Brrrr!

It certainly has been chilly here lately. I feel like it took so long to actually get cold this year that when it finally did, I was not mentally prepared! I even tried to put Fluffhead's fleece jacket on him last night and he is too big for it! I could not believe he had outgrown his cold weather gear.

I have recently picked up a new love: owls. I got the cutest print for my apartment:


Somehow it struck the perfect mix of cute and just a tad weird, which I love. I have also been working on some paintings recently. My biggest project right now is a large painting for Rob for Christmas. It has sections to represent all our Phish shows together. It may not make it over the fireplace, but it's the thought that counts, right???

Speaking of Phish, I am BEYOND excited to go to New York for New Year's Eve. I think it will really be a memorable experience. I have been working to put together our itinerary... and planning what outfits I will wear, of course!

New Apartment: Part 1

This weekend was the big move to my new apartment! It will definitely take some time to adjust to living by myself, but so far so good. It's been a lot of fun to decorate and plan what I want to add next. Fluffhead seems a little confused (he ran into the patio screen door yesterday) but overall seems to like it here. I know he is loving the nice, clean carpets!

In order to share my new "space" with my far-away friends and family, I thought it might be neat to share some pictures of the place and what I am doing with the decor.

First up, the bathroom. While it is an admittedly tiny bathroom, I still wanted to do something from a style standpoint. I mean, if you have guests over, they are going to have to utilize it at some point, so it might as well be cute, right? I decided to go with a mermaid theme (which is still coming together) and I got some awesome mermaid wall art from the Raleigh flea market:



Next - the accent lamps. I also got these at the flea market and they are the decorating anchor of my sun room. I like things with character and these lamps had a very retro and gothic feel:




Finally, the china. I arrived at my apartment with a few drab plain white dishes and one plastic plate with a skull and crossbones on it. Needless to say, my dinnerware lacked a cohesive feel. I think that now that I am out of college, I should at least try to employ some matching dishes. Beth was gracious enough to let me use an amazing set of "vintage" china that has an awesome pattern that is right in line with my style sensibility:



Now maybe I'll finally be inspired to actually cook something out of my new Guilt Free cookbook!

The Little Things

I took Fluffhead on along with me on a jog this afternoon. It was my favorite kind of running weather - pretty warm, but overcast with a friendly breeze. As we rounded a corner, the wind picked up and carried away some of the little white flowers that have been blooming on some trees around here lately. I had to stop to watch the little white petals swirling and dancing in midair. It was a beautiful thing to see and definitely made me smile. It is a blessing to witness those little moments in life.

PHISH IN 3D!

PHISH 3D - IN THEATERS APRIL 30TH from Phish on Vimeo.

What did YOU do this weekend...

I got my nose pierced this weekend! It's a small, diamond/opal-tinted stud and I adore it. I also went to check out the brand-new H&M at Crabtree and I all came away with were braided and beaded headbands (gotta gear up with my headbands for the upcoming Phish summer tour!). The store was a madhouse and nearly gave me an anxiety attack at the amount of people inside! The merchandise was somewhat picked over in the fact that they only had the very small and very large sizes left (which I am neither). I am hoping that when the get in more spring shipments, I'll be able to find some stuff because I do love that store.

Also, I am just finishing my first week of the P90X workouts. I took my rest day yesterday so that I could go running around Shelly Lake in this beautiful weather. But those workouts are intense! I was very sore those first few days. But sore is good because sore muscles = change! Gotta get in shape for those summer music festivals!

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In Like A Lion... Out Like A Lamb

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I can finally feel the edges of spring starting to peek in around here. Today it is sunny and breezy and an all-around nice day. We took Fluffhead for a walk around the lake - he made lots of new doggie acquaintances.

Last week I applied for a position in our company's training department. I still am a little ambivalent about it, though since it would be so different from my current department as far as atmosphere and the type of work I'd be doing. Right now, my department is big, with lots of socializing, although the nature of my work lends itself more to coming in, getting the work done, then going home (which I love after having to constantly work outside of my job for teaching). The training department is very small and requires a lot of interaction with both established and new employees. You're basically some of the first faces that people see when they begin working there. And I'd be lying if I said it didn't somewhat depend on the pay raise. I had an informal meeting with the heads of the training department last week which seemed to go well. I have put my name in for a formal interview, so now it's just a waiting game...

I also applied to be a writer for the website The Examiner. Basically, sites like The Examiner hire freelance writers to post articles about topics they are local "experts" in. This creates a place with lots of local information written by people who actually live there, and it also generates revenue to the website through ads and readership. I have been accepted as the Vintage Style Examiner for the city that I live in. I'm excited to both have a purpose for my writing and to maybe even pick up a few extra dollars in the process! My plan is to check out all the local shops and do write ups about them, then do some pieces about vintage style in general.




Also, I finally got the haircut I wanted yesterday! I took in a picture of Liz from My Life as Liz & the hairdresser did a great job!