To My Readers

Hi friends,

I’m really sorry that I’ve been missing in action. A few of you have sent me emails saying “Where the heck are you?” and I really appreciate it…and apologize for my absence.

I am so grateful to each and every one of you that have taken the time to read my thoughts and follow my projects. We are indeed of like mind, and (as Anne of Green Gables would say) kindred spirits.

In a nutshell…I’ve been overwhelmed and a little fried. You see, my day job is kind of like this:

In fact, I’m pretty sure The Devil Wears Prada was written by someone who was actually in my job at one point. Although, I may have read that on Wikipedia ;-).

And at other moments I’ve felt like this lady:

But with better makeup and clothes (sorry Ms. Brockovich)…and I probably cry a little more.

I’m not complaining – I imagine many of you feel the exact same way. That’s why I’m willing to pour my heart out here. I just wanted you to know what happened, and reassure you that I am coming back.

I love writing, and sharing fun ideas and inspiration with you. With all the craziness in my life, it’s a much needed creative outlet that feeds my soul. And I’m glad that it can occasionally inspire some of you in the process.

Thanks so much for your friendship and loyalty.

With Love,

New Living Room Pillows

The “new” living room is coming together piece by piece – and I’m loving it so far. I had to share the fun pillows I ordered on Etsy.

These arrived yesterday and I’m in love. I didn’t realize when I ordered them that the design is actually hand stamped onto the fabric. Gorgeous! Here’s a link to the seller’s shop.

And these pillows are being custom made for me by this seller (which is a fancy way of saying I was too lazy to make them myself). I can’t wait to see them in person!!!

Also, the new rug is in it’s place in my living room and I love it. This is where I should insert a real life photo of said rug in said living room…but I’ll let you wait for that and instead post the Urban Outfitter’s stock photo. Yes…I’m truly that lazy right now…or more accurately, I truly am that busy. You should see the dishes in my sink… Sorry loves.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress!

Where’s the Fun At?

I wrote a post last week about my love for Anthropologie, and it kind of make me look around my living room and ask myself, “Where’s the fun? Where’s the whimsy? Where’s the personality?”. It just kind of felt a little stiff, a little serious, a little too staged. It was pretty and comfortable, but not totally representative of me. In fact, it’s the only room in the house I haven’t really loved yet. So I thought, and I thunk, and I thinked, and I decided to freshen things up a bit.

I’ll give you the “full reveal” soon, but I will tell you it involved a little of this…

And a dash of this…

And a teaspoon (or gallon) of this…

And my own homemade version of this…

Stay tuned!

Anthropologie Dreaming

Back when I was a single gal dreaming of owning my own home, I used to imagine what it would look like. I always thought it would look like an Anthropologie store…more or less. You know – all artsy and feminine. Now that I actually own my own home, I’m not totally sure why my house looks so…well, normal. Although, it probably has something to do with not wanting to embarrass my son when his friends come over since Anthro stores can be a bit over the top. I still can dream, though. Want to dream with me?

In my dream house I would have this bed. I love this bed. I’ve big fat loved this bed for years. Yes, it’s $1500, and yes, it’s a little over the top, but we’re dreaming here. Remember?

I’d probably add this floofy fluffy white bedding. Doesn’t it look like a cloud? All feminine and dreamy-like?

And may I tell you how much I love this Astrid Chair? I even love the name. And are you noticing that absolutely nothing in my house even remotely resembles the style of this chair? Hmmm, makes one think.

I want one of these letters that I talk myself out of every time I visit Anthropologie because they’re $28. Were they $18 each I would have done it, but that extra $10 is a deal breaker for some reason – which ironically I’ve probably spent over and over again at Starbucks or McDonalds. Go figure.

For my kitchen I want these fancy measuring spoons that would make me smile each time I used them. 

Same with this adorable milkmaid butter dish. Oh c’mon. The cuteness is killing me.

And I seriously want to eat off of these dishes…or maybe even just lick them.

And after dinner I’ll retire to the study where I’ll light a few candles…

Sip some tea…

 

And read Sense and Sensibility…or just gaze at its darling cover.

Ahhh…isn’t it fun to dream.

What would you have in your dream house?

Demystifying Polyvore – Part 2

I wrote a basic tutorial last week about using Polyvore to create design boards. I wanted to do a second post to show you one other really cool thing you can do in Polyvore – you can grab items from other websites.

First, remember in my last post how I told you to follow this tutorial to download the clipper tool? You need to do this before you can grab items from other sites. Okay? Okay (you’re so compliant..love you).

Okay, so let’s say you’re browsing the Anthropologie website like you do everyday occasionally, and you stumble upon this rug. Your heart goes pitter pat, you let out an audible “Ohhhh”, and you instantly want to use it in a design board.

Since you already downloaded the clipper tool all you have to do is go over to your “Favorites”, and then “Links”, and then scroll down and click on “Clip to Polyvore”.

(Yes, I blacked out a couple sites I didn’t want you to know about. In my defense, they’re work related…and I like having a job. Also, I have no idea why I have so many Yahoo links! Sheesh!)

Once you’ve clicked on “Clip to Polyvore” a little box will appear in the upper right corner of your screen, telling you to click on the photo you want to save to your items in Polyvore. Once your mouse is over the photo that you want to import, a green box will appear around the picture. Once the green box appears around the picture just click on the picture.

A new box should then appear in the upper right corner of your screen asking if you’re sure you want to save the photo to your items – just click “Save”. You also have the option of including tags. This helps others in Polyvore to be able to find your item to use in their design boards. So, it’s kind of a nice thing to do to add tags.

(Note: My computer was acting up and wouldn’t let me grab the Anthro rug like it should have. So in the interest of finishing the tutorial, we are now looking at a different rug…same principle. Okay – carry on).

Once you’ve clicked “Save”, the item will appear in your saved items in Polyvore and you’ll be able to see them next time you visit.

One little caveat is that you can’t clip every photo to Polyvore. Only certain photos can be uploaded. For instance, I’ve tried to use photos from Ebay listings before, and no dice. Drats. Most “store” sites can clip to Polyvore though.

And that’s it. Happy creating!