Ahhhhh!!! So today is my SITS day and I forgot to post my welcome post!!! I had it on my list of things to do yesterday, and it completely escaped me!! Story of my life. I feel like Im hosting a party and forgot to be a greeter, and am hiding in my room. My apologies!!

So let me do a little explaining.

I head about SITS a few years ago, when I started blogging more regularly, and wanted to be a part of it. An amazing opportunity lay before me, and what better way to get exposure to a group of 0ther bloggers. Today is my day to shine. My SITS day. My day to be featured…and I almost blew it!!  A community of over 8,000 bloggers come together to form a community, and share posts, comments, chat in forums, go to conferences, and support each other. Thats why SITS stands for The Secret to Success is Support! Additionally, there is a featured blogger every weekday, and that’s what I am today!

1)I love costumes. I love reasons to wear them, and I have way too much closet space being taken up by them. Many of my costume themed posts can be found here.

2)My house is a zoo. Between 2 cats and a dog, the dander and cat litter are plentiful..but I couldn’t have it any other way.

3) My husband and I both have mustache tattoos on our fingers. He got his first, and I told him that when he proposed I’d get one too. We call it my commitment stache. Its fun to play with at parties.

4) Im an ex-sorority girl living in the Bay Area. Though sorority girl most definitely doesn’t define me… people are actually sometimes shocked I was in one. I’m a California girl born and raised, starting my life in LA, school in SD, and been in the bay for 8 years. A majority of my friends from home and college having families, some with up to 3 kids! I feel like the Bay area is home to a lot of people with peter pan syndrome, and they dont want to grow up. Living here was always more of a party and work kind of life rather than family focused. Things are changing. My friends up here are maturing and starting the wedding circuit. I got married last August, and cant wait to have a family….stay tuned, hopefully things will turn around and I’ll be able to actually post baby posts as opposed to stalking other peoples baby focused Etsy sites. Love making Wunzees for other people, but cant wait to make them for ME!

5)I like to think I’m crafty…though I’ve seen what other people can do. I was making Wunzees for a while, and if you need one, I still can. I am currently trying to make a new quilt, (the one below is a first attempt) and doing a bunch of small ones in the process. I wish i knew what i was doing!!

Anyway…I hope you enjoy my blog. Not traditional in the “I have focus” sense, but hopefully fun nonetheless. Thanks for visiting!!!

I am buying something tonight off of Craigslist, with nowhere to put it, and no idea what to do with it. But I saw it, fell in love with it, and decided it was worth buying for any future home I have.

Description: “Vintage bathroom mirror and medicine cabinet likely circa 1940s. I found this at Urban Ore and cleaned it up for a “shabby chic” or distressed look. It is constructed to be installed as a built-in, but personally I hung it on the wall for a funky effect. All original hardware has been refinished and refurbished and is gleaming. Contains two movable/ adjustable interior shelves and is very well-made as were most things of earlier eras. Super cute!”

What do you think?? I figured we could paint it for any room in a future home, or just keep it distressed if that is where it works best.

All I know now is that I need to find a place to store it.

I used to browse the wedding blogs…find things I wanted to include during the big day. A lot of it was out of my price range, and a lot of it didnt fit the aesthetic, but I liked posting and sharing anyway. Now I’m living in wedded bliss…in an apartment I don’t own, but try to have some creative input into the design. Hopefully all of our current furniture will just be the starting point to an AMAZING space of our own some day.

If I could furnish my place with the CB2 catalog, I’d be a happy lady… If I could have a few accent pieces from Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, etc…that would make me smile. Give me catalogs. But first…give me space to put it all.

Here are a few things that tickle my fancy lately…(though I know they don’t all work together or with what we have currently)

Do you have any favorite go-to catalogs?

CB2 Pixel Pillow

Urban Outfitters Industrial Rolling Side Table

Urban Outfitters Gold Fainting Sofa

CB2 Utility Pendant Lamp

Rugs USA Chevron Rug (totally not a catalog)

I’ve never been much of a collector. Aside from the teddy bears that I collected till I was 12 or so (and no longer have), I’ve never been one. My mom collects heart shaped boxes, salt and pepper shakers, and used to have a pretty amazing Raggedy Anne and elephant collection. That never passed on to me. I never collected.

However…I’m kind of obsessed with Pyrex right now. The old school, vintage, patterned stuff. I not only love the functionality of it…but I love the way it displays. I love the colors, and the patterns, and just how homey it makes a space look. Even though I don’t have the room, I want to grow my collection, and we are working on getting temporary housing for it in our living room, as our kitchen is too small currently. (I’ll be sure to share the display after I get it going). This site PyrexLove sure doesn’t help matters…

Until now, I’ve been bidding on pieces that I can afford on eBay. Its kind of insane what people are paying for this stuff…so until I go thrift store shopping for more, eBay had to be my fix. I had price limits, and lost a lot of auctions due to collectors willing to spend more. My wins are below. A few of them are also gifts from Mick, as he saw my new need to collect. I have started a Flickr set too in order to document what I acquire.

Now here comes the best part. This past weekend we were visiting my in-laws and family in New York, and I mentioned my new love for pyrex. My mother-in-law stated, “I have some if you want it.” OF COURSE I DO!! So I took it. Shipped it home…and it should be arriving any day. I took photos of it in NY…and it’s below. I just cant wait to get it, put it on display, and share.

Not too shabby for a start of a collection eh? Anyway, I only can hope to have something that looks like this.

Or this…

photo by SeaHoney

Or could you even imagine…THIS

DROOOOOL.

• I am amazed how happy a perfectly toasted piece of bread can make me. We got the toaster oven we registered for yesterday, immediately threw away our burning bread machine, and now can cook things as they should be. Evenly, not burnt and delish.
• We do not have salmonella infused eggs in my fridge. I checked.
• I really want to purge some stuff tonight. I just need to clean out my closet, bookshelves, etc…and get rid of some of the clutter that exists in my life. I’ve also been crafting in my living room, so I now have what is becoming a craft corner where it shouldn’t be. Guess its time to re-organize my ACTUAL crafting corner in the other room. Suggestions? I have an IKEA Expedit with a desk but cant seem to get it to where I like the organization. Your craft organizing tips are welcome.
• My dog has been waking us up at 3:30 am for either bathroom breaks or water needs, and while I understand that he is a dog, and thats what he does…it’s making for a very tired Lauren and Mick. I was up and outside at 3:00 am this morning while he did what he needed to. Kind of creepy outside to be honest. Mick actually woke up, realized I was gone, and came looking for me. Creeptastic.
• Is doing my best to become financially responsible. Ticketmaster, Livenation and Another Planet Entertainment are not assisting me with this process. I’m making the right choices and not buying the tickets, but seriously? How do they think that $42 for tickets to a concert, BEFORE fees is OK? All of these amazing bands that I wont see because its the cost of me going to a Broadway show. Call me bitter.
• Back to the kitchen thoughts, I dream of a day that I have a kitchen big enough where all my new appliances don’t have to sit in boxes until we use them.  I want counter space, I want an island, I want a functional space…not the closet we have in our apartment. I also just found THIS blog, and now I am wanting my own lovely kitchen even more.

We got our first wedding gift a few weeks back. It was our pots and pans set that we had registered for, and we couldn’t be more excited. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and love to cook…so it was perfect that we got a nice, new, shiny set.

Last October, we saw some heavy rain, and our apartment wasn’t ready for it. We had roof leaks, closet leaks, and floor leaks. We had to protect our stuff, so we used a few of the older, crappier pots and pans to catch the rain and protect our furniture. We threw those rusty and ruined pots and pans away after, making our collection significantly smaller.

Even with the smaller collection we already have, with this new, shiny set, we have no where to store them all! They are actually still in the box.  We won’t be in this apartment forever, so we will make do with what we have, but I would love to be able to display and hang my new, shiny pots in a convenient, space-saving and decorative way. So I started browsing. There wont be a place for it now, but I figured a girl can dream right? My two thoughts were hanging rack, and peg board. How do you keep your pots and pans?

This over the stove rack is nice to look at, and a good use of space, but would the pots and pans be affected by the grease?

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C’mon now…you know my blog is PG.

I found this great tutorial on Kaboose today on how to plant herbs and its a great way to do it indoors. I know if you are like me, and don’t have a yard, let alone a deck, it makes it tough to grow your own. This way, you can recycle old cans, AND grow herbs in a sunny place in your apartment (if thats the only way you can.) In order to make it super easy for you…I just pasted the entire tutorial under the cut!

Make these charming tin can herb pots and watch them grow all summer long!

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Introducing Leeloo Dallas Multipass. The newest addition to our family. She is a wee one at 6 weeks, and its going to take her some time to get acclimated. We are slowly introducing her to Brody and Gertie  (see photos below), and she is definitely the most squee worthy kitten I’ve seen in ages!!

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This might be the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while as far as furniture goes. Don’t know how much it is…dont care, as I’m going to just sit and drool. Resource Furniture is full of gems…check out the site. All of their space saving furniture is fantastic.

you would THINK its just a couch

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My life right now reminds me of one of those weird “confront your fear” episodes that Maury or Tyra used to have. You know, the one where some poor woman is afraid of balloons so they bring one out to her and have her use that aversion therapy to cure her fear? Yes…there was a woman who was afraid of balloons (apparently called globophobia) and she screamed and ran the second they came on the stage. Usually these shows involve snakes, pidgins, clowns and bananas or something else random.

Well, right now, I’m the same way but with Yorkshire Terriers. Thats right, the little cute dogs that people put little pink bows on, and appear to be relatively harmless. Yes this dog. Looks adorable and friendly..right? Well, I’m sure most of them are.

But one little bastard of a Yorkie has me turned off to the breed, and actually turning away when I see one, and immediately heading in the other direction. This is what I see.

My neighbor (who thankfully doesn’t read this blog), has a Yorkie that lives downstairs. Everyone knows the dog. He barks at everything that moves, and hangs out in the kitchen watching life happen outside while expressing his hatred of everything. His owner (also my landlord), keeps him tied up at all times. If he is outside, he is on a leash attached to a pole. If he is inside its the same way in the kitchen. This dog ONLY listens to his owner, and to everyone else, he is an asshole.

Case and point. The first time that he was off leash, out of nowhere, he came lunging after me, racing with his little legs and grabbing onto mine. Got a hold of my calf and wouldn’t let go. Broke skin through my jeans, and then latched on to my other leg, this time only bruising me. What do I do? We were heading to see Flight of the Concords that night, and it wasn’t hospital worthy. Just a scar waiting to happen.

The next few times he was off leash (you would think that after the first incident, that he would never be allowed off leash again), he came racing after Mick and I, but our feet met his head first and his owner got out in time to take him before he could do damage.

Cut to last night. I walk up our courtyard stairs after a long day at work, and see him hanging out…..sans leash. I immediately yell our neighbors name and the POS dog comes running toward me. First, grabs the toe of my Converse. I guess he realized he didnt have skin, so he went after my leg again. Didn’t break skin, but it hurt like hell and I had a few choice words for the guy who was supposedly there taking care of the dog while the owner was at work. Apparently he didn’t know better than to leave the door wide open and have the dog off leash.

I’m not lawsuit happy. I am being the biggest person I can be about this…but I’m not pleased in the least. The dog technically didn’t cause me enough harm to seek medical help. But what about the 1 and 3 year old that live in our complex too? What if the dog was off leash when they were hanging out outside? My question is why would anyone want a dog that a)barks ALL the time, b)cant be off leash for fear of hurting others, c)just sucks all around.

If his owner wasn’t my landlord, I might be thinking differently…but I’m not sure what to do. Short of suggesting that he get rid of him, I’m just not that type of person to call anyone. We warned him last night. Told him that we fear for the kids…and the potential lawsuits (not from us). He claims he has tried everything from classes to shock collars to god knows what else. Its not working. Maybe there is only one option left. A girl can dream.

But seriously…as a dog lover, I’m forever petrified of the Yorkie. I think that they all will just see me, and start running for a piece of juicy flesh. Yorkies are my balloons.