. we went to lowes to look for paint, but i haven’t had a chance to start it yet. probably will get to it at some point this weekend. i’ll definitely be posting before and after pics when the time comes.

hope everyone had a nice weekend!

i’m happy jermaine won… i would’ve been happy if any of them won. they were all good, and all deserving in their own way. personally, i wanted juliet to win though. i still think she should have.

however.

i love how christina put down tony for singing 99 problems because it was derogatory towards women… and then she stands up and her ass cheeks are hanging out of her bedazzled diaper.
i can’t.
i’d bet money on the fact that she most definitely had a thing for him back during MMC and he was with keri russell. it’s the only possible reason i would believe as to why she’s been such a bitch to him this whole time. i love her as an artist. despise her as a human being.

and whoever her stylist is…
he/she needs to go back to high school and shoot the guidance counselor that said “you can do anything“.
because… really now.
she looked like a disco ball with hair.

anyway. day 2 of the 30 day shred complete! it was a tiny bit easier today than yesterday, but i was still ready to faint regardless. shockingly though, i woke up to just the standard sore muscles. nothing extreme. i was expecting to be falling out of my bed, to be honest, haha, but i was good. although i WILL say that sitting here right now, i can feel my calves are incredibly sore. just tried to walk to the kitchen. we have some problems, lol. oh well.

i hate the first 3 days after working out. it’s the worst on your body, but hopefully by friday i’ll be powering through it after my muscles adjust. forgot to mention yesterday that if you don’t already have vanilla whey protein powder, my favorite is EAS. it tastes delicious and it only has 1g of sugar, which is super important.

smoothie #1
1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder
1 cup of strawberries cut in half then in quarters
1 sliced banana
1/4 cup of nonfat milk OR water
4-5 ice cubes, depending on preference

i have this for breakfast every single day and i don’t start anything without it. its a perfect jumpstart in the morning, and the protein keeps you full while keeping you “lean”.

smoothie #2
1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder
1 cup of watermelon cubes
3/4 cup of blueberries
2 tbs of finely minced fresh ginger (optional)
6 to 8oz of water.
1/2 cup of crushed ice.

the amount of water and fiber in this will definitely keep you full for a few hours.
also, i stay away from drinking anything other than water during the day. i don’t even have coffee anymore (though black coffee is okay in losing weight – but i don’t like it without all the extra crap), so i just stick to water. and like i said previously, if you have the magic bullet, its perfect for this. if you don’t, it really is the best little investment ever. i spent like $45 on the whole set at bed bath and beyond, and i couldn’t be happier. the two smoothies above are designed specifically to boost enzymes and aim at burning fat.

meanwhile, back at the ranch. started day one of my jillian michaels 30 day shred today.

she’s a son of a bitch that one. lol. this 30 day shred makes you want to punch her in the face, and i was cursing at my tv during squats like i had tourettes, but seriously.
i basically feel like death. or at least, i think i may have died and come back to write this, i really have no idea. but either way, the best part is it legitimately works. i’ve looked online and saw countless before and after pictures of women that did this and after 30 days they looked like different people. it’s crazy to think it could happen in 30 days… but its the way the exercises are done, and in only 25 minutes a day. that’s IT. i mean, you feel like you did a full 2 hour workout in only 25 minutes… and you do… you really sweat buckets. but it works.

so here’s to day one :)
and to the dancer body i used to have… 30 days from now!

wish me luck! hoping i have great results that motivate other people very soon ;)

the point of this story is this…

i received an email on facebook due to the posting of this photo, where a guy said, and i quote:

“OMG that last pic you posted is outta control! You look caliente! :) (I know you’re not trying to tease – but you are!) lol”

now, it’s not necessarily WHAT he said, but the fact that he said it and he has a long term girlfriend.

i don’t like that.
i don’t agree with that.
and quite frankly, it bothers me.

NO BUENO.

i know when people are in relationships, they aren’t “dead”. yea, i get that. but there is a difference between walking past someone while out and casually glancing real quick, and this. deliberately taking the time to email me – not even comment – but email me in private, because you’re sneaky as fuck. this is also not the first time this has happened with said guy, which is why this time, it set me off. and i do hope you’re reading this, by the way. and i do hope you feel like a dick, because it was completely in poor taste.

some people might think i’m going overboard… but this is me. whether i was single or not, or 21 or 31, i ALWAYS had, and still do have, very strong beliefs about respect in a relationship. it would absolutely kill me if i ever found out that someone i love was using facebook to scope out other women in his spare time. if you are saying things that you should be saying to your girlfriend, to someone ELSE, you shouldn’t be with her, because you’re wasting her time… and yours. period. we are also not 18 anymore. we are grown adults. and you should know the value of your girlfriend, not to mention your relationship. if you don’t, then once again, cut it loose, and while you’re at it, learn how to be a DECENT man.

florida is fabulous and i’ve never been happier. if you follow my facebook or twitter… then you are more than aware. lol.
my lease is up in august, and dan and i are getting a place in celebration. if you don’t know where celebration is, you need to. it’s basically like pleasantville. pies and scones and white picket fences included. seriously. i’ve mentioned it in prior entries, and i always wanted to live there. now i finally have a reason to i guess. either way, i’m extremely excited.

in other news, i lost 15lbs in the last 6 weeks. pat on my back? don’t mind if i do. heh.
i’ve just been eating a ton of salad, low-sodium/low fat soup, and smoothies. the smoothies are what have helped so much. i started out on this juicing detox type of thing for the first 5 days, and then i switched on my own. for breakfast almost every day now, i make a smoothie. (um, by the way, the magic bullet is a godsend. just sayin.)
anyway, i use fresh strawberries and bananas, a small amount of nonfat milk, ice, and a scoop of vanilla whey protein powder. that keeps me full until lunch (with added bottles of water of course), and then i have a salad. for dinner its either soup, salad, or salad and grilled chicken. if i’m still hungry throughout the day, i’ll have a cheese stick or an apple for a snack. mind you, i haven’t done one ounce of exercise in the last 6 weeks either. i’m gonna start adding it in though next week so the weight loss can go faster and i could also tone up like a mofo. but as for the food, i’ve gone out a few times, had some drinks, etc, and i’m still losing regardless of what i ate or drank while out. so that’s a plus.

i’ve been lazy trying to go through low cal recipes, desserts, etc… otherwise i’d be eating more than just the above. haha.
but i’ll get creative soon. its just been so easy to open a bag of lettuce or a can of soup, so its become like a habit now, lol.

what else…
i added my instagrams to the pics page above so that way they update automatically whenever i post. random, but that was more just me thinking out loud.

other than that… at the request of a dear friend earlier today, i’m officially back on here and will make sure to get to this daily.

oh yea.
that also happened.