Magazine and Inspiration Organization

Like many of us "crafty" and "inspired" people, I have a lot of papers I keep around for "when I have time to make that cake" or "when I throw a 1 year old birthday party". Recently I have been organization, sorting, throwing out and trying to make sense of all of the "inspiration" I want to keep. I was able to throw away two huge piles of magazines after I took the time to tear out all the articles and snip its of inspiration I wanted out of each.

Now the problem is...I have a stack of torn out magazine pages! What does one do with that! Amen for Pintrest.

Ideas for binders, accordion files, sketch books that you treat like a scrap book, and for the overzealous magazine hoarder... plastic bins for each subject matter.

I not being a huge magazine reader, but being a loyal MS Living and Real Simple reader (oh and let's be real...I buy the occasional wedding magazine), have accumulated my fair share of pages and clips of inspiration. I don't need a major organization system, but something better than stashing them in a file box that I open once every 6 months.

I like the idea of a single binder. Organized with tabs for each subject matter area.

Source: make-life-lovely.blogspot.com via Katie Howard Clemens on Pinterest

I like the clean look of the tabs in this one. My goal is to keep my magazine hoarding contained to one binder. When it gets too full-time to purge.

I also want to take it one step further.

Source: paper-source.com via Tiffany on Pinterest

I want to buy one of these and jazz it up al la PaperSource style with some fancy paper and maybe a ribbon embellishment!

 

Source: paper-source.com via Andrea on Pinterest

I mean look at that! So beautiful! Perhaps the prettier, the more likely I am to stay organized and use the system!

Also on my list to consolidate, reduce and organize.... my personal files, my keepsakes box, and physical photos that I have from the days before the iPhone.

As a ps...who ever thought this girl would be one to post about organization and how to get her messes under control? I guess we all grow up right?

Professionalism

I've been pondering. Opening a new post. Typing. Reading. Not feeling the words. Deleting. Closing the browser. Then feeling lost that I don't seem to know what to say on here right now. There is always so much pressure or rather self-created pressure to say something put together.

The other day I got a message through Linkedin (wow does anyone else just feel totally overwhelmed by the number of accounts and social media outlets there are now!?) telling me that this person was interested in seeing if I would talk with them about my career path. Career Path!!?!?! Um wow. Do I have a career path? Am I qualified to talk to someone about how I "got to where I am at"? Half the time I don't even know how I got here! (Or what day of the week it is!). It is flattering. To hear someone say that your life is admirable. Worthy of their want and interest.

It is also hard to remember that what they see, what they know, is such a small sliver of the bigger picture. Yes, of course I will talk to someone about my career path. What they will end up hearing is that is has very little to do with picking a straight line and following it. There is so much that has changed, gone wrong, gone right, been a surprise and also been so woven into my personal life, that talking about my "career path" is like extracting a few disjointed pages from a novel and trying to tell someone how the plot ties them all together. Again, I am flattered and I hope that this is the start of being a mentor, or at least someone who can give someone some ideas about things I have experienced and that they know they have yet to face.

I also wrote something recently that got me a lot of flattering and....surprising praise. It seemed so straightforward when I wrote it. What came out of it, brought me a little boost of confidence and a little bit of fresh air in my emotional lungs, that recently have been feeling so oxygen deprived that this was good. Really good.

Since this post took a turn for the somewhatprofessionaltopics I will always share a nugget that a co-worker gave to me the other day. "Show up with the best attitude you can for that day". Not necessarily the best attitude ever. Or the best attitude despite feeling really shitty, but just the best attitude you personally can apply given your current circumstances. I liked it. It is realistic. Factoring in that some days are just bad. Rough. Challenging. While others are awesome. Inspiring and Motivating. So you just have to show up....and bring the best attitude that you can given the circumstances. Wise. So wise.

Baby Ava

It is my sweet sweet sweet little niece's first BIRTHDAY today! I can't even believe a whole year has flown by! A little note to her on this very special day:

Ava,

I can't tell you how much I love you. My heart simply is so full of love for you and your brother that it is sometimes hard to know how it holds it all. You are such a little lady, and look so much like your mommy! I know that watching you grow up is going to be so much fun, because this first year has been awesome. You are such the perfect addition to our family, and bring so much joy that I know none of us could have imagined!

I love seeing pictures of you and gramps, or you in your darling clothes that grams picks out for you. I know Theo scares you a little--but he really does just love you as much as we do!

Your mom and dad are going to teach you so many amazing things and they love you so much! Wyatt will always look out for you, as all big siblings do. You are the baby, the youngest sibling, and it brings so much fun! I can teach you all sorts of things about being the youngest!

Well little Ava, I hope you got a slice of cakes and many many many snuggles today! You are the best little niece anyone could have wished for and I love you so so so much! Happy First Birthday!!!

All my Auntie Love,

Aunt Andrea

Pittsburgh. Take Three.

We have been to Pittsburgh a few times now. Once as a weekend get-away to check out Falling Water and to just soak in the sites.Then we returned last summer to catch a Pittsburgh Pirates game after spending time in Cleveland.

For Valentine's day I decided to give N tickets to see the Book of Mormon musical complete with amenities, meal and entertainment.

We drove up Saturday morning. Quickly found some lunch at Primanti Brothers (such a Pittsburgh staple for me!)

Then we tracked down a cab to take us to the Mattress Factory Art Museum. We had tried to visit this on our first visit, but the timing didn't work out, so I had put this on the list of things for us to see this time around!

It is a unique art museum experience, with resident artists who live on site and create full-room art installations.

My favorite pieces were three installations by James Turrell. They were simple (one in particular was so simple it was almost a mind game!) but vibrant.

I also really enjoyed Yayoi Kusama's awesome pieces as well.

After the MF we decided to walk back to our hotel because it was going to take awhile to find a cab, so we got to walk through this adorable neighborhood.

There was a neighborhood bar! We both agreed that this would make any street the coolest place to live! If we had not been running low on time, we would have stopped for a quick beer!

After we got home, we quickly changed and freshened up before heading to dinner at Braddock's American Brasserie and then we headed over to the show!

The theater was beautiful! Our seats were pretty decent, it was a small theater which made just about any seat a decent seat. The musical was hilarious. Some great songs and really funny plot line and jokes. If you get the chance to see it...I recommend it!

After a busy day we were le pooped and enjoyed the fact that our hotel was a measly three blocks from the theater. The next morning we made a mad dash out of Pittsburgh, dealt with re-booking some work travel for N and then me flopping on the couch and enjoying the remaining hours in the weekend!



The Four D's

A constant joke really serious pact I have made to myself about the next phase of my life is that I want the 4 D's. Now it has taken me some time to iron out the details of the priority order, but I will be the first to admit i will take these in any quantity and any order!

The Four D's:

1) Dishwasher

Pretty excited about the idea of not having to hand wash each. and. every. one. of. my. dishes. I've been hand washing everything for almost 4 years now. I am SO ready to have that phase of my life behind me!

2) Dog

While I will always love Theo with more love than my heart can hold. I know that I do want my own dog, and would be one proud owner to a furbaby in the form of a poodle. I just can't get enough of their loving personalities and cuteness faces!

3) Diamond

annnnnnd we all know what this means. So.... Ahem. Boyfriend. Make magic happen. I kid I kid!.....Kind of.

4) Washer/ Dryer

Oh man. What I would do to just throw my clothes in the washer. Maybe even get a little crazy and jusst dry something to get the wrinkles out! I am so over lugging piles of clothes to the basement to do hours of laundry, and have to watch my clothes like a hawk to make sure someone doesn't move them!


Oh how life changes when you become a big kid! I can't wait for the next phase of my life and getting some of the D's. (Maybe one D will come with some of the four C's!)

What are the things you want for the next phase of your life?

DC: 3 Me: 0

I dread summer in DC. D-R-E-A-D. IT. I hate being hot. I hate being sticky. I hate how it gets so hot and so sticky here that for about 5 months I don't want to do anything outside. Which means almost 1/2 of my year is spent hating being outdoors (so not my style) and trying to hide out inside.

 

See that? Its gross. 90 degrees!!! What is this crap in April. I am remember the vow I said to myself last summer that it would be my last and final summer here.....annnndddd here I am, another summer later.

 

The bus this morning was hot, cramped, and already getting that smell-like-a-dead-rodent scent. It is too early for this DC!

 

In addition to the heat, DC decided to turn up its game again. After some really busy weeks and temporarily forgetting how I just am really not a fan of DC. The city reared its ugly head tonight.

 

A "networking" drink that lasted approximately 30 minutes,  with a clearly self-interested, pompous, sleaze ball, left me contemplating how people get in their heads that they are so damn important. I saw myself out and walked home discussing this less than polite behavior with a good friend, and the more I talked, the more I just wanted to catch the metro to the airport and buy a one way plane ticket out of here.

 

And as a PS to this Icantstanddc rant... there are some girls in this city that truly have a lack of respect for social boundaries....and today was just the wrong day to push it. All I want to say to one in particular. BACK. OFF. (and maybe stop trying to weasel your way into someone else's territory via social media).

 

Annnnnnd with that rant at its end I am going to get some sleep so I can possibly survive the first day of 90's temperatures. Sigh.

 

Sigh. So DC. You are winning.

Kuhl Flight Jacket. Love It. Hate It. Her vs Him.

I have a fuzzy brown fleece jacket by NorthFace that I adore. It makes me feel like a little snugly brown bear when I wear it. I've had it for a few years now, and it is certainly showing its signs of wear and tear. In trying to find a replacement to fill the spot of my fuzzy bear fleece, I found this Kuhl one, which I. Am. In. Love. With. I immediately was thinking I found my replacement....

Until I heard "That is uuggglllyyy" in response to my googly eyed "I must own this!" exclamation to the bf.

Ok ok, so is it more suited for my fantasy life in Sun Valley, Idaho?Probably. Is that faux, leather detailing a bit much? Maybe, but no.

It it my fuzzy dream come true!

But I am respectful of other opinions I am responsible and didn't feel like emptying my little nest egg on a coat I didn't need, so it has never come home with me.

Fast forward....

Last night we meet up with the bf's close friend for a concert and what is she wearing!??! THE FUZZY DREAM OF A COAT I WANT.

He claimed he gave her a bad time about it too...but clearly not enough a bad time, because there is was in all of its fuzzy glory.

Outcome of the story. I am breaking down. I may need it. If only it came with a one way plane ticket to Idaho in one pocket and a million dollars in the other.

What do you think? Is it as ugly as the bf says? Or am I in the right?

These are Some of My Favorite Things

- I read this article forever ago, and I am still so inspired by the concept. If you are Boise, represent and support this awesome effort.

-Easter came and went quietly in my neck of the woods. I didn't even consume a single peep! Perhaps I will have to make some homemade ones so that I can get my fill!
 
-I am a strong advocate for better labor laws and policies, particularly ones that support women and new mothers. There also seems to be some gender role benefits from this as well! Pretty sure I wold love having my husband take paternity leave.
 
- Shoes tend to be one of my favorite things to shop for. Kate Spade and everyday comfort? Cute. Even more on my radar are these super comfy and adorable looking sneakers for summer. Now to decide which color!

- We get to see this musical soon and I am so excited after all the great things I have heard.

-For my winter and ski themed wedding, this may need to be purchased.

-Another skiing themed piece of art, would be this great addition to a wall.

-Is anyone else super excited for Mad Men to start this weekend? I keep watching the trailer over and over again.