New Apartment Unveiling: Bathroom

Now that the apartment is finally settled, I'm excited to share it with all of you! I'm sure my mom is happy too - I've made her wait to see pictures until it's all done. Not that my place is that exciting - I didn't paint any of the walls beyond the basic apartment off-white, even though I could have, but I do think I have a unique sense of style and an amazing ability to re-purpose and reuse furniture! As I'm sharing my spaces, I'll try to point out the new uses for things.

Today I'm sharing my bathroom with you. So without further ado, click below to see the bathroom unveiling!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I won something! I actually won something!

I just did a happy dance in my living room (well, the happy dance started in the lobby of my apartment building, continued up the elevator, and culminated in my apartment but that's besides the point.)... I just got the most amazing package in the mail.

Backing up.

Have you ever entered one of those "I'll never win it but I should try anyway" Facebook contests? I rarely enter them but am so glad I did for once.

I was super excited to see that one of my favorite authors, Tana French, had a new book coming out. (You can read my review of her first two books here and her third book here...)

And then I was not-as-super-excited to see this on her Facebook page:

because I never win anything ever but I entered anyway because I figured, what the heck?

Last week when I got this email:

I honestly thought it was fake but replied anyway and just hoped that it wouldn't actually be an ax murderer coming to get me.  I received another email saying my books had been shipped and I waited not so patiently to see if it was all a scam.

Considering that I just received this in the mail:

I'm glad that I said, what the heck back when I saw the Facebook posting!

Squee!  So excited to read the new one and have copies of all the others!  She's amazing - without even reading the fourth book, I highly recommend you run out and grab a copy RIGHT NOW.

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday, friends! I am bound and determined to make this a better week than last. Not that last week was necessarily bad, it just wanted great either and I could use a great week.

Now for a quick recap of the weekend. I'm linking up with Kati again for a "Good, Bad & Ugly" style recap. It's nice to link up on things like this - helpful knowing that other people are out there sending positive thoughts my way as I deal with my uglies!

The Good - All around, it was a good weekend. My apartment is finally settled (or as settled as it can be right now!) which means I'll be doing more apartment unveilings in the next couple of weeks. The weekend was full of doing stuff around the house, spending time with friends, and watching the Olympics. The cats were certainly happy to have me home a lot!

The Bad - It's going to be another busy week, ended by a very long drive again. So much road tripping for me lately! But the road trip is for a very good reason so I am in no way complaining about that!

The Ugly - I am so mad at myself. After working so hard to grow my nails out for the wedding, I've gone back to chewing them off again when I'm stressed. It has more to do with the fact that I haven't been painting them every night because I haven't had the energy but I'm still disappointed in myself. Maybe saying it out loud will help break the habit again. I trimmed them down yesterday and painted them, hoping to break the cycle. Wish me luck!

Saturday Simplicity

Yesterday morning I was really needing a snack at work.  It's been a long week and I was doing lunch later than normal.  So I opened up the snack drawer at my desk (yes, I have a snack drawer) and found this little gem.

I had been saving it for a day I really needed it.  And yesterday was obviously that day.


That's when I realized that I am a bit of a food hoarder.  Not in a "the world is about to end so I need months worth of canned goods" way.  More in a "you never know when you're really going to need (insert name of snack here that is only available certain times of year)" way.

Thursday night, my night time snack consisted of Thin Mints.  I ration them off all year so I'm never without.  The Girl Scouts haven't been selling cookies since, what?  February?  March?  And yet I have half a sleeve plus an unopened box of Thin Mints in my freezer and an entire box of Peanut Butter Patties.

I think I have a problem.

Favorite Things Friday

It's Friday again already?  Wow.  As always, linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk Blog!

1. The sky outside my new apartment's balcony during a storm is wicked. Seriously. Every single time it storms I wish I were a real photographer so I could capture the moment accurately.

2. Living downtown and walking to work means no more "I'll just stop at the store for x, y, and z" on the way home from work. At least, not in the car. I've eaten at Shorty's, Lexington's downtown grocery store, but I've never shopped there until yesterday. It's so convenient, they have everything I could ever need, and the prices are surprisingly comparable to the chain stores, especially when figuring in the time and gas savings.

I had also never been to their wine shop before yesterday and I will definitely be back. Excellent prices (most bottles under $20!), helpful staff, and wine tastings every Thursday. I think they just created a repeat customer!

3. The walk to and from work every day is a "favorite thing" unto itself. Even though it's hot, it is so nice to start my morning and end my day with a walk. I'm walking at least 1.5 miles every day (for people who actually work out, I am aware this isn't much, but I'm not one of those people) through the greatest neighborhoods. The old part of downtown, complete with a park, then into the entertainment district, passed the courthouse, and finally to my building.

For anyone not in Lexington, keep in mind that's only about a 6 block walk. It's just that downtown has some distinct areas and I'm lucky to go through all of them!

4. The blog redesign is a huge favorite. I think most of the glitches are worked out - at least the biggest ones - and I am loving the clean design that my friend Lindsay created. It's obvious that she knows me well because the blog is very "me" now. It matches my every day design style and I love that! What do you think? Do you like the redesign?

5. Five is still a secret to all but my real life, close friends. Could I just come up with something else to make a favorite instead of holding a place for this one? Yes. But when the secret is the absolute favorite thing going on in my life right now, it's worth leaving you all hanging.