versatile x2

This whole "not allowed to check our personal email" at work thing is throwing off my blogging game.  I need to mention another sweet blogger who gave me the versatile blogger award that i failed to mention in the last post.  Tys at  H Family Happenings, thank you so much, girl!  Master bedroom makeovers, you know i'm very much into that right now, and she's in the midst of a good one!

Can you possibly be ready for more random tidbits?  Ok, normally i wouldn't subject you to more so soon, but this award comes with 10 questions, and i can't not answer them.  It's like those "if" books, you know?  Great conversation starters, or even just to get to know your friends better with silly or profound questions.  We loved them in college.  Let's get to gettin'!

1.  Why did you create your blog?  Because i wanted opinions and input about decorating and i wanted to write.  And i wanted to enter giveaways.  No lie.
2.  what kinds of blogs do you follow?  home decorating, snarky humor (regretsy, cakewrecks) and travel.
3.  favorite brand of makeup?  whatevers cheapest, usually maybelline.  i can't see spending money on this stuff.
4. favorite brand of clothing?  whatever i happen upon.  usually i shop at kohls and marshalls.  kohls clearance is my clothing area of choice.
5.  indispensable makeup product?  asking the wrong person this question, but i guess powder or foundation.
6.  favorite color?  blue of all shades
7.  favorite perfume? anything dessert scented.   i just wear body spray not actual perfume.
8.  favorite movie?  ah, a good one.  chicago, run lola run, a hard days night, the cutting edge, mallrats...and on and on.
9.  country you want to visit and why?  latvia, to see where my family comes from and visit the relatives that are still there.
10.  would you rather forget to put blush on one side of your face or mascara on one eye?  blush, my cheeks have color to them anyway so you'd be less likely to notice.

Instead of passing this on to specific bloggers, i'd like for anyone to answer these if they'd like.  Seriously i love this stuff-if you do a post with your answers, i'd love to know.

And thank you to Stephanie Lynn for featuring my bedroom redo on the Sunday Showcase-super big smile because of it!

By the way it's...

we heart it

What are your plans-doing Valentine celebrating or waiting til the day of?  This weekend we're going to my new obsession a local Thai place for dinner and having satellite tv installed.  That is exciting because I have been without my beloved hgtv for 2 months now.  This will be a great weekend, indeed!   
 

I'm Versastylish

Mikalah at Posy the Porcelain Pig and Vanessa at Nifty Thrifty Things found me award worthy, graciously giving me the Versatile blogger award and the Stylish blogger award, respectively.  Some reasons these gals rock? Aside from making their homes super cute and having unique style, Mikalah sings Opera and Vanessa lives in Germany! Jealous on both fronts!

Is versatile just another way of saying totally random, ya think? 

Some random facts about me (technically i need to list 14, and pass this award onto 30 people since we're talking 2 awards..but that seems crazy!)

1.  Am currently obsessing over our trip to Spain in April-Aside from Rick Steve's (my travel guru) book, i have photocopied copious amounts of info from 3 library books and have 2 computer documents full of internet info.

2.  Here's the plan-relax for first week in Canary Islands with mild and slow sight seeing.  Second week on mainland southern Spain crank up the sightseeing-Malaga, Granada, possibly Cordoba, Gibraltar, Tangiers, and anything else along the way.

3.  Just watched on instant netflix "My Date with Drew," a documentary about one "every mans" quest to get a date with Drew Barrymore.  I love documentaries.

4.  In said documentary, there was this quote "I divide the people of the world into 2 groups-those that love grease 2 and those that don't.  i fall into the first category".   I flippin' love Grease 2 and any movie that references it in a positive manner!

5.  Relatedly, i love my netflix.  i love my instant netflix.  I just love movies.

6.  Around this time of year i start using the words "buzz" and "buzzworthy" and make it a point to watch anything pertaining to awards-Golden Globes, Independent, SAG, Oscars.

7.  i am craving the signs of Spring much more this year for some reason.

be sure to check out these 15ish blogs of quasi recent discovery:

the big adventures of rachel and joey
lumpkin and me
where beauty meets function
girl in air
31 diy
dear sweet home
touch of nostalgia
the adventures of mrs raegan
our sears kit home
my little yellow bungalow
no place like our home
the story so far
protodoom
infatuated with homes and gardens
the other me is sane
so wonderful, so marvelous
little pink house

those awarded, please thank the award giver (that would be moi!) and pass this puppy on to 15 more blogs that you've recently/quasi recently discovered.  take your pick guys-do you want the stylish or the versatile award?

i would also like to announce we have broke the 300 mark!  woo hoo-this makes me immensely happy.  thank you soooo much, you guys!

Music that moves me

Not to like, tears, though there are plenty of those.  I mean literally moves me, makes me want to move.  Today i am joining Musical Monday at Throwing Paint, and the theme is music that you exercise to or makes you want to move your body. In other words, music that makes you shake that thang! 

I don't know why, but any sort of workout mix i have made consists of music i normally don't listen to.  The same with driving on a sunny, warm day- the sunroof is open, the windows are down, and i've got my "Badass Rap Mix" blastin' from my speakers.  A guilty pleasure, if you will.  I become a rap lovin', shoulder shruggin', lip pursin', DIVA! 

Get Busy-Sean Paul





Scandalous-Mis-Teeq
Disco Inferno-50 cent



Drrty-Christina Aguilera
Roll Out-Ludacris
Up in Here-DMX
Hotstepper-Ini Kimoze




Lose my Breath-Beyonce
Right Thur-Chingy
Rock that Body-Justin Timberlake



Let's Get it Started-Black Eyed Peas
One Last Time-Eminem, 50 Cent and Dr. Dre
Hit 'Em Up Style-Blu Cantrell







Melanie at The Tiny Tudor and Erin at Where Beauty Meets Function gave me the stylish blogger award...thanks so much, ladies.  You can all add my guilty pleasure music to one more thing you know about me.  But please, keep it on the DL-I've got a sensitive, Morrissey lovin' rep to protect.

Ok, so what music makes you want to become a rump shaker (surely you remember that song?) or at the very least a hip swiveller?  Do tell!

On a winning streak

Don't hate me.  I'd hate me, if i was not me, and kept seeing some lucky gal repeatedly win bloggy giveaways.  But i am me, so it wouldn't be good to hate me.  Instead, this friggin' rocks!

SQUEAL!!!

But seriously, i am not blogging about my rather bizarre string of luck to rub it in your faces, i hope you know.  I am blogging about it to give thanks and recognition to those that offered the giveaways.  To the oodles of people who read mine (ahem.)

That being said....thank you Strictly Simple Style and Swalla Studio for the abstract zodiac painting.  I chose Libra, my month.  It felt wrong picking anything else!  This will look perfect in the basement with this color scheme.

And thank you Centsational Girl and Modern Tribe-hopefully i will be owning a nice piece of something or other by Jonathon Adler in the near future!  Something ceramic, and something white!

Missy Salsa and Nita from Mod Vintage Life gave me a blog award, so thank you sweet ladies! Missy is a survivor if i ever saw one, so please go give her some love.  And you must check out Nita's fabulous christmas mantel...vintage through and through.  Love those gals.

However, good winnings and awards aside, i can't help but feel anxious and terribly on edge that something atrocious is going to happen to even things out.  I'd like to think this is the universe's way of thanking me for doing the type of work i do and making this type of crap pay, but what i'd "like to think" is very much different than the way i actually do think.  Help! 

Giveaway ending tonite

In case you never noticed that little "extra, extra" sidebar thingy where i add random nonsense like link parties and thank yous, i wanted to be sure you knew that the

$40 CSN giveaway ends tonite at midnight

That's about as in your face as i care to get, so hopefully that suffices.  And while we're here, let's do a shout out to some friends who i need to thank for awards, etc.  A general "taking care of business" type day.

Marjorie from Crazy Cat Decor bestowed upon me the versatile blogger award and K from Big K, little a  tagged and bestowed me the stylish blogger award.  Thanks ladies, you rock!  I agree with you 100%. HA!

Beth's kick ass Halloween mantel party garnered a feature for my halloween tablescape, so thank you Beth from The stories of A-Z. 

I think that does it.  Don't forget to enter the giveaway, and i can't wait til i can stop saying that!

Getting to know all about you

My bloggy pal Jill "tagged" me, and that means you lucky folks get to learn some more things about me...I know, consider yourselves truly blessed.  I really like doing posts like these on Fridays because i participate in a few getting to know you type blog parties, and if i was discovering a new blog, I'd want to know more about that person.  But that's just me.  I'm rather nosey. 

So here are the questions that I have to answer.  Prepare yourself for enlightenment.

1. What is one thing you just can not stand?
Feet on the dashboard!  AAAAGGHHH!!  (double exclamation, for sure!!)  I just can not stand it, it is a huge pet peeve of mine.  I'm not even talking about my own dashboard, I'm just talking about driving by a car where a passenger has their feet on the their dashboard.  Barefoot or with shoes, I don't discriminate.  I'm irked by it all.  If you do this, is this comfortable?  Does the driver not have problems with this?  Do you ask permission of said driver before you do this? 

2. If you could go back to your childhood, what cartoon or t.v. show would you pick to be your all-time favorite?
I was strangely enthralled by Small Wonder. I think it was her monotone robot voice.

3. Whats something you do or have done that would surprise a lot of people?
Public speaking is a main part of my job.

4. Do you believe in ghosts?
Not 100% sure.

5. When you go into a store whats your weakness, something you just can't help yourself from buying more of?
Shoes on sale, which I then have to sneak into the house. 

6. What is the funniest story you have on your significant other?
It's just funny to hear his parents talk about him as a stubborn child, since he is one stubborn adult.

7. What is your proudest moment of being a parent? {animals do count ;)}
I am mom to 1 fantastically adorable cat, and i am proud when i call her and she comes running so excitedly, straight at me, looking me in the eye, and  i believe she is actually going to jump up on my lap, you can do it, good girl, but at the very last moment....she totally disses me.  Kids!

8. If you could go back and relive one day of your life, which day would you choose?
A day during last October's vacation...that i want to blog about in October.  It was full of delicious quiche, special hot chocolate, a romantic fairytale environment, a wonderful coincidence, raspberry beer, and a well worn copy of a Rick Steve's travel guide.

I am tagging everyone who read this and would like to answer these questions on your own blog.  If you do, would you let me know?  I'd love to come over and learn more about you!

And thank you, Sherlyn and your sweet, dimple faced children at Two Girls and a Soldier, who gave me this:

Lastly, thank you Fresh Nest Design for featuring my sunroom redo!  Whew.  Think that's it...have a fantastic weekend my friends!

She's extremely versatile, you know.

Firefly at Throwing Paint thinks I'm versatile! And award worthy!

I found Firefly when she left a comment on my fave musical voices post and it turns out she has Musical Mondays on her blog.  What i love is that she posts the lyrics, so you can really get a sense of why that particular music means something to her. She also saved my blog when Blogger wasn't working and came back to follow!  Unheard of!  Love her for that!

Versatile Blogger rules:

 Thank and link the award giver, list 7 things about yourself, and pass it on!  No number to pass it on to, thank goodness, b/c that part stresses me out for sure!

7 things:

1.  No matter how technologically advanced we get, i refuse to stop buying cds.   i need the cds for my collection, to play in the car, and they can easily be loaded to my mp3 player.

2.  No matter how technologically advanced we get, i refuse to buy a kindle type apparatus.  i need books for my collection, and i need to get them from the library first.

3.  The word apparatus reminds me of My So Called Life, and i am absolutely 100% obsessed with that tv show.

4.  I will be seeing my first ventriliquist comedian this weekend and i'm afraid it's going to be awkward.

5.  I love chicken salad.

6.  I am obsessed with the dalai lama merely b/c he's a cute little man.  I have a picture of him up at work. He's smiling at me.  He's so happy.

7.  I can't wait to decorate for fall, glorious fall, this weekend!

I am passing this award onto 4 ladies who are fabulous commenters (since i found the awarder thru comments) and whom i greatly appreciate!

Danielle and Clint @ The Newlyweds Paradise
Jeralee @ Seeing the Potential
Crazy Garden Lady
Christy B @ Achieving Simplicity in Life

Go forth and be versatile! 

you like me, you really like me

Well, at least one person does anyway.

Jill of Jembellish gave me my very first blog award, and i am super excited.  Thank you thank you thank you, Jill who i am insanely jealous of.  She gets to live here:

No, it's not Hawaii, it's Australia.  I know, right?

So here's the deal with this award.  First, i display it.

Check.

Then i must link back to the person who gave it me.  Check.

Then i must come up with 6 truths and 1 lie about myself.  

This amused me-which one do you think is the lie? 

1.  I love halloween so much, i tattooed it on me.
2.  In college, i became addicted to the shop at home channel QVC.
3.  My passion is working to empower women who are victims of rape, sexual assualt, and domestic violence.
4.  S and I, though not married, have been together for 15 years.
5.  I think I was born in the wrong era.  I go weak for the "wah wah" of 40s jazz.
6.  My favorite ice cream flavor is Birthday Cake.
7. I am determined to host an Academy Awards party this year.

Then, I must pass the award onto 7 other bloggers.  This was rather hard to do, because I wanted to ask people if they would accept it before i passed it on.  Some were a no, some i haven't heard from, so i'm just gonna go ahead with it and if they don't pass it on, that is entirely up to them!

First up is Alyssa from 33 Shades of Green.  She was one of my earliest supporters, has inspiring ideas like her summer mantle and fun letter art.  I also really appreciate the time she took to answer a question i had, and included the link in the answer.  That took time, people!

Next is Linda from A La Carte, who comments instead of lurks, has awesome thrifty finds, and loves her cat crazy like i do!  She also just turned 60.  I just noticed Linda has an award free button, so she she is opting out of passing this along.

Sarah from Hennessey House is a super talented artist and first time homeowner.  Her tales of gardening are too amusing, and she isn't above some dumpster diving.  She also opened at Etsy store....personally i love the drawing in her blog header b/c it reminds me of the art in my sunroom.

I feel like Tana from Orange it Lovely and i could be friends IRL, yo, for real.  We live semi near each other, and with the consistent comment interaction we've had, yes, it could happen.  She's on a mission to take her sunroom from drab to fab, and started with these great chair finds.   She baked her first cake for her best friend who is a Styx fan.  I don't think i could even name one Styx song, but i can appreciate her effort! 

Sandy from  The Wonders of Doing is awesome.  She turn a dated old light fixture into a much more modern piece.  I am desperate to get a new one in our upstairs bath, and this may be just the "after" to motivate me to diy it, instead of paying more for a good lookin' chrome piece.

So yeah, that's only 5.  That's all I've got right now.  Love to Debbie Doos who also opted out, but know that i think she rocks!

So, did you guess which one is the lie? 

 

S and I haven't been together for 15 years, it's only 13.  Not bad for college sweethearts who survived long distance while at school, and then living an hour away from each other until 3 years ago.  You're reading the chronicle of our first home, and our first cohabitation after years of only seeing each other on weekends!  It's taken some adjusting, mostly by me, having to cook and launder while he works on the house.  You know how i feel about gender roles, right? But really, nothing is better than coming home to each other every night.  To our home, that we are making together.  Sappy.  I'm done here.