A Clothes horse’s Closet

I have been totally obsessed with my recent admitted student status. I even started this pinterest board to chronicle everything cool I find. Turns out there are a lot of neat tricks out there and so many beautiful clothes…

It has kind of spurred on a cleaning binge and those never happen! I feel sure enough to purge things and I am great need of some purging so I can go buy some new clothes. I am not a hoarder per say but I do like things, a lot of things. Clothes are no exceptions, and I have been known to find a good bargain or two or three. I know there is no before picture but it was badddddddd. Partially because I did not want to organize things because that meant I was staying. Now that I have plans and a definite time limit until I leave, I feel better about organizing things. Weird? It makes sense in my head.

I am really into organizing my clothes. I love orderly clothes. I can see my options and better decide what to wear. There are three parts to my organization:

1) Put like things next to like. Skirts, Dresses, Fancy Dresses, Short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts. Everything must have its place!

2) Like hangers. I prefer these slim velvet ones because I can fit more clothes in one area. My roommate in college was amazed by how much clothing I fit into my tiny closet! Whatever you do NO WIRE HANGERS.

3) Color code. Start with black, then gray, ROYGBIV then brown then white. Seriously color coding makes everything better.  

Have any more tips for closet organization? I am always in search of more tricks!

My Gap Year

This year, blogging hasn’t been as much fun. Not because I don’t enjoy the subject matter but because I felt like a charlatan. My blog is called “The First Apartment Living” and yet for the past year, I have been living at home. I graduated college last year, and took a gap year (when this happens, you tend to need some time).

At first, I was totally fine with my gap year. The summer flew by, I traveled here, there, everywhere. Then came fall, which mainly consisted of me putting off studying for the GRE. I started to freak out about life and trying to make sure I was opening up to all the opportunities around me without closing doors. It was a lot of doors to keep open. I started a small business, which was fun till Christmas came and went. Winter had hit. Winter was tough, I saw so many friends from high school and college, who seemed to have all transitioned seamlessly from college. I felt stuck. I didn’t really want to apply for jobs since I was fairly certain I would be going to grad school in the fall. Who would want to hire someone that was leaving in a few months? I was just hurrying up and waiting. I felt like I was lying to you, my readers. I wasn’t living The First Apartment Life. I wasn’t living on a budget with my own place. Charlatan.

Perhaps others of you have felt the same (maybe?) but as spring rolled around, I was feeling pretty bleak. Everyone kept asking me where I had applied to grad school. Where did I want to go? When would I find out? What were my chances? More and more questions from every person I knew. I hated it. I was constantly worried as I checked my email. It would be this little game I played with my phone. Download all the emails, and then read the subject line before I opened them.

Then it happened. I got an email from my dream school. I was freaking out before I even opened it, I waited anxiously for the first three lines to download on my phone because I didn’t want to open it before I knew. I had to prepared myself.  Dear Katherine…. Oh god, here it goes I thought. Congratulations! My heart stopped. Suddenly, all was right in the world. My first thought was OMG I actually got into a grad school! It took a good 48 hours for it to finally dawn on me that I got into my dream school. Then of course, I spent the next 48 hours freaking out whether it a was a good school (even though its ranked #1) because clearly, why would they let me in if it was good?

Now that it has been a few days, I have a much brighter outlook on life (well until August when I get overloaded with work).  I feel like a large burden has been lifted off my shoulder. I have been happily over preparing for school in the fall and already searching for apartments these past few days! I no longer feel like a charlatan and am excited to share all the exciting times as I prepare for this new step! Hopefully, this will spur a bunch of new creative ideas (especially since my budget will be tighter than ever!). 

Weekly Wonders: February 13th, 2013

I feel like this year has already flown by, where did all the time go? I am busier than I have ever been but I can’t tell you why, I am not doing anything terribly special right now.

I scored these awesome wedges at Dillard’s shoe sale this past weekend. They were just 20 dollars! Woot! You can never have too many nude wedges! (Not saying that I may already a pair or two or three…)

I also snagged this shirt. As I walked to the  counter to purchase it, I saw no less than 3 other girls trying it on! Mint is so in right now and the fit of the shirt is just perfect. You can dress it up or down, which I love!

These adorable Valentines were thought of by my brilliant mother. My little brother filled the bags with “gourmet” popcorn (i.e. boy scout popcorn) and simply stapled on tags for each kid and teacher!

I joined something new: Girls On The Run. So far it has been a challenge (hello, 9 year old attention spans!) and the most fun! You help train 3rd through 5th grade girls to run a 5k but it is about so much more than that! I just love being part of something so special! I’ve just finished the first week but I can already start to feel a bond with my girls. Hey, maybe I will even get in better shape too.

Finn won first place at a walkathon this past weekend! He was the first dog to cross the finish line (and the cutest! Not that I am biased or anything).  I think B was more proud than Finn, the ribbon is now taped to his door!

Fresh Pomegranate Mimosas

 

I love a good mimosa but sadly, I have really bad acid reflux and I try not to drink citrus juices (which totally sucks, seriously, EVERYTHING has acid). So for Thanksgiving, I wanted to have a fun grown up drink and we eat early around 1-2ish so I did not want anything too heavy. Enter the mimosa, and to make it more Fall-esque (is that even a word? it is now!) the pomegranate seemed the the perfect choice. All you need to do is juice pomegranates!

To Juice:

1) Wear an apron or cry about it later.

2) On a hard surface, roll the pom with the heel of you hand. It will make popping noises if done correctly. (Also, if squeezed too much it will leak. That may have happened a time or two!)

3) Use a large knife to slice the pomgranite over a bowl, and let the fluid drain.

4) Either using the knife or your hands (skillz needed) to tear the pomegranate in two. Carefully place seeds in a metal mesh strainer and use something ( I used this cool wooden masher thing my Mimi had, don’t know what it is called) to smash out all the juice.

5) Expect it to be an arduous process as each one yields between 1/3 to 1/2 juice.

Pomegranate Mimosas:

1) About 1/3 cup of juice to 6oz. of Champagne

*Add a garnish like blackberries for extra fanciness!

Valentine’s Swag Dollies

 

So Valentine’s Day is right around the corner (and I have yet to finish making mine!). I came up with this simple swag. It took me about 5 minutes to make and another 2 minutes to hang (had to adjust spaces between hearts). It would make a great surprise on Valentine’s Day morning. I hung mine in my bathroom mirror for a little cheer in the morning as I am getting ready!  Check out my previous Valentine’s Day Decor!

Materials:

9 Dollies

Baker’s Twine

Needle

Nail Polish Necklace

 

I saw this nail polish tutorial and I have been obsessed ever since. I have constantly been on the look out for the perfect brooch to paint, but yesterday I was cleaning out my jewelry box and I found the perfect piece. I bought this necklace from Express forever ago, I was going through an obnoxious faze I guess. I did wear it as part of a costume once and it was perfect ( I was an Cat Burglar but everyone thought I was an AristoCat, ugh!). That was two years ago, and it has been sitting in my jewelry box ever since and thus it was the perfect thing to DIY. It was actually pretty simple, I did it while skyping with a friend. I ended up using 3 layers of nail polish and I highly recommend using glittery nail polish (fine fine fine glitter).

Weekly Wonderings: February 6th, 2013

 

  Can you believe it is already the 2nd month of 2013? My does time fly! I did something drastic yesterday, and I was so nervous about it Monday that I couldn’t even concentrate on anything else! I booked the appointment Monday afternoon which meant I only had 24 hours to freak out about it. Smart thinking there. It was over so fast I did not even get a good photo before. I cut my hair, but not like trim, oh no no, I donated over 10 inches to Locks of Love. I am so proud that I could help someone in need out but it’s quite the change for me. I suddenly have short (ish) hair. For me, this seems crazy! My hair was down to the middle of my back and now it just brushes my shoulders. The weeks leading up to this, I would take a piece of paper and hold it up to my hair to get a rough guess. In my head, it just always seemed like 10 inches wouldn’t take off that much but I knew I had to do it! My hair was getting ridiculous, it took forever to dry or straighten or curl or do anything with! I am super excited to get to try all these new hair things I can do now but believe me, I have already started taking Biotin!

 

Coming home to this made everything much easier! He’s four months now!!!!