{ PINspired }

still feeling under the weather (though i did stay up much later than my husband) last night. so instead ... i thought i'd share a little {PINspired} project that i finished a few weeks ago but only last weekend finally got around to hanging in our home.

today's {PINspiration}: these adorable mason jar/pipe clamp projects are so popular right now!

 {source: 1 // the cutting edge of ordinary, 2 // pinterest, 3 // not just a housewife, 4 // old new again on etsy}

instead of using a mason jar - i decided to use a pipe clamp, an old piece of crown molding from the preservation station + a soap dispenser (from target) we received for our wedding. before the soap dispenser awkwardly sat on our pedestal sink - occasionally falling off the edge - and thankfully not shattering. unfortunately we couldn't hang the piece of molding bc of the tile. so i improvised! i drilled a couple of holes and laced it with a piece of ribbon to hang from our mirror. 

of all the inspiration i've found - my ultimate favorite is the hanging garden by not just a housewife. we have a million katrillion mason jars from our wedding last year. someday i will create a little hanging herb garden w/in our kitchen ... someday when 2/3rds of the walls in our kitchen aren't windows! which is your favorite?

and here's a little bonus {PINspired} project i did earlier this summer and never got around to sharing. i found the spice jars at a little antique shop. speaking of herbs, how cute are these little tea tin planters by larking about on flickr? yup! doing this.

{PINspiration}                                                     {PINspired}

{left source: martha stewart}

wade said yesterday that i was making too many pinterest puns. sorry, peeps. i'll try to limit it to only my {PINspired} posts. ha ha.

{whatever wednesday} busy busy

i know i've been rather absent lately ...

in part because work has been extremely rough. so rough that the g.m. has put a bunch of new practices ... well ... into practice that will hopefully save me some time and major headache. thankfully each year the music business rests during the holiday season. and this year the holidays couldn't come fast enough!

in part because i might have bitten off more than i can chew w/ my 30 before 30 list. as an example ... last night after w + i returned from the gym, i spent an hour reviewing rosetta stone french followed by an hour practicing my penmanship. then i picked out a new book from time magazine's all time 100 novels --- animal farm which i continue to accidentally refer to as "animal house". while i keep reminding myself that i have ALL year ... quite a few of my tasks are monthly ... even weekly.

i did however finally finish + hang curtains in our living room and the bathroom! that means all of our rooms have curtains! and somehow that makes these rooms feel finished. of course ... who am i kidding ... there's no such thing as finished.

thanks for sticking around, folks. :)

{food for thought} betty crocker?

i've been gluten free (except a minor slip up at bonnaroo*) for 3 weeks now!

instead of heading to whole foods day 1 and stocking up on all sorts of bread, cookie and pasta substitutes - i've pretty much kept my usual diet: oatmeal for breakfast - vegetables, chicken/salmon, rice for lunch/dinner - fresh fruit in between. i've opted for corn tortillas when we hit up mexican and icecream or a popsicle for dessert instead of chocolate cake.

i have however been missing donuts (i never really craved them before!) and i know it's only days before wade begs me to make my spinach feta lasagna rolls again. so it's time, people. time to start weeding through the "not so yummy" gfree items to find the winners.

last night, we tried out betty crocker's gluten free chocolate chip cookie mix:

i'm a little sad that it took me a week to build up the courage to bake these bad boys. you have to understand ... i'm gag-frequent. it takes a lot of convincing for me to try something i might not like, bc i know what the outcome might be. but wade, our friend ketric, and i agree - these were really really yummy. while i probably will try to find a gfree choc chip cookie recipe from scratch (to save $), i'm thrilled to have this last minute sweet fix.

kudos to betty for considering the dietary needs of 2 of her gfree employees and not only creating 4 gluten free options (white/choc cake, brownies and cc cookies) but also building a separate gluten free processing facility for these treats. find fun recipes based on her mixes here.

my friend faith has been telling me "no one can come close to udi's". and i plan to make a trip to trader joe's next week to pick up a loaf of bread and/or granola. ... now to find a good pasta substitute. recommendations?

after dinner and a ride around town in the back of ketric's jeep (feeling 16 again!), i found a few spare seconds to begin a little project!

a pile of doilies, hankerchiefs, and other random linens ...

... a few pins here and there ...

... and i have 1 curtain panel for our bathroom pieced together.

... now to garage sale for additional pieces to make a "mismatched" pair. and then while wade is traveling, i'll finish and hang.

have a wonderful weekend, blogosphere. :)
i needed this little "retreat" blog post today. thank you!

* to explain my moment of weakness, after 2 days of ordering gyros w/out the pita and buritos w/out the taco shell. i had a HOTDOG + the bun. yikes. i know. what a waste of my weak moment. i could have had banana bread or crepes. ugh. stupid me. of course then i woke up w/ another rash (not hives) but what i call "texture" on tuesday. maybe the hotdog bun? maybe the workload?

{inspire} patchwork curtains

you know the saying "when it rains, it pours"? well wade and i had one of those weekends. ending w/ my poor husband throwing his back out (you should see him - hobbling around like an 80 year old man.). and icing on the cake - a slight fender bender after yoga this am!

so today i'm daydreaming about a peaceful weekend at home next weekend (only 3.5 more days to go!). and some patchwork curtains for our bathroom based on loads of inspiration:

1 maggie & sparrow // 2 dottie angel // 3 kelly rae roberts // 4 under the sycamore

ps - have you been introduced to dottie angel? just happened upon her blog this afternoon - and now i have a big ol' blog crush:

{source: dottie angel}

it's a living daydream. say it with me "so inspired" ... now to find the right fabric.

{source: dottie angel}

someday: claw foot tub

someday ...

when we have a home of our own - we must have a claw foot tub (or two!). some of my favorites:

1) i love that the faucet is in the middle on this tub from livingetc.com. this way the hot water isn't hogged by 1 side of the tub. :)

2) love the simplicity of this bathroom from the book creating vintage style (though i'm not sure i could convince wade of those curtains)! placed in the center of the bathroom, the tub is the focal point AS IT SHOULD BE!

3) a mantle in the bathroom? genius! of course country living would think this up.

4) perfect for a small attic space by elle decor:


5) and my list wouldn't be complete w/out this whimsical retreat from pottery barn. LOVE!

someday - we'll have a claw foot tub!