I desperately want to get a puppy, but my better judgement quickly replies "Are you friggin' insane, Kirsten??" Let's be real....I don't have the space, money, or mommy skills right now.  Not to worry, though...I found a fluffy and awesome alternative that doesn't shed (hopefully) and won't pee on our rug. It's the Mongolian lamb bench from Jonathan Adler. 'Atta boy.

 So so so so so in love with the barrage of spring goodies that just arrived at Steven Alan. That open back shirt with my fave color du jour - that beautiful persimmon hue - is the hotness right there. The yellow shorts kind of need to be on my bum this minute, and the Hawaii bikini? So perf.

Texas = scorching hot summers. Scorching hot summers = shorts. My closet = 2 pairs of shorts. To make amends with this little fashion dilemma, I needed to stock up (and quickly) since the temps are already in the 'it feels like summer, and hell no I am not going to wear pants' zone.

I headed to the thrift store and bought 2 pairs of absolutely heinous tapered-leg mom jeans. When I tried them on, I had about a 5 minute gigglefest. Literally. I gave myself a budget of $10, and came flying in at $4.83 for both pairs. Hurrah!! When I got home, I made some preliminary chops and got the fit somewhere in the ballpark of where I wanted it to be. I like to cut my shorts a little longer and fold them up, but the fray situation might get a little OOC. Who knows. Can always cut more later on. After I cut them, I crinkled them up into a little ball and tied it off with twine.

Here's your que to go change into some ratty clothes, because I don't want to get my rear end kicked because someone got bleach all over their J.Brands. Cool? Ok. Onward we march. Put your little denim ball in a bowl and make a 50/50 bleach-water solution. I ran out of bleach and couldn't fill it to the top, so in that case, just use tongs to rotate the jeans around so they get evenly dyed. Really nice jeans will take about an hour to bleach out, but since there were el cheapo jeans from Old Navy Outlet and Ralph Lauren, I saw results in about 15-20 mins.  The jeans will lighten up after you wash them, so be careful not to overdo it on their bleach bath time. I also covered the bowl with a hotel shower cap so the bleach fumes wouldn't take over my apartment and singe my nostrils. It didn't really work that well, but hey, I tried. Word to the wise here: if you are doing 2 batches like I did, do the lighter denim first. The black denim started seeping this super bright orange/yellow dye and turned the bleach/water mixture yellow.

When you are done, carefully dump the bleach and jeans out into the sink. Cut the strings to reveal your tie dye masterpieces (my fave part!!!), and rinse with some water. Transfer (without dripping any bleachy water from the shorts onto the floor/carpet/basket of laundry like I did) to the washing machine. Wash and dry the shorts ALONE, and give yourself a high five over your rad new shorts that cost less than lunch at Torchy's Tacos!

Oh, and you can go ahead and ignore the fact that I took one of those photos in the bathroom. I'm all sorts of embarrassed over that. #photographyfail

I first wrote about A Peace Treaty in this post, and after digging a little deeper and visiting their site, my jaw dropped and I may nor may not have started drooling over their amazing collection of jewelry and scarves. The shark teeth rings and tribal pendant necklaces have stolen my heart!

 I have a lot of necklaces. It's true. Since tucking them away in a jewelry box meant navigating through a snarly scary mess of a knot, I started pinning my necklaces up on a hideous plain cork board.  After waking up morning after morning and seeing what was lurking behind my precious baubles, I decided it was time for some DIY prettification. I wasn't up for anything complicated, and wanted to use things I only had on hand (aka not spend any more dinero on one-off crafting items).
 The steps are pretty simple. I grabbed the spray paint primer and Krylon metallic gold spray paint I already had. I sprayed the whole board with the primer (even the cork...I don't know why I bothered to do that). 20 minutes later when it was dry, I used tacks to fasten a brown paper bag to the cork to protect it from the metallic spray paint. I gave it a few coats of the metallic paint, and let that dry for about 2 hours. I then ironed my ivory linen fabric, dumped tacky craft glue all over the cork, spread it around as fast as I could, and laid the fabric on top. After smoothing out any wrinkles, I used my fingers to make a nice crease at the edge and pressed firmly to make sure the fabric stuck. Then comes the waiting game for the glue to dry. Once that is done, use an x-acto knife to carefully trim to excess fabric away. Use a tool to help pry the little bits of fabric you couldn't cut under the frame so you don't see any fraying edges.
 Voila! There you have it....a gilded linen jewelry display board. Granted I took this photo when I only had about 1/8 of my collection pinned up.

1 // Mara Hoffman Tiki Underwire Cami Bikini  2 // Need Supply Co. Lizzy Dress  3 // D&G Sunglasses Aviator  4 // AG Neon Stevie Ankle  & Citizens Of Humanity Floral Thompson 5 // Bow Down Tank  6 // Levi’s Memento Scarf 7 // Madewell Colorblock Turnstile Tote 8 // Caudalie Beauty Elixir 9 // Tucker Smocked Collar Mini Dress 10 // Bubble Umbrella 11 // Boutique 9 Piraya Sandals  & Madewell Sunnyday Sandal 12 // Laced Tie Top  13 // Striped Sun Hat  14 // Studded Bracelet Set

Hey, y'all! I'm featured as the "Homie of the Day" over at Sister Disco on this fine Spring morning. I'm yapping all about what's on my sartorial wish list for Spring. I was super stoked when I got an email from Farrell at Sister Disco asking me to do a little post for the blog, because 1. it's an awesome blogeroo and 2. isn't that the most amazing, awesome, and cool column title? Sounds just like me. Now skedaddle on over to Sister Disco and check it out!

Thank you, Farrell and Sister Disco! xo

images courtesy the designer insider // lk designs "summer breeze" earrings // sincerely, jules

When conjuring up colors that remind me of warm weather, I always seem to come back to coral and turquoise. They just go together like peanut butter and jelly, Bert and Ernie, stripes and sequins. I suppose this summery color scheme was inspired by the recent weather here in Austin....83 degrees and sunny. I'm beginning to gather that March through May are what I'd consider 'summer months' in Texas.....since I've dubbed June through August (and part of September) the "fiery inferno of hell" months. Ughhhh dreading it. Perhaps John and I can just bounce for those months and head to Hawaii??? Argentina?? St. John??? In our dreamssss.

1. It's beautiful. The 'Zoid' console, designed by Meier/Ferrer, is completely awesome. White stone, brass, sleek geometric lines- it was love at first sight. I mean, I'm talking butterflies and sweaty palms love at first sight....followed by the earth shattering revelation that this console will probably never be mine. Not even when I politely ask it on Valentine's Day. Nope...totally out of my league. Why must you be so expensive? WHY, ZOID CONSOLE, WHY???

2. It speaks my language. I am all to familiar with the term "zoid"...but not for reasons involving really cool furniture. My fam is big on making up phrases and words (one of which just so happens to be this blog's namesake: "triple max tons to the rad squared"). With an ever-growing repertoire of slang words usually only said amongst us Powell people, "zoid" is usually heard alongside another Powell-ism, "pub nut." Both terms have the ability to equally make my stomach flip...they are what we call ZITS AND BLACKHEADS!!! HA!! Ewww.

Since I usually apply a lomo filter on all my point-and-shoot pics, I suppose I might as well start shooting with the real deal. These La Sardina cameras from Urban Outfitters definitely fit the bill....how friggin' cool are they?? LOVE.

{image courtesy a couple cooks // graphic elements by me}

{Left image courtesy Elle Magazine // Right image by me}

I have been meaning to share this frozen lime yogurt recipe with y'all after making it this last week, and there's no time like the present...especially since I am presently sitting smack dab in the middle of a desert. I have been craving this super easy-to-make chilled concoction like woah. I've got another bowl full of limes waiting to be squeezed and made into this amazing (and fairly guilt-free) treat when I get back to Austin. This time, I won't be skipping the graham cracker crust....nom nom nom.