Hello faithful readers,
I've decided to turn my blog down a few notches for the summer. I really can't handle a full-time job, keeping up a house (for my first summer as a homeowner), and taking care of myself and my husband on top of finding something interesting to write about 5 days a week. Starting next week, I'll be going down to 2-3 times a week. You'll still get earring updates on until I've finished them all and, of course, 101 Things Project updates. I'll try to post at least 1-2 other things every week, but I don't guarantee it.
I hope you understand - and go enjoy your summer!
Love and Books,
Leah Joy
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
101 Things Update - June 12
Wow, how long has it been since I updated you on my 101 Things Project? Well, I honestly haven't completed a whole lot in the last month, but I knew that would happen come summer. I've even considered putting my blog on hold until after the camp season. (I haven't made up my mind on that one, yet.)
So, without further ado, here's the official list:
14. Organize under kitchen and bathroom sinks. I will not be sharing pictures, because there's nothing revolutionary or even Pinterest-worthy about them. I merely rearranged things to make it make sense. I didn't build shelves, install a tension rod, or make drawers. I simply organized - and it's a lot nicer now!
36. Organize kitchen cupboards - you already saw the fruits of this:
Let me say again how much I love having my kitchen organized. Everything is so much easier!
89. Watch Bridget Jones's Diary. This is a very funny movie. A little sweeter (and slightly more believable) than the book, but still very funny. (Note: not for children.)
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91. Watch Ramona and Beezus. I laughed. I (almost) cried. It moved me, Bob. I'd highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoyed the books. It steals bits from all the plots, but the spirit of the story remains the same, and Ramona is hilarious.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Earring Update - June 11
So, I only wore two pairs of earrings this week. I'm down to a few pairs I plan to get rid of, some really big pairs I can't wear to work (because they hinder my phone-answering abilities), and then a few others.
June 4 - These are basic faux pearl studs. I usually wear them in my 2nd piercing to coordinate with something.
June 9 - If I had to pick a favorite pair of earrings, I would choose these ones. They match everything (I mean everything - they're magical!), go with any style from casual to formal, and are exactly to my taste. I got them 11 years ago when my family visited Colorado. We went to the Garden of the Gods and I found these in the gift shop for $15 - way more than I've ever spent on a single pair of earrings any other time. Turns out they were so worth it! These are the world's most fabulous earrings.
Love and Dinosaurs,
Leah Joy
Monday, June 10, 2013
A Little Humor
Friday, June 7, 2013
Bedroom Updates
To round off our week of home improvements, I thought I'd share some significant updates in our bedroom.
First is these nightstands. We found them on Craigslist (after months of searching) for $20 each. There's a matching one for Caleb (that's right, he doesn't have to use a chair anymore!), but it was too cluttered to take a picture of it. Mine doesn't usually look this neat, but I cleaned it up for you guys. I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with the shelf, but I love having drawers and so much space.
And yes, thank you, I am aware that black is a dust magnet. You would only be the 472nd person to tell me that.
In addition, we also hung up most of our pictures. As we make more significant updates in the other rooms, I'll show where those ended up (do you really want a post full of pictures of pictures?), but for now, check out what we did above our dresser.
I really love how clean, serene, and peaceful our room feels. I don't want a lot of clutter on the walls, but I think this is the perfect amount. My aunt made this piece for us as a wedding/housewarming gift (it took her 2 years!). We hung it between the letters she made for us.
Isn't it beautiful?!
Love and TGIF,
Leah Joy
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Bathroom Cupboard
As long as we're on the topic of cupboards, I thought I'd share with you the organizational updates we made in our bathroom 'pantry' cupboard. As with our kitchen cupboards, this one was never organized. We just took things out of the box labeled "Bathroom" and put them in the cupboard.
And of course, I didn't take any before pictures, but it was pure chaos, I'll tell you.
Here are the top three shelves. The top is for my stuff. Gosh being a woman takes a lot of products. I do love having it all on one shelf, though. It used to be split among 4 shelves, and now I know where everything is. The next shelf is for first aid (on the left) and Caleb's stuff (on the right). The third shelf down is for bath and hand towels. I read somewhere on Pinterest that folding your towels in thirds saves so much room, and I would say it depends on your space and towels, but in our case, it does save a lot of room! We can fit both of these sets of towels on one shelf neatly. (We have 4 towels of each kind - 2 in green and 2 in blue - but the other ones were in use at the time of this picture. However, if we wanted to, they'd all fit here neatly.)
The lower shelves hold more varied items, because they're the shelves that are actually hardest to reach for us tall folks. The first one in this next picture holds a basket for smaller spare items (in the back), a spray bottle, sun necessities, paper towel, a box for our washcloths, and my hair doodads (in the blue tote).
Below that is more spare items, plus Caleb's beard trimmer stuff that he doesn't need every day.
Here's more close-up at our washcloth box. Of course it's not very cute, but it's very functional, and I can cover it in something eventually.
And here's a better shot at that spare items basket - isn't it so cute? (Goodwill for $2!)
In addition to that, I wanted something tall and thin to fit in that space between the cupboard and the sink. The sink 'counter' isn't very large, and when Caleb needs to charge his electric toothbrush or razor, it gets really cluttered. But I also didn't want something too solid, because there's a vent by the floor. Plus, the space is only 11 inches wide, so our options are really limited. My mom found this shelf at a garage sale for us and thought it'd be perfect. I do really like it for holding the items that need to charge. And I now have space for a small clock - so I know if I need to rush my bathroom stuff or not. I don't want to put stuff on all the shelves because of the vent, but it's nice to have more options.
(And yes, we'll probably be moving the towel bar up a bit.)
Love and Toiletries,
Leah Joy
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Kitchen Cupboards: Part 4
Monday, I shared pictures from our upper cupboards - here are our lower cupboards.
The far left was converted into trendy open shelving (mostly to avoid mice) - and the whole area was lined with more Dollar Tree shelf liner.
On the top part, we keep our pots and pans (with the lids in the back) and our big mixing bowls.
Just below that, we keep our popsicle molds (when they're not in the freezer), pie crust protectors, pie plates, and baking pans. (In the back are less-used small appliances like the waffle maker.)
On the right section, behind the doors, we keep baking supplies. Open canisters and containers stay on the top. Below are more baking pans, cutting boards, cooling racks, and extra unopened supplies.
And that, my friends, concludes our kitchen cupboard tour. The only things I didn't show are the cookie sheets - these we keep in the drawer under the stove.
I can't tell you how much I love having my cupboards organized. I know where everything is, and it's all in places that make sense. And all my baking supplies are right by my mixer, instead of in 12 different places around the kitchen. I already loved baking, but now it's so much better!
Love and Mermaids,
Leah Joy
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Earring Update - June 4
Woohoo! I wore earrings every day this week. I think that's a first!
May 28/29 - These are the pink and purple pairs that go with the blue ones I showed last week. I know the second one looks blue, but I promise it's purple.
May 30 - I picked these up at a rummage sale a few years ago. All I had to do was switch out the earring wire to make it wearable. They're so adorable!
May 31 - Hey look, another pair of pop tab earrings!
June 1 - I think these are the final pair of this set; you've also seen them in pink and purple.
June 2 - I think I picked these up at Salvation Army for a costume for a school project - but then I kept them because they're ridiculously fun.
June 3 - These are some of my favorite earrings. My big brother got these for me (from Etsy, I think) and I get a million compliments every time I wear them. This picture hardly does them justice, so you'll just have to take my word for it that these are perfect.
Love and Piranha Plants,
Leah Joy
Monday, June 3, 2013
Kitchen Cupboards: Part 3
This is probably the part with the most dramatic change.
Of course, the appliances are one of the biggest changes, but we also tore out and replaced most of the upper cabinets, and converted the back part of the lowers to open shelving.
Today, I'll be sharing pictures of the uppers.
Above the microwave is our 'pantry' for storage of extra items.
(Note the foreshadowing of the rainbow Jell-O!)
Next to that is our tall, skinny cupboard. The top shelf is for cold drinks, the middle shelf is for hot drinks, and the bottom shelf is for vitamins and medications.
My dad installed a lazy susan in the corner shelf, and I keep our mugs on it (and our big hot chocolate canister, because it doesn't fit in the other cupboard).
On the bottom, I keep hot pads and oven mitts for easy access next to the oven. Also: cooking spray and the microwave cover.
On the other side: the meat thermometer, toothpicks, matches, and an air freshener. There's no particular reason for the fun dish, I just didn't know where else to put it.
The final upper cupboard is really the piéce de résistance of our cupboards. Before, it just held random odds and ends. Thanks to my mom and sister, this cupboard turned into a dream. It is so nice to have everything right here and on eye level! We tried to split up the spices and small baking ingredients into cooking on the left and baking on the right. The top shelf is for extra baking/cooking things: popcorn, bread crumbs, sifter, etc.
Come back on Wednesday for the final installment in our kitchen drama!
Love and Baking Powder,
Leah Joy
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