oh christmas tree...

oh christmas tree from Courtney Brooke on Vimeo.

decided to make a video of me decorating our christmas tree.

video camera died in the middle of filming.

two days in a row.

gave up.

could have been a thousand times cuter... but this is what i got.

hope everyone had a fun christmas and new years!

cute crates

a fun little redo for you:

scored two cute crates at goodwill last week for $2 each!
i really wanted to distress them, and make them look a little more old & worn.


and i made it work!
all i had to use was silver car window paint, and a cotton ball to use as a paint brush.
it was a funny process, but i am so in love with the way it turned out!


went to ikea and got a few of my favorite plants ever... succulents!
they were about $2-3 each, and the silver tins we 75 cents. love me my ikea.
and then i placed them in my kitchen windowsill, they make me so happy!

a little tour.

welcome to my cozy apartment....
here are a few pics of my
"how to decorate for christmas with little money"

metal wreath frame: $2
yarn: about $6 with plenty left over
felt for flowers: $2.50 and still have enough left over to make 100 more!
ornaments: $.99 for a package of 4!

banner: $.99
2 tree ornaments: $.99

beaded garland: $.99
ornaments: $.99
already had cotton balls and string

left: front window display
beaded garland: $.99
already had snowflakes and paper for the paper chain
right: poinsettias
poinsettias: $.99 each - bought 3
milk glass vase: already had

my table centerpiece

top left: package of ornaments: $.99
top right: candlesticks: 2 for $.99 bought 6
bottom left: bird in glass: $2 from marshall's
(was supposed to be an ornament, but was broken)
bottom right: cotton balls: already had
glass jars: already had

right: vintage angel: $1.99

my christmas tree!
used all my leftover ornaments, cotton balls, and garland!

ta da!
and all of this for less than $30!
thank you 99 cent store and goodwill.
so worth it, and makes it feel a little more like christmas in this warm weather.

a playdate!

today i spent the morning with my niece, navi.
we crafted. played hide and go seek. sang christmas songs. and danced around my apt.
i feel so lucky i get to live so close to my niece, being an auntie really is the best!


painted a rocking horse ornament, and made a gingerbread man.


she kept knocking off the puff balls, and would say "oh, sorry gingerbread. i'm so sorry"
so stinkin cute!


monkey cheese for lunch.


helped her make this cute necklace.







she kept saying... "courty, don't takey picture!"
like that would stop me.
until next playdate...

did ya know?

i moved!
yep, no more blow up mattress bed.
no more sleeping in navi's room.
(i do miss her though)

i found a steal of a deal and snatched it up quick.
i moved in a few days before i headed out to utah for 2 weeks.
i have two roomies, one which i share a room with.
my place is adorable, maybe one day i'll post pictures.
but the thing i love most is finally having my own space,
and being able to decorate for holidays!
haven't been able to do this in a few years, and it's been killing me.

i've already started decorating, & i'll put pictures up when i'm finished.
but here is a little peek!


spent my night making paper chains, love it.


this is my table centerpiece. i might be a tad obsessed.

i promise to post more soon, once i figure out how to hang things. my cheap tape from the 99 cent store is not holding things up. i may have shattered a few ornaments. oops.

english bowling

while i was in ut for thanksgiving, we had a family bowling session.
with a twist.

please tell me you remember this day.

me and sis still love talking with our english accents and calling each other by our english names, so we made up names for the fam...

sophie, fatha, mum, oliver, charlie, olivia

got our pizza factory fix. mmm breadtwists. mmm pesto.

did brandon's famous pink flamingo bowl, since he couldn't be there.

this is the "after you bowl, flip around and do the blue steel" pose.

we had some mad strikes going on.

ollie even got a taa-key!

mum's on a bowling league, and since i'm a fool at bowling, she always tries to teach me a thing or two. this time it worked! it's a thanksgiving miracle, i bowled a 100!

that whole saturday was spent talking with an english accent, and was absolutely fabulous.

if only you could here mum's accent...

me & liv spent the night in tears laughing so hard.

birthday babe

happy birthday to my favorite little niece ever.

the cutest 2 year old i know!

happy halloweeeen

me & my niece navi at the trunk-or-treat.

to the grocery store! on a bike.

there is just something about grocery shopping with a cute basket that makes it that much more fun. only problem is you can't fit much.

double the fun

double the fun from Courtney Brooke on Vimeo.

a little video i made of my mom and auntie's birthday weekend in park city.
song is singing to the earth by apollo sunshine.

i'd be happy...

if i could do this on a daily basis when i grow old.

we would have probably became the best of friends
if i wasn't mid photoshoot with a family.

missing...

two things i am missing right now...

FALL.

the colors. the weather. the clothes you get to wear.

califonia has been at least 75 or higher. it hit a whopping 106 last week. as much as i do love the warmth, i want to bust out boots, and jackets, and tights! but it looks like it's finally starting to cool off, guess i should have taken advantage of the added summer bonus huh?

THRILLER.

it's killing me i can't go see thriller this year.

it's a yearly tradition for me to see it at least 2-3 times. at least!

i guess it's a good thing lil sis didn't try out this year, or else i would have probably hopped on a plane just to go to a show.

yes that is just how much i love it.

please go see it for me.

(remember when i won free tickets syb? so much fun! miss you!)

but i am more than happy to be living in CA.

how cute is my roomie?

love her.

finally, a post.

well, i made it. and i'm sorry i'm already off to a bad start on blogging. with no camera, it makes it easy to forget about blogging. but i just learned how to blog from my phone, best invention ever. so here's my past week documented from an iphone. enjoy!


took my bike apart, and it actually all fit in my car! yippy!

how do you keep yourself entertained on the drive? play the license plate game!

ahhh home.

view from my front door. doesn't get much better than that.

watched my first california sunset. well, as a california resident.

dance party. watch the funny thing navi does with her eyes when she spins in circles.

went and watched the waves at the wedge. definitely the first of many more wedge sessions to come.

i get to snuggle and hold this baby anytime. so much fun!!

went to fhe, met some new people, made some new friends, learned how to hula. it was all in all a fun time!

we've had a few sweet painting parties here. b+r have found some awesome furniture!

my cute new wallet, $10 from tj maxx. what a steal.

does anyone else remember this popcorn? i know me and karli were OBSESSED. the butter you pour on is delicious, well i haven't seen this popcorn in a store in many years, i was so happy when i discovered it at big lots the other day!

i can't tell you how excited i am to have my bike down here. today i rode to the cute little market half of a mile away to grab a few items. i was so giddy at the fact i can actually do that now!

park time with navi.

this girl makes me so happy.

taking a walk with the babe around the block.

so there is a general idea on what i've been up to! besides looking for jobs, filling out a million applications, attempting to be social, making friends, editing & emailing. i'll keep you posted when something new or exciting happens! miss you all!

goodbye utah.

how i spent my last week in utah...

hanging with the whole fam in park city.


dinner with carson, ash, shante, and cass!

not pictured: dinner with cass+sar, and breakfast with courtney!

also, had a bbq with my friends.
and only took 4 photos. who am i?

london, me, syb, jessie, cass
my bestest friends from high school minus sar.


my buds jaren and jaten.


i was super jealous of jaten's awesome henna tattoos.


cute abs and her cute baby riggs. love them.

and then i packed, packed, and packed.
car is all loaded, and gassed up.
waking up at 6 and not turning back.
gooooooooodbye!
xo