I'm Getting That Crafty Feeling Again.

Well I've done it again. I've decided to take on another moderately intense (in man hours, not necessarily skill) craft/home improvement project.

Actually I have a few planned, but more on that later...

Yesterday I discovered a super cool website called pinterest. Actually, I guess I more re-discovered it, since I have been on it before. Basically it's this website where people "pin" pictures they like from websites onto their galleries (or something like that) so it becomes this huge virtual corkboard filled with fun things. My last foray into the pinterest world was with that apple crate bookcase I posted about a few weeks ago. Anyway, yesterday I happened upon the site because I was looking at my blog's statistics (oddly enough a lot more people read this thing than I realized) and I saw that one of the referring websites was pinterest. So I clicked the referring link and saw that at some point someone had looked at my blog and liked my post with quotables card about everything being ok in the end (my personal fav so kudos to that person for his or her taste!).

But, that simple 30 second investigation turned into an almost hour long search through various people's DIY pins. And boy did I find some fun things to do! All of which I'm pretty sure will be of little or no cost to me (added bonus! and very key).

I was so excited about it that I couldn't sleep last night.

Literally.

I got so fed up with trying that I got up, got my laptop, turned on PBS (one of my only rabbit eared accessible stations in my room and go to late at night channel), and researched/planned my projects some more.

Until 3:30 a.m.

That excited.

And today I put the first one into motion.

Here's a sneak peek.

it involves this wall

and these materials (along with a few more) 

And it better be worth it because, as you can see, it's thrown
the rest of my life (or at least my apartment) in shambles. 

Stay tuned to see how it all turns out! Fingers crossed for a good result!

Umm... It's Still October.

My uncle sent me this picture of his driveway in Vermont this evening... They have three inches and its still lightly snowing. Did I mention it's still October?

I guess Grammy's Farmer's Almanac was right... or at least it seems to be starting out that way!

In other news, it may snow here on Saturday, but it's only supposed to lightly flurry, with no expected accumulation.

My Very Own Peeping Tom

This morning while I was toasting my bagel for breakfast, I heard this weird scratching noise coming from somewhere in (or around) my apartment. Now I'm no stranger to weird noises, the acoustics in the hall of my building make for plenty of those. At first, I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, but after a little investigating I decided that the sounds were coming from my bedroom, from somewhere in the vicinity of the window by my bed.

I looked under the gap between my air conditioner and my blinds and saw.....

A Squirrel!

I'm naming him Tom.

I think he's a cutie.

Midterm Misery

Or maybe just my midterm.

I'd forgotten how much I don't like tests...

Can someone please remind me why I went back to school again???

I Want to Work Here.

Mediabistro (a website/newsletter thing about the book, news, and entertainment industry that I subscribe to) does this really cool thing called "Cubes," which is basically a spin-off of MTV's "Cribs" except they tour the offices of major publishers and entertainment people.

Today's episode featured the SOHO headquarters of Scholastic. Words cannot express how much this made me want to work there.... it looks amazing!

Enjoy!

I Wish This Worked.

Driving Me Crazy.

I went home for a hot second this weekend. It's an easy trip... only about two and a half hours, and truthfully, I enjoy the drive.

There is one thing I don't enjoy, however, and that is driving 2 mph on a highway.

Tonight, thanks to an accident that blocked about 15 feet of the left lane and shoulder of 81, it took me an hour and 20 minutes to drive seven miles.

That's right, almost 1.5 hours to drive seven miles.

Lame.

Terrifying.

This morning I had what was probably the most terrifying experience I've had in recent memory... more terrifying than not being able to find somewhere to live, more terrifying than being pulled over for the first time in my life, more terrifying than the time I collided with a deer and totaled my car.

This morning, I thought my building was on fire.

Everyone (well most people) who know me know that I have an irrational fear of fire. I don't know what started it, but since as far back as I can remember I've been terrified that my house was going to burn down. And today, I was positive that my worst fears were coming true.

You see, every apartment in my building is equipped with fire alarms, many of which seem to go off at a semi-regular basis. I guess they're pretty sensitive, because I've set mine off twice just by taking a shower, (the first time that happened I almost had a panic attack). So, usually when I hear a fire alarm go off (they are super loud), I get a little adrenaline boost, and then manage to shake it off. And since it happens pretty often, I know to expect three beeps, a pause, three more beeps, and then silence... I found out by experience that six beeps is about how long it takes to register that it's your alarm going off, and to run to the alarm and yank out the battery.

This morning, however, was different.

This morning I heard the alarm go off. Three beeps, pause, three beeps, pause... three more beeps, pause, three beeps...

I wasn't freaking out yet because every now and then it takes a little longer for the apartment occupant to stop their alarm...

Three beeps, pause, three beeps, pause, three beeps, pause...

Now I was starting to worry a little...

Three beeps, pause, three beeps, pause... running feet, three beeps, frantic door unlocking sounds, three beeps, frantic noises in the hall next to me....

Panic ensues.

Three beeps, pause, three beeps, then... crazy loud constant beeps. No pauses here.

It was the hall alarm. My building had to be on fire.

I threw on a shirt (I was still in my pjs thanks to the two tylenol p.m. I took the night before that made me sleep through my alarm), grabbed my keys, and ran out into the hall.

My next door neighbors (we share the wall that runs the length of my living and bedrooms) had their door thrown wide open and smoke was pouring out of a room that I'm assuming is the kitchen... but they are all still in there including one of the kids. So, I asked the lady if there was really a fire and she said no (I think... I was in panic attack mode by this point and she didn't seem to speak English very well). But I didn't see any flames and the smoke smelled like cooking smell (albeit a very acrid version), so I was somewhat appeased.

But still panicking. And the continual beeping of the fire alarms wasn't doing anything to sooth my rapidly unraveling nerves.

So I did what any rational (or perhaps unrational) person would do... I threw on whatever real clothes came to my grasp first, grabbed my computer (that way I'd have all my pictures and important things in the event that my apartment burned up), and hightailed it out of there as fast as humanly possible.

When I came back about an hour or so later, the beeping had stopped, my building was still there, and the only lingering reminder of my super scary morning was the hint of smoke lingering in the hallway.
Oh, and the nausea I was experiencing thanks to the obscene amounts of adrenaline still coursing through my body.

I almost supplemented my lunch with a large glass of red wine... maybe I'll have two with dinner.

I Want This Bookshelf!

The Eagles game is really depressing me right now, so I'm trying to distract myself by cleaning out my email inbox... an equally depressing task.

But in the process I found something really cool. I saw this picture in a book-based newsletter that I get and I am in love.

It's a bookshelf made out of antique apple crates. I want one!

Source: cgi.ebay.com.au via Anne on Pinterest

Mod Podge Makeover, Part 1

For the past few months I've been diligently searching Target for fun things to furnish my apartment... particularly things that were on clearance. I've found quite a few things, but this table (and more importantly what I did with it) is by far the coolest.

The first time I saw this table I thought it was incredibly ugly. I think it came in five super bright colors. It was also around $20. Way above my price line. Then, last weekend I found the hot pink version on major clearance for $4.00. Sold. (I needed one last end table.)

But it was still super ugly.

Yay for nighttime craft projects!

I thought that the table itself, and the shape and stuff looked pretty cool, it was the hot pink part that I couldn't quite come to terms with. So I decided that the best way to fix that, would be to re-cover the top.

A few weeks ago, I discovered this really cool store in Old Town called Paper Source. As the name suggests, it sells all kinds of paper products, including cards, calendars, and wrapping paper. Anyway, I went there looking for something to use to cover my light switches and outlet covers, when I found this amazing piece of paper. It was love at first sight. Unfortunately, the pattern on it was way to big to use on an (albeit slightly larger than normal) 3"x5" cover. But I was pretty sure that I would be able to use it somehow, so I bought it anyway. And I found some killer paper to use for my covers (you'll see that project soon!)

Fast forward to my table and craft night at Melissa's house.

To make my amazing table, I cut out a piece of paper to cover each part of the table top, making sure that there was about two inches of overlap on all the sides. Then I covered the top of each piece with mod podge and smoothed the paper over it.

Then, I folded the edges over on the two straight sides and glued them down. To negotiate the curved part of the table, I cut the edge into small sections (about an inch wide) so that when I folded it over, it molded to the curve without making any awkward creases. Then I covered the whole thing with mod podge.

I did that to each of the ugly hot pink sections and covered them with several more layers of mod podge.

When they were dry I attached them to the legs and....

This ☛   plus this ☛  

Equals this!

Ta Da! 

I still can't believe how well this turned out.

Apple Love

Or maybe I should say "Steve Jobs Love"

This was the scene outside the Apple store today...

The post-its all had love notes to Steve Jobs on them.

I love all the apples... one even had a huge bite out of it to make it look like the logo.

This may be the single most touching thing I've seen in a while.

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Happy One Year Anniversary!

One year ago today, I made the biggest commitment of my life so far...

I bought this beauty.

Since that day, this little baby has taken me all around the country (or at least the east coast) making several treks up to Vermont and another down to North Carolina and many trips up and down I-81 and across I-66.

We've had our low points (namely the squirrel ruined gas tank that took almost three weeks to replace) but over all it's been a pretty great ride. Here's to many more years of driving adventures!

Feeling Loved!

Today I when I got home from class I was greeted with not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR glorious pieces of mail. And none of it was junk. That is the single largest amount of real mail I have ever gotten. Now, to be fair, three of them were things I had ordered, but the fourth came from my amazing Grammy.

There is nothing better than a Farmer's Almanac promising a snowy winter!

I love you ♥