I think we're on to something...

Since friday when I posted about my new game plan I got a call for a phone interview for one of the positions I posted! Yay! Anywho, I'm not going to stop applying just because something good happened. So today I applied for 2 positions, one is an accounting intern with Volunteers of America, Utah and the other is an Advancement Associate with the McGillis School.
For the first position, it doesn't sound very awesome being an "internship" but I think it could really be a good opportunity. This would be a paid internship (sweet) and it would be building on what I learned in my last position at Salt Lake Community Action Program.
Next up, the McGillis School which is a private school here in Salt Lake that is very academically strenuous bu they also focus much of their teaching time on making sure their students are good citizens and people. Of course because it is a private school they rely heavily on donations and fundraisers to keep the school running. Basically that's what I would be doing. Helping keep track of donors, parents, and alumni and helping fund raise. This is a full time position (awesome!) and it sounds like a challenging and rewarding position.
In other news, Andy and I are trying feverishly to get ready for our cruise. I mean we are dusting off our shorts and t-shirts and trying to see what still fits and if it will all fit in our suit cases. Danger! I'm an over packer like NONE OTHER and Andy doesn't believe in over packing (I don't know what planet he is from but I admire it). I mean if I'm going on a weekend trip I take at least 6 pairs of underwear because "you never know", healthy? I'm not sure. Do you think there are any "must haves" for a long trip (other than copious amounts of underpants)?

New Game Plan

Apparently I am still seriously sucking on the job front, so that is where this blog is going to come in handy. I am going to post the jobs I'm applying for on here so you can keep me accountable. I will also be going over some of the things that are frustrating me or making me very happy. So here we go...
Today I sent off an email to the executive director of Heart To Heart Adoptions here in Salt Lake to see if they have any internship/part time work that I could possibly do. I have been tossing around the idea of going into the adoption field for quite some time but I finally got the nerve today to do something about it. Here's praying for a response that is favorable.
Next up is Development Project Manager at Women's World Health Initiative, this is a non paid internship position but it's seems right up my ally so I'm going to apply. I think they are looking for people still in college but maybe I could use that to my own advantage. Anyway, this organization is pretty flipping awesome and I think the work would be not only helping others but truly helping me establish some legit experience. Read a little more about the organization here.
I'm hoping something happens soon or I might try my hand at making curtains soon... Dangerous.
Wish me luck.

Walmart Fabrics, Who Knew?

The other day I some time to kill so I was wondering around WalMart. I realized my walmart still has a fabric section, I thought they were taking them out of all of the walmarts. Anywho, I did a quick browse and found some surprisingly nice fabric! I only took pictures of two that I found but they have potential.

This black and white striped fabric was a heavy canvas and at $9.95 that's not too bad for the weight of the fabric. Perfect for curtains or shades. Here are some inspiration pictures I found. I wish I was dramatic enough to make this work in my house, maybe you could!

Kitchen

Shower Curtain

Living Room

Roman Shades that you can make yourself

I think it would look really cool in a bedroom with a bed in front of the window so it works as a headboard. Snazzy.
Next up is this silk fabric I found.

I love it! If I knew how to sew this $5 fabric would be a maxi dress for my up coming cruise. Oh love it! Here are some dresses I LOVE and this fabric would look AWESOME.

Sexy Eva!

This is probably my favorite, someone make this for me.

I like this neck tie thing, but does that ever hurt anyone else's neck?

I was surprised that they had more trendy fabrics now, in college all I could find were care bears and other weird designs there. So maybe it's worth another look.

Mission Complete (kind of)

I finally finished the dining room last night! Time to see pictures :). Let's start with the befores...

The dining area... Not bad, just blah.

We couldn't figure out a buffet so we used a book shelf on it's side...

See those flower prints? They will be reincarnated in the new room.

My only pop of color.

This is with the table fully extended. I should have taken a picture with the leaf out.

The dining area... I had basically no direction with this part of the house. I just threw stuff together and it just wasn't working for me. There really was no color in the area at all. Also the chairs we were using needed to head back to their original owner soon anyway. So I thought this gave me the perfect opportunity to redo everything!
Here's how the process went... I moved everything out except the table. So I could start with a blank slate. Then to the fabric stores I go. I picked out this AWESOME print at JoAnns as the "inspiration fabric. All of the colors for the room came from this fabric. 

I love it so very much.

I wanted to use durable and colorful outdoor fabric for the chairs because I had this recurring nightmare that I would get all of the chairs covered in my beautiful inspiration fabric and then at the first family dinner someone would spill a whole cup of red kool-aid on them. I was literally freaked out. So next up, a trip to calico corners for some outdoor fabric. Here is what I ended up buying for the chairs...

Colorful enough to not show every little spill and still interesting with the geometric pattern.

Then it was a trip to Lowes to match up all of the colors in the inspiration fabric to paint. This proved extremely smart. I had to return my sample of the fabric to JoAnns but I could keep the swatches in my purse so if I found something I liked I could see if it coordinated. I used the turquoise color in the fabric to paint the dresser which you have seen many times now. Remember what the dresser and chairs looked like before?

Straight out of 1972, LOVE IT!

Beautiful but Granny-ish.

Ready for the end result? HERE YOU GO!

I love it!

Do those fabric panels look familiar? They were the flower prints!

How do you think I did? I know there are a few things that need to be done such as; the space needs a rug (but those darn things are so expensive and it's hard to find what I truly want), the lamp shade needs to be covered (I just can't decide what to cover it with), there will be a framed picture over each tan chair (which are the same white Ikea chairs that I simply dyed in the washing machine), and finally I am commissioning my mom to make some pillows for the chairs because I can't sew :). Anyway, there's the room and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Sneak Peek....

Here are some of the sneak peek pictures of the projects in the dining room....

Dresser complete! Woo! Also, see that blue lamp? Andy and I rewired it last night... It would have been easy except I forgot how the darn thing went back together there for it took more time. Tune in tomorrow for all of the projects and big reveal :).

In other news I ran into Joanns today to pick up some stuff and got lost in the fabric! I found some AWESOME stuff. I should have bought a few yards but I didn't, Andy should be proud.

Miracles

Yesterday I got some news that made me hit my knees and give thanks to the Big Man. My friend, who is not "supposed" to be able to have children IS PREGNANT! It truly is a miracle. I got so excited and as a result had all this crazy energy... So what to do with this energy? Start decorating the baby's room! lol. So this post is for you baby miracle, enjoy.



To start off with, I know we both love us some Sarah Richardson so here are two nurserys done by her...

This 

This first one was featured on "Sarah's House" on HGTV. I LOVE the alphabet boarder that they did with wooden letters cut in different fonts, so fun and a learning tool. Also, I'm partial to those curtains because they are the same ones I have in my living room. I know this one kind of screams "BOY" but I think with a few touches you could make it gender neutral.

Now this one is Sarah's nursery for her own child... Hmm, BEAUTIFUL! I love the orange, what an unexpected color for a nursery. I also think this one could be gender neutral by just removing the wall decal and putting family photos or another kind of decal up. By the way, that crib is awesome.

The next is a room I found and I'm extremely in love with. The red and blue color scheme is neutral and also if Baby Bear and Miracle Baby will be sharing a room it would be awesome for that. Added bonus all of the fabrics in this room are SHEETS! Awesome!

 How cool is that?! It's like a grown up baby's room. It's sophisticated but still a little whimsical and fun. See that changing pad? It was a pillow case! My no sawing side is in awe.

This next one is still in the red and blue color scheme but it shows how to have a shared room for two children. I really love this one too.

I love the sign over the crib. I think at 4:30 in the morning you need to remind yourself to keep calm. Anyway, this room is so fun and all of the details are located here.

Next up are some cool things that I've found that could work, but really I just really like them and wanted to share.

I think this is super cool. And would look awesome in that first room I showed. Or in my living room...

Aww! Over a crib this would be so cute.

I'm really into tree decals right now. I feel they are very fitting for a nursery. (How cute is that little guy?)

Isn't that wall AWESOME?! You could spell out names, alphabet, or a prayer or just Miracle. Fitting? I think yes.

Fitting for where we live and where you got engaged. Super awesome.

Anyway, those are some thoughts. Let me know when you are ready to tackle the nursery, I'm ready to help! On a side note, I do believe you are having a girl. Just a feeling... And I've never been more happy for two people in my entire life.

I demand a do-over!

I thought for sure 2011 was going to be good to Andy and I, apparently I was completely wrong. As most of you know, my car was totaled about 2 weeks ago from a tow-gone-wrong and yesterday our basement flooded! So in light of these occurrences, I demand a year do over. We are only 2 months in so I'm thinking it shouldn't be that hard to arrange, so what government office should I start calling constantly? Homeland Security? The White House?

Andy vacuuming up the last of the water last night. Demo Complete.

Anyway, I'm done complaining. Back to the reason you are probably here... PROJECT WEEK! I had to take most of yesterday off to deal with the basement disaster but I did get a few things done. I have 4 of my 6 chairs primed and ready to be painted, the dresser frame is primed, and I am on the very last drawer front. So I decided to show everyone why these darn drawers are taking so long... Here is the reason...

Double punch outs!

So each one of those bad boys has to be painted with a tiny brush by hand. It's killer but so worth it! Don't you love the 1970's wood grain going on here? Lovely! Here are a few more pics...

One finished next to an original.

Two finished drawers. I just have to put the paper in behind the cut outs and they are done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Have a great day!

Tacky Glam

I went to my favorite thrift store today (like there was a doubt?) and as I walked down the lighting aisle my eyes were accosted by these lamps. I don't even know what to say about them other than; where on this planet did they come from? Have you ever seen something so tacky it's Glam? I think I did today. If lady GaGa was a lamp she would be one of these with a sweet spikey shade :)