Lived In

This week marks one year since receiving the keys to my queendom!

I've been scrolling through this blog while strolling down memory lane and am laughing at the pictures of half-furnished rooms that I was so eager to post.

This calls for an update! 

Here's what the condo looks like after 12 months of being lived in:

It took about six months to finally solve the storage issues in the dining room. (Ignore that mess in the corner. It still needs to find a home!)

  The three set of storage units were found on target.com. The middle unit arrived with a broken door, so I decide just to use that shelf as a cubbie rather that chase down a replacement.

Any storage with a top shelf is my favorite kind. I have too many picture frames and tchotchkes to display!

Not much has changed in the living room. The second end table and lamp have been purchased. The cute red TV tables I found at Meijer. (No joke, Meijer! On a grocery trip!) I keep one in the living room as the perfect out-of-the-way spot for my laptop.

Cat Toys R Us

My crazy color scheme has been very invigorating. Although, I can picture myself tiring of the primary color scheme after too long. Fortunately, I kept all my more expensive items in the neutral family, while everything bright is paintable or inexpensive enough to be easily replaced.

Even the hallway has seen some extra love. Due to a remodel at my workplace, more of my vintage Disney memorablia has found its way back home. This narrow forgotten spot in the hallway is now one of my favorites in the house!

I don't even think there was a toothbrush in my bathroom yet when I first posted pictures of it.

My how things have changed!

I found that pasta containers made the best (and least expensive)
solution for sterile Qtip and cotton ball storage.

Glute Goals

The Moonrise Kingdom pun is still hilarious to me.
And, the fact that Suzy Bishop and her binoculars
creep out my nephew every time he "goes" is just
a bonus feature.

The Florida room is another place that I'm forseeing color overkill coming back to haunt me soon. Fortunately, the furniture is all <$20 stuff from Target. And, the rugs were quite inexpensive from there also. After this season, I can see myself shopping for something a little more comfortable and permanent for this room. Although, it is still "My Happy Place"!

"Called it! So, where will you be sleeping?"

The bedroom was my most recent post. So, not much has changed in there.

Although, I did overlook alot of my favorite bits and pieces in my orignal post.

Some of my favorite catch-alls are colorful finger bowls purchased in

the dishware sections of Target and Home Goods.

And, last but not least (because this is how I feast...) my poor, stuck in the 90's, kitchen!

All I can say is, I try. Working with what I have has gotten me thus far. If ever I were to enter a "Makeover Your Ugliest Room" contest, this would be my nomination. One day I envision cabinets all the way to the ceiling, matching backsplashes on both sides of the galley, walnut floors, a new dishwasher, and an absence of wallpaper.

How many crock pots is too many crock pots?
The answer is infinity!

One of the artists tells me I need a bigger fridge.

But, for now, at least I have bacon and cats.

The Hallway

Yes. The hallway! When you're working with barely 800 square feet, every inch counts.

The last this blog saw of my hallway was Audrey being strategically placed to be dragged away by vengeful Cat. 

Well, I ended up doing a little bit more with this "room". 

As I started unpacking and unearthing things that would have gone in my second bedroom, if I had a second bedroom... I found the immediate need to start getting creative with storage.

Enter this cubed shelving from Target I had been using as closet storage in my former residence. It fit perfectly into this narrow space, without impeding function or safety.

I now call it my Kid's Section.

Having eight nieces and nephews also means having more kiddie stuff than most singles my age. With nowhere else to put the movies, toys, children's books, Sunday School material and video games... this new "room" became a blessing in disguise.

It's out of the way enough for everyday living. But, accessible enough for small visitors that call a-callin'.

My favorite thing about this room: The little bit of art and the family pictures I've enlarged and framed to match. Everything's a perfect fit! And, the colors blend with the adjoining rooms.

This space is also a perfect showplace for some of my many pieces of Disney memorabilia.

Not to mention, my salvaged collection of Golden Books that the kids don't really care about, but they give me a warm case of nostalgia... therefore, they stay!

What this room will be used for: The first stop for pint-sized visitors. And, at just the right height for little hands to help themselves.

What I'd still like to do with this space: Nothing! This room is complete. *sigh*

Bit 'n Pieces

dotandbo.com

I'm now at the stage where I don't have another completed room to share with you.

It's that odd limbo that happens between appliance deliveries, cable hookups, uHaul rentals and finishing up with a spackle and paint job.

I've spent the last two days supervising a carpet install, making lists, scheduling services and bringing lightweight bits and pieces out of storage, while waiting on my stronger-than-me helpers who are coming to my rescue later in the week.

All while nursing a pulled hip. (Don't ask! It's a non-juicy story whose setting can be found at Ikea.)

I've got carpet! (And, way too frizzy of hair to be posing for this...)
Carpet by Home Depot. They were incredible!

While I keep you waiting on the next room, here's some favorites of my "bits 'n pieces" that have made their way home, so far:

Hepburn graffiti print:

Canvas print purchased at Veramar Arts at ebay.com

I always thought that Holly Golightly could have been alot nicer to Cat, so this revenge piece has me completely enamored with it! 

The best part is, I hung it just so that when you stand facing my hallway, it looks like she's being dragged away to her doom.

Disclaimer: I absolutely love Audrey Hepburn.

I've got my towels back! 

Most towels from Target. T.P. too, if you're interested!

This is definitely the stage of the "little things". I've been using the same three borrowed towels for the past year, while mine set sat buried in storage. They're not new. They're the same ones I'd been using, wearing out, and replacing for the last decade or so. But, they're back! And, they're mine!!!

Living Room Curtains:

Patterned curtains from jcp.com
Sheer curtains from Kmart
Double curtain rod from Bed Bath Beyond
Cubed storage (that's not staying there) from Target
Chair from allmodern.com

I've been dying to add some privacy to my doorwall all week, but was waiting on the carpet to hang the curtains.

The day finally came to hang these pretty teal things up and whoops! As you can tell, I only had half as many panels needed to fill this 125 inch-wide space. Total user error on my part when ordering. And, they sat, undiscovered, in their shipping packaging for over a month before I bothered taking them out and having a look. The other half is on its way! (Thankfully, they still had this color and pattern in stock!)

Today, I also spent way too many hours running around town trying to find the perfect pair of plain white sheer panels for the curtain rod's second layer. Every store in town was super fancy with their patterned sheers, textured sheers, colored sheers, pre-crinkled sheers (why?!). But, I could not find a plain white pair in the entire metro area to save my life!

Finally, I just happened to drive past a Kmart store. (Yes. There's still at least one left in existence!) I thought, "Well, I'll kick myself if I don't stop in and later find out they had them." Sure enough, there they were. I got two 60 X 84" panels for $5.99 apiece. Score! 

New chairs:

Both chairs found at allmodern.com

Both purchased to be used at a desk (one in the bedroom, one in the living room.) But, I'm tempted to just place them in the epicenter of the joint to be stared at like the pieces of art that they are.

My favorite!

Disney wall:

Replications of vintage Disney posters
found at ebay.com

I hang prints of vintage Disney World and Disneyland advertising in my cubicle at work. I love them so much that I've always planned on buying more and having a feature wall in whatever place I ended up buying. (And, they're beyond inexpensive. We're talking $5-10 each! Then, I just used basic frames purchased at Michael's to hang them in.*)

These are in my dining room. Now that I've temporarily placed my favorite chair in there and snapped a photo, though, I'm tempted to turn the room into a library/office instead!

Alas, I already have a hand-me-down dining set that I'm committed to (and frightful of) refinishing. But, I will do the deed! The deed will be done!

And, I'll be sure to blog it once I've made a mess of things.

*If you're planning your own feature wall, be careful to check the poster sizes before piecing together your collection. Several different vendors sell these and I almost ended up with a couple that were and inch or two smaller than the rest of my set!

The First Two Days

Keys! Keys! I've FINALLY got keys!!!

The keys came on Thursday night. One hour later...

...and I'm already tearing up carpet! 

"I" obviously meaning my dad and brother. The real I "supervised". (Totally accurate use of quotation marks on both accounts.)

Three hours later...

...and, new carpet was ordered by midnight. Kimmy don't play.

The past two days have been devoted to shop vacs, tape measures, scrubbing bubbles and shopping trips. (Not the fun kind.)

Of course, that also means the fine cuisine of Home Depot.

And, way too much takeout pizza for a woman of my age and metabolism.

Some things I've learned so far:

• Always be born into a family of strapping men.
• Hoarding furniture piece by piece while paying for a storage unit paid off. It's so much better to spread those expenses out over time then to take one big stressful and bank-busting shopping trip at crunch time.
• Those dated dining room mirrors I once hated, I now realize I'll miss once the furniture is moved in and I'll have to discontinue the one woman dance-offs.
• Heavy lifting up several flights of stairs is about as much fun as I anticipated.

STAIRS!!!

MORE STAIRS!!!

Bonus: I fully expect calves of steel by the end of next week!

Extra tidbit for my regular readers: The drunk guy that fell into a bush and starred in one of my prior house hunting posts lives directly across the parking lot from my Florida room. This ought to warrant a binoculars purchase in the near future.

Top window, abode of the entertainingly drunk home owner.
You're welcome.

Rejection, Weight Loss and Living Out of Storage

So, I haven't posted a house-hunting update lately. Mainly because the offer that I made in my last post was rejected. (Not countered. Flat-out rejected, as in; we no likey, sayanora, we won't be doing business with you, thanks...)

After all that number-crunching, paperwork and skipping out of work early to getter done, how could they possibly not take my money?! I was sad, offended, embarrassed and really had nothing much more to say about it at the time.

It's true. Rejection from a house feels just as stingy as rejection from a boy.

The last showing I had was around the holidays and at a smaller, older, crappier-located condo in the same development as the one that broke my heart. 

In keeping with nick-naming my showings, this one has been dubbed the "Poopy Carpet Place".

When a giant rug is the only staging...

...ALWAYS lift it up! [I'll spare you the poopy pics.]

Since not much has been listed in my price range over the winter, the Poopy Palace sadly remains my front-runner for the time being. And, I have not been by for a second look yet because I still can't wrap my mind around the concept of sloppy seconds. (Pun, somewhat intended.)

In the meantime, I've been house-sitting for my parents while they spend the cold season in Florida. 

Sweet gig. But, not home.

This could not be more clearly exhibited to me than when I tried to do the seasonal switch-out of my closet today.

No, I haven't been able to live out my real estate makeover yet, but one transition has taken place in the meantime. Me dropping three pants sizes! (I'd like to say it was from healthy living and exercise. But, quite honestly, at least 2/3 or those pounds disappeared due to stress-induced diarrhea and gastroesophageal reflux.)

:D :) :D :) :D I'm now distracting you from that last sentence with a sudden influx of emoticons that don't seem to be working on Blogger. :D :) :D :) :D

A little over a year ago VS earlier this week
(No matter the size... I will, apparently, always
 be incapable of taking a serious picture.)

It's fun to fit into smaller clothes and wear panties that don't leave marks of cutting on your bum-cheeks. Normally, in such circumstances, I'd merely take a stroll down to the boxes in the basement, pull out whichever of the three sizes I always keep on hand bears the magic number and, voila, "new" wardrobe!

But, life's not so simple when you're living in between residences.

First off, I have no clothing anywhere in the size that now fits me. (Cue the world's tiniest violin, I know...) So, my cheap ass has been raiding eBay to stock up. (Trust me, the sagging pants look is not one I am capable of pulling off.)

There is now an explosion of patterns and fabrics happening in my closet that was already bursting at the seams! Between my need to move out the "fat pants" and the fact that Michigan has finally decided to thaw, the time has come to box up half of this stuff and put it the heck away.

When living in between residences, that means no quick jaunt downstairs. It's off to the storage unit!!!

So, this is what's happening in my storage unit:

(Not to mention, an abnormal amount of selfie-taking.)

This piece symbolizes my likelihood of being buried alive
before my mortgage even begins.

I don't know where half of this crap came from, where it will be going, and cutting the itchy tags out of my old pants now seems like the worst idea since the Flowbee!

"What friggin' size are these?!"

But, I'm not ungrateful. 

I realize that I'm not living in a shelter. I've still got money in the bank. I have a job that I love. I have four different sizes in my wardrobe now. And, most importantly, I know God's timing is more perfect than mine and I certainly trust Him alot more than I trust myself.

Lesson learned?

When life throws you curve balls, take a seat on a Christmas tree and wait it out.