Miscellaneous Monday

The memorial service for Mammie was very nice. Although the wind whipped crisp and cold, the sun shone at the same time. It was an event that testified to the care and support my family has for each other, which are things I cherish when we all get together.

After the service we gathered at my aunt's church for some food. It was great to spend time with everyone, as always, and especially to meet the newest member of the family. Logan James (Baby Logan is what I have the tendency to call him) was born September 7th to my cousin Sam and her boyfriend, Nate. He is absolutely adorable (the baby, not Nate... okay, both of them!) and I am so glad I got to spend plenty of time holding him. I tried not to hog him too much, but it's hard not to when they're so cute (babies, I mean) ... and when I want one of my own really bad but have to wait. I know it sounds bad to say I have to wait to have my own child, but I promise the reason is a good one. I can't wait until Thanksgiving to spend more time with everyone and hold the baby some more. The time with I get with my family is always too little, but I am grateful for the time we do get to share and how awesome it always is.

With the trip to Rhode Island in the past, I am officially without plans on the weekend for quite awhile... well, besides potentially having chipmunk face and wanting nothing more than to stay in bed this upcoming weekend after I get my wisdom teeth out. I guess that's not really "plans," more a maybe I'll be a chipmunk, maybe I won't. The point is I am not busy, which although I love the visiting of family and so forth, it will be nice not to have to drive anywhere this weekend. I really do despise traffic... not driving, just traffic. If I had my own roads, life would be way more lovely... and less stressful.

And because this is miscellaneous Monday, I quickly change directions and take it back to Thursday night when I acquired something fabulous. I meant to mention it in my post Friday, but it wasn't really a "giddy" post, so I kept it out. Anyways, on Thursday night when Hubs and I came home from bowling I caught sight of something in the "throw away pile" in the basement garage of our condo building. Not gross "throw away," just "we don't want it anymore"/mostly empty boxes throw away pile. And as you may guess, "throw away" also means FREE. Hence the main reason this find was so fabulous.

First, some pre-story. I am in desperate need of a buffet/hutch for my dining room. I dream of a hutch that has drawers and cupboards with doors, as well as show-off-shelving at the top. Unfortunately, my budget isn't big enough for such a thing right now. So when I cleaned out the guest room closet, this became a make-shift version of my dream (make shift meaning not even close, but will have to do):

I am almost ashamed. I mean, plastic utility shelving? I know, it's bad. That is why I was so excited when my eyes fell upon the beauty below in the basement garage of the condo. In the "throw away pile." For FREE. Sure it's not a hutch/cupboard/drawer combo, but it's miles above plastic utility shelving. And it was FREE.

Did I mention it was FREE?!?! (Oh, and please disregard the sad little table next to it. I'm still brainstorming a fix-me-up for that.)

So, here are the FREE leaning shelves all decked out with the items that were previously arranged on the plastic shelves. It took me several tries to decide where I wanted things, but I'm happy with the way it came out. It's just so much better than the college dorm/storage room shelves I had going on before and is definitely a step in the direction I'd like to be going with my decorating. I've focused a lot on decluttering and cleaning, but I have recently been inspired to think about my interior design style and the way I want my home to look. I've created a few inspiration boards and hope to start bringing some of the inspiration into reality. I feel this is a great start.

Here is the dining room as a whole. Hubby would like to get a mirror to put on the large wall. I think I agree- after all, a mirror looked great there in the model unit for these condos. But again budget plays a role in when we'll actually get the mirror. Until then, it's a glaring empty space.

And now on to the cleaning business of the week. The zone for this week is the living room. Our living room has very little clutter and normally only needs a bit of tidying. I did that tonight, as well as washing the windows... the kitties like to leave little noise smudges when they are looking out at the world.

It's great there is little clutter in this room, but really, there is little anything... at least on the walls. It's another something I'm brainstorming about. I have a few ideas, but just need to execute them.

The long black shelf unit behind the love seat is not permanent. It used to be the TV stand and has been rolled around and used various ways since we got the new and AMAZING entertainment center made by my Dad. It's currently empty because it will eventually (hopefully soon eventually) be on it's way out... maybe to the "throw away/we don't want it anymore pile."

One thing that I do feel is a bit cluttered, or at least not arranged quite to my liking, is the entertainment center. I think electronics are ugly to look at, so that's part of it. I also think the shelves may be a bit busy... or disorganized. There is a lot going on, so one of my goals for the week is to pare down or at least rearrange in a way that is less distracting to the eye. Not that Hubby is distracted. He's honed in on that TV pretty much every waking moment that he's home. Maybe I should be 46" wide too.

Oh wait, maybe it's the fact that it turns off when he tells it to that he likes so much. Ha, I'm more likely to become 46" wide than to turn off when he tells me to.

And that my friends is a miscellany Monday. A bunch of stuff from the weekend and Monday itself all rolled together. Yee haw, it's time for tea and a book. In bed. Glorious, glorious bed. But before I go, a bit of philosophy (??) from Michael Scott:

"It squeaks when you bang it...

that's what she said."