Weekly Wonderings: July 11th, 2012

      I thought I would share some pictures from my trip to Miami, that is if you aren't sick of my previous post while there or these gifts. My time in Miami was a blast. It's funny how quick time goes when you are having fun! I was skeptical of Miami at first I blame pop culture for that but I quickly warmed up when I saw all the pastries in the grocery store bakery. By the end of the week, they might have recognized me there. One thing I liked was that I got free Snapple one day at one of my many trips to Marshalls and TJ Maxx, There was a random Snapple truck giving out magnets and free drinks. I also had the best pizza of my ENTIRE life, which in no way was influenced by the fact that I had just helped moved a sleeper couch (i.e. heavy heavy couch) . And I have had a lot of pizzas. It was roasted cauliflower pizza, and I could have eaten all of it.  It had breadcrumbs and garlic with the roasted cauliflower, check to see if you have one near you. At another restaurant, I had a Miami Vice, which is half Pina Colada and half Strawberry Daiquiri. And at Ikea, I always shop around in their Swedish food market, this time I walked away with only vegetable medallions and Swedish pancakes. The perfect breakfast for the rest of the week. Cake Pops which we gave to the maintenance men so they would like us. Bribes in the form of Cake Pops work wonders.  The U-haul from the aforementioned couch moving. It was a cargo van, and it was some expert driving by my friend. She did really well in crazy Miami traffic. Putting together Ikea chairs was another night's work, and drinking blueberry soda. Delicious. I feel like much of my judgement of Miami was based on my food experiences there, but you know what, I am totally okay with that. 

Apartment Basics List

Last summer, I did three posts about what was needed to start a kitchen. (You can check them out here, here and here) This year, I decided to make a list of some of the basics to help. Mind you, this is the bare minimum, I did not even list a rug. But, I did leave two blank columns for you to be able to add things. Feel free to add things, delete things, move things around. Sometimes, you just need a jumping off point when starting. My biggest piece is don’t rush to buy everything on the list, wait, and see what you need. Maybe you realize you don’t need a couch but a futon or several arm chairs that double as dining room chairs. Think carefully before spending tons of money on that adorable printed couch that totally goes with your rug, styles change and furniture is expensive. You are better off picking something plain and adding fun pillows or slip covers.

 

Apartment Basics List

Weekly Wonderings: May 18th

  
      So I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to buy bed risers the other day and instead, like normal, got distracted in the clearance section by a bright pink trunk. It was pretty dinged up and quite a shocking pink color. But I fell in love with it instantly. After I decided to buy it, I had to think of what to do with it. Well I realized that with a bit of tender loving care (and some paint) it would make a great coffee table in front of this couch. I am thinking of painting it black and doing a gold Indian textile design on it. Any other ideas out there? 

Charlotte's blanket from a recent Guatemala trip, which matches perfectly!

P.S. I had a 20% off coupon, so the total with tax was only 25 dollars. So this may end up being another 50 dollar fix!

50 Dollar Fix: Side bookshelf

 

       As you can see, the area next to my couch is nothing pretty to look at. I am an avid book collector, and have several funny reads I like to keep in the living room. But, I was running out of room for them, and my cookbooks were crowding the kitchen. Plus it did not have a good transition from the breakfast nook to the living room. So with the help of several Michael's coupons, I managed to come up with hopefully a good shelving system that looks pretty good in my opinion. I still need some better ideas as how to organize or if I should remove some of the objects. Anyways, I just used 4 wooden crates from Michael's at $9.99 each (minus 40% off each ) plus one small crate at under $5. One can of black gloss spray paint and the project still came in way under 50 dollars. In fact, only 35 dollars. Here's a few photos, directions seem pointless. 

Materials:

Spray Paint

4 large Crates

1 small crate

50 Dollar Fix: Couch

    Whenever fall semester rolls around again, I always start to patrol the sidewalks of my neighborhood because people are moving out. They have graduated (hopefully) and are ready to get on with their lives and often part of that means leaving stuff behind. Stuff I wouldn't mind…


     Take my couch for instance; it was a neighbor's who didn't want to move it. Now it wasn't very pretty, but it was free and I knew that with a little love and some sparkle, I could make it work out just fine.

    So with a light cleaning and a few accessories, it became one of my 50 Dollar Fixes.

     The two necklace pillows were half off, costing me a total of $24 dollars. The other two pillows were stolen from a different couch that had too many. And the fur blanket can be found at any Marshalls or TJ Maxx for about $25. Though another cheap fix would have been a slipcover (those stripes are awful), the couch was too odd shaped for that, sadly. Though one day, I may re-stuff the bottom pads.