Imaginary Decorating:Living Room

Do you ever go on an imaginary shopping trip? For me they are always unplanned and seeing one thing can set them off. Tonight it was this photograph:

It's all my favorite colors! And the yellow even goes with my newly painted bathroom. So I planned a little living room update. I'd keep most things that I already have in the room since I already have the teal color scheme going on. I've been trying to think of how to bring in another color. My great-grandmother's floral tv-trays have bright colors in them and I think yellow would work well. My She and Him print and coffee table would still work as well as my curtains and tv table/dresser. It's sorta like a mini-dresser.

Anyhow, I'm so in love with this yellow settee. The little feet! All of these came from Urban Outfitters. I know, I couldn't believe it either. So bright and fresh! I could probably find a similar bookshelf in town and paint it. And the vintage looking metal stacking baskets! I'm in love. Maybe I'll have to start stashing some of my paycheck away for this look.

Daydreamer Settee $579
4x6 Mod Flowers Printed Rug, $48
Old House Bookshelf, $179
Brimfield Stacking Basket - Set of 2, $89
Flower Flourish Mirror, $38

Drumroll please...

The moment you have been waiting for (at least my mom and Jon have been waiting for) is finally here. The bathroom is done!

I love it. The before and after says it all really. Huge difference!

376 days ago...

I started a project. Today I (mostly) finished it. Remember this..

.

Ack, I'd almost forgotten how ugly shower doors, wall paper and rusty curtains can be.

I've done some work along the way:

Replaced the doors with a lovely curtain from Anthropologie.

Removed the rusty blinds and put up a custom vinyl curtain.

After 4 snow/ice days off from work, I finally decided to end this long chapter of my apartment life and paint my bathroom. It's been ready to paint since the summer but I've not had the time/resources to get it done. I'm happy to say it is now painted a lovely shade of Creamy Oat and I couldn't be happier to have it done and over with.

More to come tomorrow. It's still drying and it's too dark outside to take good photos.

Cabin Fever=Celeb Makeover

Somehow tonight I linked over to InStyle Magazine's site and then discovered this:

Hollywood Makeover. I love a good makeover show and since I'm preparing for Snow Day #3 I had little else to do. I used a photo that I took over a year and a half ago before my college roommate Kelsey's wedding. It worked well since my hair was longer at the time and I had it pulled back.

Here were my favorite celeb hairstyles on myself, I just realized my favorite hairstyles happened to come from 4 of my favorite actresses, coincidence?

Jennifer Connelly's braided updo.

I love braided updos but since my hair is shorter (though it was long in this photo but pulled back) and curly I've never tried it. So here is the only time it will happen. This looks like it actually could be my hair though.

Ginnifer Goodwin's pixie cut.

I've always wanted to cut my hair this short. No clue as to what my curls would do but I really love this style. Of course my hair color would be different too which I think is the only thing I dislike about this photo.

Carey Mulligan's short pixie cut.

Similar to Ginnifers but with more bangs and a cute headband. I like this one a lot too.

Natalie Portman updo.

This one is more realistic if my hair was straight for a day and highlighted and longer...

Hmm...now I want to get my hair cut off. I am not one to shy away from the scissors. I've gone from long to a short bob several times over the years. It drives me crazy when girls are afraid of a haircut. At worst, it grows back ladies!

This one's for you Jon:

The Zooey Deschanel look. Sigh, is it weird that we both have a crush on her?

Here is one I will have to pass up on:

Lady Gaga's platinum bow.

Snow Day

Isabelle and I shared mostly the same schedule today. Eat, sleep, look at the snow. As I am sure tomorrow will be another day off I just decided to be lazy today. Tomorrow I'll take on some baking and cleaning projects. Probably.

Black and Gold

I'm really into the black and gold color combination lately. Too bad I'm 4 years late since those were my college colors. Appalachian! Anyhow, how gorgeous is this cocktail ring?

Clear it Out

Today when I got home I petted the cat, unloaded my teacher bags and sat down to read some blogs. It's my little moment after a long day with 4th graders. I read Kendi's entry about her clean closet and glanced to the right into mine...

I love a good closet clear out.

I got up and got to work. Forget about how my legs can hardly move from doing the "Sexy Leg" 10 minute workout on demand the other night in my living room. Before I started though I decided to survey the scene. My house is a lot messier than usual after being here and there for the holidays and never really getting things back in their place. Evidence here:

This is my second bedroom/office.

My bed becomes a catch all for my work clothes when I get home and also my laundry that I'm too lazy to put up.

It also doubles for a cat bed/playground.

Here is the other side of the room. The chair becomes a coat hook and there is my New Year's Eve dress still hanging on the door.

I have the best closet ever. It's huge. Notice the wooden hangers. That was last winter's closet project.

See. It gives me shivers to look back at those plastic hangers.

And look at how many more dresses I have now. Whoa!

But back to my current closets issues. Missing shoes.

The top shelf is supposed to be for sweaters. Yeah, those are sweaters.

I had to stop to document my cute outfit today. That's my closet mirror,

Isabelle likes to hide behind the mirror. She waits for me to leave so she can...

tear up my old wicker hamper :(

Oh, yeah, the clothes piled everywhere were supposed to be dry cleaned.

My own bedroom wasn't looking so hot itself. Obviously I like sleeping with a lot of quilts.

The top of my dresser becomes a site for Jon's glasses of water and my tights. Unrelated.

After taking these photos I got to work. I've now removed everything from the floor of my closet. Clothes on the floor have been separated from clothes to clean and clothes to donate to my teenage cousins. Here it was in the middle of everything. More to come...

Dear Diary

The past few years one of my new year resolutions has been to journal more. Not everyday because it's impossible but most nights I write a little something. The most disappointing thing to me is having something exciting happen and then waiting a few days to write when the excitement is not as strong and the writing is just so so. I've kept an ongoing journal since my senior year of college. It's hilarious and enlightening to look back on. I wasted so much time on this?!? Live and learn, but it's now in it's 3rd edition as I've outgrown 3 journals.

I love unconventional journaling ideas.

My first journal was actually a sketch book that I had in my possession for some reason or another (I am not a sketcher) and ended up doing lots of random doodles to describe my days. The next two journals I've bought have been hard back, blank sheet. Very bad for travel though, cute, but bad for travel. Lately I do more writing than doodling. When I look back at my first sketch book from college it was so much more creative! Drawings, collages, etc. Oh, and lists. I'm crazy about making a list. I'm now inspired to write a lot more so I can get a new journal when I fill this one up. Maybe I'll go back to the sketch book.

Here are some other good ideas:

Vintage Postcard Calendar Journal

Wreck This Journal

Simple Diary

(excellent for beginners, or lazy people, or busy people, or all of the above)

Listography- I love lists so I believe I've love this as a side project

New Camera. New Year.

I've barely broken it in but here are a few random shots.

Remember this?!? I got it for Christmas! Thank you Santa (Jonathan)!

Jon got reservations for dinner New Year's Eve at one of our favorite brunch spots. I was a lot happier than this but this was just a test shot and the only one that shows off my cute New Year's dress. Dinner was excellent. My favorite was the truffle mac and cheese. Oh, and creme brulee cheesecake. Yum.

Happy 2011!