It's backwards day

Wow--the internets are a-buzz with scathing remarks about Amanda Seyfried's BodyAmr dress that she wore backwards to a movie premiere.

(photo courtesy of dailymail.co.uk)

Okay, so it's not the greatest. But it's a great color and if the zipper had gone all the way down to the hem I really probably wouldn't have noticed at all.

Plus--let's put this in perspective. Her look was a little odd because it was on backwards. This one's just plain insane.

(photo courtesy of hollywire.com)

Yes. This is Lady Gaga. Out, in public, not on stage--just doin' some shopping or whatever. Now let's judge Amanda Seyfried.

I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls

My newest obsession? Marble. I don't know what the differences between all the types are and I don't know the good from the bad (except that "bad" generally means "more grey") but I want to use it everywhere. I want it on the floors, on the countertops--everywhere. It started with Sarah's House, on HGTV when I saw this...

(picture courtesy of hgtv.ca)

Here's a pretty, but not-so-affordable-on-my-budget option from The Pottery Barn...

(picture courtesy of potterybarn.com)

And how about this gem from FrenchBlue & Co? It's an antique marble sink from Turkey. It's so rustic--it would look so fantastic as this one does--in an indoor, more refined space--but I think it would also look great out in a garden.

(picture courtesy of frenchblueandco.com)

The waiting game

My husband and I have three bedrooms in our house. One is for us, one is for our guests and the final room we intend to be for a child some day. At the moment that room is being used as an office/clothes closet and occasionally a second guest room when all of my in-laws come.

I have this internal tug-of-war over this room all the time. Should I turn it into a full-time office? Now that I'm running a business out of my home AND my husband's getting his doctorate we could really use one (like this one, designed by Troy Beasley)

(Picture from HGTV.com)

Should it be a full-time closet? My husband's clothes fill up the closet in our bedroom, plus most of another closet, and an armoire in the guest room. I also have an armoire in the guest room, but there's not a lot of other places for my hanging clothes to go.

Or do I keep the room in limbo? My concern, of course, is that the moment that we get used to the function of the room, that we furnish it accordingly to the dimensions of that room in a style that we'd like dependent on the function, we're going to a.) have to turn it into a nursery and b.) try to find new space/function for everything that was in the room previously.

Any opinions?

Things I should know about myself (but clearly don't...)

1.) I should really give up white wine. If I have any more than 1 glass it makes my heart race and it makes it pretty much impossible for me to go to sleep--but man do I love a good Riesling!

2.) I should really give up caffeinated coffee. It makes my heart race and freaks me out for most of the morning--but man do I love a cup of Pumpkin Spice coffee!

3.) I should really give up Starbuck's hot chocolate. It's got to be a gazillion calories--but man do I love it. It's not too rich, not too sweet and it's always the right temperature! How do they do it?

How is it possible that I'm still drinking all this stuff? Seriously--not only do I know that it's not good for me--2 out of 3 of the things actually make me feel physically bad! But the momentary satisfaction--the taste--overrides all other thoughts. And we wonder why we can't lose weight?

I wish I had managed to learn this stuff between June 2009 and 2 days ago so I could have added it to that post and been done with it!

"Up, up it goes, but never grows"

So I'm starting my own business. It started out as a home organization business--but has become more of a "life" organization business. I actually just became official on Monday, when I finally had my DBA, my EIN and my bank account (with nothing in it). I haven't done any advertising yet though, because my cousin and I are working out the website details--and I don't want to advertise a website and have people go there and find that there is no information.

Long story short--I was working on some print advertisements today (the kind where all I'll have to do is print them out once the site is up and running) and I started looking for pictures on the internet. I came across this site with photos that you could use royalty free, and saw this picture.

I couldn't use it in my advertisement--it just wouldn't have made any sense and there was too much green in the picture for what I wanted, but it took my breath away all the same. It reminded me of the Troll scene in The Hobbit, or in a way, the Paths of the Dead in the Lord of the Rings. The path winding between these giant pillar-like stones in the middle of a forest awoke every fiber of young-Amy who wanted nothing more than to walk through the back of her closet into Narnia.

Who am I kidding? Current-Amy wants that too. :-)

PS...The quote in the title is from the chapter "Riddles in the Dark" from The Hobbit.

10 things I've learned since June 2009

I really love reading Paloma's blog, "La Dolce Vita." I get the impression that she and I would agree on just about everything if we were partners in an amateur interior design firm. One of my favorite parts of her blog though, does not necessarily have much to do with fashion or interior design. It's finding out what all of her guest blogger's/friend's, "Top 10s" are, and I decided to create one myself, after a fashion. I started this blog in June of 2009 in an attempt to pull myself out of a bit of a downward spiral brought on by (but not necessarily caused by) my job. I have learned an awful lot this year, and though I only ended up posting here four times in the days between then and now, I am happy to be doing so again now.

10. You can do anything for a year. I am referring, of course, to my job. I have done it for nearly 2 years now. I have continually made excuses as to why I should stay. "They want to help make it better!" "Things might change though!" "If only I worked a little harder, things would be better!" "But what about x-person and y-person? They don't like it either and they still stay!" I am glad that I stuck it out for at least a full year. I really put my mark on it, but it leads me to number 9...

9. You do not have to be a martyr to be a good person. Over the past 2 years I realized many things, but the most significant is the fact that I do not have to be completely unhappy and without hope in order to be a good person. Leaving this job does not make me a terrible, selfish person. Though many of my friends purport that no one will ever do the job as well as me, I hardly think that is the case. In fact--perhaps a person coming in now--who didn't have to fix everything AND sustain everything will have an easier time. My being there doesn't make me a good person. It makes me a stupid person for doing something which made me so depressed for so long when there were other options open to me.

8. Grey is the greatest of all neutrals. Seriously folks--you can't beat it. It goes with every color. It goes with brown, it goes with black, it looks awesome with white. I used to hate grey because I associated it with depression. Now I associate it with thriftiness and fashion.

7. You don't need as much caffeine as you think you do. I used to drink 4-5 cups of caffeinated coffee or tea a day. When I met my husband, I reduced it down to 2-3. Recently I have been having some trouble with panic and for while had reduced it to none. (It's amazing the way the fear that your heart is going to explode makes you want to stay off the stuff). It's back up to 1--but it hasn't been a problem at all. Being happy and busy is way better than any caffeine I've ever had.

6. The reason why I cannot keep up with a blog is because I'm a compulsive editor. It's true. In my own work, in other people's work, in my house in my job--I can't stop the editing process. It's a blessing and a curse.

5. The value of family. It sounds so cliche, but nothing soothes my soul like being with my family.

4. How to use a staple-remover. I can't believe this--but I never knew how to use one correctly before. Did you know that you're supposed to lift the prongs on the back of the staple first, and then pull from the flat part that shows on the front of the document? Neither did I!

3. Any schmoe can start a business. That's right. I just started one and it occurs to me that the process, while involved, is pretty easy. Sometimes I used to look at websites and see typos everywhere (there I go with the editing again!), or even wander into stores and think, "How is this person in business?" Well now I know. It takes 1 form of identification and about $31.00. That's how.

2. In the future I intend to include pictures on my blog. Your welcome. I wouldn't want to read all my blathering-ons either.

1. The worst that can happen is hardly ever the worst that can happen. If you're in a situation that is affecting your life in a negative way--ask yourself what's the worst that can happen by getting out of it. If the answer isn't, "I'll die" then pluck up your courage and do it. Just do it. Nothing is worth feeling terrible every day if a simple change in living/working situation can change it. Remember--you don't need to be a martyr to be a good person.

Well that's it kids. Hopefully you've learned something since June 2009 now also. :-)