Still here!

Just swinging by in between study breaks to let you know that I'm still alive. I know it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post, but since school started up again I haven't even had a chance to clean the bathroom. Yeah, I know... I'm disgusting. What.Ever.

I have clinicals every Saturday and Sunday until the second week of October, I also have exam after exam, care plan after care plan, and skills evaluation after skills evaluation. You stop studying for one thing and start for another. I should have been evaluated the day I applied for nursing school and then I should have been committed the day I accepted.

Every time I pass by an unfinished project (or one I haven't started, for that matter) I stare at it longingly. It's to the point that I would even finish the staircase if I had time.... and that is a project I've been putting off for months!

Enough of my rambling. I promise that I'll do something house related on Friday and maybe post about it by Sunday... or Monday. :)

When in Rome, Do as the Romans!

From the start I knew I hated didn't want blinds. We needed something functional and aesthetically pleasing that would:

1. Allow us to open/close the window with ease. (We like to fry food and frying makes the house way stinky).

2. Block out or limit the amount of sunlight that hits our kitchen window dead on from dawn to dusk, which makes the entire main floor of the house a cool 93 degrees (that's cool, right? RIGHT?!).

Without further ado, here you have my kitchen window!

I kid, I kid! The idea of putting something like this in my kitchen had me screaming H-E-double toothpicks NO!! while running around with a spoon trying to scoop out my eyes. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure these curtains would look just darling in a kitchen that does not belong to me.

I decided upon roman shades. The big box stores have a pretty measly decent selection of expensive roman shades in solid colors. None of which matched my bold style and I say my bold style because Mr. Partner in Crime for Life is a black-grey-brown-beige kind of guy. However, I do commend him for letting me do whatever the hell I please with the house :)

So I asked, why not sew them myself? Easy-peezy I thought. I did some research and found this absolutely wonderful tutorial and followed the instructions to the T (or is it tee?). No guts no glory, right?

 

COST BREAKDOWN

3 yards of fabric = $21

2 rope cleats = $3

2 cord condensers = $2

2 cord drops = $1

1x2 poplar boards = $6

screw eyes = $2

cord =$7

matching thread =  $4

lift rings = $2

1/16in wooden dowels = $12
1/2 yard muslin = $2
velcro = $6

TOTAL COST = $68

LINKED TO

Additional pictures, tips,, tricks, and more information about the fabric can be found after the jump.

Kitchen Pantry

So when we moved in to our brand spanking new house the pantry was pretty miserable. She was our very first project!

Two shelves were missing, and you can't really tell in this picture but none of the shelves were actually level.

We started by knocking out all the shelves, applying joint compound VERY liberally, sanding it down, and painting her bright white.

We headed to Lowe's and bought some shelves, brackets, and screws.

Then I bought some wire baskets from Ikea for a little extra storage. The depth of our pantry is about 12in, which for a pantry is nothing! The wire baskets were just over 12in so we had to take wire cutters and chop off the lip on the baskets so they would fit.

And this is my stocked and ridiculously crammed pantry.

Don't mind all the cereal and breakfast foods. My partner in crime for life swore Honey Nut Cherrios and Oatmeal were his favorite, but then we moved in together and I started buying my two favorites (Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch) in addition to his. Now he won't touch his Cherrios or Oatmeal, he just eats my cereal. And well, we just really like pancakes. No excuse for that one.

I wanted to give a cost breakdown for this little endeavor, but then I looked at the Lowe's receipt and realized I am wayyyyyy too embarrassed to divulge just how much we spent on this. I'm seriously ashamed. It definitely was not thrifty.

'Cause I'm back

Yes, I'm back
Well, I'm back
Yes, I'm back
Well, I'm back, back

Well I'm back in black
Yes, I'm back in black 

I returned to the states from Australia on Thursday, made a quick pit stop in Los Angeles to see my dad and siblings, then flew back to the east coast Saturday night. I slept alllllllll day Sunday, began my second year of nursing school on Monday, and got into a car accident on Tuesday. Yup, I've been busy.

But here are a few pictures of my trip for your viewing pleasure.

The Sydney Opera House

Wattle - Australian National Flower

Koala!!

Kangaroos!

No Emu's were hurt in the capturing of this photo.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

We spent double what we originally wanted to spend on the trip. Had we known that food over there is RIDICULOUSLY insanely CRAZY out of this world EXPENSIVE we would have seriously rethought the trip. With that being said, I will be focusing on finishing projects I've already started/bought supplies for. From this day forward I vow not to buy any house stuff until this trip is paid off. :)

Let's see how long it takes me to break that vow. Any bets??


Oh, and while I was gone I was featured thrice (first here, then here, and finally here). I also went from 2 followers to 30! Woot Woot!  I promise to respond to all comments by the end of the week. But first I need to get some studying done.