Mm. I put my new shoes on...

Okay. So back in November when I got word that I got a job - I went shopping!!

To celebrate.

I had been on wallet lockdown for so long - that I couldn't even wait to start the job - much less wait for the first paycheck.

I suffered from a serious longing for new shoes... so here is what I bought:

These are purple to go with a simple purple dress that I picked up on clearance at The Gap.

The next pair are black open toe shooties. LOVE them!

I'm Too Cheap to Buy Tools!

Always have been.



I'm thinking about sewing some purses. (probably only one - maybe two)












But the two patterns I like best, require grommets - which in turn requires a grommet tool (pliers).




Considering my financial situation, it doesn't seem smart to spend money ($20) on 'tools' that I don't really need.

I tried looking on Craigslist. No luck.

I'd probably find a tool like this at a Garage Sale, but that will be hit or miss... and it's probably dangerous as I would find all sorts of other stuff to buy!


Anyone have a grommet tool they want to sell me cheap - or maybe just give me?



Otherwise... maybe I'll just sew button holes... or maybe welted holes. Ohhh that'd be nice if it wasn't so labor intensive.

Such Beauty

I took my pictures of my expecting friends to my photography mentor, Mel - and she worked a little Photoshop Magic on them.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

What a gorgeous difference! I still need to learn the art of Photoshop. Sadly, I've had Elements for 2.5 years now... and still haven't installed it on my computer for fear of not having enough memory space. What a waste.

By the way... this beautiful couple isn't expecting anymore! They are now parents to a sweet little girl! Yeah... there will be pictures. Count on it.

One Click at a Time

One of the resolutions toward My Life Improvement when I started this was to become a better photographer. I recently found a professional photographer to take me under her wing, and I'm excited about learning more.

I've always been good at composing pictures. It's the technical side that needs work for me. So my Mentor is teaching me to use my manual settings... the ISO, shutter speed and cranking that f stop down as low as it can go.

For me, that meant buying a new lens. The two lenses I already had limited my f stop range to 4.
My new 50mm lens came via UPS today so I tested it out on my friends, the expecting parents.

I'm mostly pleased with the results. Can't wait to hear what they think!

How About Something A Little Different?

I'm starting to think of tomatoes as a crutch.

They're every where. In every dish. I'm thinking a few cooks oughta try challenging themselves and make something without tomatoes for a change. And chicken.

Can you say 'Blah'?

See, I am allergic to tomatoes and chicken, among other things.
So every time I go out to eat I have to skim past anything on the menu with these ingredients. And let me tell you, the food out there that doesn't consist of tomatoes and chicken... is really freaking delicious!

Friends with whom I dine often look at my plate with envy. If I give them a taste, they swoon. But they always order something with tomatoes and chicken.

BORING!

Favorite Things: Step Stool

Time for another one of my favorite things.

As an adult who is 5 feet 5 inches tall (no matter what my doc's asst. says - so rude!) I need a bit of assistance to get items from the top shelves of my cupboards and other places in my house.
I had put off buying the much needed step tool for many years.
Most things in the stores are plastic and ugly. In fact I had one of those. Meh.

Until one day, puttering around a favorite antique store I found this:

Glory!

How cute. It screams 70s to me and I love the lifetime of wear on the front edge of the step!
Only on one side though! Which tells me that this step tool lived with one owner and one house and probably stayed in one place it's entire life.

Now it has come to my home to help me and look fabulous in the process.


By the way, I also love my kitchy all metal kitchen cabinets! Aren't they fab?

Laundry Rudeness

I live in a 22 unit condo building run by an HOA (home owners association).

We are all rather neighborly and kind to one another, but we have a few folks who treat the laundry room as if it is not a shared space.
I won't get into the drippy messes and loads of dog hair some people leave behind. What really bothers the rest of us is the laundry they leave sit for days, weeks, even months.

??? I don't understand.

See, we purchased brand new machines about two years ago, and painted and tiled the laundry room which also serves as the back entrance of the building.
We even bought and installed lockers for everyone to store their detergent and laundry money without hauling it up and down the stairs.



Nice huh?

We figured the cheerful paint job and aesthetically pleasing decor would encourage people to take pride in the space - as well as make it an attractive entry area.

But someone keeps piling up their crap - which gets in the way of our cleaning service for one thing! And is really annoying to the rest of us for another.

No pics of the mess available to share with you.

Am I wrong? Isn't this rude?

I mean, I can understand if you started a load of towels and forgot about them overnight. But how do you forget your sheets for a month? A cute outfit for three weeks? Bizarre.

I'm on the board so I'm asserting my power.

We have posted warning signs like this:

sorry, the text got cut off in the conversion process.











And I just pinned this on two different piles today.











Be honest, would this bother you? Am I out of line? Or is the laundry dumper?