Books #75, 76 and 77

#75 – "The Sister" by Poppy Adams
I read this book because I heard it had a similar feel to "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. The book is about 2 sisters who haven't seen each other basically since their childhood, and the mystery why that's the case. The book definitely has its interesting moments, but it wasn't my favorite.

#76 – "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown
I enjoyed this book, but it was definitely my least favorite of the Robert Langdon series. The thing that bothered me the most was the 2 stories in one – as both the siblings in this book have their own story. In the rest of Dan Brown's books I left addicted the entire way through. But parts of this book were slow and confusing. While I left like the confusing parts were answered at the end – I felt like the pace could have still been picked up in several areas.

#77 – "The 19th Wife" by David Ebershoff
This book is 2 stories woven together – I modern fiction tale and the history of the Mormon church and plural marriage. I loved reading about all the history and the shady ways the wives were counted. As for the modern tale, I could have done without.

Color Facts

Everyone has random tidbits when it comes to their line of work. As a graphic designer, I know tons of random things about color. For me, color is the most important part of interior design – so I just wanted to share some of my favorite color facts – no matter how important or not important they are.

Yellow has more pigments in it than any other color – this is why it's so bright and why it's also so easy to paint or so difficult to paint over.

Red has the least amount of pigments in it, which is why it takes so many coats to paint with.

Orange was the last color to be named. People used to call orange – red-yellow. This is why red heads are actually called red heads and not orange heads.

It's me! :)

Also, if you haven't checked out that blog, please do – there are quite a few inspirational before and afters featured.

My First Ikea Purchase

One of Brent's coworkers was making the 6.5-hour journey to Ikea with his wife last weekend, and asked if we wanted anything. Ummm...yeah.

I have had my eye on this Expedit bookcase for awhile, and decided it was fate. Originally, the plan was to put it in the office, but I decided to switch things up and put it in the kitchen.


I just felt this was a lot of empty space, that could be put to better use.

I am really happy with how it looks now. I feel like the shelf takes up a lot of room without being super overpowering.


My goal is to now find some wine rack inserts to fit into several of shelves. Ikea has this, but apparently it needs a little alteration on the height to make it fit. I really like the idea of this, but have no idea where to even find out, because it was a closed question on Esty from several years ago. I'm even thinking the wine rack X could work.

The journey just never ends.

U2 Concert

Sunday afternoon, Brent and I made the 5-hour journey to Norman, Oklahoma for the U2 concert. Luckily the weather was decent, so I didn't get too cold.

While the concert was great, the stage was unbelievable. U2 had to be picky on where they played, because of the stage's size – it was 6-stories tall.

What I Bought

After the week I had at work, I was in desperate need of some retail therapy. I hit up Homegoods yesterday, and found the perfect mirror for the living room – it's modern and yet has the ornate Hollywood glam details.

It looks a little funny on the wall now, because I still don't have an everyday cabinet or dresser underneath it. Who knows when I will find that, everything I like is more than $500, no thank you. Craigslist, you need to show me the love.

Entryway ceiling almost done

The first coat of the entryway ceiling is done.

Yesterday at work, I convinced myself to go home and start painting the ceiling. I told myself it would take no time at all and would only need one coat. Oh, I am delusional.

I didn't realize how dark the beige in the entryway was, until I started putting the white paint on the ceiling. Even with just the one coat, it's a huge improvement – everything looks so much brighter. Hopefully I can finish up the entryway tonight.

Z Gallerie's Modern Glam

I am loving Z Gallerie and all their modern Hollywood glam decor. I am loving even more the 20% off they are offering online and in the store.

I am already marking things off of my wishlist with them. I am now the proud owner of the pillar candleholder and the star candleholder. :)

Dresser

Accent Table

Bling Picture Frame

Napkin Rings

Multi-Purpose candleholder

Star Candleholders

Operation Nothing

With the in-laws in town last weekend and Brent's high school reunion in Hutch this weekend, I have zero plans of getting anything done.

There's still so much I want to do before the housewarming party, but now it's just the challenge of finding the time.

Things I'd Like to Complete Before the Party (Nov. 21)
- De-slant the settled mantle and paint it off-white
- Paint the entry way and hallway ceiling
- Paint the hallway walls
- Paint the half bath blue
- Paint the vanity and door in the half bath white
- Do dining room trim touch ups

Painting: The Neverending Project

Because I haven't spent enough time around a paint brush, I decided to tackle the entry way last night. I have been avoiding this project, because it's not just the entry way that needs help – it's also the upstairs hallway and the downstairs landing.

My thought process is this – by doing the entry way, the hallway will look incomplete and that will annoy me enough to make me want to finish the hallway. As for the downstairs landing, I have no idea where that motivation will come from.

While I don't mind the beige the sellers used, I did mind their paint job. Aside from their fast one-coat paint job, when they did touch-ups before they moved – they bought paint with the wrong finish, so there a huge shiny paint streaks everywhere. There's at least 20 areas just going up the stairs.

I decided to paint the walls the same gray that's in the living room. I love the color. It's still soft and neutral, but the chair rail pops a little more with the new color.

Maybe someday I'll find the motivation to paint my doors white.

Before:

During:


After:

It's a Beautiful Morning!

It's a beautiful morning when you wake up and your cell phone has 5 bars. That's right, 5 bars! After last month's issues, we finally received our Airave in the mail yesterday.

This sucker has been on backorder for awhile. Sprint put us on a waiting list, and told us they had no idea when we'd receive one. I was okay with this, until my dad called Sprint, complained about their lack of signal (they are in the same area), and because they were in a "qualifying area" were shipped an Airave for no charge.

Brent called Sprint the following day (just a tiny bit frustrated), and imagine that, we are in the same qualifying area because of the same signal. So after some "words of love," Brent and I also received the Airave free of charge.