Southern CA Living

Karissa, Caitlin, John, Keith, me, Courtney & Nick!

This year my man's parents, Leslie and Tracy, gave me a Duffy boat rental as a birthday gift. What is a Duffy boat you may ask? That's the same question I had, but apparently they are very popular, and I can see why. They are little putt putt boats that you can cruise around the harbor in. You can have food and drink and just hang out on the water. 

The Groupon was with Pelican Joe's Boat Rentals in Long Beach. We had a two hour rental for 12 people. I choose 4-6pm so we can be around for the sunset. 

It was a perfect afternoon. Leslie provided a great array of food. We had chips, salsa, and guacamole. We had mini versions of this wrap. Vegan homemade fruit roll ups! We had this farro + kale salad found at abeautifulmess.com that Leslie veganized with agave.

We really enjoyed ourselves. Whoever wanted to drive the boat got to drive the boat. We had great conversation, food and sights to see. We even saw a seal swimming around! The rental company even provided an auxiliary cord so we listened to The Beach Boys Pandora station.

That afternoon was perfect. Thank you, Leslie and Tracy! Can't wait to do it again. 

- Christina @city_loveee

Keith & I.

Nick and Courtney being the cutest.

John & Karissa.

Kyle, Keith's brother and his adorable wife, Sarah.

& beautiful Caitlin.

Thrift Gifting

You know when you find something when you're out and about shopping and you think "that would be perfect for so-and-so" or "so-and-so would love this".  Months back while thrifting I found this pair of wooden pineapple bowls.  They were so cute I thought of my friend Ashley, whose Instagram name is @pineappleashley.  Somehow I always seem find pineapples.  Since I found a pineapple pitcher, solid wooden pineapple that is an hors d'eourves, "thoothpick snack" holder (I found it on etsy and ebay for $20+!!!)  and a ceramic pineapple bowl.  I hope Ashley can find a use for all of these things– she's super creative so I'm not worried about it.

Asheley's table setting with a real pineapple via Instagram @pineappleashley 

The wooden dishes after their makeover. Photo via Instagram @pineappleashley

The wooden dish used as a catchall.  Photo by Ashley. 

The "wineapple" photo by Ashley 

Two weeks ago when I last gave Ashley one of my thrift gifts (the pineapple pitcher) she was so excited for it and called it the wineapple, but exclaimed she "thrift owed me" and asked what I liked, John being right next to me just said "cats- anything cats".  And so begins our thrift gifting.   A couple of days later, she surprised me with my first thrift gift (not that I expect to always get one in return).  To my surprise it is the best thing ever– this super cute CAT ring holder.  THANKS Ashley! 

I hope this inspires you to thrift gift with a friend or friends!  I just makes me so happy to give gifts.  

Have a good weekend crafting, thrifting, picnicking or anything else you DITOers may be up to this weekend!  Keep up with us on Instagram (links to the right). Hasttag us with #thriftingwithDITO or just mention us @hellodito we want to see what you're up to and share! 

- Karissa 

@karissa_mariep 

Instagram Magnets

In this digital age, it's so sad hardly any photos are printed anymore. On the other hand, we have hundreds of photos to look at. We're very fortunate to capture all of these memories. For Christmas gifts last year I created these Instagram magnets as gifts for everyone on my list. It's nice to have your Instagram photos actually printed out!

I used this DIY. The only roadblock that I had with that DIY is where would print a 2 in x 2 in photos? I ended up using the app Postal Pix. In this app, you upload the photos straight from your phone, submit your order, and they send them to your mailing address. Super simple. 

I know there are companies that make Instagram magnets for you, but I would highly suggest doing it yourself. I probably made 50-100 magnets during Christmas and I still have tiles, magnets & photos left over. It's more cost efficient to make them yourself. 

Also, make sure your magnets are strong enough to hold the tile on the fridge. Sometimes the tile is too heavy for the magnet. I learned the hard way and had some break. If the magnets are a little weak, just glue two on the back. 

I'll probably continue to do this DIY for a long time because my Instagram library keeps growing! I hope you try it out, too. 

- Christina

@city_loveee 

Spice up your life

Two Mondays this month I have hosted some friends over for dinner.  Early August I had Efren and Miranda (newlyweds! Congrats!) over for dinner and it was so nice to start off the week with with friends.  Miranda was extra thankful for making her Monday so much better after a not so good day at work.  I showed her that Mondays don't have to suck! Our cocktail of the night was what I called "agua  picante de sandia": 2 oz blanco tequila, 4 oz watermelon juice, 1 oz club soda, splash of lime juice and finished with some thai spicy bitters to taste! 

Our meal that night was steak with chimichurri and crispy potatoes with a nice nectarine summer salad and three berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert. 

collage I instagramed- follow me @karissa_mariep

Because I hadn't seen Aubrey and Seth in a little while I decided to have them over last night.  I baked a brie with strawberry preserves and served it with apple slices as our appetizer.  It was so good I meant to take a picture of it but we dug in too soon.  

For dinner I went with a kale caesar salad with cornbread croutons (I know Aubrey loves cornbread!), creamy tuscan kale soup and a roasted cauliflower and penne pasta .  Dessert was provided by Aubrey- mochi!  

I wanted to highlight the cocktail of the night- a spicy margarita, lets continue the theme and call it "margarita en fuego".

Both Seth and Aubrey are spice addicts, I had a bag full of serranos and decided to use them to make a spicy margarita.

The cocktail requires: 

cocktail shaker & strainer

ice 

tequila 

margarita mix 

squirt 

salt 

red pepper powder 

limes cut into wheels 

fresh serrano sliced in half

lemons cut into quarters 

First, prep your salt to rim the glass.  Mix some red pepper power with margarita salt on a small plate.  Rim your glass with the mixture.

In a cocktail shaker with ice add 2oz tequila, 4oz margarita mix, half of a serrano (or less depending on spice tolerance),  juice from a quarter of a lemon and shake. When pouring into your glass strain through a mesh strainer so you don't get any seeds in your drink.  Top the glass off with some squirt (I like the carbonation) and finish with a lime as garnish!

Because Aubrey wanted even more spice she requested some slices of serrano in her drink! Crazy girl!
(One of her favorite drinks is from Cleo in Hollywood, its called the Clementina it has grey goose Vodka, crushed basil and serrano chile,
orange juice & fresh squeezed lemon. It's SO good, will have to recreate it with her at our next dinner)



And thats it!  Another great evening with friends.  And of course we played Cards Agains Humanity- because there were only 4 of us we played a random card each time, and in the rule book it explains, his name is Rando Cardrissian!  And embarrassingly for the rest of us, he won like 5 black cards!

I hope you DITOers are are having a lovely week so far!

- Karissa

Thrifting: Why we do it and why we love it.

In the effort to be more eco-friendly, I've decided to take up thrifting more seriously. It feels so much more rewarding to buy secondhand goods, that way my carbon footprint can be that much smaller. And I'm all for super cheap and cute home goods and clothing. I'm slowing learning my thrifting ways from Karissa, who comes from a long line of thrifting women. And I come from a father who garage sales every weekend. So it's meant to be!

- Christina

A nice button down for John, Karissa's fiance. 

Old Navy maxi dress for Christina.

Mossimo dress for Christina.

A great green sweater for Karissa.

& behind the scenes:

We have some very helpful helpers. Thank you John & Aaron!

                       

Everything else we found 

I have been thrifting and especially going to Goodwill, since I was around 5 years old.  I learned all I know from my grandma- Lita.  As a child my grandma would take the loot of all of her grandkids to Goodwill and we would wander all of the bins of toys as my Lita would find trinkets, nicknacks and doodads.  

I've always loved finding items that someone else regarded as unwanted goods and giving them a new life.  

My favorite stuff to thrift is home goods.... It's terrible because my kitchen is over flowing with finds that to me- at the moment, I couldn't have lived without it.   

Follow us on Instagram (@hellodito) to keep up with what we do with our finds there! 

- Karissa 

Neuvo Mexico

Karissa & I decided to expand our blog to a lifestyle blog so we can have more opportunities you update our dear followers. Recently I went on a trip to visit my brother in New Mexico. He lives there as a Benedictine Monk (meaning his a traditional Catholic monk). It's a different world, in his world. He lives in the middle of nowhere, where they grow their own vegetables, have farm animals, and build buildings with their bare hands. They live a very peaceful life of prayer and solitude. It's always a great trip because it's so different and I only see my brother once or twice a year now.

I edited these photos with A Beautiful Mess' photo app, BeautifulMess & Afterlight. Highly suggest those two iPhone photo apps! Check them out!

- Christina @city_loveee    

Sharpie Fad

A Beautiful Mess posted what is the most widely known post about the sharpie mug.   Upon everyone trying it (what could go wrong? You draw on a mug with sharpie and bake for 30 minutes at 350) well apparently it didn't work for everyone.  The problem was that the sharpie didn't stay.   My guess is it must depend on sealants.   Upon washing after baking, crafters experienced their design scrubbing off when being washed.

Because I love my cats I wanted to make them personalized food bowls but ended up using plates.  Cat food plates aren't something that are washed too frequently, so  I didn't think this was a problem.   

But if painting on a mug or painting something as a gift- the last thing you want is for it to wash off in the first wash.  

So some solutions: 

1. Use sharpie oil paint pens followed by the same bake time and temp. These can be found at craft and office supply stores.  

2. Use Pebeo porcelain pens (a little pricey but is probably the best option). You can find these at art supply stores. 

For the designs?  Get creative! 

Here are some links to popular posts on sharpie mugs:

http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2012/06/his-her-sharpie-mug-diy.html

http://www.hardlyhousewives.com/2012/10/sharpie-mug-fail.html?m=1