it's cold

denver tonight

have you heard about the cold wave that is going on in 30 states right now? if not, let me clue you in. it is in fact pretty simple to explain. it's cold outside. like bitterly cold. stay inside cold. 48 hours of subzero temperatures cold. now imagine this. on friday i left work to get a salad for lunch and people were eating outside because it was in the high 60's. the weekend was beautiful in town and in the high country, then on monday things turned bitterly cold. combine the cold with snow and i was not a happy camper.
tuesday was the worse of it. our high on tuesday was -1*. with the windchill majority of the day yesterday denver felt like -30*. the overnight low not even taking in consideration the windchill was -20*. today i think out high was 8*. i actually left the house today to go to the gym and thankfully the roads are all cleared, but it is still so cold.
tomorrow and friday we are suppose to heat up into the 30's then the 40's. i'm looking forward to that. i can't even check my mail because it's frozen shut.
i'm super lucky because i've been able to work from home. with my commute of taking the bus and walking to work, i just didn't want to be outside. my boss was ok with me working from home so i stayed home.
i'll be happy when the temperature gets above freezing!

elliptical 30min
treadmill 30min

bedroom redo: part two

it's done! this past weekend i completed my new "grown-up" bedroom. all of the big stuff is done. their is one corner of the room i'm not too sure what to do with, but i got new artwork and pretty new candle holders. this was a great time for a re-model, i think it fits perfectly with the other transformations currently going on in my life. this new bedroom is a reflection of being an adult, but still having fun and always growing.

i wanted my new room to have a earthy and natural tone to it, and i think the colors accomplish that, along with the decor. i love it! and i think i'll be loving it for a long time to come.

before
coral peachy and sea greenish blue walls

after
brown and blue

before
funky artwork with a checkered wall

after
blue with a picture of the eiffel tour~my daily reminder of a place i hope to visit one day

after
a little modern artwork (hanging this all by myself was not fun, but i did it!)

after~the artwork
hope (this is hung above my large dresser)
everyday, i hope

after
leaves to go with the natural look
this is hung to the left of my window where a dolphin puzzle used to hang

before
my childhood stuffed panda boo-boo

after
a spiral votive candle holder filled with natural rocks and crystal rocks

before
disney characters

after (above & below)
rock candle holder, votive candle holder vase filled with rocks
no more disney, well except for the cinderella tea cup.
i kept that because i actually use it, that's ok right?

in reality i'm not a big candle person, but the candle holders i got i love. originally i pictured a really pretty white-toned vase next to the big rock candle holder, but i couldn't find something that i loved. so when/if i find something, i'll probably get it.

the above picture is the last piece. this the wall space to the right of my bed above my nightstand. it's empty. too empty. i would really like to add something to it. i was thinking shelves, but i don't know if that'll look weird if i don't do matching shelves on the opposite side. any ideas?

my new room is beautiful and welcoming. it's darker which i love, and over all i'm very happy with it! i have to give another major shout out to nikki who helped me with all of the painting, and another thank you to sarah for helping me pick out the artwork!

zumba 60min
i forgot to wear my HRM

bedroom redo: part one

i've officially graduated. the time for change has come. i closed on my house april 20, 2006 almost 4 years. while nikki was here i put her to work! we spent sunday painting my bedroom! i wanted something darker, as my window faces east so the sun wakes me up in the morning. i knew i wanted to do blue and brown, and that the brown would be on my "accent" wall, which is the wall with my window. i decided to go with the same duvet cover but in the blue/brown colors. i got some new window curtains and paint. this project isn't yet done, as i still need to do a lot of the decorating. my walls are still pretty bare as i try to decide what to put up. the room is a little bit too dark so i'm hoping to find a way to brighten it up a little. i do want it darker, i just think it is going to take sometime to get used to, as it was so bright before.

before

prepping for a fun filled afternoon of painting!

i've never had so much fun painting in my life. there were multiple times that nikki and i would crack up in silent giggles while we were laughing so hard we made no sound at all. i had stomach aches and had to use the restroom since i almost peed my paints i was laughing so hard. the room took us 5 hours to paint, and during the whole time our conversation was pretty much the same. of "oops" "paint doesn't go there" "hand me the rag" "are you having fun yet?" it truly was so much fun. this memory with nikki will truly stay near and dear to my heart!

thank you SO much nikki for all your help and fabulous company!

after - 2 blue walls DONE!

more after pictures - the room is officially done with paint except for some touch ups.

the room with the new duvet. it helps to bring it all together.
i really like it.
the naked walls i don't like.
any suggestions?

elliptical 45min

the outside

Here are all of my outside Christmas decorations for your viewing enjoyment!

dMeet Moe, Curly, and Larry(my mom named them)
while my mom was here we were shopping at Costco and i saw these snowmen and had to have them. they are super cute, and their cute little bottom halves glow and change color at night! ...powered by the SUN! how freakin' cool is that?!

aren't they so cute?!

this is my front door.
wreath, snowmen stickers, and Christmas tree doormat.

sparkle wreath above my garage.

my bay window, with Santa stickers.

you can't see it but behind the window is the Christmas tree.

they're up

yesterday i put up all of my Christmas decorations. while my parents were in town my mom bought me some decorations for the outside (you'll meet them soon) of my house, and so i put up the outside decorations on Friday.

this is my most favorite decoration. it is a knitted Santa door handle.
i stole it from my Mom's house when i moved to Denver.
that's a pic of me at probably 5 or 6.

i was seriously considering not putting up any of my decorations, just because i have so many and because the only person that sees them is me. it makes me a little bit sad that nobody gets to enjoy my holiday house.
but once i had some holiday cheer on the outside, i knew i would have to have some holiday cheer inside. and i'm glad that i did. it took yesterday afternoon and i just have to say i love my house at Christmas time.

time to grow up

When I moved into my house almost 4 years ago, I did my bedroom colorful, and different, knowing full well that in a few years I would be sick of it and would want to redo it. I figured I should do what I wanted while I could. In my head the time line was 3 years. I would keep it like how it is for 3 years, then change it. Well, like I've stated it has been almost 4 years. ...it'll be 4 years in April. So it's time for a change. Right now I don't really have the money to go out and do what it is that I want to do. But I do need some tips on how to make my room more "adult". In 2 and 1/2 months I'll be 30. I think it is time to get rid of Cinderella. Next weekend my cousin Kari will be here to visit, and shopping is on the agenda. And I want to do some simple inexpensive things to get rid of the "kid" things in my bedroom. Any tips and ideas are truly appreciated!
What do you have on your dresser in your bedroom? Me? I have a Cinderella bank, a Cinderella dance doll, and a Genie mug.
On my other dresser, BooBoo, my favorite stuffed animal from my childhood. He's a super cute panda bear, and he has been there for me through many tearful nights.

This is my current bedspread(modeled by Otis and Denali). I love it. I love the paisley prints, and it is the whole inspiration behind the colors on my walls(I have a total of 3 different wall colors).
Below is the bedspread I really want. Once I have the money, this is what I would love to change my bedroom to. My favorite color is blue, and the tan will help it be more "grown up". I could easily do my bedroom with this as the inspiration and be happy with it for a very very long time. The biggest problem I have? Well, do you see the similarity in what I currently have? The prints are exactly the same. Is that lame? To completely redo my bedroom, but in the exact same patterned bedspread?

Here are my some honorable mentions. I like these one's as well. Sometimes I'll randomly look at duvet covers to see if there is something out there that I love just as much as the one I have, and the one that I want (but in the blue paisley print). These two stood out to me. I like the one above because it has a little bit more tan in it, which is nice since I have cat hair. Plus I could easily accent the blue, by painting my walls blue.
I like this one, again because of the colors. I could easily accent and bring out what I like by doing other things in my room.

What I'm really looking for is: What do you have on your bedroom dressers as decoration, and is it lame/weird to get a duvet color exactly the same as the one you have now, but in different colors? Thanks!