Clean, Green Bathroom Routine

30 days ago, I joined Groundswell Community Project in a #NoPlasticNovember live-a-thon. The goal of the challenge was to get rid of one type of single-use plastic (or all plastic!) for the month of November and I decided to eliminate plastic-packaged bathroom toiletries.

It was a good place to start too, because I happened to have 80 of them lying around. 

The thing is, single-use plastics are killing our oceans. And the $432 billion dollar beauty and personal care products industry could really care less. Probably because every product we buy that's packaged in a single-use plastic is us voting for them to make more!

I used to not think that way. I used to pick up a plastic-packaged product and think, "Well. It's already made, so I might as well buy it, right? Also, what difference is one purchase by one person going to make?"

In fact, honestly? At one point, I used to not care at all. But now, after doing more research and watching documentaries like "A Plastic Ocean"on Netflix, I am heartbroken and ashamed. 

So I have officially started my plastic-free journey with a strong disclaimer: I don't claim to have the whole plastic-free thing totally figured out yet. I am simply committed to figuring out my personal approach and sharing that here in a way that's as personal and educational as possible. The last thing I want to do is come off as self-righteous or preachy... I have no right to be. And I'll share this all with the sincere hope that others will share their journeys with me in return or be inspired to try to reduce their own use of plastic. 

But, back to my bathroom. 

Giving up single-use plastic toiletries was a start, but it was only one step I took over the past month to make my bathroom a little more green and a little more zen in the process. And I did it all in four easy steps. 

Plastic Free For the Sea

How much plastic is in your bathroom?

A few weeks ago, I couldn't answer that question. And a few months ago?

I wouldn't have cared about the answer.

But then I spent time with Groundswell Community Project's surf program for women this summer and I started to learn about how plastics were hurting our oceans. I learned how more mindful changes to my lifestyle could actually make a difference.

So I pulled every single piece of plastic out of my bathroom. And I counted.

Shopped: Anthropologie, Westfield UTC

Nine times out of ten when someone asks me where I bought something, the answer is Anthropologie. In fact, people ask less and less... it's more of a statement now: "You got this at Anthro." Our duvet, our dishes, the sweater I'm wearing as I type this....

Hi, my name is Bri and I'm addicted to Anthropologie. 

(Hi, Bri.)

Shopped: Revolucion Del Sueno

I've been going through Mexico withdrawals fairly often lately. 

It definitely has a lot to do with the fact that I'm almost done with my first four swimming lessons. I'm anxious to go back and see how different our trip would have been with this new found confidence around water. 

But, if it wasn't for our time there, I would never have become as desperate and ready to learn as I was after we left. Spending so much time in and around the ocean made me crave the freedom that everyone else had.

I hope/plan on going back to Sayulita, maybe even next year, but until then, I've just been sorting through pictures and trying to write a few final posts to share from the trip. And since one of my favorite things about Sayulita was the shopping, I thought I'd share some images from one of the chicest stores in town, Revolucion del Sueno.

Shopped: Love & Aesthetics in Little Italy, San Diego

My favorite Saturday mornings are the ones I spend in Little Italy, picking up fresh food and gorgeous flowers at the Farmer's Market, popping into the new boutiques, getting coffee with friends and stopping by the art store. This past Saturday I got the chance to do just that and met up with Eva from The Fashion Fairytale.

I met Eva at the Get Fit San Diego party last week and just fell in love with her energy and style. We got coffee on Saturday at Pappalecco and chatted the afternoon away. She is one of those people that you just feel like you've known forever and it was so nice to have a conversation with a new friend who I could talk to like an old friend. 

On my walk home after our coffee date, I happened to notice a boutique that I'd never seen before called Love & Aesthetics. From coffee table books to dishware to Missoni towels, their eclectic and unique collection of home goods makes this a must-stop for any shopping trip to Little Italy. It's definitely on my list, only next time I'll make sure to stop in before carrying a bag of groceries that's demanding to be put away. :)

NEED this portable wine tote for the beach!

Love & Aesthetics
621 W Fir St
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: (619) 354-8441

DIY: Restoring a Thrifted Teak Bar

Back when I was surrounded by disposable Ikea decor like most people in their early twenties, I didn't care about furniture at all. Despite a couple of apartments that I rented for a while in both NYC and Connecticut, I was a nomad for the better part of those years, shuffling between friend's couches and living room floors. The furniture I did own during that time was purchased with my transient lifestyle in mind, so I didn't put a lot of thought into it.

But when I got to California and finally started to achieve some semblance of permanence, I became very picky about the furniture that I chose. I started out fairly sparse with a desk I got for free on Craigslist and spent months refinishing and a bookshelf that I bought for $15 while drunk. That was when I started to form a  pretty strong belief that furniture should have a story. Now, every time I see my desk (which is currently in Ryan's shop), I think about the months I spent working on it in the garage with my dog Coaly, during our first winter in California. And every time I look at my bookshelf I think about that hilarious afternoon with my friend Elysia, getting drunk off of mimosas, stumbling into the old Pat's Thrift Shop in North Park and having to walk four blocks back from the thrift store with it to her old apartment.

Around that time, my rules for furniture were born. First, it must have a story. Second, I have to be in love with it. Third, it should be unique, not too overly mass manufactured, and if it isn't, I should make it unique through modifications. Fourth, it should be high quality, durable. And finally, if it didn't meet the preceding criteria, then it should at the very least be necessary and functional to get us through the time until I find something that does. That last one is how I excuse the only piece of furniture in our house that doesn't meet the rest of my rules: the couch I'm sitting on as I type this. 

The story of this particular piece of furniture happened during one of my regular Craigslist trolling sessions. I stumbled across it in April of 2012, shortly before we moved into The Sunset House. The ad said it was a Vintage Teak Bar that they would sell for $50 bucks, but when I got there, the teak was completely painted over with a gross brown acrylic (minus the bottom of the bar, which is how they knew it was teak), covered in cobwebs and bugs from being outside and had a broken wheel. I haggled them down to $40.  Little did I know that I was walking away with something that currently sells for $1,250 on Frontgate and $2,000 on Westminister.

Over the past year and a half, I have stopped and started work on this bar so many times. With all the crevices and corners, stripping it of the brown paint (and about 4 other layers of paint and stain) proved an almost impossible task. I needed to finish it and I needed help. So when my Dad came to visit a couple of weeks ago, I knew just the way to give this bar the story and memory it needed. My Dad is a house painter and he loves this stuff, so like any good daughter, I put him to work on his vacation. 

Over the course of the week, the two of us finished what I had put off for a year and a half. We started with SmartStrip, the only paint stripper my Dad will let me use, and finished stripping the brown paint from the inside. Then we scrubbed as much of the rest of it as we could with soap and water to get rid of the stripping paste. We sanded the whole bar down and I painted a few of the slats on the exterior to give it a bit of color and hopefully some of that surf shack vibe that I love so much. And for the last step, we sealed it with polyurethane.

It's not perfect, but it never could have been unless I had dumped $1,000+ on a new one. But the memory of working on it with my dad while he was here is perfect and worth so much more than that. I can't tell you how happy I am that we got to work on this together. I love the way it came out and I'm so glad to cross another resolution off of my list just in time! 

Vote for Our Living Room on Apartment Therapy!!!

I finally got it together enough to actually go ahead and enter one of the rooms in our house in an Apartment Therapy contest and they chose it as a contestant in their Room for Color contest!

If there's one thing people know about me, it's that I love color. I think all rooms should be bright and cheerful or calming depending on what you use the room for. Our living room is for people to get some shade during BBQs and for us to hang out with the dogs and for dance parties after the bar. I love our living room and I especially love our door (which I covered in a DIY post), but after looking at the other entries I definitely wish I'd taken better pictures. I don't feel that I captured it as well as I could have, but that's given me more motivation to take some better pictures and put together a house tour. It's also given me motivation to spruce a few things up and finish decorating one of the walls.

Sidenote: The funniest/weirdest part of this contest so far has been the two comments that strangers posted immediately after the entry went live. Someone posted the opening lyrics to the Three's Company theme song ("Come and knock on our door...") and then a second person mentioned that they were just about to do that. This is noteworthy for three reasons:

1. I was obsessed with Three's Company as a kid and am now questioning whether or not my whole decorating scheme subconsciously comes from that show.
2. Without knowing this, Ryan always sings either the opening line to the Three's Company theme song or sings other things to the tune of it and therefore it is Stuck. In. My. Head. Constantly. 
3. We live down the street from a bar called The Reagle Beagle... 

The rooms with the most votes move on to the finalist round. Go check out the rest of the pictures on Apartment Therapy and PLEASE VOTE TODAY!!!!!

Scenes From My Weekend

1. Picked up the art print in the top right corner at the Little Italy Mercato on Saturday. Think this wall is finally complete!
2. For some reason this spray-painted AC unit in our neighborhood always makes me smile.
3. Walking through my neighborhood.
4. I've been meaning to check out this Little Italy art gallery for YEARS and I finally wandered up here on Saturday morning. It's the Grant Pecoff Studios above Landini's Pizza and the art was gorgeous.
5. Pretty Farmer's Market flowers.
6. More to come on this later but Sunday we spent the afternoon in La Jolla doing something I've only ever daydreamed about my entire life: I finally started learning to surf. My classmate Ian and I on the left and me and our hot instructor on the right.

Bedroom Makeover

I've finally recovered enough from our 4th of July festivities to get back in the swing of things! Phew, was this Independence Day a rough one. A lot of fun was had for sure - we had friends in town and a fantastic BBQ to go to, but I more or less supernova-ed from red wine and Fireball shots and went to sleep right after the fireworks. It took pizza AND grilled cheese to revive me yesterday.

A few posts will come out of this wonderful long weekend, including a recipe for the No-Mayo Potato Salad I entered in our friends' annual potato salad competition, but first up, I am happy to finally share the finished pictures from our bedroom makeover! Ryan and I painted the room a shade of turquoise this past weekend, hung up some curtains and threw on a new duvet cover and it has made such a difference. We still need to get some stuff on the walls but painting was a huge first step! The bedroom has sort of taken a back seat to decorating the kitchen and the living over the past year and I'm so relieved to feel like we've finally put an effort into it.

duvet cover, shams, grey pillow, curtains: urban outfitters // mid-century dresser: rusty gold vintage // nightstand, window frame, vintage hat rack: thrifted around san diego // bedskirt: anthropologie // turkish bath towel runner: bathtowel // lamp, mirror: ikea // rug: target

Happy July!

I can't believe it's July already - June just flew by! After kicking it off with the marathon, the rest of the month was pretty crazy. But it ended with a great and jam-packed weekend. Friday night we had a bonfire and mini-picnic at the beach and watched the SeaWorld fireworks. I made a yummy quinoa salad with red onions, heirloom tomatoes, feta and a balsamic dressing that I can't wait to post the recipe for.

Saturday we went to Coronado beach for a little while and got some frisbee time in. Playing frisbee in the surf is one of my favorite things to do in San Diego during the summer. It reminds me of my first summer here when that was all we did, literally almost every day. I also started a new book on the beach that is mind-blowingly bad. It's a self-published book by a marginally famous internet and TV personality and I can't help but be shocked at how terrible it is. After the beach, we went to see The Bling Ring in a hot theater because apparently air-conditioning is no longer included in ticket prices.

And then yesterday, as you can see in the video above, we painted our bedroom. All day. After we put a couple of final touches on it, I'll post pics of the remodel. I can't wait to get home today and put everything back in our bedroom!

PS - Motivation Monday will be back .... eventually. :)

Making a Curtain Call

I have a major problem.

I've wanted these vintage orange honeycomb curtains from La Gypsy Yaya for months. And I've been wanting to switch out the living room curtains (above, left) for months. This past Sunday I finally went for it and bought them. When I picked them up today, I almost tore the box open (and by almost, I mean I totally did). 

The curtains are GORGEOUS in person.Everything I dreamed they would be. I love the way light filters in through gauzy vintage curtains like these. But something is wrong. I don't know if its the white voile curtains behind them (that are necessary so everyone stumbling out of the bar all night can't see directly into our living room), the curtain rod, the orange on peach walls, the fact that they're on the rod via the rod pocket (maybe I'm too used to hanging curtains - should I get curtain rings for them?), the center panel and/or lackthereof, the way they lie flat, I... don't... know. What I do know is that something's off and I'm too OCD about stuff like this to let it go. Did I mention I really like these curtains? How do I make them work? 

Help!!!

Talavera Plates

source: 1

In my kitchen, we only have two plates. Seriously. There's plastic and paper plates for quick snacks and parties, but there are only two dinner plates from Anthropologie. The reason that I've been so lazy about buying more dinnerware is because I want an eclectic, durable collection of bright and unique patterned plates. Also, I never want to have more than two that match.

I'm not in a rush to find them - I want to only get ones that I love. And for years I didn't know there was a term to describe my favorite type of plate. That is until today when I stumbled upon the word on (where else?), Pinterest: Talavera plates. They are gorgeous and unsurprisingly, super expensive, at least online. So if you know where to get them for cheap, please share!

Pro tip: You can find these plates a lot easier if you google "Talavera plates" instead of "mexican-y dishes." #learnfrommymistakes

Inspiration: Surf Store Decor

ola para siempre, queensland, australia | source: 1 

A LOT of the inspiration I have for interiors comes from the way surf shops are styled. The entire 60s coastal boho vibe is exactly what I hope to do with our space at home. I love natural wood accents like crate displays or exposed beams. I love vintage surf photos and other ocean-themed art. I love the incorporation of plants and the contrast of colors. Whether it's meant to feel cozy and eclectic or laidback and minimalist, I am always inspired by the detail that goes into these stores. West coast to east coast and beyond, here are some images from surf shops that have inspired me lately!

surf bazaar, montauk, ny | source: 1

seaworthy surf, carlsbad, ca | source: 1

mollusk surf shop, venice beach | source: 1

drifter, bali, indonesia | source: 1

My Summer To-Do List

Brewer, Banjo, and their friend Barkley during our group picnic in Balboa Park //  Ryan and I aboard The Privateer //  Common dolphins during our sunset cruise // A DIY success! Painted the pot, macrame-ed the hanger and install a ceiling hook for our Goldfish Plant // 3D tiger art made entirely out of beer bottle caps on exhibit at Gelato Vero // Post-marathon BBQ in the backyard :)

I still can't believe it's June already! It's been a beautiful, busy spring so far in San Diego and even though I've been mostly tied up in training, work, and school, we've still managed to fit in quite a bit of fun stuff: a Devendra Banhart concert, a sunset cruise around the Bay, watching all four seasons of Arrested Development (well, almost - a few episodes to go!), a couple of home improvement projects, some BBQs, some disc golf, a little dog beach, a little dog park, a picnic at Balboa and lots of froyo runs in place of bar nights. Now with the marathon out of the way and my class winding up, summer is almost here and I'm ready to make the most of it!

My ever-growing summer to-do list is in addition to my overall 2013 goals, most of which are still in progress. These are the things that have come up throughout the first half of the year or that are summer-specific.

1. Bedroom remodel! Time to settle on a shade of turquoise and start painting! Bedroom remodel post here!
2. Spend a lot more time in the hammock. 
3. Ride bikes down to the bay and have a bonfire picnic. 
4. Run at least 1 half marathon (any suggestions in SoCal?).
5. Raise $1500 of my $2300 3-Day fundraising goal. 
6. Cook 1-2 new dinners each week. 
7. Bikram my butt off until I've lost 8lbs.
8. Go camping at San Onofre with the dogs.
9. Day trip to San Clemente. 
10. Get the @SanBriego follower count up to 1,000! Done! Broke 1,000 on 7/18/2013!!

What are your plans for the summer?

Styling 400 Square Feet

Much to my dismay, I learned a little too late about Apartment Therapy's Small Cool 2013 contest to enter. The annual contest is for people with homes under 1000 sq. feet and there are five divisions: Teeny-Tiny (<400), Tiny, (<600), Little (<800), Small (<1000) and International (<1000). When I heard about the contest I knew our little bungalow would meet the size requirement, but we had no idea how many square feet it was until we measured it. As it turned out, we have 340 sq ft of "livable" space and the whole place only measures about 390 externally! Still, somehow, it never feels teeny-tiny to me!

As of today, there are about 28 entries in our category (<400), and there are definitely a lot of boring similarities. Chevron plays a part in multiple entries which seems counter-intuitive to me because I feel like it creates chaos and makes a space feel smaller. Ikea furniture and fixtures popped up in many of the entries, as is to be expected I suppose since Ikea's target audience is people with small, temporary living situations. Chalkboard is pretty popular in kitchens and offices. And a lot of popular prints, such as the For Like Ever poster showed up in several entries. After viewing all 28, I honestly think that our place is the coolest of small spaces! But since I was too late to enter The Sunset House this year, I thought I'd share some of my favorites from the Teeny Tiny category.

"Stephanie's Best Year Yet"

I'm normally not a fan of white walls, but when walls have as beautiful paneling as Stephanie's, I'm willing to make an exception. I love that she makes up for it with such bright pops of color. Especially the "For Like Ever" poster that keeps popping up on blogs these days. Turns out you can get it from Super Rural for, like, $60 bucks.

"Leah's Comic Strip Style"

The rest of Leah's apartment is not quite my style, but this sunny dining room section is right up my alley. I love breezy, cozy areas in homes, one where you could have a bunch of people sitting around but not feel cramped.

"Christopher's Non-Negotiables" 

Christopher's apartment in West Hollywood is kind of bold and dark, but what I like about it is how unique it is. It definitely has a personality of its own and you can see that every piece was selected with care. I love when apartments as eclectic as his. It seems to give the space energy.

"Kathryn's Tucked-Away Treasure"

The room I love most in Kathryn's apartment is the kitchen. I have the same idea as she does, to collect colorful pots and cookware to display on the wall, and I'm in the midst of that now. I LOVE her cupboards, the wood with open shelving so you can display pretty dishes. And last but not least, I'm a fan of all their houseplants. I hope to eventually have a number in our kitchen as well.

Of course, entries like this completely remodeled Airstream mobile home and this handbuilt house deserve the majority of the votes since the monetary prize that comes with winning the contest could help them out a lot more than any of the rentals that entered. Which one is your favorite? How many square feet do you have?

DIY: Making An Entrance

Ever since I came across the Hello Sunshine Pallet Art by Holly at Life as a Thrifter on Pinterest, I've been in love with the idea of incorporating it in our home (which, fittingly, is nicknamed The Sunset House). With two dogs always running in and out and the beautiful San Diego weather year round, we almost always have our front door open. And as someone who is obsessed with color, having that much unused white wall space inside the living room was starting to bug me. I decided it would be the perfect place to paint a replica of the giant sun Holly created (and Michael before her).

Materials Needed

• 4 Sample Sizes of Behr Ultra Paint from Home Depot (the colors I used are "Rise and Shine," "Splendor Gold," "Sizzling Sunset," and "Bear Rug"). ($3/ea) 
• 4" Paint Roller ($3)
• 5-pack of 4" Foam Roller Covers ($10)
• 4 Plastic 9" Roller Tray liners ($1/ea)
• 4 1" Foam Paint Brushes ($0.20/ea)
• 1" Frog Tape ($6)
• Pencil

The list of materials above is not quite the list that I used, but rather the list I would have used if I could do it over again. For instance, instead of using a lead pencil to stencil out the lines, I used a charcoal pencil, which kept getting picked up by and mixing in with the paint. I bought two yellows, which were indiscernible when finished, so one sample size of yellow would have been enough. All in all, you can purchase the necessary materials for under $40. 

The first step was to protect the fixtures with Frog Tape. Then I stenciled the design using Holly's sun as a guide. Having read Michael's post, I remembered that he'd made a good point about painting the dark lines last, instead of painting them first and putting tape on them to protect them. I made sure to do the same, painting the stencil with the lightest colors first. 

When it was time to paint the darker lines, I asked Ryan for his help. He is not only taller than I am, but infinitely more patient, in projects like this and in life in general. He finished the project with beautiful, perfectly straight lines. :)



The whole mural took about 3 hours to complete from start to finish. It was such a cheap, easy Sunday project and it has made a huge difference in our home already! For the past couple of days, seeing the door when I pull into the driveway puts such a huge smile on my face. Most importantly, it's welcoming and happy, which is exactly how I want our guests to feel when they stop by!