My Life in Patterns

Christmas Treeeeeeee!

Will and I put up the Christmas tree the other day and it is very cute! We got a little tree at Hobby Lobby 1/2 off, a set of glass ornaments, some cheesy tinsel garland, and fancy twinkle lights. The tree seemed to be missing something so I started to search the house for other stuff to add. I spotted my fake fruit and thought, "Genius idea!" After the fake fruit, I then added some fake Hawaiian flowers into the branches as well. Our tree turned out beautifully! I love it.

Last night, Will and I turned out all of room lights and turned on the Christmas tree. We watched it twinkle until we drifted asleep. I felt very nostalgic and happy for this:)

Our wreath. I love this thing. I paid 50 cents for it!

This year, I am going to learn to like Chirstmas....

I hate to be a drag on all humanity and goodwill but I so happen to hate Chirstmas. I hate the colors red and green. I hate the corny commercialization of it all. I even hate Santa Claus. Since I have a child this year (Spencer the dog), I am going to give my best effort to learn to like Chirstmas. The catch is that I must do Chirstmas my way the way I like it. This means that all of the decorations have to be gaudy, strange, and vintage and gifts have to be flippin' sweet, hip, and one-of-a-kind. Nobody is getting a sweater or bath set this year. Chances are strong that I still will not enjoy all of the sentimental bullshit others enjoy during the holidays but at the very least, maybe this year I will be able to put on a happy face and act like I like this stupid fucking holiday for the sake of the ones I love.

Today, I hit up the Crowded Closet for some cute Christmas decorations and came home with a few things. Well, some are not exactly Christmas-y but it is the best I can do without gagging. Will wants us to get a Christmas tree this year and I am begging for one of those wacky retro tinsel ones. Maybe a blue one!!!!!!

I figure, if I start the fake enthusiasm early on in the holiday season, I may be able to fool myself and actually start to like it! We will just have to see how this turns out as time goes on.

New Art for the Apartment!

Today, Will helped me stretch some vintage fabric onto stretcher bars. I love the effect!

Owl Lamp is a Hoot

I finally got a my owl lamp together today! I found it last week at a top secret location and feel like the $3 bucks I paid for the base and 75 cents for the lamp shade, I feel like it was a pretty decent deal:)

Fits right in our retro-esque apartment!

Eat my Glam!

Expect glam from me, damn it! I am sooooooo happy for Target this summer.... Here you see my awesome Dwell Studios shower curtain, my Anna Sui for Target dress, and my Erickson Beamon for Target cocktail ring. Can Target seriously be any more hip and rad? Seriously, bring on the radness, Target!

Cocktail ring: Erickson Beamon for Target
Dress: Anna Sui for Target
Necklace: Target

I will be totally wearing this dress and all of the fantastic jewelry to Amber's wedding next week! I am so psyched for a reason to wear a pretty dress:) Yay!

Yup, our apartment is da bomb

I knew eventually things here in Iowa would get better. I knew I wouldn't be living in my boyfriend's bedroom with bitchy assholes living in the basement forever. Alas, since moving to our new place, things in life have gotten vastly better. I quit my shit job at Target as a cashier for $7.25 per hour and started working at Journey's as the store manager and making bank.

So it's all good! I bought us a couch, our new table and chairs are fantastic, and decorating has been a blast. I love it!

I used the Orla Kiely table cloths that I got at Target as curtains in the living room. It looks very retro, I think.

I love the brown cabinets! And having all new appliances and a pantry is nice too. Sure beats the hell out of cleaning up after Mike and Sarah's sorry asses.

My cookie jars!!!!!!! Thanks, Orla Kiely for Target:)

The kitchen curtain the the bomb-diggity, don't ya think?

Will stretched a piece of my favorite fabric with stretcher bars. I love it! And the table and chairs is perfect.

Yum! Fake plastic fruit!

Our IKEA Expedit bookcase is double sided..... It acts as a framing device for our living room and serves as a bookcase and display for all of our good stuff.

I framed some of the paper dolls and stickers I picked up in Korea.

Picked up the "Marushka" piece at Artifacts for $12 bucks. Framed some sweet art from High Fructose magazine for the toilet area.

My corner of the bathroom is totally Asian-fied.

I am so happy to have a place to live that I love. I wake up everyday and think about how lucky I am to have a cute boy, a cute dog, and tons of cute stuff:) I am very fortunate.

Most Amazing Table, Ever!

What an amazing day! Today, I bought this fantastic 1960's table and chairs from a grad student in Iowa City. The chairs are in awesome condition, with perfect upholstery and swiveling ability, and the table can also fit and additional leaf in the center to accommodate for a small dinner party!

Lusting for Mid-Century Modern

Right now, I would practically give a kidney for some quality mid-century modern furniture. All you can find at Goodwill now-a-days is pissed on old floral couches from 1992 that the cat used as a scratching post. I have even been scouring craigslist in search of something halfway decent to outfit out new apartment. Where's a lady to get swank furniture?

I don't care if the furniture is uncomfortable. That is not the point. I just want it to look visually pleasing and dazzle the eye.

Give me orange, pea green, and rusty brown. Give me shag, leather, and vinyl. Give me shiny metal hardware and wood backing. I want pretty furniture, please!

$2 Dollar Mushroom Rug

Dang universe, you must have read my mind yesterday cause this rug I found at the Crowded Closet is to die for perfect and only $2 bucks! May my collection of ugly shag rugs ever expand. Amen!

Retro Mugs

Inspired by Style File's blog entry on retro mugs, I went on a search to find some retro mugs for myself. I scoured the thrift shops high and low and you can guess where I found the coolest of the cool mug...... At the Crowded Closet, of course!

Here are the mugs featured on Style Files:

And here is my bad ass horoscope mug from the Crowded Closet. It says on the bottom that it was hand painted in Japan so it has to be pretty old, I would say. I love it and I must find more!