paint a matte

As you may recall, up until about 2 days ago, this is sort of what our living room looked like:

I wrote all about those awesome state prints & the whole mess of it almost 7 months ago [omg that feels like just yesterday] on this post. There is also a past post about the love affair [that continues to this day] that I have with my couch.

But anyways, my poor little NY & PA were in frames much too small in comparison to the HUGO “There’s no place like home” frame in the middle.

Plus the prints themselves just look jammed in those frames. In fact, they were. The prints were even a little bunched on the edges so they would fit into the frames. It was pretty much a design failure.

PA print, no matte = :(

It drove me nuts. Not keep you up at night thinking in horror about it nuts, but more like the nuts where every time you see it/walk by it you get that little twitch sorta thing.  

Insert matte. Or if you want to be all technical – make matte.

Matte: a sheet of cardboard placed on the back of a picture, either as a mount or to form a border around the picture.

Technically, that is exactly what I did. I took a piece of cardboard. I painted it. I stuck that sucker behind my print. I threw them both into a larger frame. I slapped those puppies back up on the wall & called it a day. 20 minute project – heck yes. 

PA print, with matte = :)

It is super duper strange how it looks like the blue is in front of the print. I swear it is not. Seriously folks, I painted a piece of cardboard with leftover oops paint I had (the same color from this project) put the print on top of it & shoved them both in a cheap-o Walmart frame (the kind the glass pops in & out of the front & the back is made of plastic). The heck yes that does not look half bad for how much it really cost sort of frame. 

Sure the matting is not professional. Did I mention it is just painted cardboard!? But check out the difference it makes in comparison to how the whole room looks now:

The frames do not look like just specks of dirt on the wall!! There is a pop of color that is brought out even more in the matching of the oops paint in the frames to the wooden containers under the coffee table. Everything looks all balanced & I feel as if the world is at peace [except when I think about that stupid blind/curtain situation in the living room]. 

Oh & that big hunk of black blog on the couch — that is my favorite blanket ever. 

Things are really starting to come together in our condo. Thanks to the wonderful holiday that just occurred Ben & I purchased some bedroom furniture, which has spurred an entire bedroom remodel. It is really coming together well. As soon as the final pieces are assembled & arranged I will do a post on them. Since the whole set was purchased on Amazon it will also be a review of sorts. Fun stuff. I cannot wait to share it!!

Until then, I have been crafting like crazy lately & will be sharing some of the Pinterest projects I have actually finished!! Check out my “Made!!” board if you want a few hints. 

zen again

This is the second of my posts about my book Zen Soup. Where I include my favorite quote of another chapter of the book. (here is my first one)

This chapter was about having a “beginner’s mind” — i.e. a mind willing to learn because it is “not afraid of not knowing nor convinced that they already know what they don’t.”

I love learning new things, so this chapter was right up my alley. It make me want to go back to school so much. Except for the whole money & tests thing. I wonder what I would go back & study?

Here is the quote for today:

“What is now proved was once only imagin’d.”

~ William Blake

need an interior decorator

We have a current apartment situation. We have an awesome, large, naturally well lit living room, but when we want to watch movies during the day (or any time that is not 10pm-midnight) the glare on the tv can be pretty horrible.

You would think it would be simple. Hang some rods, add a curtain here & there, slide closed when watching tv & leave open to let in the sun the rest of the day. Well, that is how it SHOULD be, but it sure is not going to be that easy. You see our living room design (& the way we have it set up) make that infinitely more complicated.

Problem 1: the window arrangement 

This is a tiny picture (& not mine), but as you can see, we have a window to the left & right of two porch doors (though only one opens, on ours the left side is the one that opens).

So do we get 3 separate curtain rods (one over each window & one over the doors) or do we just get one huge flippen curtain rod that will stretch over the length of both windows & both doors?

Being the stalker that I am, I googled our complex & found pictures of one of the units that is for sale. This is what they did (this unit is IDENTICAL to ours) :

I do not mind that one little bit, but the problem there is the amount of light the doors let in. They seem to be 70% of the problem when it comes to tv watching (the other 30% is the window on the left, the right window is sort of a nonissue). Looking at this setup though, I am convinced that 3 separate rods would just look crazy.

Problem 2: our arangement 

Like the people in the example picture, our tv is on the left & our couch is on the right. Only we have ZERO option to change that given that the tv is mounted to the wall & our couch is L-shaped. This is how the couch looks now:

yeah i know i need bigger right & left picture frames, it is a work in progress

If we added curtains, we would most likely have to move the chaise to the other side of the couch. That is not really a deal breaker though, it will just be a bit of a pain in the neck. It also opens the door for the next problem…

Problem 3: half or full curtains??

Adding full floor length curtains looks nice sometimes, but covering that large of an area gives me the feeling of just hanging a huge blanket over the whole wall. We could add half curtains on the windows & put floor length ones on the doors, but that seems…. unbalanced.

Are you beginning to see why this feels like so much of a chore!?

Problem 4: color

This seems like a bit of a small problem given what our other issues are, but it still is a concern. We bought a black blackout curtain & hung it using painters tape just to get a feel of what it would be like/see if we could get away with just covering the windows & not the doors.

Black curtain when completely closed = stands out like a thumb that got bashed with a hammer against our light cream/beigey/taupey/more yellowish than off white walls. Did I mention the faux wood blinds that are currently on the windows are white? Right now, I am thinking maybe a light gray or white. But will white on white look weird? What the heck color curtain rods do you get if you hang white or light colored curtains, white?
The worst part of all of this is knowing in just over a year we will be leaving this place & all this contemplation will be for nothing (except to help off the next renters — the lucky bums!!).

So yes, I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do at this point. I would LOVE to just hang curtains on the OUTSIDE of the windows (ie – on the porch) so I do not have to deal with hanging them inside. But since Ben does not yet know about this plan & will most certainly not agree with that theory, I have no clue what I am going to do.

Any & all suggestions & advice are welcome. Offers to come & just fix it for us are also totally acceptable,  just let me know when you will be over & I will even make you a meal & cookies & be eternally in debt to you. : )

 

 

have had a bad day

Now I fully understand that you need bad days to make you realize how good the good days are – but yesterday was nuts.

First of all, I had to go to the doctors. I do not like going to the doctors. It smells funny, they always make you get naked, it is never warm enough in there, it takes way too long & it costs a ton too much money. Said appointment was for something I did not want to be there about, did not even accomplish what I had thought I was there for, they took blood without any heads up they were going to do so & the lady very much so sucked at doing son & the appointment took so long I was not able to eat lunch with Ben. *cue sad face*

Second, Ben had forgotten his phone at home when he rode his bike to work. Fearing he would get a flat tire or hit by a car & I would have no idea – I needed to bring him his phone before he rode home. That was super wonky because it was impossible to contact him while I had his phone & he was out of the office at the lunch I was supposed to be eating with him. *cue sadder face*

Third, I had gone to Chick-fil-a in an attempt to get myself out of the bad mood I was in from the morning. It was crazy busy there. Like INSANE. I had a coupon for a free sandwich so I was going to splurge & get one of their chocolate peppermint shakes since I had never had one of those. As it turns out that is a VERY SEASONAL thing which means they already stopped selling them. *cue sad face* But I decided I could settle for chocolate & lunch cost me a whole $2. *cue semi-less sad face*

But then I got home & OHHHHHH BOY. I shall let the pictures speak for themselves for the most part.

which was caused by:

which led to:

which I am calling a trail of tears…. only it was much worse than tears, & soaked everything including my keys.

So as a normal human being I grabbed a bowl to throw my cup in (because heck NO I was not going to let me whole ‘already settled for chocolate’ milkshake go down the drain) & then

What do you mean bowls are supposed to only be 1 piece?! I thought they were supposed to jump out of the cupboards & shatter on the floor when you are having a milkshake emergency.

But wait a second, there is still a piece missing….

Oh there it is, next to the bananas & my yellow mug which has now drained itself entire contents of water on my black sweater, all the papers & other items I had in my hands, & the bottom of my chick-fil-a bag.

Sure there are worse things in life & I should be thankful that nothing actually terrible happened yesterday. That being said, I was not a happy camper about any of it. Not one little bit.

But today Ben & I had our lunch date at Thai Cuisine which just happens to be a semi-halfway point between out apartment & where he works. As an added bonus, their Kee Mao (L-2) is just like the Drunken Noodle I use to get at Taste of Thai in Knoxville, which I absolutely loved & have not been able to find a substitute for since moving to Austin. With their lunch you also get the buffet too which was stocked with yummy salad, egg rolls (which I have also been craving) & crab rangoons (theirs just had cream cheese in them, but so delish!!).

All in all, it seems as if order has been restored in the world. Thank god, because I had had about enough of that crap.

tie bow (men’s polo to women’s shirt in 10 steps)

While I was home, my Dad went through some of his clothing & was getting rid of a couple of shirts. I used this to my advantage. I have been wanting to re-make this Men’s Polo to Woman’s Bow Shirt from grey luster girl for quite awhile now. Her tutorial has a bunch of great advice, so I recommend using hers too if you are going to attempt this.

Here is what the final piece looked like:

Step 1: Find polo you are going to use (in theory it does not NEED to be a polo, but I think that works best for the bow style). This one was a Large men’s shirt – I usually wear a Small woman’s. 

wrinkly Dad shirt

Step 2: Remove the collar from the shirt. I did this by using my seam ripper (best sewing tool ever & costs less than $5 usually).

Step 3: Cut off the sleeves of the shirt at the sleeve hemline.

Step 4: Adjust the length & width of the sleeve to fit you. You can use an existing shirt to get a general idea, but remember to include a seam allowance on both the length & width if you use this method. I just sort of eye balled it, then made some adjustments as I went. 

Step 5: Re-sew the sleeves back on. I lined up the top of the shirt with the fold in the sleeve, pinned the material & sewed. It is important that you do not sew the material around the armpit part at this point. It will help everything line up better in the end if you just sew around the front & back leaving the bottom edge open.Step 6: At this point, the shirt is still at full manly sized width. If you have not already, try the shirt on & get a general idea of how much you will need to take in the right & left of the shirt. I just made a pen line on the inside of my shirt. Remember to take into account the seam allowance (I usually give myself an extra 1/4″ when working with knit/jersey fabric).

Step 6: Sew the sleeve closed at the bottom & continue from the armpit down to the bottom of the shirt. For example, in the picture below I started sewing at the far left hand side until I reached the armpit, then continued sewing directly down. Do this on both sides. 

Step 7: Try on shirt & adjust left & right sides to fit. Each time I made an adjustment I just started at the armpit & brought it in a bit. If the sleeves fit, there is no need to re-sew them each time. I also cut off a few inches from the bottom of the shirt to make it a bit shorter. To add a finished look, just leave an additional seam allowance, fold the extra material over & sew along the bottom of the shirt. *be careful not to sew your shirt closed!! I almost did!!*

Step 8: Make 2 “tubes” for the bow pieces. Use the other tutorial for some info on how to do this if you do not already know how. Mine were about a foot long each. Remember fabric that seems long now, quickly disappears when making a bow. I recommend tying a few practice bows with your fabric to make sure it is the length you want.

Step 9: Re-sew the collar of the shirt closed. In the other tutorial she inserted her bow materials into the collar, my collar was not thick/wide enough so I folded my bow tubes in half & just sewed them to the front of the collar. If you have a high top button like I did, you may want to leave the shirt buttoned when sewing on the tubes, otherwise you may no be able to button the shirt later.

Step 10: DONE. All you need to do now is tie a pretty bow. I tied mine without ironing it first. Once you iron it the fabric tubes lay down much flatter & make for prettier bows.

& that is all there is too it. Total time for this project is about 1-2 hours depending on how particular you are about picking out the collar & adjusting the sleeves & width of the shirt.

have killed Christmas

Ben & I did Christmas ALL wrong this year.

The month of December was nearly half over before we even got a Christmas tree or put up a single decoration. On a whim we bought a real tree, lights, a base, & a tree skirt.

In fact, we had our Christmas tree for 13 days before we left to go out of town to spend the holidays with our parents.

It was probably for the best. Judging by the rate of needle loss it is quite possible that our Christmas tree had been stolen from its forest home (ie- tree farm in NC) a bit before Thanksgiving. But believe me from December 10th until December 23rd we loved that tree with out whole hearts & so did the cats. In fact, the cats have been petitioned to keep a Christmas tree in our living room year round, but to no avail.

Before we left, we decided Mr. Tree needed to relocate. As awesome as he looked in the living room, the idea of cats choking on needles that were piling inches high while we were 1500 miles away was not something I wanted to risk. I also did not want to deal with the needle aftermath. Mr. Tree made the 15 foot journey to our side porch. He lived on that porch providing a cozy (although temporary) home for our neighborhood birds & squirrels.

birdie poo - NOT snow

evidence birds were here

Now that we have been home for 4 days, I made a decision. I bought a saw. Since Mr. Tree had not been receiving regular water, I decided he needed to be put out of his misery rather than continue to thirst to death. Plus, the next morning was garbage day. Another week & we would be up to our ankles in bird poop. So I killed Christmas.

Once I had the saw, the rest was fairly simple. Either because the saw was brand new, it is just an awesome saw, or because I am a pro tree cutter, that thing was split in a matter of minutes.

my new little friend

Luckily, Ben came home not too long after & encouraged me to just throw the tree over the porch. My original plan was to tie rope to it & lower it safely to the ground. Nope Ben said toss it. Turns out that worked pretty well. Gravity is awesome. & no one was injured in the process (though our next door neighbor might think we are absolutely insane because she witness the tree drop).

the drop

the remains

As it turns out, dropping the tree just 3 days into the new year felt MUCH more satisfying than watching any “ball” drop on New Year’s Eve. Perhaps this too will become a Christmas tradition (because it might be my favorite tradition of all). & thus, Christmas was dead.

To our first real Christmas tree:

Thanks for smelling awesome. Thanks for bringing us a dose of Christmas we were unable to find ourselves. Thanks for providing endless hours of cat entertainment & dozens of needles to vacuum. Thank you for being the basis of traditions I hope we follow for many years to come (ex: making sure “Christmas is on” before Ben gets home from work aka plugging in the tree). You were a good tree.  

We shall always remember you – the first year our apartment smelled like Christmas & the first time I got to heave something of substance off of our porch. For that, I am eternally grateful. 

Farewell Mr. Tree

The holidays are a time for making memories. I made some this year : )

zen

One of my gifts this year was a book called Zen Soup.

As part of my “holy crap quit doing all that stressing” in the new year I think I will post some of the quotes in the book. What I absolutely love about this book is that it is just that – half real book, half compilation of quotes. This style really helps my ADHD stay in check when reading. 

Here is my quote for today:

“We look backward too much and we look forward too much; thus we miss the only eternity of which we can be absolutely sure – the eternal present, for it is always now.”

~ William Phelps

have a plan: 2012 aspirations

Many people today do not set new year resolutions because they know they will not stick to them. I am one of those people. The idea of coming up with one thing you are or are not going to do all year seems a bit lazy to me. In one year, there are 365 days. That is 8760 hours (granted if you are like me you may be sleeping 4000 of those….). If all you are going to do in the next 365 days is change one aspect of yourself or your life, that is fine, but I like to aim a bit higher.

It was from that decision that arose

THE 2012 ASPIRATIONS LIST

• Growth

1. not physically, I missed the boat on that one, but personal growth (preferably through education of some sort). The idea of more student loans seems super gross, but maybe a couple free/low cost classes at the community college. Anything to keep my brain busy.
2. gardening – I love growing things. Since Ben & I are on a health kick & have been trying lots of new veggies, I would love to start a little garden – maybe veggies, but even herbs would be fine.This will be hard without actually owning any land, but there is plenty of sun in Texas that comes free of charge.

• Health

1. physical – I have got to start exercising on a regular basis. I am great at starting exercise programs, but then I let things get in my way. Silly things like being sick, changes in schedule, weather. I need to just sign up for another race so I force myself to run.
2. mental – I need to set aside time for me. I am absolutely horrible at this. There are plenty of things I love doing. Of these things, very rarely do I just go out & do things just for myself. I always write it off as I should be saving that money or doing something more productive with my time. I need to stop that. I need to spend at least 1 hour a week with myself doing things for myself. I deserve this & I think I will be a happier person if I do.

• Finances

1. this is a much easier goal to track: I want to pay off my car. If I pay about $850/month in 2012 & my car will be paid off!! That is over $500 more than my normal monthly payment (which is about $100 over the minimum payment). If I pay this year as much as I paid last year, it will be 2/3 paid off & fully paid off in 2013. Paying off my car (which I refinanced to pay off my student loans) would mean I would be DEBT FREE.
2. save, save, save, save. I want to get a house. Ben is kicking my butt at saving, but he makes more than I do, so I need to work EXTRA hard on saving. It would be awesome to actually GET a house in 2012, but I would settle for saving enough money so we can put a big chunk down & get one in 2013.

If you were wondering I have some long term goals too. I in no way expect (in some cases I do not even want) to accomplish these goals in 2012. But since I am doing the whole list thing I figured I would put them in typing too. If you write things down you are more likely to achieve them. I sure hope that applies to typing too.

Future Goals, in some particular order, but I am open to re-arrangements if necessary:

• finish the Wheel of Time series (totally attainable in 2012, if they release the last book)
• teach the cats to stay on the porches without sticking their heads out far enough to give me a heart attack (perhaps an on-going life goal)
• run a 10k (tentatively on the achieve in 2012 list)
• set up a retirement fund & actually start saving money in it (HAVE TO DO IN 2o12, no excuses)
• own a house (probably a 2013 goal)
• get married – NOT a huge wedding, only our closest family & friends.  I do not want to go crazy planning an event that should be happy & joyous. Nor do I want to spend that much money on one day – INSANE.
• have a baby, maybe even two
• force my parents into moving closer (kidding…. sort of….)

I know some people try to set goals for the next year & then forget about them within the month. I am actively going to try to work on these aspects of my life. Every single day.

Happy 2012!!

list the best of Christmas 2011

I am not really a fan of the year in review things because I am never able to give an appropriate representation of each month of the past year (usually because I forget half of the stuff that happens in the year).

Instead, here is a list of awesome things about Christmas 2011 [in order of memory not importance] :

• not getting any delays/lay overs/re-routing/broken air plane parts/crazy weather on the trip there or back!! This is a miracle. Every time I have flown for the past 10 times something has gone wrong. I am not sure how we managed, but everything went smooth & wonderful this trip. Who knew flying out on Christmas Eve & flying back on the 30th would be so easy!!
• seeing family. I never feel like I get to seem my family enough. Just hanging out with my family for 6 days was just what I needed. I love them so much. Someday the north & south are going to be closer than 1500 miles apart & I will get to see them more than every 6 months.
• My mom: who will understand me better than anyone else, ever. My dad: perhaps the smartest & most caring person I know. How you can be so perfectly balanced I will never figure out. My sister: the most talented, beautiful, & jealousy inducing sibling ever. Dang how I miss all of them. So terribly much.
• seeing how my extended family has grown over the past year. My cousins are starting to have babies. This means our already large extended family is getting bigger & bigger (also louder & crazier). I cannot wait to see what this means for future years!!
• my bed. my room. the shower. Being home is just so wonderful sometimes. Sure a lot has changed since I moved out years ago, but some things just always feel the same & that is exactly how I want them to always be.
• also applicable: my Shadow puppy (age 13 human years, that is 91ish in dog years) & Leo the cat
• my new bike shorts!! (I will review them when they get shipped here)
• $$ to go toward the purchase of a bed frame!! no more mattress on the floor…. once Amazon puts it back in stock….
• little flosser things!! (I hate flossing, but these things make it actually enjoyable – I will review these with the bike shorts review)
• hanging out with one of my best friends & her little family
• THE FOOD. Food made by my parents & extended family always tastes better than anything I can ever make. I think this is 90% mental & 10% because I did not have to do the work. Pretty sure I gained 5 pounds over the holiday.
• also related: pantry & fridge filled with food I love. The awesome thing about being home is they just know what I like & like what I like & magically they are always filled!!
• hand me downs/ups. I hate spending money on clothing, but I love new clothes. Going home means playing clothing swap with my sister & shoe swap with my Mom. LOVE IT!!
• an entire bag of random scarves my Mom got me for Christmas — I sense many a scarf project in my future

This is just a sampling of all the awesomeness of being home.

Due to some traveling related illnesses on Ben’s part (which I think he is sharing with me) tonight will be a low key evening with a few friends. The important part is I get a kiss on midnight & a fresh start with a new year.

Here is to hoping 2012 is not the end of the world, because I think it could be a pretty darn awesome year!!

Happy New Year!!

pack (for cold weather travel)

Did you know if you Google “packing for travel in cold weather,” the results are not helpful in the least? Unless of course you are going tromping around Europe or camping in the mountains (yes, people do that in the winter, yes, they are insane).

I consider myself a very good packer. Years of travel (both via car & plane) have taught me many tips & hints. It is only fair that I share them with you.

Think first aka prep work

1.  make a list. But only make it once. There is no need to have to re-write a list every single time you need to pack. I use Ta-da lists. That site is nice because I just keep it bookmarked & when we go out of town, pull it up & do not have to re-think about everything I will need.  Here is my packing list: http://whitkae.tadalist.com/lists/1475254  (I also have a to-do before we leave list with reminders about our feline family members)
2. consider the weather. Normally for weather I use NOAA. But for planning trips I usually want to see a few more days out & I have found The Weather Channel has the best 10-day forecast.  The low to high range for our trip is between 30-39 degrees. BURRRRRRRR.
3. When the weather is this cold the only way you can pack & not have to check a bag is by thinking in layers. 1 huge sweater might be warm, but a tank top, long sleeve, & light sweater will be just a warm & 10 times more space saving. You probably think I am lying. But just keep reading, I will prove it.
4. wear/ carry your coat. It makes zero sense to pack your coat. It will be the bulkiest item you have & you are going to need it the moment you get to your destination. Keeping it out of your bag means you can have it for the plane incase it is chilly & you do not need to unzip your bag before you reach your final destination. You might have to take it off to get through security, but that really is not that big of an issue (they make you take off hoodies & all jackets anyways).
5. bring clothes you like. Do not bring a brand new shirt or shirts you never wear. Chances are you will not be comfortable in them & will not actually end up wearing them.
6. consider colors & combinations. If you have all black/gray based clothing & packs (like in my example below) do NOT throw in a brown sweater. Do not pack for one outfit. Pack things that can be worn multiple times with multiple things.

The “how much”

This is what I will bring (clothing only) on our 7 days, 6 nights trip:

(note: I will do laundry once on this trip…. probably)

- 4 pairs of underwear + 1 pair I will wear on the way there (total 5)

- 1 bra + 1 I will wear on the way there (total 2)

- 4 pairs of sock + 1 pair I will wear on the way there (total 5)

- 1 pair of pjs (total 1)

- 1 pair of jeans + 1 pair I will wear on the way there (total 2)

- 2 long sleeve shirts + 1 I will wear on the way there (total 3)

- 2 short sleeve shirts (total 2)

- 2 light sweaters, 1 heavy sweater I will wear on the way there (total 3)

- 2 tank tops + 1 I will wear on the way there (total 3)

navy, white, black

& THAT IS IT. 

Think about your travel clothes. Wear the bulkiest stuff on your body so it stays out of your bag. Also, remember you have to travel twice (once to get there, once to get home). It only makes sense to wear the same thing, or something similar for both trips.

Here is what that actually looks like (minus underwear, bra, socks, pjs)

3 sweaters, 3 long sleeves, 2 short sleeves, 3 tank tops, 2 jeans

Looks like an insanely small pile, right?

Oh wait, that includes ALL the clothes I will have to work with while I am away. Want to see what is actually going into the carry on suit case (ie – all clothes minus the ones I will wear on the way there)?

Yup, that is it. 

You might be thinking I will be terribly limited on my outfit choices & should bring more. Granted I do not consider myself a fashionista in any way, but here are just 7 outfits I picked out of the clothes I am bringing. There are still plenty of other combinations I could make & none of these include any sort of jewelry/accessories. This is just an example. You could easily swap in more colorful/patterns shirts & sweaters to spice it up a bit.

heavy sweater w/ long sleeves

light sweater w/short sleeves

light sweater w/ long sleeves

jeans with 3 options of shirts

light sweater w/short sleeves

light sweater w/ long sleeves

heavy sweater w/ long sleeves

My point is, a couple key pieces go a long way. Anything you pack that can be layered could also be worn by itself or paired with another shirt (ex: long sleeve under a short sleeve). The key is in the combos.

& that my friends is how to pack (in only a carry on) for a 7 day trip to the arctic….. errrrr I mean Western NY.

& if all else fails, just raid your sister’s closet ; )