The Shelf of Ugly

I'm only going to show you a part of the shelf because it is not deserving of being fully presented to the blog world. This shelf... this ugly shelf... this $20 build it yourself shelf... is finally going the way of the yard sale.

I've owned it for almost 10 years which is 7 years too long. It was a fixture in my college apartment and unfortunately, has been an eyesore in my young adult house. However, I've cleaned it off and moved it out.

You see, I've got a HUGE estate sale to prepare for in three weekends. It is my personal goal to pull everything from my house that I want to include in the sale out of hidey holes, back rooms and from under beds and price it to sell. I don't want it back but I'll take a few dollars in the mean time.

"What about that kitchen I was going to organize?" you ask? Shush. It's not done. I was sidetracked. How dare you bring that up. I'm sure the organization of that kitchen will aid my yard sale pile effort. I'll report back on that in a month. You can wait until then.

Shame on you for bringing that up.

I have a very good excuse as to why my blog hasn't been updated (and why my kitchen didn't get cleaned out like I had planned). I've been busy.

See? It's a great excuse.

Actually, I have been busy. Besides the usual work stuff I went to Houston for a few days for a conference. Woo... conference. Woo... Houston. Actually, the conference was about 43 kinds of fabulous and Houston could have been worse. If the conference taught me anything, it taught me that there is an entire world of opportunities for me as I build my career. Guys, and entire WORLD. It also taught me that IAAM conferences have better food and drink than any of the other conferences I've been to in the past.

I think I gained 3 pounds.

Hopefully I'll get back to crafting and cooking and gardening soon so I can post about things all of you are interested in and not just work.

Things Said

Here's a snippet from a conversation with the Sweet Boy that I'd never though I'd overhear:

Sweet Boy to his best friend "We'll all three have to travel to Austin in the next year so you can see how cool it is"

Sweet Boy's best friend "Maybe next spring?"

Sweet Boy "Sure... but Erin and I will probably go again before that"

Ummm... did hell just freeze over? Is the Sweet Boy actually looking forward to going back to Texas? This conversation was had during a discussion about moving there. I know, that's shocking enough for one lifetime in itself, but his giddiness in taking more than one trip there in the next year just leaves me confounded.

Completely and utterly confounded.

The Little Kitchen that Could

See this mess above? That's one half of my kitchen cabinets (yes, I think I have the smallest kitchen in town). Those cabinets are a wonderful thing. Open so I can show off my lovelies.

There is one small problem though.

I'm not showing off my lovelies. I'm showing off my free cups from concerts, scratched up Tupperware, mismatched dishes, booklets from appliances and koozies for gosh's sake. KOOZIES. So tacky.

(note: I do not mean to offend any lovers of koozies out there - they are wonderful when on a boat or around a camp fire - but in a kitchen, they are a major mistake)

I've been pretty good about completing a home organization project each weekend. I've organized my wool work space, hung cabinets for my yarn add ins, folded towels nicely so they don't clutter up the bathroom shelves, brought in cabinets to hide my non-yarn crafty stuff... perhaps this weekend will be project kitchen cabinets. I claimed my mom's set of nice plates and glasses after she skirted on out of here almost a year ago (I'm sure she's glad someone loves those dishes as much as she did... she worked VERY hard to get them all, going from Dillards to Dillards all over the DFW metroplex in search of each piece). I love those dishes and have been overly upset with the fact that I have no where to display them. I've even gone so far as to try and find room for yet another large piece of furniture on which to showcase them.

And then it came to me. Don't display them... use them.

Ah, the simple realizations in life. That should have been an easy solution but it has taken me weeks and months to come up with. I blame it on my cluttered brain.

So, this weekend I shall attempt to retire the Tupperware to find room for the nice, adult type dishes and then have an after picture that is much nicer to post to this blog. This would be easier if fun, bright colored Tupperware didn't represent my mom so much. Darn you plastic, brain cancer giving dishes.

Sorry about that...

Sorry that my last post was so mundane. In fact, I'd put it on the same level as a conversation had over stale oatmeal with a roommate you don't really like the morning after you've had a bit too much to drink and can't remember where you lost your left flip flop.

I'll try to make up for it in future posts and hopefully you'll forgive me and continue to check in for excitement, wit and humor.

Whatchoo Doin'?

I've not been an outstanding blogger this summer. Oh well, can't go back and fix it. However, I can say that I've been busy spinning yarn, rearranging (over and over) my crafting room, shopping at flea markets and finding the COOLEST things for my jewelry shop, pretending to clean out my mom's house (if you count bringing home the occasional piece of furniture or keepsake as cleaning) and sleeping in when I can.

Okay, so I've been doing more of the last one than I have been doing of the rest.

The days that make up mid-summer seem to be lazy ones. The heat makes me want to stay in bed, the recent cloudy days don't help and if I do make it out of bed the long, hot days certainly leave me in a state of equilibrium. I want to spin yarn, but I don't want to. I want to photograph my jewelry for the big IdyllHands relaunch, but I don't want to. I might have to try the timer method to get a few things done :)

It doesn't help that I've got 2 trips planned over the next month. One to Houston (wooo.... Houston) for a business conference and in exactly one month I'm heading to Philadelphia with the Sweet Boy to dog sit my brother's pup. If you thought my countdown to my trip to Austin was redonk, prepare yourselves for even more ridiculousness. I absolutely cannot wait for a week long getaway to the East coast. Nothing like the honking of a horn, blasting of a siren, and crowds of people to give me some much needed time away.

At least I do have some yarny progress to show for my absense from my blog - see, yarn:

43 Kinds of Awesome

This video is exactly 43 kinds of awesome. Enjoy.