Hokay, Sho...

Now, I wasn't planning on having this project completed until Sunday to blog about, but I recieved some... less than settling news last night, which put me in the mood to finish off my organizing cleaning spectacular in the Office.  Here's the problem with our office... I let Boyfriend be in charge of it.  Big Mistake.  Huge.

Here's the before:

Okay, this is in fact, my work area, so this is my fault.  But beyond here lies... well... Boyfriend's fault.

 

From the doorway (note the pile of dishes, beer bottles, and trash surrounding boyfriend's area...).

 

The closet... filled with boxes we still haven't unpacked from over a year ago.

 

Finally, a corner full of boxes and computer stuff.... 

And after a full day of pulling out boxes, assembling shelves, and organizing, (plus breaks to watch Grey's, Modern Family, and Eastwick) I'm proud to show off the  AFTER:

 

My work area.  The board above my desk has some finished greeting cards waiting to be sent out.  You can also see the huge daquiri that Brett picked up for me when he went out earlier.  Trust me, if you had been through what I've been through in the past 24 hours, you'd need one too (by the by, that's not a reference to the cleaning, but to the unsettling news I received in regards to... well, I don't want to talk about it.)

 

The closet, NOW.... much improved.  The pink boxes contain craft supplies, the unit on the left will house my laptop when I need desk space for crafting, so that I'll still be able to listen to my tunes.  You can see that I took the hippie way out when I decorated and utilized my sarongs... but I'm not ashamed, it warms the place up a bit.

 

Our new bookshelf.  It holds the contents of most of those boxes you saw in the before pictures.  Including all of my textbooks from school...

 

Boyfriend's Desk (and Charlie's tail).  MUCH BETTAH.  Note the trashcan I strategically placed next to the desk... Still a mess of wires otherwise, but, I get the feeling it will be hard to control that.

Some clean floors, and an extra cute goggie.  

I know... I haven't posted in like a week.

I have a few posts that are coming together.  I will do a giveaway, and I will be doing a fantastic update on how I am transforming my home office (which Boyfriend had taken over with trash) into an office/crafting studio. 

It's all in the works.

I promise.

In the meantime, I've been up to a lot latley:

- A little bit of "fall madness" cleaning/reordering.  I don't know why, but I've been sort of "nesting" latley trying to make the apartment more homey ( I think it's because I've finally resolved that we aren't going to be buying a house for quite some time now)

- Lots of crafting.  I have several greeting cards in the works (including some halloween cards I'm sending to a few besties this year).  Some wedding DIYs.  And several pieces of beaded jewelry.

- I took up playing "Magic: The Gathering" (now, before you go calling me an uber-dork, hear me out!)  Boyfriend has been having trouble making friends, and recently we found a place where he could make some friends through playing Magic.  HOWEVER, due to his social anxiety and hermit-like ways he doesn't want to go alone.  Also, he hasn't played in over 10 years and is afraid of being laughed at by the other boys because he doesn't know the new rules.  So, I decided that I will be his buffer.  I took up the game in hopes that I could ask all of the dumb questions, and make him feel more comfortable. 

-I am also organizing and creating a catologue system for my DVDs.  They have taken over the living room.  I'm removing them from boxes, putting them in sleves, assigning numbers and ordering them.  Then I put the movies in my catologue system (which I'm using Google Docs for, so that it can be accessed on my iPhone) which can be sorted alphabetically, by genre, by year of release, or on a scale of 1 to 10 based on the like of either me, or boyfriend.  So far I have processed over 100 movies, and am about 1/3 done with the movies.  Then I will start with the TV shows, then workout videos.  I still haven't decided where to put all of the boxes (which I naturally want to keep)

Anyway, This has gotten too long.  more updates to come!

XOXO,
Miss Rachel-Ann

The Colors DUKE!

I was searching my brain hole for something to blog about today (because, I do not want to slip on my bloggly duities) when it hit me. I haven't really talked about the colors for the wedding!

Initially, I thought black and white with deep red accents (think, the color of a red rose) were the way to go. Then I started reading wedding blogs. Suddenly, my world was flooded with beautiful colors: blush pink and buttery yellows, muted pinks with pewter and charcoal, khaki and turquoise, etc. All of these color combos that I saw and loved crashed down on my black and white "classy" affair.

As I considered all of these muted palettes, I tried to figure out what “my vision” was. I considered what was important to me about the day. Is it important to have a high class function? Was it more important to have fun? How will I feel about these colors as I look back on my wedding day?

I ordered swatches of paper from paper-source and started looking at these combinations that I had fallen in love with. I discovered one thing, they just weren’t me. Anyone who knows me in real life will tell you that I’m anything but muted. For starters, I’m LOUD, it’s almost obnoxious. I’m strange, and have slight impulse control problems (if I think something will be fun, or funny to me, but doesn’t put other people at harm… I’ll probably do it). I’m bubbly; I’m one of those cheerful, laugh-y, excited people that everyone else hates. These colors were dull, and un-exciting, and NOT me.

Over time I realized what was important to me: that I have a kick-ass fun-filled party with good food, good friends, and picking colors that set a FUN tone became my goal.

I was flipping through a bridal magazine when I came across an ad (for a company that now escapes me) featuring girls is hot pink and iridescent orange dresses. I found my colors. Pink and Orange. In various shades (because, let’s be real, one dimensional colors are boring.). I’m planning on using bold shades, because, that’s how I roll. I’m so excited for things to start taking on more shape, and come together.

FALL!!!!

One of my favorite things about fall - aside from the return of highs BELOW 90 degrees - is the return of fresh Candy Corn to store shelves everywhere.  I love Candy Corn.  From the buttery-sweet taste to the chewy texture.  It is, without question, my favorite candy.

Yesterday at Target, I was looking for a bag with small individually wrapped portions of candy corn (which serves the function of slowing down my consumption, as well as keeping the humidity from ruining the candy after the bag has been open for more than 2 days).  I stumbled upon something... something wonderfull.

Yes, that's right, Hershey's Kisses CANDY CORN.  I grabbed the bag immediatley, and sauntered off to the register so that I could get home and try this bag of wonder.

When you unwrap them, they pretty much just look like candy corn, but when you put them in your mouth... magic happens.  This has the same smooth creamy texture as white chocolate, but also has the buttery-sweet flavors I love about candy corn.

I am in love.

Plus, chocolate isn't as readly attacked by humidity, and the individual wrappers will keep them fresh enough that I can eat one or two at a time, without any worry that the whole bag will become a sticky mess the next day.

In other news, yes... I am a bad blogger.  What can I say?  Hopefully, this post will mark a return in a big way.

I know, I know...

I haven't really been blogging as of late, because, to be honest, nothing exciting is going on at the moment.

I recived my Vera Bradley Bag, and that has been the highlight of my week.  No Kidding.

I stayed home from work on Tuesday, because I have been sick.  I do not have, the flu or the cold, but rather, my stomach hates me, and any food other than cereal and toast seems to make me nauseous.

That's been my life.  Eating cereal, loosing weight too quickly, and not working out, because i simply don't have the energy to even remain standing for 20 minutes.  Oh, and doctors, lots of doctors. 

However, I am DETERMINED not to let this ruin my upcoming Trip to Ohio.  I leave on Saturday morning: we'll drive up to Boyfriend's mom's with Charlie, and stay there for a few days, before meandering south to visit with Miss Amber Lane and my brother. 

Things I hope to do while in Ohio:
 - eat at Chipotle
 - eat at Skyline Chilli
 - relax
 - cause general mayhem with Amber
 - order a bridesmaid dress (and perhaps, look around for my girls to wear?)
 - perhaps try on a wedding dress or two (i don't know... I can dream right?)
 - enjoy some crisp air (since, we wont see crisp here for another month or so)

Yay shopping!

Recently, I came across a little place on the 'nets called RueLaLa.

I know I'm a little behind to the party, but, what can I say?  Nothing.

How the site works is as so:  It's invitation only, and They send out an e-mail every day to members at around 11:30 est.  This advertises the day's sales (which they call "boutiques") along with upcoming boutiques.  The boutiques are open for 48 hours.  They carry designer clothes and accesories at closeout prices.  Usually, the "good stuff" doesn't last the full 48 hours (some items sell out as quickly as 3 hours after the boutiques open).
I've been watching the site, quietly waiting for something to REALLY pique my interest.  Lo and behold, I found it.  Today they opened up a Vera Bradley Boutique.  Prices ranged from 19 dollars, to 39 dollars.  They only had four patterns, and the one I've been buying Up latley (Carnaby) was not one of them. 

However, I like the Pinwheel Pink as well, so I went ahead and made a purchase. 

I bought the miller bag which will hold my important electronics (by that I mean, laptop and camera) on the long trek to Ohio for Labor Day.  This was the biggest bag offered in the print I liked, and it normally goes for $84.  I snaged it at $39.  Over 50% off. 

I went back later to buy the matching wallet too, but by that time it was sold out.  Which is well and good, because tommorrow they open a Philosphy Boutique.  And well, I need my monies saved up for those goodies.

Want an invite to the site?  just click HERE.  Please use my invite too!  Once you join and make a purchase, I'll be gifted with a $10 credit to my account (You'll get the same deal when you invite people), which I can turn out and use to buy more things to blog about, so really, it's kind of like a gift for you. ;)

Saturday nights in the life of a boring me.

Tomorrow we're having a surprize birthday for one of my favorite great aunts.  I decided to whip out my card making skills to creft up a birthday card for her.

This is what I started with:

 

• A pile of Ribbon Scraps
• Adhesive roller
• xacto knife (IN PINK)
• scissors
• a little baggie of the beads neaded to spell out "Happy Birthday Aunt Margie"
• a cutting mat
• markers
• a selection of five notecards
• and a piece of really pretty scrapbooking paper
• my iPhone for listening to some tunes.
  

This is what I made:

First I went through the cards and ribbons to find the best match with the paper.  It didn't take long to settle on these. 

 

Then I went to work threading the letters onto the ribbon using a bead needle.  This was much harder than it looked; I broke two needles and had to break out pliers at times to get the ribbon through the small holes in the beads.

 

After that I improvised a little bit extra.  I used the adhesive roller to get these ribbons to stick on the back of the card and in two spots each on the front to make sure they stay in place.

 

Then, I used the same technique to attach the ribbons I beaded the letters onto.   I'm pretty pleased with the way the front of the card turned out, but the pictures makes it kind of look like an 80's prom dress now that I see it.

 

After that I used the exacto knife to cut a piece from the paper to cover up the ribbon ends on the top half of the card.   Again, the paper looks much better in person.

 

I also lined the envelope, but took an easy way out and lined it all the way to the edge.  I'll figure out a way to enclose the envelope tomorrow, but for now, I'm super happy with the lining. 

I used the markers to write the message on the inside.  

And, just because I'm a classy broad, I did it all with a glass of water in a wine glass at my side:

So, over the past few months I've been in generally missing the life I left behind on Ohio.  I know that going back wont make this life re-appear, as so many of my friends also left the state.  And there's that whole "not in college anymore" thing to contend with.  But I miss my college life a lot. 

Lately (the past week or so) I've been missing one specific summer.  We called it "the summer of the blingin' shoes."  I was home from school and my best friend from high school (Miss Amber Lane) and participated in more scandal, shopping, and fun times than you could ever imagine.  I ruined fantasies, names were forgotten, cats were threatened, trees were urinated on, gnomes were hunted, blondes had more fun, booze was snuck into bars in tupperware, and the responsibilities seemed to vanish completely that summer.  I worked at a store in the mall for 20 hours of the week, and never had to be there before noon.  It was probably the most fun summer I ever had.   

Now it's (dear god) 5 years later.  How did I spend my summer?  I did go on vacation (twice, but the week long one was in the spring, and the other was only a weekend), but other than that, I worked... worked... worked... at a job I'm not very happy at.  I spent my weekends sitting at home with Brett, because we STILL haven't made any friends here outside of work and my family.  I spent countless hours facebook stalking my friends from Ohio wishing I was there for birthdays, trips to the bar, shenanigans, planning weddings, and lazy days by the pool (side bar: I accidentally typed "poop" and it immediately cheered me up a bit). 

I realize it was my choice to move here.  I really do.  But I miss the life I used to live in college. 

Sent from my iPhone

The first day of the rest of my life or something, right?

So, Tonight I start running for real.   I'm taking my workout out of the gym and onto the roads.  I've been planning this transition to outdoor running for weeks now, and today comes... currently, it's 94 degrees, with a heat index hovering at 103.  It's about to start raining.  So, do i brave the rain, and and chance it?  Do i brave the sweltering heat?  Or do i just humbly go back to the gym, and struggle in front of all of the fit people?

 

I'm thinking... brave it.

 

That's how much I hate running at the gym.

 

I hate people looking at me like a freakshow as I huff and puff my way to a better bod.  I hate how the treadmil makes me dizzy, and I hate how the scenery never changes.  These are all problems fixed by taking it outside.  If someone looks at me funny, who cares?  I'll be gone in a few seconds anyway! 

 

So, I'm gunna do it!

 

 

Charlie is ready for his dinner

- post from my iphone