no changes allowed

There are a few things I don't necessarily love about my apartment:

1. Not being able to paint
2. Cabinets/doors are cruddy wood
3. No real pantry
4. Red paint splashed on random places (my sink, my kitchen floor, the dishwasher, my patio)
5. Light fixtures
6. Not being able to change any of these things that bother me!

I want to turn THIS... (yikes!)

Into THIS!
Someday, far away... when I have a house I will be able to make this awesome yarn light! You can find the DIY instructions at ApartmentTherapy.com. For now, I will just look at the picture and want it and not have it. Such is life!

:( Woes of not being able to change your apartment!

shoutout: fabric couture

My cousin Liz is amazing. Other than being:

✓ Beautiful

✓ Smart

✓ Talented

✓ Kindest Person I Know

She is SUPER creative! Liz just opened an Etsy shop called Fabric Couture and I'm pretty sure I MUST buy every headband she has on there.

Check out her gorgeous handmade headbands here:

lizpug.etsy.com

death of a house

Diamond in the rough? Or point of no return?

I pass this building almost every day cause it's on the same street as my work just about a block away. It's on the East side of downtown Salt Lake. My question to the owners:

How could you let such a magnificent house turn to shambles?!

(at least they have dish satellite right? ugh!)

All I know is that if I had this house... I would be in heaven. I would LOVE to fix this house up and call it mine. Just look at all the awesome windows and architecture! Obviously it would take more than a few (thousand) dollars at this point and judging from the disarray of the outside of the mansion it's probably even WORSE on the inside. I don't think I'll ever let myself get over it.

Here is my office a block away. Granted this picture was taken in the summer so the outdoors looks pretty nice, the building is basically in pristine condition and I found a brochure for it... worth about 1.5 mill. I wonder how much the other one is worth... i shudder to think.

It kills me to see such awesome amazing places/items in the hands of people who trash them. Let someone who will take care of and appreciate the beautiful house have it and you go move into a dirty little shack where you belong... that is what I want to say to the owners of the house. I can be dramatic.

diy tree branch jewelry holder

Inspiration: ApartmentTherapy.com

Making Of:

I used a power drill to put a big enough hole for the branch to sit in. I'm pretty tough. I know.

Random dead tree branch I snatched from a tree at my work. The sturdier/thicker the branch the more jewelry you can hold on it.

I painted this with leftover paint I had from painting my chair from this project. Spray paint might have been a lot easier but I'm a big fan of using what I already have!
And here's mine:

Ta-da!
My cute little easter bunny wind-up toy...
Going through my drawer stuffed with jewelry I found tons of jewelry I haven't worn or even thought of in ages. Obviously it was necessary to put most of it on... Jewelry from the past really brings back the memories!! Now I just need to find an excuse to wear my ninja turtles watches (yes, plural) again... hmm.

is anybody out there?

I'm getting the urge to close down shop. Not that I'm selling anything, I just really wonder who actually looks at this if anyone. Is it necessary to separate this from my regular blog? I don't know. So many questions I have floating around in this head. I guess I'm just not the type to try to advertise this blog etc. I have more of the 'let's see if people care on their own' sort of attitude which is probably half of the problem. So yeah... that's just me being a little flighty. Is that a word?

I get comments from generally the same people mostly. If anyone else reads either of my blogs I really would like to know - I swear I'm friendly! I'm usually looking for a new blog to read too. Let's be friends :) Just some thoughts... k I'm done.

desk: before and after

Remember this scenario? Pitiful! And yes, it's been like this since we moved in. Well NO LONGER! For Valentine's day Eddy got me a table and chair from Ikea to be my desk. I was excited to finally have somewhere to sit instead of sitting on my bed with the laptop and having it cause me neck and back pain! So here is the transformation.

Before:The Transformation:

The Wooden Chair

Painting process.

(Pretty much just made my sister Kerstin do it all...)

Kelly helped too

I hate waiting for paint to dry. Hurry UP!

Tired Pup.

After:

My new desk!

Slapping a coat of paint on wood sometimes makes all the difference. I love it. Thanks Eddy!

creamy chicken enchiladas

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Our Rating: ★★★½

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup shredded mild cheddar cheese

1/8 cup chopped cilantro

12 flour tortillas (8 inch)

+ whatever veggies you want to throw in (I used yellow and red peppers and onions)

enchilada sauce (I used a package mix that requires a small can of tomato sauce)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F.

Mix chicken, soup, 1 cup cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream, veggies and 3 Tbsp. cilantro until well blended. Spoon down centers of tortillas, adding about 1/4 cup to each; roll up.

Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with and remaining cheese.

Bake 25 min. or until heated through. Top with remaining cheese/cilantro/sour cream/ whatever!

Photo credit and recipe go to kraft.com. You can find the original recipe HERE.