play without repercussion..

I found this article, from Cup of Jo's post on Friday, to be so interesting. Changing little things around the house are my meaningless, my time to play without consequence, my happiness.  Painting these two small canvases, framing and then hanging, are my time to let life be meaningless.

"Finding the opportunity to do something meaningless allows us to play, to take risk and fail without some repercussion that may kill us in the end."

"The power of the meaningless is found in exploring something you’re interested in, something you like, something that excites you, but without the pressure of having to make that thing your career or become a master of it or get approval."

"These thinkers and doers highlight the underlying power of meaningless activity: having faith that when you enjoy yourself, when you do things that move you, something opens inside. There is peace in that place. There is happiness. There is deep satisfaction."

 "It’s not how we’re raised, but doing things because they excite you is as powerful as doing things because they pay the rent."

"There is a beautiful thing that happens when, for a moment, we let life be meaningless and find the meaning therein."

salvation army finds.

Next to the new office lies a salvation army. I've never seen one like it. The furniture selection is out of this world - though I haven't purchased anything big from this location yet. There is a room in the back that is dedicated to home goods. It has a country store feel which is fun. Not your average thrift store people. A couple great finds from your typical shopping trip.

I'm trying to fill a house these days!

On one particular trip I came home with some shelf decor.

One duck.

A gorgeous silver tray. The holes in the sides did it for me. They're like little Moroccan windows... from a mosque in Spain... ah, Spain..

One pigeon.

one delightful sea-foam bowl.

I cannot remember exacts, but I'm pretty sure I spent less than 5 or 6 dollars for the whole thang.

After taking a can of white spray paint to a few objects - they came to life! I read some where that white spray paint is a designer's equivalent to botox and it couldn't be more true.

Here the salvation army finds are in there natural habitats.

Silver tray. Now on our coffee table to spruce up the ol remote holder.

close up.

We somehow temporarily inherited these quaint shelves in our kitchen and dining room. The character in this house makes me so happy. I'll post some better photos once I have them of our charming built-ins.

The duck. With a fresh coat of glossy white.

Next project for kitchen. Make cafe curtains. I have stumbled into the world of Iron-on Hem Tape. HELLLOOO. Thank you for thinking of us completely non-domestic sewing ladies. Heaven sent. Another post dedicated to this lata.

Then we have the pigeon. (all shelves in kitchen were outfitted with plants and pots from Ikea as well - they just fit so perfectly in our shelf space and look clean and easy - my kinda style!)

We seem to have acquired a safari of animals in our kitchen. Only explanation - Young House Love is totally and completely rubbing off on me. I'm starting to feel brainwashed. In a good way.

Last Salvation Army find. A family of elephants. They sit on my top shelf to oversee all dish washing now, but later, wouldn't they be cute in a nursery?? yea, ok, i'll stop. 3 more years..

I'm am 100% endorsing the Salvation Army on Inwood - go check it out Dallasans... Dallans... Dallasites?? You won't be disappointed!

happy RW day!

I got up at 3 a.m. this morning to celebrate some long time friends' holy matrimony. They have been very dear to my heart for years now, so it's the least I could do. What I thought was pretty comical - Blake was still up studying for his test when my Royal Wedding alarm sounded. So we got to see each other in the mid morning hours - I kinda liked it.

I've never seen such a gorgeous bridal gown. I'm dying over here.

All I can think about is.... Will they have little chapstick tubes for their guests with pictures of the royal couple on them?

douuuuubt it. One up Baker-Johnson wedding! :)

watering can..

look at that little guy! I bought him for the office this spring for watering our new plants. It is for kids, but I couldn't pass it up.. It makes me much happier than the plain-jane plastic ones. He sits on my desk to also serve as decoration. Every time I turn around.. there he is, smiling at me. how cute. now off to my gardening...

tlc does it again!

I envy these ladies. I wish I were more coupon-savvy. Needless to say, I'm yet again addicted to TLC. Hopefully this one will be a little less frightening then Sister Wives. Oh, those polygamists..

night stands..

You'll remember I found this at Canton and made it into my night stand - advice from mom, It could be a dresser in your nursery! - alright :)

The dilemma - how will I ever find something to match?? Then came an idea, one so ahead of it's time... just paint it! why does paint make everything look better? newer? fresher?

So here is a little Before and After fun!

Before. Blake's old college nightstand.

I took the drawer of my new Canton dresser to Home Depot - after a very quick interaction with the paint guy (he did NOT want to be there and had no interest in any of my inquisitive questions.. oh well..) and a "beep beep" under their fancy paint computer, I went home with a pint of the same yellow that was used on my night stand!

During. A little DIY in Mullin.

sanding and painting

And, an After!

Now we have coordinating night stands in a delightful throw back yellow that makes our master one stride closer to the finish line! Let's take a closer look at those knobs - my favorite part.

the Canton dresser. I don't know if they're new or were original with the piece, but I drool over them, kinda what sold me on it..

Blake's old-new night stand with repurposed Anthropologie knobs!

We upgraded the knobs on the television stand to darling little turtles - so we had these left over! They work for me... same color - same vintage feel and they both have a round-ish shape.


Overall, I love our new night stands and I smile each time I pass them on the way to the bathroom. What could be happier than yellow?

wednesday..

the EPI app

For all those aspiring great wives.. specifically the great wives that are learning how to love cooking! I love this i-phone app! It's the Epicurious app, it's free and it's just fun to mess with! You can search through tons of recipes - narrow down by type of food - your main ingredient - your style - your difficulty and other such categories.. then..

best of all..

it will compile a grocery list for you! yea baby!

we're having a little family dinner with all our friends on Thursday and tonight I'm braving Tom Thumb.. This meal is going to be crazy - I hope I'm not being too adventurous.. It may slim down when I hit the store - I love cooking, but hate grocery shopping..

Jalapeno and goat cheese hush puppies

Pork Chops with cranberry, port and rosemary sauce

sweet potato fries

and I still need a veg...

I'll try to put up pictures of my delicious meal/disaster.. and I can finally wear my Anthro apron - woo!

easy easter embellishment..

ok wow.. just got lost in thesaurus.com for a little too long looking for a synonym for decoration that starts with "e" - I've settled on embellishment, it made the most sense..

kind of an unspoken goal I made for myself for married life and future family life - I want to decorate for seasons and holidays. and since I can't afford a decadent pottery barn spread financially or spatially, I created this..



I invested in two adorable apothecary jars that I, in hopes, will use for every season - just add seasonal candy and shazam (shazam?) - it's holiday decor! Change the ribbon and candy and it instantly brings in the new holiday.. I like my friend and fellow blogger Lauren's use of pinecones here for the winter season/Christmas! maybe those will be incorporated with my jars later this year.. and when I get bored of this - the apothecary jars will look fabulous in a bathroom!

in other news - I think we found night stands for the bedroom - FINALLY! here's Pier One's online picture. I can't wait to get them ordered and get them in that room!

my mom's already voiced her concern about the two-toned - which honestly I like - but, if we do ever get tired of it or the color scheme of our bedroom changes in the future we'll just paint them - this piece has great bones and is the perfect height and width for us.. yay!

my flashcard project..

so, I was a little ambitious last night.. but, here are the promised pics of my flashcard project:

Again - the before:

the mess-o-cards (yes - we bought the "dr" one, we couldn't resist - it hasn't found a home yet, maybe one day it can go next to the med school diploma - do you get diploma's after med school??)

now - the after:

Kota's little haven - these weren't in the before, I accidentally framed these before I took the before shot. But, they say "bone" and "pet" and "dog" and a cute little cursive "bark" framed in cheap Target frames - dark brown to match our woods and a white - cause it was fun and distressed. Kota should have a stylish bedroom/lounge too right? (It took about 10 attempts to get her looking halfway decent - we have mulitple pictures of her ears back with her awkward hunch back - head down - eyes peeping up at the camera... she's SO awkward)

then - the Kitchen:

I just have them up with push-pins right now, I kind of liked the ease of the look, but it feels like college now to me - so the search for a hanging idea continues.. I think I may try to hand them somehow from a clothsline.. maybe? I feel like I've seen that before.. if all else fails - they will get framed.. I just don't wanna settle on that yet!

feb. 15th

Tiff's Treats delivered to office (complete with little bottles of milk)

filled with warm chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles and brownies

plus a darling little balloon

equals a beautiful and love-filled first Valentine's day as an old married couple, I love February 15th :)

study nights..

tomorrow is test day which means tonight - I sit on the brand-spankin new couch and watch my recorded Vamp Diaries and Selling New York while Blake studies into the wee hours over there in his office. Tonight, to make the evening just a tad sweeter I blended up a delicious treat... MILKSHAKES! gosh I love wedding presents..

mine, vanilla with chocolate chip cookies and m&ms and Blake's, chocolate with orange.. bleh.. his taste in all foods is just a little off.. but he's just so dang cute!

Last night, and most nights, Blake get's a study partner..

DAKOTA!

I like that she keeps him company... we're thinking about getting her a bed in the corner for the long nights..