Sunday, July 31, 2011

before & after.

so i'm sitting here on my comfy couch, marvelling at the fact that my whole house is clean and semi-put-together. not gonna lie, it feels amazing. and it's going to feel even more amazing when we get back from vegas next week and the apartment is still put-together! i did good. and because i did good [and have some extra time before we have to leave for the airport] i am going to give you a little sneak peek of my recent refurb project :]


before:

the day before we moved out of our old apartment, adam and i found a bookshelf out in the alley. it was in rough shape. it was dusty, musty and painted two different colors.

   

after:

i sanded and sanded and sanded every inch of it, then i painted two coats of white paint. after that dried, i painted two coats of vintage red [by behr]. and *voila!

       


it's definitely a deeper, darker red in person, which looks really good against the taupe-y yellow walls.

like? :]

*excuse the fact that i don't have a full length picture*

Thursday, July 28, 2011

more happy, please!

about two months ago i saw 'the happiness project' by gretchen rubin on the 'summer reads' table in B&N. as soon as i saw the bright and cheery cover, i knew instantly that i needed to purchase it - primarily because during that time, i was feeling overwhelmed, not myself and ultimately, not happy. i knew i wouldn't have much time to read it right then, so i purchased it and packed it away in a box [since i was moving]. three weeks ago i unpacked it, and finally started the journey through gretchen's happiness.

although i am only half way through her book, i have already been inspired by some of the changes gretchen has made. since her life was filled with work, chores and taking care of her family, gretchen decided she needed to add more things to her life that filled her with happiness. in one month, she decided to begin scrapbooking , develop a blog, and start a kid-lit book club.

these additions to gretchen's life made me start thinking about what i would want to add to my life. i already read and blog when i have time... yeah, when i have time. see that excuse? and i photog all the time. i like coloring and painting, but don't feel like i am very good at it. all of these thoughts came to me last weekend, sp i made of list of what i enjoy and what i would like to do more.

then this week, everything fell into place.

on tuesday, my friend katie posted a facebook status that said:

"I have all of the resources available to work out, I just don't use them. Need to start so I can have an awesomely toned body. Just need a kick in the butt and a workable schedule to do it. Halp?"

my response?

"ugh. SAME. PROBLEM."


as soon as i hit the enter button, i knew katie and i should do something about our predicaments. so i posed the idea of a joint health-esq blog. she is such a great writer, cook and motivator - i knew that our readers [and myself!] could learn so much from her. we agreed on a name, a theme and so it goes :] here is a little sneak peek of our joint blog [aka katie's blog right now, since she is the only who has posted thus far!]. enjoy and feel free to join our subscriber list to follow our healthy journey!

that same tuesday, i had a thought about my photography. although i get great feedback regarding my photos, i feel as though i have much much more to learn. therefore, i messaged my good acquaintance april [whom i may or may not have tracked down six months ago after seeing her amazing photos...] and asked her whether or not she would be interested in helping me form a photography group. she happily agreed! so once a month, a couple of us will get together for an hour or so to discuss techniques, future opportunities, marketing tactics, equipment, etc. i plan to blog about some of the things i learn, so if you're a budding photographer such as myself, be on the lookout for that! i am very excited for our first meeting :]

two days after forming the new health blog and a new photography group, i came across a third opportunity. jaimee, one of my best friends, tweeted thursday morning that she wanted to read 'the help' before it came out in theaters. jokingly, i tweeted back "me too! book club? :D" and guess what? she thought it was a great idea! so we corralled a couple more of our girlfriends and decided to start one!

so as you can see, i will have my plate full for the rest of the year ;] but ya know what? that's okay, because all of these things are going to make me happy and healthy.

when you open yourself up, the possibilities are endless.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

right this second...

i am watching 'that 70's show' while editing photos from warped tour last night. check out some of the ones i have already posted :]

i'm counting down the days until a. and i go to vegas [11 more!].

the heat is killing me. no, not literally - but it might if i were to leave my air conditioned safe haven. how do people live in this daily?!

this song is replaying over and over lately.

i'm also counting down the days until lollapalooza [17!].

i am LOVING these chairs i found on apartment therapy - but i don't think a. will let me spend $300 on them...


umm right this second i'm also trying to save money - but i keep finding things i want! oops :D

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

geek alert!

in honor of the HUGE event happening this week, i would like to take a moment to look back in time...

   

   

   

   

it is so unreal that this saga is coming to an end. i remember getting the first book from my grandpa on my 13th [or 14th?] birthday. it took me two days to read, and i've been hooked ever since. every year since then, a new book or a new movie has been released - i can't imagine going a year without some sort of harry potter 'fix'. what am i going to do with myself from now on??

Monday, July 11, 2011

music monday.

happy music monday, kids :]

here are a couple of my favorite upbeat songs right meow. turn 'em up & show monday who's boss!




newton faulkner ~ gone in the morning
noah and the whale ~ l.i.f.e.g.o.e.s.o.n.
friendly fires ~ show me lights

Sunday, July 10, 2011

current obsession.

now that we are all moved in, i am trying to piece together the apartment little by little. we've painted the living area, have gotten the kitchen all unpacked & decorated [see below], and have started decorating the guest bedroom. we still have so much to do. we have yet to paint our bedroom, still need to unpack the office, and are in the process of trying to find new [inexpensive] furniture.

because our apartment is a ground unit, it is a bit dark. i have been yearning for more light, and therefore have started to gravitate toward the color white. since we painted the walls a yellow-y taupe color, and i want to add white accessories.

i've already started in the kitchen with white mugs & porcelain containers from anthropologie. i got the cute little white and green waterer from the flea market in shipshawana, as well as the vintage new orleans sign. i'm a fancy woman, and a. gambles - why wouldn't i get it? :D


and then today i decided to paint my black hand-me-down mirror. needs a lil' touch-up & scraping, but looks good so far.



what i really want, though, are two white storage ottomans to replace our ginormous coffee table [that we eventually want to make into a dining room table]. you can see the ones i want at my pinterest - along with everything else i want & love, thus far :] this site is addicting, so beware!

hopefully in the next couple weeks i'll have more 'white' things to show you - so stay tuned! :]
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