DIY Jewelry Storage For DIY Dummies

In my dream life I am very crafty.  I cut things and sew things, and every project I start turns out perfect from the conceptualizing phase to execution.  I patiently complete each step in its proper order feeling more and more inspired as the process goes on.  Speaking of the process, I artfully photograph all steps so that later I can quickly and easily throw up a tutorial on my perfectly designed website to show other creatively-challenged folks how they too can aspire to be as soft focused and perfect as I am. 

Oh wait that's right -- here at this blog, I document reality.

Since Garrett and I moved in together -- two years ago tomorrow, actually HEY-O-- he has been hounding me about getting my jewelry under control.  I have lots of necklaces and rings and earrings and bracelets and they usually end up falling out of the one random organizer that I have and this drives him bananas.  You would think we could put our two college educated heads together and come up with a solution fairly quickly.  But that is where you would think wrong.  After two years of deliberation and 3 consecutive weekends of looking at all the parts sitting on our kitchen table, we finally managed to get this up last weekend.  And we spent the subsequent days patting each other on the back like we had just finished the Sistine Chapel. 

Coupled with my old craptastic organizer that all the necklaces used to fall out of, it now fits all of my baubles perfectly.  Yes, I did just say baubles even though the bulk of my jewelry comes from the clearance rack at Target.  Cut me some slack.

 
The genesis of this idea came from Christina's post over at Style Lush.  She smartly planted the seed of using belt hooks to hang my necklaces.  When I first read it, I wasn't convinced it was exactly what I wanted to do.  Frankly, my dream jewelry organizer looks like this and I thought about doing that for a minute, but luckily I am competent enough to know my limitations.  Actually the truth is I showed that post to Garrett and said, "Hey, you're handy...what do you think about doing this?  Isn't that cute!"  And he looked at me like I was speaking French and said, "What am I supposed to shoot a moose and mount his antlers to help declutter our closet.  It's not even moose hunting season, I don't think."  We are city folk, what can I tell you?

Between my inability and his confusion, that idea died before we could even talk about procuring materials.  But the next time I went to Target I spied some belt hooks out of the corner of my eye, and lo and behold this necklace storage solution was created!  And by lo and behold I mean I told Garrett where I wanted it and he made it happen.  Overall I have to say I am very happy with it!  And aside from having to laugh at the same joke that every man tells when using a stud finder (Hey honey...look, I put it on my chest, and it FOUND A STUD!) the whole process was relatively painless.

Sometimes I do NOT enjoy being a girl....

So yesterday we had another company come out to give us a second opinion on our House A/C Situation.   As I mentioned recently, the last guy from a Very Reputable Company came out and basically said our A/C was dunzo, which on the eve of summer in Sacramento is like being sentenced to the death penalty. 

The incident went down something like this since Garrett was out of town:

Holly:  Our heater wouldn't turn on all winter and we are now worried our A/C is up to no good as well, although we haven't tried to turn it on.

Very Reputable A/C Guy:  Well let me do some checking, I'll be back.

(After about 30 minutes)

H:  So, how did it go?

VRACG:  Here let me draw you a picture and speak to you with lots of big words you will only kind of understand. 

H:  OK

VRACG:  Blah, Blah, Blah, and in the end, I'm not saying you have to get a new A/C System, but you kind of have to get a new A/C System.  Have your boyfriend call me if he wants me to break the situation down for him too.   

*****Cue Panic******


So then yesterday Mr. New Repairman from This Other Company comes out to give a second opinion.  Although he doesn't know he is our second opinion.  And rather than dealing with me, he deals with Garrett -- and when I say "deals with Garrett" I mean spends an hour and a half diagnosing and tinkering and cleaning and servicing and ALLOWING GARRETT TO STAND ON A LADDER WHILE HE DOES THINGS ON OUR ROOF BECAUSE GARRETT IS CURIOUS HOW EVERYTHING WORKS, and then answers ninety billion of Garrett's very mechanical questions that were relevant to the sitiuation. 

And this guy's verdict:  There's nothing wrong.  

Um...wha??????  Nothing?  Like at all?

Nothing.

Two very different answers, and two very different situations.  

One is offering the death penalty, the other is offering an all expense paid trip to the Bahamas.  And I'm feeling sort of vexed by the whole situation.  

COOL THINGS:  

*Um, you know which guy we are going to listen to right?
*The second opinion made sense and was very thorough.
*And most importantly, after a quick cleaning, both the A/C and the Heat are now working like a charm.

THINGS I'M KIND OF ANNOYED ABOUT:

*According to the First Opinion, yes the A/C is technically working, but we are living on "borrowed time" which of course gives me anxiety, but not enough to run out spend $8K just in case, you know?
*Um, did I just totally get worked by Mr. First Opinion?
*Here let me answer that for you.  Yes, I think I totally just got worked by Mr. First Opinion.

I don't know if all of you will feel me on this, but sometimes in my experience as a female, if I have to have something serviced or repaired I totally get the run around.  I'm not saying I expect it, because I really give people the benefit of the doubt, but I have seriously had some shady situations go down (especially surrounding car problems) that just NEVER happen when Garrett takes the car in or whatever.  It's annoying, but I'm not going to lie, it's also kind of fun to let someone go through the process of trying to give you the run around, just to turn around and let them know that you know what the hell you are talking about.  Take, for example:  Many years ago, in my single days, I had actually just picked my car up from having the break pads replaced and went to get my oil changed (which, was obvs my dream day of errand running I'll have you know)  and the oil change guy gave me a line about how my transmission was all effed up and my break pads really probably needed some attention, but he could handle that for me at the low price of $149.99 or something ridiculous.  Actually, I'm not sure if it was exactly those things, because now that I think about it why would an oil guy be looking at my break pads, but it was somebody looking at my break pads and telling me they were shot even though I HAD JUST HAD THEM CHANGED SO SHUT IT YOU LYING LIAR FACE, DUDE!  Wanna see my receipt, because here it is on the passenger seat you idiot.  

This happens more often than I would like, I find, but I am really having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that this A/C guy would really take advantage of me!  He was so nice to me!  And my mom, who was also there!  How can you want to take advantage of my mom, too?  Grrrrr. 

Well, come to find out, after a long drawn out discussion about an A/C Unit last night (Hey-O, kind of like this blog post!)  apparently, when Garrett called him (as you will remember the A/C guy TOLD ME TO HAVE GARRETT DO) Mr. A/C was a little put off and defensive and kind of evaded all of Garrett's questions (which, honestly, Garrett does ask a lot of questions about mechanical things, I know this -- but um, that's why I'm pretty sure HE CAN FIX SHIT, which, indicidentally is not my thing.  But hey I have other things!  I can write diatribes on fixing shit on the internet, so there!)  And this sort of gave Garrett a feeling that we really needed that second opinion, which, in the end I'm super glad we got.  But still, the whole thing is just sort of vexing -- I mean yes, it's good news.  But also, I feel sort annoyed about the whole damn thing. 

I bet you all can't wait to hear about our dealings with landscapers!  Woot!   

Tree of Life

I lived in the same house from the time I was very small until I was 17 years old. When it was my turn to move out of the house, my parents did as well and it was sort of this weird simultaneous transition. They say you can’t go home again, and the truth for me was, I couldn’t. Ever since that house I’ve lived in a number of different apartments and in many different places: college in San Luis Obispo and then Los Angeles just because (in Westwood right by UCLA, then in Mar Vista right by Marina del Rey). After that I headed up to Sacramento where I have lived Downtown, then in East Sacramento and now in the suburban outskirts of Carmichael (which trust me, are all very different living experiences). With each move I have become more efficient with that dance of systematically unpacking my stuff, setting up a brand new life, finding Target and the grocery store and the good gas stations, and then of course trying to make my house a home. But part of me was always still searching for something.


I’ve always had a bit of wanderlust. I’ve discussed that here before, I love to travel and when I do I rarely go for fancy hotels. I much prefer renting a house or a condo in my destination, and pretending – even if just for a weekend – that this is my home. It’s fun to play the part of a whole new life. I’ve always thought of myself as someone who was adaptable. I’ve always though I could pick and move anywhere at anytime. It’s something I know how to do, something I do well even – moving from place to place and always finding where I belong there.


I think I took for granted the stability of my home growing up, but I mean what can you expect? I was a kid and idyllic suburbia was all I knew. I longed for “bigger and better” things as I grew up – living in the city, or having a fun apartment downtown – whatever it was. But as I’ve gotten older, moved around, and lived in different places I have such a better appreciation for everything my parents did to make our house more than just this place we all slept. It was home. And of course even though I have had great living experiences in my 32 years -- lived in fun and quirky places, had some fantastic roommates (and some not so fantastic ones, too!) -- I still found myself in search of that feeling of home and often wondered what it would feel like as an adult.


Yesterday afternoon I fell asleep on the couch as I often do on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I took a catnap with the sun coming in the windows just a bit making the house that perfect temperature for snoozing. It was quiet and when I woke up Garrett was tip-toeing around the house cleaning things up in the kitchen.


“I’ve never seen you sleep more soundly than you do at this house.”


And it’s true (although truth be told regardless of chair, bed, or couch, I can be a champion sleeper in any locale.) But even more than that, I realized – I do sleep sounder here. I breathe deeper here. Moving in to this particular house with this particular boy has – at the risk of sounding a bit cheesy – been a bit of a homecoming.  (Collective barfing can commence!)  My favorite stuff and my favorite person are finally all in the same location. No more subconscious worrying about one or the other. No more shuttling back and forth on the weekends. No more buying groceries for one house just to end up having them spoil because you both are staying at the other house.


THIS, is home.


And you all, it is like this giant exhale for my soul.


And I know you are probably thinking to yourself – hey genius, it’s already been a year and you are just getting around to this epiphany now? And the answer to that is: kind of. What can I say; sometimes I’m slow on the uptake.

Lately I keep looking around the rooms of my house – our house – and seeing our intertwined lives in every single room. The things we’ve done together, the things we’ve chosen together, our shared tasks, and our shared goals. I’ve looked around at this house – well, at this life really – and seen roots.  Which is exactly what I have always missed about my life with my parents in our little old house.  This is the thing I have been looking for.  This is the life I’ve been searching for. And I know that if you take this blog’s word for it, sometimes it is a small and mundane life -- who are we kidding, right?  But even though it is a silly little life, you guys sometimes it is such a good life – and on days like yesterday I almost can’t believe my luck that I found it at all -- and can hardly believe that I get to watch it grow.   

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

So if this blog was a child, CPS certainly would have been called by now. Talk about neglect! Let the record reflect, however, that this is why I do not have kids. (YET...calm down, Mom, I'll get there).

ANYWAY.

Part of the reason I haven't been around these parts is because I've been getting settled in my new home! And by settled I mean, turning a pretty nice bachelor pad into a chic new home for the both of us, while not making anything too girly, too foofy, or high maintenance. Oh, and did I mention on a budget? This is tougher than it sounds, yo.

So last weekend I did some major overhauling while Garrett was out of town and coincidentally my mom and aunt were in town. And the fact that I don't have any before pictures for comparison is honestly a travesty. I seem to keep doing this (especially with recipes that I have cooked lately like this and this, or this and this ). I take all sorts of pics so I can blog them and then begin eating before I take a picture of the final product (FAIL) -- so following suit, I could hardly wait to get at the boxes and piles of crap overflowing in the extra bedroom that I just left it completely undocumented. You will just have to take my word that parts of our house were a mess! But really, aren't the after pictures always more fun anyway? So allow me to show you this...the finished Guest Room:



I particularly love that I had enough space to make a mini-library (which has totally been a fantasy fulfilled after all these years!) Let's just keep it between you and me that said library is filled with such masterpieces as the Twilight Saga and old Cliffs Notes though, mmmmkay? (For the record those Cliffs Notes do not belong to me!)



Also, I made a little reading nook out of Garrett's old twin bed that we were going to rid of. And can I just tell you -- I am so happy that our absolute procrastination kept us from Craigslisting this bed because seriously, I have already spent hours reading in this little area and just LOVE it! Also, it gives us another bed in case we have extra folks over, which is nice.



And since I was working on the Guest Bedroom I figured that I might as well finish sprucing up our Master Bedroom, which ended with this as the final product:



Green seemed to be the most gender neutral color and I know Garrett was relieved come home and not have his man-chamber all shabby chic'd out.



My favorite things are the prints above the bed and finally finding a home for the large silver framed black and white photo. Can you believe I bought that like 5 or 6 years ago from Ikea for $9.99? It's gone with me everywhere.



Fret not though, I left the rest of the house alone as it looks acceptable for the most part:



Anyway, with all the settling and redecorating I've been flying under the radar here in blogland, but I promise that our trip to Maui (in T-minus 8 days...SQUEE) will provide plenty of update worthy fodder. I'm also hoping it will help me chill out a bit because this morning on the way to work I honked at the guy in front of me, who was blocking my ability to get through a green light FOR NO REASON, about 11 times and perhaps inserted a hand gesture or two before I realized that it was not his left turn signal that was flashing but his hazard lights. Yikes! In my defense though, it was a BRAND. NEW. MERCEDES. without license plates. This is not exactly the car you assume is breaking down in the middle of the road and really more often it's the car that is doing whatever-the-eff-it-wants in the middle of the road, AM I RIGHT?

I swear as I finally drove around him he looked at me and mouthed "Someone here clearly needs a vacation."

(You know, or something else similarly pleasant, I'm sure.)

Either way I got the message loud and clear.

Alooooooooha!