craft area: revisited.

Last fall (almost a year ago?! How on earth...) I mentioned that we have space for me to have a craft area in our current living situation. What a blessing! Or a curse - I may have acquired more things because I have the space for it... 

Regardless, here's the somewhat makeshift area that I've created for myself using extra items from my in-laws. Tables, stool, lamp, crate, sewing machine? All theirs. Thanks guys! 

Favorite parts about it? 

» crate for organizing fabrics & yarn

» pretty quotes & ideas on the wall

» baby clothespins. cute.

» lamp, although it doesn't provide a ton of light. still awesome.

Thanks for visiting :) Shout out to our old Massachusetts license plate on the wall. Miss that guy.

recreate it.

[original sources can be found here]

I am so inspired by these images for our combined living/dining space. The kind of earthy-bohemian-eclectic-warm feel; that's what I'm after. I'm loving all things natural: hanging light bulbs, tribal patterns, wood and metallic accents, and all things white of course. Clean and crisp, but still colorful without being overwhelming. That's the goal, right?

Below is how I may attempt to get it done.

1) industrial elements like this ikea shelf // 2) living things like spider plants - check, got two of 'em. // 3) a personalized photo & artwork cluster - ours always feels like a work in progess. // 4) ikea ORGEL pendant lamp shade - check. // 5) mismatched chairs - check, but they desparately need to be painted some neutral color (right now two are red and two are blue. yikes!) // 6) a cozy wicker chair by the windows - check. // 7) side table doubling as magazine rack via urban outfitters // 8) farm table - check. // 9) a colorful southwestern-y rug (if Will will have it - he's not a huge fan) // 10) ikea RENS sheepskin is a must. I currently want in every room of the house. // 11) two gray couches - check. Does it count if one of them is actually red but is covered with extra gray bed sheets? The quest for a nice gray slipcover continues. // 12) more tribal patterned rugs // 13) earthy elements like this sweet tree stump side table - can totally make one. // 14) a vintage-y brass floor lamp, along with other metallic accents (loving copper right now!)

We decided to work on one room of the house each month to get it up to snuff and fully moved into, and January's focus was the kitchen. We're still working on finishing touches, but I'll share photos and inspiration when it's done!

the inspiration station

Now that we're finally getting settled into our new home, it's time to start adding more of the finishing touches. When you first arrive in a place, there's the basic unpacking, the repeated arranging and rearranging of furniture - but you really feel like you live in a place when your stuff is finally up on walls and every inch of every room just feels like you.

Our place is starting to feel that way :) What I'm working on next is my desk area. In this house, I have space to have a legitimate desk of my own and do crafts! We have this landing on the second floor that has room for a desk for me, a desk for Will and a craft table. Wowza. So thrilled. 

I shall call my area the inspiration station.

Here are some ideas that are fueling my organization of this space:

via totalyhomedecor.com

via Say Yes to Hoboken

                          

                             via A Blog Named Scout

via The Clean Slate

via A Note On Design

via Maya

via Apartment Therapy

via Design Sponge

via Run With Scissors

As you may have gathered, here's what I'm into - white and clean neutral colors, plants, organic materials, color-blocking, dip-dying, organization to the max and a slight vintage flair.

I've already color-blocked some cans for my markers, colored pencils and paint brushes and I intend to make that wall organizer and rope bowl soon! I might dip dye the legs of the bench I'm using and recover it, but my biggest challenge will be keeping plants alive. Alas.

I'll keep working on it and take some photos when it's presentable!

adventures in meal planning!

Whenever I've read blogs where people meal-plan, I've always thought that they were uber-organized super moms who need to do this sort of thing, lest they lose their last remaining marble. So since I'm not really any of those things (that organized, a mom, or quickly going insane), I've never really considered it as something we should do.

However, there was a night a few weeks ago where Will and I were griping and complaining the whole ride home about how starving we were, and then proceeded to do everything in the world when we got home except for make dinner. We chatted at length about our days, tidied the living room, put PJ's on - I may have even cleaned the bathroom as a stall tactic. We ended up cooking something kind of ghetto and didn't sit to eat until after 9PM. Yeah, unacceptable.

After this debacle, I said to him, "We need to have a weekly business meeting!" and I actually wasn't kidding at all. We both used to live in intentional communities (houses of 14-17 people who cooked and ate dinner together four nights a week, did chores, and lived the ups and downs of life and became super tight) where business meeting was a crucial factor in our success. This is where we assigned which pairs would cook dinner on which nights, which pairs would do dishes, check in on how chores went that past week - without it, we wouldn't have been able to function.

So I proposed to Will that we have a business meeting on Sunday nights where we analyze our weeks and plan meals from there. Monday after work, we'd do all our grocery shopping for the week - good thing we both had the chore of "grocery shoppers" in our communities! My shopping mate and I would even organize our lists by where the items were laid out in the store for utmost efficiency. We were pretty intense.

For Will and I, we think buying groceries based on meals will not only help us to be organized and efficient at meal time, but we think it will also cut down our grocery budget because we'll only be buying things that we know we'll have a specific use for in the immediate future. No extraneous purchases that might eventually go bad/expire anyway.

This past week, we were able to assess that we only needed to plan meals for three nights, because we went to the pub with a friend on Tuesday, and saved Friday for consuming the week's leftovers. Saturday we were with my parents and Sunday was the Superbowl! It was a nice three-day week for transitioning into a new system.

Now I know it won't always be this way, but we came up with some pretty swanky meals for week one! Totally utilized some awesome cookbooks that we have. Don't even ask about week two. Epic fail. But in our defense, the Superbowl fell during out business meeting, so we were behind from the start.

Here were our successful meals from last week (please excuse the poor kitchen lighting in these photos)!

MONDAY

grilled scallops with crispy leeks

photo by Will

I give this dish an A++. We'll definitely be having this one again.

Leeks are delish and the scallops were impeccable and super fresh. 

We live on the water in a fishing town for crying out loud.

WEDNESDAY

sesame chicken with edamame and quinoa

photo by me

I'd give it a B+. While I love edamame and quinoa, the sauce for the 

chicken wasn't what I was expecting, and I would have wanted more sauce 

than the recipe called for to make it a little less dry.

THURSDAY

penne with chicory and honeyed walnuts

photo by Will

I'd give this dish an A for what it is, but we'd change a few things next time around.

Neither of us had tasted chicory before, and it was a wonderfully bitter complement to 

the sweetness of the honey sauce. But we'd cut it thinner next time as to not be left with

these big bitter and wilted stalks at the bottom of our bowl. They were 

intimidatingly large the way the recipe called for them to be cut.

So that's that! Hopefully we can pick up this week's slack and deliver a good show next week.

Let me know if you want any of these recipes!

it's finally time to resolve.

Where on earth have I been?! Well. Such is life when you work at a college and the students return to campus for spring semester. Work this week has been utter MAYHEM. Welcome back friends, but I kind of would like you to go away now... I have a headache. 

So thanks for excusing my absence, but I may be a little sporadic for a while as the dust settles with work. In the meantime, here's my very delayed hopes and dreams for

I'm a bit slow on the uptake, but it's because I've just been thinking long and hard about what my 2012 resolutions will be! It's not because I'm a slacker, it's actually because I'm more thorough than those hasty January 1st resolvers. ;)

I'm really super-pumped about 2012 and you're about to find out why. I think we're totally on the up and up here. For me, 2010 was kind of sucky and 2011 was a little better (ie: got hitched to the most fabulous man - but besides that, average), so my hypothesis is that 2012 is going to be huge.

I will establish some specific resolutions, but this will mostly be a list of things to do/things we already know we're going to do. So bear with this totally stream of consciousness list of resolutions.

1. I will join an exercise class at the gym. Probably Pilates two days a week. It's time to get this booty in shape.

2. My hub will finish school, and we will be free birds my friends. Free free free. The world is our oyster.

3. With that all wrapped up, we will move to Pennsylvania. This is the biggest element of our year! We are SO looking forward to a change of scenery and to be closer to his family for a while. This means a new home, new jobs, new friends. While I love life here near my family and close friends, everyone needs a change once in a while and this is the light at the end of my tunnel. Betsy, here I come! You and me, everyday. Or week. Whatever.

4. In Pennsylvania, I will work somewhere that is not behind a desk and my life will greatly improve.

5. When we live in Pennsylvania, we'll plant an organic garden because we'll have lots of space and time to do it! I'm so pumped to learn about all of that and not pay for produce! Can you see me as a farmer? I think I can rock it.

6. This August, Will and I will most likely lead a twelve day wilderness expedition for incoming college students with Gordon's La Vida. Yay for being in the woods for two weeks with 17 and 18 year olds! We're so excited.

7. Along with that, I'll be getting my Wilderness Advanced First Aid certification in June.

8. We're attending a ton of weddings this summer but numero uno is my best friend's wedding on July 22nd, in which I will be the matron of honor. That's a gross title, does anyone else agree? Can I be a "maid" for a day?

9. Our Australian family is coming to visit for two weeks in July and it will be a. ma. zing. Can't wait!

10. I think I'm going to try and take a class this summer. Not sure in what yet, but I'll see what there is at local colleges by way of web design and/or graphic design. It's time to improve on my hard skills for the ol' resume.

So that's what the future holds and I'm terribly excited! Is it May yet?

be good at making less.

Okay, so they say that no one really likes talking about money. I guess it makes people squirrely and awkward. But I don't really mind it! I think it's because I look at the financial world as a big game that you have to beat - and I like to think that I'm relatively good at it. It's less awkward to talk about when you feel like you're winning the game.

So how are you even supposed to remotely win with this economy? Isn't everyone unemployed and/or in debt up to their eyeballs?

Well... possibly. I know that might be the situation of many people, but here are some tips for everyone that will help.

I think that it really depends on your expectations for life. If you aspire to be driving your Mercedes when you pull into your three-car garage at your beautiful five bedroom home, then yeah, this might be difficult. But ask yourself - Where do my values lie? What's most important? I think it's most important to play well and try to win the game.

I found myself in the extremely blessed situation to have a large-total-gift-from-God scholarship that covered the majority of my tuition expenses. I know it's not the norm, but I was able to pay off my remaining loan debt with money from savings and experience a level of true financial freedom. Sallie's not hanging over my head, and I understand that this is really only by the grace of God.

But how much do I make now? Here's a hint: It's less than you do. 30k? Lower. Yep. And people gripe about that, but here's more personal dirt: my salary supports two people right now. Yikes. I've heard people making more than me complain that they need a second job to get by. Well if you want to shop at that rate, then yes, yes you do. I know that I don't have loan debt, but I also don't split rent with a roommate or two or three. Or live at home with my parents. It kind of evens out that way.

So how's it done? Why am I not on food stamps or on the streets?! I'll share some things that help us do more than just get by.


1. Minimalism pays off big time. My husband and I don't have a ton of stuff, but the stuff we have we really like. How much stuff around your house doesn't get used? Want to know what we've made by selling stuff in the last six months alone?

Craigslist: about $1,225 (and hopefully another $250 sale tonight)

Half.com (books on Ebay): $155

Yeah. Tell me about it. Pretty dang sweet.

2. Thrifty is nifty. I spent $26 at my favorite thrift store after Christmas and got a sweater, a long sleeve shirt, an AMAZING leather messenger bag, and these pants.

{via J.Crew}

I got these J.Crew pants (in pink) for $6.99. $6.99! I felt like such a champ. These are $80 pants and they still had the tags on them when I bought them! Thrifting isn't gross, it's about finding the right places and being picky. You can get some pretty unique pieces and spend merely pennies. I get the most compliments on the clothes I get secondhand - probably because they haven't been seen a ton before! Not only is thrifting totally inexpensive, but it's a greener way to consume - buying secondhand uses fewer resources and keeps waste out of landfills. Love the planet, love your wallet.

3. Get creative. If you're a reader, you may know that we just dog-sat over the holidays as a local wealthy family was traveling. We absolutely fell in love with this pup and it was heart-wrenching to give him back. So two weeks spent with this wonderful pooch that was hardly any work for us and lots of snuggling - $400 in the bank. It helps that I work at a college so I have resources at my fingertips where people post jobs like this, but it's time to start thinking outside the box! There's more money to be made than just the 9 to 5.

4. Mint to the rescue! Mint.com is a fabulous resource. It's a money managing website that is totally safe, makes a lot of sense, and looks like it was designed by Steve Jobs. It's beautiful, not at all scary. You can set established budgets (like the ever-humbling coffee shop budget), set savings goals, and look at tons of charts and graphs to map your spend. It definitely helps you obey the adage to "spend less than you make."

5. Yes, you can still eat out. Enter Restaurant.com. The day after Christmas, we got four $25 gift cards to different area restaurants on this site for just $6. And with that, we also got a $25 gift card to Restaurant.com, to be used for buying more mega-cheap gift cards later. That's $100 worth of food, and $25 towards more of that - for $6. Mhmm, you can still live a normal life and eat out.

6. Prioritize giving. Even when it's hard, Christians are called to be cheerful givers. If this applies to you, this means giving your (minimum) 10% to your regular church body or to ministries to support God's kingdom here on Earth - with a smile on your face and in your heart. If this doesn't apply to you, then it's still good to be a giver. It helps keep perspective about what's important in life. I've been supporting the same darling little girl in Ethiopia through Compassion International since 2005, and we've written many letters and built a relationship. It's so wild to watch her grow and know that a lot of it is due to my prayers and financial support. And if you're still not convinced - well, it's a good deed and a tax write off. Find ways to give to others.

7. Set goals and actually do them. This might sound cheesy, but it's true. How frequently do people say, "oh, I would love to travel some day!" Okay... then why don't you? Pick where you'd like to go, estimate how much it would cost, cut back on some unnecessary Starbucks spending and start re-channeling that money into a specific savings account for your trip. It might take some time, but watch the savings grow and get excited.

It's all just a big game of what stays and what goes, and you can beat the system if you're disciplined.

Now I'll leave you with some words of wisdom...

"Cannot people realize how large an income is thrift?" - Cicero

"I am always amazed to see just how many things there are that I don't need." - Socrates

Preach it, bros. Can't mess with those two.

Want more ways to save? Check out this book!

What are your money-saving tips? I'm obviously always eager to hear of new ways to save :)

a kitchen craft

A long while ago, I posted about a random craft that I did around the homestead. 

Baldwin craft number two, comin' your way...

kitchen inspiration board

1. 12x12" black frame (yes, with a bowl of raisinets for good measure)

2. 12x12" piece of cork board

3. Hot glue a little left over wedding burlap on for style's sake. Obv.

4. And now my "10 ideas for boneless chicken breasts" clipping from Real Simple has a home.

Right beside the crock pot recipes and my husband's boutonniere. 

He thought that was a nice spot for it. I'm inspired already.

Once again, a 10-15 minute project has brought us to 

a fun and creative new level of organization. Win.

craft central.

Not to toot our own horns or anything, but Will and I have been pretty crafty these days around the homestead. Nothing too tricky, but I think because we're always so busy/tired, I'm just surprised they were accomplished in the first place. Here was project number one...

earring organizer

1. frame: purchased for $1 at Second Glance in Rockport

2. screen: purchased for $1.50 (2 feet) at a local hardware store

3. staple gun that sucker right on there (thanks to dads & husbands)

4. and BOOM: your earrings have a happy new home.

I know. Nothing too revolutionary, but it's pretty to look at 

and makes my life easier, so I'm pleased. More to come!

orderliness

I am craving some major orderliness at the homestead. We're getting there, slowly but surely. But in the meantime, the blender shouldn't be living next to the cereal. It's just not right, I tell you.

We don't have much (at all) by way of cabinetry, so a decent-sized pantry is what we're up against. Can someone come and make my kitchen look as organized as these?

Just kidding, don't touch it. I want to do it.

But these sure are pretty.

I'm inspired. We'll do the pantry after we're done with the bedroom, the living room, the array of more intrusive piles scattered about...