Bedroom revamp saga - Part Two-esque

Excuse Julius' inappropriate photobomb position.

Wow, I really do finish projects at a snail's pace. I mean, in February I was all "Ooh, I can barely wait to paint my room!" Aaaand then I bought the paint and did nothing.

Well, not nothing. I've made some small changes.

I've purchased new bedding, curtains, accessories, and a light fixture. And I recovered the headboard with a tablecloth which actually worked out really well. I recommend it. (Although you may want to be more careful than I was so that you don't end up with unintentional "tufting" which my loving husband refers to as buttcracks. It's not as bad as it sounds. The buttcracks are subtle and the fabric is holding up well.

Oh, you couldn't tell I went to art school? Shocker.

The light fixture (skillfully drawn in above) is sitting on our dresser waiting for us to figure out how to cover up the hole in the ceiling left behind by the boob light. This problem never occurred to me when I ordered my pretty new light. One of these days, folks!

For the bedding, I really wanted a crisp white duvet. But we have two cats (one black, one orange) so unless I want to wash my duvet cover every freaking day, it just isn't going to happen. So I picked up a plain charcoal duvet cover at Ikea that is fine. A bit shiny, but fine. I would have picked something with some cool pattern, but I accidentally fell in love with these sheets I saw at Target. Seriously, I love them. They look old timey, and the quality is amazing. They even have straps built in to keep the sheets from pulling off the corners of the mattress. Am I the only person who tosses and turns enough to do that constantly? Seriously, best sheets.

The pictures on the wall are sort of random, but they make me happy. My husband is an aspiring photographer and likes to try out arty effects when he snapping pics. (Not like instagram filters and photoshop effects, but exposures and things.) These pictures are photographs of a fireworks display we watched last Fourth of July that B took. I like them visually, but I extra like them because he took them.

Ay oh way oh, ay oh way oh... walk like an Egyptian.

A few other items I added were the canvas box on the shelf of my bedside table to store junk magazines and other items I want to keep nearby (which I added a decorative ribbon to for a bit of color), a few decorative pillows for the bed, and the cute little vases from Target. And my little wood mannequin.

Oh, and see the Captain's Mirror drawn in on the left side up above? (What, you couldn't tell that's what it was?) Well, I (like many other people) have fallen for the $1,200 specimen from BDDW. I've been on the lookout for a good knockoff. I've seen some at the low low price of $300, but I want a better price than that. And I have a plan. In fact, it is underway, so stay tuned!

Bedroom, in February

Bedroom, in April

So am I on the right track? Or does it look pretty much the same? Or, gulp, was it better before?

I linked this up on Hookin Up with the House of Hepworths linky party, Six Sisters Stuff, Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, and tatertots and jello.

Favorite salad - Avocado, Beet, Grapefruit, Arugula

I think this is supposed to be a winter salad. Am I late in recommending this? I've heard it's still wintery in some parts of this country.

In any case, whenever the produce stars align and I find that we have avocado and arugula (always) and beets and grapefruit (sometimes), I am compelled to eat this combo. Add a little olive oil and maybe some crumbly salty feta and you're golden.

Gift Ideas for your Valentine

B and I don't really do Valentine's Day.

It sounds bad, but he isn't anti-romance, just not into being romantic on demand. I get that and I'm fine with it. We make a point to celebrate a bit later when the roses and chocolates and dinner reservation frenzy has died down.

But that doesn't mean I don't think about what I'd like to give him to show him he's my favorite. So I thought I'd share some ideas for those who may have an impending holiday to celebrate with their guys. No judgement here. I'm pro-love!

"I love you more than all the stars."

 I think lots of guys (and gals) like maps, but there's something a little sweeter about this map of constellations. I recently bought one like this showing the specific constellations that are visible in October, when our anniversary is. That's romantic, right? And if the Ebay sellers are to be believed, these things are from the 19th century which feels extra fancy.

"You make my heart soar."

If your guy is a kid at heart, he will enjoy this.

"You've captured my heart." 

For an budding photographer (who doesn't want to bring his real camera everywhere), this little accessory would allow him to take some cool shots on the fly.

“Our lives were just beginning, our favorite moment was right now, our favorite songs were unwritten.” (from Love is a Mix Tape, by Rob Sheffield, which is full of other great lines.)
Sure, cassettes are impractical these days, but the experience of picking out a collection of songs for someone never goes out of style. This ingeniously packaged USB drive would be just the way to do it. (I also found a similar version here, since the first one appears to be backordered.)

"I adore your creative spirit." 

B essentially picked this out. It essentially lets you turn anything into a game controller. Pretty much the coolest thing ever if your guy likes to tinker. I kinda want it too.

"You rock."

This book of beautifully designed concert posters may appeal to your guy's eye for design as well as his inner music geek. We have two of the posters in our house and I adore them.

"Love is friendship set on fire."

Guys like to receive chocolate too! These delicious chocolates come with built-in sweet sayings so you don't even have to pick up a card.

"You are the gin to my tonic."

For B, it's all about the gin and tonic. Why not pick out a top shelf version of your guy's go to drink? I love the way this trio of gins looks, but if your man isn't much of a drinker, you could do the same with whatever he digs. Hot sauce, for example?

"I mustache you to be my valentine."

With mustache paraphernalia and old-timey shave kits being all the rage right now, I think treating your dude to a proper trim and shave would be a nice surprise. I think it would be like a manly spa day. But maybe don't say it that way when you tell him what it is. (If you're in Oakland, try this place.) photo from here

"If music be the food of love, play on."

This good looking Ipod dock amplifies using only physics. Perfect for a minimalist. Or a camper. Or a music lover. Pretty much anyone. (A similar one was featured on Young House Love recently, but it appears to be backordered.)

Bedroom revamp saga - Part One-ish

I know I mentioned last week that I'm planning to repaint the bedroom. I'm still planning to, but I cannot seem to stay focused on what I want to do with it.

Obviously, it needs some life. Artwork. More substantial curtains. Lamps with some form.

The West Elm duvet (in Slate) that I had once loved has faded to a dramatically different color than the matching pillow cases. We don't actually sleep on the pillow cases, so I wash them much less often. Is that a common problem? Should I be washing them anyway to be consistent?

And then there's the headboard.

Ugh.

It was a nice DIY project B and I did a couple years ago using the remains of an old Ikea headboard. We used a natural hemp fabric that lasted about a day before our cats started using it as a scaling wall/scratching post. Not to say the cats won't do it again, but it wasn't an appropriate fabric choice for upholstery anyway. B and I still like the general color of it, so it won't look that different when we redo it. Anyway, it should be a quick fix.

Of course, Julius feels differently about it.

Thanks for your design perspective, dude.

On the floor is a rug that I still like, but is clearly a bit small, even for a room that is obviously quite small. If I find something amazing to replace it, it might find a new home. But for now, it stays.

What I failed to capture in these photos, but I'm sure you're familiar with, is the boob light on the ceiling.

The replacement I want for it is one of the only choices for the room I made right away.

It is the Dustin Dodecahedron Pendant by Ralph Lauren. And it's wayyy out of my price range. So, of course I thought oh, we could totally make that!

 B and I picked up a bunch of 3/4" square dowels at Home Depot for next to nothing.

 

I was congratulating us for recreating the light before we'd even considered how it was going to fit together. 

I mean, in my mind, I thought you'd cut each end at 108° to make a bunch of pentagons and then you'd stick them all together. Easy peasy. (sidenote: I totally had to google "how to make a degree symbol" just now.)

And maybe that would have possibly worked. But we'll never know because as I was checking to see if anyone else had attempted to make one, I found this. Aaaand, once I visited View Along the Way to read the tutorial, I knew I was in way over my head. 

The silver lining? Kelly and her math-tastic husband are selling their homemade versions of this very light for a fraction of the price!

If I had not already placed my own order, I would not be sharing this awesomeness with you now. 

What do you think? Are you going to get one too? Are you completely stunned by the geometric complexity involved?

A warm winter weekend

It was nice out this weekend in the Bay Area. I'm sure people from places with actual weather are rolling their eyes, but man, its had been chilly lately so the sunshine made the outdoors seem appealing instead of punishing.

B and I enjoyed a short bike ride on the Bay Trail. It's a funny trail because it starts and stops a hundred times making you guess which way to go to reach the next stretch. But it essentially allows for a bike ride around the entire San Francisco Bay, if you're so inclined. Of course, that's more than a leisurely afternoon ride, but it sure would be fun. We only rode through the Oakland estuary span.

I'd love to add the whole ride to my bucket list or life list or whatever we're calling it these days. It would be an amazing way to experience a place I've known all my life. All 330 miles (and 9 bridges!) of it.


In other news, I have come to the conclusion that I must repaint our bedroom.

No joke, I am spending time and energy (and money) to repaint the room a veeery slightly different color. What once felt like a soothing silver tone now looks like a dingy baby blue. It doesn't help that all the trim in our house is an antique white that is mostly tolerable except in the bedroom where it appears to be the color of band-aids.

So we're going from Behr's Classic Silver to Ashes (the big swatch on the left). Pardon my blurry photo, but the color difference is pretty accurate. Ashes is more greige. I did consider Medium Gray by Ace (third from bottom on right) also.

I'm sure the before and after shots will knock your socks off. Ha.

If I was the type of person who knew how to use hashtags, I think there would be some #firstworldproblems mention here.

A look back at 2012

I like the idea of reflecting back on all the fun things that happened last year. I suppose most folks would be highlighting posts they shared throughout the year. Of course my blog is still young, so there isn't much reflecting to do yet. And this also will probably not entertain anyone but me.

But I won't let that stop me.

Here's what I did in 2012.

I'm sure we did something interesting in January. I couldn't find any photos from January and can't seem to recall any awesomeness. All I could dig up on Facebook is that B and I got rid of a ton of things on Craigslist, Ebay, and Freecycle. I think we began digitizing the thousands of CD's we have. We're far from finished. We both worked at record stores back when such things existed and must have kept every crappy album we ever bought or snagged a promotional copy of. And I now resent our teenage selves for hoarding music.

Moving right along.

In February, we visited New Orleans. I'd been once before and was excited to experience it with B.

 
We spent our days exploring without much planning. It's our favorite way to see new places.

In March...ok, I don't remember March. I'm sure it was splendid. Apparently, in March we ate quiche, because that was all I could find a picture of (I'll spare you that one). I do actually recall it being delicious and that it was roughly based on this recipe.

In April, one of my favorite ladies had a great low key bachelorette weekend which involved great food and wine and hanging out in Napa, as well as a wedding-invitation-assembly line. The invitations were based on the flora and fauna of St. Helena and were maybe the most exciting thing any guest had ever received in the mail. I hope I'll be able to share them here soon.

In May, our cat Rasputin attempted to recycle his little brother, Julius. (I'm sure other things happened then too, but I failed to document them.)

In June, my mom came to visit and we drove down to Sunset Magazine's Celebration Weekend. We had fun checking out some of the decor ideas and eating avocado honey ice cream from here.

The month was capped off with the most beautiful Napa Valley wedding of my previously mentioned friend. She had really thought of every detail and it felt very much an extension of her and her groom. 

In July, we spent the 4th doing the most patriotic thing we could think of and went to a baseball game.

We did the second most patriotic thing afterwards -- drank disgusting red white and blue shots with my college aged brother.

In August, our neighborhood participated in National Night Out. I had fun, but most of all I loved the idea of it. It was the type of thing I had imagined we would do once we owned a home.

Then we jetted out to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, a region that was new to us, for a friend's wedding. It was goregous up there. Having lived quite close to the Pacific Ocean all of my life, it was hard to wrap my head around the idea that Lake Michigan was actually a lake. It seemed endless and ocean-like.

 

Our visit was short, since we were headed down to Chicago. Neither B or I had ever spent much time there outside of the airport, so it was fun to go exploring.

In September, we went camping in Big Sur with friends.

In October, we celebrated our anniversary at Chez Panisse.

We also celebrated Oktoberfest and half a dozen birthdays of friends and family. October is a big month 'round here.

In November, we flew south to check out Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA.

We ended with a visit to my folks in Atlanta. While we were there, we visited Stone Mountain and Senoia, the little town where they film Walking Dead. Incidentally, it was also the home of the Southern Living Idea Home, so we toured that too.

And then it was December. I participated in my first blog challenges, which was really fun. We got in some time with lots of family and friends we hadn't seen in a while. It was a great way to end the year. As Julius reminded us, hanging out with those you love is the real gift. Or something.

If you made it this far, thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year

2012 was a good year. I hope it was for you too. The world didn't end and that's always a positive thing, right?

Among other things, I had fun starting this blog. Thank you so much if you'd stopped in to read it. It's still really novel and exciting to know folks checking it out.

Yesterday, my husband and I went for a hike with friends along the coast. It was a nice way to start the year off and we vowed to do it more often. B (my husband) and I thought once a month would be a good start. We live in Northern California and don't taken enough advantage of  the beautiful landscape that is so close by.

Without making a formal New Year's resolution, I would say this encompasses what I'd like to do more of this year. More exercise, more connecting with friends, more adventuring.