the office

today, i went crazy on the ol' office. it had turned into a junk drawer of a room ever since my bridal shower in august!! there was stuff e-very-wh-ere! and the closet was out of control. and you're not getting any befores! use your imagination.

 here is the view, now, as you walk into the room. ah.

 we own a lot of books & movies.

and the view from my desk.

cute, right? i'm preparing for spring semester (which starts tomorrow!) j and i both need a place where we can shut the door and study.

 i even dressed up the back of the closet door with a frame my sister got me back in the day. and hung my paint swatch art between the window and the shelving my dad built. 

i've been on a mission to organize. i keep getting the urge randomly (like while the mr. was taking a shower one night, i de-cluttered under the kitchen sink) it feels like a weight's been lifted.

a letter to my 18 year old self.

kelly,

you're doing fine. but, being your future (almost-twenty-three-year-old) self, i have some advice/notes.

1. go to class. in three years, you're going to realize you want to be a nurse and you'll have to retake..almost two whole semesters worth of classes. save your parents (and later, yourself) money and time. you're almost 23 now. you could actually be a nurse, but instead you're just now ready to apply to school as you're seeing all of your high school friends graduating with their bachelors.
but it's okay. you're fine. you know 100% what you want to be now.

2. do not move in with a roommate. it sounds like a good idea, but she steals and is shady and apparently your entire family hated her and thought you did drugs together.
it's okay, you didn't.

3. your friends are fine no matter what anyone thinks. you get grief from everyone around you about different people in your life but they're all really good friends (minus that roommate) and you're still friends with the ones who matter.

4.you buy a house in two years! weird, huh? it's really cute. but even now, you're still fixing it up and redecorating daily.

5. you're married! and it's to your best friend! you just broke up with him, remember? well, you'll "date" a few more people. it's necessary. and then you'll realize he is the best thing in the whole world and you'll get together again.
am i ruining all the surprises? sorry. he'll be on your mind for the next two years anyway, even if i didn't tell you this now.

6. it rains on your wedding day. but it is still somehow the most beautiful, amazing day of our life.

7. high school isn't "the time of your life," but you are really going to miss it. you see your best friends a couple of times a year now, and you've only been out of high school for five(ish) years.
--speaking of high school: do better! more money for school would be great! your loans don't even cover your books somehow.

8. your dog, madi, is the best roommate you could ever ask for. mom let's you take her to your apartment (which was super cute, by the way!!) and you've been best friends ever since.
take extra special care of her.

covering a modem: pinterest fail(?)

disclaimer: most pinterest projects are not as simple as they appear and may result in the destruction of your personal property. ;)

i recently received a new console table as a wedding shower gift (thank you katie!!) and i'm still in the process of filling out the shelves. they're just a tad shorter than the cute woven baskets i keep buying (and returning).

 

 the shelves house our modem and router. they're ugly, and i hate seeing the little green blinking lights.

i grabbed some books from the office that could work as covers to shield us from those unsightly bastards.

i chose two that looked decent together and cut out the inside. though they appeared to be big enough, i didn't realize both the modem and the router are wider toward the back. so it wouldn't work for them to lay on their sides (in their original spot) like i'd hoped.

 so, to the side of the tv they went!

and it ain't as simple as it look, folks. i had to add a regular, un-gutted book to push the sides in and use a lot of masking tape to..mask the hideousness of this project.

see what i mean? ugh.

 anyway, i guess it worked in the end. and i actually think it's kinda cute.

my $3.50 art project

so, my main living room wall has always bothered me. as of now, i have 3 cheapo matching floral art things. they're pretty, but generic. they're also brown (like the majority of my living room) which i have grown to hate and am trying to escape.

so. i'm thinking i will do a sort of art wall. like so:

 [image via here]

so , i headed to a thrift store and searching for gold frames and found this bad boy. a crappy monet print with pseudo triple matting(!) the frame is poorly made and plastic, but from afar--perfecto!

 so with my $3.50 framed art and some free paint chips from the home depot, i made some art.

i had to organize them gradient from light to dark and arranged them on the back of the monet. since it was white, it made a decent "mat."

end result:

eh? there is in one white crack between two of the paint chips, but i can't bring myself to reopen the back of the frame again.

we're married!

k+j

quick bathroom before & after

 i have a rinky-dink shower insert with a sliding door {yuck!} in my master bath.
so, one of the presents my mom got me for my bridal shower was a new shower curtain (and one that matches the curtains in my bedroom to boot!--more to come on that later.

i know, i know i need to throw it in the dryer to get out those wrinkles!! but i am too excited to wait. it makes a huge difference! (a stainless shower rod would help, too!) can you tell i'm excited?!

BEFORE

& AFTER

[can you spot my Madi lurking in the bathroom??]