A Side of Sweet

Things I’m Loving / 06

Happy almost weekend friends! I’m working 11 hour shifts both days, so I’m expecting the weekend will just fly by. I hope you’re luckier than me and have only fun things planned. I only have one week left doing inpatient hospital medicine until summer, which means my schedule is going to be a bit more relaxed for the next few months! It’s crazy to think that my first year of residency is winding down.

In other news, I just changed my running shoes for the first time since December! I usually try to change them every 300-400 miles so needless to say I was long overdue. I was starting to have knee pain and muscle tightness after my runs and I finally had that ‘aha’ moment that it had been too long. One trick I’ve found to make sure I don’t go too long it to write the date I start a new pair on the footbed with a permanent marker. I’ve also heard of people rotating shoes to allow the footbed to recover in between runs, but I’ve never done that. How often do you buy new workout shoes?

Here are some other things I’m loving from around the web!

There’s a new record in girl scout cookie sales.

I am making these for my next party.

Meanwhile I won’t be waiting for my next party to make these. Nom.

These are the best-looking chocolate chip cookies I have ever seen – and they are vegan and gluten free!

What are the chance if I try this updo it will look this lovely?

One of the best craigslist dresser makeovers I have ever seen.

This petal explosion is a definite day-brightener.

Image via Darling Magazine

Dip-Dye Watercolor Business Cards

Ok, so I rebranded. Old news, right? Even though my experiences changing my domain name have been a bit of a roller coaster (think hours on the phone with GoDaddy, a few false alarm domain purchases that I ended up hating in less than 24 hours, and definitely some tears), it 100% has been worth it. Even if it meant some temporary setbacks (all that search engine traffic has to be re-accumulated to name one), it’s been worth it to not cringe every time I say my blog name out loud (for realz yo). I also think the new name is better representative of the change to more of a food/lifestyle/DIY blog that I’ve evolved into.

The easiest thing about changing the name of my blog was getting business cards. I’ve worked with the San Francisco-based company, Minted, in the past and it was absolutely a no-brainer to get my business cards from them too. They have the customer service feel of a small company and I love that they celebrate the work of independent designers.

I picked a simple but lovely watercolor design for my business cards. To really up the wow factor, I upgraded the paper to Minted’s triple thick paper. I’m a huge sucker for the feel of paper – I’m that annoying customer who runs my hands over the pretty things in a shop before I buy them. The cards really earn the “luxe” that they are labeled with.

In order to make my business cards one of a kind, I decided to celebrate the watercolor design by painting them with watercolors to make a “dip-dyed” design. I experimented with actually dipping them in food coloring and different diluted paints, but using watercolors to paint the dip-dyed look turned out to be the best method. This quick extra step really took them to the next level and looks much more impressive than the effort it took to make them.

DIY “Dip-Dye” Watercolor Business Cards

You will need:

Business cards – any type will do, but a thicker paper will absorb the watercolor better
Watercolors
Paintbrush
Bowl of water

Instructions:

Use the bowl of water and your paintbrush to liberally wet the watercolors before you start. Using quick, messy brush strokes paint a portion of your cards. To get the dip-dyed look, I used a combo of purple and blue mixed together (blue first, then a few dabs of purple before the blue dried). That’s basically it – I wish I had a more precise method, but it was just a bit of trial and error with the first few figuring out what worked.

Minted sent me these lovely cards to review for this post. All opinions are my own.

SF Bests :: Brunch at Tartine Bakery

Last weekend was a busy weekend for me. Not only did I sneak away to Napa with Pat, but I also met some friends for brunch at Tartine! I had my first weekend off after three weeks straight in the hospital, and I made the most of it! I joked to Pat that it was my “vacation”. It’s funny how two days off of work starts to feel like a luxury after a while. If I step back and think about it, “normal” people have two days off of work every five days! Goodness, even saying it out loud right now just sounds unreal.

Brunch was a little unofficial blogger meet-up organized by La Tache and I. La Tache is currently eating her way through the 7×7 Big Eat list and I was more than happy to tag along while she tried out Tartine’s famous bread pudding. We also invited Diana along as she had recently relocated to San Francisco from the valley. SF Bests :: Brunch at Tartine Bakery

The bread pudding was incredibly rich. I am so glad we split one three ways, as it’s definitely an eggy, buttery, delicious treat – but so, so rich. We also got an assortment of quiche, pastries and of course coffee. SF Bests :: Brunch at Tartine Bakery It was such a lovely morning (vacation!) getting to know these ladies a bit better. Hooray for living in the amazing city where I can meet other bloggers! If you blog yourself, you know that no one can really understand quite what it is like to be a blogger, even Pat doesn’t get it!

A 24 Hour Escape to Wine Country

A 24 Hour Escape to Wine Country - The View from the Treehouse

I didn’t have a single day off of work for the first three weeks of March. This meant that Pat’s early-March birthday passed without much fanfare. He’s really low key, and super understanding of my busy schedule, so he didn’t bat an eye that he didn’t even get a card from me on his birthday!

A 24 Hour Escape to Wine Country - AirBnB Treehouse

Things I’m Loving / 05

Friends, I have to admit that I’m getting a bit run down. I somehow managed to catch a 24 hour bug this week and it knocked me flat. I literally spent all day in bed yesterday trying to recover. I try to keep things light here on the blog, but I’m in a particularly busy point of residency right now and the long days seem to be catching up with me. I work a night shift tonight, but then I have the rest of the weekend off. Other than dinner plans with friends, I’m just going to lay low this weekend and try to regroup a little. My tendency when I’m stressed is to over-schedule, but I’m going to try to relax. I’m also feeling the urge to write and get some of the thoughts and emotions swirling around in my brain out on paper.

I promise I’ll be back next week with a little more of the cheer you’re used to around here. Pat and I also took a whirlwind trip to Napa last weekend and I can’t wait to share the photos with you.

Here are some things I’m loving from around the web…

Read you dog’s mind?

If I had a different job, I would totally dye my hair blue. Or purple.

Speaking of hair, I need a new hair dryer and The Beauty Department breaks it down just in time.

A post-vacation detox salad.

Can you open a bottle of wine with your shoe?

Three ways to tie a scarf.

Image via Ashley Woodson Bailey.

Hanging Twine Balls DIY

I was organizing my archives and I realized I never shared this DIY for hanging twine balls that we made for our wedding! We used these as a decoration for our dance floor, and hung them from the rafters. This is a messy but very easy project with stunning results!

See the full project after the jump!