Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Bedroom Revisited...

So last week I shared my goal of creating a gray and purple themed bedroom and how to do this I need to have a gray duvet and pillows, etc. You don't need me to repeat it, you all read it :)

Well I showed this post to Tallman, and he saw my little drawing of the bedroom and said that I didn't have any perspective in my drawing. (Well the first thing he said was "Why is it pink?" But ya know paint has what colors it has and this was what it called lavender.)

So he proceeded to do his own rendition of our bedroom in paint. And folks, he did it better. Yes, my accomplishes my desired goal of showing what colors I want where, but his drawing CLEARLY accomplishes his desired goal of showing me up and proving he is a better/more skilled artist than me.
So without further ado, I'll show you his version of the bedroom....
AMAZING! He did the end tables, the lamps (what I want for lamps, not what we have) and a very very good rendition of the artwork on his wall. May I say that I am impressed!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Highlighter Pencils revisited

As Al mentioned in the comments of my previous post...

HIGHLIGHTER PENCILS ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!
From pinterest
I bought a bunch of yellow colored pencils at the art store the other day and I've been using them at work.. man do I love them. Get some. Try it. Now!
They don't bleed through the paper, they don't run out of ink after one line of highlighting, they aren't wet and make your paper crinkle, the yellow pencils showed up great and I could underline, bold highlight or light highlight. Man I am so glad I tried this!

Friday, January 27, 2012

I wish I'd woken up here:

I wish I'd woken up here:
Petra Segreta Resort and Spa Sardinia Italy
Really, I'd be ok with this:
Petra Segreta Resort and Spa
I can almost feel the warm breeze on my face as I step out onto my private patio:
Petra Segreta Resort and Spa from Mr. and Mrs. Smith.com
Happy Friday!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Jcrew Pencil Skirts

Best Skirt Ever!
I LOVE my Jcrew No. 2 Pencil Skirt in wool. I bought two and I wish I wore them every day... to the point where (even though its snowed three times this week) I found myself wondering what I'll wear when it becomes summer time and I can't wear wool skirts anymore!

I know it seems early to worry about this.. especially since jcrew has the "same" skirt in cotton. But how "the same" is it? I am hesitant.

Has anyone tried the "No. 2 Pencil Skirt in double serge cotton"? from Jcrew yet? 

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Hunt for the perfect Gray Bedding...

So as the title of this post CLEARLY states: I am on the hunt for perfect gray bedding. I want a charcoal duvet cover and then this lighter gray blanket on top (for snuggling, naps, and warmer weather when you need something lighter).
La Crosse Supersize Primaloft Blanket
I recently took a nap under this quilt and it was glorious. (Thanks Knowledge!) So its already been tested as a good option!

The light gray in this picture is hard to see. But its there and I think it would be nice in contrast to the dark woods of our dressers.

So the next step is a bit harder... the duvet cover and the decorative pillow cases (two Euro Shams ie square, and two regular) I want to set a darker color scheme but not be super matchy matchy.

If I was good at art I'd draw a picture... but I'm not so here is this sketch I did in paint:

I'm an artistic genius! Maybe not...
So what do you think? The light gray blanket is CLEARLY folded at the bottom, our dressers and night stands are definitely darker wood, but that is the general color scheme I'm thinking... the lamps are a work in progress and I'm looking for the right color duvets and pillow cases. Any suggestions?
If you see a nice solid color charcoal duvet cover PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Highlighter Pencils

I want to try these highlighter pencils! I don't know about you but highlighters dry out on me REALLY quickly. Then I have to find new highlighters and highlight the section again so its nice and bright. Understandably I find this annoying. Next time I'm at my local crafty store I'm going to pick up some highlighter pencils and try them!
Highlighter Pencil
Also, they're really pretty. I can kinda see framing this picture... can you?

Monday, January 23, 2012

What don't we have!?!

T-Fal Professional Non-Stick Pan
While cooking dinner on Saturday Tallman and I were discussing what we don't have for our kitchen. The answer is not much. We will have a LOT of forks, and 2 cast iron frying pans... not to mention an All-Clad pan and a T-Fal Professional Non-Stick (which was on my to buy list after seeing a review of non-stick pans on America's Test Kitchen), and a plethora of mugs, baking trays, cake pans, and hell we even have a crock pot and a deep fryer.

After laughing about the insane amount of forks we have between the two of us (it might be upwards of 50) we started seeing things we do need, or might need (since I can't remember what I have since all my stuff is in storage).

One of the odd things neither of us have is a pepper grinder... which is fine with me since I don't like pepper. But its such a basic kitchen accessory! We also are lacking steak knives, we have MAYBE 4 kind of crappy ones, which is fairly amusing since we both enjoy steak! You all know which ones I want to get...
Laguiole Steak Knives from Anthropology
But lets face it, rain bow knives are a little tiny bit silly, but don't worry they come in wood, black and stainless steel (now I can see I'm going to have difficulty choosing!)
We're both so excited to fill a kitchen with our stuff, it will be fun to see what we have duplicates of (FORKS) and what we have none of (PEPPER, STRAINER?, CUTTING BOARD?)
Don't worry, I'll let you guys know how it all shakes out!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Table Lamps

The current lamp situation in Tallman's room is a lot of these:
brass/zinc library lamps
And I'm not normally into modern, but I was hoping for something a little more feminine, like these:
 PB Teen
The Company Store
Grandin Road
I like the fluid lines, the blubous shapes, and the white, gray, or purple versions. I hope I can find a cheap, similar to these, replacement to Tallman's lamps.
Any suggestions on where to look?

Friday, January 13, 2012

Valentines Day

I wonder if I write a blog post describing what I want for Valentines Day whether Tallman would get it for me... What do you guys think?

Like the way this one lies...
I REALLY REALLY like this one!
Purrrrrfect!
Sara Perlis Mini Heart... $475  

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Mini Get Away

I visited Knowledge last weekend and it made me want to go more places. I love DC, the architecture is so different from Boston. So is the food. The people. The neighborhoods. (I didn't like the Metro though, nearly threw up from motion sickness :( bleck)
I want my next trip to be to NYC, its so close but I've never really been. Mr and Mrs Smith has some amazing hotels there:
The Smyth Tribeca Hotel
The Smyth Tribeca Hotel looks warm and sumptuous, but the prices aren't exorbitant.
Royalton Hotel
The Royalton Hotel has a bathroom that I could go to NYC and spend the weekend in... not that I would of course, but just look at those clean lines and light colors! That looks so calming after a long day of shopping...
Gramercy Park Hotel
But if I was going to go for it and stay in a boutique hotel, I'd probably want to try Gramercy Park Hotel... those colors! The styling on the furniture looks so sumptuous and old fashioned but the colors are so vibrant in that room! I love it. I don't know that it would be relaxing, but it does seem like it would be an experience...

and isn't that why I'd go to NYC in the first place?

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

I'm Movin Out... eventually

Tallman and I have decided to move in together and start looking for an apartment. Boston has a very limited selection that slightly increases if you're looking for June or September move in dates (because its such a college town).
Its really exciting, because lately I've been chomping at the bit to have my own space, with my own things, and my own food in the cabinets. (Oh god my own food in the cabinets, that will be the biggest joy in the world!)
But right now we're just in wait and look and save mode, which is satiating my need for my own space... because now I have steps I can take to be proactive and accomplish the goal (dual goals really: move in with Tallman, move out of parents house).
Those steps are: SAVE SAVE SAVE and LOOK LOOK LOOK.
Wish me luck!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Book Review: Fiction Ruined My Family

I read this book over the New Years Eve weekend, while relaxing, and it was really amusing to read of such dysfunction.
That might sound odd. This woman's childhood is so messed up you should feel bad, but she tells it so lovingly and with such a good sense of humor you find yourself laughing with her.

The way fiction ruined her family is that her father never had a job because he was too focused on his goal of being a writer but never really focusing enough on it to accomplish it.

To top off a bad childhood the author is an alcoholic who reaches rock bottom AFTER pooping in a paper bag in her apartment... apparently there is further to go after that!

Despite the terrible life circumstances you can tell the author loves her parents (when she can stand them) and has gotten her life together after quitting the booze. The sentences sometimes don't make sense, but the laughs are plentiful despite the somewhat sad stories. (Her parents divorce doesn't stick because they end up living together and dating on and off, she is mad at her mother for being more of a mess than she is because its really taking the attention off her own self destruction, she gives her sister crabs for Christmas... etc).
I'd recommend this book if you want to feel better about your own terrible upbringing, your drinking problem, or you have a lazy weekend where you can focus on someone else's traumatic childhood and eventual redemption. But because the writing isn't that spectacular and the theme of "my life is terrible because no one has their shit together since they're so focused on ideals rather than reality" this wouldn't be the first book I'd recommend.

Friday, January 6, 2012

WEEKEND IN DC!!!!!!!!

I"M VISITING KNOWLEDGE THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!
WOOT!

I'm so excited to see her new place, and meet her new friends (though at this point some might be old friends) and hang out with her!!!!!
(I lived in DC for a semester during college and I've visited Knowledge before so I've done most of the tourist stuff (love the first lady dresses) so I love to visit just to see Knowledge and the cool stuff she has discovered and wants to show me (or sit in her apartment and drink tea and talk, whatever, its cool, because...
I GET TO HANG OUT WITH KNOWLEDGE!!!!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Book Review: Season to Taste

I got Season to Taste from my friend Al for Christmas... She says she saw it in a bookstore and thought I'd like it. MAN WAS SHE RIGHT! It was a really good book!
The premise was a young woman who decides she wants to be a chef. To prepare, she works at a restaurant (in Cambridge that is REALLY GOOD) where she learns the importance of smell and identifying spices by flavor... At one point she says her boss even smells his knives to determine sharpness. But then she gets into a horrible car accident and she loses her sense of smell!

This is a huge problem for her... Not only does it destroy her dreams of becoming a chef, but more importantly she can't enjoy a cup of tea, a meal, the smell of her father's study. Her descriptions of eating with out tasting are incredible! You'll never take your sense of smell for granted again.... (Until next summer trash day) :p

The book is mostly about her quest to learn more about smell as she deals with her injuries and figures out what she is going to do with her life now that she cannot smell. Its a really good story. I cant recommend it enough! Even if you're into smell it's a really interesting read. And the imagery is great. Thanks Al for the great book!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

New Year, New Budgets...and Mint.com

I don't know if any of you read Corporette, but I do and she frequently recommends Mint.com as a useful budgeting tool. I must say I agree. I have been using it since Thanksgiving when I was thinking about Christmas presents, how much I make, and how much I've been spending.

Tallman and I are pretty good with money, in that we talk about it. I think I could be better about saving and having a better idea of what I spend. So I signed up for Mint. It didn't take long to add all my accounts and set up a budget.

It really helped to set a budget and I'm trying hard to stick to it. It really helps that they send texts to your phone and I can check my goals/budget on my phone at any time. I like having the ability to see whats going on.

If one of your New Years Resolutions was to save more or be more fiscally responsible this year I really recommend Mint.com!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

What did I wear New Years Eve?

I hear you guys are wondering what I ended up wearing for New Years Eve...
Glitter Platforms from Payless
These shoes were shockingly comfortable, and I could walk in them... not far... and not on brick sidewalks... but still! Progress!
Jcrew Darlene Silk Satin Dress

And the little black dress was on sale and simple so I'll be able to wear it again!

My evening was good, Tallman and I went out to dinner and the food was delicious and the time was romantic (except when the manager came over and asked why I wasn't eating my food as quickly as Tallman, and was everything ok... what am I supposed to say to that! My options are: the food sucks, my boyfriend is a pig, or I am watching my weight... it was so awkward, I can't even tell you.)
Then we went to a friends house for a party, which was a good party and rung in the New Year with old friends and champagne.

How did you spend NYE... and what did you wear?