The Beginning of the End

If you've followed Temporary Nest for even just a short while, you'll probably have noticed that I'm a pretty big sap.  Big, fat, sentimental, cheeseball.   So the move was all well and good in theory, but now the count is down to 12 days, the real sentimental side of me is piping up.  My house is replete with boxes- some empty, some full.

YIKES.

Painting the town... gray?

Matt and his brother started in on the serious job of painting the entire interior of the house.  That's a whole lot of paint.  Not to mention, a whole lot of paint choices.  I met them at Home Depot to pick out the last few colors.  And boy oh boy was it an adventure....

Gimme Gimme

Damn you, Piperlime having a whole Marc Jacobs section that I drool over!  If only I made more money {or were independently wealthy}, I would get the Ozzy Lucy bag. At a mere $398 {that's just pocket change, right!?} and with moving kicking into high gear my four hundred dollars can go towards something a little more... necessary. *le sigh*

Father's Day in NYC

"Get that thing out of my face, Auntie Gina!"

I had the pleasure of spending the weekend in NYC with my dear-ol-Dad and my brother- the new Dad. After Friday night's grueling, 6 hour-and-should-be 3-hour-bumper-to bumper-the-whole-way drive, I pulled up to Dads and we headed straight over to Joe and Molly's to see Lucca...

Fathers Day Card

Every. Single. One.  of my family members makes cards for each other.  Except me.  Or at least I didn't for a long time. {I like to think of myself as fairly well organized but cards always managed to be an uber last-minute thought.  Sometimes an after-the-minute thought...}  Until I found out that all those tear-jerking, sentimental notes I scribed into the witty, Target-purchased cards were relegated to the circular file, destined for the recycling plant after the fact. How dare they!  Their response was a shrug and "then make your cards..."  Heartless I tell ya... heartless.  Needless to say, I began making the cards.  One big reason I never made cards was that I thought to myself "I'm not an illustrator like Mom or Joe or a photographer like Dad, the only thing I can draw are fashion croqui's and technical flats.  I can't draw that on a card."

via

  So I bought them.  Then I found the wonderful world of craft paper and how to manipulate it.....

Bachelorette Pad Tour: Part 1

I must say, it is a damn good thing that blogging isn't an audio file.  If it was, I would recommend turning the sound off on your computer, because I have the worst laryngitis I've had in a long time.  I don't often lose my voice but when I do, its a doozey.  Something akin to nails on a chalkboard.  In fact, several people over the last couple days have told me to "stop talking, it hurts to listen." *sigh*  At least I have my typing skills during my vocal hiatus.  As promised on Friday, I am going to lead you on a tour of my bachelorette pad before I start packin'er up to move into a house of "we."

I'm going to break it up into two parts so it doesn't get too long and yawn-tastic. So lets start the way you'd really see my house and walk in the front door.

Welcome to my living room/office space. My couch was a steal at the Jordan's Furniture Outlet in Avon, MA at under $300 brand spankin' new.  My glass and iron coffee table was a steal from Craigslist for $40 and because it takes up such little visual space, it makes the space feel much more open.  I layered a $30 area rug {from local discounter, Building 19} on top of the wall to wall carpet to anchor the space and keep it separate from the "office."  You may also remember the addition of the vintage map and of course the pillow shams I made on the cheap. {Check out the how-to right here!} 

Here's a better view of the work space.  Don't judge the drum-shade pendant that is crooked.  I tried finagling it straight- to no avail.  So, I've just accepted this quirky quality and it makes me snicker when I notice it.  You can see my desk makeover here {though, I have yet another makeover up my sleeve after the move!} and of course how can you forget Buttercup, my first dabble into upholstering? You probably see my dress form chilling in the corner ... and I have to admit that I'm lucky that something that is a tool of my trade is so stinking cool looking.  She's a good lookin' lady who keeps me company.

Are you wondering why my roman shades are drawn?  No, I'm not a hermit, and I don't hate daylight. But I do live on the ground floor, and the nice gentleman that lives upstairs parks his giant pick up truck, 4-wheeler and motorcycle right outside my windows.  And since he sits out there all the time tinkering with them, I don't want him peering it at me on the couch, eating, watching TV, on the laptop or even scratchin' my butt.  {Don't act like you've never scratched your butt... you have.} Call me a privacy freak, but just like Vegas, what happens in my living room to stay in my living room. 

If you step onto the opposite side of the room, where my dress form was just standing, this is the view you'd get:  A peek into the kitchen, the coat closet {that holds way more than coats} and the Target Fieldcrest linen closet.  Of course my armchair and slip-covered ottoman. 

The glowing orb a-top my vintage $10 Craigslist find is my beloved No. 5 Target lamp and below it is my collection of W magazines.  I don't know what's wrong with me, but I just cannot stand to get rid of them.  But I think this move will be a good catalyst to donate them to the local public library, if they'll have them.  Did I mention I also l.o.v.e. my gallery wall? Oh right because I do.  And there is a little peek of my TV playing "The Bachelorette" and my cedar-chest-turned-TV-stand makeover that you can see here!

Enough of the living room... let me show you where the magic happens.  The Kitchen.

This little mini kitchen did the trick for me! Enough space for me to cook and Matt to eat at the little 2-seater table and stools for $120 from Walmart that I will be selling before the move.  Those little floral matchstick kitchen mats were $3.99 and $5.99 each! They've seen their better days so they will be chucked in the move.  And remember those embellished dish towels?  Oh yeah. They haven't gone anywhere.

This is definitely my dirty little secret that I haven't shown you all in blogland before. It is the ugg-er-ly rolling microwave cart.  This has been with me since college and I'm happy to say it has GOT to go.  It carries its weight though, between housing wine, a basket of Tupperware, the toaster, candles, and granola etc etc. Hanging proudly above it is a shadow box of keepsakes of Matt and I's 2.5 years together.  I like to look at it when I'm waiting for the microwave.

Those cabinets are just so painfully dated aren't they?  I'm sure with a good coat of white paint they would be heavenly! Oh the plight of living in a rental without the right to paint. *sigh number 2*  And also, I will be perfectly blunt. I like slappin' things on my fridge.  I find it comforting and homey. Some of you may think it looks messy and unkempt.  Maybe it's because it's how I grew up but it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

And this is the view from the sink.  Since I don't have a dishwasher, I have this view often.  I'll watch TV and test my lip reading skills since I don't hear a thing over the running water.  But my all time favorite thing in my kitchen is that piece of art just right of the doorway.  It's a pen, ink and watercolor painting from my brothers SoHo gallery show last April. I am so very proud to have this hanging in my home and I can't wait to find the perfect place to hang this in our new home.

So there you have it, Nesters!  The first half of my house tour! I hope you like what you've seen so far, but not too much since it's going to be boxed up very shortly!  Next up on the tour is the bedroom and bathroom.  If you have any questions about where I got something or whatever you can think of, leave a comment and I'll be sure to give you the answer!  I hope you have a fantabulous Tuesday Nesters!!  <3

I'm not dead! But we have a bed!

I swear! I'm still alive and kickin'.  I can't even tell you what I've been doing that has kept me away from the keyboard for so long this stretch.  The past month has been a blur.  My grandest apologies. But did you like my rhymin' in the title?  I should start rapping.  Did I mention I'm bad ass?

Oh right. Because I'm not.