Obsessed

Usually what happens is I have an idea, and that idea has to be fulfilled at that exact moment. Otherwise I sit obsessing over it for way too long.

This happened last night. My mom took Micah and I was sitting looking at the dining room thinking I want a new light. Of course, thanks to Pinterest, I saw one that I thought I may like at Lowe's. So in that instant I told Jonathan we had to go to Lowe's and buy it. He must have been trying to suck up to me because he was game. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend their Valentine's Day at Lowe's?!

We're looking in the lighting section and I was bummed when it wasn't there, and then my second choice wasn't as great looking in person as it was online. But I did find one I liked at first, and then I kept going back to it and obsessing over it and smiling over it. And then I couldn't stop thinking about it at. Weird, I know. 

Here it is in all it's glory:

My practical husband said to wait for a few days until our other project (finishing the floors) was done. Well we finished last night so can I go to Lowe's today and get it?!? Seriously this picture does it no justice. The light bulb is gorgeous and vintage-y and rustic and modern all at the same time. It's absolutely perfect. The picture looks a little small but in person it looks like it would hang over our kitchen table just fine.

What else I'm obsessed with is kitchen backslashes, specifically this one:

I love the look of the subway tiles and ooh, that rug! And the cabinets, and the stove. So after our other projects, backsplash it is!

Since it's a 3 day weekend I think it's a perfect time to hang the light of my dreams, don't you?

Time flies, doesn't it?!

We've been over here nursing a baby with a double ear infection, turning 31 (not me!! gasp!), attempting to finish and seal our floors that I hate that we're never going to get rid of, and finishing masters degrees (not me again...been there, done that, got the diploma). I've also been getting that bug that I get every now and then when I want to sell everything and start all over (mostly just the couches...). Unfortunately that is nowhere near possible so I am trying to learn to work with what we have.

My office space has been getting  a lot of use lately and it's also been driving me bonkers. I had this fantastic vision of finding a beautiful, vintage drawer of some sorts that was just skinny enough for paper. Well that doesn't exist, or I just don't have the patience to wait for it at Goodwill or a yard sale. I tried to look at Ikea but nothing really fit the style I was looking for; it was either too industrial or too big. I decided to clean out our old dresser in the guest room and it seems to be doing to trick for now. 

A little snapshot of my desk area. The old Ikea dresser fits the big old printer on top and paper, shipping supplies, etc. go in the drawers. So far so good and I don't have crap all over the place (yet). What I'd really like to do is take the bed out of there but our one set of guests will be coming soon. And really, there's nowhere else to put a bed. Gotta love 60 year old houses. 

Since I'm on an Ikea ramble apparently, I found these prints there. The set was only $12 and I think they are adorable. 

They don't necessarily go with my style (my mom's style, actually) but they are fun, colorful, and gosh darnit I like them! I just need frames and then I think I may add them to the guest room/office/storage. 

I also made a new print set for the kitchen tonight and I'd like to add a little gallery wall above my desk if I don't use the Ikea prints there. Maybe once I'm happy with them I'll give a wall tour. Exciting, right?

Calling it a night :)

Brain Dump

I keep going to sit down and blog, but of course I get sidetracked. With my small amount of time, here's a few random thoughts for the day:

• As the days go by, I get more obsessed with my shop- designing, promoting, studying SEO- but then I realized the correct word may be passionate. I guess that's a good thing, right? It started as a hobby, but now something I'd like to take more seriously. I take pride in my work and my customers even more now!
• Micah's getting to the point in his age where I am starting to freak out about making sure he's doing enough "developmental" things. I mostly let him play, explore, cause trouble because I don't want to frustrate or bore him. He still sticks crayons, markers, paintbrushes in his mouth because he knows he shouldn't be! When does this everything in the mouth phase end!?
• I've been doing really well on being aware of wheat and what I'm eating. I haven't had a straight up piece of bread, but it's been long enough that I haven't that when I eat something that may contain a trace amount of wheat my body can tell. And the feeling sucks! I still am trying to prioritize recipe planning and thinking outside the box. 
• I'm starting to get so excited for Spring Training! I drive past the Brewer's training complex every day on my way to work and I get a big smile on my face. Most of all by cousin and her husband will be here so I'm super excited for that. And we're not planning on moving in the middle of when they're here next time.
• Also looking forward to this. No, it didn't fit in with my budget, but it's also been on my Arizona bucket list, so I couldn't pass up the 1/2 off Deal Chicken deal. Sometimes bucket lists outweigh budgets.
• Excited for a weekend of rain! I love overcast skies and having an excuse to lay around and cozy up. 

Have a fantastic weekend!

My Faves on Etsy: Kid Edition

I thought it would be fun to give a shout out to some fellow Etsy shops every now and again. Etsy is just the greatest place to get sucked into and discover such cool things you never knew could exist. Etsy is the perfect place to get baby shower gifts and unique items for your little guy or gal.

This shop has some adorable little hats for the baby sports enthusiast. Now if your little one won't wear hats, they're great photo props. Here's an adorable Brewer's crocheted hat. ADORBS!

I love this personalized wooden bowling ball set from KeepsakeToys. You can purchase them as is or add letters of your child's name to each pin. So cute! Again, great gift idea!

These aprons are super cute and are great for your child to help you in the kitchen or do arts and crafts. Cute! They remind me of dolls for some reason...

I'm in love with these colors together. If we ever have a girl, this is my color scheme (for now, anyway!).

Do you have any favorite Etsy shops that have great kids items? I love new finds on Etsy :)

I'm Back!

Who's happy? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

With my Etsy shop taking off (using that term very loosely) I wanted to have a little bit more of a personal touch to people buying my stuff. Don't you always wonder about the person behind the things you buy? Since I've neglected this blog a bit, it's always here for me. I want to try to add a little bit of this and that and share bits and pieces of things that I love, do, make, and see. 

On that note...

How's 2013 going so far? I'm enjoying it, if I do say so myself. I've made quite a few goals for myself (not resolutions, just goals) as always, and I thought I'd share some.

Personal:

• start saving more money. I've put myself on a cash budget for groceries and "fun" stuff. So far so good. I've started putting more money away automatically every two weeks. Outta sight, outta mind ;) Jonathan and I have separate accounts, which works for us, and everything evens out pretty well. 
• bike more. We've moved to a fantastic area, got new bikes, and a bike trailer. We've had a terrible cold snap but I'm excited for spring and the places our bikes can take us!
• be more cognizant of my diet. I go through phases and my pants can tell! I just started Wheat Belly and I'm excited to learn some great info from this book. I have the knowledge, I have the skills, I just need to have more willpower! 
• get family photos taken. We have a great set of pictures taken by Christina Heaston, who unfortunately does not live here. These pictures are also over a year old. I need to do some research to find an affordable family photographer in the Phoenix area with the "eye" we are looking for. Any offers?! ;)

Professional:

• find a new career. Without getting too much into detail, it's time for me to move on and out of K-12 education. It's a hard place to be. You need a thick skin, among other things, and me not having to power to change things I see going wrong is really frustrating. I'd like to get into higher education and get my feet wet. From there, who knows?
• make more money. Goes with the above. I hope to start out about the same salary, but I need to go somewhere with opportunity for growth. With my degrees, I should be able to make more than I am, or at least be able to make more than $1,000 a year by getting another masters degree! Or perhaps, make more money based on my performance at a job (wait, wha?!).
• have 300 sales this year on my Etsy shop. I think it's possible and I will do everything in my power to make it happen!

So those are my goals, my biggest is probably finding a new job, which I've been pretty active at so far.

What are your goals? Looking forward to a great year!