Living: Morning Excitement

Hello, my dear readers! There was lots of excitement in my household this morning.

Some of the excitement was due to this little guy*. He hopped onto our balcony and helped himself to an open bag of birdseed. This, of course, caused my cats to go BERSERK! There was tail switching, growling and jumping to and fro which roughly translates to "OMG squirrel! Can I eat it? Can I, can I can? Please mom? Can I eat it?" The cats stayed inside and eventually the squirrel went on its way.

On a side note, doesn't he look quite dapper standing up like that?**


As exciting as the squirrel was, my husband and I were all abuzz for a very different reason. We bought a house! Last night we signed the papers to get it under contract and we will close in a month. We are first-time home buyers and we just made it under the wire for the $8,000 tax credit (thanks Obama!). In case any of you noticed my recent posts have been more fluff than substance (ooh, look shiny objects from Etsy!) it is because we have spent a lot of our recent free time going to showings and dealing with realtors, sellers, lenders, etc which doesn't leave much time for crafting and DIY-ing. Luckily for you guys, a new home means new projects to whip up and share with you guys. I can't wait for you to see it!

In the mean time, I grabbed these 2 photos from the listing site to give you a sneak peek. The image quality is terrible, but I promise to get better shots for you guys as soon as we sign on the dotted line.

view from the street

view of the kitchen and dining area from the living room

I think our little house is just so cute! For those of you keeping track, it's the very same house that had us over the moon when we first started looking. We saw plenty of houses to be prudent, but when you know, you just know. It's small enough to be a starter house, but it has enough 'niceness' to make 2 architects happy. It has a decent sized yard and a wired shed in the backyard. My favorite feature is the hardwoods in all the public areas. I'm sure all you pet owners know how hard it is to keep carpet clean with fur everywhere!

That's all for now!

*Please excuse the image quality. Early morning + fast moving animals + window screen = worst photo ever.

**Of course I didn't photoshop that. He made a quick costume change.

Coveting: Gray Platforms

clockwise, from top left: Pink Duchess, Rock & Republic, Stuart Weitzman, Promiscuous, Calvin Klein, 80%20, Stuart Weitzman, Jessica Simpson

Decorating: Office Space

No, this post has nothing to do with staplers or TPS reports. At work I'm never sure how to refer to my desk area. I don't have my own office; my desk isn't in the middle of an open room (think Mad Men ); and we also don't use cubicles. Work space? Niche? Officette?

I digress... The actual purpose of this post is to:

1) Share a glimpse of my work life with my readers and

2) Illustrate the point that art and decor can come from anywhere or anything.

First let me say I love my office building. I am fortunate to work downtown, so I am able to walk to restaurants, shops and services on my lunch hour or after work. My office is located in an old building* and the original character is evident in every space.

our office, as seen from our front door

I have a large tackboard at my desk and I have pinned up items I have collected over time. A blank wall is not a pleasant environment for me so I like to see photos and images that inspire me or bring me joy. I have some of my own photos, postcards from local events, art** and even retail packaging. My motto is: if I enjoy looking at it, then it goes on the board.

One of my favorite details is my collection of lapel pins. I am not awake enough in the morning to even think about lapel pins - seriously I am doing good to make it out the door with make-up on - but I don't like wasting things, so I had no idea what to do with them. Then one day I realized lapel pins look and act a lot like thumb tacks, so here we are. I could have used them as tacks, but I already had a good thing going with my map tacks so I grouped them together as a feature.

Next up is the shelf above my computer. It's bright and cheery and the red + aqua color scheme ties in to the typewriter photo on the tack board. The red bucket was part of a gift basket but I kept it to store lotion, cough drops and other small items I need close at hand. My business card holder is a vintage Coca-Cola bottle opener that I found at the flea market. I love my little blue bird because my best friend bought one just like it and when I see it I think of her.

So, dear readers, do you have any favorite decor pieces that were intended to be something else? Do you have any great upcycling tips? Do tell!

*I have no idea what the building used to be. We are near the warehouse district, so I would guess the building was used to store stuff at some point in its history.

**If you have never seen the Free Art Project, go now. Every month artists upload digital scans of their original work available for free download. There's no fee, no membership, just free art! The user gets free wall candy and the artist gets their name and their work in circulation. It's win-win.

Drinking: Hot Tea

What's better than hot tea on a rainy, fall afternoon?

Hot tea, made by a dear friend. Thanks, Cydney!

Updating: Fall Etsy Sale

In celebration of my upcoming birthday all of my button rings are 50% off! Normally priced at $6 you can now get one for $3. And don't forget to take advantage of group shipping!

Drinking: The Flying Saucer

I LOVE my boss.* Why? Because he buys me beer. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY! Working downtown has many advantages, one of which is being across the street from a bar. And not just any bar. A bar with over 300 choices on the beer list. Yes you heard that right: 300 beers. I, of course, am talking about The Flying Saucer. If you're ever in Raleigh, you should stop by and have a cold one.

Since the weather was nice today, my boss decided we had better things to do than be cooped up in an office. We headed next door, camped out on the patio for a few hours and drank our lunch. To make good use of the massive beer list we ordered 3 flights of beer. A flight is 5 oz each of 5 different beers, the most awesome tasting menu ever put on a table.



We started with a flight of beers from the United Kingdom: 2 stouts and 3 ales. My favorite here was Smithwick's Irish Ale.


Next we created our own flight of Pumpkin and Oktoberfest selections in honor of the season. The best of this bunch was the Cottonwood Pumpkin Ale - very sweet and spicy, a valid substitute for pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving.

Last we created a flight of 5 hefe-weisens, because, well, my boss loves hefe-weisen. I had never tried this type of beer before, but I was a quick convert. They were all teriffic, but my favorite was Lost Coast Great White.

I love ordering flights because it's a great way for an uneducated beer drinker, like myself, to learn the subtleties and nuances of international flavors. I highly recommend it.

Lastly, I couldn't resist taking a quick shot of my empty glass. Is it wrong that I think beer foam residue can be beautiful?

*No not in that way. He's nice, but he's my boss. Get your head out of the gutter.

Living: Squealing with Delight

Dear readers, I have wonderful news to share with you! This week I was featured on two of my favorite blogs!

Whitney, of Darling Dexter, posted my upcycled T-Straps on Wednesday and Melissa, of the lil bee, featured me today as part of her 'My Five Things' series.

I have thoroughly enjoyed blogging, if only as a creative outlet for myself. Over the past few months I have slowly begun to grow a readership. Readers, you have no idea how excited I get when I see a comment in my inbox! And now to have other bloggers recognize me as well, I can't even begin to express the joy. The blogging world is truly a community and I am thrilled and honored to even be a teensy piece of that.

Please stop by Darling Dexter and the lil bee to see what these lovely ladies have in store for you. Trust me, you won't be disappointed!