Look what arrived on my doorstep this past week.



While I wish I could say this was some great find as part of my goal to start searching out great pieces at local Goodwill's and antique stores, I can't. It was my boyfriend's mother who found it. A woman she works for was getting rid of it and Chris' mom had no room for it so to our house it came! And it was free! Picture me doing the happy dance.

Not quite sure if I will leave it be. I dig the yellow but Chris wasn't quite feeling it. I just keep yelling throughout the house that "We NEED some color!"

For now I have moved it into our spare bedroom that currently has no other furniture, hopefully within the next few weeks I will figure out exactly what I want to do with it. Maybe a nice coat of white paint and some sleek chrome drawer pulls and handles (although I secretly lurve the clear ones) We shall see!

My Birchbox arrived last week and I was so giddy about opening it up and playing with all the goodies that I nearly forgot to tell you all about it.

If you ever want to give a really awesome gift, give one that repeats itself every month. While I love getting high-end beauty samples that I otherwise wouldn't know about, I'm pretty sure I would be just as excited about anything showing up on my doorstep on a monthly basis for me to try out...wine, cheese, flowers, fruit, heck...even mustaches.

Here is what I got this month:




In the pic above you can see the Zoya Nail Polish in Megan. It is a gorgeous shade of lavender-gray. Usually I go to the salon every two weeks for a manicure but I just couldn't resist doing one myself this past week. I got a lot of great comments about how the color was perfect for winter. Indeed it is.

 VMV Hypoallergenics Re-Everything: Eye Serum. An anti-aging eye serum that is suppose to brighten and revive your under eye area. I've used this a few times already and I like the way it makes my skin feel but there is something about the color of this stuff coming out of the bottle that turns me off.


Juicy Couture perfume.



Miracle Skin Transformer Treat and Conceal concealer.


And some granola from Tom Colicchio!

Can't wait for next month!

One of my assignments this week in my grad. class is to pick just one word to describe yourself and why you picked it.

It was more difficult that I anticipated. There are the laundry list of words I have developed to use during interviews, no joke, have been asked to describe myself in three words or less on almost every interview I've been on - organized, structured, caring. But I was a little late to the pick a word party in my class and those words were already chosen by other classmates.

Did I mention this exercise served as our introduction to the class - hope I didn't come off like a weirdo, but I love being able to include movie quotes wherever I can, even if it is in an academic environment. Below is what I submitted:

"Did anyone else have trouble coming up with just one word? Of course, I asked about everyone and their mom about what word they would choose to describe me and after going back and forth between a few words, I chose industrious.

It means diligent, hard-working, studious, habitually active, skillful ("I don't have money but what I do have are a particular set of skills." I also wish industrious meant can work movie quotes into about any conversation)

I truly honestly like learning, whether it's taking professional development to incorporate new strategies in my classroom or learning how to build my own furniture, once I decide to do something, I research all options, talk about it non-stop, and see a project through 'til its' completion. Results are not always perfect but I keep working until it meets my goals.

I think this is why teaching suits me very well, there are constantly projects to work on - reviewing difficult concepts with a student, designing meaningful lesson plans, learning about new technology...in my mind teaching is dynamic and keeps me on my toes constantly."

So what one word would you pick to describe yourself?

3 hours, 25 minutes.

305 minutes.

You can do a lot in that amount of time, watch Titanic, drive from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau and eat a nice dinner at BG's, paint a small room, even read a good chunk of a book.

Never in a million years would I imagine that 3 hours and 25 minutes would be how long it would take me to get to work this morning.




Normally my commute is just 25 minutes from St. Louis to Chesterfield but due to about an inch of snow that froze the highways, the St. Louis Area was a a parking lot for most of the day. I didn't get to school until 10:30am. I was more than a little tense and really, really had to pee. Some of the students that come in from the city didn't get to school until almost 11:30!

It is still flurrying now and it supposed to stop in about an hour but the temps are headed towards the single digits...maybe there is a chance of a day off school tomorrow. I certainly deserve one after today!

I even like this darker gray but it might pushing the limits.
I realize the common denominator between both of the rooms pictured is the immense amount of light streaming in to brighten up the space. Which brings me to my next to -do.


2. Lighting - Even with the huge window in the front of the house we don't get a whole lot of sunlight streaming into the house due to the direction the house faces. And once the sun goes down the current lighting situation sometimes feels no better than candlelight and it is driving me bonkers! Thus there is the need for lamps.


Me likes the idea of putting a side table next to the oversized chair with a bold lamp - I thinking something in turquoise, like this beauty from Target for $49.99 (not exactly my perfect price point)

Via Project Home

Via Make Under My Life

Via Centsational Girl

Via Ana White

Via Anything Pretty

Via The Container Store

So have you updated to the Timeline on Facebook yet? It's pretty cool. I can't believe I've been on the ol' FB for 7 years now. It was fun to go back and look at the many good times I had back in college.

What I find most intriguing about the new update is the ability to add a "cover" to your profile. It allows you to specifically highlight a photo or create a completely unique look for your page. I have already seen a lot of neat ideas out there. 

AGBeat

Via Demortalz

I've been stalling on creating a cover because frankly, I didn't know where to begin. But then I found this great tutorial at Home Stories A to Z using Picnik.

Home Stories A to Z

Picnik is still new to me but at the end of the tutorial she mentioned that you could create something similar in Picasa which got my wheels turnin'....

So off to Picasa I went!

Turns out there is an awesome tool in Picasa in which you can create collages from the pictures you already have imported and organized in Picasa.

It is pretty easy to figure out too. The key to creating a custom collage is drag the photos you want to the selection tray THEN click the create menu and select photo collage. If you don't, the collage will be made from a random folder that you have selected, which for me was a collage of my living room...not so FB cover worthy.

It is helpful to know that the size of your collage should be 850 x 315 which you can change by creating a custom aspect ratio.


Then you can play with all the options, like size, type of collage, background color, etc. Save your work then, PRESTO! You have a new cover that is all types of cool.

Definitely check out the Home Stories video for a more in depth tutorial, just wanted to share!

Via Apartment Therapy

And since I am constantly blabbering on about what I see on Pinterest to my mom, she went out and found three mirrors from Bed, Bath, and Beyond and wrapped em up for Christmas. We hung them up last week and they look great!


But they were a bear to hang since I have plaster walls. Our first attempts of putting a nail in the wall resulted in a couple of chips and plaster crumbling off the wall. What ended up working was drilling a hole, slipping in a plastic wall anchor, and then using a one inch screw inside the anchor.


It is amazing how just putting the mirrors on the wall instantly adds to the space. Don't you just love junk filled dining table? Unfortunately it becomes a catch all during the week.




In the picture above you can also see my other Christmas gift, a pretty wall clock.


While they are nothing too adventurous they do add something nice to the place. Now I'm on the hunt for a side table, colorful lamp, and some art for the walls. Still contemplating if I am going to change the wall color. Is it ok to paint an entire room after only 8 months? I do keep hearing that it's only paint...

How are you doing with your goals for the new year? Anything to celebrate?