the cozy apartment

Ikea Love....& big news!

First of all, the Big News, which I'm sure you suspected, we closed on the house today!!!  We're homeowners!  It is SO WEIRD, I feel like I'm actually an adult now, though I've been driving and drinking for years (though, um, not at the same time, of course).  It was a completely surreal experience, I kept looking around the room thinking, "This is what I'll remember when I look back at today...weird, the escrow agent has an ape on her travel mug".  We get the keys on Tuesday (ak, Monday is a holiday!  I need to start working at a bank) but I won't be able to go to the house until a week from today b/c of a business trip!  GAHHHHH!  Ok, Jess, pull it together.

In other news, Ikea has a new slew of fun stuff up for grabs!  Woo hoo!  The thing that caught my eye though was this fabric.  I HAVE to have it.  The little fox?  What?!  HOW CUTE!!! And the bird fabric?!  This line of fabric is SO much better than what they've offered in the recent past.

 

Also love the Alpine pattern and the crab is definitely going in my bathroom (ak!  My bathroom.  I don't have to share anymore!!!)!

 

(all images courtesy of Ikea)

As you can imagine, I have TONS to do to get ready for the move (on the 19th!), so I probably won't have a chance to blog for the next week or so.  I'll be back soon, though, with lots to show and tell! 

Darn it, Target.

January, here at TCA, is Use What You Have month.  I feel as though this may be the same theme many people have after the holidays.  For me, it's not a social commentary on consumerism, or an effort to preserve the environment.  No, my motives are much more selfish.  Can I do it?  No...really.  Can I?  Can I go without the cute handmade jewelery on Etsy?  Can I NOT purchase more fabric?  I just don't know! 

Well, I'm 13 days into this experiment and so far so good.  Of course, it's easy not to spend money when you don't have time to!  Today was the true test of my will.  Yes, people, that's right.  Target.  Target is killer.  Target is my biggest downfall.  From the great dollar section to the awesome Method cleaning products, Target puts me in a daze.  Seriously, if you're ever in the Tanasborne Target and you see a girl with long, brown hair and a glazed look on her face combing the clearance section and drooling, that's me.  Just back your cart up and slink away, for I am in no condition to interact with other humans. 

Not only was I at Target at 8am when they opened (the BEST time!  There's NO ONE there and all the shelves are stocked!), but it's that time of year.  That's right.  Global Bazzar.  Ak.  The entire seasonal section is awash with Pier 1-esque items.  Sorted by color.  At 30% off. 

Of course, let's be honest, they put this stuff on sale because no one in their right mind would pay these prices at Target.  Or even at Pier 1.  And a lot of this stuff is sub-Pier 1 quality.  But...dammit, it's so *pretty*.  This year they're not calling it Global Bazzar, but the Home Design Event.  Whatever.  All I know is that I *want* that wooden laquered box.  I *want* this wooden burl stool that looks like it was transported directly from 1976.  I *want* the grey Ceana chairs that go with nothing I own and would be destroyed by my cats in matter of minutes. 

You (and my husband, I'm sure) will be glad to know that my will prevailed.  I bought none of it.  I reisited the Target temptation.

I splurged and bought a second box of drier sheets instead.  Long live frugality! 

Atlanta in pictures

aaahhhhh......vacation.

wait...what's that you say?

Did you say there's a freshly ironed tablecloth on the table?  Can't resist...must.....

Roll!!!

Ahhhh....

Much better. 

the random post with some yumminess...

Well, that's it folks!  The last of this peanut butter.  I MUST have more, so I'm sure I'll place an order soon!  Emily was talking about comfort food on her blog (which is on myspace, so I'm unable to link to it here...hint, hint) the other day and I forgot to list this in my reply to her post.  Peanut butter and banana on toast and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.  Of course, this peanut butter has the cinnamon built right in, so even better!  I have this as often as I can.  It's in my top 5 favorite foods:

1.  Coffee.  Most certainly a food, not just a beverage.

2.  These bowties with butter and parm.

3.  Pizza Margherita.

4.  Peanut Butter and banana on toast with cinnamon and sugar. 

5.  BLT's

Yep, I'm a simple Italian-American girl! Mmm...I love food! 

Not much going on here at TCA, for the past week the weather was stunning, now back to grey doldrums.  It's better that way, I get more done when it's boring outside!  When it's sunny I can't concentrate and stare out the window far more often than I'd like!  Of course, we all need some staring-out-the-window time. 

As a side note, I know from time to time you've seen me put up this icon:

along with a short phrase about a pet.  Working in the veterinary field, we see things.  Things people think don't happen, hope don't happen.  But they do. You feel angry and nauseated and you feel like there's nothing you can do about it.  Sometimes we have to stand by helplessly watching a person treat an animal poorly because it's not *technically* abuse and we have no legal right to help the pet.   Those are the difficult days.  There are many, many wonderful days and we have *wonderful* clients!  On occasion I see something horrible and I can't get it off of my mind.  Some days I can't just come home and leave work behind me.  I can't get the innocent face of the frightened pet, often in pain, out of my head.  So, I do the only thing I can do.  I continue to educate as best I can.  And on those hard days, I put up a blurb on this blog and donate to one of my favorite shelters.  Because, at least that might help them save a pet that I couldn't. 

Hm.  It's a little dark for blogland, but I just wanted to give you guys an explanation about that little icon.  Please consider donating (even old towels, blankets, etc!) to your local animal shelter.  They have a very difficult job and can use all the help they can get! 

Today's icon is for Panda the kitty. 

Christmas shopping...um, for myself.

It's funny how on my busiest days off, I can still find time to post something.  I have NO TIME to be doing this today, yet here I am!  Ah, procrastination.  Good stuff.  Yesterday was the Ikea trip, it was wonderful.  We arrived at 9:40am and got a front row parking spot!  We left at 1pm and still hadn't run into much of a crowd.  They didn't have the cone-shaped trees that I wanted, but that's ok.  They only had them in brown and purple and they weren't fuzzy, they're made of, I dunno, burlap or something equally scratchy.  Instead I got these, this and this (in blue...they love it! tee hee hee).  Oh and candles...lots of 'em. 

Then we went to Macy's and I got these!  LOVE.  love, love.  So...perfect.  So...Martha.  So...not bottom rack dishwasher safe. 

Sigh...I'm just going to stare at these and pretend that my apartment has cleaned itself.  Maybe I'll take a nap.  Maybe I'll stare outside while lounging at an awkward angle. Silly boy cat.

Jingle jingle!

I LOOOOOVE Christmas!  No time to post right now, but was just changing things up to reflect the mood around here!  We're getting ready to decorate and bake, bake, bake!  My FAVORITE part of Christmas (and really any day of the year) is cookies.  I am a major proponent of cookies.  They're fabulous.  They're a miniature dessert, they're cute, they're fun to make and they're portable.  Perfect.  The new banner is a picture from my favorite book as a kid, Santa's Toy Shop.  The pictures are great, a little retro and full of color!  Here's the full view of that picture, will probably add more soon!  Jingle, jingle! 

mmm...home.

I love being at home.  Period.  It is my all time favorite place in the world.  If I could afford to be a housewife, I probably would.  Though, I think I'd miss people, so maybe I'd work part time.  I worked part time once, it was fabulous!  That's basically a goal in my life, to work part time.  I think that might be everyone's goal.  Even though the apartment is cluttered right now, it feels so snug.  It was SO chilly last night!  So very glad I have kitties to keep me warm! 

Today's sunrise was stunning and was the only thing (other than coffee...yay, coffee!) that dragged me out of my toasty warm bed.  Today is a cleaning day.  Cleaning so I can get out the Christmas decor!  Woo hoo!  I *love* Christmas!  We're keeping it simple this year, no tree, just exchanging stockings ('cause, really, the best stuff is stocking stuffer size!).  I've been hearing a lot out there, at work, in blogland, about people taking a step back this year and committing to a simpler, more laid back holiday.  I gave 1 gift to my family members this year, the Blurb book, and that's all.  Really, what do we all need?  (Um, you know, other than candy.) 

This year I'm happy to have some friends over for a little cookie decorating soirée, spend Christmas day in my jammies with my hubby and kitties, call the folks for the annual "Merry Christmas!" and watch some old movies.  I gotta tell ya, I can barely wait each year to watch Rudolph, The Muppet's Christmas Carol and White Christmas.  LOVE LOVE LOVE White Christmas!  It's my favorite, hands down.  And for something more current, I also love Elf.  That's just a great movie.  The best part (for me, a receptionist) is when he answers the phone, "Buddy The Elf, What's your favorite color?"!  Man, I have wanted to answer the phone like that since I first saw the movie. 

Today I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to get all the things done that need to be done. Of course, more laundry (side note:  some days I think I should re-name this blog "What I feel like saying while I'm home doing laundry"...not so catchy, though.).  Dr's appt, clean, clean some more, then clean again.  Eat something.  Make dental appt, start gifty projects that I can't mention here, start making our stockings, return books to library, find shoes for company Christmas party, hem my jeans, drink lots of coffee and oh, yeah, relax!

And listen to Christmas music.  Cause, yeah, I'm one of *those* people who can't get enough!  Talk to you later, hopefully with some snippets of Christmas decor!  Mmm....love this holiday!  Jingle, jingle!

mmmm....holidays....

mmmm.....pizzelle..... it isn't the holiday season unless there's pizzelle.  That's just all there is to it.  My little old Italian grandmother made these for every single family get together.   I miss her so much.  The holidays make me miss her more, but at least I can make these and think of her.  I've been knee deep in another family project and I am slowly losing my mind!  Always the girl who did her term papers the night before they were due, I need to have this book in to Blurb by the 9th of December to get it out on time.  However, I had set a goal of having it done by Thanksgiving.  Yeah.  We'll see if that happens.  I'm sucking down some coffee now, so who knows?  I've literally been working on the book All Day.  Took a break to make pizzelle and blondies for T-day, and to toss in another load of laundry (um, doesn't it seem like I'm always doing laundry?  It's only the 2 of us, I can't imagine how much people with kids do!).  Oh, and a little break to play with the kitties.  They need it, you know.  How else are they going to sleep through the night?  Theo started initiating games of fetch with the ring from the milk jug.  He brings the ring right to me and drops it at my feet.  How can you say no to that? 

OK, I'm signing off now.   Have a wonderful holiday and I'll see you at the end of this book! 

what I've been waiting for...

aahhh... cloudy, stormy, windy, rainy, grey days.  Finally.  Love this.  This is why we live here!  Call me crazy, but these are the best days.  This morning I went out and bought supplies for baking, you know, the basics; butter, oatmeal, eggs, marshmallows and hot cocoa (hey, a girl's gotta stay hydrated with all that baking activity!).  Then.  I went to JoAnn's.  You guys know my love/hate thing with JoAnn's.   Today it's all love.  To be honest, I have no right to buy more fabric.  And, if I ever get done with my other projects, I'm definitely using what I already have.  Um, yeah.  Here's the deal, though. On top of Veteran's Day, it's clearance time, people.  Half off clearance fabric.  So, I got a few yards of a nice twill (see below) for $2 per yard ($2?!  Yeah!  $2!) and another fabric from Tracy Porter that I've had this weird attraction to for a year now.  Frankly, I don't know why.  I'm not a huge Tracy Porter fan. *(Side note:  Who knew she had a blog?  And a website that has these shelves I've been looking for!? Only, um, I'm looking for them at a quarter of the price.) It's sort of old fashioned in pattern and is filled with weird colors.  Something about the odd limey green with the faded grey background, it just called to me.  Imagine my surprise when I saw the bright red sticker at the end of the bolt!  $2/yd!

While waiting in line for my turn at the cutting table, I spied the fabric remnant bin.  In it was a Better Homes and Gardens home dec fabric that I've stood and stared at each time I've been to that darn store.  From their Charlestowne Collection, Savannah Sepia.  A little over 2 yards, $9.56.  No kidding.  As though that wasn't enough, the fabric remnants are a whopping 75% off the price.   The fabric cost $2.38.  And I had a 10% off coupon.  So I paid $2.15.  I should really play the lottery today.

Other than shopping, today I've done laundry, ate brunch (toast w/peanut butter and bananas, yum!) and cruised e-bay.  After I got over (myself) the deals at JoAnn's, I thought about the veterans who made those sales possible.  And make everything we hold dear possible.  Thanks to all those who have served in the military and those who sacrifice to serve now. 

That includes my dear hubby, Dan.  Thanks, honey, for everything.