Cabin Fever and More OCD Tendencies

I think the feeling of winter cabin fever has set in for a lot of us (are you ready for Spring yet.  I know fo' reals).  I know that my friend Caitlin has been bitten by the organizing bug in her new apartment and I totally empathize with this sentiment.  Last week I got snowed in on Thursday and used the time to take on the task of organizing my pantry (and the rest of the house).

Here's the pantry in a sort of sorted phase...I say "sort of" very loosely.

Before

 We've been keeping the pet food in these huge containers in the middle of the kitchen/eating area...They're huge and not very attractive.  If only I had a place to put them...  Also, enjoy Oliver pining to go out in the snow: love him.

Sadly, my shelves in the pantry are really low.

 I used some elbow grease to remove the bottom shelf and ta-dah!  Even found a great place to hide my step ladder.

I used clothes pins and my label maker to mark where things go on the shelves, Now there is no excuse for Mr. S not to put things where they go. (Seriously, let me tell you how much I love my new camera lens...life is good)

 And once I was done, everything had a home and was sorted by beverage, mix, fiber&oatmeal, oils, etc.  Oh and I made the plastic bag holder out of old materials I had.  If you're interested in the how-to, let me know.  Easy-peasy.

After

A was for Amanda, but now it is for Apron

 I installed a great shelf to hang brooms and mops too.

What do you think?  I also organized the hall closet with bins and a little set of drawers for outside gardening things and our sport accessories...There was a lot of closet action last week, but I was in panic mode trying to get all the junk in the house sorted because our new cleaning lady started this past Monday...and let me tell you...I'm so in love with her!  She cleaned my door handles...and unclogged our tub, and even moved the dog's crate with him in it to clean...and she emptied our vacuum, which she didn't even use...

I'm in raptures because my house has that bleached clean smell you get when you slip into hotel sheets.  I might be the only person who likes that, but I really loved coming home from work.  If you're in my area and need a recommendation, let me know and I'll hook you up!

And I'll leave you all with a teaser for my next kitchen renovation project.  I got the idea back in October and one weekend I'll actually get to it.  It took me forever to find the materials for this because I ended up special ordering them.  I've been a weeny about doing this one because I only get one cut.

Ain't it fun?

Ms Domestique and the 7 Deodorant Sticks

This weekend I turned to the Big S and I said: "Honey, can I be the official buyer for the house?"

What caused this insanity?

Let me take you on a tour of our pantry, which I organized this weekend:

Two whole cartons of eggs. One for each of us?  I don't even like eggs, but I feel that quiche is in my near future.

2.5 bags of rice for the next time I need to make sushi for 60.

Almost 3 pounds of confectioners sugar?  Why?  Maybe a leftover treat from last Thanksgiving?  I'm not even sure what to do with this.  Not even a little bit.

6 different types of drink mix.  At least they are different, right?

And last, but not least, my favorite! In the event of zombie attack, just add butter.  I swear that I am not Paula Dean, honest.  I laughed out loud when my honey brought home the huge butter tub with the corresponding phrase: "I saw we were out of butter" and I laughed my way to the freezer and pulled out 2 small tubs and the opened one in the fridge to prove that we had butter the whole time.

And lest we forget the 7 deodorant sticks that I found living in a cottage under the sink when I organized in the bathroom...ok, 9 if you include my back-ups.

I love our crazy, I really do.  And remember kiddies, when those zombies attack it's eggs, rice, sugar, drink mix, butter, and deodorant.

A Place in the World to Sit

Steven and I have been on the hunt for a sofa since before we moved and now we have one!  We have tried out every sofa in the state.  I'm not even using hyperbole when I say that, promise.  We found a dream chenille sectional at Arhaus, but when we measured it was too big to fit in our space.  You see, this room was actually supposed to be a dinning room and living room.  They designed the living room to be at the far end by the front of the house and the dinning room table was supposed to be where the ottomans are...and I think that 6 ft does not a living room make.  So since we have a space in the kitchen for a table, I wanted the whole room to be a living room.

We ended up finding this sofa and chair at Crate and Barrel...a magical place, to be sure.  The cats certainly like it.  Penelope spent the morning rolling all over the furniture like it was catnip.  I got the ottomans at Pier 1, as well as the console on the right.  I also got matching end tables, but they're still in transit from the warehouse.  I'm still in a heated mental debate about what rug to put in here.

Now we really need to paint!  Let me tell you how gross our walls are.  The backstory of our walls is that the builders put the worst paint up, it doesn't even have a finish to it so anything that comes in contact with the wall is absorbed by the drywall.  Don't believe me?  Let me show you my jelly stain on the kitchen wall.  I hate the paint, so I've slowly been trying to paint a room at a time.  The only rooms I've managed to get done are the rooms upstairs.  Anywho, the dog's crate used to be in this room and the far corner is tres gross.

I spent the morning washing my baseboards.  I know that sounds ridiculous, and I used to laugh at my mother a lot when she cleaned the walls and the basboards, but dang it, I get it now. You work so hard to keep the house clean that the little details will keep you up at night!  I scrubbed those things to get the dog and cat gunk off of them.  I feel much better, but it made me notice all the nicks in the walls and all the stains and all the things I couldn't wash off because they had fused with the drywall.

The moral of the story kiddies is that you should always have a paint with some sort of gloss to it and that you will eventually turn into your mother.  Heaven help me.

Silhouettes: Just A Phase?

I don't think so, and I'm pretty sure that Jane Austen would agree with me.

When we first moved into the new house, I took the opportunity to sketch our silhouettes.  By using an old lamp, paper taped to the wall and a pencil, we each took turns tracing eachother's profiles.  Once we had the outlines, I used them as stencils on black poster board.  Throw them in some fancy frames and you end up with this:

A modern, yet classic family heirloom!  They'll be a great way to remember our first home!  Steven always says he's going to make them face different directions the next time we have a big fight.  I'm happy to say we haven't had to try this out.

Once I get going on something I just don't stop, do I?  I got these silhouettes to go in the half-bath downstairs:

I painted it this crazy green and put up a black mirror to replace the run-of-the-mill mirror the house came with.  So far, Jane Austen's silhouette is the only one residing in there.  I'm trying to build more of a collection than these two, but the antique malls around here are very so-so.  It looks like I might have to venture to Alexandria or parts of Maryland for good antiques.

If any silhouettes cross your path, snatch them up and send them my way!

Where have I been?

Oh blog readers, I know that I have dropped off the planet. My life lately has been a jumble of activities. I'll try to lay out the past few months for you, catch you up, and start writing again.

Work:

I've been working about 37 hours a week for peanuts at the Pier 1 up here. My assistant manager is horrible and is probably the first person I have never been able to find anything I like about them. I've been trying for 5 months to find something I can like so that I focus on that when I have to deal with her. The search has been fruitless, and I've just about given up hope on her. I spend most of my time at work protecting the associates from the wrath of this woman and it's getting to me. It's a very toxic environment to say the least. The customers up here are also very rude and I get a lot of people who think I'm too young to be a manager.

The job hunt has been very slow goings. Even though I have a degree and a lot of kick-bootie grades, most employers only notice my retail experience so it has been extremely difficult to break into any professional scene. I'm still working on it. I think that to really have the time to find a new job I will have to quit my old one. This is very emotionally taxing since I do love my company and I have been there for 2 years. However, I need a job that is full-time and has benefits. There was a brief lead with a stationary company, but the most they could offer me was 2 part-time positions at once where I shuttled between two of their stores and it was a pay cut.

Home:

The house is slowly coming together. The key word there is slowly. I've been doing some craft projects, we finally hung some stuff up, and our room has a mind of it's own. So far the design is a mix of Pier 1 and Ikea. Ikea is such a magical place and I live 30 minutes from it. I live about 30 minutes from most major retailers. There is even a Tiffanys store somewhere near me. I can't afford anything so I've figured it would be dangerous to go. Anywho, I'll post some pictures of my house updates soon. I need to charge my camera...I haven't done that since we moved and that has affected my blogging.

Steven is amazing. I relish in every moment I have off from work to spend with him. He is so supportive of me and gives the best hugs. It has been great to live with him and have him around all the time. I love it! We play tennis with his family and I'm getting quite good. So much fun!

Health:

Through the stress of the move, my crappy job, and lots of eating, I gained back all the weight I lost for my graduation. So I got a gym membership at an amazing gym called the Freedom Center (the pool has a huge water slide) and I go every morning for 30-45 minutes of cardio. Steven is doing a biggest loser challenge and has lost 20 pounds in 3 weeks. He's doing so well on the program and I'm extremely proud of him.

I discovered soon after I moved here that I needed to have a root canal done. My mother canceled my dental insurance just before my graduation so I've been paying out of pocket. I have been going back to Gloucester for this because it saves me about $700 to go there then to have it done here by an endodontic specialist. In the end it will eat up $2205 from my savings. My tooth also got extremely infected and I had to take a lot of antibiotics. For about 2 weeks all I could eat was mashed potatoes.

Literature:

Where would I be without my books? So far I've spent a lot of time re-reading Harry Potter since the last movie came out. I'm currently reading The Historian. I'm halfway through it and I find it to be predictable. I hope that it gets better because I've had several people recommend it to me and those are normally good books. As Dracula books go, it hasn't been that entertaining for me. After you have experienced the joys of Tanya Huff and her Blood series...one cannot go back to just any vampire story.


Those are the big things that I've been up to. So much has been going on. I need to start writing again for my own sanity it seems, so stay tuned for further updates!

I got inspired

You may remember a DIY project I did last summer when I covered some canvases. I have been planning to re-cover them for the guest bedroom that we still don't know if we have yet, bye the by.

I love the dandelion silhouettes that I've seen on a lot of stationary lately, so I decided that was going to be my theme of the series I wanted to do.

Instead of writing a paper, I went to JoAnn Fabrics with coupons in hand and picked up some paint and brown quilting fabric, as well as some fabulous and rich-looking brown fabric to re-cover my headboard with.

Here are the results:

(The originals)

(After painting)

(Back on the walls. I moved them closer together after I took this picture. There will be so much patching to do when I move.)

Not too shabby, eh? I cannot wait to put this whole room together! The only thing left to do is to find or make a cover for a body pillow.

Coveting A Bookend? New Low.

As I walked into my Business Writting professor's office I was struck by 6 of these gorgeous bookends sparkling in her window. At which, I had to break her off mid-sentence with: "oh! I love your hoot-hoots! I mean...owls."

Thankfully, she then went on to talk about the glass company they came from: Blenko. Apparently, they're from the late 60's, and truth be told I'm in love with them. She said she has been trying to get rid of them (why, oh why, would you?) and that maybe she'd give me a set to thank me for all my hard work on this manual we've been working on. Oh...do not tease me! It feels weird to take graduation gifts from professors...but truth be told, I think I'd get over the awkwardness quickly once these gleaming gals made it to my bookcase...

When I Won't Be Insane

I'm looking forward to the time in oh...2.5 weeks when I am done with school because I have so many projects that I have wanted to complete, it's ridiculous. I wanted to share a few of them so that you will all know what to expect when my blog rises from the ashes of lost internet causes.

Most important thing...ever: READ. I haven't done any pleasure reading in quite a while and I have the feeling it's going to be a mind-blowing experience. I also realize that I haven't done a book review in ages. My apologies.

Sew. I have about three things that need fixing and I've been itching to try a DIY where I make a pair of black pants I have into skinny jeans (cause I love the look, just hate how every pair you can buy is ultra low rise and I'm too curvacious for all that. I need to be able to move and sit/bend over)

Re-cover my headboard. Since my bed will be in the guest bedroom when we move, and I've been redoing the colors, I need to redo it in a fabulous brown. Easy project, but it will make a dramatic impact and allow me to post pictures of the project on this blog.

Cover and paint 3 canvases for the guest bedroom using some muslin. I need to find something that I want to paint...I'm thinking bamboo or mum silhouettes, haven't decided yet. Can't be anything too ambitious because I haven't painted in a long time.

Send Thank Yous for any graduation gifts I happen to receive. I might make the thank yous because I have developed a love for DIY paper products.

Finish a doll I started making for Baby Kaveena when she was born, four months ago.

And you know...all the randomness that will happen when we finally get a house and are able to move in.

You'll be the first to know when that happens, of course.

Queen of Nervous Energy

Last Friday Steven and I went to go look at a house. We don't think that it was the one for us, but it has gotten me excited to move! It did have good potential the more that I think about it. I love to plan and organize so much! I get really antsy and have to work on projects to keep myself busy and to keep myself from packing up everything I own. I love to pack because it's like a giant puzzle. My latest project involves re-doing my room in the apartment because my bed is going to turn into the guest bedroom...

My bedroom has been black and white for about 2 years and I still love black and white, probably always will. However, black comforters are a complete pain in the butt to keep clean. Ever since I got cats I could not keep everything from clinging to my comforter. So I've been sleeping without a duvet for a while, it just got too out of control. Now my comforter was also a weird dimension for a full size bed. It measures 88X88 so finding anything for it was impossible. In fact, I made my last duvet cause I was desperate.

I got the go ahead from Steven to do smoked blue and brown! I'm so excited, because I have a lot of stuff that I can use now to pull it all together. The most expensive thing will be the dang linens. Found a great duvet (I like duvets because they're easier to wash) and I found a better comforter that actually fits my bed and covers all of it! Yay, no mattress showing! Now I have a lot of projects to do!

1- make a new dust ruffle, 3 yards of canvas/muslin ought to do it and I can use the interfacing from my old one.
2-recover my headboard in a fabulous chocolate brown. Making my own headboard was genius, now when I want to spice up a room I just need 60" of fabric and a staple gun and it equals a big impact in the room.

In other news, I have a horrible cough and just want to sleep all day. I hate being sick, yo. Hates it.

The Big O

I made painted this wooden O to hang over Oliver's food bowl. I thought he needed a little decoration. I was also practicing for something I plan to make Amy once she finally picks a baby name.

Great Pumpkin

Yesterday as I was driving to work I noticed that the leaves are starting to change color. Oh boy! It's always the best time of year when the mountains turn to gold and the air starts to smell like smoke and snow.

It is going to be October this Wednesday and I'm feeling the itch to get ready for Halloween. I've already got my costume together for work and all I need is a PUMPKIN! Cause this year I actually have a place to put one, or two, or three.

Some weekend in October I need to grab my camera, kidnap Steven, throw them both in the car, and head out to Sinkland Farms, the local pumpkin patch, complete with hayrides, corn-mazes, face-paints, and you know bright orange globes of Fall fun!

To Do:

Things I need to accomplish tomorrow or at least by Monday night:

1. Finish cleaning my apartment, particularly my room cause it is a hot mess
   
2. Take things to the goodwill. I've got loads of stuff since I cleaned out my closet today.
   
3. Finish Ren. Lit. reading
4. Finish Robinson Crusoe
5. Technical Editing D&A's
6. Get something together for my anniversary with Steven... seriously, worst GF ever! I have this horrible feeling that our big day is going to go by without the pomp it deserves...
   

You know you're a mechanic/farmer's daughter when...

So all summer the rug under my bed has been bunched up and off balance. It was only me trying to put it under there, and frankly, my bed is a beast. I need someone to help me straighten it, unless.... I use my car jack to prop up my bed. I'm half tempted to do it. How...handy of me?

Hey if it can hold my car, it can hold my bed. Man, I'm a dork.

Face Lift

I decided to over-haul my blog. I mostly did it so that I can get a real, live, header. Now I just need to get snappy with my camera so that I can put that up. I'll probably play with a few different pictures until something really sticks. A few of the first pictures probably won't have anything to do with me or domestic felicities.

My August Eve Resolution

I know it isn't the time of year to be making resolutions, but I have an issue with my dishes. If you wanted a clue about how much I hate doing dishes, here is a little tid-bit: last night I ate mandarin oranges out of a teacup. I was out of bowls and utensils so... I drank oranges.

My goal is to wash things as I use them and not just let unsightly dishes pile-up in the sink. If dishes are to pile-up they are going to be clean ones. Then I can make a New Years resolution to put away my clean dishes.

How Stoked Am I?

My first issue of Real Simple arrived in the mail!

(Organizing and cleaning gems to follow once I actually have time to read it! I have a lot of important things to blog about such as: my trip home, my summer reading list, my trip to the library today, passing the Obama office in Blacksburg, my old dress, my job opportunity, etc.)

Imagine If You Will

Imagine this room, then imagine something like it with the messy fairy on steroids. That is what I went over to this morning when I went to put water in Steven's fish tank. This mess...in...Steven's room...? Something is amiss. The room that I so meticulously cleaned before I left, the room that I brag about constantly when talking about Steven and just how proud I am of him and how clean he is, was a complete ship wreck. Now... you may be asking yourself how a room that is always so clean got so messy. Well, I'll tell you! Apparently a friend of Steven's roommates needed a place to stay because his lease expired. So they put him in Steven's room! Without Steven's permission. And what does said person do? Makes it a complete mess! You cannot walk on carpet because there is no carpet it is all covered. The bathroom was covered in his hair from a recent haircut, all over the floor! The bathroom that I also cleaned!

So this morning I go to take care of some things, and all the fish but one had died without me getting a phonecall. To my knowledge they were fine with the feeders I had given them. If I had known they were dying I would have done water changes or something. But I go over there to dead fish and a naked hairy boy asleep on the crap on the floor.

I had to get out of there before I either snapped or started cleaning.

Moment In The Sun

Well my loveseat was tolerable for a day. I returned the cover. I'm only living here for 10 more months and there are a lot of other things I would rather spend $130 on. So I'll live with my hideous loveseat until the amazing day that I can give it away. That will be in 300 some days, but still. I'll deal. Maybe I'll find one that doesn't fit it so well but is cheaper. I seriously cannot wait until I can buy furniture. Real furniture, not crappy college stuff.

I'm so sick of my life being in stasis.

World's Ugliest Loveseat

Anyone who has seen the first pictures of Oliver has seen the hideous pattern on my loveseat. It used to belong to my grandmother and believe me, it looked fabulous in her living room. I'm just not really sure how the fabulousity didn't translate when it came under my possession. C'est la vie. It is a special shape so I had to order a special slipcover and it cost a pretty penny. I'm trying it out and I wanted to know your opinions. Thoughts?

I would have much rather bought a new couch, but since I don't know where I will be in the next 10 months I decided an expensive slipcover was a better solution then an expensive couch that I'll have to move later. The question is can I live without the slipcover and with the embarrassing print that shames me in front of company? Or stick with the slipcover that will dock my paychecks... cause I can think of a lot of things I would rather buy to be honest, but I'll have to move those too...

It's more important to me to support Steven's dreams and move wherever he can find a job he loves then to have all the pretty things I want right now and can finally afford if I budget. Far more important. However, my high maintenance self is having trouble with it. I'll admit it, I can be very high maintenance about some things. I'm trying my hardest to downsize and cut back and be frugal and not accumulate more things. I'm trying to embody Mrs. Norris in Mansfield Park for all you fellow Janeites out there. Only without the attitude. And yes, Mrs. Norris the cat in Harry Potter is in fact based on a Jane Austen character! Purging is very good for me, really. I'm slowly embracing it and really learning to love it and realizing all the stuff I really just don't need. And I'm giving tons to charity, for people that really do need it.

I'm doing it all for us though. Cause to me we are an us already.

Gray Tint My World

The one thing I wish I could do in this apartment is paint. Painting really brings some pop to a room and gives it character. White walls just don't do it for me that much. In 10 months I will be moving again. This is the big move and hopefully it will take Steven and I to a place that actually allows painting. Our own home would be fabulous, but I'm pretty sure it isn't going to be a realistic goal for us just starting out. Either way, I want to paint something, and I want to paint it gray.

I first noticed gray walls in the movie 27 Dresses, very cute movie, I recommend it for the romance value. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will want to punch the little sister. I love her little apartment with the gray walls and the white trim. I began noticing that gray walls are a lot of places I love, including Carrie Bradshaw's apartment!

How could I have been so blind? The inspiration has been there for years! The gray will go perfectly with all of our black and white things. Just don't judge us as a boring couple because we love black and white, laughs.