checking in!

It's been 2 weeks since my last blog post, and I owe some sort of an update to assure you that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! My miscellany, as of late:

• The Colts lost last night. Because they're my home team, of course I wish the outcome had been different. I take comfort in the fact that our loss was not to the Patriots, however.
• I've spent the past two weekends taking apart an old curio cabinet from my grandma's house, priming it, painting it gray, and now installing a wine rack into the middle section that I picked up from World Market. I think the project will end well. I certainly hope so!
• I made about a million cake balls and pops a la Bakerella. I have a few observations: 1) Bakerella must be magic because my balls were nowhere as even as hers; 2) the use of low sugar cake mix doesn't make for round balls; and 3) i feel somewhat dirty typing out "balls" as many times as I have in this paragraph. I am a 14 year old boy. But not really.
• I can't get into the Bachelor. Playing the field with that many girls at once is reeedonkulous. And it's only worked once - with Trista and Ryan on the Bachelorette.
• Apparently their new daughter's name is Blakesley - to each their own I guess. And all that.
• I still remember their wedding. The flowers were amazing. I can't find a picture of their ceremony setup but it had shades of pink row by row. I know a few of you remember!
• You know what dating show I miss? Temptation Island. That show was horrible and fascinating at the same time.
• The last baking project I have for Valentine's Day is to ice my sugar cookies with royal icing tomorrow night. Then I'm ready to mail packages to grandmas.
• The National Weather Service is predicting more snow for us tomorrow through Wednesday. I'll believe it when I see it.
• I've lost 4 lbs. so far on Weight Watchers in the 2.5 weeks since I've started. I'm pleased I've lost weight but frankly, I thought it would be more! Especially because there are times that I am STARVING. But slow and steady is good - that's 2 lbs. per week, which is reasonable.
• I joke with the husband just about every day that I need to get a vacation on the books in order to feel right with the world. I'm not joking. I really need to constantly work towards a vacation. It's motivation, right?
• Big Bang Theory and Better Off Ted are two of my favorite newer shows. I love Portia del Rossi in Better Off Ted, she's hilarious.
• I really want a card catalog from a library. I have no idea where I'd put it - spare bedroom for craft items, maybe? But I need to find one. I've been searching Ebay and Craigslist but no dice yet.
• I got the cutest fabric online at fabricguru.com. I'm skirting the big plastic utility sink in the laundry room and doing a treatment for the window.
• I was so excited to read the comments on the silver leafing! I don't have a permanent place for the table but I'll make sure to let you know. Right now it's still under our flat screen in the master, but I did add a vase of pink tulips, which are beautiful.

Well, that's about it for now. Work is busy and it ain't easy being Betty Crocker every night! All two nights in a row, that is.

adventures in gilding

Last week, I went to the mall to return some stuff. As I was leaving, I passed by Kirkland's, which I generally despise. I could see this from outside the store: My mind immediately went to this post about silver leaf I had read over at Little Green Notebook. Aha! I would silver leaf my bargain basement find! I took a photo and sent it to my mom, who was confused about what I was doing but who said that I should go for it. As I was on the phone, this rogue man wandered up and started opening the drawers in front of me. Luckily a salesperson let him know he couldn't buy it because I was going to.

When I got home, I looked online for gilding supplies and ordered the tools and goods I'd need from GildedPlanet.com. I chose to get aluminum leaf because of the price. In 5ish days, my order arrived. Pretty! Here's the brush. To get the piece ready, I covered the stenciled areas with two coats of charcoal eggshell paint. I didn't worry too much about covering the stencils too well because I knew that the silver leaf would go on top. You can see another project back there. I'm painting my grandma's old curio cabinet. It's like Santa's workshop - only with less of a work ethic. And a fondness for Coors Light. After the paint dried overnight, I covered the whole thing with the sizing and waited an hour for it to cure. Or dry. Or whatever it does.

Then I started to gild. And it was a damn mess. I definitely don't recommend doing this indoors. Between the fumes from the sizing and the metallic flakes flying everywhere, it's not a neat project. You can't do it outside either - those thin sheets of aluminum would fly everywhere. This is what it looked like when I got done and cleaned it up a bit. I left the finish kind of rough, mostly because of my inexperience. But if anyone asks, I meant for it to be that way. I left the piece alone overnight and then painted it with a layer of poly. I need the durability. I took off the old knobs and replaced them with old glass knobs I found in my grandma's basement a few years ago. I like them, but I think something dark might go better. But I'll probably keep them as they're sentimental. And here's the finished product.

I'll be honest - I'm not loving it where it is. Right now, it's underneath the wall-mounted TV in our bedroom, but it can't be centered because of the bathroom door that swings to the left. The TV is already mounted to the wall, so it's certainly not moving! I think it'll get moved somewhere else. But I do like it and it was an interesting project! And I have 2/3 of my book of aluminum leaf left, so I will have to find other things to fancy up. Another table? A photo frame? The husband's Mac Book Pro? Hmmm......

curtain call

Over the weekend the husband installed shades and new curtains for our bedroom! I'm quite excited. They were expensive but so worth it. There is, however, one small problem - they weren't at all expensive! Did I fool you?! Well, if not... just humor me. We had new windows installed recently, which meant that I had to buy new window shades. The old windows had Roman shades mounted inside the frame of the window, which is pretty standard. For the new windows, I wanted to mount any window coverings outside the window. As it turns out, windows are expensive and I'm not drilling anything into them. Or if I do, it's going to be for good.

So I started looking. I ordered Roman shades that I was kind of indifferent about and the husband didn't like them. I had to get something though - I had sheets put up as makeshift curtains, which were oh-so klassy. I finally decided to go with a roller shade that has a scalloped border and curtains. The roller shades are cordless and black out, and I can always replace then when I find something else. The curtains are from.... Wal Mart, as are the curtain rods.

I have to say, the curtains are pretty nice. They look like silk, though they're polyester, and from a distance you really can't tell. The only part I don't like is that the edges aren't sewn with much precision. But I kind of rolled them under and it's fine. For $20, I'm impressed. I'm rarely a Wal Mart shopper, but they do have a lot of cute things. I can't get over how bright that place is though. I need sunglasses to go in. At least they have a website where I can avoid the burning glare.

After I strung the panels up and put the curtains in place, the husband remarked "it looks like grown ups live here!" So I guess that's it - we're grown ups. We've got curtains. From Wal Mart.

hopping on the weight watchers (band)wagon

I joined Weight Watchers Online yesterday. The decision to do so wasn't easy - I had been thinking about it for awhile - mostly because I didn't want to turn into a calorie-counting crazy lady. But I have to do something and I can't commit to working out as much as I'd like. And I think the crazy lady thing is just my paranoia.

So far, it's going well. I haven't checked out the entire website but I've been searching for things I normally eat to check their point values. And I found their mobile site, so I entered my lunch via my Blackberry and it was ridiculously easy. Kind of fun, actually.

I hope that I can actually make time to visit the gym, but when I get home at 7pm after a 12 hour day, it just isn't happening. But having accountability is proving to be a good motivator.

So, WW gurus, what are your favorite foods? If you've written a blog post about it, feel free to link via a comment!

makeup monday: keeping the crows away

I don't have wrinkles. Yet. And I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible.

So I use some lotions and potions designed to keep my face looking young and get me carded as long as possible. Here's my current product lineup:

• Olay Pro-X Wrinkle Smoothing Cream - I use this at night after washing my face. The texture is light and the smell is nice. I can't tell you for sure if it's working but I feel like it is.
• Olay Regenerist Anti-Aging Eye Roller - I use this at night along with the Pro-X and in the morning before my makeup. I love the roller pen! It feels cold and refreshing. It has some bad reviews on Olay's website but I have sensitive skin and have had no issues.
• DDF Ultra-Lite Oil-Free Moisturizing Dew - I use this in the morning as my moisturizer. It has anti-aging properties, but I mostly like it because it's light and doesn't have a scent to it. I only use this in the winter when I won't be in the sun.
• Kinerase products - I got this favorite set at Sephora and really like the lineup, especially the Under Eye Rescue and Extreme Lift Face. Unfortunately, the price is a little steep. But it's justifiable if they work and your face stays wrinkle-free.

So that's it - like most thing it's constantly changing. What's your favorite face/anti-aging item?

wearing skinny jeans if you're... not

I have a confession. I am a huge fan of flare leg jeans. The Gap Long & Leans have been my bff since... oh about 2003ish. Yeah, I know. 7 years. Thinking about it now, it seems a bit ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is that I still have my first pair. But anyway... that's not the point.

The point is that flare jeans aren't really hip anymore. Gap still sells them but... in the words of Clinton and Stacey from What Not to Wear, just because a store sells something doesn't mean that you should be buying it. Not to mention that at 5'1", flare leg jeans make me look... not so long or lean. I've tried more pricey options but I've never been really happy with the fit. Being short, I would rather find a shorter inseam off the rack than have them hemmed so that they keep the original look of the jean. Paige Premium Denim and Joe's Jeans both make petite sizes, both of which I've puchased, but neither of which I've been 100% happy with.

I've worn slim jeans before - as in tapered leg Guess brand jeans back in 1994ish. Oh, those were the days. But I hadn't touched anything aside from a flare for a good ten years. So when Gap introduced their new line of jeans a few months ago, I bit. I looked all of the different fits over at the store and tried on the Sexy Boot jeans. And they looked good! I bought two pairs and congratulated myself on my little push towards being halfway fashionable. Since then, I've seen more and more women in skinny jeans and wondered if I should even go there.

Because skinny jeans are skinny. And I'm... not. I'm not going to get into some 'I'm so fat' tirade, but even at my thinnest, I haven't really been skinny. I'm not built like that. I'm built like Rachel Ray and Kelly Clarkson, not Rachel Zoe and Kelly Wearstler. So why in the hell would I want skinny jeans?

I was curious. And as I saw women wearing leggings and even jeggings, I wondered if I should suck it up and at least try. I ordered the Real Straight jeans from Gap (can you tell I have a Gap Silver card that gives me free shipping?!) and waited. When I got them to the house, they sat for a few days before I tried them on. But when I did try them on, I was surprised. I didn't hate them, and I actually thought they were flattering. I've worn them twice since and on casual Friday at work, I even got some compliments.

So the moral of the story is - yes, Virginia, there are versions of skinny jeans you can wear that don't make you feel like the Goodyear blimp. It might be a for-real skinny jean, a jegging, or a straight leg style that's slim enough for you. Changing things up might even make you feel good. Especially with free shipping.

random ramblings - blog content, sharing your life, and being stalked by strangers

So, in writing content for this tiny blog, I have to keep a balance with how much I want to share all over the Internets. Some bloggers share everything, some go to great lengths to remain anonymous. Most are somewhere in between. I'm conflicted in how much I share for various reasons that most of you probably identify with: my job and employer, my friends and family, the husband, but also longevity - if I ever want something deleted, is it really deleted? Or will it lurk in virtual limbo forever?!

Not to mention that if you knew my name, you could find me in one Google 'I'm Feeling Lucky' search.

There are days, as I'm sure most of you identify with, that you wish you could write a funny story or gripe about something. The hilarity of real life is sometimes funnier than what you could dream up. Seriously. If you would go to the Wal Mart closest to my house I'm certain you'd agree. But almost all of those times I write something on the edge of being too personal, I end up hitting the backspace key because I'm just too on the fence about the consequences. I mean, there probably wouldn't be any but what if there would be?

So far, the worst consequence to speaking your mind on other blogs appears to be the negative comments that come along with putting yourself out there. I'm all for your right to an opinion and having a debate, but hiding behind 'anonymous' with nasty comments? Come on now. Certainly you're all familiar with Google Analytics by now, right? Anonymous is not ever really anonymous.

I think what it boils down to is that you shouldn't write anything you wouldn't say to someone in real life. That's probably a good rule to follow. Although if you heard me talk in real life, you'd probably be surprised at the amount of profanity I spew into conversation. I curse like a sailor. Maybe the internet is a good filter. Maybe.