How To Grow Amazing, Beautiful Long Eyelashes

For years my sisters have been watching my eyelashes and giving me commentary on how to curl them, mascara them and make them a little more visible. I have very straight eyelashes and they weren't that long or full. This summer I finally took a step that got their attention when I started using Rodan + Fields Lash Boost. Now guess who both want Lash Boost for themselves!

I started using Lash Boost in mid-July and when I saw my sisters in late July they were already pretty amazed at how much my lashes had grown and that is with only using Lash Boost two to three times per week.  One tube will last a good long time, for me probably 4-5 months at the rate I am using it and the results are incredible.

My lashes have reached "as long as I want to go" with them, so I'm in a maintenance phase where I apply Lash Boost twice a week and even my husband has noticed how different my lashes look now. It's so easy to apply. The applicator looks like a brush for nail polish and you just swipe it across the tim of your top lashes at night and got to bed. While your eyes are closed your lower lashes get a dose too and you'll notice the growth pretty quickly. Check out these results.

Lash Boost is very well tested for safety and Rodan + Fields reputation is impeccable. At night when I'm taking off my makeup I sometimes think I haven't removed my mascara when I really already have. That is the power of Lash Boost, making those lashes look all thick, long and beautiful. I know so many people using Lash Boost that I have absolutely no question about how well it works. It's amazing.

As you probably know by now I am a consultant with Rodan + Fields. This is an amazing company created by the dermatologists who started ProActiv. These products aren't just skin care cleaning and moisturizing products - They are truly skin repair products . They can reverse the aging process in a way that I never thought would be possible.They will give you a complexion you thought you could never have again and make you feel like a different person.

Using these products truly gave me a new boost of life energy when I saw that I could grow amazing lashes and reverse the damage to my skin and feel better about the aging process that we simply can't avoid. The years may pass but we don't have to wear that on our faces. Feeling young on the inside goes fantastically with looking young on the outside!

I made the big decision to join this company when I saw the very real results of their products. I knew I would not be able to hold back telling everyone I knew about the availability of something so life changing. Active Hydration Serum has ended my battle with dry skin living here in the desert. I wake up with moist, dewy skin every day now.

The eye cream has repaired the skin around my eyes and they are much more open and the skin is much firmer and youthful looking. Took a few years off my looks there for sure. The Micro-dermabrasion Paste removes dead cells, softens dry patches and leaves my skin feeling ridiculously soft. My family absolutely loves the Lip Serum and it makes our lips amazingly smooth - and some people in our family traditionally have very crusty lips. The hand lotion makes my hands look younger and feel so soft.

I'm using the Redefine regimen and every day when I look in the mirror I'm amazed at how good my skin looks after a few years of just avoiding looking too closely and feeling like the passing years were winning the war. I'm back and I'm taking charge, feeling good and looking good.

Rodan + Fields products aren't miracle products. They continue to create improvement over time. So while you can grow crazy long lashes in a few weeks, you are also cultivating a lifetime of healthy skin care and results that will continue to improve over the weeks, months and years with the regimens and other products. I can't say enough good things about the products I've used. The Man really likes them too.

Lash Boost as a stand alone product has been unavailable since mid-July. That is how popular this stuff is. It's back and available for individual sale but you can also get some amazing deals when you bundle it with one of four skin care regimens, each which treat unique skin challenges. The bundle deals are such a huge savings!

My team is offering some special offers for anyone who buys Lash Boost before September 21, 2017. I'm giving away a free large toiletries bag that I make with any Lash Boost purchase. On top of that when you purchase through me you'll get special pricing and free shipping. This is a great time to grab some Lash Boost and grow the lashes you've always wanted.

Say goodbye to glue on falsies: the cost and all the maintenance. Lash Boost turns your own lashes into the lashes you've always dreamed of. Contact me today while this offer is available and we'll hook you up. You can also shop through my website: www.kcropper.myrandf.com. At check out sign up for Preferred Customer status to get great savings and free shipping. IF you have any questions let me know. I'm happy to help.

My New & Amazing Skincare Regimen: Rodan + Fields

A few weeks ago my friend Rebecca asked if she could send me a sample of Rodan + Fields to try out and write a review blog post about my experience with the new Active Hydration Serum. Since moving to the high desert of New Mexico from coastal California my skin has never quite recovered. Keeping it moisturized has been a constant battle so I was willing to try anything, but when I heard Rodan + Fields I knew the quality and was very interested. The creators of Rodan + Fields also create Proactiv which I'm sure you've heard of -- and I believe really made it possible for no teenager to have to suffer through bad acne ever again. Life changer!

image via rodan + fields

A few months ago I had to go without makeup for a medical procedure but still wanted to have a healthy, shiny face. I ended up putting moisturizer on five times that morning but in the end achieved a healthy glow I was looking for. I was hoping Active Hydration Serum would produce a similar result with less effort and that it would be more long lasting.

I went into this experiment with good hopes but totally prepared to be completely honest about the results. Rodan + Fields products are very high quality but they are not inexpensive so I needed to see real results before I would recommend a product in this price range to my readers. I can say after several weeks of use I have been more than impressed with Active Hydration Serum.

After just two days of use I could see and feel a difference in my skin. First off my skin didn't look dry. Second the texture felt different, it was so soft. Third thing I noticed is that my skin glowed. In the beginning I put it on morning and night and applied it twice each time. My skin was drinking it in. As the days and weeks have passed I have used less and less, which obviously makes the product last longer and seems to indicate my skin is getting moister and more healthy. After about four weeks of use, I am only applying it at night. In the mornings I wake up and my skin looks dewy and shiny. I love how much younger and brighter my skin looks.

I have to tell you that trying Active Hydration Serum not on had a big impact on my complexion but it also had a powerful impact on my thinking. When my skin looked better than it has in years, I had this realization that I did not have to resign myself to the aging process. If I could feel better about my skin I could feel better about so many things that come with aging.

Taking the time to give my skin more love each night by cleansing thoroughly and creating a better nightly routine for my face, inspired me to take better care of my oral hygiene as well. I started whitening my teeth again which I have not done in a while. That carried over to adding other self-care regimens to my bedtime preparations. It also built back into the end of the day some much enjoyed and appreciated me time. I started listening to inspiring talks while I did my new, more thorough routine and that started feeding my soul too. I began feeling more inspired and excited about life and my life energy.

I saw more changes I could make to feel younger and more energetic and after seeing the results on my face, I wanted more results in all areas of my life. I took my workouts up a notch and made more changes that would energize my life. Active Hydration Serum inspired a real game-changing experience for me. I can't control the passing of the years, but I sure can control how I think, feel and act as the years pass. It's funny to say that a skin care product did that for me, but it did and it was the last thing I expected - and I am so grateful!

Rebecca also included a Glow Pack sample when she sent me the Active Hydration Serum. It included a Redefine Daily Cleansing Mask, Overnight Restorative Cream and a Redefine Lip Serum. I'll share more about my experience with those products in future posts.

Because of the pleasing results I got from Active Hydration Serum I contacted my friend Rebecca again and asked her to tell me more about the Rodan + Fields skin care line.  While I was visiting my parents I got together with Rebecca and talked all things Rodan + Fields. I knew I was going to want to share my experience with the products she had sent me with friends and family.

Aging skin and dry skin are topics of conversation in my world with friends and neighbors. We're all fighting it. Especially here in New Mexico, and in places like Las Vegas, where you can't even leave a slice of bread out on the counter for a few minutes without it drying it. With our high altitude, wind and dry climate here in NM, anything that gives a person soft, dewy skin is a game changer. I knew I would be talking about how these products affected my life and I believed others would be interested. So much to my surprised I became interested in becoming a consultant.

So I signed up to represent Rodan + Fields products and it's important for me to tell you that so you understand that anything I post here is linking directly to my new personal Rodan + Fields consultant website. So in a sense, everything from here on out about Rodan + Fields is a sponsored post, sponsored by me. I'll do some giveaways in the future and keep you abreast of any sales or specials you can take advantage of, if like me you are interested in youthful, vibrant skin. You can get the basics on Rodan + Fields regimen lines here. You may also be interested in the lip serum, Lash Boost (crazy good results) -- and I've heard good things about the sunless tanner too.

If you'd told me even two months ago that I would sign up to be a consultant for any direct sales product line I would've said no way. But when I found Rodan + Fields I knew I was going to sell it just by sharing it, so it made total sense to me to actually join the organization because I knew I would be telling people about these products. Since first adding Active Hydration Serum to my facial routine, I've added the Redefine regimen, the lip serum and I'm starting the Lash Boost this week so I'll share my results with you. If you're interested in learning more about any of these products, let me know. I'm happy to share. Feeling and looking good is something I want for everyone. There is a line created for men too, because I know it's not just we women who want to have great skin.

Right now there is a promotion going on to get a bundled pack of any one of the four regimen lines along with a Lash Boost for 20% off and there are additional savings if you sign up as a preferred customer. If you're interested in R+F this is a good first step to getting to know the product line.

I want you to know that neither this blog or any of my social media accounts are going to be taken over by high pressure sales tactics (bleech!) or constant posts only about R+F. I'll post maybe once a week or so on R+F and the remainder of posts will continue to represent what I've been doing here for many years now. I have always shared the things I'm most passionate about and when a skin care product gives me a new enthusiasm for life and more beautiful skin, I would be wrong not to share it. If you're like me and tend to be a little skeptical, try the Active Hydration Serum and see what it can do for you. Or try the self=tanner, lip serum or eye cream. There are lots of options to step into the Rodan + Fields world in a way that is comfortable for you.

I would love to help you start or continue your journey to amazing looking skin and introduce you to Rodan + Fields. You can contact me at 505 569 0700 or at kcropper @ myrandf dot com.

Wood Serving Trays For Fruit And Cheese Plates

This is a long overdue blog post for sure, but one I had such a good time putting together. I love wood serving trays and we've been loving fruit, veggie, cheese plates the past few months. I think it all started last summer when I was looking for light fare that would incorporate a lot of different kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables. We started trying to eat the rainbow and began counting how many vegetables and fruit we could pack into one dinner. I had a couple of small, oblong serving trays that were so perfect for lining up a rainbow of beautiful fresh foods along with cheeses and crackers. But they weren't quite big enough and I happened upon some beautiful new wood trays one day at TJMaxx.

I thought these would be perfect for entertaining too and I could just imagine serving all sort of foods on our patio with them. I bought two matching sets of these rectangle wood trays, each came with three different sizes and I picked up two bamboo tongs for easy serving as well.

I can't wait til it warms up so that we can have friends over for dinner outside. We've been working hard getting the inside of our house pulled together so that when warmer weather gets here we'll be ready to go. It will be especially fun to have a pool party or two this summer. With a white sheet we can pretty easily pop up a movie theater in the back on the wall as well. Fun stuff.

I also found these wood fruit-shaped trays the same day and couldn't resist. The wood is so beautiful and I like the big, flat, open space on these for a nice variation from the thin rectangle trays I have quite a few of. These would work for so many things and we've been using them for our fruit and veggie cheese plates the past few weeks.

Of course, I'm especially fond of the pineapple tray. I have another small pineapple tray that this would go perfectly with. Wouldn't this be delicious covered in pineapple bites. I am totally craving pineapple and fresh fruit right now, I think because we don't have a lot in the house and it's winter and all. I think we only have apples and pears around right now.

I would love a big tray of strawberries, pineapple, oranges and more to appear in our kitchen on one of these trays right now! My mouth is totally watering just thinking about it. We need to splurge and get some pineapple soon! Actually we have some canned pineapple in the cupboard and I may just crack open a can to go with our Japanese wontons, gyoza and rice dinner. (Inside right now I'm silently screaming "Oh Yes!" - ha)

I have been refurbishing and collecting wood trays for a while now. I use them all over the house. I think I still have one little one I haven't even fixed up yet in a drawer in my craft storage. Wood trays can be quite expensive at full retail price but buying and refurbishing them from a thrift store can be quite a great deal. Most of the bowls and trays I have purchased and fixed up were all under five dollars. Here are a few other posts on beautiful wood trays and bowls.

Thrift Store Small Rectangle Tray (with DIY instructions on how to bring a crusty old tray back to life.
My dream bread bowls I saw these at ABC Home in NYC and couldn't justify the investment at the time but found something at my local thrift store just days later.

Bamboo Tray Fix-up A great thrift store find that I fixed right up and made look new again. So easy.

Woven Tray This large serving tray is perfect for transporting things outside, to the dining table or for breakfast in bed. A great deal and it was so easy to repair.

Finish The job: Learning To Overcome Disorder

July was a crazy weird month because I ended my tenure at the job we moved to Albuquerque for and I attempted to jam into it a full summer of family fun, home improvement projects and more. Right now I am working on taking on freelance projects and starting two small business ventures while I do that. It's full speed ahead busy right now. Being home with husband and kiddo every day in July meant I was running hard and fast. But the great part was I was doing a lot of things I loved and enjoyed. Just needed about 20 more hours in every day.

Being home more every day, I feel like I am a little overwhelmed with the messes that accumulate around the house: short term and long term. Short term I would classify as cleaning the kitchen every day and long term might be cleaning out a closet. I felt like we were trying to tackle so many of these kinds of projects every day and yet everything still felt messy.

Then in the past couple of weeks, I read an article about organization where the author stated that houses feel messy, even when we feel like we're constantly cleaning, when we don't finish a job. I can't remember where I read this or who said it, I'm sorry to say. Finish the job. I have been thinking about that a lot. I realized I would do 90 percent of the kitchen cleaning and not finish the job and so the kitchen never felt tidied. I might take the tags off a new piece of clothing but then leave the tags on the dresser top. Or a family member might clear the dinner table but not wipe it down.

So I have been preaching this mantra around the house constantly. "Let's make sure we finish the job." So often it only take an additional five minutes to finish a job but it's so tempting to get tired and say, "that's good enough for now, I'll do the rest _____ (fill in the blank with later, tomorrow, after the kids are in bed, on the weekend.)

It's made a difference to make sure to take the time to quickly wash up the pans after the dishwasher is filled and turned on or to dry the hand-washed dishes and put them away immediately instead of them sitting on the drying rack for hours. When doing laundry, I try to just finish the job and that means getting it folded right away and taken to the appropriate bedroom or closet. When it's my clothing I try to put them away immediately.

Not leaving the day's clothing sitting on a chair but rather hanging it up or putting it in the laundry hamper is another one of those challenges many people have. I think getting everything out of the car each time one exits is another one of those "finish the job" tasks that often get overlooked. Putting make up and hair care products away immediately after use is also a big problem for some households. When things are out of place or chaotic is creates a lot of stress, frustration and wasted time when we have to hunt for things or take entire days to clean up big messes that could've been easily managed in a couple of minutes daily.

We've made an big effort to keep our powder room very tidy over the past couple of months and it has made an amazing difference about how we feel about that room and how clean it looks. It's surprising how nice it looks day after day when people aren't brushing their hair and teeth in that bathroom but using their own bathrooms instead. Now we're guest ready in that room all the time and it's a pleasure to pop in there and not feel upset at how it looks.

I'm still challenged by tidying up and keeping things organized and my family has not necessarily gotten overly enthusiastically excited about my "finish the job" charge, but I see it making little differences around the house and I know it's making a difference for me. I'm the example setter here for caring for the home and creating a nurturing environment so my example matters. So when I see my own things lying around the house I'll stop and grab them and hope that as my things disappear from view that others will follow suit.

Revisiting My New Year's Eve Wish Jar

As we continue to go through storage boxes and things that we haven't yet unpacked from our massive move last fall, I found a jar of New Year's Eve wishes I made...I think it was New Year's Eve 2014. That seems like just a few months ago, but it's been more than two-and-a-half years now, which is pretty crazy.

I sat down and wanted to look through each strip and just see if any of my wishes that year had come true. I imagined there might be a few items, but to be honest most of them I couldn't remember anymore. I started opening each strip and as happens so often with reviewing my vision boards and goals I write down, it was fun to see what I didn't even remember wishing for that had come to fruition.

I created three piles, first the ones that had come true. Then I my second pile was all the ones I threw back into the jar which hadn't yet been fulfilled. I'll say that on second thoughts there were a few I pulled out of that jar after I'd thrown them in, realizing that they had come to be, maybe in a slightly different way than I had expected - or I'd achieved it but just hadn't recognized it yet. A couple of these I realized had happened but that season was already over for us.

My third pile was ones that didn't matter to me anymore or were no longer applicable. This was a pretty small pile, just two or three items.

Here are a few that I was happily able to put into the "have come to fruition" stack. These are just a few of the simple ones that I am comfortable sharing publicly. there were other items that were deeply personal for myself and my family. But I didn't want you to think that everything in my jar was just about getting stuff.

• A new computer
• My laptop died in early 2015, so I got a new one that is both a tablet and laptop. It's light and easy to use and has been a good computer for me.
• A home with space and laundry!
• We now enjoy a large lot, lots of quiet and privacy and a big laundry room.
• A king size bed
• It's perfect for us, and occasional kid and canine visitors.
• Taking care of hair, nails, skin and beauty regimen.
• Been lots better about that this past two years. Still room for improvement, but much better.
• Car fixed.
• Well this one happened in a unique way. The car was dying. Then it was in an accident and that was the end. So the problems that were continually happening with that car ended.
• New TV.
• At the time in Los Angeles we were living with an non-HD tv that was dying. The colors were fritzing around the edges. This was a two step process. First we bought a used newer TV from a local second hand shop that was closing. It was such a big step up we were quite excited although the picture isn't that amazing. Then last year The Man bought himself a real man's TV, curved screen on one of those weekends where they have big sales on electronics. It now takes up a wall of space in our living room. It's pretty amazing.
• Great blood pressure.
• I never had had blood pressure problems, but I think due to some health/stress problems I was having, every time I went to the doctor my blood pressure was a little elevated. I'm happy to say it's perfectly in range and normal as it should be. I'm not sure exactly why this was important to me at the time, other than that I'd had a couple of medical procedures a few weeks before and the stress probably was elevating my BP and those are the times when they were checking my blood pressure.
• Washer and Dryer
• Clearly I was dying from apartment building shared laundry room burnout. This is a great reminder to me to be so thankful for a laundry room right next to my kitchen. I'm saying a little prayer of thanks to God for the laundry room right this minute.
• New rugs and home decor
• We don't have "new" rugs and home decor but having finally merged our homes and getting things out of storage so we have some lovely rugs and home decor. I've added a few new things along the way here too since our old beachy decor seems a little silly in a desert environment.
• New dining table
• Again this was written at a time when I was using a hand me down dining set that I was so grateful for but absolutely didn't like at all. Saying goodbye to that table was one of the happiest days of our move. I will never forget how happy I feel when I even think back on the day that table went away.
• My own workspace near nature.
• I'm sitting at my desk right now with windows on both sides and looking out at the western horizon for miles and miles with a tree and all kinds of creatures outside the window on my right. On my left is a beautiful patio with lights framed by a large wall covered in ivy. I think this goal has been achieved. Another moment to feel deeply, deeply thankful.
• More creativity time and expression.
• I am working on some amazing projects right now. Totally taking my creativity to new heights with newfound courage.
• More beach living.
• The time had passed on this one but it was amazing to have my little family living on the beach most of last year. I was blessed to be there almost every weekend, it was heaven.
• A few gorgeous purses.
• This totally happened. Last year I was so lucky to find a few super high end purses at TJ Maxx and was able to add them to my wardrobe for very realistic prices. Now I feel like I have a nice purse for pretty much every occasion. I feel confidant and happy with my purses.
• Quiet time in Albuquerque.
• At the time I was thinking more about having more getaway time in ABQ, not living here! But we have a very quiet, lovely home here now and we are living that quiet time in Albuquerque. Be careful what you wish for, ha.
• Peace in my heart.
• This is obviously an ongoing process, a daily challenge. But I can say that I experience this feeling in the midst of challenges and stresses and fears much more often now than I could've ever imagined. That's a great thing although I think it's actually major stress that teaches us to not sweat the small stuff - not my favorite way to learn, but damn it's effective! I love seeing myself being able to manage stresses and stay in control of my emotions and not let myself get overwhelmed as easily. It's a good feeling.

Setting goals and putting wishes out into the universe are a great way to really know yourself and what is important to you. It's also such an amazing way to put good energy out into the world to attract the things you dream of. Sometimes things come into your life with a lot of work, moving was a gargantuan task we took on in 2015, but lots of good things came to us fairly easily because of that action. Sometimes great things just happen for us too and I think that happens more often and we are able to more easily recognize those blessings when we've put them down on paper.

Now New Year's Eve is a long way off but while I'm in a big transition it's a great time to do a new jar of wishes. I think I'll do that soon. I think I will also keep this jar in my office and in a few months I'll look at it again and see what more has been accomplished.

Finding my jar and going through it was a bit of a life raft to me that day I found it. I'd been working so many hours on goals and dreams for my business pursuits, had had some very discouraging hours, and had spent a good part of the afternoon going through boxes that needed to be unpacked and out of the house. A lot of that was sifting through stuff, so much of what needed to be thrown away. I was feeling very burdened and weighed down by the past. It was nice to have a few moments of grace to see what good has come as we've worked through so many changes. It helps me to remember that there are still lots of good things to come and that the frustrations of today and the hard work of today will pay off down the road. That excited me.

Heights House 5: Removing The Indoor Planters

Wanted to share with you a quick recap of the updates we made to our kitchen and dining room. When I first looked at our new home online, very early in the year, I overlooked it very quickly. There was a weird, tall, spindly tree growing in the kitchen and two big, gaping planters stretching across the front of the kitchen and fireplace in the dining room. Bleck.

(credit unknown)

The house needed some major updates and the quirks were a little too weird for me. Months later after looking at hundreds of houses, this house had been taken off the market and put back on the market. The listing for some reason only showed photos of the outside of the house so I did not realize it was the same house until I did further research and found the house listed on Zillow with lots of photos that I recognized having seen earlier in the year. By now we had decided on this exact neighborhood and were only looking for houses in that area. This house, strangely, fit a lot of our criteria and so we decided to take a look at it. The next day we put in an offer.

Once we closed on the house our first agenda point was to remove the planters and extend the brick flooring. One Saturday we just started digging up dirt and cutting down the strange, now dying trees. We each started with new work goggles, gloves and new shovels. In some strange turn of nostalgia, I asked The Man to save the tops of the trees, as he was cutting it all down, because it seemed they could be rooted and replanted. A couple of months later, they are rooted and ready to be replanted. I just need to get planters and soil and pot them. Then we'll find a spot for them in the house. I hope they will make a nice addition to the greenery around the house and remind us of all the progress we've made in that house.

images kalanicut

We spent several days tearing up the planters and carrying out dozens of 5-gallon buckets full of dirt and rocks. At this point we turned things over to our contractor who is helping us with small projects. Her team came in and leveled off the ground, removed the brick from the laundry room to fill in the kitchen and dining room floors where the planters had been. It was lovely to see it get done and really increased the size of the two rooms in a nice way.

There was some water damage on the large kitchen wall from the faucet that fed the planters. The contractor's team patched the wall and I found matching paint in the garage and patched up the paint work in the area.

The entire area feels much roomier now and the brick floors turned out nicely. It's interesting that these floors do not have concrete-like mortar to hold them together but rather it's all set in sand. We have a bucket full of sand to continue to fill the spaces as the sand settles a bit during the first few months.

I do love the rustic feel of the brick. It's different, off-beat and old-school. I like how it is not perfect. It's actually quite quirky. The floors are not perfectly even by any means. But the rustic feeling goes with the rest of the brick floor that extends from the garage entryway across the kitchen and dining room.

Our goal is to get a built in seating area of some sort around the base of the fireplace but for right now we have a sofa that we've put along the staircase wall and we might add a chair and small table for the time being. This was a big and pretty expensive project but it was a must right away. I am quite excited to get the wall across from the bar set up with bookcases for cookbooks and pretty dishes and some nice piece of art.

I will share a little bit about organizing the kitchen soon. Things are coming along but it still feels like there is a long way to go. But it's starting to feel more homey each day.

Decorating My Office Part Four: Great Finds

Things are starting to come together with decorating my new office, but I will admit it has been a long project of hits and misses. I guess it makes sense that it will take some trial and error to get it all together a design project in a way that feels right.

I'm glad I've been taking my time on this project because it's amazing how it keeps coming together in better ways than I imagined, bit by bit. I'm definitely one who can't get set up an entire room in a day.  You'll remember the beautiful pillows I ordered. Here's a quick update on them.

images via Etsy

These gorgeous pillows were something I hunted for a good while for. I wanted to find some Southwest-inspired textiles to bring onto the scene. I found them on Etsy at the shop Turkish Kilim Rug. I purchased them anticipating that if they were going to be shipped form Turkey, it would take a couple of weeks. They arrived two days after they were shipped from Turkey. Amazing, crazy fast.

These have been sitting in my room at home since I got them needing inserts. I made a goal to get them ordered finally this week. I have found quite a few good deals on down pillow inserts online but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I want to find something very soft and smushy so these pillows don't feel rock hard. With the heaviness of the rug fabric on these they could get very hard and stiff easily. Hopefully a good soft insert will keep them pliable and lovely.

I ordered these before I was sure what I would do to cover the seat of the settee, but last week I happened to make a very fortuitous stop at HomeGoods and founds a couple of items for my office that totally blew my mind, one of which is the perfect seat cover. I will share those soon in a round up once I get some photos.

There are some other great things going on. This is a rather blurry before shot. After taking down the cork squares off the wall there was some damage because they had been attached with foam tape. They were falling down and falling apart but the foam tape ripped up the paint on the wall despite how careful I tried to be.

I was lucky enough to get a beautifully repaired wall last week and I was quite surprised. I imagined I would gladly cover the spots if I could get some paint. When I inquired about the paint for patching and then left for a meeting, I came back to see the job already in motion. What a treat. It is amazing how much better it looks now - and a bonus was that the rest of the room got a little touching up too.

The bookcase has been organized and rearranged. Here's a before of the bookcase including a comical collection of old logo-ed shirt, art, and piles of potentially needed paper. You can also see a vinyl orchid wall decoration and a couple of miscellaneous vases.

I will share the bookcase update soon. All the papers and binders are better organized. Here's a quick look at the top of the bookcase now after considerable picking off of tiny bits of vinyl. That's a stack of California beach rocks below the shelf. Apologies for the terrible lighting and blurriness. I will take my good camera into the office next week for more photos.

As of now, the bookcase and desk remain in their original positions. The settee and table have been moved to the left side of the desk tucked at an angle in the corner and are looking quite nice. For now along the wall where the cork boards were is the work table and two chairs.

Another great find I'll share soon is a little project with a cast-iron horse. When I found him he was apple green. Not very attractive but he is in the process of becoming a pretty white that will go with the other white accents throughout my office. I'm still not sure where is is going to go, but I'll figure that out. Maybe on the coffee table.

I know there are a few things in storage that I can use in my office as well, but unfortunately I can't get access to most of that stuff until we move it into a house. Rats. Despite the fact that I've talked about so many different items for my office, it is still pretty bare and simple/ There are several surfaces that need a little styling.

I will tell you about what I'm going to do along the long wall where the cork board squares were next. I had several ideas then I had a little idea and then found something even better. Funny how that happens all the time.

CB2 & Southwest Modern 70s Style

When I think about how I want my decor style to change now that we're making the transition from beachy Los Angeles to the high desert Southwest I often think of Emily Henderson's show Secrets of a Stylist. She would take the differing styles of each member of a couple and then merge it into one style that would work for both. I think we've come up with just such a style for our life in the Southwest. It's Southwest/70s Modern. 

From CB2: 1938 Bergama Butterfly Chair

Imagine this post is you and me sitting together looking through a catalog and talking. I'm not saying much about the pieces seen here but just the look is what really inspires. I don't know that you need me here saying, "I really like this because, blah, blah, blah." Right?

So let's talk about the house hunt. We are definitely interested in an older home for a variety of reasons. First of which is that all the newer homes have postage stamp size yards and are jammed into a couple of acres like rushhour on an LA freeway. Not what we want after leaving that jam-packed city. Older homes of course always require some sort of restoration, even if some of it has been redone. There is always something that could fall apart at any moment or needs dire attention. So there's always a bit of nail-biting there too.

CB2: Gridlock Small Neon Peach Basket

This spring it seems like all the shops are stuffed to the gills with beach and sealife motifs. Even here in the Southwest there is way too much of the stuff. If I were still in CA I'd be gathering armloads of the these things because a lot of it is pretty fantastic, but I made a pact with myself that I wasn't going to pretend to live a the beach in the mountain desert. All my beachy stuff is in storage and I'm not quite sure what I'll do with it. Some of it I'm sure can be repurposed but there are some items I will probably just leave in a storage closet for a while. I can't think of anything that I absolutely can't use again but it will all be different in a new setting. And I definitely can't justify buying more beach decor.

CB2: Tajikistan Wood Dhurrie Rug

So my eyes have been trained on getting to know Southwest style better and finding my place in it. Like any style too much of a good thing can get pretty kitschy. I saw a house for sale here a few weeks ago that was so overboard with Southwest decor that it honestly looked like the Pirates of the Carribean ride sets at Disneyland. Stuff hanging everywhere. It was the perfect example of a good thing in excess gone wrong. Every surface was tagged with some Southwest motif. It was kind of sad actually because there were a lot of elements which on their own were pretty cool.

CB2: Tecca 18" Pillow

There are no shortage of homes with pure Southwest architecture here and I do have a fondness for them as long as it's not taken too far. I have learned that I am not a big fan of curved archways or windows with semi-circle tops. We've looked at a few one-story traditional Southwest style homes and I'm all for them as long as they have a modern, square-ish touch to them. But inside we will need a nice mix or clean modern and just a touch of the southwest.

CB2: Applique Blues 16" Pillow

One of the elements I really love are polished brick floors and I've seen some pretty brick wall fireplaces that I really like too. One of the homes we looked at had herringbone patterned brick floors and it was so beautiful. This was in my favorite interior of a house we've looked at and it still has my heart. It's pure 70s with a touch of Southwest.

CB2: Firefly Pendant Light

So when I began thinking about developing a post about Southwest Modern 70s style, I started by finding the butterfly chair on CB2 and then intended to branch out to other shops for more options. But then I just kept finding more and more on the CB2 site that really caught my eye and did a fantastic job encapsulating my vision of Southwest Modern 70s. So I am sharing a whole roomful of options from CB2. Love ya, CB2.

CB2: Stacked Marble Table Lamp

This lamp reminds me that I need to share with you the concrete lamp I got a few weeks ago. Now that I've gotten my computer all properly set up so I can download photos my world has opened up again for blogging and photos. Lots and lots of stuff to share with you!

CB2: Faribault Orange Stripe Wool Blanket

A nice, mellow throw to round out the room. This is just a taste of my vibe on Southwest Modern 70s Style. I'll be sharing lots more with you and I have to say I'm actually kind of glad that the move and house finding process has been slower than we hoped because it's given us a lot of time to get to know ourselves in this new environment and to see what is out there, rather than rushing into a home or into decorating a home.

CB2: Wallflower Wall Hanging

After resourcing everything I have for my office and finding so many things I love that we could incorporate into our home I feel like I will make much better decisions, save money and time by already knowing what I like and where I can find it. I've also been keeping a list of local artisans who I could resource to have a few things made.

CB2: Three-piece Wood Mango Guardian Set 

I'm still dreaming about making my own long, rectangle dining table and now I know some people who can help me with that. Exciting. I should see if there are any furniture making classes here in town. There are at least as many world-class artists here as there are in LA but the competition to get access to them and their work is vastly lower here. That's a good thing for us.

CB: Chuck Wood Storage

Hope you enjoyed this Southwest Modern 70s Style review. I am making a prediction now that Southwest is making a comeback across the design board. One other thing I wanted to mention was how interesting I think it is that there is such a connection and similarity between tribal weaving patterns across the globe. It's so interesting to think that those patterns may have all initiated from the same time and place and then spread across the globe as man migrated.

Thanks for coming by. Have a great day!

Decorating My New Office: Part One - Tables

With my lovely new job comes a nice office in need of decorating. For the first couple of weeks I just worked in my office the way it was and got a feel for the space. I knew there were some things I wanted to change and I knew there were some that I would be able to change and some that I wouldn't. 

The two things I most wanted to change were the paint on one accent wall and curtains in the windows. Thankfully there are also blinds to you don't really notice the short, aged curtains. But oh, wouldn't I love to get some new ones and hang them in their place!

Whao - as I was writing that, an idea came to me -- a way I can camouflage them so they won't be seen but I won't have to deal with taking them down, etc. I'm liking this idea. Will have to take some measurements and do some looking at the window sill tomorrow! Cool.

I am working on a really cool map-related art project for one wall. It's coming together slowly because I haven't quite worked it all out in my head. I have five or ten ways I could go, but I'm just not certain about one yet. So I've been slowly buying the supplies I will need but am not putting anything into play until I'm sure what I want to do. But I am excited about it and I think it will be fun, colorful and will call out nicely to the work I do every day.

During the past few weeks I have been slowly experimenting with new layout options, sketching in my notebook and then moving things around. People stop by and comment and sometimes even move things. I find it entertaining. It's starting to look cozy, which I really like. It's big enough that there is room for a table and two chairs, a small couch with coffee table and side table and a large desk, office chair, bookcase and file cabinet.

I wanted to share my fantastic experience with two ratty old tables with you today. A major victory. Shoved under the window sill was a really hammered old coffee table and it's side table mate was shoved in the opposite corner of my office. Both were stained and gross looking. But the three-inch thick wood and very simple, southwestern-inspired styling intrigued me enough after a few days to start thinking about what I could do to make them look better.

Being in a very dry climate I thought washing them down and oiling them might be a good start to give them new life. So I shopped around a bit for the right wood oil and found some for about four dollars at T.J. Maxx. Good old T.J. Maxx. It took me a few more days before I had time during the day to attempt my project. I found the perfect moment when my head was feeling like it was going to burst from thinking too hard for too long - and I realized a little physical labor would be the perfect break.

Unfortunately I didn't think to bring a good, clean rag with me so I used paper towels from the office kitchen. Immediately above is the original table, dirty, dusty and sticky with some gummy substance on the top. After a good wipe down with a damp paper towel and a little scraping of the sticky stuff, I began applying the oil.

It took a lot of oil. That little side table was thirsty. But it took on an amazing appearance almost instantly. The change was amazing. As I worked, a few coworkers stopped in to check out what I was up to and were stunned at how fantastic the tables looked. You can see the big difference between the finished product at the top and the original finish before I got started.

When I got done, the side table looked so great that it made the coffee table look even more hideous. It took me a few more days before I had the time and energy to tackle the coffee table, but it looks incredible now too.

Now every time I walk into my office I'm just stunned at how beautiful those two tables look and they really do set an amazing tone for the office. They look very rich and fabulous. I'm so happy I didn't discard them and had a sense for what they could be. Now they get a lot of compliments when people walk by too. I hope that makes them feel good. Haha. I'll try to get a good shop of them soon to share with you.

My next project is upstyling the little Chesterfield-style setee. More to come on that. Let's just say I got some help from the country of Turkey. Sounds crazy, right?! More to come. I'm missing spending time with you each day. Hopefully as I get into more of a routine and have a better workspace at home I'll be able to start cranking out a few more posts. Sending you the happiest of wishes!

DIY Projects That Work: Key Rack

Every time I look across the apartment and see this key rack I made a few months ago, I feel happy. I love how great it looks and how much we can store there. It's one of those DIY projects that didn't take a lot of time or money that has paid for itself in convenience, better organization and thus major joy on my part (!) ten times over.

I like to report back on the projects I've done with follow ups. Some times they turn out a fantastic success like this one and sometimes they don't and are out the door or in a closet not long after. Learning from other's experiences is one of the first things I do when I am thinking about a project. So I thought I would share my feedback on creative undertakings here.

It's been heavenly for every set of keys in the house to have a home. No more mountain of keys in a basket. As soon as we walk in to door the keys go right on the rack in their assigned positions and no more searching for key chains.

We get asked this frequently by guests - yes, our family really does have that many keys although a lot of those key chains only have one key on them. We mostly use the three or four hooks on the left side, closest to the door. On all the other hooks are extra sets of car keys, house keys, bike & bike rack locks, post office box, storage units, etc. We are a family with a lot of keys.

Sometimes it's amazing what a little ten dollar project can do to really improve life. This is one that I smile about every time I see it. Piece of wood out of my small cupboard supply, a little "driftwood" wood stain and some hooks from the hardware store.

These hooks worked so well because they were small enough to easily fit a key ring on and off without much frustration. Finding a system that people in the family will actually use without frustration is critical. If something doesn't work it won't get used. 

I am also thrilled with how I finally figured out how to hang the rack. It was worked out phenomenally. I first used two picture hooks across the top but didn't give it much stability. It could get knocked off the wall or knocked down and it would be a pain in the neck to pick up all those keys. So I used 3M Command Strips across the bottom which has made it immovable. Just what I wanted and it's sustaining a lot of weight too.

Total project has been a life changer in how we store keys and how easy they are to find. Keys are a small things but they certainly are a factor every time we walk in and out of the front door.

A prime example of the importance of keys is the other day when I had my hands full and confidently shut and locked the front door on my way out with my keys to house and car still on the hook inside. -- Sigh. Luckily we have a sneaky "emergency entrance" option as a back up and I was back in business in just minutes.

Having a cute way to store and organize keys that looks good and get used by the family makes me doubly happy. You can see the original DIY post with step-by-step instructions here.

DIY Projects In Review: What Didn't Work

Yesterday I posted about DIY projects I've done that I am still totally loving and have really worked for us. Today I thought I'd share a few that never worked quite perfectly.

The Cane Chairs. These chairs took way too much thought, money and work for the amount of "like" I had for them in the end. They've been pieces we use for lack of anything better. I think they look good for the most part but just never have loved them. They aren't too comfortable for tall people. I also killed the ivy plant there. I do love the cane/faux bamboo table. It's currently living in a storage unit until I need it again. It was one of the things I took out of the bedroom last month to open up the space. I'm enjoying open space more than furniture right now.

Ocean Wood Sign. I thought i would love this and guess what I did for a few weeks. Then it started bugging me and I have no idea why. Maybe it's the color combo, the font, I don't know. But I've been itching to change is for a long time. It came down off the wall and went into the closet quite a while ago. But there is a new project in there somewhere. A little sanding and a simple coat of paint and I have something completely different.

Workspace. First I have to qualify this by saying I LOVE my workspace. It still is so practical and so well thought out that I am really happy with the investment I made. Here's what doesn't work for me. This big colorful wall of bubbling energy is at the foot of my bed. It is hard to relax when you are staring at this hub of activity.

Not to mention that living in earthquake country, I am a little afraid of falling objects. Although we have seen a few and not one thing has ever fallen. I did line the upper shelf with a very grippy shelf liner to help hold things in place. I will long love this workspace, I would just rather not have it in the bedroom. I have a strong feeling about a bedroom being a place of calm and respite. But in an apartment you have to find ways to use every inch of space possible. Hopefully in the not so distant future, I can attach this workspace to a wall in a room that isn't a bedroom.

Fall Holiday Pumpkins. This project was a fail because in my infinite wisdom I made these a couple of months early and then stored them somewhere. Some time after Christmas I found them. Ugh! Sometimes working ahead and trying to keep track of stuff is too much. Maybe I'll get to use them next year.

Well, none of these were disastrous endings, but each one of them has given me pause to think and maybe do things differently going forward. It's good to look back and try to learn some lessons from past experiences. I'm itching for some projects but don't really have space for anything new and don't really need anything. I'm living vicariously looking at other blogs and enjoying their DIY projects. 

As much as I love to create, I am learning more and more that creative frenzy isn't something I want for my life and creating with no real purpose doesn't inspire me. So I'm learning to follow my creative vibe in my own way, at my own pace and for my own enjoyment. Seems so simple and yet it's full of interesting and sometimes challenging conversations with self.

Jumbleberry Pie

image via

This past weekend I saw Jumbleberry Pie at the grocery store. There isn't any dessert I enjoy more than hot berry pie with vanilla ice cream. So I picked one up along with a carton of high grade vanilla ice cream. It was heavenly.

Jumbleberry pie is a mix of a variety of berries so you get lots of different flavors and textures. I heat up a slice for about a minute in the microwave, then scoop some ice cream on top and let it sit for a couple of minutes. The pie cools, the ice cream melts a a little and it is pure heaven on a spoon.

I have never made Jumbleberry pie. Pie making was kind of my thing when I was a teenager, but now that I think about it, I'm not sure I've actually made a real pie since high school. That's a little sad. Maybe pie making needs to be my thing again. Maybe I need to start making Jumbleberry pies. It's a thought. Maybe it could be my go-to dessert. It would be a good combo with my steaks, or mac and cheese, or other go to dinner party foods.

Here is a link to the highest rated Jumbleberry pie recipe I could find. It's called Double Crust Jumble Berry Pie from finecooking.com. Maybe I'll try this sometime soon. If you decide to try it, let me know.

DIY: Glittered Pumpkins

I picked up a few plastic orange pumpkins at a thrift store while visiting my hometown with the idea to glitter them. I was inspired by this Pinterest pin of glittered pears from my Holiday DIY board.

This is a fairly easy project, but I thought I would give you a quick step-by-step on the process:

1. Spray painted the pumpkins all white. I used a cardboard file box to do this with no mess out on my balcony. I don't have the luxury of much space, a garage, workshop or backyard. I'm still debating if I should've left the stems unpainted but I think they are probably best all one color. I painted them all white as a primer before the next step.

2. Spray painted the pumpkins with Metallic Silver spray paint. Each of these paint phases took some time since I would have to spray one area, let it dry, turn them over, spray the other side, let it dry, etc. So I did this over a 24-hour period.

3. Aged the stems. The stems on plastic pumpkins tend to look a little cheap and plastic-y, shocking information, I realize, haha). So I took a dry brush with black paint and just added a very little patina & dimension to them. The orange you can see in this photo is not from the pumpkins but it actually the ceiling light fixture reflecting in the shiny metallic paint.

4. Glitter Time. This is that time where things began to come unhinged. Unhinged -- I'm not sure whether this is happening to me more often than usual or I'm just more sensitive to it than I have been in the past. It seems like every time I do a crafting project lately there is a moment of certain destruction where I am sure I have a colossal catastrophe on my hands. This was it.

First the glue didn't seem to like the painted surface at all. It would begin bubbling after sitting on the surface for a few seconds. I overcame this by painting very small sections and glittering immediately. So the first two pumpkins turned out okay.

I didn't want to do them all exactly the same so I decided to experiment with the variety of silver glitter options from the different kits I have. My third pumpkin that I covered with Metallic Glass Microbeads, did not turn out as pretty as the first two glittered pumpkins. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Maybe it will just end up being a little more "rustic" than the others. When it's grouped with others I think it's flaws might be less apparent.

That left me with one pumpkin left and a decision about my options. I had large glitter flakes I could go with or the regular glitter I did on the first two. I went with option two: regular glitter. This was my favorite of all the little pumpkins and I didn't want to do something I wouldn't like. I had a guarantee about how it would look with the basic glitter. It turned out perfectly.

5. Dry Time - The easy part, except for one's impatience to see a final product. I let these dry overnight and here is the finished look. I think these will look good mixed in with these pumpkins I did a few weeks ago. A laugh for you, but I don't know what happened to those other pumpkins I did a few weeks ago. I have spent a few minutes looking for them and I can't figure out where I put them. I'm going to get serious about finding them today.

Here's a peek at last year's Fall Mantle. Do you do seasonal mantle decor? If so, when do you usually switch over to fall?

Sending you best wishes for a glorious day!

Fall Holiday Pumpkins Project

Wanted to share with you my finished fall holiday pumpkins project. This one took me a while. I have had a lot of distractions. But it gave me a lot of time to think about my process.

I mentioned this project in a few previous posts. These were my inspiration. And here you can see the pumpkins mid-process. I took four of those dollar store carvable pumpkins, spray painted them with two coats of high gloss metallic paint. Had I been able to find "Looking Glass" paint I would've used that.

I read some suggestions for this kind of DIY and realized I skipped the suggestion to spray paint these white first. I think that would've helped a lot. Another thing I wish I'd done was give them three coats of silver spray paint. I rubbed the paint a bit thin later on in the process.

So after they were all shiny, they were a little too shiny. So I decided to try to age them a little bit with black craft paint. I was a little torn between using a dry brush method or using a rag dipped in paint. In the end I went with a two-step process, dry brush first and then rubbing the paint into crevices while rubbing most of it off. My first attempt I realized I went a little too far with the black paint.

I wanted them slightly aged, but the pumpkin on the right looked like something that had been used as a prop of the Disneyland haunted mansion since 1950. A little too-o-o-o aged. So I took a damp cloth to it and rubbed off a lot more of the black paint.

The final product you can see at the top of this post are perfectly aged for my liking. The black paint gave them a lot more dimension and helped hide the blatant fact that they are cheap spray painted foam pumpkins from the dollar store. I certainly could not fool anyone into thinking these are the luxurious and beautiful Pottery Barn Mercury Glass Pumpkins, but for my simple world, these will do.

As you may recall, I have a lifetime supply of glitter. I would like to do some glitter experimentation with a few more of these pumpkins. Fall and winter are the perfect shiny bling seasons and I'm all for a little sparkle in the right controlled environment, haa-haa. Maybe I'll pick up a few more pumpkins to play around with in the next few weeks.

images by kalanicut