TURNDOWN SERVICE

This is my super quick study break of the evening.  I needed a little refresher because I am very consistently failing all the practice tests I've been taking!

We had friends over for board games and nachos last weekend (after the Santa Claus parade) and I started thinking about how I make the bed in a "fancy" way when guests are over.  Friends can very clearly see our bedroom if they're visiting because it is right beside the main floor bathroom.  When people are over I try to tidy up the bedroom because of this and that means making the bed!  I can't lie...many days the sheets are untouched after I wake up at the crack of dawn.

To me the perfect bed has different textures, colours, and patterns of linen.  Personally, I don't have the expendable cash to have as many pillows/sheets as I would like, but I make due with what I have!  (It took 4 years of marriage for me to finally buy a duvet cover.)

I like the contrast between our cream coloured sheets and the white/navy duvet.  Both are neutrals but the different palette adds some interest.  The white coverlet is knit which adds some texture and the duvet cover has a strip of rippled fabric.  If  I had patterned pillowcases, I would add them to our pillows for an added pattern but because I don't, I put on the pillow shams that match the duvet.  You can't see it, but we also have a grey bedskirt I "splurged" on when I bought the duvet cover.  When I'm making the "fancy" bed, I fold the duvet in half at the bottom of the bed to draw attention to the sheets and coverlet.  I know it's probably a little bit crazy and overboard (which is why I don't do this every day) but it makes me feel like my house is more put together when company arrives!

MAKING A HOUSE A HOME

Do you ever have days when you're just tired of the way your house looks?  For example, we haven't changed our kitchen at all since we moved in and the cupboards have old, chipping, painted doors.  That is so far from the to do list it's not even funny, but still there are days when I feel annoyed by the rooms we haven't worked on.  The bedrooms have old dirty carpet that isn't pretty to look at or fun to vacuum.

A friend of mine recently moved into a new apartment and is in the process of making it homey and cozy (and it looks so great)!  She inspired me to put up some more artwork and make the few little changes I can that are inexpensive, easy, and not time consuming.  After visiting her new place, I printed off a photo I took last summer on vacation in Prague and hung it in our bathroom.  There was already a hook there from the previous owners and I just hadn't taken advantage of it.  Even something as small as a new photo on the wall can give you a new outlook on your home.  (I keep running into the bathroom just to look at it.)

This is the photo I took at the John Lennon wall in Prague.

There it is on the bathroom wall!  Making things look cozy and lived in.

NEW MUSIC

Hi everyone!

I have been a horrible absentee blogger the last couple of months.  I started clerkship in September (AKA year three of medical school and the true beginning of clinical experience), and it has been very fun and exciting but also incredibly busy and tiring.  Shocking, I know.  I am hoping to get back to blogging but my life has been very un-artistic recently.  We have been eating frozen meals for the last month (although either my mom or myself cooked them), so I don't even have any new recipes to share.

What I do have to show you are some new musical selections.  My friend K introduced me to a few new things when she came to visit this summer.  Here they are!  (And for the record, the Miley Cyrus didn't come from K...just in case she's embarassed to be associated with Smiley.  It's a Bob Dylan cover and I think it's fantastic.)

 

Bryan and Katie Torwalt - Holy Spirit

Brooke Fraser - Something in the Water

Miley Cyrus - You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

FLIP FLOPS AND CUT-OFF JEANS

I just discovered the problem with ripped jeans, (or in my case, jean shorts).  When they acquire a new hole you're totally oblivious.  We were away to see Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean in concert recently, (hence the new camo hat), and we did a little shopping beforehand.  When I was trying things on I realized my jean shorts had a hole right on the butt/groin region.  Quite embarassing.  I've been wearing those shorts all summer and I have no idea when this happened, so if you saw more of my bum than you wanted recently... I apologize!  In the future I will be counting the holes in my ripped jeans! :)

THE MARLEYS

Today my BFF stopped by for a few hours to go shopping and she left her two sweet doggies (my neph-poos) at my house with Leroy.  My brother was here so it didn't seem like much of a problem.  [Although it should have been a warning sign when Leroy marked his territory on a door inside before we left... I was in the kitchen and D yelled that Leroy had just peed all over the door/floor.  Apparently someone was feeling a little threatened.]

While D and I were in Chapters I got a phone call from hubby.  I think my brother called him in a panic because the dogs had destroyed the house.  Haha.  J went for a walk and when he got home the garbage and compost had been torn apart and were all over the floor.  Then one of the guys peed on the carpet downstairs.  I don't think Leroy had much to do with the garbage part since he has never done that before, but he certainly knew something bad had happened.  This is the face I saw when we got home.  (I didn't get a picture of the other two cuties because their poor mama wanted to get them out of here asap.)

Now I'm off to scrub my floor. :)  And seriously don't worry, D.  The neph-poos are still welcome here anytime!