color & life

Day Four... Only three more days left!

2009-06-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

Today was so far the best day. And I believe it was all due to a healthy morning breakfast. Even though I goofed and left part of my lunch and snack at home today, it was still overall a good day in the land of detox. I survived, ate too much broccoli & arugula soup for lunch, and surprisingly didn't feel very hungry. Cravings and the desire to quit still haunted me a bit, but they weren't as severe as before. I guess this is progress?

Real Menu
7:30a: Glass of lemon/raspberry water
8a: Eggs with mushrooms and spinach
9:30a: Wild Sweet Orange Tea with honey
11a: Apple
1p: Broccoli & Arugula Soup
4p: Dried Mango Slices
7p: Orange
8:30p: A few cucumber slices with olive oil & lemon juice
9p: 2 cups of popcorn (lightly salted)

Sample Menu
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Mango and Coconut Milk Smoothie (follow method for Blueberry and Almond Smoothie)
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Miso Soup with Watercress
4pm (snack): A handful of blueberries
6pm (dinner): Steamed Salmon and Greens

Day Three - This Must Be What It's Like to Have an Addiction

2009-06-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

I almost gave up again today. I feel like that's going to be a daily occurrence. And this whole thing would be a bit easier if I got up early enough to eat a proper meal for breakfast, but... I'm lazy. I like sleep. I also like cheese, as my brain keeps reminding me. Being stuck at work late, unable to eat the tasty snacks in the office kitchen, make a detox-er just a liiiittle bit crazy. I must have gone back and forth between reasons why I should just give up now and why I should suck it up and keep going. Luckily, I keep sucking it up. I feel like I'm a junkie going cold turkey. Ok fine, maybe it's not THAT severe, but that's what my brain is associating it with.
And because of that, I'm keeping this short... here's my menu for the day.

Real Menu
9am: Glass of lemon/raspberry water
10am: Herbal Tea
10:30a: Banana
11a: Orange
1p: Thai Chicken Salad (no dressing)
4p: Grapes & Blueberries
9p: Peach & Raspberry Smoothie
9:30p: Stir-Fried Asparagus

Sample Menu
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Oatmeal (make with rice or almond milk instead of water so it’s a bit more substantial)
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Blueberry and Almond Smoothie
4pm (snack): Cucumber, Lime and Basil Juice
6pm (dinner): Super Greens Juice / Miso Soup with Watercress

Day Two, I Haven't Given Up Just Yet.

2009-06-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

This morning, my brain almost won and I was just about to quit this whole detox and eat a damn english muffin. But instead of getting out of bed at 6a, I stayed in it and calmed my brain down a bit with another 3 hours of sleep. Because of that, I decided not to give up, but I did have to change my menu quite a bit from the recommended menu. I had the lemon water right away. Made some tea (with honey) after my shower and took it to work with me. I skipped the morning smoothie since I didn't have time to make it, so I had a peach instead... and I also conveniently "forgot" the coconut water at home.

I did remember to bring leftover soup and some grapes & blueberries to work for lunch and snack, but of course my brain started tormenting me again. To appease it, I ordered lunch with the rest of the office... but I got a detox friendly salad with no dressing. Just lettuce, cabbage, mandarin orange, rice sticks, sesame seeds and grilled chicken.

For dinner, I think I'm going to keep it simple and make a peach & raspberry smoothie. It's pretty filling with all that protein powder in there, but if I do get hungry (or more cravings from the evil brain) later on I can always make popcorn. I realized that since I have an air popper, plain popcorn with a little salt and pepper (or maybe cinnamon, I'm weird... I'll put anything on popcorn) is completely detox friendly.

Here's the breakdown of my Day Two menu, in comparison to the sample menu from Goop.

Real Menu
9:30a: Glass of lemon/raspberry water
10:30a: Raspberry herbal tea with honey
11a: A Peach
1p: Chinese Chicken Salad (no dressing)
4p: Handfuls of grapes & blueberries
7:30p: Peach & Raspberry Smoothie
9p: 2 cups of popcorn, lightly salted

Sample Menu
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Raspberry and Rice Milk Smoothie (follow method for Blueberry and Almond Smoothie)
11:30am: Coconut water
1:30pm (lunch): Detox Teriyaki Chicken and Steamed Greens
4pm (snack): Miso Soup with Watercress
6pm (dinner): Pea and Basil Soup (follow method for Broccoli and Arugula Soup)

Day One... is it over yet?

2009-06-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I survived Day One and I'm already realizing that this detox is much more difficult than I anticipated. I made sure that I was fully prepared for this new diet, but all the preparing in the world can't fight that overpowering desire to have a bagel and cream cheese... or a piece of chocolate... or just a slice of toast.

Here's the menu of what I ate yesterday, along with the day one sample menu from Goop:
Real Menu
6am: Glass of lemon/raspberry water
7am: Green Tea
9:30am (breakfast): Blueberry, Strawberry & Almond Milk Smoothie
11:30am: Coconut Water
1:00p (lunch): Salad (romaine, carrots, cucumbers, strawberries & basil) with Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar
4:00p: Handful of dried mango slices
6:30p: Banana
8:30p: Broccoli & Arugula Soup

Sample Menu
7am (or upon rising): Glass of room temperature lemon water
8am: Herbal tea
10am (breakfast): Blueberry and Almond Smoothie
11:30am: Coconut water*
1:30pm (lunch): Salad with Carrot and Ginger Dressing
4pm (snack): A handful of mixed pumpkin and sunflower seeds
6pm (dinner): Broccoli and Arugula Soup

All in the all, it went pretty well. The only bad parts are the cravings and my brain's unending need to sabotage me.

Day One: The Detox

2009-06-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

Nope, it's not another crazy apartment plan, this time it's a health plan. A detox diet, for one week, and today is day one.
The detox diet I'm following is the one that Goop wrote about.

Here's the basic breakdown of it:
Length: 7 Days
Focus: Mostly liquid meals (smoothies, juices, & soups), mostly vegetables & fruits
Not Allowed: dairy, gluten, meat (except skinless chicken breast), shellfish, anything processed (including all soy products), fatty nuts, nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant), condiments, sugar, alcohol, caffeine or soda.
Additional: Do deep breathing/yoga exercises, take a couple spoonfuls of olive oil at night to stimulate your liver, exercise (or sauna) to allow your body to release toxins through sweat.

I'm normally not one for strict, rigid diets, especially ones with the title "detox" attached, but this is something that I can wrap my head around and understand how it works and how I can benefit from it. I'm not denying myself food (though I am eating some pretty unconventional meals) and I don't expect to ever let myself be hungry. I'm simply taking a week to focus on 100% healthy eating. And I hope to be able to take all of the healthy eating choices I make this week and start using them regularly... like I used to, I sort of fell off the wagon a bit, and I'm hoping this week will be the push to get me back on.

Re-Evaluating

2009-05-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

I forgot that I had made a list of all the things I wanted to accomplish once I had moved into my own place. That was eight months ago, and fortunately I have completed a few things, some things have changed or evolved slightly, and as always I have a bunch of other new ideas I'd like to realize. So, I figured it would be a good idea to re-evaluate this. Recognize what I've achieved, note what still needs to be done, and update it with my new goals.

1.) Recycle on a regular basis. DONE!
My neighborhood does separate trash & recycling pick up, so easy!.

2.) Donate whenever appropriate. DONE!
This is obviously an on-going thing, but it's happening. I make a trip to Goodwill about once a month to donate the things that aren't of much use to me anymore. Which reminds me, I have 4 bags that need a ride to Goodwill... should do that soonish.

3.) Find out what's good and local. DONE!
Another on-going goal, but this one is going strong too!

4.) Get/make an earthquake kit.
I know. I should have this already. I KNOW!
But I don't have one dedicated kit, so it's going on the list.
Things that should be included/stored in the same location:
√ Storage Backpack
√ "Important Documents" Portfolio
Kinetic/Forever Flashlight
Hand-crank Radio (Eton)
Small First Aid Kit
Red Cross First Aid Manual (basic & advanced)
√ Small Sewing Kit
Water purification tablets
Spare Batteries
Personal Hygenie Items
√ Spare eyeglasses (the old ones)
√ Small stuffed animal (it's a disaster, why not?)
√ Blanket
√ Raincoat
√ Spare Leatherman
Local Map
Spare clothes
Spare sneakers
Bottled water
Matches

5.) Finish the Kitchen Nook (part dining, part sewing, part storage)
This was originally "establish a creative space." I thought it would be easy, but I didn't factor in the fact that my new apartment in T-I-N-Y. Right now it's just "the place where things go to die." Lots of stuff that I need to do something with. My goal is to get it all finished in June.

6.) Get renter's insurance!DONE!
I got renter's insurance before I moved, so I based it off of living with a roommate in a space that was about 4x as large. So needless to say once I moved my policy was just a tad bit overkill. And I only just now (literally... like, seconds ago) updated it. But hey, better late than never! And now that the premium dropped, it's like I get 3 months of free renter's insurance. :)

7.) Acquire more "soft things."
I think I've done well in this capacity, but I still am lacking in the throw pillow department. I just need 3.

8.) DON'T paint. Or only paint a light, neutral color. DONE!
My apartment is amazing, the walls are a light, neutral (NON-BEIGE!) color and I've finally finished hanging all of my art.

9.) Buy an LCD TV (dual-purpose) and quality receiver & speakers.
Still working on this. I need so more of that uh... what's it called... oh yeah, MONEY. :)

10.) Buy Apartment Therapy Presents: Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Design Solutions DONE!
This was a gift to myself when I signed the lease on my apartment. A reward for being so patient. :)

11.) Start a small indoor herb garden.
This is sort of in progress. I knew I would be out of town for a while in both April & May so I'm waiting til June, but I did get a hydrangea plant and a little succulent to start.

12.) Buy a freakin' bed already!
Yeah. I'm terrible. I can't find anything I like and am willing to drop a significant chunk of change on. I'm still looking... something will turn up, I hope.

Week 7, almost kinda close to done!

2009-05-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

Now that the Cure is almost over, I FINALLY have time to actually be productive. This weekend, since I took Friday off, I had a lot of time to check things off the big to-do list.

I cleaned up the kitchen, and was able to eat at home all weekend, I don't think I've been able to do that in couple months. I also cleaned out the bathroom a bit. I still have the shower head soaking in vinegar, hopefully it does a good job cleaning it... if not, it might be time for a new one.

The big things I was able to cross off were in the main room. I finally hung the room divider curtain I bought 6 months ago.

It really makes the place feel much lighter and airier, but still does its job of providing a bit of privacy in the bedroom.

That duvet cover is also new. I really like the color, but I miss the print and comfort of my other.

Oh, and I was able to hang mirrors! I have mirrors now! I always forget how important mirrors are when I only have the one bathroom mirror.

They even turned that little nook into the perfect little dressing area, complete with a little vanity table and sheepskin rug. It even inspired me to purge and reorganize my wardrobe. I love it!

There's still just one more week left in the Cure, but I'm really really pleased with how everything has turned out so far.

What do you get with baby steps?

2009-04-20T14:56:00.001-07:00

You eventually get big girl (or boy) steps. The steps when everything suddenly falls into place, it all makes sense, and you can walk with confidence. I took a big girl step last weekend when I shuffled my furniture around and discovered what my apartment had been missing all along. A sense of spaciousness and flow.

I had been living like this for about 6 months:

No, it wasn't terrible, awful, or anything... but it never felt right. I never felt "at home" and I knew there was something missing but I couldn't put my finger on it.
After months of being too busy to actually accomplish anything real, I was finally able to do some real life rearranging last weekend. And this is what I discovered:

Words can't describe how ecstatic I was when all of the pieces fell into place.
It's not finished in any sense of the word and I'm not sure that a home is every really "finished," but it is right. It feels right, it makes sense and I finally feel AT HOME in my own home. I can't wait to see how much more awesome it can get. :)

Once more, with feeling.

2009-04-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

After a much needed vacation from life and responsibilities (in Vegas, of course), I'm happy to report that I'm back to my normal self and ready to keep on keeping on.

Life got ridiculously busy over the past month and I realized that part of it was my own damn fault for a.) not recognizing when I've taken on too much and b.) not utilizing all of my time (i.e. there was a large amount of laziness in there that shouldn't have been there). But I'm back now and I'm moving on and not looking back. I'm starting everything (work, life and home) fresh, regardless of how old it is or how long ago it was supposed to be started/finished.

And with that, it's Week 5 of the Cure! I'm taking this week & weekend off from any outside responsibilities (i.e. gym, socializing, etc.) and focusing on my apartment. It's in desperate need of some calm and order and I'm confident that I can get everything back to where it was by the end of this week.
I'm going to start with my office area. If there's one thing I need, it's to get my butt in gear and not just organize my desk & paperwork but actually develop some sort of "system" so that things (mainly paperwork) don't get so out of control!

My other main focus, while more general and less Cure oriented, is actually doing/finishing things. I let my perfectionism get the better of me all the time and use it as an excuse to not "finish" projects and essentially I never get much accomplished simply because I think it's not good enough. Nothing is ever "good enough" for me, I understand that. Understanding is step 1, so I got that down. Step 2 is learning to change my definition of "good enough." Maybe the finished product isn't as perfect as what I had envisioned, fine, I can deal with that. But as long as it's "good enough" (i.e. I'm not ashamed to call it mine), then it's good enough to finish.
My first baby step happened at the beginning of this week, when I submitted my teeny-tiny-not-perfect-but-good-enough home to Apartment Therapy's Small Cool contest. Being able to shift my mindset from "what do I need to do in order to win" to "what do I need to do in order to enter the contest" made a world of difference. Suddenly I wasn't so overwhelmed and worried about failure or not being perfect. I entered, that was all I had to do, and I succeeded in doing that. No failure here! :)
You can see (and vote for!) my entry on Apartment Therapy here.

Week 1 Winding Down

2009-03-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

Week 1 is quickly coming to a close. I think I'm off to a good start.
I got a little bit done, which in the grand scheme of this week was kind of a miracle.
Laundry was done late last night, so I have a clean, freshly made bed and clean bath towels. I also decided to get rid of an old set of sheets (that I haven't used since I moved) and two old towels (since I want to get new matching ones anyway). They're in a pile, hopefully I can figure out where to donate them soon.

Today I'm planning on sweeping the floors, cleaning up the living area & office desk, and cleaning out Peppermint's litter box. I also need to restock some of my cleaning supplies (especially cat hair removal tools) and invest in a scrub brush for the bathroom shower.

Here's the state of my apartment right now:

(edit: The bed is made now!)

The Spring Cure 2009

2009-03-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

It always feels like once I finish one Cure, the next one is just around the corner!
Perhaps it's because I never get to any sort of finished state. And if I do, I end up ripping it all up so I can start over again. Oh well, I always learn new things during the Cure anyway.

So, it's Week 1 and I'm going to start with my favorite thing ever... A LIST!
I'm promising myself that this time I'm going to keep everything focused so that I at least have a small chance of accomplishing everything that I plan to accomplish.

Things To Buy:
• A Bed Frame
• A small, round dining table
• A large mirror OR A set of small mirror squares
• Under-the-bed storage boxes (after you buy a freakin' bed frame already!)

Things To Clean/Organize:
• The Entertainment Console
• The Bathroom Tall Shelf & Shelf above the door
• The Shower
• The Kitchen Nook
• The Kitchen Cabinets
• The Office Paperwork (for reals this time)
• My Car (what? my car is so sad and feels left out)

Things To Purge:
• The Kitchen Nook
• The Cabinet above the Wardrobe
• The Closet behind the bed
• The Entertainment Console

Things To Finish:
• Hang Room Divider Curtain
• Replace Closet Rod
• Hang Curtains in Main Room

Things To Contemplate:
• How to make better use of the kitchen cabinet space
• How to make better use of random closet behind bed
• How to make better use of the cabinet above the wardrobe
• How to keep the cat hair at bay.

I have needs.

2009-01-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

It's a bit of a change for me. Usually I only have wants. I guess you could technically classify these things as wants, but in the grand scheme of my apartment, I have needs... a couple needs.

I need a dining table. I WANT this dining table.

But I'll settle for something similar. Round, 30", with legs (not pedestal). It can be either dining, counter or bar height, but I'd prefer dining. That particular table (a Eurostyle bistro table to be exact) is about $140. Not a bad price... but I seem to be having commitment issues with spend more than $100 on such an important piece of furniture.
I was hoping to magically find one for $10 at a thrift store last weekend, but alas, I didn't. I didn't find any... at all... for any price.

I also need a bed. I have a mattress and box spring, so really I could get any queen-size bed. I would like this bed.

I was thinking in white, but I can settle for oak veneer or medium brown. $200 plus less than $100 for slats is a pretty good price... but I'm just not 100% in love with the bed and that lovely commitment issue pops up again.
And my other problem is getting it from the store to my apartment. I'm fairly certain even the wonderful Ikea flatpack boxes won't fit in my car.

I've also considered a bed from West Elm, which frequently go on sale for under $200... but that's usually not including a headboard. And the headboard part is really the part that I need the most.

I guess that's all that I really NEED. I want a rug for the living room and the kitchen, and I want a new, multi-purpose night stand... but my apartment will still feel complete without them. I think the bed and dining table need to come first.

A New Favorite: Home Goods

2008-12-21T19:15:00.001-08:00

No, this isn't some brand new, underground, amazing discovery... but it's new for me. I went into Home Goods this afternoon while wandering around Glendale, and I've either seriously underestimated this store or never actually been in one before. Or perhaps this one in Glendale is an anomaly in regards their stores.
They had a pretty huge selection of everything you might need for your home. Forget IKEA, go to Home Goods.

I've been meaning to replace a couple basic "home goods" and although I didn't today, when I finally decide to I will definitely be hitting up Home Goods. I might even be able to find a table small enough to fit in my kitchen nook. Or even find a tall and narrow shelf so I don't have to go get an IKEA LACK shelf.
But if you're just looking for some good basic necessities on the cheap, they'll more than likely have you covered. Need some good white sheets? Home Goods has them, and sorted by size. Need a new set of matching bath towels? Home Goods has those too, a whole WALL full of them all sorted by color. What about throw pillows? Yup, those too, also sorted by color. It's coordinating made easy!
What about random piece of utilitarian furniture that's not from IKEA. Yup, Home Good has that too.

And possibly the best part? SUPER CHEAP! I only bought a couple candles, but still... they were cheap! Three Yankee Candles that would normally cost me a total of $60 were only $25... $25!!! That made me way happy.

Graduation Day!

2008-12-12T09:36:00.000-08:00

Wooohoo! I survived The Fall Cure!

As usual, I didn't get everything done that I wanted to do, BUT I did accomplish quite a bit and my apartment is living proof.
I thought it would be a whole lot easier doing the cure in a place that I just moved into, but it turns out that it's not. At least not for me. I managed to amass quite a bit of "stuff" that I just really don't need... and for some reason it's incredibly difficult for me to organize and empty that outbox (that one is still on my to-do list).
But enough of the negatives, here's a list of the changes I was able to make:

• Dusted, mopped, and cleaned the ENTIRE apartment.

• Backed up my entire music collection to a dedicated hard drive.
• De-cluttered the entertainment center.
• Tacked down extension cord to entertainment center.
• Wrangled all cables at the desk.
• De-cluttered books. (I even sold some!)

• Cleaned the entire bathroom.
• De-cluttered bathroom storage
• Installed two towel hooks in bathroom.
• Installed jewelry branch hooks in bathroom.
• Installed a shelf above the bathroom doorway.

• Reorganized my wardrobe closet.
• Hung artwork in bedroom.

• Hung curtain rods and temporary curtains in kitchen.
• Hung wire basket in kitchen.
• Hung the knife rack in kitchen.

• Removed more than one item from apartment.
• Successfully sold 4 pieces of furniture on craigslist. (This was one of the most difficult tasks)

And on top of all that, I was even able to get some Christmas decorations up!

They're tiny, but I like them.

I still have quite a long to-do list to work on, but I'm hoping that I'll be motivated to do a lot of it during my time off for the holidays. This is going to be my first Christmas in LA (and in my new apartment), so I might as well make it a homey one!

Everything's Gonna Be Alright.

2008-11-25T11:01:00.000-08:00

I finally emptied all of the big furniture pieces from my outbox. The desk that I had stuck in the kitchen nook/kitchen was the last to go and that seemed to lift a HUGE weight off my shoulders. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the Cure. :)

Even though there are only two weeks left, and I still have a lot do, I'm pretty confident that I'll get it all done.
I'm being a Thanksgiving grinch and staying home by myself to work on my apartment. A four day weekend is exactly what I need, both for my sanity and for finishing the Cure. Thursday and Friday will be spent "curing." Friday night I'm going to make myself a mini post-Thanksgiving day dinner. Saturday I'm teaching a friend how to knit (exciting times!). And Sunday will probably be mostly relaxing, with a little bit of curing thrown in. I might also stroll the neighborhood a bit and maybe pick up another candle or two (I've managed to go through one of them completely already).
Oh, and I'll promise to take lots of photos over the weekend to document my progress. :)

I also need to figure out if I want to coordinate a way to pick up the Ikea Malm bed on Friday (Black Friday, mind you) for $99. I'm fairly certain that it won't fit in my car (81" long definitely will not work), so I'd need to borrow a truck... which is possible, but I'm not sure if I'm up for doing that much work on my time off. We'll see....

Here's my To Do List for the long weekend:

WEEK 7 - The Bedroom
To Dos
~~• Finish backing up CDs to new hard drive.~~
~~• Clean wardrobe closet.~~
• Declutter cabinet above wardrobe (and the boxes in it!).
~~• Clean & declutter bedroom, nightstand and weird little closet.~~
• Tidy up desk area.
• Put new lamp on desk.
~~• Declutter media center.~~
• Set up wireless internet and mac mini (with new hard drive).

• Hang mail sorter and two coat hooks for landing strip.
~~• Install two towel hooks in bathroom.~~
~~• Install jewelry branch hooks in bathroom.~~
~~• Install a shelf above the bathroom doorway.~~
~~• Store towels and linens in baskets on doorway shelf.~~
• Install room divider curtain.
~~• Hang curtain rods and temporary curtains in kitchen.~~

• Wash and alter duvet cover to fit comforter.
• Wash sheets and towels.
• Wash general laundry.
• Wash delicates.
• Hang artwork (~~bedroom~~ and living room/office).

• Get metal clothes rod cut and install and arrange closet efficiently. (Sat or Sun)
~~• Clean, declutter and organize kitchen nook.~~
• Prep The Outbox for emptying (aka Goodwill).
• Research dining/sewing table combos.
• Research air purifiers.

What Week Are We On Again?

2008-11-19T13:08:00.000-08:00

It's official... doing The Cure when you haven't completely settled into your home is hard. :)
It's also hard when you're forced to spend all of your money on something other than your home (thanks, car).

So my plans and focus for The Cure have changed quite a bit. I'm going to concentrate more on purging and organizing and less on designing. Designing requires purchases (usually) and those are going to have to wait a while. I may end up doing a Winter Cure in order to get everything accomplished.

Here's what I plan on doing with the remaining weeks.

WEEK 6 - The Bathroom (and The Closet)
To Dos
~~• Clean bathroom.~~
• Clean wardrobe closet.
~~• Declutter bathroom storage~~
• Declutter cabinet in wardrobe.
• Install two towel hooks.
• Install a shelf above the doorway.
• Store towels and linens in baskets on doorway shelf.
• Get metal clothes rod cut and install and arrange closet efficiently.
• Put new lamp on desk.
• Have recessed light fixed.
• Have kitchen light by the fridge fixed.
~~• Re-hang wire basket in kitchen.~~
~~• GET RID OF THE DESK IN THE KITCHEN! ugh.~~ YES! FINALLY! It is gone FOREVER!

WEEK 7 - The Bedroom
To Dos
• Clean & declutter bedroom, nightstand and weird little closet.
• Declutter the bedroom.
• Install room divider curtain.
• Wash and alter duvet cover to fit comforter.
• Wash sheets and towels.
• Hang artwork (bedroom and living room/office).
• Hang curtain rods and temporary curtains in kitchen.
• Hang mail sorter and two coat hooks for landing strip.
• Clean and organize "creative area."
• Research dining/sewing table combos.

WEEK 8 - The Party
To Dos
• Dust, mop, clean ENTIRE apartment.
• Do the final purge for clutter and empty outbox.
• Finish backing up CDs to new hard drive.
• Declutter media center.
• Tack down extension cord to media center.
• Wrangle all cables at the desk.
• Set up wireless internet and mac mini (with new hard drive).

Party Prep
• Prepare apartment the day before party.
• Buy fresh flowers.
• Test food and drink beforehand.
• Make music playlist.
• Arrange apartment for best party flow.
• Light candles.
• Add a large throw blanket on the bed for extra seating if necessary.

Hopefully life will stop getting in the way and let me finish The Cure!

Well fine then, car! Have it your way!

2008-11-13T14:54:00.000-08:00

Grumble.

Looks like The Cure is going to be seriously downsized for me. At least for now, I may end up simply extending some parts of it.
See, living in Los Angeles isn't all it's cracked up to be. You NEED a car to get around (the public transport system is about as fully functional as my apartment right now), and when that car decides to be all "wwwhaaahhh, I need new brake pads, and my alternator is effed and thus I killed your battery and oh, yeah, didn't you notice that I was telling you that I need FOUR new struts? you know, when you were driving down Wilshire Blvd? What do you mean you couldn't tell from all the potholes???" well, you can't really ignore it. And oddly enough, fixing these things all at once is not free.
Ugh.

So yeah, all of my money is now going to car repairs. Ok, well not all of it, but a lot of it, and I don't feel comfortable spending what I was planning to spend on my apartment anymore... at least not right now, all at once.
I'm going to go over my budget tonight and whittle it down to a comfortable spending zone and try to keep it to only the things I absolutely NEED.
I'm also going to go through my "To Dos" for The Cure and rework them, narrowing it down to what I can get done affordably in the time I have left.

Once I get that all worked out I'll update with my new plan for The Cure and any extensions I may deem necessary for my apartment.

Kitchen Curtains... Do We Like Any of These Fabrics?

2008-11-10T17:49:00.000-08:00

I found these Amy Butler fabrics while trying to figure out what I should do for curtains in my kitchen.

My kitchen is mostly neutral: white cupboards, dark gray/black floor and counters, stainless steel appliances, and warm, light gray walls. And there are two windows in the little nook area that need curtains.

This one:

And this one (hiding behind that cabinet):

**Note: That nook set-up isn't finished... I change my mind about what I want there like 3 times a day, so pay no attention to the desk and stuff**

I'm starting to develop a red color theme in the kitchen (kitty's food and water bowls are red, I'm getting a red paper towel holder, and now the color of choice for other kitchen objects will be red), so I'm leaning towards #2. I also like the aqua flowers in the print against the red (my new color combo obsession).
But then I keep thinking that I should keep the curtains light and airy and maybe go with #1... or maybe have a not so complicated color scheme and drift a bit from the red and go with #3.

Any thoughts or opinions??? This is the first inspiration I've found for curtains... and so far it's the only one so any input would be much appreciated!

Week 4 - How Is It Already THE END of Week 4?!?!?!

2008-11-06T18:43:00.001-08:00

Man... this is hard. I feel like I've accomplished absolutely nothing. I know that's not true, but these weeks are flying by!

I need to get moving on posting my furniture pieces on craigslist, that's the biggest hurdle I have to hop in order to get stuff moving and to stop feeling like I'm not making any progress. I'll do that tonight/tomorrow morning (at 5am, woohoo!).

I found a new source of inspiration. It's incredibly simple looking, and it actually exists within my apartment. In fact... it is my apartment! But it's the angle in which I view it... every morning when I wake up.

Clean. Simple. Inviting.
I know I'm a huge fan of bright colors and lots of pretty things to look at, but seeing my apartment (or at least the top part of it) looking so sparse makes me really happy. I think I might add a new style into the mix and call it "Warm Minimalism."

Here's a list of what is (or WAS) on the agenda for this week:

WEEK 4 - The Living Area
To Dos
• Clean up "living area." **I'm doing this tonight!**
• Declutter books & media. **Tomorrow night!**
~~• Cancel most catalogs.~~
• Empty the outbox.
• Decide where to increase or decrease color (and how).
~~• Cook three meals at home.~~ This one is always a gimme.
• Send out housewarming invitations.
• Buy coasters.

Ideas
• Recover chaise buttons. **I have no idea how to even begin to do this... my initial attempts failed**
• Make & Hang curtains.
• Make 2-3 throw pillows for chaise.
• Buy a tall Lack shelf for "media center."
• Network everything and make it all wireless. (mac mini, media center, printer, G4, laptop, speakers/music, keep in mind HDTV & DVR) **This can't happen until AT&T stops being a-holes and FIXES MY INTERNET!**

I'm definitely not going to get everything done... but really, just cleaning the living area alone with make me feel like I've done so much! Oh the joys of living in a tiny tiny apartment. :)

Have I Mentioned How Much I Love Floor Plans?

2008-10-30T17:48:00.001-07:00

Since I can't do much rearranging in my tiny apartment without giving up an entire weekend and ending up frustrated and exhausted, floor plans are my knight in shining armor. :)

Not only is it a great way to visualize your layout ideas, but it's also a good way getting all of those "what ifs" out of the way. Like, what I moved the couch against the wall? Or what if I swapped the bedroom and the living room? Or what if I put my desk in the bathroom? ... What? It's not like I ACTUALLY did that, it's just a floor plan. :P

That's the beauty of it all, if my grand idea of putting the desk in the bathroom or re-arranging my "living area" doesn't work out, oh well! No big deal, just click and drag all the pieces back to where they were before. No heavy lifting required!
It's a nice way to step away from the reality of a tiny apartment, and just look at it on ~~paper~~ screen.

This was my great idea for trying to open up my space:

Not bad, but it seems awkward to me and I don't think I would like have the bed and the chaise along the same wall like that. And really? You can only open up ~150sq feet so much. :)

This is more along the lines of what my studio will end up looking like.

It's already close to this point, the furniture is in that arrangement, I just need to get rid of those outbox pieces so I can put in my new, small space friendly pieces!

And if you're curious, I've been using icovia.com for a while to put together my floor plan, instead of drawing it by hand or having to mess around in Photoshop or Illustrator (although if you have CAD software and know how to use it, you should use it!). They have a pretty decent trial version of their planner, so you can try it out if you're not sure you want to buy it.
I've been playing around with their new 5.0 version and the more I use it, the more I love it. :) And I believe EQ3 even uses the space planner on their website, so you can see how their furniture would fit into your space, if you were looking to buy something from them. I'm hoping that places like C&B, CB2, West Elm, and IKEA will follow along soon... it'll make shopping for furniture so much easier!

Week 3 - Still Can't Move Fast Enough.

2008-10-28T23:03:00.000-07:00

This is post #101, BTW. :)

Week 3 certainly came quickly! And I feel far far behind. I'm making steady progress, I just have a whole lot that I want to accomplish. And while I know that I can't possibly get it ALL done in a matter of 8 weeks... I still really really really wish that I could. :/

Last week, I started my outbox and it's filling up fast. My apartment doesn't seem to be large enough to house an outbox, but I don't have much choice. It's currently taking up a bit of walking space in the kitchen entrance. I'll be happy when it's gone to wherever it all ends up going. I think that's when my apartment will feel "finished," when the overflowing outbox is gone.

I also took a walk down to the farmer's market on Saturday morning and scored a half-dozen stems of some sort of lily (I think) for $3! That's definitely my new flower source. :)

This week I focus on the entryway, or landing strip, or in my case "the edge of my desk + behind the front door," hehe. I have a general idea of what I want to do (either "something simple" or "awesome, compact storage") and some rough ideas of how to make it happen. This week I'll finalize that and make it happen.

I also need to suck it up and face the fact that I have to buy things to make my apartment work. I know I can be thrifty, but I really can't be stingy and I can't keep putting off purchases, especially since there's no reason to other than my brain saying "you shouldn't spend money!" So in addition to the To Dos, I'm also going to do a bit of shopping. Carefully planned, budgeted and well thought out shopping (ok, brain?).

WEEK 3 - The Landing Strip
To Dos
• Dust & mop throughout apartment.
• Clean & declutter entry area.
• Move old mail & junk to the outbox.
• Research/Finalize items needed for landing strip.
~~• Identify cool rooms and warm rooms (I only have three "rooms").~~
• Apply the 80/20 color rule.
~~• Cook two meals at home this week.~~ Cooking at home is a given. It always happens because I absolutely love cooking.
• Design an invitation for housewarming party.

Ideas
• Landstrip: 2-3 large hooks, 1 small shelf (no more than 6" deep), small valet tray, "pen holder," and a mail sorter.
• Put together a shopping list for this week that will get me prepared for the coming weeks.

Hopefully more and more progress will help make me feel better about my place. It's starting to feel cramped and cluttered, but that's only because it is. I just gotta remember, it has to get worse before it can better.
Oh, and I promise there will be more photos. I haven't felt very inspired this past week and my apartment isn't something that I would WANT to photograph right now. But I will soon, for the sake of The Cure. :)

A Question About Walls.

2008-10-24T20:46:00.001-07:00

Because I know nothing about walls, other than that mine are "oooooh, pretty!"

My apartment is a bit of an anomaly in Los Angeles, as far as renting goes. It's a tiny studio in a remodeled Craftman's quadruplex. It's own by a dude, not a management company veiling some random owner. It came painted in neutral shades OTHER THAN WHITE. (Gasp! I know.) The walls are also very flat and smooth, which I'm assuming is plaster. (Another gasp! I KNOW!) But that leaves me with a handful of concerning questions.

Can I hang things (heavy things) on the walls? Will the wall be able to support it? If so, how do I go about doing that (i.e. special anchors)?
And when I move, will I be able to repair the wall myself or will the owner need to re-plaster (or whatever) the whole wall?

I'm a big fan of wall mounted shelves. And even BIGGER fan when they're mounted on crappy walls. But my walls are nice... I mean NICE. No, I'm not bragging, I've just never had walls so FLAT and SMOOTH! They are NICE!! I'm not afraid of temporarily disfiguring them for the sake of some shelving, but I'm afraid that drilling into them will permanently ruin them and I'll a.) loose my security deposit (which wasn't very much to begin with) and b.) I'll RUIN THESE PERFECT, AWESOME, SMOOTH WALLS!

Does anyone have experience with plaster walls? Actually, maybe I should first accurately identify these walls... can you tell from a picture?

The molding is all wood, I know that much. But if a wall is perfect flat and smooth, does that mean it's plaster?
And if it is... what does that mean as fall as mounting shelves or other such necessities?

Help. Please.

SO EXCITED!!!!!

2008-10-21T15:07:00.000-07:00

I just bought a lamp. A really really awesome lamp. A really awesome and WICKED CHEAP LAMP!!!!!!!!!

A George Kovacs genie lamp... for $36. $36! NEW! Not even used! I AM SO UNBELIEVABLY EXCITED!!!
I've wanted this lamp for a while, but spending more than $100 on a lamp was always just a little absurd to me (no matter how pretty it was).

I bought it from here http://www.allmodernlighting.com, in case you're looking to pick one up for yourself. They have the purple one, and a different genie style lamp in pink for ridiculously cheap too.

If I can keep scoring deals like this, I think my new apartment is going to come together just fine. :)

Oh, and also.... I'M SO EXCITED!!! :P

Week 2 - Feeling Overwhelmed

2008-10-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm so anxious to get to week 8 and have my apartment be "finished." I guess I'm not so much overwhelmed, I'm just very very very excited to do everything, all at once, and get it done as soon as possible. I'm finding it really really difficult to restrain myself from buying everything I want/need, selling/tossing the things that don't work in my space, and cleaning the whole entire apartment from top to bottom.

But anyway, I think I'll manage. I'm starting an outbox tonight, hopefully that will help with my urge to throw everything out. I'm also going to declutter everything, not just the kitchen.

Here's what's in store for the rest of the week.

WEEK 2 - The Kitchen (and Creative Space)
To Dos
• Fix one thing: ~~Buy 3' of chain~~ and hang wire basket.
• Clean kitchen from top to bottom.
• Run your hands over every wall in the apartment.
• ~~Clear space for an outbox (and make a sign!).~~
• ~~Clear one surface and use outbox.~~
• Buy fresh flowers.
• Determine your style. (I still don't fully understand this one)
• ~~Cook one NEW meal at home.~~
• Set a date for housewarming party.
• ~~Decide what activities you want in your apartment and where they will go (and if they will fit).~~
• Make a "final" floorplan.

Ideas
• ~~Try moving cookbooks above fridge (need bookends first)~~
• Have the light by the fridge fixed.
• Hang the knife rack SOMEWHERE.
• Sand & Paint Ikea drawers, attach together and add a base to them.
• Make & Hang curtains.
• Find/buy a comfy little stool for sewing table.
• ~~Buy a small microwave.~~ ~~Buy a popcorn popper.~~
• Consider wall shelves for creative space.
• Sell sewing table and replace with longer Ikea tabletop (& 2 supporting back legs).

Week 1 - The Weekend

2008-10-18T12:32:00.000-07:00

Today feels like one these days.

And having a weird cold/cough thing certainly doesn't help motivate the day anymore. But I'm determined to get stuff done today, I just have a late start. I might not be able to do everything I wanted to do, but as long as I can get the big annoying tasks out of the way I should be good.

Here's what I've accomplished so far and what I have left to do.

WEEK 1 - The Deep Clean
To Dos
☐ Sweep & Mop all floors.
☑ Remove one item from apartment.
☐ Buy fresh flowers.
☐ Sit for 10 minutes in an unused part of the apartment.
☑ Start a style tray (on Flickr).
☑ Set your budget.

Ideas
☐ Rearrange/minimize "creative area."
☑ Start planning/budgeting/saving for the "new bed project."

Not too bad, actually. It seems like I have so much more to do, I just need to keep reminding myself that I can only do one thing at a time.

Today I'm going to tackle the little kitchen nook area, followed by cleaning all of the floors.

The space is going to be my "creative area." The place where all of my projects live until they are completed.
Peppermint has decidedly taken over the left corner of boxes by the window (when she's not busy taking over my bed), but unfortunately all of that is going to move. Hopefully I can find some sort of tall cat perch that I can put in the corner, and be able to keep her litter box underneath it.

I better go get started. The sooner I'm finished, the sooner I can go out and explorer more of Silver Lake. And buy some candles! FINALLY!

AT Cure Worksheets

2008-10-15T12:55:00.001-07:00

I know a lot of people have been looking for the Cure worksheets from AT and have come up empty handed. So I made my own to share.

There are two versions, one is the latest version of Excel (.xlsx): DOWNLOAD
And the other is for 97-2004 versions of Excel (.xls): DOWNLOAD

**If you're unsure of which version to download, download the 97-2004 (.xls) version. It should be compatible with almost ALL versions of excel.**

Just right click on either link and select Save File As or Save Link As, depending on which browser you're using. If you have any trouble with it just let me know.

Oh, and each worksheets in a separate sheet within the Excel document, just in case you're wondering why there's only one file to download.

Because You Can Never Have Too Many Lists...

2008-10-14T17:20:00.000-07:00

I'm an over-planner sometimes. It's mostly just because I'm procrastinator and planning is good way to "do" something without actually DOING anything. :)
So here I go, planning the fall cure... one more time.

I've decided to break the weeks down ahead of time, that way I know what to focus on each week. And if I get new ideas or find more things to fix, maybe I won't feel so overwhelmed by them because I'll be able to split them up into their own little weeks.
And, to keep myself on track, I'll post the new and updated list for the week every Monday.

So here's how everything is shaping up so far:
WEEK 1 - The Deep Clean
To Dos
• Sweep & Mop all floors.
• Remove one item from apartment.
• Buy fresh flowers.
• Sit for 10 minutes in an unused part of the apartment.
• Start a style tray (on Flickr).
• Set your budget.

Ideas
• Rearrange/minimize "creative area."
• Start planning/budgeting/saving for the "new bed project."

WEEK 2 - The Kitchen (and Creative Space)
To Dos
• Fix one thing: Buy 3' of chain and hang wire basket.
• Clean kitchen from top to bottom.
• Run your hands over every wall in the apartment.
• Clear space for an outbox (and make a sign!).
• Clear one surface and use outbox.
• Buy fresh flowers.
• Determine your style. (I still don't fully understand this one)
• Cook one NEW meal at home.
• Set a date for housewarming party.
• Decide what activities you want in your apartment and where they will go (and if they will fit).
• Make a "final" floorplan.

Ideas
• Try moving cookbooks above fridge (need bookends first)
• Have the light by the fridge fixed.
• Hang the knife rack SOMEWHERE.
• Sand & Paint Ikea drawers, attach together and add a base to them.
• Make & Hang curtains.
• Find/buy a comfy little stool for sewing table.
• Buy a small microwave.
• Consider wall shelves for creative space.

WEEK 3 - The Landing Strip
To Dos
• Dust & mop throughout apartment.
• Clean & declutter entry area.
• Move old mail & junk to the outbox.
• Research items needed for landing strip.
• Identify cool rooms and warm rooms (I only have three "rooms").
• Apply the 80/20 color rule.
• Cook two meals at home this week.
• Design an invitation for housewarming party.

Ideas
• Landstrip: 2-3 large hooks, 1 small shelf (no more than 6" deep), small valet tray, "pen holder," and a mail sorter.

WEEK 4 - The Living Area
To Dos
• Clean up "living area."
• Declutter books & media.
• Cancel most catalogs.
• Empty the outbox.
• Decide where to increase or decrease color (and how).
• Cook three meals at home.
• Send out housewarming invitations.
• Buy coasters.

Ideas
• Recover chaise buttons.
• Make & Hang curtains.
• Make 2-3 throw pillows for chaise.
• Buy Besta inserts and a tall Lack shelf for "media center."
• Get network everything and make it all wireless. (mac mini, media center, printer, G4, laptop, speakers/music, keep in mind HDTV & DVR)

WEEK 5 - The Office Area
To Dos
• Clean office area.
• Dust & mop entire apartment.
• Declutter files & reorganize.
• Cable management!
• Buy fresh flowers.
• Choose one sort or hard thing to add or subtract from apartment.
• Cook three meals at home.
• Eat at home Sunday through Thursday.
• Get to bed 1 hour earlier and read.

Ideas
• Sell desk and replace with a leaning desk.
• Consider adding a tall, narrow shelving unit.
• Hang artwork.
• Find/buy a table or desk lamp.
• Recover desk chair & add non-scratch floor pads to feet.

WEEK 6 - The Bathroom (and The Closet)
To Dos
• Clean bathroom.
• Clean wardrobe closet.
• Declutter all storage areas in bathroom & wardrobe.
• Arrange bathroom efficiently.
• Arrange closet efficiently.
• Reattach shower head so it stops dripping.
• Have recessed light fixed.
• Upgrade toiletries (if needed).
• Buy candles for each "area" of the apartments.
• Finalize lighting arrangement in entire apartment.

Ideas
• Install a shelf above the doorway.
• Storage towels and linens in baskets on doorway shelf.
• Hang small, unique hooks on the side of storage unit to hang jewelry.
• Paint inside of closet a deep, jewel tone color.
• Have new clothes rod cut to length and replace wooden one.
• Consider closet organizational options (hanging shelf, hooks, and wall-mount shoe storage).
• Hang mirrors in the panels on the back of the bathroom door.

WEEK 7 - The Bedroom
To Dos
• Clean bedroom, nightstand and weird little closet.
• Get everything in the "new bed project" finalized.
• Declutter the bedroom.
• Make sure bed is easy to move away from wall.
• Hang artwork.

Ideas
• New Bed Project: A new full-size mattress, a new full-size MALM bedframe (white), slats, a waterproof mattress cover, 2 new pillows, and a set of white full-size sheets and necessary pillowcases.
• Figure out what to do with old mattress and boxspring.
• Put old pillows in outbox.
• Buy a white flokati rug for foot of bed.
• Consider a new bedside lamp.
• Install/hang a room divider curtain.
• Alter duvet cover to fit comforter.

WEEK 8 - The Party
To Dos
• Dust, mop, clean ENTIRE apartment.
• Prepare apartment the day before party.
• Do the final purge for clutter and empty outbox.
• Buy fresh flowers.
• Test food and drink beforehand.
• Make music playlist.
• Arrange apartment for best party flow.
• Light candles.

Ideas
• Add a large throw blanket on the bed for extra seating if necessary.

Huh. No wonder I felt so overwhelmed! Thinking about all of that at once is kinda scary. Taking it week by week will definitely make it more doable, and it won't be the end of the world if I don't get EVERYTHING done.

Stay tuned for an update on week 1 soon!

Last Day of Week 0

2008-10-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

I've done mostly everything I intended to do in Week 0. I've finished unpacking everything (yay no more boxes!). Everything is essentially in it's home, though not all organized and not all of it is going to stay. I've made a couple decisions about furniture pieces and whether or not I should replace them, for now I'm on the hunt for some cheap replacements.
I also was finally able to get internet! Thanks to the lovely folks at AT&T (and no thanks to Time Warner Cable).

I also added a new piece to my apartment. This one is very exciting and quite possibly my favorite part about the apartment.

It's a kitty! I got her from my friend (the same friend who moved into my old apartment) since she wasn't able to keep her anymore.
~~She's a 2 year old semi-nameless cat. Her original name is Savvy (short for Savannah), but I'd like to give her a new name. I'm not sure what though.~~ I've decided to name her Peppermint, and call her Pepper for short. I think it's fitting for her. :)

So far I've learned that she's a fatass and eats like a pig, so I need to regulate that. No free feeding for her!
She also a pretty laid back cat, which is good and bad. She'll play if you play with her, and she won't immediately get angry if you're doing something she doesn't like, but she seems to bottle it up and pretend like it's fine and then attack when she can't take it anymore. Someone has communication issues. :P
I need to fix that. I'm not sure if it's something that can be fixed or maybe I just need to learn to read her better, but hopefully we'll figure out how she can tell me when she doesn't like something. She's at least doing a good job of figuring out what "NO!" means, hehe. NO! to my closet and NO! to scratching furniture. I think she's got those down. :)

A New Home = A New Interview

2008-10-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

Before I jump into the first week of the Apartment Therapy Fall Cure, I figured it would be a good idea to re-interview myself. A lot can change in a year, especially when you move into a new home. New challenges arise and it's good to get them down on paper (or, on internet paper) so you can figure out the best way to tackle them.

The Interview
Favorite...
• Actress: Claire Danes, Rachel McAdams
• Actor: Michael Cera, Matt Damon
• Artist: Mark Rothko, Kurt Hasley
• Writer: ...
• Music: John Mayer, Counting Crows
• Restaurant: Boa, EAT
• Automobile: Audi
• Television Show: Degrassi, Entourage, The Office
• Clothing Designer/Store: Bitten SJP, The Gap

How would you describe your style?
• Bright, Eclectic, Whimsical

Where have you lived?
• Born: Lawrence, MA
• Grew Up: Methuen, MA
• As An Adult: Boston, MA & Los Angeles, CA

Whom do you consider a role model?
• My grandmother

What three adjectives describe the qualities that you admire in this person?
• Strong, Determined, and Creative Thinker

What is the problem with your home?
• Small, too full, and lacks a clear purpose and meaning

If your home could speak, what would it say is the problem?
• "You can't do all of this stuff in a space this small."

What one thing would you like to do or do more of in your home?
• Create and Work

Eight weeks from now, when this project is done, if friends came to visit, how would you like them to describe your home?
• Cute, inviting, and that they never want to leave! :)

It's that time again!

2008-10-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

The time when eeeeeverything changes. The weather, my living situation, my "self" situation. Everything.

And to help facilitate some of the changes, Apartment Therapy comes in and saves the day with the Fall Cure! YAY!
I'll be doing the Deep Treatment, since I just moved in and since my apartment is under 300sq feet anyway.

I've started making my repair, shopping, and interior design worksheets, but this time around I need to take everything one step further and break everything down into a category that explains WHY I need to do or buy something.

It's going to be my Go-To Guide for the cure and it'll go right along side my style tray.

• Bones •
☐ Replace closet clothes rod.
☐ Fix/Tighten shower head so it stops dripping.
☐ Hang knife rack in kitchen.
☐ Hang wire basket in kitchen.
☐ Install shelf above doorway in bathroom.
☐ Recover buttons on chaise
☐ Reupholster desk chair (and maybe sand and paint/stain)

• Breath •
☐ Finalize the arrangement of the main room.
☐ Hang a curtain as a room divider between living room and bedroom.
☐ Decide where desk and sewing table should go.
☐ Invest in a new (and slightly smaller) platform bed & mattress.

• Head •
☐ Make a list of everything you want to be able to do in your home.
☐ Decide what activities can FIT in your home and how.
☐ Create a landing strip (needs a place for shoes, purse/bag, keys and mail).
☐ Create a media center in living room.

• Heart •
☐ Buy 1 candle for each "room" (kitchen, bedroom, living room, and bathroom).
☐ Paint the interior of the closet.
☐ Sand & Paint IKEA drawers, attach together with a base to use as a single storage unit.
☐ Make & hang kitchen curtains.
☐ Make & hang living room curtains.
☐ Alter duvet cover to fit comforter.
☐ Get a flokati rug for the bedroom.
☐ Get a table lamp for living room.
☐ Create a color palette for the ENTIRE apartment.

The Cure doesn't officially start until next week. This week is Week 0, the week when most people are reading or re-reading the book and getting prepared for the next 8 weeks. I'm going to spend Week 0 getting everything unpacked and ready to be organized (givin' a home), repaired (has a home, but needs fixin'), or tossed (do not want!). ~~I also need to take some decent before photos, probably tonight or tomorrow morning.~~
I ALSO need to get internet so I can start posting regularly and from HOME! Time Warner Cable AND AT&T are both making it extremely difficult, for absolutely no reason.

But here's a look at where I'm at now:

This is the current state of things (more or less... not including the kitchen nook :P). Not too bad, actually.

I did it!

2008-09-22T16:24:00.000-07:00

The move went well on Sunday. Woohoo! There were no tragic furniture losses on the freeway and no one died, although the BF did cut himself on the box spring and I'm now covered in bruises. But over all, it went well, and in the end it "got finished" and that's all that really matters, right?
I still have random things left at the old place, but I will have it ALL out by Saturday... I promise. :)

Unpacking is turning out to be a very slow process since I don't know where to put everything, since I'm still missing some organizing pieces and since I'm incredibly picky about things and need them to be perfect. Hopefully a trip to The Container Store tonight will speed up the unpacking process a little bit.

Right now this is what my place is looking like:

Not too bad, just full.

But look, the bed is made!

I'm liking how things are turning out so far. Things seem to going pretty smoothly in terms of being able to fit everything I want into the apartment.

Although, I've, of course, changed my mind about the arrangement of things and now want to move stuff around. But I may be able to move the desk out of the kitchen nook and into the living room without it being overcrowded/cluttered!
This is what I'm thinking about doing:

But we'll see... first I gotta finish unpacking!

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

2008-09-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, well... the big[ger] day. Tomorrow is the first day I officially "live" in my new Silverlake studio!
I've had the apartment for about week and have done a fairly decent job of moving most of my things in over the course of the week, but tomorrow is when I move all my clothes, the last of my furniture, and (most importantly) my bed. That's what makes it my home, my bed.

I'm hoping that I can move EVERYTHING everything of mine over tomorrow, that way I'll only have to go back to the old place to clean up. Since I've been working all day today, I still have a bunch of last minute packing to do. I have all the tools necessary, just not the time. There's never enough time!

But I'm very very VERY excited to officially "live" in my new apartment and in a new (WAY MORE AWESOME!) neighborhood tomorrow. I can't wait!

Totally not in my budget...

2008-09-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

But I love this chair.

$200 at Urban Outfitters. I don't think I really want to spend that much on a UO chair, but I really like that fabric & color. Maybe someone will buy one and then sell it on craigslist in a month or so. :P

So. Much. Crap.

2008-09-15T22:22:00.000-07:00

Packing sucks. There, I said it. It sucks and I hate it.

It especially sucks when I can't completely focus on it because the kitchen sink in my current apartment decided to backup when the RETARDS who live upstairs decided to put their fucking ENTIRE dinner in the garbage disposal AND my bathroom sink also decided to backup for reasons unknown to me. So what do I do? Wait until they drain themselves. Yeahno, seriously.

I knocked on the on-site manager's door but of course, he's not home. I can't call a plumber unless he knows about it first or else he'll act like an clueless bimbo and tell the management company that he "doesn't know why I called a plumber" and then management company will then in turn bill us for the plumber. Yeah. NOT DOING THAT!
This place can flood first.

But I digress. So yeah, packing is no fun. I have a large pile of stuff that I need to move into my car. All of my art/photos, tools (hammer, drill kit, blah) and most of what was on my closet shelf. I'd pack more but I a.) don't want to and b.) don't have any boxes. Awesome.

Tomorrow, after I drop off my crap at the apartment (and hopefully hang my art, but I should probably wait to do that), I have to run to IKEA. I would rather do it first thing in the morning, except apparently IKEA doesn't believe in mornings and don't open until 10am. So hopefully around 7:30p I can return the kitchen stuff that I can't use (I'm not really interested in drilling into tile, so I think I'll live without the rail and hanging dish rack) and pick up the kitchen cabinet inserts I want along with the high bathroom cabinet/shelf thing. And hopefully that cabinet will fit in my car.
I have a sinking feeling that it might not... and that I'm probably not going to be able to get this stuff myself and I'll have to do the stupid pick-up that TAKES FOREVER!

The Grand Plan... or Idea.

2008-09-15T17:32:00.000-07:00

It's always nice when I can successfully communicate the ideas in my head. Hooray for pictures!
This is the layout I'd like to do in my apartment.

I made notes on flickr, so you can decipher what all the little boxes actually are. :)

I made this as much to scale as possible, so hopefully it'll all work the way I want it to. The only thing I have left to figure out is how to divide the "bedroom" from the "living room." I don't really want to put another big piece of furniture in there, so I figured I'd just hang a curtain across the room. The only problem with that is that there is a ceiling fan right in the center of the ceiling, so I'd have to either move it over, making one section of the room much smaller than the other, or I'd have to hang it lower so that it clears the ceiling fan, which will probably look really weird and... well, not good.

Whoa.

2008-09-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

So I was working on my floor plan of the studio and I thought "oh, I should figure out what the square footage is." Holy crap, ~285 sq feet!

I know it's small but... wow. I didn't think it was THAT small! I was never good with measurements anyway, hehe. I am really good at "eyeing" things though. :)

I'll post my floor plan as soon as I finish it. Icovia is being weirdly unresponsive at times so, it's gonna be a little while. :)

Silverlake Studio: Here it is!

2008-09-15T00:20:00.000-07:00

I picked up my keys today and spent a couple hours poking around the apartment, opening drawers and going "oooooooh" a whole lot. :)

But tonight, the internets are against me. Probably because they're smarter than me and know that I'm supposed to be in bed, rather than trying to make a floorplan online.

Ah well, for now I'll just share pictures of my new studio.

Main Room:

Kitchen:

Bathroom:

Floor Plan... the rough version:

I LOVE MY NEIGHBORHOOD!

2008-09-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

And I don't even LIVE there yet!

Thanks to the magical powers of goggle I've found out that not only is there a Starbucks within walking distance, AND there a good little Italian place down the street (called Aroma), there's also an awesome restaurant (called Good Micro Brew & Grill) that has Moretti and Hanger Steak. MORETTI AND HANGER STEAK! That's like the best combination ever! Ok, not really, but still I love both of those very much. And they're both not easy to find (Morretti is an Italian beer and hanger steak is... well, hanger steak... it's good steak that can very easily be fucked up).

My hair salon (Sugar) is also right down the street, which is FANTASTIC!

And there are also two yoga places within walking distance from my apartment. I think I might take up yoga! One of them is Urth Yoga. It's pretty affordable and from the reviews I've read, the place has a good vibe. And I can do 10 classes for $20, which is pretty awesome, especially since the classes don't expire (don't have to complete the in a certain amount of time).

Siiiiiiiiiigh. I can't wait to live in my apartment. :)

Life is Good Again

2008-09-13T15:06:00.000-07:00

And hopefully it will only get better.

I put on a different perfume today and it's making me so happy. It reminds me of living in Boston. I have a feeling my new apartment and neighborhood is going to have the same affect.

I spent the first part of the day shopping with my roommate. But first, I drove down to Silverlake to sign my lease and pay the rent and deposit on my apartment. MY apartment. It's so nice saying that.
The roomie and I went to IKEA to get ideas and inspiration for each of our places. She's looking for a small loveseat or a large chair for her place. A lot of what she thought she wanted (from looking online) turned out to be... well, crap. Go figure. But there were some cute things. Not sure if she was happy with them, but she has a while anyway.
I found a couple things that might help my place have more storage room without taking up a whole lot of space. Like a little base cabinet for my bathroom. I like something like this.

I'm not sure if it would actually fit, but I know that the bathroom is tall enough for it. But I would also probably need to find something in a dark wood, since the mirror and sink base cabinet are both a dark wood.

I also picked up a couple GRUNDTAL kitchen accessories. A wall shelf and a dish rack that I can hang off the last rod of the wall shelf (I think... I hope!), as well as... my favorite thing!... A MAGNETIC KNIFE RACK! I'm very excited about getting new knifes and proudly displaying them on my knife rack. Yes, I know, I'm a dork. But I love cooking.

After IKEA, I introduced the roomie to Steve & Barry's. Wicked cheap clothes that aren't completely horrible. Although, I kind of only like the Bitten line there. I got a new pair of jeans that FIT ME! so now I can get rid of the pair that's two sizes too big. The jeans were $10, which is great cause I'm expecting them to be too big in a couple months. :D
I also bought a cute pair of open-toe metallic flats. Well, not really flats, more like a low wedge. But again, only $10. And THEN I bought a ring and two necklaces, all very very cute, for $15.
I really REALLY love cheap clothes, especially now that I'm expecting everything I own to slowly become too big. Which is a good thing, but can end up being REALLY expensive.

Tomorrow I'm hoping I get to pick up my keys and survey my apartment. The owner is going to have it cleaned and touched up tomorrow, but the place is in really really good condition that they probably won't have to do much so I should be able to get in there tomorrow. I bought a new grided moleskine today and the first thing that's going in there is the floorplan of my apartment. Measuring everything and having all the important info for decorating and layout in ONE place is going to be a nice little luxury. I'm hoping the space ends up being bigger than it is in my head right now, hehe.

Ooh! And either today or tomorrow I get to do another exciting dorky thing... go shopping to stock up on CLEANING SUPPLIES! Woohoo!

...

2008-09-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well...

...

I GOT THE APARTMENT!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D
Hehehe.
I don't think I've been quite this excited before. This is like... way better than Christmas.

I faxed over my application, and within 2 hours the owner called me back and said "we'd love to have you!" JOY! I'm so incredibly happy about this place. It's in a great location, it's a FANTASTIC place, and the owners and neighbors are awesome! Hooray!
Oh, AND the rent is on the low side of my budget. Yay. AAAAND, the total move in cost is $2,000 LESS than maximum budget, which means I have way more cash than I expected to have! But I'm going to be good and not spend it all. :P

And best of all? Ok, well maybe not best of all, but still exciting... I can now reward myself with a little purchase! The Apartment Therapy Presents: Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Design Solutions book. I told myself I'd wait until I actually GOT an apartment before getting this book, that way I can think of the actual space I'm gonna be living in while perusing "hundreds of design solutions."

Oh, and not related to apartments, tickets for The Decemberists @ The Wiltern went on sale this morning and I snagged myself two of them. :D

Woohoo!!!
Cloudy days in LA bring good things!

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh... of relief.

2008-09-11T21:59:00.001-07:00

But! Only so that I can gasp and hold my breathe REALLY HARD!

I'm submitting my application for the small but amazing apartment tomorrow morning. I had a very lovely and candid conversation with the owner tonight, and I have a very good feeling about this. He said that he really liked me and said that he had a good instinct and a good judge of character (SCORE!). He also mentioned that I was the first person to see the apartment, and there was only one other person who is filling out an application for the apartment. So... yeah. I feel like I have a VERY good chance of getting this apartment. So good in fact, that I plan on holding my breathe very hard (if.. that is even possible) until I hear a final answer from him. :)

I'm normally superstitious about talking about things that aren't set in stone yet... but this one feels good. I hope I'm not wrong

Pros and Cons

2008-09-10T21:38:00.000-07:00

Options. Decisions. Waiting. So many things... and yet, nothing.

Ahhh, apartment hunting, how much you stress me out.

I'm a big fan of progress. So being at a standstill, just waiting, with no way to move forward or backward or anywhere, stresses. me. OUT.

I found a cute, small, charming, one bedroom apartment in whatever area is considered to be sandwiched in between West Hollywood, Fairfax/Carthay Circle, Miracle Mile and Hancock Park. It's lovely. It's owned & managed by a person, rather than a business (i.e. management company).
The only problem? Well... apparently the owner has some issues of sorts, and REALLY doesn't want go through the application process until the apartment is 100% ready to moved into. It's currently being cleaned, re-painted, etc. and should be ready by this weekend. Maybe....
So right now, all I can do is call the guy every day and listen to the same story about how "the apartment is open if I want to look at it", and how "he doesn't want to take people's money without them seeing the apartment in it's final condition", and how "I shouldn't worry, he hasn't rented it to anyone else yet."
I did give him my fax number so I could at least GET an application, but no... no application has been faxed yet. Sigh. All I can do is call again tomorrow.

Since that apartment seems to be impossible to even APPLY for, I decided to keep on looking.
I found another place that I took a look at this evening. It's in Silverlake. It's single in an old Craftsman quadraplex. Everything has been remodeled (I believe no more than 2 years ago), and it's seriously quite an AMAZING remodel. The kitchen is FABULOUS, complete with a little breakfast nook, and a huge new stainless steel stove and fridge. The bathroom is small, but simple and open (not cramped). No bathtub, but the shower is pretty big, and there's one of those neat mirror skylight thingies.

The only downside? The living space is quite small. I'd have to do some pretty creative "interior design" to make it work... but it's not impossible. And, did I mention the kitchen? Yeah, it's amazing. :)
I wasn't able to talk to the guy who owns it, but I talked to his partner (they live in the front house) and he showed me around. He was really nice and from talking on the phone, the owner sounds really nice as well. I need to contact him again tomorrow to figure out the best way to apply. I have a feeling they're more willing to actually rent out this place now and not a week from now.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a good day.
At the very best, I'll get one of the apartments TOMORROW! :D (yeah, I have high expectations most of the time)
At the very least? I'll be able to get an application to ONE of these places.
Some sort of progress needs to happen tomorrow. Something. ANYTHING.

On To Round 2.

2008-08-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

So, I didn't get the apartment I wanted. Sad face. Tear.

They were being incredibly difficult about things, and my offers to have a co-signer and a higher deposit turned from "oh, that'd be wonderful" to "no, that's not enough" overnight. So I just said forget it, even though they oddly pressed on for me to find ANOTHER co-signer.
It didn't make any sense and I didn't feel like continuing to waste my time holding my breath in hopes that they would MAYBE accept me as a tenant.

So I'm moving on. I called a bunch of places yesterday, but no one answered, so I'm awaiting 4 to 5 callbacks. Hopefully.
I plan to spend this weekend (thank god it's a long one), running around LA once again trying to find an apartment that's not completely wretched and not ridiculously expensive. Sigh.

I'm getting tired of this process.

But look! Scrabble kitteh!

On A Non-Stressful Note...

2008-08-26T11:41:00.001-07:00

Here are some cute, cheap (read: IKEA) things I want/need for the new apt... which I have yet to acquire. :/

MARIUS - $5.99 (yay!)
For whatever sort of "dining area" I have.

SNILLE - $19.99
For something to sit on other than the floor or bed.

RENS - $19.99
To make the SNILLE more comfortable and awesome.

I need to find out if there are any thrift/vintage/used stores in the area of the new apt (which I'm so determined to get, heh), that way I can stop buying all my furniture from IKEA.

The Frustration Has Turned to Anxiousness

2008-08-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the early afternoon on Saturday driving around the westside of LA, looking at available apartments. The first one I saw was freaking AMAZING. And then I looked at 3 generic, blah, chemically-smelling apartments and immediately called the girl at the first apartment saying "I'LL TAKE IT!" Sigh. :)

Actually FINDING a great place with nearly everything I want and need is SUCH a relief. But now I get to play the sit-and-wait game to find out if I actually get the apartment. I'm meeting the management company today to give them my application and necessary paperwork, and I guess discuss the leasing option with them and the girl who is moving-out (and thus transferring her lease... I think). Hopefully that will all go well, I don't doubt that it will.

I just hope I'm not jinxing myself by talking about it before I actually get the place! Wish me luck! :)

Frustration

2008-08-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get it confused with impatience. :)

I've only looked at 3 apartments so far, so I shouldn't be feeling so defeated. But I can't help but feel like it's impossible to find exactly what I want. The biggest annoyance is the "no pets" rule. I understand not wanting to have a big, loud dog tearing up your property... but really? You won't allow a cat? And also, you're gonna turn into a huge bitch if someone politely ASKS if it would be ok to have a cat? Yeah. Have fun renting your apartment. I feel sorry for the people who have to deal with you.

And the places that seemed to work for me, ended up just not being worth it. The first place was a joke (it was literally a shack ON a roof, no joke) and the other two were OK but way too tiny, which I understand since they were pretty inexpensive. I'd rather pay a little more for a bit more room.

And my roommate lucked out and already found an amazing single in WeHo with an awesome owner (no management company to deal with) and for a reasonable price. Now if only I can get that lucky!

I'm going to try to look at a place tonight after work, and then two more on Saturday. I'm also going to start using my roommates westside rental account, so maybe I'll have more of a selection with that. And hopefully places will only get better from now on, and I can stop being so frustrated!

updated! things to do, see, make, and have AFTER I move

2008-08-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

I'm starting a list, because I LOVE lists.
But also because I need to remember all of the things I'm thinking of now in 2 months. Mostly things that I want to do or know about in my new apartment & neighborhood.

1.) Recycle on a regular basis.
I gotta research how that would work depending on what neighborhood I move to. My last apartment (West LA) and the apartment I live in now (NoHo) only have a dumpster, so uh... I never bothered to figure out how I would recycle. I should be a responsible adult this time around and figure that out.

2.) Donate whenever appropriate.
I kind of do that now. And by kind of I mean I have a box and large bag of clothes that I need to donate. I just don't know where to bring it. Or more specifically, I don't know where the most convenient place to bring it is or when the most convenient time to bring it is. Again. I should be an adult and figure it out. :)

3.) Find out what's good and local.
I'm a fan of small Mom & Pop shops and Farmer's Markets (but not the one at The Grove). But my experience with those kind of places in LA hasn't been as good as I expected. Everything out here is just a little too fake and/or lacking. I need to make an effort to explore my new neighborhood and find out what it has to offer.

4.) Get/make an earthquake kit.
I know. I should have this already. I KNOW!
But I don't have one dedicated kit, so it's going on the list.
Things that should be included/stored in the same location:
√ Storage Backpack
√ "Important Documents" Portfolio
Kinetic/Forever Flashlight
Hand-crank Radio (Eton)
Small First Aid Kit
Red Cross First Aid Manual (basic & advanced)
√ Small Sewing Kit
Water purification tablets
Spare Batteries
Personal Hygenie Items
√ Spare eyeglasses (the old ones)
√ Small stuffed animal (it's a disaster, why not?)
√ Blanket
√ Raincoat
√ Spare Leatherman
Local Map
Spare clothes
Spare sneakers
Bottled water
Matches

5.) Establish a creative space
Starting from scratch will be easier.

6.) Get renter's insurance!
I should do this as soon as I sign the lease on my new apt. And I should get insurance through Progressive, maybe it'll lower my auto insurance. :)
I should ALSO take photos & video of all areas of my new apartment (with everything moved in) for insurance purposes.

7.) Acquire more "soft things."
A large fluffy area rug to define a bedroom space. Or soft pick-tuck pillows from West Elm for a warm, welcoming living room area.

8.) DON'T paint. Or only paint a light, neutral color.
Use large art pieces in combination with furniture/accessories to add color.

9.) Buy an LCD TV (dual-purpose) and quality receiver & speakers.
Vizio 26" VMM Monitor looks like it will be exactly what I need.

10.) Buy Apartment Therapy Presents: Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Design Solutions
This might be purchased before I move, but either way it's gonna have to wait until September anyway. Stupid budgets. :P

11.) Start a small indoor herb garden.
Probably be in the kitchen, if there's a window there with good light. Nothing huge, just a couple plants. Maybe rosemary, mint, and basil.

I'll keep updating this list, and move it back up to the top of the blog so I don't forget about it.

Let The Apartment Hunt Begin!

2008-08-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

I'm going to look a small studio in Culver City Thursday morning. Woohoo! It's on the high end of my price range, but I already know the neighborhood and it has a private rooftop (i.e. MY OWN rooftop). I already have SUPER high expectations for this place, and I haven't even seen it yet! Apartment hunting does that to me.

As fun and exciting as searching for a new home can be, I always just want to find it as fast as possible and get all of the uncertainties out of the way. I'm hoping this time I can force myself to be more particular about my potential new home and take my time finding the "perfect place."

But I really hope that this one is the perfect place! :)

EDIT: Wow. That place couldn't have been any farther from being an ACTUAL livable apartment. It's really just a shack on a roof of an apartment building. My OFFICE is bigger than that "apartment!" Sigh. Moving on.

A Little Design Quiz

2008-08-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

I found this quiz over at How About Orange. It's a VisualDNA quiz (which are my FAVORITE!) and I responded to what I like and the things that I would WANT, not necessarily what I actually have. It's fun!

{You are FATALE ATTRACTION}

Your home oozes glamour and romance. It's fabulous, sexy and sophisticated (just like you, non?!). Of course, you can have too much of a good thing, and sometimes holding back will create more impact than going hell for leather. You love life, and your home is perfect for good times and having fun.

Living Room
You are drawn to all things that combine beauty with adventure. This is a high-octane, unabashed, sensual look that encompasses everything that's luxurious, voluptuous and curvaceous. Think rich fabrics, textured materials and glossy surfaces. While glamour makes a big, bold statement, it also smacks of total comfort and fun. Modern accessories will make a sleek counterpoint, allowing an outstanding sofa, for example, to take centre-stage. Dark colours work well if you use the room mainly during the evenings and at night, while glamorous prints and patterns are fun and stylish. With a living room like yours, it's no wonder family and friends love popping round to see you.

Bedroom
You're in retro heaven in your bedroom. Sleep is fundamentally important to our well being. In busy towns and cities, noise can often hamper a good night's sleep. Soft furnishings really do absorb sound, and touch is such an important sense in the bedroom, from crisp, linen sheets to wool or even sheepskin underfoot. You show a quirky sense of style in your bedroom, making quite a dramatic statement with bold use of very dark colour and even black.

Dining Room
You're a clean slate waiting for a dash of spice. Different meals and types of food lend themselves to different styles of dining. Think about how you live your life and even the sorts of places where you like to eat out, and use these to create a dining area that suits your needs and reflects your personality. When it comes to entertaining, you like to make an effort for family and friends.

Home Office
You like things floral and feminine, even in the home office. Gone are the days when the home PC was the preserve of nerdy geeks. These days, most of us need a home office: a simple table and chair in one corner of the room with adjustable task lighting and adequate filing is all it takes (and may be all the space you can afford). Pretty finishing touches can transform even the most utilitarian desks: a potted plant, a vase of flowers or family photographs can make all the difference.

Conclusion
Your lust for life and having a good time shines through in every room of your home.

nothing new, just better

2008-07-16T20:14:00.001-07:00

What do you when you're moving in 2 months, and starting a new apartment DIY project just doesn't make sense? CLEAN!

Sorry the photo quality is a little blah. I took them at like midnight right when I finished cleaning.

I even managed to clean out a bit of my closet as well. I didn't take photos of that though, it's not that exciting.
I forget that I had a whole section of the top shelf devoted to empty boxes. What a waste of space! I got rid of those and used the space to store things that I need more than an empty box.

part of the planning stage

2008-07-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

One of the highlights of moving into my own apartment is finally being able to adopt a kitty! I've been looking around at various shelters and such, but nothing really stood out to me. I know of one place on Ventura Blvd in Studio City that I've visited before with a friend, so I figured I'd just go there once I got settled into my new apartment.

But today, while looking at apartment listings on craigslist, I decided to look for cats to adopt as well. I found one posting for a tiny gray/white kitten and noticed that there was a link to website. Cats At The Studio

THAT is where I'm going to adopt from. They're a local rescue organization based out of the San Fernando Valley (they seem to be in Woodland Hills, Burbank, and West Covina).
They're not a shelter, but a non-profit rescue organization comprised entirely of volunteers. I believe most, if not all, kittens are placed in foster homes (as opposed to a shelter) until they find a "forever home."
Their adoption process is a little involved, but I think that's a good thing. They do an interview as part of the application to make sure that you'll be a good fit for the cat or kitten you choose.
They also have a minimum "adoption donation," which is nice because it covers vaccinations, spray/neutering, etc., it helps support the non-profit, AND it's 100% tax-deductible! And who DOESN'T like tax deductions?!

Oh, and if you're interested in making a donation to a local pet non-profit, you can do so here. They have a couple different options for ways to donate, which is awesome.

Changing Things Up

2008-07-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty hellish day at work.

Hellish in that I tried my hardest to be calm and less angry today... the day that happened to be pretty damn stressful and obnoxious.
I did a decent job at remain composed on the outside (albeit a tad bit apathetic), but all that anger on the inside was just tearing me apart.

My normal solution to a day like today used to be drive home in rage of fury with really loud music on, drop all my things on the floor in my room, pour myself a glass of wine and down it while cooking a deliciously, unhealthy but extremely tasty dinner... and then pour another glass to drink with dinner.
As enjoyable as it sounds (and oh my god there was nothing more in the world that I wanted than to drown myself in a glass of wine), eating and drinking a days worth of food/wine in calories isn't really the best way to "unwind." At least for me.
I always have so much energy (fueled by anger, but hey! energy is energy!) when I get out of work after a stressful/busy/obnoxious day, which is why I can stand to cook myself a lavish meal. But that meal and two glasses of wine later, I'm exhausted, but the anger is still in me, I just don't have the energy anymore to do anything about it.

Today, well, today I decided to NOT do that. Well, ok, so I still drove home a little speedily with extremely loud music. But, once I got home after work, I immediately changed into my gym clothes and sneakers and got to work loading all of the lovely loud mid-90s alt rock onto my ipod and hauled ass to the gym.
I must say, that was THE best decision I've made all day. Not only did I get a freakin' really amazing workout (I don't usually burn 500 calories in 35 minutes on the elliptical), but the anger is gone! And I know it's really, actually, truly gone because a.) I'm not exhausted, b.) I'm writing an entry (yes, it's mostly anger and exhaustion that keep me from updating so frequently, and c.) I don't feel the need to drown my emotions in anything. That and I kind of don't remember why I was so incredibly angry in the first place.

The only down side is that it's almost 11:30p and I'm awake. Like, the not sleepy kind of awake. Hopefully some sustenance (I burned about as many calories as I ate today... that doesn't really work so well) and a nice shower will be all I need to get to bed a fairly reasonable hour.

a small note for moi

2008-06-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to actually switch gears and am able to stop thinking about what to do to improve my current apartment and start thinking about what great and amazing things I can do to make my new (and currently non-existent) apartment AWESOME!

First on my list...
Make one of these!

New and Change, Two of My Favorite Words

2008-06-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

Ok, so that's not entirely true... but I do love things that are new and different! So I'm making changes here, in addition to other there (aka life).

I'm slowly working on the layout, utilizing more screen space and making the theme of this blog less "my" and more "me," less AT Cure and more Apartment Living. It's not there yet. In fact, it's far from "there" and it might never get there, but it'll get somewhere, I promise.

As for over there, well, I've discovered something since turning 25. I have this thing where I can't go for more than a year without some sort of significant life change. Moving to a new city, a new apartment to call home, new friends, a new crush, a new job, new opportunities. It's been almost a year and a half since something new occurred. It's about damn time for some more new!
Unfortunately new doesn't just happen. And you can't just buy new. It takes time.

Right now, I'm saving up my monies, building my style tray, and planning how to make my new apartment (come September) fantastic!
I'm also continuing on with my new way of life in regards to eating and exercise. Less of the first, more of the second. It's only getting easier everyday, which I HIGHLY enjoy. I'm already down 18lbs. I hope to be down another 25lbs by august, and eventually down to 165lbs.

And now, back to making changes and watching a wimpy Lifetime movie. :)

That Thing Called Growing Up...

2008-05-21T23:00:00.001-07:00

... it goes hand and hand with moving on.

In 5 days from today, I turn 25. Yesterday, I broke the news to my roommate (FINALLY) that I'll be moving out sometime in September. What does all of this mean?
Well, it means that I'm growing up and moving on in my life.

It's time for me to continue along that path of "being an adult." Living in my own place and being 100% responsible for it (as opposed to just 95%, hehe).
I'm excited for the changes that are ahead... but I'm also a little disappointed with how it's affecting my current progress. I feel like there's no point in making little changes to my apartment now, since I'll be leaving in a few months anyway. Yet at the same time I know I still want to make all of these little changes, but I want my own apartment more. And somehow, my silly brain is trying to rationalize that if I don't make these little changes, then the big changes will come quicker!

Sigh. Silly brain, you're doing this whole thinking thing wrong.
Hopefully something will click this weekend, while I dwell on getting OLDER (and moving into GASP! MID-twenties!!!), and I'll finally get whatever motivation I need to finish up the rest of my Spring Cure "to dos."

Sprinting to Keep Up!

2008-05-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

Life is officially busy. Between work, the cure, and that thing called "a life" I'm obligated to have, now is probably not the best time to also throw in another new routine... but I did anyway.
I'm pairing the theory that it takes 21 days to make or break a habit with a healthier eating and exercising routine to essentially change my lifestyle. Cause I TOTALLY have time to do that!
But I figure that if I can successfully work in this new routine during one of the busier parts of life, then it will be easier to carry it over to times when things aren't so hectic. So far, so good. :)

Unfortunately I've had to cut back on the cure process a little bit. My after-work time has been limited due to... well... more work. And when I do get home I usually only have enough time decompress for a bit, exercise, and go to bed.
And weekends aren't any better. Again, work is starting to spill over into any free time I used to have. And if I do have a weekend free, it's usually filled with some other aspect of life... like attending a wedding with the boyfriend, or celebrating friends' birthdays, etc. etc. etc.

But I haven't abandoned the cure, I've just come to the realization that it's going to have to be more of an on-going process for me. And I've at least got most of the big projects out of the way DURING the actual 8 week cure.

I gave my bedroom a bit of a face lift a couple weeks ago.







I, of course, forgot to take photos after I put my room back together though.

As for what's left, I still have a couple items that I need to buy. Those wall shelves still need to be moved. I need to get my art and photos back up on the walls. And I need to finish sanding and painting the IKEA drawers as well.
It's all small weekend projects that can be done... well... whenever I get a free weekend. :)

Small Update

2008-04-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

No worries, I haven't disappeared. I'm still around, still curing, little by little. I've just gotten unusually busy lately and thus haven't had much time to get things done, let alone document the progress of it.

But I did paint my room! And I managed to take plenty of before, during, and after photos of it so I'll update with those later.
I'm sad that it's week 8 and still have two large-ish projects to do, lamps to buy, and some small de-cluttering, arranging, and organizing to do. But I have high hopes that I can get it all done!

Roadblocks and a Self-Pep Talk

2008-04-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

Foiled! Sort of.
I seemed to underestimate how big of a dent my taxes were going to make in my financial funds. Fortunately a large portion of the money that went towards "taxes" is still mine (thank you, IRA), I just can't use it. But I still owe quite a chunk to the state, and while it won't make me poor, it does put me in a position where I shouldn't be spending tons of money. At least not in the next couple of weeks (when are we getting that tax rebate???). So that kind of puts a damper on the "buy things on your shopping list" part of the cure.

Also, having my free-time filled with other things to do makes it a bit difficult to get things done. But I'm determined to make some large progress NOW, especially since I'll be out of town from Sunday to Tuesday.
Luckily I have all of Saturday free (and the first half of Sunday), so I'm going to hammer out three of my largest and least expensive tasks.

First, I'm going to paint the two pink walls gray. A gallon of paint should be MORE than enough for that. So that's $25.

Second, I'm going to move the wall mounted shelves over, so they frame my bed instead of being directly above my bed (and I'll finally top risking my life EVERY TIME I SLEEP!).
This will also require patching up the holes and touching up the paint. Should only cost about $10 (for touch-up paint), since I already have the molly toggles and such.

Third, I'm going to sand and paint my three IKEA drawers. I bought a sander last weekend, so all I really need is some high-gloss paint. I'm going to be boring and paint them all white, but they'll still stand out in my room. Again, I won't need that much paint and I have the rest of the supplies (sander, pads, dropcloth, brushes, etc.), so it should only be about $15.

My estimates are high in case I'm forgetting anything, but all in all it shouldn't be more than $50, which isn't bad considering what a HUGE difference it's going to make in my room.
I'm going to clean (like, REALLY CLEAN!) my room on Thursday and buy everything on Friday, that way I'll have ALL DAY on Saturday to get everything done. And I can do any last minute clean-up on Sunday before I leave.

I guess other things like new pillows, desk lamp, matching bedside lamps, and art work will just have to wait until week 8.

Now I just need to figure out how to budget groceries. I think I'll just buy fruits and veggies and some meat to hold me over through Sunday. Should be cheap enough.

Colors!

2008-04-04T07:04:00.000-07:00

I fiddled around in Illustrator late last night and put together a couple color schemes to give everyone a better visual of what's going on in my head.
It's hard to accurately represent colors on a computer, especially when there's such a vast amount of end users (i.e. you guys and girls!), so this is as good as it gets until I do the work and take pictures!

To start, this is what my bedroom used to look like.

The walls are orange and pink, all of the furniture was either black or dark brown, and the accent colors in the room were MORE shades of pink and orange. So yeah. Lots of pink. Lots of orange. I'm trying to break away from that.

This is the color scheme I'm thinking of leaning towards for the cure:

I'm working with the gray and chartreuse in my duvet, so I'm thinking of changing my pink walls to gray and keeping the orange walls. I'm starting to bring some white furniture into my room, and the rest is pretty much all black. As for accent colors, I'm going try to keep it all within the chartreuse, turquoise, blood orange colors. I know it might sound like a rather odd combination, but it makes sense with what I'm hoping to do with my future bedroom (the one in my own apartment... that will happen eventually).

I'm going to do all gray walls, with one large turquoise wall. I'll be keep the duvet, so I'm still working with the chartreuse accent colors. And I'd like to bring in some red-orange accent colors. Like maybe new bedside tables, or a chair. I also want to get that CB2 Pharmacist lamp in the deep orange color, though that might not end up in the new, future bedroom.

So yeah. This is what's in the my mind. It's a slow progress from all pink and orange, to a subtle gray with pops of color.

Small Project: Thoughts and Questions.

2008-04-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

So, I was looking at my bedroom last night, trying to think of SOMETHING I could do to feel like I'm making progress. All of this thinking and planning and considering and not-actual-DOING is making me antsy. I know, IknowIknowIknow, I know I shouldn't rush into any and everything. But HOLY CRAP, I need to do SOMETHING!
So I spotted my ~~crappy~~ lovely little IKEA shelves, that I would really like to turn into something like this...

The only problem is that I don't really have any place to put that in my room. So scratch that plan. But I would still really like them to be more cohesive pieces in my room. The two pink ones are great, but not really "quality" looking.

And the "natural wood" one is not bad either, but again... it's not the best quality product.
But they were SUCH a bitch to put together, so I want them to look GOOD!

So what should I do? Sand them to a smooth finish? Hmm... I could sand. I've never done it before (like, actual real sanding), but there's a first time for everything!
Do I have to do it outside? Or could I sand on a drop cloth on the dining room floor? How does the paper grain work? Do I need a different paper for removing the paint versus making the wood smooth?
And then I should paint them. But when I painted the pink ones, it came out rather dull, so obviously acrylic paint isn't the best choice for this project. What kind of paint (or maybe stain?) should I use to get a nice, smooth, non-dull (but not super shiny) finish? Is there such a paint or do I have to suck it up and put a finish over the paint?

Should I google all of this, or is it really not that complicated?
I've heard about the little "mouse" sander. I'm hoping it's really not more than getting that and a couple different kind of paper. And maybe Home Depot has some magically non-dull paint... or I could just google it.

Psst... looking for something to buy?

2008-03-31T14:38:00.001-07:00

Fellow AT curee, Aimee, of Aimee's Petite Maison, opened a new blog that's essentially a GIANT wish list! So if you're ever in the mood to buy something but aren't sure what, Wish List Worthy is the place to go! And to kick it all off she's having a giveaway (woot!).

Best of all, entering the giveaway is quite easy. Simply go here, follow the directions, leave your comment and TA-DA! instant entry!

Thinkings

2008-03-27T23:30:00.000-07:00

A new duvet brings new colors. And new colors calls for new sheets. Yippee!

I'm think I'm going to keep things simple and just get two sets of grayish/white sheets. But I of course am never that boring. :)

These will be the standard gray sheets (a nice alternative to standard white sheets).

I have two pillowcases of this print in orange. Maybe they'll work together, but if not I'd still LOVE these sheets.

Oh yeah... that's the other part of getting new sheets, I'm going to get rid of my old sheets, except for two sets. Though I haven't figured out which two yet.

How in The Hell?!

2008-03-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I fixed the duvet cover issue. Well, sort of. :)

I got home from work (way late, btw... I do not appreciate that) and took the cover off of my comforter. I then spread the comforter out on the floor between the living room and the dining room (it's like its own room, I swear) and stared at it for a while. Then I started to move numbers around in my head. "If 104 is that way, and I put 108 the opposite way, then that means 104 and 98 can go together... and 108 and 88 together... and voila!" Shit works!!!

Is it perfect? No. Not at all. Is there's still 10" of excess fabric? Yup, but it's on the side instead of the top this time. Should I still hem it to fit properly? Yes, I should. And I will, but for now, this works. And I am happy. :)

Now to fix this color issue....

Duvet Cover... You're Doin' It Wrong!!

2008-03-25T22:50:00.000-07:00

*sigh* That was my first thought as I put the duvet cover on my comforter. I tried really hard to make it work... but alas, it just wasn't meant to be.

I know, you're thinking, "what's so bad about that?" Well, that fold up at the top is what's so bad. There's about a good 6" of extra duvet at the top (or bottom, depends on how you look at it) and not enough comforter to fill it.

Apparently, I "technically" don't have a King size comforter, like I thought. I mean, I DO, according to The Company Store. But according to the rest of the bedding world, I "technically" have a California King size comforter. What's the difference? Well, a Cal-King is a tad bit smaller than a regular ol' King. Yeah. I learned this.

I also learned that "King size" and "Cal-King size" VARY! Yeah! You can have a"small" King size or you can have a "large" King size.
So my 108"x95" King size duvet is on the "large" side of the scale, whereas my 104"x88" (YES! EFFING EIGHTY-EIGHT!!!) Cal-King size comforter is on the "small" side of the scale. SUPER!
Nerrr. (that's my angry sound)

Now I don't know what to do, because I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE this duvet. LOVE! IT!
But it's too HUGE!
Also, does it clash?

I'm thinking it clashes. But maybe not? I dunno, I can't tell.

I feel like my brain is trying to trick me into thinking that it doesn't clash because it's soooooooo comfortable!

So I'm left with choices. Two choices, each having multiple options.
Choice #1: I keep it.
And I either:
a.) Hem the top excess fabric. But if I do that then I loose the design on the top part.
b.) Wash it a whole lot and hope that it shrinks 6 inches. Yeah, I know the probability of that one.

OR

Choice #2: I return it.
For either:
a.) A queen-size (they don't offer any Cal-King sizes). But I don't know what "size" their queen size is (it would be awesome if they'd return my email... hint hint). Also, from my research, I don't think even a "large" queen size would fit a "small" Cal-King size.
b.) A refund (minus the return shipping). And then... I would be duvet-less. :(

Ugh, someone HALP! Heh. Sometimes options are just not helpful!
I really just thought the duvet would FIT. I mean, I figured it wouldn't be perfect, but 88" versus 95"? C'MON! Those are like two TOTALLY different sizes. How can The Company Store sell a "King size" comforter that measures "Cal-King size??"

Boo... this is all just a sad story of a stupid consumer. That's what I get for being uninformed about BEDDING SIZES. Ner.

Another "Oh... Right." Moment

2008-03-24T22:02:00.000-07:00

So my duvet cover came today! And, I'm pretty sure I FRICKIN' LOVE IT! :D
I was a little leery about the quality of the fabric and print (even though it was pricey) since I ordered it online, but it's everything I hoped for! Oh... except for one thing.

I mean... if I had actually THOUGHT about it, it wouldn't have surprised me, but I often skip parts of the equation of life. Like the part about "putting two and two together." Yeah.
So I ordered a king size duvet, cause I have a king size comforter, even though I only have a queen size bed. I bought the king size comforter because it was on sale for the same size as the queen and... well, I'm a blanket whore. :)

Anyway, right, king size duvet to cover my king size comforter. Check. Oh hey look, it comes with two shams, sweet! (This is that "two and two" part... yeah... SKIP!) Purchasing!
And then, I get my king size duvet cover (and it's AWESOME!) and the two shams... with the king size duvet... huh... king size... huh... right. The shams, that come with the king size duvet... are king size. Meaning, they fit on king size pillows. Right.
I have a queen size bed, with queen size pillows... yeaaaaaah.

Well... I guess that means that I HAVE to buy at least two king size pillows. Darn. :)

Do More in the Morning

2008-03-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

That's my goal for today. Or... was my goal, there's about an hour left and I still need to shower. But I did vacuum my room and the hallway (so glad my roommate replaced the crappy vacuum), and I swiffered my bathroom and the kitchen. So I did my best. :)

I also made myself a delicious breakfast. It's another take on one of my semi-usual breakfasts.

It's just a warm, butter croissant with a little pool of honey and as many fresh raspberries as you can handle. Personally, I love fresh raspberries. I ate half of the pint yesterday as soon as I took them out of the bag. :)

And I somehow totally forgot to make coffee with my breakfast and just had a glass of Orange Juice. Oh well... I guess that means I deserve to take a break later and go to Starbucks. Woohoo!

And with my hour of morning left, I'm going to shower and WASH MY HAIR!
Washing your hair is way more exciting when you don't do it every day. :)

The Weekend - Week... 2?

2008-03-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

Week 2 has been pretty non-existent for me. The main task to accomplish this week was to arrange your room in the best way possible. Declutter, give it flow, and make sure it has space for everything you want to do in that room.
Um... yeah. I kinda jumped the gun on that one and did it a couple weeks ago.

We're also supposed to bring focus to our one-room remedy, finalize our style/inspiration tray, and make a shopping list. I, of course, only did the easy part... make a shopping list. :)
But I have the WHOLE weekend to finish adding to my style tray and give my cure a clear and solid purpose.

I decided to start my weekend off right by making something new-ish for breakfast.
Instead of the semi-usual toast and eggs to supplement my coffee (if I could, I'd just drink coffee for breakfast), I made this!

An eggwich! Just a toasted english muffin, split in half with an omelet-like egg concoction in between. I used just mozzarella cheese in the omelet, but you can put whatever you want in it... and I recommend NOT using mozzarella cheese, use something sharper, like cheddar or colby jack.

Now I'm off to start my curing weekend with a bit of shopping followed by a bit of cleaning and then some relaxing productivity time.

Things I Learned This Weekend.

2008-03-18T20:30:00.000-07:00

1.) Life is way more enjoyable when you spend your weekend actually doing nothing, relaxing, and having fun. (whoops!)

2.) If you live in California, and work in the entertainment industry, you get raped by state taxes at the end of the year. Because, as usual, California is retarded... and they don't take out the right percentage of state tax from your paycheck because they want you to have "more money to spend." Um.. yeah.. RETARDED.

3.) The lighting in my room BLOWS. I don't even think it can even qualify as lighting, it's sad. I sat at my desk, trying to finish my taxes, and every 10 minutes I was like "I should turn a light on... oh, wait, I already have ALL THREE of them on!"

4.) Hand-washing delicates is SO FRICKIN' EASY!!!! And kinda fun. :)

5.) My hair hates me, and will continue to hate me, every other day, for the next 3-4 weeks.
I've started a sort of "cure" for my hair... and it's not really all that fun. Basically, growing-up as an only child and being raised only by my dad, there were a lot of things I had to learn on my own or just didn't learn at all. And one of them is that you're not supposed to wash your hair everyday, because it dries it out. And the other is that, if your hair is super oily, it's probably because it's over dried. Yeah... single fathers raising girls need to learn this. IT'S IMPORTANT!

So now, my hair that needs to be washed once a day, is getting washed every other day. And the days it doesn't get washed SUCK!
I can tell that it's slowly starting to adjust, and I really like only having to wash my hair every other day. But it would be way more awesome if my hair would just GET OVER IT ALREADY and be normal!
I'm hoping the dry shampoo I bought in additional to styling it on the days I do wash it will help... ::crosses fingers::

Rounding the First Lap.

2008-03-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

Just posting some reminders for myself as I finish up the first week. I'm very good at forgetting to do half of the stuff I was supposed to get done over the weekend, so I'm writing it down and documenting the list here. That way when I procrastinate by reading my own blog, I'll be reminded of what I'm SUPPOSED to be doing. :P

Friday Night
1. Dinner
2. Shower and Relaxing/Pampering

Saturday
1. Gym
2. Laundry
3. Trader Joe's
4. Conroy's
5. Taxes (not related, but they still have to get done!)
6. Thrift Store shopping (matching table lamps and a vase)
7. Take GOOD photos during the DAY. :)
8. Make plenty of coffee.
9. Add to your style tray

Sunday
1. Universal Studios with Mike.
2. Relax and enjoy your progress.

Changes, Part 2: The Floorplan

2008-03-11T22:01:00.000-07:00

I've finally done it. It only took me about 4-5 tries over the course of a year and some change, but I've finally finally done it. I've successfully arranged my room in a spacious, non-cluttered, efficient, and productive manner. And it FLOWS! It FLOWWWWWWS!

That photo doesn't do it justice, though. My room doesn't photograph well at night (read: GET SOME MORE LAMPS!). But tomorrow morning I'll snap some better wideshots so you can get a better idea of it.
For now, here are some vignettes to show off the loveliness. Click the photos to see the large version.

Hopefully this Saturday I can venture out to some thrift shops and try to find two cute matching table lamps and maybe a desk lamp.
And maybe I'll finish my taxes too. :)

Changes, Part 1

2008-03-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

So I've nixed my plan to make a duvet cover. I don't really want seams down the middle of the duvet, and since they don't really sell fabric that's 107" wide, I don't think it would be possible to make it the way I want it.
Instead, I've started looking for a duvet cover that fits what I want: some shade of gray background with a large yet minimal print in either white, gray, or a single color that will mesh well with my pink and orange room. Oh yeah, that's another change, I'm not going to repaint my room... I still really like the pink and orange.

So far, this is the only duvet cover that a.) I like and b.) would work in my room.
It's from www.blisslivinghome.com.

I altered the wall colors to see how it would work in my room. I think it could go well, since most of my furniture is black or a really dark wood and I don't really have any other greens in my room for it to compete with. And the other side of the cover is all gray, so I can always flip it if I get sick of the print... though I don't think I will.

What do you guys think?

Not Now, But Soon...

2008-03-09T11:23:00.001-07:00

Not that this has anything to do with my spring cure project, but on this lovely morning (I really enjoy when DST happens on a weekend) I got quite a nice idea.
Nothing genius, but the thought of it made me smile.

When I move into my own place (not sure when that will be, but it'll happen eventually) I'm going to get a couple of these prints.

I'm thinking in the living room area or hallway (if my future apartment even HAS a hallway)

This would go in my future bedroom to remind me to NOT fill it with crap and to keep it clean!

If I'm able to have a substantial area or room (doubtful on the room) for my work desk & sewing table, this will go there.

Maybe in the bathroom (if there's a window or extractor) or a hallway (again, if there's a hallway).

KITCHEN! I'd absolutely LOVE to have this in my kitchen. Coffee is my favorite, and even though I have it almost every day, it still feels like a little cup of luxury.

I know lots of people are familiar with these prints, but in case you're not, they're all from Keep Calm Ltd.

So yeah. That was my great morning idea. :)

Decisions!

2008-03-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

I've finally put an order to this madness that is week 0. I've made decisions!
To start, I've decided that I need to rearrange my room before I make any of the bigger changes. That way things will be neat and tidy, giving me more room to make a mess and making it easier to clean up in the end.

I've also decided that I should make a duvet for my bed BEFORE I decide whether or not to repaint my room. I figure it wouldn't make much sense to make a neutral duvet and also paint the walls neutral.
I'm hoping that a neutral duvet will make the rest of the room pop. If not, then I'll have to rethink the painting process.

These are the fabrics (all Marimekko) I'm thinking of using.

Look at the largest option on flickr (just click the photo) and you can see all of the detail.

I think all of these would make amazing duvets, but I particularly like 2 and 3 and 4.
I still need to explore outside of Marimekko fabrics, but I really love the large repeats.

Think First, Rearrange Later

2008-03-06T12:07:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad Icovia.com exists. If it didn't, I think I might go crazy with how many bright ideas I get to rearrange my room, only to realize that it's not exactly functional. Taking the time to map out a floor plan on paper (or on internet paper) is much better than spending an entire day moving (really heavy) furniture around and wondering why the bed doesn't fit in a 20" x 12" corner. :)

Yesterday I drew up this lovely floor plan of how my room is set up now.

It looks more cluttered than it actually feels and I think that's because there's such a large open space between the doorway and the bed. And also most of the clutter is pushed up against the wall behind the door.
So while the room isn't necessarily in bad shape, I still think it could be better.

This is what I came up with next.

I'm really like the idea of having matching nightstands, even those neither of those pieces are actually nightstands. This layout could work, but having my sewing table under the window would probably mean sacrificing the floor to ceiling curtains. And I'm not to keen on having that little round bedside table and my jewelry/makeup randomly placed on either side of my sewing table.

So I tried again and came up with this.

Better? I can't really tell.
Instead of having matching nightstands, I took one of them and stood it on end next to my sewing table for storage and so it would take up less floor space. I moved the jewelry/makeup table behind the door and put the small bedside table by the bed. I think it still feels as cluttered, and I kinda miss the symmetry of the matching nightstands. I'm beginning to think that maybe there's too much for room to handle.

So I took everything out and added it back in one by one and stopped when I thought that nothing more could be added.

Everything is there except for my jewelry/makeup table (and the chair, but that's just because I forgot). It will be a challenge to figure out what to do with it (and everything on it!), but I'm sure I can figure it out.
I think this could work. It's simplified and there's no strange "feeling" of clutter. AND, I could move those shelves on my wall so that they're no longer above my bed... and then maybe people will stop freaking out about the potential of me dying in an earthquake because they fell on my head!
So what do you think? Does anyone have any ideas that I'm overlooking?

What I'm Working With

2008-03-04T16:11:00.000-08:00

This is my room as of 8:30am this morning.

It's progressed a bit since the fall cure, but I'm still not completely satisfied with it. That, and it's starting to collect clutter again.

The stuff on the floor is all from my old desk and it all needs a new home. I know there's space for it, I just haven't found it yet. :)

And then of course, there are the bigger tasks that I'm not sure I really want to tackle. Like re-painting in an effort to tone down the amount of orange & pink. And moving/re-arranging those IKEA shelves.

Both tasks are pretty inexpensive, but very labor intensive. Right now my mind is saying "NO WAY!," but I know how fickle I can be... in 2 weeks, I might have a completely different room! We'll just have to wait and see.

Spring Cure 2008!

2008-03-03T22:59:00.000-08:00

It is most definitely spring here in LA... or whatever season it is after the rain stops. And with that comes the Spring Cure!

This will be my second cure, and after the first, I'm going to make it much simpler. I'm going to tackle the "One Room Remedy" and focus on sprucing up my bedroom (I might become distracted and jump over to my bathroom for part of it). It should be much easier this time, since it's MY room, and I don't need to comprise with anyone but me and my bank account. :D

Today marked the start of the cure at AT, but it's technically Week Zero. Just enough to skim the book again, figure out where I left off the last cure, and start some preliminary lists.

These are my vague lists that I'm going to use as springboards for inspiration.

GOALS
• To finalize the de-cluttering of my bedroom
• To have an appropriate space for everything (and no, the floor does NOT count!)
• To have less "visual clutter"
• To tone down the pink & orange theme
• To have more/better lighting
• To finalize my work area
• To create a substantial and inspiring style tray for myself
• To de-clutter my closet FOR GOOD
• Investigate local thrift stores

TO-DOs
√ Put away the homeless books living on the floor
√ Re-hang curtains
• Change overhead lighting
• Get 1 task lights and 2 (matching) bedside lamps, re-arrange current lighting
√ ~~• Make a duvet cover~~ Just buy a duvet
• Paint pink walls gray
• Hang art in the bathroom (it's currently living on the bedroom floor)
• Re-hang photos (include the two on the floor)
• Take down wall hooks
• Move wall shelves
** Take inventory of all colors in the bedroom (part of my effort to reduce visual clutter)

SHOPPING LIST
• Task Lights (CB2 Pharmacist Lamp)
• Table Lamps
√ ~~• Fabric for duvet cover~~ Just buy one
• Staple Gun
• Pillows (4)
• LCD Monitor (part of the work area, I need to ditch the CRT)
• Speakers
• Fabric for chair seat
• Paint gray & orange (for touch ups)
√ Small Sander
• White High-Gloss Paint

So this is where I'm at on day 1. I plan to take before photos tomorrow morning, and hopefully I can get some input on the possibility of re-painting my room. I have a feeling that's going to be my biggest hurdle to climb.

Simple Things

2008-02-27T23:25:00.000-08:00

It's interesting how something so effortless and mundane can drastically improve the overall feeling of a space. Since I'm on vacation from work and home during the day, I decided to open the windows in the apartment. I almost instantly felt like I was living in a whole new place!

I know LA doesn't get "real" winters, but it's enough to forget what a home feels like with the windows open. Somehow open windows just gives this great, calming energy. Maybe it's just me, and if it is I feel bad for others, but being able to open a window and then feel completely at peace in any room in my apartment is such a wonderful feeling.

Now we're getting somewhere!

2008-01-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

I still have a couple things to work on, but it's finally clean and organized and arranged in a manner that MAKES SENSE.

It doesn't feel cluttered and I now really enjoy spending time in my room.

And having an open, clean, dedicated space for sewing is SO NICE!

I still need to clean up the "work area," but I finally bought more memory and a better processor for the G4 so I'll finally have more motivation to keep the area clean and organized since I'll be using that computer more.

And I finally realized that it's better to use these shelves sparingly, and not try to fit as much stuff on there are as I can.

That looks much more pleasing that this...

Sneak Peak!

2008-01-16T23:54:00.001-08:00

Ok, so it's not a huge sneak peak. I know, I know, it's not like you've never seen this room in the messy and uninspired state. But it's getting better!

That's what it looked like yesterday. Tomorrow morning (when there is sunlight) it'll all start to make sense... when all of the crap in it is removed and the piles of papers start to take order.

My bedroom will work... eventually.

2008-01-14T14:39:00.001-08:00

I really just can't seem to leave my room alone.

Tonight I'm going to embark on a rearrangement... again.
I think I might have it right this time, as long as I remember to CLEAN while I'm rearranging.

Pictures should follow.

Oh, also, I want this lamp.

I'm not sure if I should get it in white or orange though.

Little Things

2008-01-04T12:33:00.000-08:00

While searching for sales online, in preparation for a shopping trip this weekend, I stumbled upon this unique website that I'm surprised I haven't found until now.

Wrapables.com

It's filled with cute, modern, gifty items. Most of the website is girly stuff (not that I mind), but I found a lot of things that were stylistically inspiring. In particular, this jewelery tree.

I've been looking for something simple to store my jewelery on that could take the place of the large, dull jewelery box I have. This is exactly what I've been looking for over the past couple of years, I just couldn't seem to find it anywhere and eventually thought that it just didn't exist (hence getting the jewelery box).

Finding little treasures like this really makes me stop and think about what other pieces I have in my apartment that I don't really want, regardless of the fact that I "need" them. Like my desk for instance.
It's a suitable desk that cost me all of $30 (thanks Wal-Mart... I guess). And while yes, I do need a desk, I don't particularly want the one that I have. I also wouldn't feel guilty getting rid of it, even though I've only had a year, since it was only $30. But should I run out and by a $100 desk because I like it and want it and need it all at the same time?

I'm thinking that the answer is no. Unless of course it's what I've always imagined but could never find... and it's on sale. :)

I think I'm doing this wrong.

2007-12-30T12:47:00.000-08:00

I went on a little shopping spree at IKEA last night. IKEA helped me to not go overboard with the spending since they didn't have everything in stock. I ended up getting a simple, black TV console (I need to find a way to make it look a little less utilitarian) and a table to use as craft workspace.
I wanted to get a sleek and slim bedside table to use as a landing strip, but they were sadly sold out. They also didn't have any of the vases I wanted and the "jewelery tree" that I wanted wasn't really suitable for a jewelery tree at 20" tall. And I cannot for the life of me find the kitchen rails and accessories at IKEA. Someday I'll find them... or ask someone where they are.

Last night I stayed up til 2:30a putting together the TV console and table. I'm still in the process of moving everything into the new console and setting up my craft area how I want it. But I'm starting to think that I have a habit of doing things wrong, particularly in my room.

I put my table in the open space behind the door in my bedroom. It fits perfectly there, and with the door closed it's opposite my computer desk, which is ideal. But with the table behind the door that means that I can't open my door all the way. I don't mind it, it opens up past the door frame so it's not like it's in the way. And I have a tendency to stick random things behind my door regardless, so it's not like I could ever open my door all the way, but I think that's part of the problem.
I try to use every inch of space in my room, and while it's nice to have a place for everything, I don't think I really HAVE the space for everything.

The table is a step up from sewing on top of my dresser (in the closet) and doing projects on the dining room floor or coffee table. But I have a feeling that the table is going to eventually feel like more clutter in my room, even if it's kept clean, simple, neat and organized.

Perhaps this just means it's time for me to reconsider the arrangement of my bedroom. Oh joy! Hopefully I'll get some inspiration while I finish organizing everything.

Anyone need some motivation?

2007-12-28T11:54:00.001-08:00

If so, you should head to IKEA. They're having a SALE! 20-60% off "things" from now until January 21. The only catch (or, well, catches) is that it's an in-store sale only and Houston, Seattle, Sunrise, Orlando and IKEA Direct aren't participating.

Take a peek at some of the sale items. It's the Burbank, CA since that's closest to me, but you can search for a sale flyer for your store.

I have a feeling that, in addition lots and lots of cleaning, I'm going to be making a couple large purchases this weekend so I can get back into the swing of things.

When did this month get to be the most stressful?

2007-12-19T12:21:00.000-08:00

Ugh, December! You're getting in the way of my normal life!
All I've been doing for the past couple of weeks is making Christmas gifts and getting ready for a week in Boston, while being sick and attending holiday parties. And I still am not even close to being finished with everything. The cut off date is tonight as I'm flying out first thing tomorrow morning, so everything is going to be "done" whether or not I'm actually finished. :)

Needless to say, I haven't made any more progress with the de-cluttering of my room. In fact, I think I managed to clutter it up a little more in the past couple of weeks, hehe. Hopefully by the new year I'll have much less on my plate and have more time to get in the "starting over" mindset.

The things you can accomplish when you just do them.

2007-12-14T12:28:00.000-08:00

I attacked my room last night. And it only took about 4 hours, which is not bad considering I usually take an entire weekend to do something like re-arrange my bedroom. The makes much more sense now, but there's still quite a bit of clutter I need address. But I did start to get rid of things that I just don't like and started re-purposing things that I DO like, but didn't have a place for.

For example, I tossed an ugly/obnoxious pen holder cup and replaced it with a candle holder that was sans candle.
The only eyesore in my room that I'm stuck with is a my effing hugeass CRT monitor. I have to pull my desk about 6 inches away from the wall in order to make the monitor fit. That thing has to go, luckily it was free when I got it.
I may set aside some money after the holidays to buy a slightly smaller flat panel monitor, but we'll see.

Once I remove all of the clutter I'll update with photos.

There's so little time after work!

2007-12-12T21:50:00.000-08:00

I attacked my closet this evening. I'm not sure if it's a bad or a good thing just yet. Only time will tell. But at least now it's arranged the way I want it.

I was inspired by this house tour on AT. These are photos from the tour.

And when I realized that I actually HAVE this shoe rack

I figure that there's no reason I can't make my closet as organized and streamlined as this one.

I still think that I need to rethink what's in my closet (like laundry baskets and empty boxes/random storage), but for now it's definitely an improvement.
Clothes (organized by color, yay!) and shoes in one section. Sewing and storage in a second section. And laundry, extra blankets, pillows, etc. in another section (one that doesn't need to be open). I can still stand to get rid of more things though... it'll happen eventually. Things can only go up from here!

I also started brainstorming how I could rearrange things in my room and took some measurements and had a lot of "well why didn't I put this here in the first place?!" moments.
I'm going to separate my "work area" from the rest of my bedroom (it'll get it's own nice little corner) and actually put my two bedside table on the sides of my bed. I'm not sure what else I can/should do, but once I draw it all out, it should be a pretty quick project. I hope to have it finished before the weekend.

Back at it.

2007-12-12T16:01:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I sort of left The Cure project hanging. There was no "finishing" done, no party thrown, and there's still an outbox sitting in my dining room. But as much as I've tried to motivate myself to do these simple tasks, I always knew that that was not going to make any difference... I would still feel as though I haven't actually completed the project.

Looking back, I think that it would have been best to focus on one room. It was really nice to bring life and personality into the shared living spaces (and hang our art correctly, hehe), but it was pretty much impossible to compromise with my roommate in certain areas. Creative decisions like "should we paint the walls?", "what colors should we use?", "what kind of furniture do we want?" were all easy compromises. But when it came time to talk about a budget, we were on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. It's easy to agree to having a beautiful apartment with awesome furniture, but some of that has to come at a price. Big things like reupholstering the couch, getting an actual dining room (i.e. table and chairs), and replacing our $20 Wal-Mart "tv stand" with a somewhat substantial entertainment center never happened because of the price. All of the reasoning is understandable (like, why reupholster the couch when we don't know how long we'll be here or be living together?), but that doesn't mean that I'm ok with it.

I've grown tired of our couch and how the cushions sink in from sitting in the same spot more than 2 days in a row. I'm DYING for a freakin' dining room table. I want to do things differently, but I don't want to subject anyone to my non-traditional ways. And... well... frankly, I'm sick of not getting my way. :)
Yeah yeah, I know I'm a spoiled brat, but I've been living with roommates for almost 7 years now. Being an only child, THAT'S A LONG TIME! It's not easy for me to compromise, but I've done it (and I've done it without being a spoiled brat about it, too) and I've gotten ~~much~~ WAY better at it. But I need some change. I want everything to be different.

And that's how I've come about all of these new ideas and dreams. Wanting things MY way is only just a nice thought... unless I actually make it happen. And the only way I can make it happen is if I put myself in a position for it to happen. Confusing? Yeah, I haven't quite worked it out into a plan yet, everything is still just a "nice idea."
I really would like to downsize my life, as a whole. Well... a partial whole. Bear with me. :)

Living with a roommate in years past has mainly been for financial and selfish reasons only. Those financial reasons are kind of obsolete now and the reason they're obsolete is because I'm not AS selfish as I used to be. I'm not addicted to "my stuff" and "things" like I used to be and therefore downsizing to a studio or small one-bedroom would be plausible (and rather quaint and enjoyable) and thus living by myself would actually be affordable.
The other financial part of having a roommate is splitting bills (cable, electricity, etc.). For the past two years I've been paying all of the bills myself and seeing my roommate's half as just extra money. So again, I'm not really worried about the financial part of having my own place.

Obviously I'm not going to just up and leave my roommate, that would be rather dick of me. But I'm going to start living with the idea of having my own place in mind. And that all starts with getting in the habit of doing what I want in my own space... my bedroom.
I did quite a bit with it during The Cure, but it's still not exactly what I want. So my plan is to pretend that I'm starting from scratch by tossing out everything (and I mean everything) that I don't want or actively use and put everything else where I want it.
I need to rethink my room layout and plan it out on paper (or computer) before I start trying to just "make everything fit" which is kind of where I left it. :/

Week 8 Already? Are You Sure???

2007-10-31T15:43:00.001-07:00

Well, it's the last week. *tear*
I don't want it to be over because 1.) I had so much fun doing this MASSIVE project and 2.) I'm um... not done yet. :)

It's very typical of me not to be finished on time... I never ever am, but I've grown to deal with it. I'm going to accept the fact that I haven't completed everything that I had set out to do and go from there. I will FINISH the cure, but I won't stop curing. All loose ends will be tied up this week, the apartment will be cleaned from top to bottom (and thanks to the cure it won't be such a chore), and all "finished" photos will be taken... DURING THE DAY, for once.

I still have a pretty sizable list of little projects I want to accomplish, like make living room drapes and dining room curtains, reupholster the couch, buy a new TV console, etc. I'm hoping I can knock a few of these off before the end of the year by incorporating them into other projects in other aspects of my life.
Sewing curtains will be a good way for me to finally start designing/sewing clothes, and may even a spark a need to create an dedicated sewing area for myself.

The '07 Fall Cure may end this week, but my cure is far from over.

Another New Thing

2007-10-24T22:46:00.000-07:00

Week 7 is technically the bedroom week. I don't really have much else to do in the bedroom (cure-wise, that is... wink wink, hehe), but I figured I should at least do ONE thing that pertains to this week. So I bought new sheets!

I wanted dark chocolate brown sheets, but of course I had to go to Target to get my sheets, which only means that I didn't get what I originally wanted... because it's Target, and they never have anything you want. So I went with this print instead.

I'm glad I "settled" and got something different because I haven't had anything other than a solid color bed linen since I lived at home (almost 7 years ago... damn, I'm OLD!). These are from the Thomas O'Brien "vintage modern" collection. (The dark brown pillows cases aren't... those are some BB&B ones... 650 thread-count, yum) They're a tad 70s-ish, leaning toward the masculine side, and remind me of my grandmother for some reason, but I really like them. They're something different for me, and different is good.

Weeks 5 & 6

2007-10-22T23:29:00.000-07:00

Since I still feel a bit whelmed with the contradiction between what I want to do and what I physically can do, I figured I should take a bit to focus on what I HAVE done.

The past two weeks have seemed to just disappear and I didn't get much done. I spent a lot of time after work matting the art for the dining room and my bathroom, but for some reason it just took so long. I didn't finish it until I spent 2 hours on Sunday afternoon getting it all done.
Somehow that one little project took up TWO WEEKS of my time.
But oh well, it's finished now and I can finally move on.

At the end of week 5 my roommate and I tackled the walls of our apartment... with PAINT!
We painted one wall in the entryway,

one wall in the living room,

and the kitchen wall that extends into the dining area.

(we'll discuss that mess later)

We're SO happy to finally have more than just white walls in the rest of our apartment. But we were both a little nervous while painting. The teal kept reminding me of mint green or "seaside" blue. And the brown in the living room didn't have that dusty rose tinge to it that my roommate and I saw in the swatch. It had more of an orange-y-ness... that was bordering on "adobe" color. We kept telling ourselves "it's better than white, it's better than white, it's better than white" and continued on painting. The living room dried much much better than we expected and lost that "adobe" undertone and the teal... well, the teal is interesting.

The hallway version (a satin finish) is FABULOUS! Having that wall be one of the first things you see when you walk in the apartment is so nice. In the kitchen, under the cabinets it bring a nice little splash of happiness. But in the dining room... eh... it takes some getting used to. I think it might have to do with the fact that it's a semi-gloss, so it gives it an extra brightness minus the appropriate boost of saturation. We'll see how we feel about it once we get new curtains up and a dining room table in there. If worse comes to worse we can always cover it with a satin finish in the same color... right? Right. :)

This past weekend I spent most of my time out of the apartment, but on Sunday I devoted the entire day to my to-do list. I finished the artwork matting & framing and hung everything up properly. That took about 3-4 hours in itself. Then I went to work on my bathroom.

Cleaning and de-cluttering it weren't much of an issue, but I still spent a significant amount of time doing both, mainly because I wanted to prep for installing my new shelves, which went rather quickly.

I started by completely removing the old, nasty floor shelf. Note to EVERYONE: Don't buy a cheap metal floor shelf for a bathroom... all you'll get is un-dustable dust and tons of rust.

But I guess it's good to have at least SOMETHING to fill the empty and rather ugly space in a bathroom. It sadly looked better WITH that shelf. But I was moving on to bigger and better things... like wall mounted shelves!

My plan was to mount them same way I mounted my magically "supportless" shelves in my bedroom; with metal toggles. But at the last second my plans changed as I came to the realization that there's a very high possibility that lots and lots of pipes may be behind that wall.
I broke out the stud finder and detected two "studs", one MUCH larger than a normal stud and just on the edge of one of my marks. But because I choose things that I WANT over things that might be a more logical or safe choice, I decided to drill anyway... but I would be more careful!

I opted for the standard plastic anchors... and drilling very very slowly.

Thankfully I didn't drill through any pipes, and I now have AMAZINGLY wonderful and surprisingly sturdy, grown-up, bathroom shelves! It changed the feeling of my bathroom so much! I always love my bathroom, and didn't think it was possible to love it even more!

I <3 the internets!

2007-10-22T16:37:00.000-07:00

Remember when I said that I couldn't wait for this to come out?

Well it came out a couple weeks ago! Unfortunately it's only available online, which usually isn't a problem, except that I was planning on buying it at Target. Target usually prices items lower than their suggested retail price, but I guess not in this case. It's $179.99, which is fine, I'll pay that much for it. But shipping is $11. And tax is about $16. That makes this now $206.99.

My other option would be the buy it richardsolo.com. They have free shipping, but... I don't really know much about their company. I mean, I know it's the start-up of the guy who founded Sharper Image, but still. I'd rather pay more and get it from Target or just wait until prices drop or Target (or someone else) puts it in the store.

Today I decided to check back at Target.com to see if perhaps they dropped the price since last week. Sadly, they hadn't. But they did have a promotion going on. 10% off your electronics purchase over $100. Sweet! But only on selected items. Oh, well that's nice of you, Target.

I added it to my shopping cart and checked out to see if maybe, just maybe, this qualified as one of the select electronic items. And just my luck, it was! That was $18 off of my order, which was pretty much free shipping and a little less tax.
But, because I can never be satisfied, I just had to google "target promo code" and see if there was any other way to get the price down. I found a couple more 10% off your purchase codes, but I figured they were either the same offers or they just wouldn't work. I tried the first two, and they were duds. I figured the last one would also be a dud, but it wasn't! I got another $18 off!
I could have kept trying to add on more codes, but I was just too excited to get the $180 item for $168! :D

Now I can't wait for it to get here so I can add it to my lovely new bathroom shelves and shower with MUSIC in the morning!

Thank you, Apartment Therapy

2007-10-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

For saving my sanity!
Because of this post I now have another little project on my "cure plate." Sometime this week, among the piles of other random things I need to get done, I'm going to remove the fluorescent kitchen light FROM HELL and replace it with something incandescent/halogen/energy efficient from Lowe's or Ikea. :)

No more flinching from the loud flickers every time I turn the light on or constant buzzing while I'm trying to calmly cooking three things at once. Hooray!

Struggling

2007-10-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

There are only a couple hours left in week 6 and I feel as though I haven't done a thing. At least, nothing that I had originally planned on doing, so nothing has been crossed off of my list. Part of it is my fault. I haven't really had time after work to do anything that I wanted to do (like hang art work or install/build things because hammering is kind of annoying to neighbors after 9pm). But there have been things that I needed to do that I just didn't WANT to do and thus have not done them yet.

Like what? Oh, well... clean my "work area," which is a left over task from week 5. Ok, fine, so that was ALL of week 5.

There are only two weeks left in this cure and I still have two-thirds of my whiteboard FILLED with to-dos that have not been done. I know that I have accomplished a lot and I'm pleased with the way that everything is turning out, but there's just so much that I want to do and I feel like I should have been able to accomplish more in the past weeks.

Hopefully I take full advantage of next week. I already completed my bedroom to-dos, so I should be able to catch up with my expectations.

I should also get back to work right now. Those bathroom shelves aren't going to hang themselves!

Seriously, LA?

2007-10-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

Where the hell is the sun?!
How am I supposed to photograph my apartment in the morning without SUN?

Of all the days for LA to do something nice and have a change in weather, it had to be today. Sigh.

Week 5 - Progress

2007-10-11T01:02:00.000-07:00

I know I've talked a lot about all of the progress I've been making, but I know it's no fun if you can't SEE the progress. :)

I've updated a couple previous post with photos and I've also update my Flickr as well.

And here are a couple before and after shots as PROOF of my progress!

Bookcase/Shelves - Before

Bookcase/Shelves - After

Wall Shelves - Before

Wall Shelves - After

I still have a bit of work to do to finish my room (or at least make it presentable) and THEN I get to tackle the office area. Woot!

Looking for Opinions

2007-10-10T17:25:00.000-07:00

So, I have these Ikea storage boxes (I have two and I'm probably going to pick up one more).

They're painted a bright magenta and hold various objects. The only trouble I have with them is that I can't see what's in the drawers. I know that in one of them the bottom row is all markers and the middle right drawer has scissors and tape, but if I'm looking for something else in the drawers I have to open all of them to find it. It wouldn't be a problem if they glided nicely, but they don't, so it gets to be a pain when all I want is a freakin' nail, hehe.
Anyway, I've thought about p-touching the drawers, and it would be effective but it would also take away from the aesthetic (what very little there is) of them. I could simply write on the drawers itself, but I don't want something that permanent. And that's where my labeling ideas end.

Anyone have ANY ideas on how I could go about non-permanently labeling the drawers and still have it look pretty?

UPDATE:
My friend Nicole gave me a great idea for labeling these. I'm going to try it out tonight to see how it looks. If all goes well, I'll update with photos of the finished product.

I've Done the Unthinkable.

2007-10-10T13:45:00.001-07:00

Last night I made a feeble attempt at cleaning my room. I thought all it really need was a little bit of organizing, but apparently I was wrong.

I've always been HORRIBLE at cleaning my room and keeping it organized, even as a kid. My dad was never really an enforcer of the "clean your room" rule, given the fact that he's a pack rat and has the "we might need that some day" mentality about EVERYTHING (seriously).

The idea of throwing things out was always absurd to me. I've always been possessive of "my stuff" (yes, I'm an only child) and didn't understand why someone would willing get rid of their personal possessions.
And then there was that time when I finished college and moved across the country. I left ALL of the packing to the absolute last second and obviously couldn't take everything little thing with me, so I didn't have much of a choice. I immediately switched into a grab and run mode, where I took only necessary items (I'm sure there were still a lot of things that weren't necessary) that I could fit into my suitcase and the 10-12 boxes that I had and tossed everything else (except for large items like my bed and desk and shelves, etc.). The whole time I could not believe that I was throwing away my STUFF! It was my stuff... that I bought... with my own money... and here I was, just throwing it all away. The concept of getting rid of old and unwanted things to make room for new and better things didn't exist to me at that time, probably because I was fresh out of college and couldn't ACTUALLY afford to buy new things.

Luckily, I'm a couple years out of college and have ACTUAL money now, so I've decided to adopt a new mentality: get rid of what you have but don't want/need to make room for what you don't have but want/need.
It's one thing to agree with this concept, but it can be difficult to actually follow it, unless you have a reason to.

Last weekend I was faced with the opportunity to give my new mentality a spin.
I emptied out my entire bedroom closet to fix the supports, add some organizational pieces to the shelf, install lighting, and put in a new dresser.

It only took me about an hour to clear out my closet, but it was taking much longer to put things back.
I was faced with the challenge of having less hangers (60 wooden hangers as opposed to the 90+ plastic ones that I gave to my roommate and a friend) and one less dresser drawer. I refused to clutter up my closet with things that I didn't really have room for, and trying to "make room" for things was taking more time than I actually cared to spend on things that I didn't even use or like that much.

So I did the unthinkable... I started throwing things out. I filled about two boxes with clothes (that are going to Goodwill, not the garbage) and got rid of the bottom two rows of shoes on my shoe rack (also Goodwill). I also finally sacrifice the "box o' stuff" that a friend decided to leave at my old apartment... TWO YEARS AGO. He was supposed to give me an address to ship it to so he could have it back, but that never happened. So into the trash it went!
Now my closet is much more open so I can actually USE it, instead of just shoving things in there and leaving it.

Last night, as I embarked on the room cleaning, I realized that I could make my room as open and usable as my closet if I applied this new grown-up concept to it. Instead of just putting things on my shelves and leaving them there, I need to actually USE the space that I had.
As I cleared off surfaces to dust, I became very aware of what I was taking off and very utilitarian of what I put back.

Did I really want to shove all those little half used, various scented votive candles that haven't been used in about a year back in the corner of that shelf? NO! So... well, I guess I just throw them out.

What about that ugly black mesh CD rack that stood on the shelf, holding all those CD cases that don't actually have CDs in them? Well, the CD cases can definitely go. I've lived without the majority of the cases of my CD collection since I went to college (6 years ago!), so I think I can live without these ones too (except for this one... and this one... and these ones... ok, I'll keep only 20 of them).
But I should keep the CD rack, since I could probably use it for something else. I stuck it on my shelf, took a step back and cringed at the sight of it. That thing is UGLY and has outbox written all over it! I don't want it and I don't NEED it, at least not at the moment.

Slowly more and more shelf/surface space became open and available. I realized that my bedside table now only had an alarm clock on it, so I decided to move the table lamp and a candle to it as well. The shelves on my wall suddenly had a lot of more room on them so I added a couple decorative pieces to soften them a bit.

Suddenly my room started to look the way I've always wanted it to look, just by letting go of things that were old, unused, and didn't fit.

But even after this miraculous process, I still had a lot of little things that didn't really have a place. Most of it should have its own storage container (like my fish food/supplies and sewing notions), but there's also little odds and ends, like left over screws, finishing nails, unique hardware tools that I don't like to throw away, but don't really have a place to keep them.
This is where my next goal (and Ikea) comes in.

Turning utilitarian storage into stylish decorative pieces. I'm still not 100% sure how I'm going to execute this, but there are a couple Ikea pieces that I think could do the trick. So tonight I should hopefully put the finishing touches on my new, clean bedroom. And I promise that there will be more photos to show everything off. :)

Ready... Set... Accomplish!

2007-10-09T16:15:00.000-07:00

I made a fantastic dinner last night. Grilled steak (I forget what kind I picked up, but it was DAMN good), smashed Russet potatoes (I was antsy and didn't boil the potato enough so it was more smashed than mashed, but still delicious), and sauteed asparagus.
The night before I made lemon pepper pasta with lemon garlic oil (because the cream sauce somehow magically disappeared, long story). I got a late start that night because I was trying to finish all of my closet repairs so I could restore some sort of semblance to all the rooms where my closet was displaced to (for repair purposes).

And both nights, I had a wonderful glass of wine (or two) with my meal... and while cooking. :)
And you know, while wine is oh so very very good, it's not all that great when you want to have a "productive" evening. Sunday night was almost torturous. After the late and wine-filled dinner all I wanted to do was curl up in bed, except I had to remove the contents of my closet from it first. I could have easily just pushed it all to the floor, but I didn't. I stood staring at my bed for about 10 minutes forcing myself to NOT push everything on to the floor and ACTUALLY put things away. Oh, but not just put them away... ORGANIZE THEM! OH THE PAIN!

So yeah, I don't want another Sunday night. I also don't want another last night, where as I was getting ready to start some more organizing in my room, I decided to take photos of my week 4 flowers and edit them and post them. And then an hour later when I finally retired to my room I was too sleepy to clean and de-clutter, but I couldn't go to bed because I had an urge to be creative. So I stayed up an hour longer, doodling on sticky notes, and planning how I'd like to rearrange the art on my bedroom walls. It's not a terrible thing to do, but at 11:00pm when I'm oh so sleepy, it is a bit unnecessary.

So tonight I propose something different. Instead of spending most of the night cooking a big meal, I'm going to make something quick and light (but not frozen!). And instead of having a glass of wine, I'll have... um... not wine. And instead of sitting on the couch in front of the TV and eating, I'll eat... um... well, I don't think there's really anywhere else to eat. So, I'll sit on the couch and eat, but the TV will be OFF!
That way, as soon as I'm done, I can get started on week 5 (The Office Area), which happens to be located in my bedroom. It'll be a nice transition from week 4, which admittedly isn't quite over just yet.

And if all goes as planned (it isn't really planned at all actually), my room will be presentable enough to photograph in the morning, so that I can submit it to AT's Fall Colors Contest. And hopefully win (a little bit), so I can buy that Speakeasy High Dining Table I want! :D

The End of the Halfway Mark

2007-10-08T23:01:00.000-07:00

I've done lots of little things over this past week, yet I still feel like I've not accomplished any one thing completely. Well... maybe that's because I haven't.
I've been working out of order with the cure. I planned on focusing on the living room this week, the big project being reupholstering our couch this weekend but when that project temporarily fell through (damn money) I kind of abandoned the whole living room for now and moved on to my bedroom.

Everything always leads back to the bedroom. It's the only room (aside from my bathroom) that's 100% MINE. And thus, it's easier to work with.
I made the updates to my closet that I was planning on doing, but it's still not completely finished. I feel that's mostly because it's not the "bedroom" week, even though I decided to be brazen and skip ahead. :)

So all in all, I bounced back from the non-existent week 3 and made some good progress in week 4, but it wasn't REALLY "week 4" progress... but that's ok. Better than no progress at all!

I need to hurry up finish cleaning my room early this week (so I can submit it!). I also need to re-read week 5 and actually stick to the room that's scheduled for that week. I also need to reassess my repairs list and shopping budget. I'm getting the sinking feeling that not everything may be as realistic as I thought. Oh, the joys of having a roommate. :/

I haven't uploaded any week 4 photos yet, except for this one... because I took it with the "good" camera. :)

Also Want.

2007-10-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Luckily this is much more attainable. :)