Jul 24, 2012

I can haz new project!

I’m baaaaaaack….and I have a new project!  I’m one of those people where I need a book to read, something to shop for, or a new project to work on.  I’m fine just vegging and watching some TV, but my brain needs lots of ‘shiny!’ to keep it going.  If I’m without something to ‘get into’ as DH calls it, I get restless or in bit of a funk. 

But now I have a new project! *clap clap clap*  On Sunday, my BFF Sheg and I had a nice day of shopping on our own.  First, we hit Home Goods.  Two just opened here and I hadn’t made it to either of them yet. I had been dying to check this store out, but the timing never really worked. I was so happy she wanted to go and even happier that I would have someone with me who would want to ‘look at everything in the store’.  This is how DH says I shop and I say so what?---I like to look at it all!!!  At Home Goods, I saw and immediately fell in love with a great grey basket as soon as we walked into the store.  I didn’t get a pic, but I will post one later today.  It’s perfect for storing extra magazines and has a cute fleur-de-lis tile in the middle. 

We also hit up Kirklands (huge sale!) and then were ready for a late lunch at Moe’s.  Mmmmm, I used to hit up Moe’s once a week when there was one near my work.  Now it’s maybe every 2 months! Although I did just order Moe’s catering for work and everyone raved about it!   I wish they would open up a Moe’s closer to me.

After lunch, we hit up Goodwill as Sheg said this particular Goodwill had some great finds, including some brand new stuff from Target with their tags still on!  The first place I always check out at thrift stores is the furniture section.  I’ve been looking for a new table or nightstand to replace the flimsy little table that I have been using.  Something with storage so I can throw some junk into it.  So we push the cart around when I spy this:

new nightstand

Exactly what I am looking for! It was differently shaped piece and had storage.  The best part?  It was $5.99!  I actually didn’t believe it was that cheap and went to ask an employee there.  She confirmed and I asked her to put a SOLD sigh on it while we shopped a bit more.  I ended up with some books, a brand new from Target springform pan (I think DH accidentally threw mine away), and a cute gingham button down.  The only thing we were concerned about was whether this table would fit in the backseat of my car.   It did, with just an inch to spare!

So now that I’ve got it home, I need to decide how I want to redo it.  I know it will involve paint but not sure what color.  Right now I am leaning toward a turquoise-y color, one of my faves but not something DH would want in our bedroom.  Since this little nightstand will be going into my boudoir/dressing room, I can paint her any color I want!!!  Of course Pinterest has all kinds of ideas and here are some of the ones I like (click on pic to link to to source):

I am pretty sure I am going with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, but not sure to which shade yet.  It will probably be Provence, which I will mix with a bit of Old White to get a lighter shade.  Just have to get it ordered!!!

One of my fave bloggers, Liz Marie, painted a table similar to the one I found.  Except she did hers totally different but with an idea I would never have thought of! Click on the link to find out the little surprise!   Here are some pics from her post: (all pics from her blog)

Amazing!  I hope my little table turns out as well as hers did! 

Did you have any good finds this week? 

Jul 11, 2012

Latest Favorites…..

So my latest faves are all over the place…..but here they are!

First up is Pepperidge Farm Pumpernickel bread.  This stuff is so good!  I know pumpernickel has never been that popular, but I guess it’s making a comeback due to the fact that it is very low on the glycemic scale.  I’ve always loved pumpernickel, ever since I was a kid and we went to a German restaurant in Hilton Head on vacation.  Our family must have eaten 8 baskets of that bread!  Anyway, I was looking for some new kind of bread to make my usual sandwich for work with.  I was eating a whole wheat but was sick of it.  I spotted this at Walmart and was excited.  Loaded up my Weight Watchers scan app and it came up at 2 points a slice!  AND—no high fructose corn syrup!  SCORE! 

Another foodie find—Havarti with Dill cheese.  I was at one of our local farmers markets last year when our cheese guy had this and let me try a slice.  OMGyummmmy.  So delicious with a hint of dill for a great flavor.  He gets his from the Amish in Ohio but my link above will take you to a site that you can order from directly.  This goes great with my pumpernickel bread and some buffalo chicken breast from the deli.  All of those flavors make for an amazing sandwich that will keep you full after lunch. 

This dress from Express.  I had first mentioned in this post, and then I went and got it when I had a GC and a coupon to use.   I wasn’t sure how it would look on me or how short it would be.  Luckily I was shopping with my BFF Sheg (waves!) and I knew she would be honest if it looked like crap.  When I put it on, I thought it looked great.  Even the sleeveless, which I normally hate.  She agreed and thought it was really flattering too.  The trick for my shape (which is hourglass), is to have a defined waist.  I just slip a cardi over it and it’s the perfect work dress.  The colors are so pretty and vibrant—you cannot be sad cat in this dress!

This jacket from LC Lauren Conrad from Kohl's.  Doesn’t look that cute from the pic, but I took a chance and ordered.  I thought the colors were great and it had a soft drape.  I find this line to be all over the place with sizing.  Some of the dresses I tries on were really short and some of the tops were too big.  I ordered a medium and hoped for the best.  Well it fit perfectly.  I can see myself wearing this with jeans and a white tank with some cool jewelry on the weekend or for a casual day at work with a pencil skirt.  And of course it was on sale!  I guess I’ve been gravitating more towards florals lately with these purchases.  Probably my love of vintage. 

Wind by Zac Brown Band

Wind by Zac Brown Band.  I heard this song when I was driving home a few weeks ago and used Shazam to find out what it was.  I have a passing fancy for country music but anything that is bluegrass tinged and I’m there! 

That’s it for now---I’ll be back later with an real update on my Ancestry.com finding.

 

Happy Wednesday!

Jul 9, 2012

I can haz more space?

If you are reading this now, I appreciate it!  I took a little vacation from my blog for a while and now I’m back.  I could lie and say I was exploring the world or say I was doing some sort of wonderful charitable act, but you otherwise. The truth is my birthday was towards the end of June and before that DH & I went to Lancaster (home of the Pennsylvania Dutch) for a weekend of Celtic music. Then work crept up on me and before I knew it, it was the 4th of July!!!  I couldn’t believe it when I looked at the date at work this morning, realizing how long it had been since I blogged!!!

So after all of the birthday fun (and it was fun thanks to my DH and family and friends!) I took a few days  off after Independence Day.  Thursday I relaxed and worked on ancestry.com stuff and then hit our city’s main library branch for some genealogical research that ancestry.com simply didn’t have, like local newspapers from 100 years ago.  (More on that in an upcoming post!).  Friday was another relaxing day.  I had a long overdue visit with my grandparents and showed my grandfather the information I had gathered on his mother’s family.   Then I visited my aunt and my mom’s BFF (they live next door) and we all played a few very heated games of Phase 10.   No real plans, just taking the days as they come.

Well I came crashing to reality on Saturday.  I am a champion procrastinator when I don’t want to do something even though I know I should.  There is always something ‘more important’ and this drives DH crazy.  My little boudoir (or dressing room/spare room) looked like a Hoarders episode and I am not kidding at all.  I would have taken a pic but even I am too embarrassed to show you.  But I did buckle down and spend a good chunk of time clearing out the mess.  Most of it was just stuff that needed to be put away and organized.  That is one habit I would like to change.  When I get home from work/gym, I just throw everything in a corner ‘for later’.  Then it just builds up.  DH says “If you just put away when you come home, you won’t have that pile.” Easier said than done for me, buddy.  But I am learning to recognize what a waste of time it is to do a big cleanup vs. a small one each day.

With that in mind, I am on the hunt for a new way to organize closet items.  Right now I just have all of my shoes stacked in boxes at the bottom of my closet.  Sounds great, right?  Not for this ADD girl.  I have a real need to ‘see’ everything and have always used visual cues to help remind me.  Basically, if it’s put away, I don’t ‘see’ it and then don’t think about it.  So while some of the shoes were put away, the ones I wore all the time were all over the floor and just made a big mess.  I needed a way to ‘see’ the shoes but still have them organized out of the way.

orgpin

Enter Pinterest!  Seriously---this site is my go-to for everything lately.  I had seen some good ideas on blogs but most of these people had more space than me.  So how could see my stuff but also make it look neater?  This was the image that jumped out at me the most (source is linked on the pic):

Doesn’t that look great? The shoes are organized and you can see them but they are put away.  It’s like a pretty shoe display!!  So I set out on a search for these types of cubes and found this one from Lowe’s:

I figure I can order 2 of them and put the shoes that I wearing the most often (based on season) into the cubes so I would always be able to see them and put them away quickly.  I can use the top of the cubes to put my little TV and lamp on there and a few photos and such.  Maybe even a few more pairs of shoes?  Either way, I know that if I use this type of visual organization it will stick with me better and I won’t want to throw it all into a big pile ‘for later’. 

I also think that if I move the shoes to the cubes I will free up some space on the bottom so I can maybe hang a 2nd rack to free up space.  Not sure if that will work with the height of the closet, but I am going to try at least. 

Thanks for reading!  Please pass on your closet/shoe organizing tips!  I need all the help I can get.  Check out my dream shoe closet:

I will be back tomorrow with an update on my family history findings! Let’s just say ancestry.com rules! 

Have a wonderful Monday and stay cool!