my DIY is getting better

i've moved on from pouring paint into jars and calling it a craft to making things that are actually useful.

i used to keep all my jewelry (well, necklaces. i own like 3 bracelets) in a jewelry organizer that hung in the closet. when we moved to this house, i realized the rod in the new closets was too big for the hook on my jury thingie. so it hung on our closet door for months. until i saw this idea on pinterest.

i already had the towel rack (which was a blinding nickle silver) so i got some $5.99 shower curtain hooks from marshall's and some oil rubbed bronze spray paint.

i think i may have hung it a little high, but i have some long necklaces and i didn't want them dangling in the laundry hamper below. Dangle. Hee hee.

obligatory picture of "ella-pecia" in all her devil eyed glory.

now my coffee filter lamp has been a debacle. gluing on the filters was no problem. but when i screwed the shade on my original lamp base that was reeeeeeally skinny, it looked like a mushroom. on meth. a methroom. so i bought a plain white one at tarjay and spray painted it.

our guest bedroom has: 1) a bed, 2) a table, and 3) a chair. that's it.

oh and this lamp. it's a shame when a table lamp is the focal point of a huge bedroom.

lately i've been making tissue paper flowers like a fool but i've been too lazy to take pictures...mainly because they are lame.

it's been raining too much to run so that's how i've been spending my time. it lets my shin splints heal.

Now that we're home...

...here's my Top 5 Favorite Things About Seattle (besides food, since I already covered that):

1) The weather. Holy crap. It may have possibly reached in the 70s the first few days but after that, it never got out of the 60s. I don't think I even sweated. Like at all.

2) The coffee. Duh. I took pics of the foam art on our lattes/mochas but they're on my phone and I'm lazy. Seattle Coffee Works was our fave. All drinks had double espresso as a standard. Didn't have to bother with "an extra shot." And they had a "slow bar" that we didn't get to take advantage of. **hates ending sentences with prepositions.

3) The flowers. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo beautiful.

These baskets hung from every light post.

The market had the biggest peonies I've ever seen. And $10 bouquets!

These window boxes ran along the top of every store in the market. Sunflowers are so happy.

4) The views. When we were riding in the cab to our hotel from the airport, we immediately noticed the beautiful trees and mountains. And then we actually went up to an observation tower and wow...
We didn't go to the Space Needle because it was too far to walk and cabs were a hassle. But the building we went to on Jefferson and 5th was actually higher so we got a better view. Say "hi" to the Space Needle!

5) The people. Cars stopped and let us cross the street. Just out of human decency. And all of our waiters/waitresses were sooooooo nice and personable. Is southern hospitality a myth?

Today, I'm vacation-sick. And I have to go back to work tomorrow.

Vacation Food

So Matt and I have been in Seattle on vacation this week. And while I love New Orleans food in all its fried-in-peanut-oil glory, I've loved eating some fresh, fresh West coast seafood.

These are my favorites (in order):

(also, misti, feel free to stop reading if this is going to make you eat your pillow or alan's head.)

1) The special at Serious Pie on Sunday was pizza with roasted garlic, chanterelle (sp?) mushrooms, and buffalo mozzarella. OMG. The roasted garlic was like candy. So sweet and creamy and NOM NOM NOM.

2) Ivar's crab cakes are the BEST EVER. With a stone ground mustard aioli and topped with basil/balsamic tomatoes. Holy rusted metal.

3) Shrimp cups!!! The fish market at Pike's would sell these little cups of huge shrimp drowning in a homemade cocktail sauce. We ate them twice.

And although not a food, we also visited The Juice Emporium twice for coconut, pineapple and watermelon juice. SO yummy. And healthy!

Soon will be back to the tasteless swill that manage to scrounge up so we don't starve. Saddest!!!