I Know Where You Sleep At Night

Or, rather, now you know where I sleep.

Since I'd had the same comforter set since moving to D.C., five and a half years ago, I thought a new duvet and pillows warranted a blog post. Wrong? Oh well, here it is.

The duvet cover, duvet, plus new sheets are from Target. They were on sale last month and after checking them out in person at the store, I ordered them online. They're all from the Threshold line, as is my newish mattress pad that was a Christmas gift.

The duvet cover had to be mine as soon as I saw it. It reminded me so much of an Anthropologie one I loved but didn't want to splurge on. I even contemplated making my own, but wasn't ready to make the commitment. Enter Target.

I haven't had a duvet since my time in London, so I'm still getting used to it. I just toss and turn so much, I have to shake it down every night to keep it straight. Even though it came with corner ties. There's also the fact that I fought to put the duvet in the cover to begin with; I got lost inside 2.5 times. That might be something I should keep to myself.

I also added four new pillows, the two damask-esque ones from Etsy, the center blue one on clearance from Target, and the impossibly tiny monogrammed one from Etsy. Even though I measured before I ordered, 8x8 really is quite small. But it's cute and has a monogram so it's still kind of perfect.

I swear I've even been sleeping moderately better since getting new linens. I mean, I still don't sleep straight through the night and I still never want to get up in the morning, but it feels different.

Nothing vs. Anything

I was in a seriously crummy mood for no discernible reason on Thursday. As in, I wanted to murder everyone. And not for very good reasons so it wouldn't have even been justifiable homicide.

I knew I needed to change my attitude so about halfway through the day I stopped working for a about a half hour and tried to just be happy. I wrote personal emails, chatted with a few friends, and read some blogs. I focused on things that make me happy and forgot about all the other crap for a little while.

Part of this happy-making was deciding on a craft to do when I got home as the promise and potential of a creative endeavor always makes me smile. And it did. So I printed off a words to use as a template, picked up some poster board on the way home, set up a light table using my dining room table, gathered some markers, and got to work.

This was my inspiration and this is my creation:

As you can imagine, no, I regret nothing about this mood-enhancing endeavor. (Except for maybe the distracting reflection of moi. And also maybe the too much white space between lines.)

Oh, except, I may regret putting nien instead of rien. Brandie pointed out this weekend that she thought "nein" was German, and after I thought about it, I realized how similar my r's and n's look when I write them. So I consulted the original source and, yep, it should be rien.

So after testing some white paints and settling on a white nail polish, here it is. No, I don't regret anything.

Deck the Halls

Kelly's Korner Christmas Tour of Homes

I've been in a very festive mood this year and am really pleased with my apartment decor. Even though it looks like a little bit like Christmas exploded. I don't care. It makes me happy.

This is the wreath on our front door. I found the form at
my thrift store for $1, added some small ornaments from Target,
and then made a bow with the same ribbon I used on my tree.

Table on the entry way with a charger-turned-wall hanging,
advent calendar, roomie's beaded tree, and a catch-all tray.

A few of my Christmas hand towels, courtesy of Mom.

Decorated bookshelves. A bit busy, but happy. Ornaments in jars,
snowmen display, and a bunch of other random bits.

Garland over hall leading to bedrooms.
There's another garland leading into living room.

My nativities. The first one I've had for several years now.
The second one I got this year from Target, they were
ornaments that I cut the hooks off of.

New artwork I painted last week. Normally my
D.C. map print hangs here. I was tired of looking at it 
and randomly decided one day last week I just needed to
make something to replace it. I love this quote and it never
fails to make me smile.

Ornaments in jars and some garland on the radiator and
my table centerpiece. I know the centerpiece is kind of a
hot mess of branches, I'm just not great at doing that.

My tree! It just makes me the most happy out of
everything. I added the vertical ribbon this year since I'm
hopeless at garland, and I think it really ties it together.

What I Did Today

Don't judge me too harshly. I'm only in D.C. for about 3 weeks after Thanksgiving and have lots of Christmas cheer to cram in. So because I had some downtime today, I decided to put up the tree.

And also because I made these and wanted to hang them:

And also because I didn't want my remodeled advent calendar to be lonely. Four years after I bought the tacky-colored-super-on-clearance Target calendar, I finally spray painted and decorated it so it's more me. (Before, during, after)

Of course my punishment for decorating so early is that I have to stare at, but not use, the calendar for another two weeks. Which I probably deserve.

Last Week

I feel so behind on blogging my life. And you know my belief: If I didn't blog it, it didn't happen. But until work calms down and stops sapping all my energy, creative and otherwise, the blog will suffer. And now for some really random tidbits from the last week.

The roommate brought me this sticker from her recent trip home. It's now hanging in my office.

 
The roommate also left me this note. If I want to be sure to take something in the morning, I'll leave a note on the door. A few weeks ago after doing so, I dreamed that K left a note for herself that said "take overalls." I told her this hilarious dream because, no offense to anyone, but we just aren't overalls-type of ladies. This note was a good start to the day.

My PM was out for a week so I was left to handle a lot of project work on my own. As a thank you, she brought me this huge block of chocolate and peanut butter fudge. It's amazing.

My cousin's wedding is next weekend and I don't really have a good non-black dress. And as much as I loved this one, with the tightness, shortness, and low backness, it's hardly wedding appropriate. I did, however, manage to score a $125 Banana Republic dress for $23 at a consignment store later in the week. (That had some weird twisty fabric bits going on that three of my co-workers were able to fix for me while I was on a call.)

The most bittersweet part of the week was saying goodbye to my friend and co-worker, Gloria. I was in charge of the bon voyage party which meant balloons, cupcakes, stripes, champagne, and bright colors.
I miss her tons already but know she's in for quite an adventure.

Finally, it's no secret that I'm quite the grammar nazi. (Though you can find any number of errors in any of my posts because sometimes I just don't care.) But as punishment, I'm sure, for all the times I correct them, my family loves to comment on any errors they find.

Daddy left me a comment last week about a mistake in this post, and then followed up in an email: I left a comment on the last log you wrote. Don't worry, Daddy, I'll be more careful on the next log I write.

Things I Learned This Weekend

(It's too late for this but it was such an out-of-the-ordinary weekend, for so many reasons, I can't not write about it. Even if it's longer and vaguer than usual.)

To stop. Drinking. Sangria.
I should count how many times I've "learned" this. (And should also probably note I had it again Sunday.)

There are not enough words for how great it is to have the company of a good friend after a bad night.
Have I mentioned how awesome my friends are? Oh, I have? And I should shut up about it? Yeah, not going to happen.

And a nice stranger lady in the ladies room is really great, too.
Long story, not that interesting, but if you work in the same place for 4.5 years and frequent the same places, people remember you. And care.

Sometimes it's worth it to spring for the long cab ride.
No explanation needed.

Especially when you arrive at a restaurant minutes before a crazy storm hits.
For real.

That a "derecho" is a crazy, scary, out-of-nowhere storm I hope to never experience again. 
I'd rather have a hurricane any day. (No jinx.)

Tree on car at end of my street.

Sometimes it's also worth it to spring for a cab ride when the power at the metro station is out and there are port-a-potties in the middle of the road.
Also no explanation needed.

Blessed: Living in a building with power when all the buildings around you are without.
And there are power lines tangled in the tree in front of your building. But still there was power. BLESSED!

Power lines tangled in tree.

Spending a Saturday at the pool alone is fine, but spending it with a friend is even more fine. 
As is eating veggies and chatting in the AC afterward.

These are from my book club dinner
I made last week, but I wanted to share.
Aren't they pretty?

Forget running errands, even walking errands in 100 degree heat is too much.
Especially if your usual, shaded route is closed due to damage.

Favorite route: closed

My tendency to get ready too early comes in handy when a fire alarm forces you out of your building.
Random fire alarm at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Grr...

Fire trucks!

Channing Tatum is an amazing dancer. And as odd as it was, I'm grateful for two wonderful girlfriends to have seen "Magic Mike" with.

The U.S.A. women's (and probably men's) gymnastics team is going to be amazing.
And my new favorite is Gabby Douglas. But I still love Nastia and will remember her for all her previous accomplishments, not that last stumble.

Creepy crawlies

Warning: I'm tired and cranky and my head hurts and this post is lame and has lots of commas. But I'm writing it anyway.

Our apartment complex has had an infestation of German cockroaches. Luckily, these aren't what you think of when you hear the word "roach;" they're more like small moths. But they are bugs and the complex scheduled exterminators. To prepare, we had to remove everything from our kitchen and bathrooms and wipe out all cabinets. One would think that two young women who have amassed two dozen moves between them in the 10 years since leaving for college would be minimalists. More nomads than hoarders. Well...

Exhibit A:

Everything from my bathroom, in the shower stall, covered with a sheet. Which is what they told us to do.

And which is all still in my shower stall, covered with a sheet, at 10 p.m., as I put off taking a shower because I don't want to deal with it.

Exhibit B:

Everything in our kitchen moved to the living room.

Everything in our kitchen moved to the living room and covered with sheets. 

It kind of reminds me of when my mom bakes bread each year and covers the rolls with sheets. Except our apartment smells like bug spray, not bread, and when we take the sheets off, it's just going to be all our stuff, out of place.


For reference, this is our kitchen, which holds a lot more than we realized, apparently.

To be fair to my roommate, the majority of this junk is mine, and if anyone would qualify as a hoarder, it would be me. But if anything is driving me to be more of a nomad minimalist, it's definitely the thought of having to put all this stuff away. I don't like being a grown up.

Halfway

I probably won't post pictures everytime I buy new flowers for my apartment. Or I might, who knows. But these stand out because I haven't been to the grocery store in so long, but went to Whole Foods on Saturday just to buy flowers. Specifically, 30 Virginia* tulips for $18.

My refrigerator may only contain some hummus, wrinkled tomatoes, and 25 condiment bottles,** but damn if my apartment isn't full of fresh spring cheer.


*Whole Foods was very proud of the fact that the tulips were from some farm in Virginia, "just 40 miles outside of Washington."
**Not entirely true. I have more than hummus and old tomatoes. But I really do have at least 25 different condiments.

Slow down, 2012

I’m a bad blogger. But I’m an excellent iPhone picture taker. (Probably due in large part to upgrading my phone last month.) So what better way to ease back into blogging then with some of the most random and mundane photos of my life from the past month. And maybe some actual words of my own, too.

I’ve been a New York Giants fan since Eli joined the team and was very excited for the Super Bowl this year. I made myself – and also shared with the roommate – mini pigs in a blanket, spinach dip, and a cheesy bean dip for the occasion.

I believe in celebrating my birthday the whole month. So on the last day of January, on a freakishly warm winter day, I treated myself to froyo and a trip to Anthropologie. (Where I only spent $5 on these two bowls.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m really bad at re-decorating a space once it’s decorated. I get it set a certain way and could leave it for years. (Were I actually ever to stay in a place for years, that is.) But I decided to get crazy and make a few small changes, like reorganizing my bathroom counter and adding a small rug from Pier 1 that so perfectly matches my room.(The bowls were purchased at the Anthro that opened 2 blocks from my office that I’ve only been to once and only spent $10 at. I’ll take my medal for self-control now, please.)

The first week of February marked the 4 year anniversary of being at my job. One of my co-worker’s started the same time as me and bought us each a mini bottle of champagne to celebrate. I was on a call when she brought it and I had to stare at it for a half hour before I could partake. Maddening. We got a drink together after work too and cheersed to the 4 years.

Back to re-decorating, I finally hung one of my Christmas gifts from the roomie: A wordle using the lyrics of the “Alma Mater.” I thought it only right to hang it above the Top of the Hill menu and across from the 2005 national championship newspaper.

Also on the re-decorating list, replacing the photos in two frames that have hung in every bathroom I’ve had since I was 22. (The frames and photos were a 22nd birthday gift from my friend, Ashley.) (I don’t know why I’ve always hung them in a bathroom, that’s just where they go.) But I decided to replace the photos from our Europe trip with two of my photos of D.C.: A column from the Lincoln Memorial and a window from the National Cathedral. (The latter is a bit too dark, though.)

For President’s Day weekend my sister came up to D.C. We’ve never hung out in the city just the two of us and it was really nice to have some one-on-one time. On Friday we had dinner, talked, shopped, and saw “The Vow.” On Saturday we went to Eastern Market, the Portrait Gallery, and then Michael’s. We bought a kit to make our own bath salts, which we did while recovering from our busy day.

While at the Portrait Gallery, we came across Katharine Hepburn’s Oscars. This is me doing a terrible Vanna White impression. 

The past month or so has just been very up and down, good and bad, calm and crazy, chaotic and twirly. Thus I present my purchases on two different Friday nights, about two weeks apart. First, after a particularly bad week, I had to pick something up at CVS and ended up picking up the following, too. Can we say, pathetic? (But exactly what I needed.)

Last Friday was much calmer and after finishing work a bit early I decided to spend some Target gift cards. I bought some wonderfully sparkly shoes and finally got my hands on a Jason Wu piece.

For Fat Tuesday I went with a friend to gab a drink and then she found us a cute Cajun place for dinner and beignets. It also marked my last soft drink for 40 days as I’ve given them and pizza up for Lent.

Finally, even though January was my birthday month, one of my friends is helping me prolong my celebration by giving me a belated gift last week. Both the gift and card are just so perfectly me – according to her, not just me – and I can’t help but smile when looking at them.

And that’s the past month or so. Where I apparently just bought a lot of random things and took a lot of weird pictures. Though it really only covers a fraction of my life. There was dinner and manicures with a friend on Valentine’s Day, book club, breakfast and mimosas at a screening of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” with some girlfriends, award show watching with the roommate, outlet shopping with a friend, basketball games, basketball games, basketball games, drinks with friends, drinks with coworkers, conference calls and deadlines, a visit from a college friend, and a non-terrible haircut. Did I forget anything? Probably so.