Spices = Art?

So I was looking at my cluttered kitchen the other day and thnking about how I could make it look less cluttered (again, sticking with the un-decorating process I am embarking on.) I was looking at my spices, a cluttered mess of red McCormick labels and other mismatched containers and began to brainstorm. My house is pretty much decorated in the colors of my spices, so how could I display them? Remembering a thought from one of my design teachers (you can see her blog here) I decided I was going to try to transform the necessary into something beautiful. Surely I could display the colors...

I went to World Market, one of my favorite stores, and found a bunch of clear glass jars. I wanted them long & narrow so I could maximize space. So I bought a bunch of them and began the transferring process. Boy did it smell good! Ginger, sesame, tarragon, onion, cinnamon...I love cooking & I love spices! So I removed the wrought iron spice rack off the wall and lined up the beautiful jars of color on top of my stove. Since we are only going to be here another few months, I didnt want anything permanent so I am brainstroming for my next kitchen...but this will work for now.

Inspiration:

(and I may purchase the long skinny shelf for our next place depending on layout)

Here is my UGLY looking BEFORE picture:

And AFTER:

(If we were living here longer, I would have tiled the backsplash...maybe next house!)

Clocks

So for some reason, almost all of my decorative clocks have burned out this week. I guess they call them decorative for a reason. Good thing I wear one on my wrist because my house is full of the incorrect time! YIKES! I have been freaking out, thinking I am late all of the time...if you know me, you know I am never late. So this is a problem.


So one of them I will not part with, it will go to the clock repair shop but the kitchen clock (which I consider my home's major time source) will be replaced. I have been all over looking for just the right one and have had no luck, so I am turning to online shopping. This is my current favorite:


And, for those of you not familiar with Z GALLERIE, make yourself familiar! It offers beautiful style & accents at very affordable prices. Style is a cross between Pier One & West Elm. Some of it is borderline Pottery Barn-ish, but usually funkier.

Who pays that for JEANS?

I was reminded just which state I am currently living in today at the grand opening of our brand new Costco. (YAY!)

As a lover of designer jeans, I am always in search of a bargain on a great pair of Sevens, Paiges, Hudsons, True Religions...you know, the basic piece of a woman's wardrobe! You don't skimp on a basic piece. You just don't! Back in California, Costco was notorious for getting in an entire pallet of Sevens or other designer jeans and selling out the same day-- so if you hit is just right, you had to fight with all the other Danville women for one of the limited five sizes that were offered. So with high hopes, I made arrangements to get to Costco within 45 minutes of its grand opening just in case there was a pallet of my coveted jeans...turns out, if you live in Nebraska, you needn't hurry to the clothing section of Costco to beat out all the other women looking for the designer jeans.

After feverishly rushing through the ridiculous crowd...I saw the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow...an entire pallet of Sevens and oh my gosh! An entire pallet of True Religions on the other side! Woohoo! They had them! As I began digging through the vast selection of styles and washes I noticed something was off...something wasn't right. I didn't have to dig. I didn't have to fight. In fact, I was the only one even remotely paying attention to this sea of "bargain" denim. And yes, absolutely, at $109 a pair, these jeans was a ridiculous bargain...right?!? YES...they are usually at least $200...TRs are $300--BARGAIN!!! Yeah...well...with a plethora of sizes and not a competitor in sight, I calmed down...and began to listen. "Who on earth would pay one hundred dollars for a pair of jeans." "Well isn't that ridiculous, look at the price of those." "Holy moly, why would you buy those when you could have these [holds up a pair of five pocket $39 Gloria Vanderbilt mom jeans] that are just fine." I stood there thinking (and feeling guilty) don't hate me because I am not fat and can actually wear these. Don't judge me because I like nice things. I work hard for my money and love a designer anything! Oh my gosh! Not only do these people not care, but they think I am CRAZY! I was getting stares pacing around the giant pile of perfectly folded jeans. Perfect stacks of 26's, 27's, 28's, 29's, and 30's. A complete set. Do I buy one? Two? Which ones? I made my decision. Got to the register, these people wouldn't quit. The guy rang them through, looked at the $112 total and looked at me with his eyebrows just about touching his receding hairline. "Is this right" he asked me. I smiled. "Those are a bargain," I said. "WHAAT!" He looked at me like I was nuts. "Those would be at least one hundred dollars more anywhere else." He shook his head, took my credit card and well, I proudly left the store with my bargain designer jeans.

I returned five hours later for another pair for myself and some sevens for my husband too. The piles were still untouched.

Hopefully, we will get them again. But, I am not holding my breath. Nebraska just might not be the place.

My new A Pockets! SCORE!

I'm an Auntie!

I became an Auntie on October 17, 2007 to beautiful little Kyra! She is just a little miracle and I am counting down the days until I get to meet her!

Uncle Tommy banned pictures of her (little protective?!?) but her mama gave me permission. :)

By the way, her mama Kim's love of bright colors looks just beautiful here...her house is so different from mine as far as colors go but she has a knack for putting great bright tones together--as evidenced here! Baby Kyra's room is bright cantaloupe orange! Love it!

**just realized how much this picture pops on my blog...it is the same colors! No wonder I liked it so much---they are my favorites!

The Urge to Redecorate

My house is done. Completely decorated from top to bottom. More decorated than most homes. Overdecorated? I am learning the answer is YES so I keep removing stuff and packing it away in the "decor" container, one of 22 rubbermaid containers organized by color and contents in the garage. Recently, I have been unimpressed with my bedroom. I redid it about six months ago and it will stay the same until we move but I have me eyes on a new comforter. Hey, a girl can dream even if its not practical, right? The problem with studying design is that I am learning more and more about how many mistakes I make in my own space, and I want to correct them. Tastes change and so do color preferences. Mine are on the verge of an upheaval as I am suddenly wanting to simplify everything. Less stuff, better core pieces. I love my home...but I am ready for a change!

So here is my current coveted piece. I found it in my recent issue of Elle Decor. It is full of my favorite shapes and colors, as I am finding myself obsessed with paisley prints, chocolate brown and a complimentary blue/green shade. You can find it at Bloomingdales...which only hints at its astronomical expense. So pretty!

Marketing & Music

Recently, I have realized that my main exposure to music and especially new music comes from TV. Whether it's a commercial or the brilliant track set to a scene, I find that the media has introduced me to my recent artists of choice. I have saved FEIST in my Sirius Satellite radio player so anytime the group comes on, I can sample their music. My other current pick is Regina Spektor, who's music has also caught my attention on TV. Can you figure out where they were exposed? (answers at the bottom) Neither of these clips are their most exposed tracks, but both were on TV this week.

FEIST

REGINA SPEKTOR

(first 40 sec)

ANSWERS:

FEIST: This song was in the opening scene of Grey's Anatomy, 10/11. You know them from the iTunes commercials advertising the new nano as the group that sings 1, 2, 3, 4, tell me that you love me more...

Regina Spektor: This song is the current JC Penny's ad. You know her from Fidelity, overplayed on the radio.

Music promotion is changing.

Do you like my facelift?

Anyone who knows me knows that I cant be satisfied with a generic design. I pretty much customize everything I own and my blog is no different! I designed my header with photoshop and fussed with the colors on my page to create the perfect combination using this handy html color tool. I encourage you to get creative with your own blog and if you need any help or are looking for suggestions, I'd be happy to help. These two colors (or variations of them) are my favorite colors. They are all over my house and my wardrobe! Do you know that they look best paired together because they are opposite on the color wheel? Use this as a rule of thumb when decorating! You can always step right or left to your main opposing color and achieve harmony in a space. Example (use the color wheel below as your visual): if you are using green, you can step to either side of red to choose a complimentary color. Choose to pair your green with either orange or violet and anything in between to create something appealing to the eye.

I found this great decorator's color wheel which carries the colors you would most likely choose for a home.

The publisher also included these color design basics:

• In the center are the primary colors - Red, Yellow, and Blue. From these, all others are made.
• In the inner ring are secondary colors - orange, green, violet, made by mixing equal amounts of primary colors. Mix red and yellow for orange, mix red and blue for violet, and mix blue and yellow for green.
• In the outer ring are the tertiary colors - achieved by mixing varying amounts of one primary color with the adjacent primary.
• Mix a large amount of red with a small amount of blue and you will get a red-violet color. Do the opposite for blue-violet. Increase or decrease amounts form many hues in between.
  

There's your color design lesson of the day!

Camp Bow Wow

Rusty went for his very first day at the brand spankin' new Camp Bow Wow Omaha and had a blast! If you are a dog lover and havent checked out this new franchise business yet you might want to. It functions both as a doggy day care and an overnight "camping" service with locations opening around the country. I think it is very affordable and boy, did he have fun! One of the coolest parts of the business is the 10 camper cams located all over the indoor/outdoor facility. My family gave me text message updates of what he was doing all day long while I was out on the road. You can also download the program for your palm so you can check up on your pooch!

A few notes from Rusty's "D-Tails" card:

-I played with my friends in the doggy cabins in the outdoor play area
-I played with Cash(a german shepherd) and realized I like the water bottle
-I was sooo good I got a treat
-I had so much fun playing at camp, I need to go home and take a nap
-I was an ACTIVE camper!
-My overall experience was 5 TAIL WAGS!

Does this look like a happy puppy or what?!?

Do you especially like the spit-stache?

The Cuppy Cake Song

So my family is weeks and maybe just days away from our newest addition, a baby!!!! SO EXCITING!!! Given the husband's side is quite unique and none of them hesitate (not even for a second) to belt out a tune...in key...off key...lyrics known or unknown...we now have a family song! My mother in law decided that the following song will be our family baby anthem and has religiously memorized the whole thing. You might find it amusing. I think it is just adorable.

You're my Honeybunch, Sugarplum
Pumpy-umpy-umpkin, You're my Sweetie Pie
You're my Cuppycake, Gumdrop
Snoogums-Boogums, You're the Apple of my Eye
And I love you so and I want you to know
That I'll always be right here
And I love to sing sweet songs to you
Because you are so dear

Lowfat Chocolate Chip Meringues

I was in a baking mood this weekend and wanted something that wouldnt totally kill my nutrition. These are very tasty little meringues and the best part--each one has only 26 calories and 1 gram of fat!

Filling my makeshift pastry bags. I used mini chocolate chips in half and Andes mints chips in the other half.


Ready for the oven.


And the trick to staying thin: give most of them away! Packaged for delivery...I have lucky neighbors.


Here is the recipe:

Alone Again.

Well, the hubby is gone again. This will be our last long term separation before our upcoming move. He will be gone for four weeks, which really should fly by. For now it's just me & the furbabies. Oh, and a clean house. Funny how it is SO much easier to keep a house clean when you live in it alone! I did a deep clean (we're talking 6 hours deep) today and it is spotless. Luckily, it will stay that way! I'll probably be on here a lot in the next few weeks...just killing time and learning how to do new things. Then sharing them. :)

Success

Success is a funny feeling. A quick rush of relief & satisfaction and then, inevitably, an urgency to keep working to earn it again. In sales, specifically, success is usually followed with more work. Soon there are higher goals and higher expectations. You cannot just ride on your success; you have to create it month to month. People who produce success out of honest hard work will continue on the path of success throughout their life, but it isn't easy.

This Friday I experienced the highest point of success in my career. All I can think about is what I am going to do next. How I am going to make this success work even harder for me. In my industry part of the job is selling a product, a specific medication. However an even greater task is getting a product on Formulary. In other words, the branded product must be recognized by a managed care organization as worthwhile enough to place on their preferred drug list. Until a drug is offered to patients at a discounted rate at the pharmacy, patients often have a hard time paying full price especially if a "comparable" generic product is offered at a little to no cost. Therefore, the samples that were handed out at the drs office go to waste if the patient decides they will not fill their intended script and replace it for a generic. When I approached my regional contact about this one account, I was told it was too small for a national rep to handle and I was on my own.

This large account, which also happens to be the largest employer in the city of Sioux Falls, SD (350 physicians in 150 locations through SD) has never covered my products. The way the system is set up, the physicians get a report monthly of how much of each product they are writing. If they write off formulary, they get reprimanded. So even some of my best customers were telling me that they were writing my product for patients that were covered by insurance not provided by this huge employer and were getting reprimanded for doing so. I felt this was so unfair--that patients were putting their health care providers in the middle-having to choose between giving patients a product with the most therapeutic benefit or not getting in trouble and giving them a lesser quality product. Well...after nine months of targeting the right people, turning the decision makers into advocates of my product and inspiring them to take action, my product is now on formulary!

Such a huge task, suck a huge reward. But really a win for women's health care in SD.

Fall

Having grown up in a California climate that really shows no extremes, I never experienced Fall until I moved to the midwest. My first Fall here was met with uncertainty and dread for the coming cold...so much anticipation about driving in the snow that I think I missed all the beautiful colors that was the show before the blah grey.

Last year I remember perusing craft show to craft show (a common weekend activity for Nebraskans) window shopping all the homemade creations. I dont think I ever bought a single thing, but in my jeans and sweatshirt I watched the leaves blow across the parking lot as I witnessed the community gathering that is a craft fair. I am eagerly anticipating the start of the creative season...

This year, as I complain about having to drive so many miles for my job, I have forgotten what a blessing it is to be able to stare out my windshield and see the beautiful, colorful landscape that I am moving through. I made the trip from Omaha, NE to Watertown, SD (famous for RedlinArt) and back to Sioux Falls, SD for an overnight stay. I clocked a total of 398 miles on my odometer today alone. However, as I passed the cattle, the buffalo (and babies!!), the piggies, the dairy cows...all I could do was notice the amber, crimson and deep green landscape that now covers I-29 N. I wish I would have brought my camera, but it is never as beautiful on film as it is in person. You cant smell the start of burning wood stoves or the crisp air that makes you breathe just a little deeper. With a move to the balmy south seemingly inevitable, I can't express how much I will miss this time of year.

The fighter planes from the nearby Guard base are rumbling over my hotel and as I look outside I see them streaking over the dark sparkly sky. As much as I have dreaded it in the past, I will miss this weekly South Dakota adventure.

I had to be Sioux Falls for a 9am appt which, is three hours from home which is why I have pictures of this beautiful sunrise!

This time of year all of the little black birds fly from the trees & cornfields in big groups presumably, heading south for the winter.

My favorite billboard, just south of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It works everytime!

Names

Naming things has always been a struggle for me. This is likely due to my secret fear of commitment. (I get scared when I think of having to name my future children--there is so much in a name I don't want to f-it up!) I have long thought this is the reason that I haven't begun a blog...I couldn't figure out what to name one. Why would anyone care what I have to say if I cant even think of a name to call my little corner of the Internet!?! Well...I found a name.

After one failed attempt to begin a blog with a name that shall remain a secret failure, here is my next attempt. Tres Chic is french for very fashionable, very stylish, very smart...and well...Tres Chic was taken so it is logical to add a "k" right? Since I am one fashionable, stylish, smart chick. Ok...enough about that...after all-it is JUST a name.

I hope to use this blog to share little pieces of me and my creative nature. To explore style successes and failures, creative genius and surely some blunders. I'd love your comments and stories so feel free to share. It's a pleasure to be on here. Let the creativity begin!