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.