Living without cable...

So almost 3 years ago I was a TV junkie. Always had it on loved every minute of it!

Then the boyfriend and I moved into our house and decided not to get cable. Well, he decided! 

He grew up without it so really wasn't that hooked on it.

Since I was a poor college student at the time I agreed. Did I miss it in the beginning? 

Ummm yeah...that's an understatement. 

But with the creation of instant streaming through Netflix and Hulu Plus I don't even think about it. 

Sure there are times when I miss me some Lifetime Network...or the continuous Friends reruns. 

But I'm really saving a ton of money. 

For Hulu Plus I pay $7.99 a month. That's it. 

Netflix only $8.59

(I only have streaming not DVD's. I jumped ship when they changed the way they charge.)

So for $16.58 a month I get unlimited access to all my favorite TV shows and a bunch of movies. 

I like them because I can access them on all of my devices:

 Xbox, Wii, iPhone, Laptop, Desktop, iPad...everything

So this sounds like a plug? Yeah I know but I thought I'd just share this idea for those of you who might be tired of paying for cable with a bunch of different channels that you never watch. 

I'm not being compensated for this post. I just thought I'd share it since I talked about my cable-less existence last week....womp womp womp...

But if you want to try out Hulu Plus if you click on this link and sign up you can get 2 weeks free. 

In this spirit of full disclosure if you do click on the link/sign up I get 2 weeks free too...

8 TV Shows...

This is kind of hard because I love TV... I've gotten a little better since we don't have cable. 

That's right I haven't had cable for almost 3 years. It's just something we don't see the point of spending $50+ on every month. We do have Netflix and Hulu and pay about $16 a month total. 

So I can still watch my shows. 

1. Friends

My favorite show of all time. 

2. Sons of Anarchy

This show is really well written and awesome...that's all there is too it.

3. Pretty Little Liars

I was totally anti this show before I started watching it...I love it though

4. Gossip Girl

I'm still depressed that last season was the finale. 

5. Revenge

This was another show I didn't want to get wrapped up in but I did!

6. Parenthood

This show has been pretty heart-wrenching lately

7. Gilmore Girls

My parents hated when I watched this show. They just thought they were annoying.

But I loved it! Still do. 

8. Supernatural

I've been in love with Jared Padalecki (on the right) since Gilmore Girls...random I've met his dad.

Multi-tasking may not be my strong suit.

So as we all know I love to make to-do lists.

 Crossing off things on said list may not happen as often. 

This weekend I finally got around to finishing two things I've been wanting to do. 

May have not been the best idea to start them both at around 10 pm on a Sunday night when I have to work the next morning. Oh well gotta keep up when I have motivation. 

So last night when I should have been going to bed I started making a Tiramisu cheesecake. Thought to myself oh it only bakes for an hour I'll be okay... Yeah prep time did not enter my mind. 

Still haven't tasted it so maybe I'll share the recipe if it's good.

While I was waiting for the cheesecake to bake I decided to frame our guest bathroom mirror. I've been wanting to do this forever. These are pretty popular around blog land and was something I really wanted to do. Big huge builder grade mirrors leave a lot to be desired. 

So I had gone to Lowe's earlier and bought some pretty molding, adhesive, caulking gun, paint, and painter's tape. Yeah the OCC household usually has nothing I need for a project. 

Here's my builder grade mirror in all it's glory. 

Side note- it is really hard to take a picture of a mirror in a tiny bathroom without being in the mirror.

I got the rope molding for about $7 each for an 8ft piece. 

Which worked out pretty perfect since my mirror was about 43" on each side.

In case you were wondering balancing molding on a ice chest between your boyfriend's two prized possessions is the best way to paint. He'll probably lecture me when he sees this picture. Oh well!

Once I was finished painting the front and back (since you can see the reflection in the mirror) I pulled it inside to do my cuts. I just used a regular saw with my miter box.
I didn't take pictures of me cutting since
1. it would be hard/dangerous and
2. I don't want to encourage bad saw safety. 

Let's just say my fingers were dangerously close to the saw. 

I used some adhesive that said was for mirrors...now I realize it was to hang mirrors. 

Oh well just means it's tough. It actually comes off pretty easily if you smear it where you don't want too and it dries there (not that I did that).

The frame is up in all it's taped glory. Don't pay attention to the left corner there may have been an incident. It's true what they say measure twice cut once. Anyway I caulked all of the seams and now just need to paint them/fill in some spots that missed paint.

I actually didn't know if I was going to like the paint

 but I really do and can't wait to do our master bathroom hopefully this weekend!

 I will have pictures of the finished project on Wednesday since 

Tuesday Topics is tomorrow and I missed last week!

I want to put vinyl on everything.

So I got a Cricut Expression for Christmas this year from my Grandparents. 

Let me tell you this machine is pretty nifty. 

I knew I wanted to use it to cut vinyl and fabric since I'm not really a big scrapbooking person. 

I ordered a bunch of vinyl from My Vinyl Direct and waited for what seemed like forever for my new cartridges to come. They were ordered on the 27th I barely got them yesterday...dang holidays and winter storms. 

I started with the Sweet Treats cartridge because I kind of have this thing for cupcakes...if you haven't noticed. After trying out the cuts on some cardstock I was ready to cut into my precious vinyl (totally had a Gollum voice when I just said that in my head.)

Here is the finished product. 

I'm mildly in love with it. The problem? I want to put vinyl on everything now.

I even used some to decorate my Cricut.

I need more cartridges...it's a sickness.

I'm going to maybe try the whole cutting fabric thing this weekend.

My brain hurts

So haven't really had to use my business degree since I got it... 

that's my excuse for forgetting everything I learned. 

My Etsy store has been doing pretty regular business and I want to get ahead of my bookkeeping before it becomes a lost cause. 

I'm also reading everything I can find on taxes and that is making my brain hurt. 

Sales Tax, Income Tax, Blah Blah Blah Blah....that's how I feel right now.

I've been using Outright at the suggestion of many other Etsy sellers. 

It makes it a little easier.
I never thought when I started selling on Etsy that I would need to register One Crafty Cupcake with the state or federal government!

 I am thankful that I'm selling enough that I need too be looking at this stuff but brain pain sucks. 

I've definitely got to figure this stuff out...before one of two things happen.

1. My brain explodes

2. I get audited

I'd really rather have the first happen.

p.s. I love grumpy cat. I'm just saying.

High Five for Friday

I didn't have to come into work until 10 today because of a little snow storm that hit yesterday...

it was nice for extra couple hours of sleep. 

But I do wish they would've just given us the whole day off. Yep I'm a grump.

But let's be positive. It's Friday! So I will be off in a very long 4 1/2 hours. 

Today I'm linking up to From My Grey Desk..

Yes I took a picture while driving...if it helps I was at a stop light. 

This picture doesn't even show how much snow I had up by my house.

These are just some things I'm crushing on as of late:

1. Artisan Mini Salt Cellar from Anthropologie

2. Chiffon Maxi Skirt in Mint from Express (I actually just bought this!)

3. Olfa Rotary Circle Cutter I'm a craft tool nerd..

4. Cupcake Desk Calendar from KTFDesigns (I'm seriously in love)

5. This quilt from SirBubbadoo is really adorable and I might add it to my project list 

Have a great weekend!

18 days...

Why is that when you are waiting for the vacation it feels like it's never going to come? 

But when it's actually the vacation it goes by in what feels like a day? 

Seriously, I do not know where the last 18 days went. 

Well at the beginning of my vacation we took a trip up to Ruidoso, NM to go skiing/snowboarding. 

I did not take any pictures... I'm a horrible blogger. 

In my defense we only got to go one day because the wind was so bad the next they closed the mountain. Talk about a major and expensive bummer. 

Then that weekend my grandparents came to visit for Christmas. Which I loved. I haven't seen them since June and really missed them. Once again...no pictures! 

I did have a good couple of days in the Etsy shop. 

SEVEN sales in like 3 days. 

Doesn't seem like a lot but it definitely is not the norm. 

I had these huge plans to fill my shop with stuff and retake some pictures. Never got to it. 

The little downtime that I had was spent on my couch and I will not feel guilty about it. 

I totally missed the new Tuesday Topics! So we can just pretend it's Tuesday...which would be great because that would mean my vacation isn't over! Yay!

Ten New Year's Resolutions...

I've never really been one to have resolutions. I feel like if I set a goal it's not happening. But if I spontaneously decide to do it, it totally happens. 

So here are ten things I would like to do in the New Year

Exercise

So cliche. But I really need to get off my butt and do something.

Be a better blogger

Maybe start actually planning my posts! That's an idea.

Expand my Etsy shop

I have some new ideas for things I'd like to put in my shop so now I just need to execute. 

Be a neater person

No I don't mean cooler because really I'm pretty awesome already. Totally kidding. 

I need to try and keep my house more neat! 

Of course this will only work if the boyfriend plans on doing it too!

Bake more

I used to love to bake. Now it feels like a hassle and I don't like that. So I'm going to start trying out new recipes. Starting with a Tiramisu Cheesecake! I've been planning on making this since the 23rd so I'm definitely getting it done at the latest this weekend.

Eat more vegetables

I guess this goes along the lines of eating better and I've already started this one! I make chicken a lot. The boyfriend loves it and I'm just not really a picky eater. But to make sure I'm eating better I've started just slicing the chicken up and putting it on a ton of spinach. It helps me feel full and not snack as much after dinner.

Focus on needs versus wants

I definitely have a shopping problem...which doesn't really stop when I don't have the cash for it. I've gotten a TON better since I was 18 and every credit card company in the world wants to give you one. But I need to be more conservative and focus on the fact that because I want it doesn't mean I need it.

Take more pictures

The last picture of the boyfriend and I is about a year old and the one before that? Ummm maybe 2 years. I definitely need to start taking more pictures. For the blog and so I'll have things to look at when I'm older and show the future kid (maybe plural we'll see how that first one is...) 

Walk Roxy more

She's still a puppy and definitely needs the exercise... This might have to wait until spring though. Since it's dark when I wake up and dark when I get home and I'm totally not walking around alone at night!

Keep my GPA up

I'm so excited to say that for my first semester of grad school I got a 4.0! 

I would like to keep it up this semester!

I know Christmas is over but I just had to share this...

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