I just got this month's issue of Real Simple, which featured a link to the Habitat for Humanity "ReStore". I had no idea this existed, but apparently the charity sells home improvement items that it can't use at a deep discount. Renovators get materials at a low price, and the proceeds go to a great cause. This is a fantastic idea, and one I would definitely use if I had a home to remodel (someday!). Here is the link for those of you into the DIY home repairs:
habitat.org/restore
May 7, 2010
My Favorite Things: Summer Reading Books
It's almost summertime, and for me that means long warm afternoons by the pool with a good book. I haven't figured out what I'm going to read this year, but wanted to share a few of my past favorites for others to enjoy:
American Wife by Curtis Settenfield - A fictionalized story based on the life of former First Lady Laura Bush. It's a great story, and I was surprised how many of the anecdotes turned out to be true. You have to keep in mind it's fiction, but it sure explains alot!
Jen Lancaster's entire body of work - Jen Lancaster is HYSTERICAL! I laughed out loud (much to the chagrin of my fellow airline passengers) at all four of her autobiographies. They are, in order, Bitter Is The New Black; Bright Lights, Big Ass; Such A Pretty Fat; and Pretty In Plaid. The footnotes are the best - it's snarky but will make you laugh until you cry.
In addition to these books, I love everything by Emily Giffin and Jennifer Weiner.
I devoured Wedding Belles by Haywood Smith on a recent trip to Aruba.
Read it a few years ago, but I loved Best Friends by Martha Moody.
And Judy Blume's adult books are also great - Summer Sisters and Wifey.
Last summer I read Beach House by Jane Green, which was fantastic. I also liked Second Chance and Swapping Lives by the same author.
Lipstick Jungle by Candice Bushnell (of SATC fame) was excellent. I haven't loved some of her other books, but this I enjoyed very much.
If I find any more this summer I'll post again, but this should be enough to get you started!
American Wife by Curtis Settenfield - A fictionalized story based on the life of former First Lady Laura Bush. It's a great story, and I was surprised how many of the anecdotes turned out to be true. You have to keep in mind it's fiction, but it sure explains alot!
Jen Lancaster's entire body of work - Jen Lancaster is HYSTERICAL! I laughed out loud (much to the chagrin of my fellow airline passengers) at all four of her autobiographies. They are, in order, Bitter Is The New Black; Bright Lights, Big Ass; Such A Pretty Fat; and Pretty In Plaid. The footnotes are the best - it's snarky but will make you laugh until you cry.
In addition to these books, I love everything by Emily Giffin and Jennifer Weiner.
I devoured Wedding Belles by Haywood Smith on a recent trip to Aruba.
Read it a few years ago, but I loved Best Friends by Martha Moody.
And Judy Blume's adult books are also great - Summer Sisters and Wifey.
Last summer I read Beach House by Jane Green, which was fantastic. I also liked Second Chance and Swapping Lives by the same author.
Lipstick Jungle by Candice Bushnell (of SATC fame) was excellent. I haven't loved some of her other books, but this I enjoyed very much.
If I find any more this summer I'll post again, but this should be enough to get you started!
April 22, 2010
Keeping sheet sets neat and tidy
A friend recently told me about a great tip for keeping sheet sets organized. Take one of the pillowcases and slide the flat and fitted sheets and the 2nd pillowcase inside the first pillowcase. Fold over the extra fabric of the storage "bag" and voila - a self contained sheet set in a package!
This is my favorite type of organizing tip - easy to do, easy to remember, and yet extremely helpful. It doesn't take much to make me happy. :-)
This is my favorite type of organizing tip - easy to do, easy to remember, and yet extremely helpful. It doesn't take much to make me happy. :-)
April 21, 2010
Quote of the week - 4/23/10
Gratitude is noticing the extraordinary in the ordinary.
And then taking the nanosecond to feel it.
--Karen Krakower Kaplan
As we approach the spring season, we should all take that nanosecond to stop and notice the beauty and miracle that surrounds us every day.
April 20, 2010
My Favorite Things - April 2010
It's been easy to love things this month now that the warmer temps are here. It's amazing how much light and warm air affect my mood! Here are 5 things I am enamored with this month.
1) My new Santoku knife. I broke the tip off my old chef's knife last month trying to separate two pieces of frozen chicken, so it was time to buy a new all-purpose knife. My friend L advised me to get a Santoku with a flat blade instead of a traditional chef's knife. I was delighted to see knives from high end maker J.A. Henkles at Target, so I bought a 7" forged steel beauty for the low price of $29.99. I love it! The blade is so sharp, the handle feels great, and the flat blade makes controlling things much easier. I dare say that it's leading me to eat more salads because I am looking for an excuse to chop some veggies just so I get to use my knife. Hey...whatever works!
2) Scented linen spray. I have been trying to get to bed earlier lately to boost my energy level, and one of the ideas I had to make bedtime enticing was scented linen spray. The idea is that you mist your pillowcase with a little scented water and let the smell carry you into dreamland. I found a very nice Ginger Mint scent at HomeGoods for $5.99 and so far it's been very nice. I do recommend spraying things about an hour before you go to bed, though. Any sooner and the smell may be a bit overwhelming (speaking from personal experience on that one!) In addition to HomeGoods a friend just clued me in to the fact that you can get pillow mist at stores like Bath & Body Works. I had trouble finding any and honestly it never occured to me to look there, but I will when this bottle runs out (or when I get sick of the scent and want a new one).
3) Colorful fabric on a corkboard. My guest room/office is decorated in a graphic black and white scheme with pops of lime green in the toss pillows on the bed. I wanted to find a way to bring that color into the other side of the room, so I found a piece of bright green fabric that matches the pillows at my local fabric store (only $1.99!). I stapled it to the cork board above my desk and it changes the entire feel of that side of the room. This is what I face while I work from home or pay bills, and it's just the pop of high energy I wanted in that space. The fabric square was premade and a little narrow for my cork board, so I plan to buy some 1" wide white ribbon and hot glue it around the edges to cover the gap. The whole thing should cost me less than $5 and I absolutely love it.
4) Buds on the trees. My backyard is a conservation land, so when I look out the window or go stand on the balcony I see a line of trees. This morning I noticed that suddenly they'd gone from stark, bare branches to having lovely green mini-leaves all over them. It was like being reborn. (Sounds melodramatic, I know, but I do not do winter well. Spring is a big deal to me -ripe with possibilities).
5) Barnes & Noble. I'm trying to watch less TV, but it's hard to avoid turning the thing on when I get home from work at night. So I've started heading out to B&N some nights. I may sit and thumb through a book I'm thinking of getting, flip through magazines to look at pretty pictures, or just people-watch. Our local store has a Starbucks cafe and a large lounge style area with several easy chairs and tables. It's really a great place to relax, or even go when you need to concentrate on work but not go into the office. I worked an entire Sunday there and got far more done than I would have sitting at home distracted by dishes or laundry that needed doing.
So there you have it. Five things I love this month. Happy Spring!
1) My new Santoku knife. I broke the tip off my old chef's knife last month trying to separate two pieces of frozen chicken, so it was time to buy a new all-purpose knife. My friend L advised me to get a Santoku with a flat blade instead of a traditional chef's knife. I was delighted to see knives from high end maker J.A. Henkles at Target, so I bought a 7" forged steel beauty for the low price of $29.99. I love it! The blade is so sharp, the handle feels great, and the flat blade makes controlling things much easier. I dare say that it's leading me to eat more salads because I am looking for an excuse to chop some veggies just so I get to use my knife. Hey...whatever works!
2) Scented linen spray. I have been trying to get to bed earlier lately to boost my energy level, and one of the ideas I had to make bedtime enticing was scented linen spray. The idea is that you mist your pillowcase with a little scented water and let the smell carry you into dreamland. I found a very nice Ginger Mint scent at HomeGoods for $5.99 and so far it's been very nice. I do recommend spraying things about an hour before you go to bed, though. Any sooner and the smell may be a bit overwhelming (speaking from personal experience on that one!) In addition to HomeGoods a friend just clued me in to the fact that you can get pillow mist at stores like Bath & Body Works. I had trouble finding any and honestly it never occured to me to look there, but I will when this bottle runs out (or when I get sick of the scent and want a new one).
3) Colorful fabric on a corkboard. My guest room/office is decorated in a graphic black and white scheme with pops of lime green in the toss pillows on the bed. I wanted to find a way to bring that color into the other side of the room, so I found a piece of bright green fabric that matches the pillows at my local fabric store (only $1.99!). I stapled it to the cork board above my desk and it changes the entire feel of that side of the room. This is what I face while I work from home or pay bills, and it's just the pop of high energy I wanted in that space. The fabric square was premade and a little narrow for my cork board, so I plan to buy some 1" wide white ribbon and hot glue it around the edges to cover the gap. The whole thing should cost me less than $5 and I absolutely love it.
4) Buds on the trees. My backyard is a conservation land, so when I look out the window or go stand on the balcony I see a line of trees. This morning I noticed that suddenly they'd gone from stark, bare branches to having lovely green mini-leaves all over them. It was like being reborn. (Sounds melodramatic, I know, but I do not do winter well. Spring is a big deal to me -ripe with possibilities).
5) Barnes & Noble. I'm trying to watch less TV, but it's hard to avoid turning the thing on when I get home from work at night. So I've started heading out to B&N some nights. I may sit and thumb through a book I'm thinking of getting, flip through magazines to look at pretty pictures, or just people-watch. Our local store has a Starbucks cafe and a large lounge style area with several easy chairs and tables. It's really a great place to relax, or even go when you need to concentrate on work but not go into the office. I worked an entire Sunday there and got far more done than I would have sitting at home distracted by dishes or laundry that needed doing.
So there you have it. Five things I love this month. Happy Spring!
April 6, 2010
Spring has come to my dining room!
This winter, my redecorating bug was all about achieving a calm, serene look in the apartment. But now that spring is here, I want to punch it up with some serious color! I am attracted to all sorts of bright fun colors and patterns. And luckily the neutral backdrop I created doesn't preclude me from mixing it up a little bit!
I started with a super-cheap, super-practical impulse purchase at Home Goods tonight. This purple pitcher is actually acrylic, not glass, making it very easy to store. It can be used for flowers or drinks (with a good scrubbing in between!) and looks fantastic as a centerpiece. The best part - it was only $7.99! The flowers were half price after Easter, and the other accessories (runner, votive holders) were already on hand.
I started with a super-cheap, super-practical impulse purchase at Home Goods tonight. This purple pitcher is actually acrylic, not glass, making it very easy to store. It can be used for flowers or drinks (with a good scrubbing in between!) and looks fantastic as a centerpiece. The best part - it was only $7.99! The flowers were half price after Easter, and the other accessories (runner, votive holders) were already on hand.
April 2, 2010
Photo Frame Calendar
I'm getting rid of old magazines as part of my spring cleaning, and I always go through them one last time to see if there are any articles or idea I want to clip and save. I found one, and rather than take out the scissors I found the project online and will just link to it here. The project is a photo calendar, but not one with a different image per month. Basically you just take a photo frame, put hooks on the bottom, and hang calendar pages from them based on templates on marthastewart.com.
http://www.marthastewart.com/goodthings/photo-calendar
I like that the project allows you to keep a nice clean look around your desk but still have something practical like a calendar handy when you need it. And there's no rule saying that you can't change the pictures monthly (or seasonally) if you want a new view!
http://www.marthastewart.com/goodthings/photo-calendar
I like that the project allows you to keep a nice clean look around your desk but still have something practical like a calendar handy when you need it. And there's no rule saying that you can't change the pictures monthly (or seasonally) if you want a new view!
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