Office Makeover

If you’ve missed me on the internet, this is one of the things that has kept me away. I’ve been working in the office for days and have finally surfaced for air (and pictures)! This was a makeover on a serious budget so I tried to make the most cost-effective purchases I could and use almost exclusively things I already had. That’s my mom’s trunk from her days in the Navy. It’s full of pictures and scrapbooks now and I’ve repurposed it as a coffee table.

Here is one of the set of two matching glass lamps I found thrifting. They’re so beautiful and were a legitimate bargain at just $6.99 each. Kyle found shades at a big box store and I love the coppery warmth they add to the room.

I decided to brave the clearance paint aisle at a certain large store that sells things for a very low price and discovered a heatherish-gray color and a pinkish-tan for just $4.86 a pint. Kyle sanded down my grandmother’s old desk and I repainted it. I took some sand paper to the edges to make look a little more worn…I can’t decide it that was a good move or not but the color is a great improvement overall.

Oh, and yeah…hi, I’m Elizabeth and I’m a big ol’ copy cat. I no-apologies, straight-up stole this from Jenni over at Story of My Life. I justify it by saying simply that I have in my possession pictures from our childhood together that she may or may not want made public. Just kidding. ….or am I? No, I’m totally joking. I’m not. I am. No, not really. …..

I seriously love what she did to the wall in their master bedroom and will go ahead and admit that this is like one of those off-brand knock-off versions. The real thing is much, much better.

I used a combination of frames from my closet, my favorite thrift store, and the Dollar Tree. The prints are mostly clippings or postcards or photographs I’d saved, along with a couple prints from CAPow! Along the top left, you can see what my row of handsome daguerreotype boyfriends collected from flea markets and thrift stores. 

One of my favorite things I framed was a necktie-tying tutorial I had clipped out of Reader’s Digest years ago and stuck in a box. I smiled when I re-discovered it in a box of memorabilia.

I rescued the little loveseat from my neighbor Melissa who was going to throw it out when she moved. It has a couple muddy stains from where her dogs ran over it on a rainy day but other than that, it’s in great shape.

The wall-hanging is a bamboo shade that’s too small to fit any of our windows. Anyone who rents knows that leases don’t always allow you to paint a room so it’s great when I can find other ways to bring color and texture to the walls.

What do you think? And what summer project has kept you busy?

love, elizabeth

Girl Confessions: Link-Up

 

These are cleansing for me.

1. My dad leant me his vintage Asahi Pentax camera (actually all Asahi Pentax cameras might be vintage now…not sure about that). Super excited to learn how to shoot properly with film. It’s been years since I’ve used 36 mm. Film is more expensive to develop now so I’ll have to be more sparing with my photography but I’m excited to try a new kind of medium.

2.I am straight-up addicted to Caribou Coffee. I can’t explain it except that after about half a cup of this roast and I get insanely happy and energetic. Call it a crutch. Call it crack cocaine. #soworthit

3. I am finally doing the deep cleaning I have been longing for. That means de-cluttering the closets, completely re-doing the file cabinet, and re-imagining the office space/guest room. Pictures to come!

4. I love cooking but I seriously hate doing the dishes. And this makes me not want to cook. How sad is that?

5. My friend and neighbor Melissa moved to South Carolina last week and every time I walk downstairs and don’t see her car parked next to mine or her twinkle lights in the window, I get sad all over again. Bah.

6. I’ve pretty much had to put a moratorium on watching or reading the news. I grew up in Aurora, Colorado and I’ve had a permanent stomachache since Friday morning when we first heard about the shooting. I can’t fathom it. And I don’t want to go to the movies for a long, long time. I just don’t feel like it.

7. The Cupcake Project is one of my favorite places on the internet. And soon…these Jasmine Cupcakes with Raspberry and Honey will be mine. Oh, yes. I even found the much sought after raspberry vinegar the recipe calls for. Boom.

Feel like sharing your confessions? Link up below! No rules…just share your list. The link up will be open until July 30th.

 

 

love, elizabeth

moh-tuh-vey-shuhn, noun, from the medieval latin mōtīvus

Uhhh, you know how bloggers, lots of bloggers, get into a rhythm and a schedule? Like they post every day and they plan ahead and work it all out? This is not one of those posts. I just needed someone to talk to.

I am really flagging when it comes to my personal motivation lately. I have a reading list the size of Mars and the end of summer is looming ALREADY and I can’t summon the energy to clean the apartment or empty my inbox or study or ANYTHING. I want to be successful, I want to buckle down and get stuff done. But right now I feel like I’m just watching the calendar pages floating away like they do on old Saturday morning cartoons and I just want to stop the clock for another five or six weeks. WHEW.

I just needed to get that out there into the universe. This weekend, I plan to clean the apartment until it squeaks. And then maybe that reading list will seem more manageable somehow. I just can’t think inside the mess.

Alright. Make me feel better. What helps you get re-motivated when you’re in a slump?

love, elizabeth

Spring Cleaning

I don’t know about you but it’s like a drug to me. A really spiffy, shiny, well-organized drug. With a great floral print.

Kyle and I try to save condiment jars, especially anything that’s an unusual shape and size. We have a drawer full of recycled jars. They make great vases and organizers!

My new favorite spring smell…the Poppy Sunshine candle from Bath & Body Works.

Over the kitchen sink, the bottle in the middle is an antique passed down to me from my mother. The darker green candlesticks are thrifted and the lighter green candlesticks are made out of old recycled Coca-Cola bottles.

The refrigerator, freshly scrubbed and organized. I tried to make us look healthier by putting vegetables in plain sight. But you can see the salted butter in this picture. We’re not fooling anyone. Looking at a picture of my refrigerator is a good reminder of all the things I have and take for granted. Even the menu plan reminds me that we have more than a huge portion of the world’s population. Wow.

Lucky bamboo shoots…I have no idea how they’re still alive because I keep forgetting to water them.

I decided to pack away most of our knick-knacks for the warmer months…but I left this guy out…he’s full of Carolina sand and driftwood and old wine corks and other things.

I finally got around to making my own magnetic make-up board. I take zero credit for this idea. You’ve probably seen it all over Pinterest. Here’s an example and another one. It’s definitely made it easier to keep my make-up off the bathroom sink.

What about you? Tell me about your spring cleaning projects!

love, elizabeth

Scary Stuff on the Internet

Yesterday, I saw this.

And this.

Photo credit

First of all, I am throwing my Neti Pot out. Right now. Bye-bye, irrigated sinuses! I’ll take that horrible cold over a brain-eating amoeba any day! I like my brain. I need my brain.

Secondly, I have a lot of important things to do today like scrubbing every inch of my house before my parents get here on Monday and mailing Christmas cards and making every last effort to decorate our apartment windows for the holiday decoration contest in our complex (judging is on Monday night – I’ve been scoping out the competition and it doesn’t look good for us, you guys…).

How is your Saturday? And THANK YOU for the blog recs! Expect a visit and a comment this weekend.

love, elizabeth

Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to do the laundry or not do the laundry

So here’s a question for the pondering…is “being productive” a by-product of productivity itself or the superpower whereby things actually get done? Think on it. Get back to me.

Anyway, today and tomorrow I need some of this “being productive” juice in my life. I give you…my to-do list. If it in any way scares you, well, be assured…it scares me, too.

Source: media.photobucket.com via Jaimee on Pinterest

To-Do (the hyphen makes it more serious)

1. Laundry

If anyone would like to commiserate with me about the horror of communal laundry rooms/laundromats, feel free. I found short black hairs ALL over all the washing machines when I went to start a load this morning. This is inexplicable. And gross.

2. Grocery-shopping

I have been putting this one off so that I could clip coupons. This is my first serious venture into the coupon-ing. It could get ugly. But I need to do it soon as there are about three edible things in my fridge and one of them is ketchup.

3. Paperwork/filing

This one boggles the mind. Seriously, HOW do I accumulate so many random things to be filled out, filed, stamped, mailed-in, returned, printed, and photo-copied?? I don’t understaaaaaaaaaaaaaand.

4. Donate to Goodwill

Kyle and I cleaned out our closets and storage pretty well this summer. And somehow all the donations pile has taken over our hallway and is just sitting there, mocking me. It needs to go.

5. Food bank donations

I have nothing snarky to say about this except that, while it was very nice of us to buy things for the food pantry like baby food and evaporated milk, it is not nearly as nice to leave it in the trunk of your car for a month. I’m sure all the food bank visitors will really be able to appreciate it there.

6. The dining-room

Notice the lack of verb. It’s because I don’t have one right now. Something is just WRONG and needs to be corrected. I’ll let you know when I figure out what.

7. Update day planner and wall calendar

My days and nights are about to get 1,548,972X more interesting (read: insane). This does not bode well for my Sharpie’s longevity.

8. Organize the pantry

I’ve recently discovered extra room to store canned food which is really good. In theory. Maybe this one deserves a post when I’m done.

9. Plan my curriculum for Wednesday nights

I’ll be teaching a little theatre class for 6-11 year-olds in the afterschool program at our church. Or I will if I actually get my act together. Get it. Act.

10. Enjoy Doppler 10 Chief Meteorologist Chris Bradley’s Columbus forecast: “Temperatures will rise into the 80s on Monday and Tuesday before a strong cold front brings fall-like weather.”

Chris Bradley, has anyone ever told you how handsome and distinguished that blue screen makes you look?

 

Source: None via Elizabeth on Pinterest

 

I realize that this is riveting reading so you’re if still awake, lay it on me! What’s on your to-do list?

love, elizabeth

PS: Stay posted for giveaway news. Um, yeah. It’s going to be magical.