Author: Staci

Staci blogs about travel at TheVoyageer.com.

New Year’s Resolutions

That is, resolutions for my apartment.  I may add more but all I can come up with right now is 4.

1. Stop being so stir-crazy to move and put time, effort, and love into the apartment I have.
I have a very cool and unique apartment, why would I throw it away for a cookie-cutter? (The answer: the cookie cutter would probably be 10 degrees warmer.) I find myself being dissatisfied with my current place because of its poor insulation and absentee landlord–instead I need to tidy up the clutter that seems to be lurking in every corner, give the place a good thorough cleaning and make it 110% of what it can be.
And put on another sweater.

2. Make my bed every day.
I stole this idea from Young House Love, and it’s a bit unfair for me since Doug leaves for work long, long before I get up in the morning–that means I will be the one making it almost 100% of the time. But thinking about it… it’s a small price to pay to not get up at 6:15 every morning. An unpleasant chore, but one that really only takes a minute if done regularly. Here’s a bonus quote from Smart People:

Vanessa Wetherhold (Ellen Page): You should really make your bed. It sets the tone for the day.
Chuck Wetherhold (Thomas Haden Church): But, how do you know what tone I was trying to set?

3. Finish stripping the cabinets in the office.
The paint was peeling off so easily by hand at first, then it got tough, I got distracted, and now they are in quite a state. I would feel guilty passing this unfinished project onto the next tenant, so although I probably won’t invest the money to repaint them, I will definitely try to finish stripping them down to their pinky-brown base color.

4. Clean and purge my closet.
Sad to say, my winter clothes are still in a tub under the bed (I get them out as needed) but my summer clothes have not moved out of my closet. This means it gets more and more crowded with each clothing item I pull out from under the bed. Sometime before spring rolls around again (luckily in KS this means mid-April) I need to do the ole switcheroo (and in the process, purge some unwanted pieces).

Christmas-centric China

In all my days, it never occurred to me that I would want a special china set to use during the holiday season.

UNTIL, I saw this one at Dillard’s last weekend.
I can’t stop thinking about it!!

Click to be taken to the set

Although the song that inspired this set is one of the most annoying Christmas songs of all time, THIS SET achieves the impossible task of being elegant and whimsical at the same time! I absolutely adore it!

Evidently it is a Dillard’s exclusive. Will this be available next year or is it a now-or-never deal? Wonder if the price will drop on Dec. 26th??? Anybody know the answers to these questions? If I called Dillard’s, would they know? (None of these questions are rhetorical. Answers/opinions appreciated).

Brown Paper Packages (Part 2)

My mother instilled within me from an early age the importance of impeccably-wrapped gifts. Thick brown grocery bags are not the easiest medium to work with. Even so, I wrangled each sheet into submission and tried my best to make tight corners and straight seams.

Now YOU can too! Please excuse the apparent one-handed wrapping job. Without my trusty photographer (who is at work) I had to wrap a little, snap a little [photo, that is]. Oh, come on, you thought that last line was clever. Anyway, here is my attempt at a how-to wrap guide (the way my mommy taught me how to!) after the click! And please, forgive my pasty white hands. The camera is not kind to my skin tone.  Continue reading Brown Paper Packages (Part 2)