Amelie - La Valse D'Amelie (Piano)

An absolutely beautiful instrumental piece, from the French movie "Amelie". Give it a listen!

Abominable snowman and sushi

I count myself as a pretty positive person, or I at least bounce back out of the negative pretty quickly. But I couldn't figure out what frustrated me more about these past few days:

1. Driving on Wednesday morning at 6:00am to a new job an hour away, braving a crazy, icy snowstorm that reminded me greatly of an abominable snowman that looks like this:












2. Being stuck in terrible traffic on Division in my car, at rush hour. The lights on 15 and Division are out, I'm late to my Chiropractor appointment and I have to pee like a mother.










3. Really wanting go buy Sushi from Coburn's for dinner, but not having money. :(

So what do you guys think? Whats the worst?

The Duchess of Devonshire

Yesterday evening I watched a movie called, "The Duchess" I literally felt depressed afterwards. Basically it's about the duchess of Devonshire, Georgiana Cavendish. She marries the Duke of Devonshire and he's not loving to her. He takes her best friend for his lover and she lives with them as a sort of "second wife" for 25 years of their marriage until Georgiana passes away. Georgiana tries to take a  lover and has an illegitimate child, but the duke had her give it away and kept her from him.
The movie really did nothing for me except open my eyes a bit as to what life was like back then. Often you were placed in a marriage that had no love in it. The woman was mistreated, and her only purpose in life was to birth children (sons were preferred) and be a faithful wife. All well and good, but my heart goes out to them when the husband fails to be faithful to the wife and its socially acceptable.

Can you imagine having this on your head? Pretty sure there are sublaxations galore!

It makes me realize once again how lost people are. Back then many had no hope. I look at society now, and what is different? People still are run by their passions. Yes, there are less restrictions for women. For this, I am glad. But we are often held captive still to what other people think of us. We are what society think of us. In short, we are never good enough. 

Women, realize that you are special. You have beauty and a personality that no one else has. You are worth it, and worth waiting for. Don't sell yourselves short to the first "Duke" that comes along. Even if he does have money and power and position. You may end up in a marriage of misery. Just remember that there is a God who loves you just the way you are. As my wonderful friend Michelle told me today:

You are lovely

His Beloved

Bold

Sassy

Kind

Full of goodness and good fruit

Gracious

Growing

And this is what you are too. Believe it.

Anthropologie Obsession

I stopped by the store Anthropologie today. It's so strange, but I felt instantly happy when I stepped in the door. I was greeted with soft, Indie music and distractingly good-smelling candles. I love that the candles are placed on top of sand in a hurricane jar. I then proceeded to buy sand and do it myself! If it was summer I would just go get some from a beach and use that.

I love the vintage looks at Anthropologie, but I believe that my favorite part about my visit was the plethora of plants all around! Succulents and ferns everywhere, planted in all sorts of different pots. Then I went farther back into the store and was assaulted with terrarium upon terrarium. I thought I was in heaven, and I didn't want to leave! I looked at the prices that they were selling them at, and scoffed. Some were $100!! So I went out and bought a rose bowl and made my own tonight. Wish i had a camera to take a picture. :( Its so cute, and it has an owl in it. Its in the middle of my kitchen table right now.

  

I noticed that Anthro does some fun things with their plain pots too. I will be trying that out, wielding my trusty glue gun! Check it out on "The Inspired Room" Blog. Its really fun and easy.

Sooooo yeah. I now have an Anthropologie wish list. 

1. Blue pot- $8.00

2. Sweet little dress-$168.00 (Tried it on too. I liked it because it reminded me of Zooey Deschanel from 500 Days of Summer)

3. Amazingly cute perfume- $68.00 (Smelled so good, and comes with an adorable bottle and pins!)

4. Awesome floral bedding-$58.00-$228.00

Home Depot Amazement

One of my friends suggested checking out Home Depot on account of some discounted house plants. Today I got a little money and decided to reward myself a little, so I checked it out. I was astounded at its selection and variety. And it was so cheap! A four ft tropic tree-type plant was $9.99! Couldn't believe it. Who would have thought that my dad's favorite tool store could have something I love? I've also found a new favorite type of house plant. The Bromeliad:

It's unique yet beautiful both at the same time. It was more than five dollars though so I bought a little Ivy and a snake plant. I heard those are hardy, so it may survive in my sunlight-deficient apartment.

I also planted some chives under a cloche. I sure hope they grow!

I find when I buy something new, I like to clean and reorganize. I must have moved my living around three times now. Still not satisfied with it. I suppose I never will be until I have a house I can paint, instead of an apartment I can't. Its hard to find ways to fill all that empty space though!

Thanks Jesus, for a beautiful, sun-shiney day. You rock my socks AND shoes off! 

Duplex love

I thought that I could take this opportunity and post about the old duplex I used to live in. I loved its vintage look and its history! The papers told me once that someone had been murdered there. Creepy huh? This is a montage of random magazine clippings taken from Nylon. I loved how they somehow worked together to make something interesting.

This was my kitchen. One of my favorite rooms. I wanted to paint the walls something fun, so it ended up being teal. I can't stand white walls!! The hanging lamp is from Ikea, and the table and chairs were from Goodwill. It had a cool sloping ceiling as well, not like your typical "box" rooms that you see today.

I usually put things together on the wall that don't go together, but some how do. The "F" is from from the few sales items from Anthropologie. I used to joke with guests that it stood for "flatulence." The mirror is from Goodwill, and I guess I threw a pot holder up there too. I think that I liked the mushrooms on it. The bamboo is from Ikea.

This is my old roommate, Sarah. :) She had to put up with all my decorating habits. The owl on the stove is a piggy bank from Urban Outfitters.

The living room. I love the high ceilings and tall windows! I put tapestries on the wall to cover up the plain paint. The frame is from Ikea. The tapestry is from Goodwill.

This is my cat, Arwen. :) The owl lamp is from Urban Outfitters. Probably one of my favorite pieces. I love owls!

I love my tv. Its a small dinky Dynex, but its lightweight and durable. I enjoy gaming on my xbox lots, so a flatscreen tv is essential. I only wish I had speakers to go with it, but for now my Turtle Beach X31 headset
will do. The tapestry behind it is from Urban Outfitters. So is the white clock.

My room. I painted it red because it seemed to go with most of my stuff. I love floral designs. The table next to the bed and the mirror above it are from Urban Outfitters.

This is the laundry room. I got this lamp from an antique store in Buffalo. For the longest time, I couldn't figure out what to do with it. I figured it would go good in here. Its a plain old lamp skeleton with keys strung between. For added flair the keys are all painted different colors. Fun!

This stained window always made me ponder the history of it. Who put it in? Why?

My cat again. I loved how the spiral staircase was painted blue.

I ended up painting my bathroom yellow. Only later did I realize that some may think of it as "urine yellow." I liked it anyway. :) The lamp was a steal from Goodwill and the bird was a gift.

This was the pantry. In the summer the vines would creep up over the house and over the window. I miss that. Crappy view anyway. The dinosaur piggybank is from Goodwill. Sooo awesome.

So that about wraps up my pictures. I would love to live in another old house someday. Maybe one with towers and tiers. This pic is a mansion in St. Cloud that I would love to tour! Wish I lived there! :)