Oh Goodness.

Supposedly today had an extra hour due to daylight savings.  

I'm not sure I was anymore productive than usual however.  

Yep. 

I'm pretty sure I wasn't.  

Time is still sneaking away from me rather rapidly.  

I mean I don't think the extra hour even registered on my radar.  

And seriously, where did last week go?  And the week before that?  I'm feeling like the days are zipping by and I'm not accomplishing nearly as much in a single day as I set out to when I first wake up in the morning.  

Are my to-do lists just getting longer?  Or am I not tackling them with the ferver I once did?  Hmmm...perhaps it's just that I am distracted by the ridiculously good television that's on this season.   The DVR is completely overflowing.  It's pretty much a full time job keeping up with the awesome programming.  

Well, regardless, time is jetting by and my to-do's are not getting done.  

Blogging, for example, would be one of those things that's being repeatedly lost in the shuffle.  

And I was SO excited to be blogging again.  

However I pretty much went on hiatus after my first week back at it.  

Lordy. 

Well, as a condolence for slacking on the job, I would like to share the following:
1. These are pretty much as epic as they come.

And yes, I love these so much that there might actually be a remote control flying clownfish sitting right here next to me as we speak.

2.  I have a new Holiday paper kit for sale at my lil digi-scrapping shop...and a deliciously adorable element kit is in the works and should be arriving shortly...do check it out!

3. This totally just arrived in the mail and I'm super excited about it.

4. I don't have a number 4 for today, but I hope you had a lovely weekend! xoxo

image credits: urban outfitters, air swimmers

Much Needed TLC

Oh I just feel so terrible...my lil ol' blog has been repeatedly pushed to the back burner for quite some time now...poor thing is longing for some much needed TLC.

To be honest, I have been in need of a little TLC and haven't exactly been doing a very good job at giving it to myself.  It's hard to slow down.  Even in a state of injury, as I am in, it's hard to take care of yourself.  I know what I am supposed to be doing to help myself heal and get better, but the world is so demanding and if you take just the tiniest bit of time to help yourself, you feel so guilty.  If you take the slightest bit of time away from something you think you should be doing, you feel like you've let someone down or like you've dropped one of the many balls you are constantly juggling...or at least I feel that way...

Well today I have truly taken a total me, total TLC day.  I started my day with a yoga class, practiced deep breathing and found my center, then I soaked in a warm bubble bath, and engaged in a bit of meditative healing and a lie down with my heating pad.  I then perused the web for a bit of online shopping...meditative healing may have its therapeutic rewards, but helloooo, online shopping is equally if not more so rewarding!!  I followed up my retail therapy with a bit of sun worshipping.  I find there just really is nothing more relaxing than an afternoon nap in the sun!  I may have even gotten a little bit of a tan!  Ok ok ok, so I probably didn't really get a tan...I don't exactly have the skin type that tans :P

But what I came to discover today is that I think in general, perhaps, we need to be a bit kinder and gentler toward ourselves...allow ourselves to take some timeouts from the rush our lives have become.  I think we've come to believe it isn't really ok to do that.  Had I taken a few more timeouts myself I think I may not have gotten my injury in the first place.

So today I took a timeout.  I slowed my thoughts, my actions, I took care of my injury, and it wasn't selfish, and the world didn't come to an end and my friends and family didn't hate me for it as I kinda sorta feared.  I kinda want to do it again tomorrow! 

I hope you enjoyed your weekend and maybe took a little timeout of your own :)
xo!

P.S. here are my online purchases from today!

Lola Side Table

Pharmacy Side Table

Acid Etched Letter

So cute!  I love them!

images courtesy of urban outfitters

I Am Liking...

this...

and this...

and these...

Now realistically I am probably not going to purchase the $700 Coach purse or the $80 Urban Outfitters coat rack, but the Toms???  

Well...the thing about the Toms, 

like the reason why it would be totally justifiable to actually purchase them for reals...

even though yes, I already have three pairs....

is that ever since the "pain in the bum" started, I can only wear flat shoes.  

However, my wardrobe is greatly lacking flat shoes, therefore it is only necessary I augment the areas in which I am weak.

Self improvement is always a good thing, right?? ;)

Barely Survived.

I moved into a new apartment this week.

And I love it.

It's super cute.

But the thing about moving is that it is not only the biggest pain in the butt (well, next to my real pain in the butt), but it means that you are inevitably without internet access for at least two days as your cable subscription transitions...hence my lack of posts for the past few days.  Living without the internet is practically impossible.  Seriously, how did we ever do it before??  I mean, there was a time, not that long ago, when I, and people in general, rarely used the internet, if at all.  

I know.  

Crazy talk.

But we survived just fine during those days.  So in theory we should be able to survive today without immediate access to the web.  However, after a few days in my apartment sans internet, you'd be convinced that theory was boloney.  I barely made it.  I was starting to get physical reactions due to my lack of cyber connectivity.

Well, finally today, after much anticipation, the cable guy arrived to set up my TV and internet. However...

as per usual...

because nothing in my life is ever simple...

it seems my sparkling fancy new apartment has faulty cable wiring and does NOT receive a cable signal and therefore canNOT get cable.  

OF COURSE it can't.  

of course.  

So it seems I will be without cable for a bit longer than expected.  Like several weeks longer than expected.  Lordy.  They have to rewire my apartment or something complicated and technical like that.

Sweet.

I am stoked as you can imagine.

(and by stoked I mean not. stoked.).

But ya know, this is just another ordinary day in my world ;) 

On a sort of related note but not quite, here is an adorable side table and chair I think I may need to purchase for my new apartment.  

 Gigi Nightstand, Urban Outfitters

 Madeline Chair, Urban Outfitters

It would be awesome to watch some cable TV or view the internet from this darling chair, but...oh right, I DON'T HAVE CABLE. 

I Heart Ruffles

Ok, so I currently have this bedding set...

Isn't it just dreamy. 

I bought it as a special treat to myself last summer.  

I love it so much I can't handle it.

Sometimes I can't wait to go to bed because I love my bedding that much.

Anyways, I recently saw these curtains and decided I simply must have them.  Not only do I adore ruffles, but they would just totally match my bedding.

Now, while I LOVE that deep purple color, I am not sure it would match with my bedroom decor so I am deciding between these other two options:

but they do have a creme one too...so that is always a possibility.

Oh I am terrible with decisions...hmmm...

Which do you like best??

I'll take the weekend to think it over.

Happy Friday!

xo.

image credits: Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters

Don't You Just Hate It When...

...you purchase the wrong thing and have to go all the way back to the store and exchange it for the correct one?  Oh I do. 

So. 

Much.

Because it's so not my fault.  

The products were obviously poorly labeled.

I was so super excited about this totally adorable, fancy schmancy IKEA organizer fabulosity...it was the perfect answer to the totally unorganized mess littering my closet...

BUT upon unwrapping the packing, I discovered I had bought the wrong product...oh the dismay!

Apparently these two items look practically identical when wrapped up in their plastic wrappings.  I of course picked up the wrong one and now have to trek all the way back to IKEA to exchange it.  Oh how I loathe having to do that....

Such is life I suppose.  Always a curve ball.  Granted this is a tiny curve ball but curvy nonetheless.

image credits: IKEA

House Love

Hello??! 

Totally just found THIS.  

and its AMAZING.

I don't have a house of my own at the moment.  But when I do.  I am so gonna use this site as my home improvement guide.  Every project on there was actually done by the real, true life, super happy, uber-creative couple who created the blog while remodeling their home...the project ideas are so inspiring and really, just so darn easy! 

In the meantime however, while in my perfectly content pre-homeowner status, I am going to work my way through this incredibly productive couple's stash of artsy-crafty, organizational, money saving, and green living ideas.  Good thing the new year is right around the corner...I sense some resolutions a'brewin...

image credits: Younghouselove.com

It's Barely Thanksgiving Buuuuut...

I saw some adorable Christmas wrapping paper the other day and just had to share.

But, first of all, do you love the Container Store as much as I do??
Oh lordy.
I could buy containers all day long.
I mean good grief I will walk out of that store with brand new snazzy containers for things I had no idea even needed to be contained before I got in there.  And side note: in all honesty, those items in most cases had been perfectly fine my entire life un-contained and probably would have been perfectly fine for the rest of my life without an expensive container, but goodness, those containers were just so fancy-looking in the store I had to have them.

Anyways, around this time of year the Container Store has some quite fabulous holiday goodies...things like wrapping paper, stocking stuffers, containers to contain all of your holiday wrapping and stocking stuffing supplies...it's marvelous really.

I stumbled upon their holiday wrapping and thought they had a lovely collection this year...some were cute and fun, some were kind of retro and modern, and not gonna lie, there were some ugly ones too, but we'll focus on the positive...here are some of the ones I liked:

They are kinda cute and funky I think...a little different for the holidays...check 'em out...as well as some of the fun stocking stuffers like these...or these.

image credits: containerstore.com

I Heart Bows

 I need this.

And that's pretty much all I have to say about that.

Soraam via Decor8

Vintage Find

Isn't this kinda nice?
Vintage-y.
I believe it tells the time.
I like it.

image credits: Recreate

Redecorating...Kinda

So I'm in the process of redecorating my apartment.

I'm going for a look that says grown-up professional with a sophisticated sense of style, rather than college student with a clutter of hand-me-downs.

The process is, however, currently moving at a glacial pace...

I have a few commitment issues...

and perhaps I am a wee bit challenged when it comes to making decisions. Committing to a color scheme and deciding what look and feel I want is proving to be more difficult than I thought. There are just so many options!

However, one thing I am set on, is getting some prints from Papaya! for my bedroom. I first fell in love with their work this summer when I stumbled upon a little boutique in Montreal that sold their prints. Their images are powerful, colorful, and simply beautiful.

Here are the ones I would like to get...

Yellow Mandala

Sweet Surrender

White and Pink Mandala

Breaking Through

So lovely aren't they??!

image credits: all artwork is from Papaya!

My New Designer Boyfriend Revisited...

OMG.
I was just over at Fashion Island...the mall by my house...and my new designer boyfriend just opened HIS VERY OWN STORE there.*

How couldn't I have known??!
It's my new heaven on earth.
I would like to purchase everything.
Actually, I just want to move into the store itself.

I saw this today and MUST HAVE it.


Along with this.

And hello??? THIS.

Adorable.

*I'm dancing in circles uncontrollably

Image Credits: JonathanAdler.com...1) Lion Needlepoint Pillow, 2) Kissing Giraffe Pillow, 3) Dachshund bookends

I Heart Owlies

I am a big fan of anything owl.  

A. 

  Big.  

 Big. 

Fan.

I heart these sheets so much.

Yes they are from Pottery Barn Kids, but I think they just may come in big people sizes too!

 Brooke Sheeting, by Pottery Barn Kids

I Heart Books

So I decided that this year I would keep a running tally of all the books I finish just to see how many I read in one year. I'm totally curious to know.

I love to read...

like really really love it.

Perhaps it's because I am a sucker for happy endings which most chick lit ensures :) ...or perhaps it's because I like to escape into a world so different from my own. Reading a good book is also a fabulous distraction when getting your butt kicked on the stair master.

As of now I have finished 13 books this year...I suppose that's like 2 a month...that's not so bad really.

I think next year I am going to keep track of the mileage I run...I think that would really be something awesome!

Anyways, since I simply adore books...I purchased this print from one of my favorite illustrators, vol.25...isn't it so cute?! I thought it would be perfect on a shelf near all my favorite reads...



image: "i heart books" by vol.25

p.s. I don't ONLY read chick lit...just sayin'...I do read highly intellectual tomes as well ;)

Super Easy Pillow!

So I was feeling like my quilt needed a coordinating counterpart...a little something to make my living room a bit more matchy-matchy. Soooo...I made this today!





Too cute...and SO easy to make! I followed a simple tutorial (you can find it here) and it took me maybe a half hour...that's it! I love it!