FINALLY!

After it feels like a million years of moving in, I've FINALLY unpacked almost every single one of my boxes. I have to get a few of those stick on hooks for my purses, and figure out what to do with my bag of high heels but... its nice to have a room that looks grown up. So here are said pictures of my new home.

This, is obviously my bed. I've had that red comforter since I moved into college. A big purchase that I'm going to have to save up for is a new comforter with a down, or down like alternative in it, (they run about 50 bucks at ikea) and a new duvet cover. The black one I bought hoping to cover this awkward one was too small. (Silly colleges and their extra long twins.) My partner in crime and I are going to craft a headboard at some point. Once I find some good brocade to put to work matching my color scheme. She claims they are really easy to make.

As you can see above my bed I've got my two collages, and various smaller frames. I may get a few more nicer larger frames in the near future as the wall looks a tiny bit bare. This is the FIRST time ever that I've got pictures in FRAMES!

Here is my vanity. (Man this is a way crooked picture, sorry guys) I could not function without it. Its just big enough to see a full length look of that outfit you're not sure of, and is the perfect size for awkward collages, my monthly budget (in lime green) and making sure my winter foundation matches my summer tan. I love it. I keep hoping I'll have time to stain it the same color as the piece that my tv is sitting on. One day...

The photographs above my bed are pretty shadily acquired. My ex Michelle had all these way trendy, emo, angsty, indy girls as her friends. Oh, you know the ones, who shop at kid robot and cut up their own clothes but aren't very nice despite their nerdiness. The one's who love photobooths and poloroids. (Ugh, I still gag thinking about "what-if's" and that relationship!) Well, on my last trip up there to see her, one of those friends showed off these proofs of these ferris wheels. I really wanted one. Like, really, really. Michelle refused to give me one, because she liked them so much and they were from HER friend anyway. So since I had a purse, michelle only carried a 12 year old's baby blue backpack, I was stuck holding them. I guess I happened to forget to remind her about them at the end of my trip and came back to LA to, at some point, frame them. I was so torn up about her when we broke up I hid them. And only discovered them when I was moving. Yay for me, I like them as much as I did when I saw them first.

Last but not least, my closet. Which is pretty full. Entirely too full as far as I'm concerned. I need to figure out what to do with everything in there. Maybe next weekend.

There's my brand new bookshelf. Which I bought at ikea for 40 bucks. Full to the brim of too many good things to read. I had to resort to filling the top of the shelf full of books so I could get them all to fit. The trick here is ladies and gentelmen, if you have alot of paperbacks, or books that are the same size you stack them horizontally as well as vertically. I hope that tomorrow night I'll be able to get a close up of the two bookshelves in the house, which are literally packed with trashy romance noves and fluffy books. I DO have a pretty impressive collection of books on medieval art, chicano art, and mesoamerican art, which I think I'll try to start reading in conjunction with my trashy romance fix. And what is my room without some cute pinups for me to look at first thing in the morning?

What do you think? I kinda want to squeeze in my really comfy chair from my dad's house in, but that might be overkill. I just get so tired of sitting on my bed and reading. And its a prety ugly olive green color, its just so very nice to sit in. We'll see.

One room down

Here is a picture of my new bathroom. I didnt realize how hard it was to get any sort of picture of the whole room. The weird cord you see is the sea horse lamp.

I haven't decided if I want to put my pin ups on the wall. I'm afraid it will look too cluttered. Maybe I'll just be really discriminating and post only cute ones that match the color scheme of the room on the walls.

I love that boat print by the way. When I did the Acres of Books library shoot at the store last year i found this in a chest along with a pretty hilarious last supper print. For 3 dollars I got both. I've wanted to do something with these prints forever. I'm glad I'll get to use it in the bathroom. I guess with the seahorse lamp and the mother of pearl shell soap dish Olivia got me from the Caribbean (or someplace), a nautical theme is appropriate. Ugh I just think its so trite.

I started hanging things on my walls this morning. I think I went WAY overboard on the framing things. I don't think I have much room left on my walls. And now I think it looks too cluttered. Damn. Oh well. Thankfully I only used tiny nails so the holes wont be so conspicuous. I'm totally going to have to move everything and maybe take some shit down. Lame.

They are changing my hours here at the library. I now will work an even more awkward shift. 1:30 pm to 10pm. FML. I won't even have a social life. No one wants to hang out at freaking 11 pm!

A Grown Up House

You know what the difference between a grown up house and a college house is?
Frames. Yep, plain old fashioned picture frames. Silly I know.
My coworker and I talked about this a bit at break when she asked how settled I was in my new apartment. I told her I was still drowning in boxes, empty and otherwise. (goddamn trashy romance novels!) And how I spent a ton of money this weekend on frames, and trying to make my room look grown up and not so childish. She related to me her realization on "grown up" homes, when she went to a house party that a friend was throwing with her boyfriend. She walked in and all the dinner and flatware matched. Posters and pictures were in frames and there was a color scheme going. That's when she realized SHE was a grown up.

One of my really good friends from college is living with her much much older boyfriend, and she is/was always the type to worry about matching and stuff. Now that they live in his house she's even more aware, even though she really cant change anything without his consent. My Partner In Crime is similar. She loves the color combination of purple and grass green and has crafted her room at her parents house to showcase those colors. When I was living in the California house I choose every color of red imaginable and decked my room out in that. But it was still a college room, with posters that didn't match and Christmas lights. So I threw out my Christmas lights, and decided on something a little different for a color scheme. Orange, black and golden yellow. My mother and best friend insist that its going to look like Halloween. But I think if I'm careful and go heavy on the black and light on the orange (or tend toward a more bronze orange) I should be ok. I'm kinda nervous. I'll be a grown up.

Yesterday I took one large step in being a grown up and purchased 50 dollars worth of picture frames. Three poster sized ones, one long narrow ones, four 8x10's, and four little ones. I framed some of my favorite pictures from Team Gay in Santa Cruz. I took two of the large poster frames and collaged my last weekend in Santa Cruz Polaroids, juxtaposed with a few of my favorite (This one is called "Wrong Nail") Gil Elvgren pinups. I always had a collage wall in the dorms with things I found interesting; articles, ads, flyers, pictures and bottle caps I found around campus. I decided to toss all that crap and keep only a few cherished ones for my pin up polaroid collage. I have about six or seven fans that I want to put up on the walls also, that I've collected over the years. Now its all about moving things around and getting a stud finder.

Today's Gem: Ikea has the best frames for your money
For fifty bucks I got 14 frames. I bought six black frames and eight clip frames which consist of just glass and particle board for backing with silver clips keeping them together. The tiny clip frames come in a pack of four for 2.99. The large clip frames which were measured about 20x13 or something were only 4.99. The black frames were 4.99 and 7.99. I swear you cant go wrong because they were 20 dollars a piece at Michaels!

These large clip frames are ideal for a collage of pictures. I saw these really cute frames at target which were about the same size that consisted of different panes of glass in one frame which gave each picture placed on each glass panel depth. They were so expensive. So I settled for these clip frames instead. I went to Michaels and got scrapbooking paper in my highlighting colors (orange and gold) and placed them as the backing. Then collaged them to give them some depth all on their own. I tend not to be the type to want symmetry for some reason. I like everything to be a tiny bit asemetrical. So mine are all at odd slants and going wonky directions. We'll see how it looks. For more practical reasons these clip frames are ideal because if you decide your color scheme is different you can change out the back paper for your new color. I have a feeling this will happen every six months or so for me. I get so bored easily.

Gem #2: Michael's > Joann's for crafty stuff, but Joann's > Michael's for price.
Ugh I paid six dollars for yarn for beardaversary. WTF! I'm pretty sure it would have been cheaper at Joann's. And I feel like I'd also get a ton more of selection. My beard btw is going to be rockin'.

Hmm, I think that's about it. Oh, yeah, one more: always always always check the As-Is area of ikea. I snaked a rockin' black shag rug from the As-Is area for 53% off. (And by snaked I mean I literally snaked it out from under some hipster/scenester/goth/punk girl, she was just staring at it with her hands on her hips and Partner in Crime whipped it off its hanger and we stuck it on my cart. Man did we get the stink eye) It was only 24 dollars. It was the floor model so it did have some left over sticky paper residue in the corner but with some tweezers and carpet cleaner it looks as good as new. And now I can use my huge hardwood floor for more than just walking. Like impromptu champagne-taco bell-picnic-framing-parties with the Partner in Crime on my clearance urban outfitters square floor cushions. Or as Partner said, "Now you can have sex on your floor!" Hmph. That'll be the day.

Not about moving

Today's post is about beauty.
One old favorite, and one new discovery, each made by Sally Hansen.

I wax my own eyebrows. I've been complimented on it often. I used to use the nasty pot of wax that you microwave but it gets a little icky and old really fast. And that waiting for it to cool, ugh, sucks! So I discovered these they are pre-waxed strips that are lovely to use! No gross mess, no microwave. I cut them to follow my eyebrow line. I am at work and did it in three minutes!

My newest discovery is the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Fast Dry Nail Color. I will never go back to any other brand. (ok maybe I lie but...) Its only about 4 bucks, one coat is all you need, they've got some kick ass colors, (I'm wearing sonic bloom) and it drys so fast! And the brush is so perfect! The only crappy part is you have to invest in the top coat. An extra 4 bucks but, it makes it all shiny. And I painted my nails on thursday and it appears they may last through the entire weekend.

that is all!

mystery bruises.

I didn't want to post today, but I'm silly. This blog is all about moving and I did it! Move that is. My new home is perfect. Sizable and oh so exciting for its decorating possibility. My walls are painted a really neutral peach color with white baseboards and off white closet doors. I refuse to take any pictures until I've completely unpacked everything but my books and hung my pictures. I have put everything away except my arts and crafts stuff, which I have too much of and need to purge like a bitch.

As for the move itself. It went really smoothly. I had my lovely boyfriend and fantastic best friend come over around ten and keep me sane. My brother and his 3 friends did the actual moving of the large items. With Boyfriend and Partner in Crime to help we managed to make the move go a lot smoother than if it was just my brother and my mother. We came up with the original idea to stick the heavy items on a blanket and drag them around on the hardwood floors so it wasn't so difficult to lift everything. It also allowed us greater access to seeing how things fit in rooms and didn't scratch the floor. I kept the movement of boxes and things to a maximum by sticking things that belonged in each room in their respective rooms. It gave us so much more space. I kept my clothes in their drawers. Minus the fact it highlighted my weird phobia about people touching and seeing my underwear, it totally worked. No extra boxes and they stack pretty nicely. Then you can just stick the drawers back into their chest and you have no stray boxes taking up space!

(By the way I looked up phobias and there are no clinical terms for my weird phobia of people touching or looking at my underwear. I hate it. The boyfriend ALWAYS teases me, by getting really close to the discarded underwear near his bed next to my pile of clothes, or covering his eyes and saying "I didn't look! I swear I didn't look at them!" I have since learned to hide my discarded underwear in the pile of clothes.)

I did have two accidents. I ran into the corner of a table while carrying a box. I now have a large bruise the size of Canada on the top of my thigh. Or maybe Wyoming. Maybe even Montana. Maybe all three put together. Either way it hurts like a bitch, and I fell onto the floor in pain. This thrills the boyfriend since he LOVES poking my bruises. This one I have made sure to smack his hands away from. He got in one poke and I howled so loudly in pain he covered my mouth in embarrassment and shame. I have a tiny but dark mystery bruise on my forearm which I have allowed him to poke because he has been such a good sport. I ran into something and cut myself on my foot. It bled for a while and I didn't even bother to clean it since things were so crazy. Mystery injuries are so awkward.

I did a bad thing for my budget. I spent thirty dollars on my credit card and got pretty jewel toned towels and a bathmat. I was so excited to at least have one whole room done. I decided on red, turquoise and a dark orange for the bathroom since its so white and sterile. My brother insisted I stick the orange ikea seahorse light in the bathroom because "its so freaking sweet!" Uh, ok, sir. So I worked around that. I have to get my pin up girls laminated so I can mount them in the bathroom. It gets really steamy so I dont want them to get limp and fall apart. I love them so much! I'd do my whole house with half naked girls if I could.

I am the most unpacked in my house since I had all day Monday to work on my space. The kitchen is in a really awkward stage between unpacked and in shambles. We've been eating pizza for the last three days, because my mother bought all the movers pizza and they didn't eat nearly as much as we thought they were going to. I finally got fed up with it and went to the store after Karate last night. Since we only have my tiny college mini fridge, I had to be frugal for space constraints.

So I started my new decision to eat healthier since my mother and (kinda) my brother are more adventurous eaters than my stepdad was. (I swear the man never ate anything that wasn't frozen or didn't come out of a box. There always had to be a meat, starch and canned veggies. There is nothing grosser than canned green beans! They taste like nast!) When we lived with him we almost had a schedule. There was bbq chicken, pork chops (always way too salty!), roasted chicken (which I will miss forever!), and t-bone steak. Sides consisted of mac n cheese, mashed potatoes, and sometimes a rice a roni. We always had a crappy canned veggie. Thrown into the mix was frozen pizza, Hungry Man tv dinners, meatloaf, bisquick casserole and the stray meat n gravy over rice thing my mother would make on occasion. It got SO OLD. I'm not saying I don't like routine. If it were up to me I'd eat chicken or ham sandwiches with goldfish and fruit for lunch every day, but when it comes to dinner, I'd like something special on occasion! As I said I'll miss his roasted chicken with a passion, but I wont despair for too long, because my mom knows how to make it she just doesn't. Since we have this weird gulch of despair thing going on in our parking area, where if you back up too much you'll fall off and your car will get stuck, I'm going to invest in a Weber and get perfect at roasting a whole chicken so that the meat just slides off the bone. (Sorry to any reading vegetarians. I do love chicken!)

For our tiny fridge till we get a full sized one I got granola bars, yogurt, bananas, peanut butter, apples, milk and juice. I never thought such simple fare could be so good! This weekend I'm going to use Billie Murdoch's fantastic beer bread recipe and christen our new stove, for something other than warming pizza, and fill our Virgin Kitchen with the smell of baking bread. I plan on showing my mom that living with me damn well has more perks than just the sudden friendliness and playfulness of my temperamental cat Ace.

Speaking of Ace, he appears to be adjusting to the move swimmingly. He sleeps under my bed for the time being because he is nervous about the moving noises but he's ventured out quite a lot during the night, damn him. Complete with meows, chirps and chasings of weird dust/lint things. He loves the sound of his claws on the hardwood, a sure sign I need to cut them, likes stretching them out. He's got a lot more energy now that the dogs are not there to harass him, which is a blessing, because I was worried he was depressed, and a curse because he freaking wants to play at the most inconvenient hours! "No Ace! Four am is NOT a good time to chase little plastic balls around the room!" He is enamored of my mother's room and won't leave her alone. Nor will he stop trying to get into the windows he's NOT allowed to get into. So I've had to be vigilant with the spray bottle. Its pretty hilarious to see him run away from the water and tear around a corner only to see him skid because he has no carpet to give him traction on. I have renamed him "the hell beast," after last night and his playing. He did come cuddle with me twice, once around five am and again this morning around nine am. He hasn't done that since the dogs have come. Its a nice change.

Too bad I couldn't sleep well last night. Lame I know.

No Gems today, I'm too sore from karate.