RIP

Riley 1998 - 2008

Our sweet old boxer girl passed on just after 10am this morning. She was loved and will be dearly missed.

On Houses and My Mid-Century Dream Home

Now there are definitely some cool mid-century houses here in my small city (a whole neighborhood in fact) and a few in Des Moines, but when I saw this amazing home listed for sale in Des Moines, I was blown away. Of course we could never afford it, thus it's a dream home, but we've been looking through the Des Moines real estate listings since January and continue to find ourselves drawn to the unique and funky looking houses from the 50's & 60's. There are some cute ranches out there, but I want something a little more than that but from that same era. As an alternative option we've also put some serious consideration into building one of the Rocio Romero LVL prefab homes. Despite all of that, we have a few things we need to work on within our current home before we list it for sale and now that the weather is nice I'm hoping we can get a move on things! Here's a few photos of my dream home (how wonderful would it be if furnishings were included sans those creepy animal rugs?) - you can find lots more photos in the listing right here

5 Recent Faves of Mine

1. Headbands - Now that it's spring and my hair has been growing out all Winter I'm at my yearly debate of letting my hair keep growing or chopping it off. Usually it gets chopped but this year, I'm all about wearing headbands to keep it out of my face while I'm trying to work. I whipped up a few (seen above) in some new fabrics the other day and some will be heading to White Rabbit in Iowa City soon. 2. Uniball Vision Pens - These have long been my favorite pen but over the past couple weeks I've fallen head over heels in love with the colored inks. I want to write write write on anything I can with these. 3. Going to the Gym! We have decided that this is the year to get fit. I've been going an average of 3 times a week over the past few weeks and I'm already down almost 10 pounds and 1 pant size. We're upping it to 5 x a week this week and I have a feeling this time we'll stick with it. I actually look forward to a 30 minute workout on the elliptical now, so I think that's a good sign. 4. Garage/Estate Sales - Spring has only just begun and I've already had some amazing finds. Some of which I hope to share here and some I'm holding onto for an upcoming secret project (!!). 5. Heroes & Criminals Press - I bought one of Jessica's "Hellfire" prints this weekend at White Rabbit in Iowa City. I can't wait to get it framed and hung. (Sorry about the watermarked photo! It's dark out here which doesn't make for good photo taking.) Enjoy the rest of your evening! I'm going to go watch some Office reruns on TBS and work on some ATCs!

the smell of spring is in the air

Okay, so I got everything set up to take photos because I wanted to share some new things I've been working on, and I discovered that our digital camera is missing. I looked all throughout the house with no luck. I was just about to call Joe before I remembered that he took it with him this morning so after work he can go and take photos of his 1970 Dodge Challenger (a gift from his dad) that he's currently having restored. So I will be back soon with photos and more ramblings! If you have the chance or time, get out and enjoy the day! I can't believe how gorgeous it is outside right now. I've got the windows open and there's a nice breeze that is scented with the smell of blossoms from the crabapple tree near our house! p.s. That photo above is my little haul that I got a few weeks ago in Minneapolis at their annual Textile Center Garage Sale. Definitely an event to check out if you're in the area and a fabric lover, hoarder, whatever. Most of those pieces are 2 yards+ and I only paid $11 for all of it.

The Method Verdict

I put both of the Method products I received this week to the test (the kids 3 in 1 shampoo, conditioner and body wash in fuzzy peach and the baby hair + body wash in rice milk + mallow). The experience can be summed up in two words: Yum! Yum! The Peach Kids 3 in 1: How can you not love a product that you can not only use to wash and condition your hair but also to scrub your body? If you love peaches you will love the smell of this. I like this product a lot. I can see myself using this in those times where I need to shower in a hurry, or when I want to smell lovely peaches. The only issue I had with it was figuring out how to get it open. There's a round plastic piece that you are supposed to "lift and pull" off the bottom which then leaves an opening for you to just squeeze out the product. I suggest twisting the little plastic feet off the bottom for an easier grip on the tab. The Baby Hair + Body Wash It's unfortunate I don't yet have a baby to test this on, but I can't complain about using it on myself because the smell is divine! I don't know if it's that hint of marshmallow smell or what but it smells so good I wanted to eat it. I didn't give this product the full test and only used it on my hands and part of my forearms, but it left them silky smooth with a lovely after smell. The packing on this product is pretty genius too. At first I thought the funny green dome was rather wasteful but it actually has a hole for your finger and is meant to be used as a cup to rinse off the baby! If any of you try out any of the other products I'd love to hear about why you love them. I know I sound like a Method freak, but I guess I am. I love their products and I'm fortunate that they send me free stuff to try out. If you're interested in getting free stuff from them hop on over to their website and sign up to be an advocate.

Feeling the Method love

In honor of Earth Day and my love for Method (I am an advocate after all), I thought I would share about some fantastic things they have going on right now. Last week they sent me a free copy of their new book above and I have to say while part of it talks about all the nasty things in our homes (not only in the cleaning products we use but other things like our paint and carpets), part of it is also really really depressing and overwhelming. There's so many things in our homes that have nasty stuff in them, and there's no way to change every single thing at once even though you'll want to. I've been a user of Method products since they hit the shelves at Target, but I don't use their products for all of my cleaning. This book has convinced me to switch, not necessarily to all of their products, but to using 100% biodegradable and earth friendly products for any kind of cleaning. Whether it's store bought or something as simple as mixing up some baking soda and vinegar, it's definitely better for all of us in the long run. Their book is not only about what we use to clean, but also the way we live in our homes and the choices we make when buying new goods. Did you know that items like "wrinkle free" clothes and bed sheets often release formaldehyde? Or that the fabric softener or dryer sheets you use to keep your clothes "fresh" probably contains beef fat? Gross huh? Overall, I think even though it is depressing it's important to learn these things so we can make the decisions we can afford to in an effort to detox our homes and the environment. On a happier note, Method also released their new line of baby and kid products today. I got a box in the mail this week that had a couple full size samples and some coupons inside. I'm planning on testing out the products tonight so I'll post a full report tomorrow and maybe do a little giveaway for the coupons (they're for a free baby or kid product up to $4.99!) if there are any lurkers out there who are interested. One last note, because I can't make this post all about Method, have you seen the new RuMe bags for sale over at Delight? These are probably the best reusable bags I've seen yet. I know I can easily stitch up my own but sometimes you just need something that's a little sturdier. I've been carrying around my Danny Seo bag for months now but I'm finding that sometimes I need more than just one bag while I'm out, and something that folds up a little smaller. I bought a set of Envirosax when they came out but ended up giving them away as a birthday present so I'm really excited to try these out. If you're as smitten as I am, try using promotional code DCDELIGHT from the Daily Candy Deals email a few weeks ago. It still worked for me when I ordered this afternoon and it'll get you 30% off!

Life is a flow of love

Spring is finally starting to bloom in Iowa! This past weekend I took a trip to Minneapolis/St. Paul to visit family and head to the Minneapolis Textile Center's annual fabric garage sale. The fabric sale was crazy, not only with the amount of fabric that was available to dig through, but in the number of people that lined up in the cold before the doors opened. Despite having to squeeze through aisles that were too narrow, I still managed to score some great finds. I also found a few great fabrics at thrift stores and one fabric shop that was going out of business. I'll share my finds here as soon as I get them washed up. My mug above was a small find from the local university surplus sale today. I found my tea fortune very fitting for Downshifting Week coming up next week. Not only is Downshifting Week about finding ways to live a little greener, but taking time to slow down and enjoy life. I know that I, like many others, easily get wrapped up in work or other projects and don't take the time to slow down and enjoy what I'm doing, or even take time to drop whatever I'm doing and spend some quality time with loved ones. I hope you too will be inspired to spend next week living lightly among your nearest and dearest!