happy living Design

clocks

For Christmas, I got this very cool vintage red clock from my brother, the same brother that got me this very cool radio.  Anyway, I saw this picture below from Domino and thought it was a nice idea.  Sometime I'll show you my red clock.

i love free clip art and templates...

...especially by Martha and after not visiting the site for quite awhile I was happy to see that all of the clip art and templates are now in one place.

updating the blog

Along with the new header, if you haven't already noticed, I have updated my non-exhaustive blog list and I added a new section that includes a list of some of my favorite places in West Chester and the vicinity.  Consider it a little encouragement for any of you visiting Philadelphia to come out west a bit and say hello!

the spending hiatus : week 6 update

I forget how many days they say it takes to make something a habit (or get out of a habit).  It is 21?  That seams to stick in my mind.  Here we are 42 days into it and I can honestly say I think each week it gets a bit easier.  A wrench could have been thrown into the whole mix last week though.  I had (have) fallen into that winter blues melancholy, missing my husband because he's working 70 hours a week melancholy, wondering what is going to happen to all of us at work melancholy.  Bleh.  And that's when I like to shop.  But I didn't.  I hibernated.  Which is why you didn't hear from me much last week.  I am not completely out of it, but it is sunny today and I plan to take a walk during lunch.

I went to Target on Saturday and I went with a list.

• baby gift for a friend who is due this week,
• two toilet seats (seriously.),
• makeup - I am trying out drugstore foundation instead of Bare Escentuals to save money
• an over-the-door shoe organizer - I have whittled my shoe collection down to a manageable amount but our closets still suck and my shoes are found scattered about the bedroom.
• some other toiletries
• cereal and milk

I stuck to the list except for the Orla Kiely brown pear mug that I bought to keep at the office. ;)  I spent the rest of my Saturday doing a year's worth of filing in the boy's office (instead of shopping).  Not fun.  But it feels great to have it done and have everything organized in one place.

last week & what I do from 9 to 5

Last week I got to take some photos of a couple of the projects we are working on in the office.  The first photo is my project.  The rest are photos I took of someone else's project.

 

 

 

the spending hiatus : week 5 update

I got a deep-tissue massage on Saturday morning and as I commented on Joslyn's recent update, it was worth EVERY non-essential dollar. 

I had to buy contact lenses and it has really been bothering me; I have been so restrained in my spending for the most part and when I have to spend ALL THAT MONEY it had to be on contact lenses.  There is certainly no gratification in that. 

We just paid our credit card bill from January which included our trip to Utah.  That was a bit disappointing but I am hoping for a reward next month of a much lower bill as a result of the hiatus.

Hell has frozen over:  I have started to use coupons.  Wait, did I mention this before?  No, I don't think I did.  Yes.  I have succumbed.  And I almost had a coniption yesterday when I opened the Sunday paper and there were NO COUPONS.  Daily Local News = Daily Lacka News = Daily Crapa News.

I am still working on our budget that will start on March 1st.  Once I figure out a good system I will be happy to share it with you if you'd like.  Two blogs that I have been reading lately are Get Rich Slowly and I Will Teach You To Be Rich.  Both sites have a ton of helpful advice and hints on how to save money and be more frugal. 

I've mentioned this before that one of my biggest concerns is how to project and budget expenditures on house stuff (i.e. furnishings and home improvement): determining how much we can afford, prioritizing projects big and small, phasing work and deciding where projects begin and end because we all know things snowball from a little paint to a major overhaul very quickly and being efficient so that we are not undoing recent work to complete the next project.  I hope that as I work through some of that, I come out with some helpful tips that you can all use.

That's all I have to say about that.  ;)

new logo and blog header : imogen design

brought to us by imogen design.  Anne Marie is a talented designer and a lovely person and I'm not just saying that because she is my cousin.

Revisions Design Studio : porcelain egg votive candles

These are just gorgeous and made from 100% US grown soy wax (which burns clean and clear).  The egg shells are porcelain and can be reused once the candles burn away.

 

from the Revisions Design Studio etsy shop.

I had gotten away from using candles around the house.  I feel a revival coming on!  Candles really are wonderful, especially when the vessel is beautiful as these are.

treehouse28 on etsy

These are just the most beautiful pieces of clothing I have seen.  Of course I'd love to have one of each in my closet, but even just looking at them as pieces of art and the photography I find really inspiring.

 

 

 

wow.  Treehouse28 also makes pants, skirts and accessories.

I just love a good wall calendar

Miriam Bereson's Yearly Planner

   

click on the image on the right to view larger.

via sweet fine day