Planters of Jade

I needed something green, something to chase away the grey that is all I see out the window. It's still too soon to be seeing the trees turn green but I made myself a virtual landscape on my table to brighten up my days. I have to admit, putting succulents on the table is so much easier than having fresh cut flowers, changing out the water often deters my choice of floral arrangements.

Hopefully these will flourish in the pots I put them in. Remember them from back in the summer, I got them from the thrift store for .50 a piece. They don't have any drainage holes but I figure if I water sparingly, they might do just fine.

What do you think, should I also paint them the same white that the vases are painted? Now they look yellowish sitting next to the vases. 

I love me some spray paint

The only thing is I don't really have any place to spray paint indoors. I decided to paint indoors. Holy FUMES. Yeah that was a mistake but I did get the look that I wanted without having to wait till it warms up enough to spray paint outside.

I'm happy I went ahead and painted these vases, they were with me for a long time in their brown and blue state and not only was I sick of them but now that they are white they brighten up the space. I'm not sure how it would work if I didn't prime them first, didn't want to find out.

Just waiting now for the weather to warm up enough, I have a pile of other things that would look great painted.

Something to keep me busy, like I have nothing on my plate already!

With all the snow that pummeled the midwest I had a bit of a shopping hiatus. So when it melted and I felt free to move around and not feel so stranded and such I figured it was high time I went on some errands to places that hadn't seen me in a while, like Home Depot. Yeah most people don't think of Home Depot as one of the places that they would like to go and peruse. 

I love home improvement stores, it's where I get a ton of ideas and get myself into trouble, constantly thinking of new things to do or redo. This trip around we, Ari and I, only picked up a few things, some new jade plants to fill into my thrift store planters and some rope. Oh and some flood to add to my paint for my dresser. Can't wait to show you that one.

But I did find an alternative to my night table lamp dilemma.  Can't wait to spring that one on my unsuspecting husband.

I stopped at Hancock fabrics, it's not the best fabric store but it will do in a pinch, Vogue Fabrics probably is the best in the city. SO I always peruse the remnant rack and this time I found some upholstery fabric that was $4.00 a yard down from $21.00 in a quatrefoil pattern. I don't know what I'll do with it as of yet but the price was great. I do love me some quatrefoil. Isn't that grellow (grey/yellow) patterned fabric too cute. I also picked up some embroidery thread. I'm not sure how this is going to work yet so the details of this project are still secret but either way I will share, even if it comes out looking horrid. 

I can't forget the rotary cutter, I was trying to be cheap and just use the fabric scissors that I have but cutting fabric straight with them was not a strong suit for me. This, I'm told or better yet read is the way to cut fabric with one swipe. OLFA is a great brand I have the circle cutter from them and it's OMFreaking Great!

I hope to show you in the next few posts what I have done with some of these. 

Identity Funk

I'm having one. A big one. I'm in a funk about dressing myself and how should I look. I feel as though because I just turned 34 last week (YIKES) that I need to start clothes shopping from places that my high schooled niece doesn't shop from. Not that I spend a lot of money in those places but I do venture in.

Where is this coming from? Well mostly that the weather has been turning to something other than snow and the change of seasons is in the air what better time to change wardrobes. 

I find myself reaching for the same thing over and over - jeans and mostly t-shirts or some sort of comfortable top that I probably picked up from Old Navy. It's sad to look at my wardrobe. I have nice clothes when we go out to things such as dinners, and showers and weddings but my everyday dressing sucks. And thats where I live, is in the everyday.

Granted it's gotten worse since my daughter was born, one being the body has changed and I don't want to spend money on nice clothes when I feel that I need to drop a couple of sizes. The other is that I work 3 days from home so when I'm not dropping off at preschool, most of my day is spent in yoga pants and a t-shirt. 

Honestly I don't know where to even begin, I look at some women and they are always so pulled together in the most casual way, I just can't seem to either pull it off or get it together.  Where do I begin do I throw everything out and start from scratch ala What Not To Wear except I doubt my husband would fork over a 5k credit card for shopping.  Or do I get to a comfortable place with my body before I do a major re-haul, whether that means get to the size I want to be or just live and be happy with the size that I am? 

If I know whats best for me I'll actually start using my gym membership on a regular basis and get back to my college jeans. I used to not care about spending boku bucks on a designer pair of jeans, man they made my ass look hot, but now I stay under the $50 range which is friendly to my wallet but it's so not the same. Before you call me a jean snob, I know it sounds like it but when you find a pair of designer jeans that make your bootie looker smaller and are so crisp you can wear w heels and look very pulled together. I even wore a pair of awesome Chip and Pepper jeans up until the start of my third trimester, they weren't buttoned up, but they still made me look good. The right cut can do wonders. 

So getting back to my funk, where do I start? Do I find a muse? And try to embody the style that appeals to me? I'm looking to define myself in the times when I go grocery shopping, run errands, work, school functions, etc I don't want to just rely on my backup of jeans and comfy tops.

Maybe, I'll let you know what I figure out. I'd love to hear where your dressing inspiration comes from. Not necessarily an outfit but the whole package of presenting your self.