Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day has been one of my favorite 'holidays' since I was knee-high on a grasshopper. One of my most vivid memories prior to age seven is running around a field with my Girl Scout troop, planting trees to earn our Earth Day patches. I was more than a little upset we couldn't do all of the Earth Day activities, but trees were good too.

As an adult, the Earth Day festival in St. Louis is on a weekend, and working retail doesn't allow me to participate. It's a bummer, but we can't stay Girl Scouts forever. 

Google likes to celebrate everyone's favorite holidays with their dope Google Doodles. I never realized how much I look forward to seeing what they've come up with, until I was cruising around my social media channels today. Google is one of the most amazing, awe-inspiring companies, and their daily artwork is a part of that.

Today, there is a series of five images celebrating Earth Day, and they are equally adorable.

And you already saw the elephant one at the top!

What's your favorite? I love two. The little fox guy because he reminds me of Rocco for some reason, and my love for elephants has never wavered.

Today I will remember my recycled grocery bag for shopping, switch my remaining bills to e-statements, peek in on our garden Bradley started last week, set up our compost, and continue to do the other little things we do every day. We've switched over most of our light bulbs, we recycle, take short showers, all of the small steps.

So Google up some ideas and tips for greener living, take joy in the doodles, and go on to make the Earth a better place today than you did yesterday!

Where I Talk About My Fat

I’m not extremely overweight. I’m definitely not underweight. My BMI points to everything being average and normal, whatever that really means.

I’ve talked before about working out and being more active and losing weight. Here’s the thing: I absolutely want to be more active and healthy, but I’m starting to care less and less about weight.

At one point, at 5'10", I was 118 pounds. That's not a weight that looks good on my frame. It might look great on yours, and that's awesome. On me, it looks like a problem. And even then, at a size 2, it wasn't skinny enough for me. I still saw my thighs as too big, and thought my stomach could still be flatter (somehow).

Every ounce of myself now, I have earned. Some of my fat comes from dinners cooked by my chef boyfriend with a delicious glass (or two) wine. A little fat comes from saying yes to fresh bread. Some of it comes from having cocktails with friends, and some of it shows the nights I spend watching movies in bed with B eating home-popped corn. Some of my muscle comes from dancing all night, and some of it comes from carrying DJ gear. 

Right now, I’m not skinny.

But I like the way my bras feel, and I like that my legs can charge forward on an elliptical like nobody’s business. I love the curve of my hips and that my arms are strong enough to lift my PA speakers onto their stands. If I want the ice cream, I eat the damn ice cream. I like cheese on my salad. I love that I can do 50 crunches no problem. I have a little tummy pooch, and one day, it will carry children who will become citizens of our world.

While I will keep striving to be more active, I don’t want to lose weight. I’m tired of feeling like I should want to lose weight, when I really don’t. My body is capable of really awesome things, and my mind is capable of infinitely more.

I realized all of this recently, and I'm slowly making changes in how I look at myself. It's almost swimsuit season, and instead of finding one to fit into, I just... found one that fits me. As I am. No calorie counting, no watching the numbers of the scale obsessively.

I now look at how a dress fits me, rather than look at the label. Is it an 8? Cool! Is it a 14? Cool! Do I like it and feel good in it? That's what matters.

A six pack and protruding ribs is perfectly fine if that’s what you want, but it’s just not what is most important to me. Are you naturally skinny? You're perfect and beautiful too. 

Experience and joy are far more valuable to me than being something I'm not.

snaps

One aspect of the blog I've kind of neglected is photography. It's a hobby I used to dabble in quite a bit when I was younger, and I learned a lot from my parents who are professionals. These days, I mostly find myself armed only with my camera phone, but I'm trying not to let that change how I view photography. Instead of only taking snaps of cocktails and friends at parties, I'm starting to incorporate more of my 'vision' by (slightly) curating my Instagram (http://www.instagram.com/brittbrowers). These snaps are over the last couple weeks, including a trip back home to Oklahoma to attend a family wedding and see my Momma. This is an inaugural 'photography' post, so it's mostly just bits and pieces of life lately. In the future, it'll include photography not found on my Instagram, and depth into my old hobby, rather than just 'what's been going on'.

Please leave a link below in the comments to your blog or Instagram page! In an effort to pay more attention to my personal creativity in the future, I want to be a part of the creative community!  Not only do I want to share what I'm up to lately, I genuinely want to know what you're up to as well.

We've got the fire pit going in our backyard!

Chair of isolation (also, I take my breaks at work here.)

Pies outside of Davis, OK.

This little guy was super cute and made friends with Bradley.

Going back home was amazing. You can never really go back, but you can get pretty darn close.

diy no-sew grocery bag

I apologize for the crap pictures in advance.  I got excited and wanted to share this, so I wasn't very professional. 

When you don't have a lot of extraneous income, every little bit counts. When you have a large wardrobe, anything you can get rid of helps. Enter one stone, two birds, you're pickin' up what I'm puttin' down.

We all have a ton of those promotional t-shirts laying around, or maybe even old tops from your favorite band in high school. Ya know, the shirt you never wear, but you can't bear to toss. And I know you are like me, and want to bring reusable bags when you go to the grocery store, but aren't about to shell out $5 for some fancy plastic-y one.

Grocery bags out of t-shirts! That's it! That's the solution!

I saw this DIY on the web, and needed to share it with y'all.

Step One: Get a tshirt. Find some scissors. 

Oh, it's wrinkly? Do you need for your grocery bags to be starched and pressed? Ok. Let's move on.

Step Two: Cut out the neck. I ended up cutting it a little deeper than you see here, because I underestimated the size of my shoulders.

Step Three: Cut a sleeve off, from shoulder to armpit. Be sure to leave a hefty amount of fabric like you see above, 'cause that's  a handle!

Step Four: Do it to the other side. Boom, two handles.

*Keep in mind NOT to cut along the shoulder seam. Leave that in tact, like if you were cutting up a tee for a tank top.*

Step Five: Cut little fringies along the bottom hem, like you did for spirit week in high school. 

:::Step Five and a Half: If you want the design on the tee on the *OUTSIDE* of your bag, turn it inside out here.:::

I wanted this one hidden, so I just left it right side out.

Step Six: Tie the little pieces that are across from each other. Make sure to double knot! Groceries are heavy. It'll end up kinda bunchy, and that's perfect.

Step Seven: See all your ties lined up next to each other? See 'em? Got 'em?

Step Eight: Tie the side-by-side ones together. For extra security, you know. Don't forget to double knot these ones too.

Turn your back inside out so the knots are on the inside, then take your bag shopping with you! Something spills? Just toss it in the wash. 

I'm making a bunch of these to keep in the back of my trunk for groceries, picnics, all kinds of stuff.

Gonna try this? Wanna see more easy DIY? Let me know what you think!

back at it again

It's been over a month since I last posted. I'm kicking back in with a pseudo-style post.

Not going to lie, the job adjustment has been hard. My depression has been creeping back in, but I'm finally on the upswing.

Depression is something I'm pretty open about, because why shouldn't I be? Some people have spring allergies, some people have stomach problems, I happen to have depression. Sometimes we're close friends spending a few weeks together at a time. Other times it's more of a long distance relationship, where we check in with each other, but I don't have to deal with it's self-absorbed and whiney personality.

It's currently packing it's bags, but trying to change it's plane ticket so it can stick around a little longer. Luckily, it's just not working out in it's favor.

If you can relate, you have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. You need to know that.

You are not required to be open and cavalier about it, but you don't have to be embarrassed by it.

So, there's an explanation of why it's a little quiet around here. I have said in the past 'I'm so busy!' or another excuse, but there is no other reason. I honestly just haven't felt up to it.

But, I'm wearing real pants again, and sometimes even put on lipstick. And this post is to celebrate that. Ha!

I hope I didn't alienate my friends who read this for the home inspo or outfit posts. The whole idea with this blog is to talk about life and where you live it. Well, sometimes you live in a weird shadowy place.

However, I'm ready to get back on track, and start posting regularly again. I've been feeling creative, and can't wait to share my ideas with y'all. Especially since my vocational status readjustment (sound better?), I've been DIYing up a storm.

Special shout out to my homies H&M for making long inseams on their denim, so holey jeans hit me on my knees and not mid-thigh!

what to do when you lose your job

When you experience a 'status change' at your place of employment, a lot goes through your mind. I don't wish it on anybody. I've had time to digest my new non-performance-based status change from an assistant shop manager, to a part time sales associate. It went from 'OH SHIT what do I do?' to thinking about all of the possibilities.

Timing really could not have been worse, as I leave for New York Fashion Week in about 24 hours, and no one wants to hire someone in January. But off I go to clear my head in the Big Apple while I DJ events, and content will turn to a more positive place after that.

For right now, here are all the things I can do with my new found free time!

• finally organize my closet
• blog!
• go back to school
• go to taxidermy school (something I've thought about doing, but never had the time)
• start exercising regularly
• see how much wine I can drink in 24 hours
• paint
• shower my little puppy in love and belly rubs
• DJ more events
• read a book
• write a book
• write a screenplay
• perfect my Blackjack skills
• clear out my 31,305 unread emails in my inbox
• cook every single meal
• get really really good at playing darts

Can you think of anything else I should do while I do the job search dance?

patio dreamin'

A collection of inspiration photos, and a 'vision board' are all I can really do right now, being that it's early February. But the chilly air won't keep me from dreaming!

We love to entertain and people tend to just drop by the house on occasion. I want to be sure we're taking advantage of every single beautiful day that will be more of a regular occurrence here in St. Louis pretty soon. Being outside is one of my favorite things, and life gets so busy it's hard to find time for picnics or hikes. My solution to this is to attempt a small back yard oasis for the little moments in between the craziness.

We have a modest backyard behind our rented home. There is no lake, no fancy gazebo. But we have projects in mind, just a few small ways we can make it our own.

First up, the fire pit. We found a metal one ridiculously cheap during the pre-holiday season sales. Bradley's going to build up around it with some bricks, so it looks a little more permanent.  During our thrifting adventures, we've been keeping an eye out for outdoor furniture. I wouldn't mind refinishing and painting a set, but we haven't found anything we like yet. Fingers crossed we can find something before spring sets in! 

String lights, lanterns and patterned pillows will tie together our little outdoor bohemian spot. Succulents are going to be key plants in our backyard space, as I have a hard time remembering to take care of plants. Low water i.e. maintenance is the way to go for me!

While most things in this vision board are expensive, as I've previously mentioned, we'll be DIYing everything. Rarely do we purchase anything 'new', so I'm interested to see what we can come up with!

patio by denvy featuring garden decor

listen//coast modern

Keeping short and sweet, but I had to share with y'all. Here is a band to keep an ear out for, because this is cool.

Luke Atlas and Coleman Trapp, known as Coast Modern, hail from the west coast, and it shows in their chill, yet angsty, sound. It almost sounds to me as if Cage the Elephant had a baby with Santigold. Hollow Life is the first single they've released, in September 2015, but I can't wait to hear more. I'm a little late to the party, but better late than never. I've also been furiously searching for future tour dates, with crossed fingers they'll make an appearance in St. Louis, but no such luck yet.

You can find them on Facebook here, and on Twitter here. 

wear it - one

My very first outfit post!

What you wear is a part of lifestyle. Your home, your outfit, it all tells a little bit of the story that is you.

This vintage Morrison hat, the Ray Bans, and the vintage military jacket both found me through Avalon Exchange, the local buy-sell-trade shop. I worked there for almost two years, and it became such a big part of my life. My job was to treasure hunt, and maintain those gems. The other people who worked there became my family (I still talk to everyone!) and the shop was like my second living room. 

The black and white shirt belongs to Lindsay, my best friend. After a cozy night in and a little too much bourbon, I couldn't find my favorite flannel anywhere in her apartment, and I got the sads. She let me borrow her favorite Forever 21 Men shirt. And er, I still have it. Sorry Linds!

My pants and tank/bra are Kit + Ace. I started working for K+A this last year, and it's been life changing for a multitude of reasons. It's been such an amazing opportunity, and I'm learning so much every day.

Project Dining Room: Slowly, but surely

Most good things take time. They take patience. But these chairs didn't!

We invited two couples over for dinner one weekend, and then realized we had six people coming and only five chairs. Not only did we have five chairs, they were five chairs we just weren't crazy about. Great chairs, given to us with the table, just not our style. And now, we had to get new ones. 

Bradley and I had the day off together prior to our little dinner party. We thought we'dcheck a couple thrift stores, for shits and giggles, but figured we'd probably have to hit up Ikea or Target.

St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store is a major hit-or-miss. We decided to pop in and cruise around. Lo and behold, this chair. And then three more. And then another two on the other side of the furniture section. Super 70's, cobalt upholstered seats, and in beautiful near-perfect condition. That morning, they had been marked from $15 a chair, to $8. And we got them for $40 total, since we were able to take them immediately from the store!

Next up: new dining room table. The hunt is on. 

2015/2016

2015 has been a whirlwind, in the best way. We moved from our first apartment into our first house. Both Bradley and I got new and amazing jobs. Our first vacation was a cool road trip to Asheville, and we spent Independence Day camping on the river. 2015 was a sweet sweet year. And now, to set myself up for 2016.

Every year I do this.

Every year, I set some kind of ridiculous goals, knowing fully how busy and committed I am. I set goals that I can not accomplish.

This past year, I've learned a lot about intentions. Intentions are like goals, but they are real. They are measurable. Intentions are something you intend to do, not something you hope you accomplish.

2016

1. Go on vacation with Bradley at least once. - I will even include stay-cation in this one.
2. Have a proper 'date night' at least once a month. - Does not include pool, bars, etc. Must dress up, must eat dinner.
3. Be active for at least 15 minutes every day. - Dancing, jumping jacks, jogging, really anything.
4. Get house organized and fully unpacked. - EVEN BASEMENT. We moved in right before holiday season, ok guys?
5. Quit smoking - I've failed the last two years. I'm ready to change now.
6. Get my passport.
7. Post at least once a week.
8. Bradley and I begin and follow through with cooking through a cookbook (more to come on that one!)
9. Get my wardrobe down to 50 core pieces. - Some exceptions will be made for costumes/dj clothes ; )
10. Bring my lunch to work every day for the month of January.
11. Set up a budget
12. Organize my calendar/set cleaning times

So there you have it. No sweeping declarations, no lofty goals. Just a few simple things I really want to do this year that I don't always do. It seems these days most people scoff at New Years Resolutions, but any reason for a 'fresh start' is a good one. Whether you choose to make your fresh start on a new year, a new week, a new day or even just 20 minutes from now, you can. You can begin again.

Goals

Dining Room Inspo by denvy featuring word wall art

This is part two of my previous post. Dining room goals.

Mismatched chairs, hide rug, gallery wall and Real Talk Questions from Kit + Ace on the table. As I said in the previous post, we already have some of these pieces. We just need to set aside a day to shuffle everything around!

Why the sudden urgency surrounding decorating a dining room? Bradley has a cookbook that we've decided to start cooking our way through. A meal a day is a pretty lofty goal for us since we work so much and have opposite schedules, but we're gonna give it a shot. And soon we'll have a beautiful space to enjoy it in! I'm really looking forward to sharing food and recipes soon!

Inspiration: Dining Room

We don't have a living room. I mean we do, but it's in the basement, and it's kind of last on our priorities. We don't even know if it will stay down there.

Bradley, my boyfriend, is a chef. I like to get down in the kitchen as well. We love to make stuff for other people. This led to us deciding our entire first-floor-front-room is just a dining room. I've gotta say, we really do sit down at the table more. When someone comes to visit, there isn't a television in sight. The snacks are out, the wine flows, and conversation is king.

Now that we're getting settled, I'm starting to gather inspiration. I hope to grab snaps tomorrow morning so I can show you before/after side by side. We are renting our house, so we can't make any huge changes. Oh, do I love a challenge.

Here are some clips from various corners of the web that I'm keeping in the back of my mind. A big table is a must. Our mid-century furniture has to stay. Should a rug go under the table or not? We'll see.

In photo number one up there, I love the simplicity, the small touches, and that it's still cozy. It's a good holiday look without being Christmas-y. I always overdo it on the Christmas.

source here

Love the mixed chairs, the hide rug (we've already got one!) and THAT. BOOKSHELF.

source here

We're working on a gallery wall of our own, and I do like the rug centered under the table.

source here

A BENCH! A 'built in' bench! Thank goodness Bradley is looking for another woodworking project...

I'm so excited to get started on projects. We don't have much free time around here, but I'm looking forward to spending it on making a house our home.

Weird Food Stuff

We all know someone who eats ketchup on their mac & cheese or honey and ham sandwiches. I don't have too many food quirks, but we have... discovered... some things. Feel free to try any of them and get back to me on how I dramatically changed your eating habits and life for the better.

• Garden Salsa Sun Chips dipped in Greek yogurt (credit to Bradley on this one)
• Taco Bell Mild sauce on scrambled eggs
• brown gravy over white rice (thanks to Hawaii for this one!)
• Cran-Apple juice and Sprite
• toast with olive oil, cracked pepper, salt and feta on top
• crumbled BBQ chips on salad instead of croutons
• strawberry jam on ham and cheese sandwiches
• salty potato chips with Nutella
• strawberries with sour cream and brown sugar (thanks to a past boss, Carrie!)

Thoughts? Got any awesome food combos you're proud of?

No Gift Guides

No gift guides around here, folks. While I love a well curated and practical gift guide, it just wouldn't be real. Why? Bradley and I aren't exchanging gifts this year.

It sounds scrooge-y, but in reality, we just don't need personal junk and we do need household junk. Instead of agonizing over what to get each other, just to spend way too much money, we've decided on a couple big ticket items. A Kitchen-Aid mixer, an awesome record/book shelf from Ikea, and maybe a few new power tools will make us feel cheery and bright.

Does this take the anticipation out of Christmas morning? Are we going to regret not having surprises for each other? Honestly, I'm not sure. Maybe. It's easy to get caught up in the 'stuff' of the holidays, from Black Friday sales to stocking stuffers. Everyone succumbs to the 'stuff', at least a little bit.

In fact, we did some Black Friday shopping. We bought a fire pit we had eyes on for awhile, and a taller Christmas tree to accommodate our house, both from Lowe's. Slightly more tame than the rabid stampedes you see for electronics after turkey day.

We figure we'll have saved a little money, have things we will definitely use and still get to spend an entire day together (probably cooking stuff with our badass new mixer).

Thoughts on gifts? Just love giving surprises too much to let it go?

Morning Routines

I've never been one for morning routines. I'm typically a 'get up ten minutes before I have to leave, brush my teeth and run out the door' kind of person. A combination of late DJ nights, early-ish work days and laziness contribute to this.

Tis the season when the dreary, stay-inside weather can get to a person, and you never seem to *wake up*, especially if you greet the day with only moments of preparation. Does anyone else get like this? Where you kind of have to gear up for battle every day during the winter? And it's not as if I dislike the winter! I love it. But... it does  make me want to sleep for approximately 17 hours of every day.

So, from here on out, I vow to get up just a little earlier. Get my morning coffee in, and not from a drive-thru. Do some squats and crunches, maybe even bundle up and take a walk around the neighborhood. Crack an egg and scramble it up. Start my day out cruising Bloglovin'.

Any must-do's on your morning routine list? Or are you more of a running-out-the-door-with-your-hair-on-fire kinda person?

Ukulele For Dummies

I've been trying to pick up some of my better older habits again, and playing music is one of them. While I was living in Hawaii, I learned to play ukulele and loved it. I kept up with it for awhile after coming back to the mainland, but it soon fell off of the long to-do list. Trying to get back at it isn't easy, but it will be well worth it. It's a stress relief and takes me back to a really awesome experience in my life.

Wanna learn?

Ukulele by denvy featuring 3 pc wall art

You are not a dummy. But if you were, you would want these basic things to start out. First, an ukulele. Since you're just starting out, and you might not want to commit right away, you can always head here. What I really truly recommend doing is committing right away, and get a hand crafted Hawaii-made one, maybe from here!

Ukulele For Dummies will probably help you out, even though you are not a dummy. Disclaimer: I took classes, I did not use this. But it should get you started.

Felt picks! Helps produce a great sound on your little nylon strings, no 'clicking' and protects the wood on your beautiful new treasure, because we all get a little enthusiastic sometimes. (Or you can just strum it with your finger.)

A case is a must. There are soft 'gig bags', but I just don't like 'em. I like to put my ukulele away when I'm not playing or put it in the trunk if I'm going somewhere, so a hard case is what's up. And get a cute one like this if you like cute things. 

If you're not sure whether you have an ear for pitch yet, maybe think about a tuner? Ya know, so your dog doesn't howl or hide under the coffee table. These ones look pretty dope and they're cheap.

If you walk away from reading this a little inspired to try out the uke, I will be happy. If you walk away from reading this inspired to pick up any new instrument, I will be very happy. Do you play a different instrument? Let me know! Maybe you can skype teach me!

DIY: Knitting

One of my favorite things to do is knit. I needed a new scarf for the winter (and maybe for a few gifts...) so I got down to business. Why spend $50 on a scarf when you can spend $10 on yarn and a billion hours on working your little fingers to the bone? Just kidding, this one only took me about 6 hours in total or two and a half days worth of television watching and record listening, if you're into conversions.

I'm not going to give you step by step instructions because there's a huge world wide web that already wants to tell you how to knit the fanciest of sweaters. I WILL tell you though, that to cut my work in half and double up on coziness, I took two colors of yarn, tied the ends together, and sort of twisted it into one big yarn as I went. Not ready for that? Here are some great beginner guides.

Do you learn best from an adorable girl wearing snowflake earrings? Then this is your jam.

Do you just comprehend a little bit better when it's British? Try this one.

Do you hate videos and just want to read how to do something in your own voice? Here you go!

Queen of DIY: Knitting for Beginners

*Bookmark that page for later reference anyway. If your experience is anything like mine, you WILL forget how to cast on and bind from time to time. You'll need to jog your memory a little, but will want to skip ahead to the specific... er, obstacle.

Do you already knit? Have you been wanting to learn? I want to start getting into patterns!

why denvious?

I left my old blogging home over at lace & dagger to pursue something a little different. While at one point fashion was my main focus, I've now moved into a house with a wonderful man, a scrappy little puppy and a little more space. Creating and maintaining an authentic, relaxing and fulfilling lifestyle is now my jam. What does that mean? I want to share photography, recipes, DIY projects, music I get down to, new companies I believe in and everything in between. Yeah, I still love shoes and a great thrifting score, but I'm making an effort to be more present in all aspects. Where does denvious come in? I still seek inspiration from all corners of the world (and web) and sometimes... I get a little envious of other people's dens. Their nests. The surroundings that shape and reflect a person and their day to day life. I know you get a little denvious from time to time too. Cheers to making our own spaces a little denvious!

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