let's add some teal

The Great Moth Infestation has finally been handled. Any yarn that wasn't thrown out was put in the freezer, thawed, microwaved, rinse and repeat several times. Sweaters were taken to the dry cleaners. Blocks of cedar/lavender sachets/cedar and lavender sprays were purchased. The salvaged yarn (mostly acrylics and cottons) were re-wound with my swift and ball winder and put into ziploc bags. Take that, you little fuckers.

Quite frankly, my knitting corner was asking for it. I had yarn hanging out in baskets and boxes. Even with all of that gone it was still a mess. I had knitting/other crafty books spilling all over an end table.

Yes, they were filed away neatly at one point. Shut up! Know what else is a mess? Your mom!

Trench and I took a trip to our favorite little gem in Chicago, Nadeau, which sells furniture from India and Indonesia for WHOLESALE PRICES! We combed through the warehouse and finally settled on this beauty.

We moved the table off to the side and will most likely be getting rid of it. You can't tell under all those books, but it's an antique that I grew up with. I'm sad to part with it, but I'm hoping someone in my family will take it back. Otherwise I'll try finding it a good home elsewhere. Here's how the cabinet looks filled up with books and yarn.

It would be prettier if the yarn wasn't stored in ziploc bags, but unfortunately ziploc bags are now an indispensable item. I did try to organize by color (which wasn't hard because I mostly have purples and reds). I was shocked that almost all my books fit on the bottom shelf.

I don't think this would have held even half of what I used to have, but I think I was due for a purging anyway. I've decided not to add anymore to the stash until I get through some of what I already have. I haven't done much knitting in a long time, mostly because the old light fixtures we had were so dim, but we're replacing those too so things are better. I just cast on for a new project and I'm falling back in love with the craft.

Besides that, we also found this little table that we couldn't resist getting.

We almost always watch TV by hooking it up to the laptop so we can watch Hulu. The laptop would sit on a dining room chair. It was such a fixture that we decided the laptop needed its own table to sit on.

I'm liking the way this corner looks now, although in its natural state there are a lot more wires and such hanging about. Next on the agenda...a new lamp, ditching the old end table, and replacing our not-very-old purple chair that our cat Bowie decided to turn into a scratching post.

entre-vu

Trench and I moved into our condo almost two years ago. We had a fit of decorating/organization, threw a housewarming party, then promptly gave up. We're finally picking up where we left off and doing projects like putting our CD collection on itunes so we can sell the CDs (except for a few sentimental favorites), and organizing areas that have gotten cluttered. Today I fixed up our front entry way. We did a good job of decorating when we first moved in, but it's been starting to look a little shabby. I had a couple of nice pictures that were just sitting out without any frames. I decided to finally go buy some today. I went to the closest neighborhood with cute boutiques and couldn't find a damn thing until one furniture shop owner recommended that I check out Equinox. I did, and it became my new favorite store. There were shelves of cute frames! Big enough for my 5 x 7 pictures! Huzzah! It has all sorts of cute items for the home as well.

So here's a shot of my now much more put together front entry way:

The large picture on the wall is actually a stick-on decal from Blik. We've named her Matilda.

randomy

I feel bad that I haven't updated this blog in such a long time. I've been wanting to, but I just started school and I'm getting into the swing of it. In fact, I should be doing homework right now, but I've been procrastinating on the internet so much that I may as well be somewhat productive and post something. Since I don't have anything specific to write about, I'll just do a general brain dump:

- I was going to write about Snowmaggedon last week, but blogspot ate my post. Bad blogspot! Now everyone is mostly over it and the snow is slowly melting in the warmer weather. I was very excited about the melting snow till last night when I realized that puddles of water turn into black ice as soon as the sun goes down. I skidded my way home. Know what I miss most about warm weather? Not having to think so hard about walking, you just put one foot in front of the other, and off you go!

- Yesterday was Valentines Day. Blah. I'm not one of those people who haaaaaates V-Day. Mostly I agree with this much more interesting blog post from the oatmeal. I'm blah because Trench and I didn't get any days off together this weekend and we were both too tired to do much last night, so we just ordered thai food, watched some shows on hulu and went to bed like any other Monday. We do have tomorrow off together, at least until I go to class at 5:30, so that's something.

- I've been part time at my job for almost two months now, and I'm loving it. Work related problems and annoyances that used to really get to me are just sliding off of me right now. Maybe this is the secret to work satisfaction...cut down the amount that you're working. If not cut down, then maybe consolidate? Trench works four 10-hour days and never stresses too hard about work. Granted, Trench doesn't stress too hard about anything, but I think a lot of people would choose longer work days for more days off.

- A few girlfriends and I got together last week and celebrated V-Day by watching the sing-along option on the Mamma Mia dvd. Is this a good movie? Hell to the no. Is it super cheesy and fun? Of course it is. Most of us knew the songs that were covered by Erasure on "Abba-esque", then downloaded it the next day on itunes. We also fell in love with an elderflower tea flavored vodka. We tried getting way too fancy with it at first, making martinis (mar-TEA-ni) with lemon juice and honey on the rim, then we discovered that mixing it with good old fashioned cranberry juice worked well enough. What is it about cranberry juice that makes it tart and undrinkable by itself, but delicious with any type of vodka? I drank three strong glasses, and didn't have a hangover the next day, so I've decided it must be healthy.

- There are these two fancy light fixtures in our condo that are very pretty, but need these spotlight bulbs that are expensive and burn out very quickly. When any in the living room burn out, the room gets so dim that reading is impossible. We've decided new light fixtures that are pretty, but require less fussy bulbs are on the agenda. Trench and I have a very grandiose decor style, so I don't think it will be as easy as making a trip to Home Depot. The hunt is on!