Spotlight on (and discount for) Three Little Cats Shop

Today I am featuring an Etsy shop from one of my favorite countries, Italia! Francesca's shop is called Three Little Cats Shop and she has lovely hand-painted trinket boxes as well as brooches, cross-stitch patterns, and necklaces. I fell in love with the owls and cats, so Francesca let me feature her! She is offering my readers 10% off with the coupon code LLORYS10, so take advantage of that! Below are a couple of my favorite items from her shop and a little about Francesca!

"My name's Francesca; I'm 21 years old, and I live in Tuscany, Italy. I love art and the handmade world. I enjoy a lot doing handmade stuff that I create in my free time. I have always had a passion for crafts since I was a child. Creativity is a big and magic world to me, making me feel nice. I like to always try something new, new techniques, new things... I love to learn and experiment, creating unique ooak (one of a kind) stuff. My biggest inspirations are animals; I also always try to have an artistic vision of everything that happens in my life. I can't live without my imagination, it makes all things better!

I currently work as a graphic designer. My love is not limited just to traditional handmade stuff; I'm also a digital art lover! In fact, I create custom graphic designs and digital cross stitch patterns. I also have a passion for photomanipulations. I'm known as "DeadLulu" on Deviantart. I have an independent short movie productions company with my boyfriend, the Frozen Lake Movie Productions. My boyfriend is my life. We are two loving birds. : )

What I love: art, crafts, cinema, music, cooking... And I LOOOOOVE cats! =3"

Aw, two loving birds. I like that. Thanks, Francesca! Keep up the adorable arts and crafts!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I had been waiting for what seems like a year to see "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," and luckily, it did not disappoint. I think the author of the book, who also wrote the screenplay, directed, and produced had to have majorly helped, but man, I was on the verge of tears the entire time. It was so sweet and the actors fit the characters so well. I'm glad they had Emma Watson playing Sam because I doubt it would have ever made the theatres in Grand Rapids if they didn't have a big name star. Ezra Miller was SUCH a great Patrick. It's hard to believe he played a psycho killing teenager in "We Need To Talk About Kevin." Wayyyy different characters! Anyway, I would definitely definitely recommend this movie. They couldn't have done a better job with it. If you are a music lover, ever considered yourself an outcast, have ever been through a traumatic experience, or were popular and need a reality check, see this movie. And read the book! I need to reread it now!

Happy Caturday :3

Regina Spektor

I'm so excited because tonight Andrew and I get to officially celebrate our two year anniversary. It was actually two months ago, but my gift to him was a ticket to see Regina Spektor tonight! I've always been aware of her, but never listened much until I met him. Plus, we haven't been to a concert in a while. Have any of you ever seen her live? This should be a great start to the week!

Time for some java so I can stay awake for the show!

Berkley Illustration

Today I am loving these animal portrait prints from Berkley Illustration. They are featured on Fab.com for the next couple of days - $26 a print (11x14)! They have everything in the food chain spectrum from chipmunks to T-Rex. This bat really freaks me out, but it's so spot on that I had to show you. Here are a few more of my favorites. (Photos borrowed from their feature on fab.com)

Happy weekend! I am at my parents' house because my wonderful father turns 50 on Monday! I love spending time with them and my cats. My mom and I are going shopping today, I can't wait! What are your weekend plans? 

Sleepwalk With Me

I don't understand why limited release usually means NYC or LA. There are so many movies I've had to wait so long to see because of this! Luckily, the UICA in Grand Rapids is currently showing Mike Birbiglia's "Sleepwalk With Me." I had heard something about the movie on NPR the other day, but a couple of my Birbiglia loving friends invited me to see it with them the other night. Lauren Ambrose was wonderful in this, first of all. Mike Birbiglia was great as well, as were his parents in the film. It got a little depressing in the middle, but everyone had their own happy ending. I also loved how they depicted his dreams. Wouldn't you love to make a movie of your wildest dreams?

By the way, if anyone knows, please point me in the direction of the soundtrack!!! I loved the music but my web searching skills got me nowhere. I'd recommend seeing this! Has anyone else seen it? What did you think?

What's up for your Saturday? I'm going thrifting! There are so many places to do that around here, so I'm researching right now. Hopefully I will have some great finds to show and tell about later on.

3 Easy Vegetarian Dinners

I think I set a new record, because I have made myself and Andrew dinner THREE nights in a row! I am just now regretting not take photos, because I want to share my simple vegetarian meals with you, but I will do my best to share them anyway. FYI, the average time (besides oven preheating) for these meals is just 15 minutes! Each meal serves two and costs about $5 total.

Night 1

I had a coupon for any frozen item from Alexia, and it happened to be on sale! Woo! Anyway, I sauteed this up and added some red pepper and spinach to bulk it up, since I used this as a main dish and not a side. The oil is included in the package and it only takes about 12 minutes, like the package says. Before I put it in the bowl to serve, I added some goat cheese at the bottom and then stirred that together with my veggies. It was delicious, easy, affordable, and pretty healthy!

Night 2

Andrew and I love these MorningStar Mushroom Lover's Burgers. I had a coupon for these too, huzzah! Anyway, they do not take long to make at all on the stove. Just a few minutes on each side, but do not forget to add some swiss cheese when you have a couple minutes to go. I served it on a bun with spicy mustard, spinach, onion, and tomatoes. I also baked some Ore Ida crinkle fries and cut up a Honeycrisp apple for sides. We had coffee for dessert. Andrew said it was the best meal he'd had in a long time! (The fries took much longer than the veggie burger, so keep that in mind if you make this!)

Night 3

I don't know why I have never bought this pizza crust mix before, because you just have to add water. Thanks, Betty! We have bought the premade crusts before, but this is so much cheaper and tastes way more homemade! All you need to do is combine the mix and water, let it sit for five minutes, and then spread it on your pizza pan and add the toppings. I added tomato sauce (didn't have any pizza sauce but this worked just fine), minced garlic, fresh basil leaves, tomato, Italian shredded cheese, and goat cheese, yum! I thought it turned out really well and Andrew was 3-3, loving this as well.

I feel so accomplished and like we saved so much money! We tend to go out too much because we don't have time or we're too hungry and we'll spend anywhere between $10 and $20 even for takeout! So crazy. What are your favorite quick vegetarian meals? I'd love to know because I need more ideas! 

What I Wore // ArtPrize

I worked all weekend, which was a bummer, but Andrew and I made a little time to walk around ArtPrize before the Top 10 voting was closed. This is right by the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum. What do you think about the Top 10 announcement? I'm not sure who to vote for!

Top: Francesca's Collection (it buttons up the back - I love it!)

Watch and Bangle: Kate Spade New York

Ankle Pants: J. Crew

Sandals: H&M