being sick is not fun

I've been sick with a cold all week. It started last Friday night and just kept on going. It got so bad I had to stay home from work most of the week! I'm finally back at my first full day at work but since work isn't that exciting I thought I'd share the highlights from the last few days:

Zoe hanging out on the couch (on her blankets). This is how I picture she spends most of her days when we're not home (if we leave her out). Sometimes she refuses to snuggle and will lay on the opposite side of the couch from you. Apparently sometimes she needs her space!

 Essentials: new tissues, pile of used tissue and TV remotes. Priorities really get skewed when you're sick!

 I'm asleep, stop looking at me!

I'm keeping my eye open until you stop looking at me. Seriously, I'm sleepy, stop looking at me so I can go back to sleep!

 As you can tell a lot of my day when I'm home sick involves Zoe. I think she almost prefers being home alone with the amount of pestering I put her through. But what's the point of being home and feeling miserable if you can't snuggle and cuddle and mess around with your dog!?!

Another cute photo, just to round it all out.  The even cuter part, she was totally snuggling (of her own free will) with me. The lump she's leaning on (and just out of the picture): that's me! See sometimes, when you're sick to bother trying to force her, she snuggles all on her own. And then she'll glue herself to you and snuggle in for the long haul. Oh how I love this dog!

high five for friday

This has been the week that just keeps going.  So I've had a lot of work related events this past week but not a whole lot of fun personal stuff. So this week's high five for friday may be a little weak, sorry!

1. David Lebowitz and his amazing recipes

For a work meeting I made baked goods to thank our members for attending. I made these (along with some cookies) and they were a hit! My lemon bars didn't look this pretty but they sure tasted great!

2. Hulu's "Little Mosque"

Available to watch on Hulu, titled "Little Mosque" for US audiences

I've been loving this show on Hulu. I know it doesn't sound like much and if you do watch it you'll say it's totally corny. It's all of that, but it's also so cute! It reminds me of the classic comedy shows back in the day. I wasn't too sure about it at first but the more I watched the more it grew on me. Now I'm taking my lunch breaks at my desk to watch an episode during the day!

3, 4, &5 . IT'S FRIDAY!

I've run out of other noteworthy parts to this past week. Like I said, it's been a long week! That calls for great weight being placed on the amazing fact that it's friday!

"oh-my-gosh-I-have-to-have"

I'm always on the lookout for something amazing. Something new that I didn't know I needed until I found out about it and then I have to have. (How have I lived my life so long without this!?!) I know that falls under frivolous spending but sometimes, every once in a while, these items are things that really do make a difference in your life. (And even if they don't it was fun while the adventure lasted) Today's case in point:

My beautiful ring holder from esty seller dgordon.

I'm not sure how I found this item but the second I saw it I knew I had to have it. It took me a few months but I finally treated myself to one (when they ran a sale) and I love it. I can't imagine life without it, without it sitting so pretty on my bedside table.

Previous "oh-my-gosh-I-have-to-have" items:

I discovered BirchBox through TheSmallThingsBlog. It seemed amazing and with not so gentle suggesting hubby gifted me a year's subscription for the holidays last year. I've have mixed results with my boxes but it's been so much fun! 

Petunia Earrings in Silver by etsy seller ElisabethAshlie

From the etsy shop of the ladies behind TheSmallThingsBlog and MyGreyDesk. These are probably one of their most popular items and for good reason. I'm actually wearing my own pair of these beauties right now. I saw them advertised on Kate's blog and tried for weeks to buy a pair, but they kept selling out. It was total victory and joy when I was able to buy a pair of my own and I just love wearing them!

I did say I'm always on the lookout for more of these fun splurges. (I didn't say I necessarily have the funds to buy them.) Anyway, anyone have anything to suggestion?

high five for friday

Another week (almost) over! You know what that means: high five for friday! This has been a long and odd week for me. I even  had to take a half a sick day in the middle of everything. I'm feeling better now thanks for asking!  

Looking back at the week it seems like sugar had a large part in helping me get through. So while that's totally not healthy and not the norm for me I'm not going to knock whatever worked. I can complain that I'm now craving sugar. (More SUGARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!)

1.There is a correct way to hang toilet paper!

I saw this floating around on Facebook this week. I 100% agree with this. And so do my friends (yes I even had this discussion with a friend this week: this is totally the right way to do it). So if you want to be my friend make sure you're doing it right!

2. Marshmallows!

If you open a bag you CANNOT just eat one (or even just a few). Opening a bag is a death sentence for all of the yummy treats inside, because the bag will be completely gone within a few hours or days. Which totally happened this week ... so yummy!!!

3. Sugar/Panera's

Left over from a work meeting I had to snag this. So incredibly yummy. Maybe not completely worth the 400+ calories but still worth most of them (calories that is)!

4. Dry Shampoo

I feel like I've had a week long bad hair day. This is how my counter has looked this past week, since I had to get creative to get around so many bad (bad!!) hair days. (These are the only dry shampoos I've ever tried so I'm not sure about them as a whole, these have been helpful albeit with mixed results.)

5. Hi Russia?!

According to Blogger, since starting I've had 28 page views (I think a few may have been from me looking at my own site though). It says 10 are from Russia (and 1 from Germany) and are directed from a StumbleUpon link. I'm pretty sure it's spam to begin with (it looks like a page of false advertising, not in fact anything real or interesting) and probably just people looking to find a weak spot to exploit a situation and cause damage/make money. But, thanks! You've (sort of?) seen my website!

where do your keys go when they come home?

For the past three years we've just thrown our keys on the dinning room table. Dirty little secret (okay big secret): my dinning room table is really just my junk pile. Our house is too small for a real dinning room area, there's just enough room for a small table to go, but not enough room to actually use it. 

My husband has access to tons of pallets at work and decided to go on a building/tool kick with them. A half dozen came home with him one day and he's been thinking of the many uses for them ever since. I decided we'd have to use some of that wood to make a key holder. A few trips to Hobby Lobby (how I love thee!) and a few "consults" with my husband and a design for our key holder was created.

As a warning, I took these pictures with my iPhone (it's a 3g so it's barely hanging on 2+ years later and has a horrible camera). I also tried playing around with layers and filters and big girl photoshop techniques for the first time to make these seem artistic (aka blog worthy).

Please don't judge me. Yes, the frames seem crooked. Yes, the key holder is not level with the light switch. BUT my entire house is not level. The light switch isn't level to the wall. So it's hard to balance anything with that craziness.

Here's a close up of the beauty. I fell in love with that center hook, so pretty! But I knew it'd look bad with three of them. So then came in the other hooks. I don't love them but they're okay. What's hard to make out in the picture are old rusty nails in the wood. Some were already in that piece of wood but I had hubby put some more in for effect! (The nails are also a really pretty color that's similar to the two bronze hooks.)

Most days I will put my keys on this beauty but other days I forget and go to the trusty table. Hubby reminds me where they're really supposed to go. What do you think of it? 

high five for friday

Since I've created this thing I figured I may as well participate in some of my favorite things other bloggers do. Kate from The Small Things Blog and her Sister Lauren of From My Grey Desk Blog hold a High Five For Friday series. I thought that's a great thing to be a part of, so here's my first entry into it as well.

1. Monday was my husband's birthday!

And his requested birthday meal: meatloaf! Doesn't get much more traditional American food than that! I think it came out pretty good!

2. The Olympics! 

I accidentally recorded all of the Olympics instead of just the opening ceremony. My husband has been obsessed with watching it all now! (I'm enjoying it also, unexpectedly, with lots of fast forwarding the boring parts.)

3. Tervis tumblers

I've been really into my 24 oz. tumbler. It's come to work with me everyday the past 2 weeks! I just need to find a straw that fits this (regular ones are just too short).

4. Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant® 

I purchased this bad boy through Birchbox after trying a sample in a box earlier this year. I'm really loving this, it's very gentle even to my sensitive skin and exfoliates, leaving your skin super smooth feeling!

5. it's friday!

The week is almost over!

diy fail: jewelry holder

You know the phrase having eyes larger then your stomach? Well there's got to be something like that about taking on new project ideas. You look at everyone's blogs and things seem so easy! The few times I've tried any out myself they're 500 times harder than the blog made it seem and my end result (if it ever gets finished) is ... lackluster. Oh and did I mention that even the projects that are supposed to cheap/free tend to cost $50+!?

There are all of these beautiful jewelry holders on pinterst and the blogs. I had to make one for myself!

pinterest inspiration

Off to Goodwill I went. Amazingly I found the exact same frame as in one of the inspiration photos. (Pure chance, check one for me, I got a frame and a good one at that. This must turn out great, right!?) Off to Lowe's I went to get cork and hooks. Cork is only sold back to school time and this was April. So I bought hooks and hoped that's work since the frame had a thick backing on it's own. Off to Joann Fabrics I went to get some pretty fabric to back it all. By this point it'd been a good two or three weeks since I started this project and I was in for at least $20+. I should have realized this wasn't going to work out and yet I didn't, not yet. 

I spray painted the frame after half heartedly cleaning it from it's Goodwill unknown dirt. I take off the 300 screws in the back of the frame to pull it apart. I put on some gloves (I suck at spray painting and get pain all over my hands so it's better all over disposable gloves than my actual skin) and slather on a few coats of white pain. The paint dries, I prop the frame against the couch and leave it there. I try to cut some cardboard the size of the frame, maybe I can use that instead of cork to hang the hooks from? Cardboard is hard to cut with scissors. My hands hurt so I stop. A few attempts later and my cardboard is cut, just this much too large to fit the fabric in the frame as well. Oops! The frame sits against my couch waiting ... and waiting, it's a very patient frame. Because there it sat for months. It's now back in our spare room/office/man space, leaning against a wall. And below you can see it in it's glory (glory: haha, just kidding!).

This looks like a picture taken in 1972, sadly it was taken just now with my iPhone. When I say this is a DIY fail, I mean it!
 
I've got a space picked out in my bedroom for this go to, some day. It's also entirely possible that this will stay just as it is, in some random corner of my home, with that space on the wall in my bedroom empty. I'm pretty sure we both know what's the more likely outcome.