Thursday, January 28, 2010

28th of January

Today is my husband's birthday!

Happy Birthday Chris!

I am not going to recap his last 33 years or even the first time we met (because we all know that is when his life really began! LOL) but I will thank the Lord for bringing him into my life! He is a wonderful, strong, patient, funny, kind, and loving person.

I have learned so much from him and I am very thankful for him in my life.

So Happy Birthday Baby! I love you!


Tuesday, January 26, 2010

as I wait

SO  I am sitting here waiting for my husband to get home. Very weird for me. Going from professional crazy hectic hospitality design to being a "entrepreneur" - which right now means I just think about my business alot - is quite a change.

I am trying to put positive energy out there to drum up some business. I have ventured out of the house a little more. But there is still a HUGE difference to being at home all day versus the craziness of the office. I enjoy it the majority of the time but I do have my moments.

I keep thinking, what should I be doing right now - what could I be doing that is more productive - is there someone monitoring me - oh wait no, big brother is not looking over my shoulder - I am accountable to me, and my husband, and OH YAH my dogs who won't stop whining and watching the front door for their daddy to come home.

So as I wait...I make more lists.

It is weird. Not bad just different. I don't want it to be "comfortable" though because I need to stay motivated. Although I NEVER want to clock IN & OUT of a job ever again, there is still some times when this whole managing my own time thing gets a little tiring.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Just a few details...

So since my time right now pretty much consists of designing my own home and getting adjusted I thought I would take some more photos of my handy work.
 

This is the bar/buffet area in my living room. This buffet was a wedding gift from my brother and sister-in-law. It was a neccessity in the Vegas house as we had a tiny kitchen with NO storage. I immediatly filled it up with wedding gifts, especially the large serving dishes. As soon as we moved in here I knew that it would be a great bar and would fit perfectly in the space next to the entertainment niche.

This stainless steel shelf is perfect for the bar effect. It reminds me of stainless steel bar/kitchen equipment. However it also is a nice contrast to the dark wood of the buffet.



This vase was a random Marshalls find. The colors are so great and they tie into all of the colors in my living room.



I have a new obsession with birds. I see them everywhere and they just draw me in. This cute little blown glass guy I just had to get. And since I am also big on texture and contrast I love how the mercury silver looks on top of the rustic white mantle and next to the organic vine ball.


I repurposed these mercury glass candle sticks and used them to balance some moss balls. It is a little unexpected but it gives nice heigth.

The house is turning out pretty well. I am at the point where I need to start doing some major shopping in order to move forward. But shopping takes money which until I get out there and start designing for other people I will have to wait. But I can dream.

P.S. I am not a master photographer so just know that mKAY.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Thankful and prayerful

I don't have an extremely long or eloquent post today. (Have my posts ever been eloquent?) I just want to write about the tragedy in Haiti. I have been watching the news shows this morning and the devastation is amazing. Reporters like Anderson Cooper are speechless and dumbfounded by the wreckage. The people are terrified and mostly homeless. Even the ones who still have homes are too scared to stay inside their houses for fear of them collapsing in the aftershocks.

It makes me extremely thankful for what I have. It makes me thankful that people in this country, the USA, are already pouring out support. Even when our country is depressed, and many have less than they have had in the past, we are still willing to give. Because what little we think we have it is more than most of the people of Haiti have ever had and definitly more than they have now. Which for many is little more than their lives.

So if you have the means and feel inclined - reach out a helping hand. Lift up a prayer. Send support to the Red Cross etc.

I will do the same.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Cry, Celebrate, Rest, Repeat


So I did turn thirty. I did watch P.S. I Love You at noon on my 30th birthday. I did ball my eyes out. It wasn't a good idea.



However I did celebrate, just fine, as well... thank you very much.



Here is the wonderful fire that my husband built me the last night of my twenties. Complete with Hurley my doggy's curly tail! (the picture not the fire) He was guarding me cause the fire kept popping and he is my constant and brave protector! We are loving our fire place and since it has been freezing (or PREEEEEZING as I like to say) in Florida we have been building alot of fires. The only problem is that the stores are all out of firewood because they were only carrying it for the Holidays I am pretty sure. Not that that has discouraged dear husband! He was soooo proud the other day because he had the great idea to go to Home Depot and buy up some scrap/mistake cuts of 2x4s and cut them up for firewood. I thought, sure, that is reusing and recycling. Pretty smart, and cheap. I just hope none of it was treated?!? There weren't any toxic smelling or looking fumes so...uh...I think we will live.




After my cry fest watching sad movies on my 30th birthday we went out to dinner. Just to a little Mexican restaurant next to the local grocery store. Nothing fancy but it was nice to go out to dinner with my husband. We don't really go out to dinner just the two of us, really, ever. Mostly because I prefer to cook and also for frugality. It was a nice birthday dinner.




The big celebration was on Saturday when we went to Epcot to Drink Around the World! This is a new concept to me as I have always just been on the "child-oriented, magical-wonderland, sweet and innocent" side of Disney. I never really knew that they served alcohol at Disney. Not to mention that you can have a cocktail at all 10 countries in the World Showcase at Epcot. Well yes... you... can. And yes I did. I doubled up in a few countries. For some reason I liked to take pictures in different hats at the different countries. Had I realized that there would be different hats in every country I would have made sure to do it in all the countries. However it just turns out that when I was scrolling through my pictures I am wearing alot of different hats! So here are a few!










To break it down, that is a sombrero in Mexico, a bottle cap hat in Germany - cause Germany, beer, uh-huh - and a fez in Morocco. (I think Morocco was my favorite country which was unexpected).









It was fun! It was ridiculous. It was a great way to ring in the next decade of my life. A decade that will most likely contain less and less of this debauchery so I LIVED IT UP! (proper grammar not necessary).

What do you do for your birthday? Is it a happy day, sad day or both?


Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Decades, count 'em 3

Today is the last day of my 20s. Tomorrow is the beginning of my 30s. So all of those things that I was putting off until I was "like - 30" are going to need to start happening.

But let's not get all worried about that right now.

I am 29 for one more day! Live it up! I should do something wild. I should do something carefree...go get a mani/pedi, go out to a fabulous lunch and have a glass of wine, go party it up downtown!!! Count down the seconds of blissful twenty-nine-year old youth!!!

Um ya, I will be putting away Christmas decorations today and having left over lasagna for dinner. My party posse consists off three dogs, my two and one named Fred who is visiting.

I do have plans for this weekend to celebrate my birthday with friends and it will be a rockin' time and I am looking forward to it. But no plans to kiss my twenties goodbye.

It is probably for the best. No reason dwelling. It is inevitable.

Oh well. It is just a number. Nothing much will change. But I still feel like digging in my heels and holding on...

for...

just...

one....

more...

day.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Taming the Chaos

I don't do New Years Resolutions. I never have. I had a friend growing up that would write down her resolutions and her mother would seal them up for the year. At the beginning of the new year they would get out the list and see how many she had kept. I always thought this sounded fun but I still never adopted anything like that for myself.

My non-New-Years-resolution is to be more organized. And organized in an attractive way. A way I would love to show off. Not my usual, "I know this looks like a mess, but I know where everything is". Anyone that used to work with me in Vegas knows exactly what I mean. My desk was a wreck! Most of the time! But I could find anything, be it buried under a stack of fabric or spec binders, I knew where it was. It would amaze my "more organized" co-workers.

However since moving I don't know where anything is! And I am fed up! And my husband is fed up! So today I will move forward with Project Organize!!!




I think I will give my dogs a bath too because man they stink right now!



So I start with some magazine tear-outs that I have been collecting as well as some images I found online.
Like these care of BHG and Martha Stewart.
I love is this painted pegboard idea. I had high hopes of painting my laundry/storage room that connects the kitchen to the garage but since there is already an abundance of "stuff" in there, and I am done with painting (see previous post), I think this is a fabulous idea for both a splash of color as well as organization.
Since keys are often the topic of frustration and panic in our household I love, love, love this idea. Much more practical and attactive than multiple bundles of keys hung on two hooks like we have now. That is, if the keys get hung on the hooks. However, I believe, that we will be inspired to hang our keys on this adorable little peg board! Let's see if my husband agrees!
Seeing as I have three guest bedroom closets I think I will make one of them into an organized craft and wrapping station. I will need to modify this design slightly as the closets have bi-fold doors but I think that there are some fabulous ideas in this image.



Lastly I would love to incorporate some decorative elements as found in this image to all of the spaces that I am organizing. I love the vases on the top shelf and the painted tiles on the back wall. They complete the space and make it look as though it is meant to be seen and enjoyed.
I will keep you updated on how my ventures turn out! I can't wait to get started!
Here I go!
So do you have any New Years resolutions? Or non-New-Years-resolutions?