Thoughts

Why don't adults get snow days? If I had one today I would...

...maybe - keyword being MAYBE - try to talk Dan into bundling up to build a snowman in the yard.
...stay cozy in a long hoodie, some leggings and my slipper boots (that I got for 15 cents at Old Navy a few weeks ago and have barely taken off since).
...work on finishing up a couple of projects I started over the weekend (including the buttons project and the copycat artwork for above our bed).
...watch The Bachelor since I missed it last night (TV at it's best, I know).
...bake banana bread (which I'm doing tonight regardless).
...try and convince myself that spending $25 for a tote bag is ok as long as I love it as much as I love this (spotted by a work pal!)



...drool over these office supplies (saw them here)



...and ask my lovely boyfriend to find "Welcome to Macintosh" for me online. It's a CNBC special on Macs that I apparently missed, but am now aware of thanks to The Lil Bee.

Clearly, I did NOT get a snow day today and I'm writing this at work while trying to pretend there isn't a blizzard outside that I'm going to have to commute home in just a couple of hours from now. Sigh.

Freeze Me

Thanks to our teeny tiny kitchen, we also have a teeny tiny refrigerator... and therefore a teeny tiny freezer. Teeny to the point that between a box of frozen waffles and a couple of pizzas the thing is practically full. Last year, my parents jumped on a freezer deal at Jewel that we've been waiting to see again, and a trip to the store with Manda yesterday turned out to be successful as we saw the sale running again through today (2/8) only.

Here's the deal - Buy an Igloo 5.2 cubic foot freezer for $149 with preferred card, get $150 worth of free item coupons for frozen foods to stock your new freezer with. A little quick math shows that this makes the freezer, essentially, FREE! That's my kind of deal, so you'd better believe we jumped on it right away last night. (For future reference - grocery shopping in the middle of the Super Bowl is glorious. We practically had the store to ourselves.)

Isn't it handy looking?


We need to make sure it's "up to code" to plug it in next to the washer and dryer in the basement, so I haven't rushed out to gather all our free frozen items just yet, BUT I do have to say I'm excited about them. Lots of ice cream treats we wouldn't typically buy (like Skinny Cow sundae cones), frozen fruit and veggies, "fancy" frozen pizza brands, tater tots and french fries (perfect for bbqs in the summer), ravioli (yum), and lots of other good stuff!

More bedroom inspiration

I absolutely, positively LOVE every single tiny little thing about this picture. The headboard, the decor, the bedding, that wallpaper, those throw pillows! But mostly, I'm loving the idea of skinny bookshelves flanking the bed instead of shorter nightstands.


Because of the dormered wall that our bed sits on, I would need to find a nice short set nearly identical to those in the picture. Seeing as I haven't found a pair of matching nightstands begging for a couple coats of paint yet, I'll add these skinny bookcases to my searching.

Tidbits

Some notes for this afternoon, which is so far moving waaaay too slowly for my liking.

1. I got my backplates for the hutch!!! I have 3 words for this - About. Damn. Time.

2. I made Pioneer Woman's Monkey Muffins that I mentioned here. Seeing as Manda, Dan and I devoured 10 of them in, um, about 10 minutes flat, I think it's safe to say they were a hit. AND they only took 20 minutes from the time I started to the time they were done baking. YUM.

3. I found the original "You have my whole heart..." artwork that I've become obsessed with copying for my own room... FOR $300. Yeah. So, that gives me about 275 reasons to figure out a way to make it myself, since I'm fairly certain I can do it for around $25.

4. I'm on the hunt for the perfect pair of nightstands. We currently have one, and it drives me INSANE that there is nothing matching on the other side of the bed. Ikea doesn't sell the one we have anymore, which has given me the perfect excuse to try and find some at a thrift store that I can paint. And while Dan is usually not a fan of me painting pieces ("Why can't you just leave them alone as they are?"), he understands that I'm looking to spend next to nothing on said nightstands, so for the most part it seems like he doesn't care what I plan to do with them.

Little Green Notebook strikes again with an amazing tutorial on silver leafing dressers, which I am reeeeeeally tempted to try depending on the pieces I find... but that might be pushing it for the boy.

Happy Monday

Honestly, it's not often that I feel this great about a Monday, but it's sort of sunny out today and a whopping 25 degrees is surprisingly bearable when it's not ugly and gray out. Thanks to a wide open weekend with no "real" plans, I had lots of time and energy to clean a little, cook a little, and in true fashion - shop a little. I'm feeling refreshed and ready for what's usually a dreary month. Here's what I'm looking forward to this week -

1. Beginning my Grandma's buttons project. I bought a gaudy gold frame at Michael's on sale and some fun paint to spruce it up with. I still need something to mount the buttons to, but nothing a quick trip to the fabric store can't solve. Also, for anyone keeping track - the jar of buttons was NOT in my basement like I was so sure of, and I had a minor panic attack Friday night trying to find it. Turns out it was in my parent's basement, hidden in a box. In my own defense - my dad thought I had the jar too, so who knows when it actually made it's way back to their house. Thankfully, I have it now and Dan didn't laugh at me too hard when I freaked out about it.

2. More de-cluttering. I think I'm going to try and really tackle the office this week - which is a bold statement to say the least. Here's hoping I can play the "Do I use it? Do I love it? Is it useful?" game truthfully and manage to get rid of some old design stuff that's just taking up space. I'm using the below image - from one of my favorite reads: We Met In A Bar - as inspiration for managing a bit of clutter and clean lines together in one space. I love that she has some books stacked horizontally, and I think that just by freeing up a couple of shelves for little vases and knick-knacks as shown here will make a huge difference in the office looking more open. And, on a slightly off-subject note - can I just mention how much I LOVE her vintage-looking cake stands?!


3. Finally FINALLY finishing the hutch - for real! It's just been sitting pretty in the dining room waiting on the backplates I ordered ON JANUARY 10, which have finally (supposedly) shipped today. I've been so frustrated with the company they're coming from that I don't want to get my hopes up... but I did get a tracking number, so that's a good sign, right?

Everything above is dependent on my health, so here's hoping my "no-sick winter" keeps up. Unfortunately, today I'm feeling like I may be coming down with something, and half of my department has been sick in the last couple of weeks so I wouldn't be surprised if I have a full-on cold by tomorrow or Wednesday. I'm taking lots of Emergen-c and drinking lots of water - fingers crossed!

Grandma

My grandmother used to collect buttons. I don't know why she did it or how the habit started, but my brother, cousins, and I used to get a kick out of going through her big jar of them, and I have a vivid memory of making a sock puppet with button eyes that I got to pick out of the jar all by myself.

When she passed away, us four grandkids wanted little sentimental things of hers to keep for ourselves. Someone took her binoculars, that we used to pass around watching birds out her window. Someone took her deck of cards with the statue of liberty on them, which were worn and bent at the edges from hours and hours of rummy and kings in the corner. If I tried, I could probably still close my eyes and imagine the way it felt to sit on her bed with my cousins, remember the way the cards smelled, and hear my grandma reminding all of us not to cheat. I took the jar of buttons, which found a place in the trunk I took away to college with me, and still sits there - now in my basement - to this day.

I've never really thought about doing anything with the buttons, because what would I do with a jar full of mismatched buttons anyways? Then today, with half of my department out sick and very little going on, I spent WAY too much time scrolling through the archives of Little Green Notebook - a blog that sparks inspiration and gets my creative wheels turning with nearly every image. Several pages back in the blog (but only about a month ago in real time!) I found the below images, which immediately made me think of my grandma's big jar of buttons, sitting in my basement just waiting for me to do something with them. While I don't recall there being many bright colorful ones in the collection, I'm certain I can find a good bunch to do something with. I'm picturing a funky antique frame, spray painted something bright, with some kind of textured fabric and a bunch of buttons glued to it in a grid. What a great and different little way to showcase one of my fondest childhood memories!

Stress

I think that I need to find somewhere in the house to frame a "Keep Calm & Carry On" print. Besides the fact that I love it, I think it's a daily reminder that I could definitely use when I'm rushing out the door to work.



(Tons of color options found here)