What's new this Christmas?

In celebration of my first adult Christmas tree (which Conor faithfully toted home from Home Depot on his back for me) I took a thousand pictures of it with virtually every setting my camera had to offer. I have to say that it looks quite charming by the fireplace.

It was my grand idea to forgo the traditional Christmas tree stand in favor of a white ceramic planter from Ikea. It's all part of my new focus on multi-use, reusable objects. Is that redundant? It was also my bright idea to buy a package of logs to shim the tree into place since Home Depot didn't have any potting soil (which I had planned to reuse for plants on the deck this summer). I didn't realize that that was a lot easier said than done. Again, my resourceful and handy boy Conor came to the rescue and patiently worked it out for me after my 5 minutes of patience ran out. The end result was well worth it though.

The next dilemma was coming up with a creative (free) tree-topper. Who else to come to the rescue than the birthday boy himself? I think he looks pretty cozy nestled up there.

I also have to give a quick shout-out to my homemade door swag. I couldn't get a good picture in the tight hallway but you get the idea. Not bad for a bunch of boxwood from the supermarket, an old scarf, and a few grapevine spheres from a set of outdoor lights.

What are my daily distractions?

Aside from the boys tossing the football over my head on a regular basis? Here's a list of my top ten daily go-to websites (in no particular order) that I sneak off to when I need a break from finance and spreadsheets and phones and testosterone and etc. etc. etc.

Why are bloggers (legitimate ones I mean) so much cooler than me? It's definitely my latest "when I grow up" profession. It's not just the blogging but there seem to be such interesting lives going on behind the scenes too. There's definitely an interior design, DIY, art and decor slant to all of these so it may not appeal to everyone. I for one wouldn't mind being anyone of these people for a day or two. I feel hipper just knowing that they exist.

Design*Sponge: Four words...Before and After Thursdays.

Apartment Therapy: I love it for the ideas, the pictures, and the sheer volume of posts. There's always something new up here.

OnceWed: I know that this is a little outside of my current sphere of relevance but it's all so pretty!

Little Green Notebook: This girl is so cute and adorable and she puts up great projects.

A Beach Cottage: A little cottage by the beach in Australia. I don't know if all white is my taste but it's refreshing to look at and she always writes the cutest blurbs.

A Bloomsbury Life: I stumbled across this one today via another blog and then before I knew it, an hour had gone by. Oops.

Young House Love: This couple is so cute, organized, and possibly better than me, that I wan to puke. But their blog is fun and they have a cute house.

Sunday Suppers: I've mentioned this one before but I still love it.

20x200: I'm currently obsessed with Christian Chaize's photos of a beach in Portugal. Will it be a little Christmas gift to myself?

Evernote: Not a blog but it's a great place to keep track of all the gorgeous images and inspiration I find everywhere else.

What's the rant/resolution of the day?

I've never been big on New Year's resolutions. The whole idea of coming up with a list of your own shortcomings and the desperate ways you're going to promise yourself to be better has always seemed like a terrible way to round out the holidays. I also still have nightmares about Ms. Tanner baa-ing at us as 8th graders and telling us not to be sheep.

Whatever it is, I'm a bigger fan of being aware of your issues all year long and deciding to ignore or address them at will. That being said, I have a new...cough cough...resolution. I've decided that before I buy anything new, I will tailor, mend, or donate something I already own. Not to say that I can't stop by the mall after visiting the tailor at my drycleaner, I just realized that it's silly to want a new coat when I've got two at home that are out of rotation due to missing buttons.

I've always been a friend of the donation box when it comes to culling the wardrobe but, I've decided to take it one step further and finally get those pants hemmed, that skirt taken in, and those stupid buttons replaced. I made my first trip to the darling little woman at the drycleaner (she always great me, and everyone else I'm sure, with a "How ahhhhh you my dear?) tonight so we'll see how it goes. Hopefully writing my resolution down will afford me the level of guilt I need to stick with it.

Don't you love a flea market!?

I finally made my first trip to the storied Todd Farm Flea Market in Rowley a couple of weekends ago. Mom, Minna, and I ventured out there in the early, very frosty morning to find a couple of necessities for my new place.

At the top of my list was a drop leaf dining table that I could fold up against a wall like a console table most of the time but seat four people at when "entertaining." I was armed with a wish list of other items and measurements for some of the odd lonely nooks around the apartment.

This place was MUCH bigger than I anticipated. We got there as most of the vendors were setting up but I immediately knew I was going to be battling with myself to ignore the tschotchkes and focus on the big items I needed. I had a budget and I was going to stick to it gosh darn it.

Stay away from the kitschy vintage things...

Avoid the giant fringy items...

...and score! Pictured in situ here at home, I found this little beauty of a mahogany side table about 30 minutes in to the flea market. I even got the seller to take 5 bucks off. I was so proud of my self-control and success with the table that I allowed myself to head back to the guy with the tables full of cast iron wonderments.

First there was the 3ft high flamingo for $20 who has since been dubbed Bernard. I also snagged a $5 mermaid hook for towels in the bathroom.

I didn't end up finding my drop leaf table at the flea market but I did nab it a The Stock Exchange in Manchester that afternoon. Cramming all of my treasures into Mom's Pontiac for the trip back to Boston was interesting but well worth it!

Time for a little DIY holiday spirit?

It's been a little while since I broke into the craft cart. I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with my new garland. This only took about 30 minutes to throw together and I have plenty of stickers left. There may be more of these beauties in my future...

You may have noticed Bernard at his new post next to the fireplace. He was a recent flea market find. More on him later.

Is it time for new colors?

I was going for a new color scheme that was clean, fresh, and evoked a sense of "oooh look at that pretty blog. That girl must have great style." Unfortunately, I got easily discouraged when confronted with only 60 colors and decided to look for the bottom of the Hint of Lime Tostitos bag. We'll see how I feel about it tomorrow.

P.S. 60 colors is a lot less than it sounds when you consider that 12 of them are black and grays and another 15 are just too icky. I'm not good at math but that leaves me with fewer choices than I'd like.

What does my new place look like?

I promise to get exciting "after" shots up as soon as I'm happy with the place. I think I'm one more weekend of organizing and an Ikea trip away from getting there. Until then, here are a few quick shots of the "before." Note the cute Irish boy who stopped by early to help me unload the car and give me drinks to make it through the day ;)

Living Room

Kitchen

Hallway

Office (LOVE my french doors!)

Bedroom with a view to the deck

What's a Lazy Way to Update Your Blog?

Take someone else's beautiful, inspiring, and regularly updated blog and put a link to it on your blog. Voila! You now have a new post and you've provided your rapidly dwindling number of readers with content that's much more interesting that anything you could provide.

Click here for Sunday Suppers!

I found this via Design*Sponge (the newest tool in my procrastination arsenal) and they always have the greatest photos. Someday I will have my own home and the resources to set tables with gorgeous flowers arranged in vintage containers, mismatched silver, and sumptuous yet approachable homemade food. Until then, I'll sit on my borrowed single bed in the back bedroom of Johnny and Mary's house while I pay for all of my things to sit in storage in Allston. Ho hum.

How Beautiful is Your Commute Home?

Thank you commuter rail.

Like Babies?

I don't know about all babies but I'm a big fan of my new nephew Noah:

So tiny!!

The proud Big Brother (still prefers the solo photo shoots though)

Need a laugh?

Cheers to Helen for sending me this little gem.

Watch out Hipsters!

Granted it's a little off color and I only looked at the first couple of posts, but it's Friday. Get over it.

Forcing it or renewed self-motivation?

Ok. It's been more than 5 months since my last post. I accept the fact that this is too long. The question then becomes: Is it too late to pick it back up? Has the spell been broken between me and my once fresh and snappy blog? Have I turned my back on my former outlet for snarky thoughts and observations? This already isn't funny. Sorry.

Inspired by Jessie's recent foray into blogging and the fact that this blog has lasted longer than most..er all of my adult relationships, I'm giving it another go.

Just putting it out there. I'll follow up with something that's actually entertaining later. Until then, enjoy the new color scheme.

What's the recipe for a successful New Year's Eve?

1. Spend most of December telling people that you don't care about New Year's and are sure that you'll end up doing something fun.

2. String along your friend Jenn for a couple weeks telling her that you think her idea of attending a Great Gatsby themed party at a boutique hotel is great but you need to hear back from your other friends before you commit.

3. 1 week before, realize that you have nothing else going on and it's time to hone in on a plan.

4. At the same time, get really excited about finding a 1920s outfit.

5. Realize that you only have 2 days (after work) to find said outfit.

6. Invite your childhood friends who now live on the West Coast to come over and watch you get ready. I promise it won't be awkward at all. Even after Pam tells you that your shirt doesn't fit. It's cool.


7. Have a couple glasses of champagne and pose for the camera.


8. Attend party and have a wicked time.





9. Commence drunken aggressive hugging phase.


10. Get lost behind your own hair.



11. Wake up the next day with all of your makeup on your pillowcase wondering how you got home.

Have you laughed hysterically today?

If not, here you go. You're welcome.

The Best Thing I've Seen In A While

P.S. Yes, I know that I'm being lazy by just posting links to other people's blogs. I'm working on it.