I'm going to be a drunk ditch mouse.

One of the "needs" for our rental was a space for me to work. Preferably not in our bedroom. Something about spending on average 14 hours per day in the same room made me think I might go nuts. Just like everything with the rental we did get, it *just barely* meets the requirements. 

What do I mean?

 Let me show you the pantry in the rental.

But let's also call it my office.

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1st flr Plan
Click to enlarge

Why does a 1,400sf house have an 9' x 5' pantry but only one bathroom?? Your guess is as good as mine.

 I keep saying we are not allowed to keep food in there, only extra dishes, the fondue pot, heck we can even keep the vacuum in there, just no food. Or I'm going to end up not being able to fit out the door.

Remember when your parents used to send you out by the busy highway in front of your house to pick up all the beer bottles people would toss out their car windows and you would find that poor little mouse who went into the bottle, drank all the beer and got so fat he couldn't fit back out the bottle? 

Oh, wait, that was just MY parents who did that?? Anyway, you get what I mean. 

Yes, I did just compare my future self to a drunk ditch mouse.

Happy Friday!~

Bloglovin' with the Next Toolbar for the Win!

So to some of you this might not mean anything****, but to a bunch of us the shutting down of Google Reader as of July 1st is a BIG DEAL. After that announcement  alternatives quickly vied for our loyalty, namely Feedly and Bloglovin'. Feedly has a clean layout and the name Bloglovin'. Ew. I could not decide which one I wanted to switch to, so I stuck my head in the sand and pretended Google Reader would be here forever.

BUT then I just found out something that makes BL (I refuse to keep typing Bloglovin') pull ahead.
They have **almost ** a next button like Google Reader.

See that little button up there in my toolbar? Back when Google Reader was my thing, I would click it, and it would take me to the new posts in each blog I read! Amazing.

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Now see this? Bloglovin doesn't have a "next" button, but rather a toolbar that pops up and lets you click older and newer! Not perfect, but I'll take it.

(To see this, go to Bloglovin.com, sign up, import your links from Google Reader (so easy), "frame" view should be already be selected in settings, so just click on a blog in your list (but not the title or it will take you to the blog w/ no next toolbar), see now you have your handy toolbar!)

So unless someone tells me that I can do this in Feedly too, looks like I'm a BL girl.

p.s. ****If you don't know what any of this means, a blog reader is essentially a free service where you subscribe to a bunch of blogs and it organizes them and lists all the new posts for you. Pretty cool.

p.p.s. Does anyone know if the Bloglovin' bar gives the blog "hits"? I don;t think it goes directly to the blog itself.

85: Spicing Up a Rented Bathroom

Here is the sad, sad rental bathroom. 

ISSUES

We can't paint - Ugh. I know.

The vanity is the crappiest cheapest thing ever.  - We will have to live with it.

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My first thought was to throw a bunch of color at this space. I kept trying and it just wasn't working.

Then I decided to go with the melancholy vibe.
What better to do that than The Odyssey theme shower curtain?
(Also, Marc pointed out that it is a little "Where the Wild Things Are" which is a favorite in our house.)

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SPICE IT UP

new rug - new window blinds - new shower curtain

new wall shelving - plants - baskets - new hamper

For the record

This is also NOT a mood board 

:)

A Word About Moms (and Sisters)

There are about a million things I love about my Mom,
but this photo illustrates one of the best:

My mom on the left and her sister (my favorite Aunt) doing the locomotion

at my cousin's insanely beautiful Key West beach wedding.

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SILLY& LOYAL  
FUN & SUPPORTING
MOMS

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I can only hope someday my sisters and I will be the dance floor
showing Franca and Mina how it is done.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there,
but especially these two. Love you!