Loft Window Ideas

One of the first things the live in and I fell in love with about our loft is the windows. They are big, and just about span the length of our two exterior walls. We’re talking lots of windows.

Although we currently have shades on all of our windows I’ve recently become obsessed with how to update them. Our shades are made of a similar material to that of a window screen – when they are closed we can still see out and they let filtered light in. This is great in some ways, but right now I’d like something that can shield a little more of the sunlight. So, last week we had a very nice lady come out to the loft and give us a couple of estimates for new window coverings. Turns out we have miles of windows to cover and the cost ranged from $8,000 all the way up to $12,000 depending on the style. Yikes!

Obviously this is well out of the budget, so I’m back to square one. Today I came across these cute pompom fringe curtains and I’m thinking they could do the trick. I wouldn’t use sheer fabric, but something a little more solid, placed over our current roller shades. We’ll see. If you have any great {not too expensive} suggestions, let me know…

Coming Home

Heeyo. I’m in the Denver airport waiting for my flight back to Portland. I’ve been here the past few days for work and while it’s been a fun trip, I’m ready to go back home.

In other world news: I bought a fanny pack today. I’ll post a picture when I get back home. On Monday I told my friends that I wished I had one. On Wednesday I stumbled upon the perfect fanny pack. It’s unreal.

All this sitting in the airport makes me want to plan a trip. Any great Summer vacations planned?

This...

…is how those of us who live without a backyard / patio / balcony BBQ. We roll our beloved Weber Q out from our storage unit, wheel it into the elevator, and out into our building’s common area. {If we’re getting fancy, it’s an atrium.} It’s a process the live in has down.

p.s. I’m planning a small atrium party this summer…I’ll post my ideas soon…

Happy Earth Day!

{Musee d'Orsay & Polar Bear love.}

Under the Big Top

This week the live in and I had a fun night under the big top at Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza. Such a good show! If you’re in the Portland area, go check it out…just watch your popcorn.  Mine got eaten by a clown...

Market Baskets

Good news: the live in and I got into the community garden at work. We’ll be helping build raise beds this weekend, and I am secretly hoping I meet a few new gardening buddies as well. The live in thinks I’m crazy for wanting to be BFF with people I haven’t even met yet, but I can already tell there’ll be a garden party or two in our future.

I’m thinking these market baskets are a must have. What better way to bring home our future crop {assuming we can actually grow something}?

{via Creature Comforts}

Proud

Dear Friends,

If you get a chance to be a mentor – take it. Mentorship comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes and can be as simple as being a friend to someone who needs one. I’ve informally become a career mentor to someone I met while I was visiting OSU a few months ago and today I got the warm and fuzzy feeling parents rave about. I strongly encouraged her to take a less-than-glamorous class this term, and today she emailed and was so excited to tell me that she got a 100% on her midterm. It’s her new favorite class. I almost cried in my cube while reading her email she was so excited. So, long story short, be a mentor – it’s good for both of you.

love,
erica

Bird Mobile

This weekend was my sister’s baby shower and the big reveal of the secret project I’ve been working so hard on. I made a mobile for her nursery! {Check out Spool for the bird pattern.} It was a lot of fun to make and I’m so happy with how it turned out. I will say, finding “cute” branches to use while living downtown isn’t exactly an easy task.

I can’t wait to see it up above her crib…

Venting

What were you in high school? Popular? Nerdy? A jock? I would consider my high school self a mix of all “groups”. Kind of eclectic. Definitely unique.

The good thing about being unique is that as you move into college and eventually beyond college your character allows you to develop into the person you want to be. Not the person you think will be popular, not the person all the other girls want to be like, but the person that is right for you. Then you find that your uniqueness might actually work for you. It allows you to think outside of the box. It allows you to try new things, and create a style of your very own.

Then one day you realize that not everyone puts “unique” down on their list of self characteristics. I doubt they put “copy cat” down either, but you know what I mean. Sure we all borrow ideas from each other. And we definitely all have people we hold as role models. But, a little credit to the original source goes a long way. My mom, like so many other mothers I am sure, told me more than once that imitation should be the sincerest form of flattery. Clearly its not and she was just saying this to try and make me feel better about whatever high school drama-of- the-moment I was currently hurdling.

Ten years out of high school and I still don’t like to be copied. It’s icky. It makes me want to wear solid black every day and paint my house solid white and never share any of my ideas. Probably not the mentality someone ten years out of high school should be having, but my point is imitation hurts my feelings.

I’m not going to wear solid black, I’m not going to paint my house solid white, and I will continue sharing my ideas. If you like them, just tell me so. If you want to use them, be my guest.

My friends, thanks for letting me vent. These feelings have nothing to do with my blogging friends, but more so a situation from my personal life.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

The live in and I are fully relaxed after a little getaway this weekend. Complete with massages, marinated olives, and Salsa Verde Doritos! Nothing better. Actually, the only thing better was watching the live in’s face when I told him what standard protocol was for clothing during the massage. Not to worry, after about ten minutes of robe-only time he was extremely comfortable and made himself quite at home in the spa.

I’ve started working on my project for my sister’s baby. It’s a surprise – so I’ll share the details with you in a few weeks. I’m using my mom’s old sewing machine and couldn’t help but take a few photos of it {and its lovely carrying case}. I have no idea what year it was made...

As far as my sewing goes…at the rate I’m going I’ll have it completed by the time her daughter turns one...

Glam Shots

Before we start…I have to disclose something {remember, I have that disorder that causes me to share meaningless details}. My co-worker is my acting DJ and regularly supplies me with new CD’s for my listening enjoyment / education. We’ve covered such topics as the difference between Sting and The Police, greatest rock bands of the 80’s, and so on. Today I shared that I had never heard a Justin Bieber song. Within minutes he had a CD made for me and…this is the full disclose part…the CD is currently on full blast as I write this post. I feel like I’m in a Disney after school special.

Alright, back to my late 20’s and my live in…

The guy has been driving me crazy lately. About a month ago he let me know that his office had hired a photographer to take professional head shots of him and his co-workers. AKA glam shots.

Obviously, the live in is not shy in front of a camera and regularly seeks special attention so this event had been circled on his calendar for weeks. Several days before the glam shots he started to quiz me. Should I get a hair cut? Should I shave? When should I shave? How should I smile? Should I pose? I answered his questions the best I could, and truly tried to seem interested. However, the day of the glam shot he was out of control. Acting like a male super-model. Demanding outfit advice and requiring some side coaching on how to smile while still keeping your eyes open.

I left for work and at the end of the day returned home to find the bathroom of a teenage girl. Turns out he had come back home mid-day to take a shower and “freshen up” before the glam shots. He’d also been asked to retrieve several outfits for the glam shots; you know to mix things up a bit. Please keep in mind that we are talking about suits here, people. And these were head shots for a bank. Total nerd stuff, and not exactly Esquire.

When he returned home my first question to him was this… “Did you go spay tanning?” I kid you not, he looked like he did. But, that look was carefully achieved by layers and layers of makeup applied before the glam shots by their makeup person. For the 30-45 seconds that followed he went on about “his makeup artist” and how she told him he needs eyeliner to open up his eyes because they are just so stunning. I quickly shut this down.

Fast-forward two weeks later. The office received some of the photos back from the photographer and oh the furry of the live in on that poor photographer. The photos were terrible of everyone, and clearly the guy makes his living by dealing drugs or delivering newspapers because his photos were b-a-d. But, at the end of the day the photos will be used in banking publications and not framed above our fireplace so what’s the big deal really?

The live in thought differently, however, and has now taken creative liberties and is directing the photographer on re-cropping, and editing to enhance his photos. I think he’s finally selected a photo, but if I get sent another copy to look at I am going to block him from my email account.

As for Justin Bieber, maybe if I was 15…

Happy Good Friday, and happy Easter weekend.