Pinterest Inspired Ideas

Yes, I'm gushing about Pinterest again! I cannot get enough of browsing and repinning and ooohing and aaahing over all of the genius ideas and pretty things and DIY projects! Pinterest is actually helping me along with one of my New Year's resolutions, which is to work on beautifying my surroundings! There are endless ideas and inspiration which is helping to kick start my creativity. Here are a few projects on my To Do list, with the help of Pinterest. I'll try to include the original link to each!

Here's a project for our home that I plan on doing with the help of Sky. I repinned a blog post titled "21 Ways of turning pallets into furniture". The coffee table in the photo below is a redesigned pallet! How smart and crafty, but also pretty! I'm excited about this one. Who doesn't love turning trash into treasure? 

21 Ways...

This is a photo I pinned from Shabby Chic. I am so in love with this room and the color scheme! I'm currently working on redecorating our bedroom in a similar way: soft shades of white, blues and tans. So pretty!

How cute is this DIY rug? I love it! And the best part: it's made out of old tees. Perfect way to clean out the closet and add some homemade charm to our little apartment! I'm going to make one for the bedroom in similar colors as above! Find the easy instructions here: Rags By Sock Monkey

This was an idea repinned from Martha Stewart. It's genius! Why have I never thought of this before? A super easy way to keep all of your linens organized and easily accessible. Basically you tuck the entire set into the pillow case after folding. Smart, easy, practical.

Another clever idea from Pinterest! It's a wine rack that can be used as a towel holder in the bathroom. I love the idea of not having to fold our towels! I couldn't find this exact rack, but I found a style I love from Pottery Barn.

Another brilliant idea. This woman found a home made recipe for Febreze that she estimates only costs her $0.15 per bottle to make! Go here to check out the recipe: Fake it Frugal As soon as my mega bottle of Febreze is finished ($12.99) I'm all over this one!

Happy 2012!

Happy Happy New Year friends!

Last year was very much an adventure for me, but then again when isn't life an adventure?! I had many up and downs, learned lots of lessons, gained and lost friends, tried some things for the first time, had a plethora of new experiences both good and bad; I laughed, cried, loved and lived and I am utterly grateful for every single moment! I can't believe another year has come and gone but I'm very much looking forward to all the surprises and gifts that 2012 holds for me! Here's to a beautiful year ahead!

This bright new year is given me

To live each day with zest

To daily grow and try to be

My highest and my best!

-William Arthur Ward

War Wounds

Surfing kicked my ass yesterday! I wound up having so much FUN, but the first 30 minutes were tough. The water was pretty rough and choppy, and the waves were bigger than I've surfed before. I wiped out several times and I got pounded by wave after wave. Not to mention paddling through those waves were pretty hard! Waking up this morning found me with bruises, a cut on my foot and sore muscles. But... I can't wait to go out there again!!!! After I give myself a day of rest, though. I think surfing is one of my new loves!!!!

#75 Learn Italian or Spanish

Okay, for the record I want to learn both! But my current reading (Eat, Pray, Love) has inspired me to learn Italian! So far I can count to 10, I know the months, days of the week, colors, and a smattering of other words and phrases (coffee, snow, book, hello, good-bye, I love you and I am hungry to name a few!). This is so exciting!!! I love to learn!!!

Living Aloha

So... I want to move. Again. I've decided my next destination will be Hawaii!! I don't know why I feel so restless lately, but I'm taking the feeling and going with it. I have no mortgage, or kids or any real obligations for that matter, that would hold me in one place. I am young and (relatively) healthy, so off I go! Maybe one of these days I will fall in love with a place enough to want to be there for more than a year or so at a time.

I've been doing non-stop research on Hawaii and Oahu in particular, the island I think I'll be happiest on. I'm trying to get as good of an idea as I can about the cost of living, schools, housing and job market. The only decision I'm still mulling over is whether or not to vacation there first, or just take the leap and move without exploring it. I know logically it would seem like vacationing first is a no-brainer. But I can say from my experience in moving to the Virgin Islands that visiting before moving is nowhere near the same as residing here. I came down to St John four times before I moved here. And I still had a very difficult time adjusting to life on the island. I've come to the conclusion that the only way to really understand how it feels to live somewhere, is to live there!

If I do decide to vacation and then move, I don't think I'll be ready until early next year. If I decide to throw caution to the wind and just go, I'm hoping to be there by Christmas of this year. We'll see what happens! Wish me luck!!

Palm Reading

Have you ever had your palm read? I have! It was something I had always wanted to try! I was on a road trip to Nashville in 2009 with my then boyfriend (seriously, what was I thinking with that one?!?) and we walked by a little shop advertising palm reading and we decided to give it a try. I've always read that a lot of times phony psychics will use you to help figure out what you want to hear in your reading. They look at your clothing, who you came with, and your facial expressions to sort of figure you out. So I went in by myself, determined to keep a straight face and not "give anything away".

Since it was my first time getting my palms read, I wasn't really expecting anything one way or the other. I just thought it would be an interesting experience. So I was pretty floored when she began reading, and said some things that were so spot on they were scary! For instance:

* She described my overall personality and view on life.

* She told me how many siblings I grew up with and described to a tee my childhood and current relationships with my family.

* She described the romantic relationship I was in and told me specific things about my boyfriend at the time.

* She detailed my outlook and mindset on finances and money.

* She correctly told me what I did for a living.


And then there are things that she predicted that have since happened:

* She said that I would soon be making a huge move, somewhere near the beach/water. (I immediately thought California; that's always been a dream. STJ wasn't even on my radar at the time).

* She told me that while the man I was with at the time was in love with me, that he was not my soul-mate (duh).

* She predicted that there was a man in my life who still kept in touch with me, and would try to rekindle a romance sometime in the future. She also said it was my decision whether or not to pursue it, but if I did pursue the relationship a second time around, it would work out. (This did happen. I chose not to pursue it).


And then there are several other things that she foretold that haven't happened yet! I have them written down and tucked away. We'll see if they come true some day! What do you think? Have you ever visited a psychic or palm reader?

What Was I Thinking?!

Some days I can't help but to kick myself and scream repeatedly "What was I thinking?!". But then I remember that everything happens for a reason, and that I learned many little lessons, and several huge ones, from everything that I've gone through especially in the past year. Growth, progress and awareness go hand in hand with mistakes, stumbles and falls. And I'm learning to be okay with that. Everything I'm going through will make me a stronger, smarter, kinder, more understanding person, wife, and mother some day. And I'm learning to be okay with that too!!

On My Own

I've always been conflicted about living alone. When I was younger, about 16 or so, I made a list of things to do before I got married and living alone was on it. But as an adult I realized that being alone is hard for me. So I thought that I would just live with roommates until I got married. Then over the holidays I had the opportunity to house sit for a few weeks. It hit me that not only could I manage to be by myself, but I actually liked it!! So I started the process of wrapping my head around choosing to find a place of my own. Fast forward to this past Saturday. I was browsing Craigslist half-heartedly for an apartment when I saw one that looked decent and in my price range. Well a phone call turned into a visit, which turned into a tour, which turned into me submitting an application, and before I knew what I was really doing I signed the lease to my new apartment. I spent the rest of the day and most of today alternating between freaking out and being excited and mentally decorating my new place.

This is such a HUGE step for me. I am so thankful and grateful that I'm able to do it, but it is still a little overwhelming!! Part of me is scared out of my mind and part of me feels so alive and independent because of this decision. I can't believe I will cook and clean and watch television and go to bed and wake up ALL ALONE.

I've already learned my new address, forwarded my mail and set up all my utilities. So my next step is waiting for my move in day, which is the 18th, and trying to acquire some furniture before then. Sadly when I moved to St John I gave away every stick of furniture I owned, including my prize possession that I was more in love with than pizza: my king size bed. I seriously, truly, fully adored that bed like nothing else. It makes me sad that I was such a dumb A-double-S to sell it.

So now for the hard stuff: figuring out how I'm going to decorate the place!!!!! I am so super excited about that. In a way I'm kind of glad I got rid of everything (BUT the bed) before moving away. Now I can start fresh and invest a bit more money into things. I figure I'm going to be there for a while so I'm going to take my time settling in and finding pieces that I really like, instead of just having a mis-matched, thrown together apartment. But to be honest my first priorities are a television and a bed. In that order. Just kidding, but not really!!

Wish me luck in moving!!! I think it's one of the most tedious and boring things a human has to do. But when it's all over I'll be dropping invites in the mail for a house-warming party!! Woohoo!!

Self Preservation

This is an interesting theory that my sister came up with: Today I realized a few startling things. It occurred to me that a) I can't even begin to imagine being pregnant or having a baby any time soon, b) I can't even begin to imagine planning a wedding or the thought of being married and c) looking back on the last year of my life seems surreal and almost impossible. I feel pretty nuts thinking and admitting these things to myself, but they are all true. My sister called it self preservation. She thinks this is my mind's way of coping with all of the loss that I've experienced. Am I protecting myself mentally and emotionally by convincing myself that I didn't really want those things and that I wasn't ready for them? Is it my mind's way of starting to heal by making things seem sort of fuzzy and make-believe? I don't know. Everything I've been experiencing is completely new to me, so I guess this is right there with it.

#50 Take an art class

Another one down! Denise and I took a painting class at Cocktails and Canvas. We wore matching pj pants and had a blast painting (a menorah for me, a snowman for her) our masterpieces!!! It was lots of fun and I can't wait to do it again. I'll definitely be bringing snacks and wine along next time:)