Vdara

Just came back home from an amazing bachelorette weekend in the fabulous Las Vegas; we stayed at a new hotel spa: Vdara.  Highly recommend it for a relaxing sleep after a long night of the rowdy Vegas venues.

Closet Case Continuum

The pantry in my kitchen was terrible, dirty walls, plastic wall paper in sporadic places, haphazard wooden boards with faux wood-grain shelf liners, and ugly plastic bins. Ugh. Plus it's a very small space, but utilized properly, it could store all the necessities. The previous owner took no pride in his pantry at all. For about a $100 and an afternoon, I transformed the dirty disarray into a static clean delight.

I tore down all pre-existing shelving with pleasure. Demo in small doses is good for the body and soul.
Kilz primer is phenomenal for problem walls; I used three coats - that's how bad the pantry was, and left it the stark white color.

From Home Depot, I purchased two 84" shelf rails, found in the closet system isle, $14 a pop. Matching white brackets, 12 of those and 6 white shelves. Including the primer, I spent $ 98. Demo and patching up took about an hour, after everything dried, I sanded and painted for another hour or so. Installation of the shelving unit took 25 minutes. I am very happy with the results, ... just want to look at the damned thing.

Below is a photo of the fruit of my labor, a nice clean pantry closet that stores everything I need it to. Photo sucks, but you get the idea.

Glass Menagerie

In my quest to find durable, good quality house-hold items i came across Kitchen Classics, an American company that manufactures high quality, durable baking dishes and storage containers, all in the USA. I bought a bowl, a measuring cup and a two baking dishes, paid $20 for all four items. The bowl was on sale for $4 [original price: $8], interestingly enough there was another bowl on sale by a different company that manufactures in China; it was made of thinner glass, same in size and cost $5 more, [original price $20]!!!

Anyway, here are some more links to fantastic glass products, all made in the USA.
Glass butter dish, glass food storage in a vintage design, glass food storage - round bowl design.

Enjoy!!!

Six days to go.

With all the packing, final exams, costume work and social events I added an extra deadline into the mix. On May 1st, my spring hair accessories will be available for purchase. Crazy? Yes!!! I am incredibly nervous, but I am more excited. Millinery is my passion and I want it to work for me, failure is not an option. Must... try... harder!

April 25th. Daisy clips are a go.

Just in Time for Spring

Whew! Barely made it with the head scarf samples. They are finally here and I love them all. Perfect for keeping hair up and out of the face during the warm spring and hot summer days. The fabrics selected for the collection range from edgy leopard prints, fresh floral prints and a red&white picnic checker - an homage to Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island.

Available for purchase 5/1, $5 and free shipping in the US. Here is a sneak peak:

Sale!!!

CK website had done it again! Check out the summer sale. This great dress is $89.
http://www.calvinklein.com/

Bargain Alert!!!

Just an FYI, you do not have to endure the hassle of rummaging through the overstuffed racks at the discount store to get a good price. My favorite bargain shopping place is on my comfy chair, with a lovely cup of tea and the calvinklein.com website displayed on my laptop. There is a sale everyday, and if you are patient aditional discounts show up from time to time. A hot pink CK summer shirt for $10, AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO FIGHT THE CRAZY LADY FOR IT? I'll take it!!!

ps. almost every label that sells online has SALES, CLEARANCES or CLOSEOUTS, but the CK website has the best stuff to choose from. Happy Shopping!