Yesterday, while listening to a CLE online (that's a required continuing legal education class for those of you who are blessed to live in a non-legal existence), I found myself moving my office desk (read: kitchen table) into my living room...so that I could watch television at the same time. To be certain, the television never got turned on, but somehow I kick-started a reorganizational frenzy from which I awoke five hours later to find a completely different set-up in my living room in addition to a slightly altered bedroom. It also ended up being one of those glorious cleaning sweeps where spaces underneath furniture get dusted and swept.
Of course, with all this sweeping and furniture moving and what-not, I didn't start actual work until the evening, but this is one of the great things about free-lancing and working from home. I'm trying hard to teach myself discipline on this one, because it really will be a great luxury when I learn to manage it. That being said, if you put off working for a few hours in the morning, you need to work a few hours in the evening...even if it is 5 pm. If you meet friends for a three-margarita lunch on Thursday, that's fine. Just be prepared to work on Saturday. And no staying out until 4 am on a Tuesday because you don't have anywhere to be on Wednesday. Take it from me. That one will kick your butt.
The fun thing about moving furniture is you get to feel like you are being creative: How can I make better use of this space while also making it more visually pleasing? What knick-knacks can I remove to make the lines cleaner? What can I add to make the place look like DOROTHY GAYLE lives here?
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| Like, for example, this wall hanging highlights my ruby red slippers, and lets visitors know that I enjoy vacations in Oz. |
Anyway, I now find myself feeling all organized and structured and with a little extra time on my hands. (Truthfully, I technically have free time everyday, I'm just not usually as organized.) But, I thought I'd write a quick blog post about recent around-the-house creative-like things. Most were done yesterday. All are hit or miss and considered temporary until formally adopted by a vote between the me and the dog.
Painting and frame-designing stuff: Ok, this was actually done in April, but I have this set of bedroom furniture. It's old, really old - as in, it was my grandmother's childhood bedroom set, and then my mother's, and then mine, and we always thought if I had kids, I'd give it to them. But I didn't have kids, and while yes, the furniture looks like it belongs to a six year old girl, and I am, just a small bit older than such, it's still really functional, I like it, and hell, am I really going to throw out my grandmother's childhood bedroom furniture for some cheap and trendy crap from Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel? I think not. But I can jazz it up a bit.
That furniture has been white for most of my life...except for my early years when it was....pea green. (If I can find an old picture of it in that color, I'll post.) So that's the before. Below is the after...
Oh, hello. It's blue now. I'm not sure why, but suddenly my bedroom feels like I'm living in Santa Fe. The posters on the wall are also new...for the room. They're old Menil Collection exhibit posters for Calder, Westermann, and Jasper Johns. The frames were black metal, but in April, I gave them a little color. It's this thing I do with scissors, school glue, water, lacquer, and tissue paper. You can't see from the photos, but each frame has a different color scheme.
My other April addition...I was having trouble storing/displaying my chunky necklaces and bracelets from the thrift shops. If I kept them out, they were junky-looking (probably because they were placed on an incense holder, then hung off the side of the vanity, and the incense holder held down by a heavy object) but if I put them away, I'd forget to wear them. One day, I was at the hardware store picking up filters for the A/C system when I spotted a three-prong dish towel swivel rack.
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| Love it. |
My brother visited over Memorial Day. When he arrived, we ran to the bar and commenced telling stories about how crazy our mother is. The conversation ended with him saying, "You know, our sister is just like our dad, and I'm sort of half-and-half, but you Dot, you are ALOT like our Mom." To which I replied, "Hell yeah, I am!" I mean, the lady is a little nuts, but she's also weird and smart and cool. A little bit of a hoarder when it comes to books, there are stacks of them everywhere in her house. I mean everywhere...and on every spare wall, my father has built shelves. Something she does that I always found tacky/clutter-like was to stack books under lamps. That is, until yesterday.
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| Please excuse me while I become my mother and jam books in every crevice in my home. |
One of my new favorite forms of self-expression is cheap accessories. As a result, I have a lot of new sunglasses and thrift store scarves. Yesterday I combined both in my utility room to allow for a quick (and organized) grab of the shades when I left the house.
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| Not sure how long this one will last. |
Also, I'm still cooking!! The other day I made a low-fat/low-cal hummus.
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| Pre-blended. |
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| Secret Ingredient! |
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| Yummy! |
I also made stuffed peppers with quinoa, stewed tomatoes, kalamata olives, and feta cheese.
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| I think this is upside down, but oh well. |
Last, but not least...um, do you like bathroom graffiti? I do. I love reading it in bars and restaurants and other such. No seriously. I do. So, um, yeah. I decided to take a turn with bathroom graffiti...in my own bathroom. Yesterday I wrote my favorite song lyrics and recent quotes from my friends on the tile with dry erase marker...and then I left the pen in a prominent place so guests can add their words of wisdom.
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| Inside joke, but it cracks me up every time I see it. |
Recent shows? Last week it was these guys:
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| Green*Mountain*Grass |
The week before it was a compilation show at the St. Arnold's Brewery:
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| Houston Singer-songwriter: Matt Harlan |
Hopefully I'll stay organized and be back soon. In the meantime, maybe I'll go do some legal work and stuff. Have a great day, y'all!
