In honor of Earth Day...

I saw a news spot this morning on TerraCycle. Then, it was mentioned on Oprah as well! Seems like a really cool company and it's inspiring to think of it's CEO, who is a Princeton dropout, took an idea, ran with it and is rapidly becoming a huge success. Now where is my fabulous idea?! Anywho. These people upcycle all sort of stuff, creating products like flower pots, kites, tote bags, the list goes on and on. Can't say I want to carry this, but I like the idea:

(photo courtesy of www.alternativeconsumer.com)
Also, very worth mentioning, you can sign up to join their recycling "brigades", sending in used wrappers of different types and they will donate money to the organization of your choice. Very cool!

In other upcycled news, there are some very cool things to be found on etsy:

If only Henry were 6, this adorable t-shirt:

Or a GIRL! - what cute dress made from a vintage tablecloth:

Or perhaps, miniature recycled tin dress shaped earrings?

Ooh - or this tunic, made from a men's dress shirt and a necktie!

Happy Earth Day everyone!

*sigh*

We had a really, really nice weekend with my best friend and her family. Finally made a trip out to the Kohl's Children's Museum out in Glenview. It was so cute! I really wish they lived closer...

Creepy.

So, just before lunch time today, I took some light bulbs upstairs so I could get the new Target lamps fired up. To my dismay, one of the switches was missing. Bummer. So today's lunch time meant a return trip to Target. No biggie though, since I love Target!

I returned the broken lamp, grabbed a cart, picked up a new lamp, some different light bulbs (they require 3-way 100 watt bulbs) and then decided to do a lap around Target. So, I cruise through the shoe section because many a blogger have gone on about the Miss Trish of Capri line currently in stores. I'm strolling through and I plop a flip flop on the floor. As I'm slipping my toes into the shoe, a man comes racing around the corner, stops and pretty much watches as I try the shoe on. Then looks back up like he is perusing the shoes. The WOMEN's shoes. Whatever. So I move on. He moves on. I stop and admire another shoe. He does as well. So at this point, I'm mildly annoyed/weirded out. I give a brief though to whether he thinks I am a shoplifter and perhaps he is store security? I move on out of the shoes and cut a sharp turn around the corner. No biggie.

I cruised the toddlers clothes for a few minutes and then stroll back over and am taking a quick glance at the clearance clothing racks. I'm checking out sweaters, not really digging (and not really intent on buying, just looking) and all of a sudden I look up and that SAME DUDE is about one rack away. WTH?! Mind you, he wasn't overly creepy looking, I say he was mid-thirties, average height, medium complexion African American, wearing a baseball cap (like a JCrew baseball cap, not a sporty one), jeans - decent looking guy (I might of thought good looking if I weren't freaked out by now!). As I realize his presence, I hear him say, "This is adorable". We are the only two in the section. Um...WHAT?! I bolted. And fast. Straight to checkout at this point. I saw him go by checkout and continue to loop around the store.

The crazy thing is, I'm so not averse to talking to strangers. Matter of fact, I'm rather chatty with people in public (what can I say, growing up in a small town will do that to you). But, the dude in the women's shoes and women's clothes, following me...ummm NO I DON'T WANT TO CHAT. Part of me wonders if he was trying to hit on me, but even if I were single, I really don't think that's a tactic I'd be interested in. Oooh...what if he wanted to be my fabulous gay boyfriend? Hmmm...nope, still creepy!

I swear I kept my eyes super peeled as I left Target and as I drove home. Didn't want to end up on the 10 o'clock news as being killed by some freak who followed me home from Target.

Work in progress...

I'm so excited to complete our master bedroom and bathroom. I kinda felt like our master in the condo was unfinished, maybe because we kept the walls white.

So, you saw a glance of the dark teal (BM Calypso Blue) in our bathroom and now for the bedroom update! We had the bedroom painted two shades lighter than our bathroom (BM Seaside Resort). I kind of chuckled when I saw the first full coat in the room, it totally looks like Tiffany Blue! This picture didn't show the color very well, but here's the overview:

Mad props to my lovely husband, for hanging our bedside "tables". Since we have West Elm's storage bed, we needed some sort of solution that would maintain our access to the drawer at the head of the bed. So, the wooden cubes that used to hold our desk hutch up received a coat of paint, a few screws and voila! Beside tables were born. The color below is more true to life:

And, next, let me profess my love for Target! The acrylic ball lamps pictured, are new (pardon the plastic still on the shades), courtesy of the big box giant. I was leaning towards crystal and saw a fab pair at HomeGoods, but they weighed a TON! We did make sure we hit wall studs in hanging our tables, but I don't think I want to test that too much, so finding these classic acrylic lamps was perfection.

I did find two super cute leather jewelry boxes by Milano Series during that same trip to HomeGoods and couldn't believe the fabulous color match:

So now I just need a visit from my seamstress (a.k.a. Mom) to turn this gorgeous peacock inspired fabric into a wall of floor to ceiling simple drapes, the width of the bed.

Awww....

I've been so busy with work and Junior League (placement started yesterday and I'm in charge!) that I didn't get a chance post a photo of the flowers my wonderful husband brought home with him on Thursday, JUST BECAUSE. Man it's gonna suck when he is staffed again (in a couple of weeks) and I have to go back to pseudo single parent again!

Big Boy Bed

Big Boy Bed time is rapidly approaching. I mention it to H every once in a while and the other day, out of the blue, he said "I want a big boy bed." So I'm on the hunt. I'd like to get a trundle bed set. And, Henry's room has this really cool slanted ceiling on the east side of the house, so when my mom spotted this Riley bed from Pottery Barn Kids I checked it out:

I measured yesterday and it's *perfect*. The width of the bed would fit perfectly between the window and the slanted ceiling spot, the back board piece isn't too tall and it has the required trundle. I'm a bit torn on the trundle, as it's expensive and isn't attached to the bed. I'm tempted to just get a simple metal trundle for much cheaper, but then I'll have to add some sort of fabric to hide it. That might be a pain. And of course the price tag, complements of PBK is painful!