Gaudy but frilly

I made this wreath the other day. It was very pretty and vivid when I made it, but now that I see it hanging on my front door, I'm not so sure that it's not weird or too goofy looking. Oh well, it's pink and white and bright, and who cares what it looks like?

A patterned solution

We live in an old kit home which has been renovated, Frankenstein-style, for many years now. The original structure has been altered quite a bit, sometimes in a good way, and sometimes not. One of the not-so-good ways is a weird structure that was built onto one side of the house to create an entry way and an extra little room. The concept is great, but it was built very strangely. The floors slope, the walls are slanted, and the little extra room has an incredibly stupid and not square window (I'll have to show you pix some other time).

Anyhow, this little spare room also has a weird pass-through type window that leads to the kitchen. I'm not sure what the original function of this was, since it's too small to pass much more than a plate or bowl through, and it's in a weird spot (the rear part of the kitchen counter). The goofy window in the extra room is very, very drafty, so all that cold and wind comes through the little pass through and into the nice warm kitchen.



My solution was to get a cheap place mat (this one is from Crate & Barrel outlet) and duct tape it to the other side of the wall, in the extra room. We use the extra room for storage, so no one will ever see the duct tape, and the other side is nice and pretty and lets light in. And I can switch place mats whenever the current one gets dirty or I want to change things up. And the little nook that was created is a perfect place to store my iPod player.



I know, it's strange, but it's all about making things pretty, no matter how run down or weird your house is.

Your purse, your home, your mind, your body

I firmly believe that a woman’s state of mind, body, and soul can be determined by looking at the state of her purse, her home, her car—anything that is near or dear to her. I have found this to be true in my own life, and Georgia concurs. She told me all about the purse theory, which jives with my own house and car theory.

There have been many times when my house has gone to hell, or my purse has been in shambles, or my car has looked like a moving garbage can. I seem to be rather out of sorts during these phases, in all areas of my life, and I begin to lose focus and a sense of purpose, too. I start spiraling out of control and cannot stop the landslide of discontent, and meanwhile my personal items and places are reflective of this phenomenon. Too many receipts and keys are thrown in my purse. I neglect to sweep or vacuum or do the dishes once too often. Or I simply toss my empty fast food bags on the floor of my car, thinking I’ll deal with it all later, but there’s never a later during these phases. There are plenty of delays and maybes and mini bursts of intention, but nothing more.

Nothing, until I get the cleaning and organizing itch and decide to fix everything up. I have these moments of clarity where I want and need to have everything clean, tidy, and organized, and I can almost hear a click, like a lock being turned or a button being pushed as I become more organized. My mind and body are usually in sync with the emerging order of my dwellings and possessions, and I feel positive and happy as I work. Suddenly I am able to sit on my couch again and not have dog hair all over me, and I can find my sunglasses in my purse without wading through wads of paper, and my car isn’t a scary, smelly, crowded place to be. I am at peace again, internally and externally. I can sit down and breathe and be content with the lack of chaos around and within me, and be in a state of nirvana, if only for a breath of time.

(Photo courtesy of Fotosearch)