Christmas Craziness

This year I was in the mood to decorate the house a bit more than usual. Could be the Christmas board I've been pining to all year on Pinterest. I didn't get everything done but did add a few more things. In the living room I was trying to decorate the bookcase with the extra boughs from the tree. We grew up with the mantle decorated at Christmas. This is the time of year I wish I had a fireplace - for the mantle. 

And in the sunroom I hung boughs at each window. I started to do bows but the cats thought they were fun so am waiting until next year to include the bows. 

Speaking of cats, I just saw the extent of damage to my bag. I had some cookies zipped up in it friday night and I think Webster was ruthless trying to get to them. Crazy!  The handles are almost gone anyways but i was going to get a little more life out of the bag. 

Luckily I'm not too annoyed as I've been looking for a new bag anyways. Plus they are so cute.  I have been a bit more annoyed this year though around the festivities. I'm trying not to let it turn into a chore. But this year  it's gotten more annoying with everyone wanting the wish lists spelled out. On one list I had put a general description of something I wanted (along with several other choices) and linked an example from LL Bean. I get both emails and texts telling me it's sold out. Frankly I don't have the time this time of year to hunt down alternatives, especially since I'm not the one retired. I'm literally one step short of just buying the gift, wrapping it and handing it over to the person so they can turn around and give it to me. What's the point?  And then on top of that I get to look forward to the family festivities in VT where half the people don't want to be celebrating Christmas there. It's probably the fact that this will be the last Christmas in VT (the plan is to sell the place in the spring) that I've lost my patience with the usual holiday antics. Being a sentimental traditionalist that I am. And on top of that I had the best laid plans for gifts and thought I was ahead only to find myself scrambling in the eleventh hour. I ordered something online about three weeks ago and after enquiring about it find out the order was lost in the shuffle and some of the items are sold out and the others are coming after Christmas. Ugh. End of rant. 

Last night I was trying to get the last of my shopping done. Unfortunately a bunch of stores closed early on Sunday. While waiting in line at Macy's, I saw this 'sale'. Apparently they really want to off load the 10" but not the other sizes. So I'm not the only one feeling the craziness of Christmas. 

Shortest Commute

Just finishing up work at our Atlanta office. I walk down to the lobby and realize I have the shortest commute. I just run across the street and  I'm "home". 

You can see the Hyatt sign through the lobby doors. I'm in the tower portion which is kind of cool. 

You get off the elevator and instead of hallways there's little nooks with doors on all sides. The room is smaller but a cooler design. From my window you can see where I took the picture between the ground skylights. 

I was checking out the adjacent "mall" and got a little lost. But all good. 

Delta

This morning I was having déjà vu as I entered terminal A at the airport. And then I realized I've gone through the same set of doors on thursday (going to Ny), Friday (coming back from NY), Sunday (picking up nick from his trip to Rio via Atlanta) and now Monday morning as I fly down to Atlanta. 

While waiting for Nick's arrival the luggage started arriving. I went over to see if I could spot nicks luggage. Didn't see his but saw this piece of luggage that went through an extra TSA check. 

You gotta wonder what they did to warrant wrapping the bag up like this!  Another reason to skip checking bags.   

Christmas Tree

 The Sunday after thanksgiving I joined my friends to go cut down a Christmas tree. It's a bit of a tradition. I think this is the third time we've gone together and I was reminiscing that the first time we went to a tree farm that had gone to seed (you cut down your tree and then cut the top half off to get your tree but priceswere good   for the metro area) my god son, Cam, was just starting to walk and Maggie was still being carried. And now they're helping me pick out which tree to cut and carry it back to the car. 

Other years I've also cut trees down in VT. There's a place north of dads which charges $20, any size. That was the timeI got the biggest tree to date. It ended up having to sit in the middle of the room due to the breadth of the branches. I was thinking this year I might get two smaller trees and Maggie and I were scoping things out. Then I learned they were all priced $55 so went for one of the bigger/regular size trees.  It was a nice old couple running it on their land so that helped knowing it funded their retirement. 

This year, I trimmed the back so I could tuck the tree into a corner. Plus it was a little bald in the back and I wanted some boughs for decorating. I was wondering how this year would be with the "kittens". They were good Sunday and Monday and Tuesday. I did only put non-fragile ornaments up and the cats soon discovered the new water supply. It was Friday that I came home to this. 

When the tree fell it took a floor lamp down and busted the shade. Frustrating since I got the lamp at a designer store that was moving so it was super discounted. I wouldn't be surprised if the shade was $100. But otherwise no other damage. I mopped up the water and put the tree back up. And hoped for the best.  And then Tuesday, just as I was about to leave for work down it goes again!  And I had just put water in. I think it might be the stand since it didn't seem like the cats were doing anything outrageous. 

I kind of tied it to the window curtain rod but think I should run to the hardware store and get an anchor to put in the wall. Something for this weekend! 

Heywood Wakefield

I'm still planning on posting about the family thanksgiving and getting my Christmas tree. But realize it won't be until this weekend. 

In the meantime I just got an email from Retro Craft. They are two quasi-retired sisters that buy mid-century pieces from estate sales, Craig's list, etc and give the a little TLC and sometimes paint or reupholstering. 4 years ago, to celebrate my new job (the current one) I bought one of my favorite pieces - a mid-century bureau. I fell in love with the organizational function.  It had all these sliding shelves to lay out your sweaters so they are easier to access. 

I signed up for their newsletter and sometime find a piece I like but often it is too expensive. I feel like their prices went up as they got more established. 

Anyways, reading my email today I see they have a coffee table that is just like mine.  I stumbled upon a trove of blond mid-century pieces one summer at moms in Ohio. The antique store didn't even have them out on the main floor since that style didn't sell in Ohio. And this is the origin story of how I have so many tables. I loved the wishbone legs of a Heywood Wakefield table, the multi-ply of another and the compact form of the drop leaf. In the end I got all three tables, the 14 chairs that went with them and this coffee table. 

I've been coming to terms that although I still love the pieces they don't necessarily fit my current space needs (constraints) and design style. And that I should start thinking about what to let go of and not hold onto future scenarios (when I have a bigger place and a home for all the pieces). So this is promising to see, even taking into condition the wear and tear of my piece. Especially since I've since learned how to better negotiate what to pay. I think I got a reasonable deal but probably could have gotten a slightly better bargain after watching one of my favorite shows - Market Warriors on PBS. 

I Won!

I just got up and was feeding the cats.  I'm still at the stage where I have to oversee who is eating whose food.  Ten seconds in and Wallace and Winston want to switch up.  Anyways, I'm on my ipad, hanging out and policing everything, and I'm checking out new movie trailers (Jurasic World looks good).  I go to check out something on the internet and the new page shows me options based on recent visits and ESPN shows up.  I remember there were the football games last night.  I was tied for first place with two others.  And there were two Monday games due to having to reschedule Buffalo due to the snow so there really are a lot more in the running. For a moment I'm tempted to check right away, but am good and finish out the task I was working on.

A moment later I'm trying to load up the football page to see who won and hoping it was me or Dan since neither of us had won yet.  I had swung by his desk yesterday to introduce myself and wish him well.  And jokingly find out if he was a ravens or saints fan. I had decided to forgo my new system and go back to the basics - just picking teams based on the geographic location.  There was only one other person who got Thursday nights game - I lived next to Oakland and don't know anyone in Kansas City. Looks like the old system is golden!  I ended up picking Baltimore over New Orleans since I really don't know anyone in the south and we would sometimes fly into Baltimore to visit my grandparents and I've been there a bunch for work - several Baltimore projects in the office. 

I'm so excited I won.  I can sit pretty knowing I came out ahead this year. Of course the other thing now, is that I'm a little closer to third spot overall for the season.  I had started off strong and was first for several weeks, dropped to second and stayed there for awhile and then quickly jumped down to third and then fourth and then fifth. But now, I'm back up to fourth. 

Five games left to gain three points and be back in the running.  It seems so simple on paper. Not likely in reality.  But from here on out I'm just going to play my old way. There's really no rhyme or reason but I've learned that's the case with these games, especially with all the upsets this season.  

Anyways, great way to start the day! And today's my last day of work this week - I'm taking the rest of the week off to celebrate Thanksgiving with mom and nick.

Monday Round-Up

This was a home weekend for me.  Nothing too excited and I spent the weekend catching up on sleep, getting things in order for my mom’s visit today and general life stuff.

1.     Style.  As I’ve been slowly weeding out my closet and tracking what I wear and what I don’t really touch, I’ve been forced to figure out what my style is.  I’ve been trying to figure it out anyways as I move into the next chapter of my life.  With my upcoming Paris trip, I’ve been planning and figuring out what to see and do.  One common thread is what not to wear when in Paris.  Parisians are always stylish and you stick out like a sore thumb when you dress with some of our American habits.   I’ve been searching through the internet to figure out what shoes to wear in winter that are both comfy and warm while staying stylish. On a side note, I stumbled upon Coach shoes.  They are a bit pricier but I have a pair of ballet flats I wore almost all summer and a pair of wine red loafers I’ve been wearing this past month that are just really really comfortable.  They are the most comfortable shoes in my closet and well worth the little extra cost.

 Searching for the winter Parisian style, I stumbled upon a larger area of Parisian style.  I’ve been reading up on different approaches and came across a common theme, “une femme d’un certain age”.  It’s frustratingly non-specific other than keep to classic neutrals and have a pop of style through accessories, shoes or piece of clothing.  I’ve figured I just need to stalk some stylish women on pinterest.  I’m also planning on taking note on my Paris trip.

This weekend, I was making a run to return something to TJ Maxx and ended up walking out the door with a few elements for the closet.  Near the end of the shopping visit, I stumbled upon The navy blazer.  I had been looking for one for ages - something that can be worn with jeans but is dressy enough for work.  I couldn’t believe I found the perfect one - it fits exactly right, the fabric is better than I could imagine, and the color is just right.  It’s from Theory which is one of my go-to stores.  I also picked up a classic white shirt from Theory, that is a little quirky, a pair of Coach loafers for the spring and a cream silk blouse from Marc Jacobs.  What was interesting was that I found I was already editing when perusing the racks.  I would find pieces I liked, but then realized they didn’t fit in with my over all image I was building.  I was happy to see I’ve started heading in the right direction.

This morning, I was putting together the basics and was trying to figure out how to make it more Parisian.  I ended up adding the red wine loafers and keep my accessories to some larger, funky earrings.  Everything else is well tailored and kept simple and clean.  Next up is taking the critical eye to the closet and not only axing favorites that don’t really fit, but also identifying the gaps.

 

2.     Water.  Following on the Parisian style theme, one item that is consistent is that it’s not just about the clothes but also how you take care of yourself.  Reading up on different blogs and articles, I found one that really fit my gut instinct (strange pun since I’m consciously wanting to keep my gut in check).  It mentioned to drink a lot of water.  Which I already knew, but it put it into perspective.  Basically, you should drink half your weight in water.  That equates to about 65 oz for me (130 lbs).  Which is equal to just under 6 glasses of water.  So at work today, I started a new system to track what glass I’m on.  On one of my monitors, I have 6 tabs, and as I finish each glass, I move a tab over to the other screen.  I try to get half way through (or more) before lunch.  As I work, I’m noticing the tab and I am reminded to drink some more water.  So far so good, but I’m not quite through one day yet, so a little too early to tell.  Plus I’m not wild about having to run to the bathroom more frequently.  Ugh.

3.     Nesting.  As I edit my wardrobe, I’ve been editing my house and belongings too.  Everything is slow going as I slowly come to terms that some items, although nice, aren’t really part of my core love.  This weekend I spent some more time on the endless picture project.  I have art and other items that I’ve slowly been framing.  The idea is that if I don’t have the art on the walls, I really shouldn’t be keeping it and out it goes.  This weekend I spent some time cutting out the frame boards and matching up art with frames.  Some are just absolutely lovely and a perfect framing job (the Mongolian huts Nick brought back from China works great with the silver frame I got at the VT dump for free).  Others are almost there, but something is off - not quite the right frame, or backing frame board.  Figured this is something I can have mom help with - figuring out the framing and then also the hanging of the art.  Of course, I’m getting to the point where I have a lot of art up on the walls already so need to make sure I’m editing and not having things too crowded.  Always a challenge! 

4.     Cleaning.  I do say I have gotten a lot better with cleaning.  I was very close to getting a cleaning lady once a month and then it dawned on me that all my cleaning woes are associated with things that require cleaning more often than weekly.  Mainly due to the cats.  So a cleaning lady would be nice but not address the route issue and I’d be in the same predicament.  I think I stumbled upon some tips on pinterest and between the tips and a change in mindset, it’s a lot better.  Something from my time management book is that you should take things to the end.  For instance, if you are done with dinner, clear the dishes, and instead of just leaving them in the sink/counter, take the extra few seconds to put them in the dishwasher.  This goes across all topics and really makes a difference.  I’ve been keeping things pretty tidy.  And then cleaning, the biggest tip, is the 4 minute clean.  During the evening while you’re watching TV, when the commercials come on, go do a quick clean, like wipe down the bathroom, or sweep, or vacuum.  It’s amazing that the chores are really so short on their own and can be done in such a short period.  It also keeps you from going into the deep vortex of wanting to clean everything to the nth degree which is completely unnecessary.  I will periodically tackle a bigger cleaning chore on the weekend.  A few weekends ago, I went through the house and while putting in the storm windows, I washed the windows.  I had set a time so when I realized I was going to run out of time, I only washed the windows I would notice (skipped the bedrooms and study).  It’s been great!

 

 

 

And that's me.  As I was downloading pictures, I forgot about a lunch I had on friday with work colleagues.  I ordered the french onion soup and it tasted as deliscious as it looked!