Trading Offices

In my nine months of working for the college so far, I've moved offices a total of four times. That's right, you heard me: FOUR TIMES. Twice on the second floor, twice on the first floor. This is due to my boss's indecisiveness of where everyone should be, according to their jobs and departments. The good news is that out of all the offices I've had so far, my favorite is the one I'm currently in. Let's just cross our fingers that I'll be in it for a least a year!

When it felt like I was going to be in this office for a while, I decided to go ahead and do some light redecorating. I've only made some minor changes so far and will do the bigger ones later this summer.

Before, the furniture in the office was all cramped together and had a hideous fake tree, with an equally hideous pink chair, that took up a lot of space. It looked small. Take a look:

However, after I got rid of the tree, moved the console table to the side in the space of the tree, pushed my desk a few inches back, and added some illusion items (as in, the illusion of more space) like a mirror and a framed picture to go along with my other knick-knacks and decor, this is what it currently looks like:

(I forgot to remove the stacks of paperwork I have before I took the picture)

The majority of the things on this console were pretty cheap...
Mirror: Big Lots
Framed elephant picture: Salvation Army
Small box: Cost Plus World Market
Vase (incl. one on my desk): Ross
Thai buddha statue: Ross
Capiz frame: Ross
Books: from office library
Small drum: gift from Indonesia
Matyroshka (aka, nesting dolls): from my trip to Alaska
Small shell plate: gift from France
Purple tulip: gift from Amsterdam

Future decorating plans include hanging three vertical canvas painting on my back wall (the wall facing the back of my chair). To the left of my desk (not pictured) are two visitor chairs. I'd like to add a very small table between them and maybe hang a piece of artwork or another mirror above the chairs.

One of the IT guys passed my office the other day, stopped, and said, "I wish my office looked this lush." Just wait until I'm done, pal! Knowing my luck though, I'd get all settled in, finish making my office look pretty, and then have to move again!

French Connection

I have a ton of work to do, and probably shouldn't really be typing-up a post on my blog, but I can't seem to get motivated to do work today. Probably because I just spent two fun days with my grandparents (more on that in a separate post) and the aftermath of the fun is distracting me.

Another thing that is distracting is my new-found fascination with inexpensive DIY (do-it-yourself) home projects. I've been building up an interest in interior design and thought a good first project whould be dining chairs to put in my modern french-themed dining area. When my sister moved out, she took the dining chairs with her, since she bought them. I've been succumbed to using the little wooden chairs from my garden and, let me tell you, they are NOT comfortable to sit on when trying to have a nice dinner.

Taken from an idea that I found on one of my favorite blogs, bryn alexandra via a guest blogging post she did on another fav jeune marie, I surfed my local Craigslist to find some used dining chairs that might have some fantastic potential. Here are the contenders:

The chairs in this pic are cute. They have simple lines, which would make them simple to paint. The cushions look easy to remove too, which would make them easy to reupholster. The seller labeled them as "antique," so I'm questioning the sturdiness.

I LOVE the design of this chair. It would really compliment the victorian Paris painting in my dining area. The person is selling two of them. The seat wouldn't be as simple to reupholster and I would need to be tedious about painting them, since the arms and top of the back have an intricate design. Still though, they may be worth getting.

Since both sellers are selling two each, I may buy from both of them. You can't really tell, but the legs on the two different chairs actually match. They have a common look between them, which makes me think it might be neat to buy both sets. I was originally looking for just two chairs, but having a set of four would probably be better.

If I buy them, I plan on painting them a soft white, like Bryn did. I think it would look good with my black wood dining table. Here's what I'm thinking to reupholster the seats:

It's a simple, very very soft blue-ish green color that would look pretty on a white chair and would compliment a black table. Plus, with the chairs having a busy design on the backings, I thought to keep the seat color simple.

All I need to do now is buy the chairs and find a weekend where I'm actually not doing anything, so that I can devote the time to do this project!

Update: I bought two of the chairs in the second picture. The lady lowered the price from $175 to $100! I couldn't say no. Keep checking back for restoration updates on this bargain!

Emotional Roller Coaster

The last seven days has had me on quite an emotional roller coaster. Allow me to take you for a ride on the highs and lows...

Sun., June 14

High: Went to the flea market with my sister, where we found some great stuff (more on that on another post) and had some quality bonding time -something we don't get to do that often, despite living only 2 miles apart.

Higher: Went to my friend's bridal shower, where I reunited with old friends I hadn't seen in a while.

Highest: Geoff won the golf tournament he was in!

Low...very low: Geoff's best friend Brad called to tell us that his mom had passed away earlier that day. Geoff has known Brad since they were 8 years old, I've known him since I was 13. We all went to high school together and both Geoff and I knew and loved Brad's mom. To Geoff, she was like a second mom and the news hit him quite hard.

Mon., June 15

Low: Geoff was rather distraught from the passing of Brad's mom, so I stayed with him on Monday night.

Lower: My cough has been very difficult to shake and was so bad that night that it caused me to gag and throw-up (sorry for the graphic info).

Tues., June 16

High: Had a solid meeting at work.

Higher: My office has a softball team and we won the game against the Student Life department! At the beginning of the game, my boss told the other team, "We're just here to win. I'm not sure what you guys are here for." Ha ha!

Wed., June 17

Low: Drove back up to Irvine so that Geoff and I could drive together to Brad's mom's funeral the next morning.

High-ish: Spent nearly 6 hours cooking food for Brad and his dad to eat over the next few days. Made homemade chili for the first time (it was so good!), honey cornbread, mashed potatoes, chili-cranberry meatballs, and chocolate chip cookies.

Thurs., June 18

Low: Went to Brad's mom's funeral at Rose Hills. Service was short and sweet, what she would've wanted.

High: Brad and his dad were really happy that I made food for them. No one else did, which surprised me. They thought they would be stuck eating the leftover sandwiches from the reception after the funeral service.

Higher: After everyone left the reception at Brad's dad's house, Geoff, Brad and I sat around, just the three of us, and spent the rest of the afternoon/early evening just talking. At one point, Brad sat back and said he felt relaxed.

Fri., June 19

High: There was hardly anyone in the office, so I did a little work and took an early day.

Higher: Met with my friends, Janis and Trista, to have lunch at Felix's Continental Cafe in Orange. They have the best Cuban food!

Highest: Came home and took it easy for the rest of the evening. Took a short nap, read my book, watched a movie, and kept things relaxed and quiet.

Sat., June 20

High: It rained the whole morning and stayed nice and cloudy throughout the day.

High: Went with Geoff to look at a car he wants to buy. Test drove a Mazda 6 and we think it's a winner! The people at the dealership were really nice. They even had a guy making free carne asada soft shell tacos outside. My favorite!

High, or Low??: Went with Geoff to a drum & bugle corps show in Walnut. Geoff used to play in a corps called Pacific Crest. The show was mostly boring until the last three groups, which were fun to watch.

Low: I left my dog alone in the house for over 12 hours. I felt really bad.

Sun., June 21

High...Really High: Remember this post about my paternal grandmother who kept flaking on meeting me and my sister? Well, today, on Father's Day, I finally met her. She and her husband flew out here and we all had dinner together. After dreading this moment all month and spending the day trying to calm my sister down, our first time ever meeting our grandmother actually turned out to be pretty good. More than good, really. It was great and I'm happy that she's here visiting. She's an upbeat woman and her husband is warm and friendly. I instantly liked them both. I plan on taking half days at work for the next two days while they're here visiting. I'll be sure to do a post about their visit. This was a very memorable Father's Day.

Up, down, down, up, down, up, up...you see what I mean about emotional roller coaster. However, I'm glad that it has come to a full and complete stop on a high note.

I Heart Zack Morris

He still looks exactly the same.



I love the references he makes and saying Kelly "moved to a different zip code." If you don't get that joke, you must be living in a hole.

The Year of Travel

St. Thomas

"Aruba, Jamaica...Oooh I wanna take ya,

To Bermuda, Bahama...Come on pretty mama..."

Geoff has been singing that song since last Friday. Why? Because we're going to the Caribbean this fall! I'm SO excited! We've been talking about it for a couple months now and last Friday we just decided to go ahead a book a trip there.

Specifically, we're going to the Eastern Caribbean and, even more specifically, we're going on a cruise. We'll be island-hopping to Puerto Rico, Bahamas, St. Thomas, and Turks & Caicos. Woo-hoo! Geoff and I didn't hesitate when it came to deciding whether or not to do this trip through a cruise. We love cruises! You get so spoiled when you're on a cruise. The staff does everything for you, all you do is tell them what you want, sit back, and relax while they get it for you. We had such a fun and memorable trip when we went on our Alaskan cruise nearly two years ago. It's definitely the best way to travel.

Carnival Cruise ship in Nassau, Bahamas

We leave on November 28th, which is the Saturday after Thanksgiving (the airport crowd is going to be hell), and will be gone for 10 days. I hope the next 6 months fly by!

Separately, my family just booked another trip for everyone next spring. My mom is visiting for a little bit and we had a family dinner last night to vote on our next trip. The choices were Italy (Venice), Greece (Athens or Santorini), and Thailand (Bangkok or Koh Samui).

The winner is...

Bangkok, Thailand!

I was really rooting for Italy, but it's more expensive there and everything in Thailand is pretty cheap and we'd get more for our dollar. Plus, the hotel in Bangkok is immaculate and amazing. Sits right on the Shangri-La River. As for Greece, Geoff said when he goes for the first time, he was hoping it'd be for our honeymoon. Hint? Who knows. But I like the sweetness of it, and so did my mom, so we ruled-out Greece for now and Italy will most likely be in 2012 (we do a big family trip every other year).

Tillamook National Forest, Oregon

Also, sometime this summer, my sister and I will be taking a trip up to Oregon. Just a fun trip to go on together. Don't know when that's happening yet, but we have free plane tickets that need to be used before October, so sometime before then. I'm kind of trying to get her to change her mind and go to New York or Seattle instead, but we'll see. She has her heart set on Oregon.

In addition to all this, Geoff is taking me somewhere for my 30th birthday next February. I have a very strong feeling he's taking me to San Francisco for a few days. I know for a fact we're going on a trip, but don't know where yet. He has it all set-up already. He's more excited about me turning 30 than I am!

How are we traveling this much with a struggling economy, you may ask? Well, we're just lucky enough that the cruise was rather inexpensive, Thailand is being paid for by my parents, I'll be using my plane ticket I was supposed to use for Missouri to go to Oregon instead, and Geoff paid for my birthday trip well in advance.

I love traveling, and do it often, but this is a lot to take in. I'm basically going somewhere every two months. I feel a little tired just thinking about it. By the time Thailand is over, I'll have no more vacation time saved-up at work and will have to start saving all over again. Oh well. It'll be worth it and gives me time to plan my next set of adventures.

Staying Neutral

When my sister moved out of my house, she unfortunately left a mess for me to clean up in her old room. In addition to the mess, I also have to contend with another problem she left behind, which is the color she painted it -an obnoxious, streaky red color. It's really quite hideous. You walk into the room and it's almost offensive. I hate it. What I hate even more is that, before she painted it red, she painted it pink. It was like she was living in a bottle of Pepto Bismo. When she painted it red, she didn't bother painting the ceiling or a built-in shelf area, so that stayed pink. Red walls with a pink ceiling. It's painful. To make it worse, she didn't even put on a second coat of paint to the walls, so it's all streaked and looks messy. I don't know what the hell she was thinking.

My goal in the next few weeks is to completely redecorate this room and transform it into a simple, relaxing, refreshing guest room. The first step in my progress is picking out a color to paint the room with. Since I'm going for a calming theme, I picked a couple neutral colors I like. These are the two I'm trying to decide between (both samples are by Behr Paint):

This one is called Chocolate Froth. It's a nice light beige-ish color. Very neutral and bright.

This one is called Wheat Bread. It's a lovely taupe color. Neutral and warm.

These online paint samples don't look like the ones I have. The ones I got have more of a grey undertone to them. I'm kind of leaning towards Wheat Bread. Only because the room gets a ton of light and this color would look amazing in a room full of sunlight.

For furniture, all that will go in this room is a bed, a nightstand with this lamp I love that I found on clearance at Target, and maybe a small armchair that I can find at my next flea market trip.

I can't wait to show you a before and after picture. The difference is going to be startling, I assure you. Hopefully, I'll be able to get this done within the next 4-6 weeks!

A Special Post for Special Friends...

I have known Aranne since we were in 3rd grade. She was always one of my very good friends. After we graduated high school, I didn't see her for a long time, up until last November at her family's Christmas party. I then got to meet her husband Dan, who is a very nice and sweet guy.

For nearly a couple years now, Aranne and Dan have been hoping to bring a sweet little baby into their lives through LDS Family Services adoption. Unfortunately, the process has been very long and trying on them. Despite that though, they've both remained positive, cheerful, hopeful and focused on receiving the baby that's meant to be theirs.

To help promote their adoption efforts and give it more visibility in the hopes of connecting with more people that may help them with their process, I'm writing this post for them. If you can help them, or know someone who can, please read and/or forward this link to their blog:

http://danandaranne.blogspot.com/

Please take the time to look at their blog and pass it along to anyone you think might be able to help. Aranne and Dan are such good people and are hoping and praying everyday that they might have a little family of their own. My love and good wishes go out to them and I know they will be blessed with a perfect little baby of their own soon.

Long Time, No See Blog

A month? That's how long it's been since I've posted something? As much as I hate to blame work, that's what I'm blaming it on. However, since I'm working from home today, I can devote a little time to my poor neglected blog and post some new things. I'll start my first blog update with Mother's Day, which was yesterday...

Since my mom moved to Houston last year, I wasn't able to be with her this Mother's Day (but, I'm flying out there this August for her birthday...shh, it's a surprise). So, I took Geoff's mom for a fun outing to the Rose Bowl flea market in Pasadena. Geoff's cousin came along too. I'll pause here for a moment to vent about something...

I have to say, I was rather disappointed with Geoff and his sister for not doing something special for their mom. Without going into detail, they just weren't being thoughtful and were rather selfish. The reason I'm disappointed and complain is because their mom does a whole lot for them and never expects a thank you. Mother's Day is celebrating and appreciating your mother. Don't think I didn't verbally express my disappointment to both of them. I gave them a mouthful, for sure. His brother at least gave their mom a card and planted flowers for her in the garden.

Ok, venting over. Anyhow, when I found out what their lack of plans were, I asked Geoff's mom if she wanted to go with me to the flea market and peruse all the vintage items they might have there. She was quite excited and said yes. Since Geoff's cousin is into that type of thing, I asked if she wanted to go too. None of us had ever been before. When we got there, it was much bigger than I anticipated. There was a mix of different things, both modern and vintage. We were there for three hours and barely saw 1/4 of everything! We all had a lot of fun looking at all the neat things they had. Of course, I made a few purchases:


I couldn't resist buying this cute little glass perfume bottle in the shape of a Cinderella-style pumpkin coach. It was only $5. The perfume in it smells old and nasty, so I'm dumping it and plan on putting my favorite scent in it. The delicate embroidered handkerchief next to it was for free. The lady at the booth told Geoff's mom that, since it was Mother's Day, she could pick any handkerchief she wanted. I think she saw me admiring them too, because she told me I could pick out one, even though I'm not a mom yet. While I was choosing one, I thought how lady-like handkerchiefs are and made a mental note to start using mine. Geoff's mom selected a pretty white cotton one, with small pink flowers embroidered on one corner.


I bought these teacups for my mom. She loves collecting small teacups. They were $2.50 each. They were both made in Germany, which is perfect because my mom lived in Germany for several years and loved her memories there. The teacup on the left has a scene of a fox hunt painted on it, with gold flowers painted around the cup and saucer. The teacup on the right has pink chrysanthemums on it. The saucer was missing, unfortunately. The blue and gold flower brooch between them is for me. I like collecting vintage jewelry, especially brooches. Only $5!

As a Mother's Day gift, I bought Geoff's mom a vintage glass sugar bowl and creamer set that had a pretty design of flowers and leaves etched all over it. She was really happy and put it in her china cabinet right when she got home.

All in all, it was a pretty good day. I got a little sunburnt, but didn't mind since I could use some color. The flea market is the second Sunday of every month. I'm pretty sure I'll be going back next month!