I've been a distant admirer of CB2 for a while now. I get their catalogue in the mail all the time, but I'm that kind of person who has to see things in person before I buy them. Since there's not a CB2 in Denver, I've only purchased small little accessories here and there. NO LONGER! I want all of the things!

While we were in San Francisco, I had a strong suspicion that there was a CB2 somewhere in the city. After a quick search on Google Maps I expressed my excitement because we were staying a mere 3 blocks away from it! Our last day in San Francisco I speed walked myself with Matt and Marcus in tow to go check it out.

 

 

My celebration was slightly premature. I didn't notice that the store wasn't quite open until after I had pulled on the door handles once or twice. Ok, it was twice. After a quick stroll through Old Navy to kill some time we were greeted with unlocked doors. Look how excited I am!

 

 

First up, these sofas! Matt and I have been longtime fans of the Aidan sofa from Crate and Barrel, but the Avec sofa looks really similar and costs less than the Aidan chair.

 

 

There's even a smaller apartment sized version! These two are staying on our list of potential upgrades from our big L-shaped sectional.

 

 

I also saw a lot of stuff that I'd like to upgrade our bedroom with. You remember that right? No? Well good! Anyway, I'd love a low platform bed, but without the protruding platform that is just begging you to slam your shins into. The Dondra achieves just that!

 

 

These Junction dressers are what I envision fitting into our room someday. One tall one and one wide/short one.

 

 

And two of these Slice storage shelves would be perfect for night stands. I like them because of their ability to hide crap, they're so sleek, and they are floating!

 

 

The rest of this stuff isn't bedroom related, but I thought the Torino desk was genius! The top slides out to reveal yet another place to hide all your crap. Are you sensing a theme? My desk is always a giant mess, so much so that we never use it. Hopefully we can get to work on the loft and remedy that after we're done with the painting.

 

 

This little Cuckoo clock is an adorable modern twist on the old classic. Say hello to the tiny bird that pops out.

 

 

I'm always a big fan of lighting. Signal Floor Lamp, Chord Pendant Lamp, and the Cloche Table Lamp. I think the cloche lamp would be cool on a bookshelf, maybe with this sneaky on/off switch!

 

 

I also am a big fan of tea light candles. They are just so magical! These Glow Candleholders look like they'd reflect the light nicely.

 

 

And I'd like about a hundred of these Whirley Hanging Candleholders because, well look! (Maaaa-gic)

 

 

I also love plants, and want this in my yard now! Teardrop Vase and Beaker Vase.

 

 

Oh, and there was this Washing Machine Hamper. Ridiculous!

 

Do you have a CB2 near you? Or are you Ike me and have to admire them from afar?

Nikki Kelly

 

I love that song, even if it's misleading advice will most likely ruin your pictures. As you may have already guessed, this post is about my new to me camera.





I picked up this camera while Ali and I were visiting Jenna in The Paso earlier this spring. I got it for $15 which seems like a pretty good deal to me based on what some people are charging online. I had no clue if it worked or not, but I figured if it didn't it would make for a sweet looking accessory to put on a bookshelf or something. People are always displaying old cameras, and with Matt's growing interest in photography it would be something that would work well in our home. Anyway, not knowing if it worked or not I spent some time goggling Polaroid SX-70's. Immediately I started digging through the Impossible Project blog and reading the tutorials section and Dr. Love's Tips.





Once I was back home I set out and buy some film. First I checked the supply at Urban Outfitters, but they seem to only have the film for the 600 cameras. I went back to the Impossible website and looked for a local dealer here in Denver and found Denver Pro Photo. When I went to get some film they also only had the 600 film. I found out they were getting ready to move their store to a new location. Maybe now that they've moved they might have a larger selection. Once I told them what I was looking for they told me they had these little sheets of plastic that I could put over the lense to act as a filter so I could use the 600 film. Sold!





Once I got home I put the film pack in and anxiously closed the door. The camera seemed to struggle for a second or two before the dark slide popped out, but I took it as a good sign. The next step was to insert the dark slide under the flap where the pictues come out to work as a shield. Once the slide was in place I framed up my shot, pressed the button, and nothing. It was a pretty anticlimactic moment for my $15 camera. So I folded it back up and it sat in my studio for a couple of weeks. Between then and now I learned a little trick to taking a picture without using the shutter button. There's these two little holes on the side right next to the shutter button. I've read that its a connection point for a timer or a cabled shutter button.





The trick is to use a bent paper clip and trip the connection points in those two holes. It sounds easy enough, but I still managed to mess it up. My mistakes were forgetting to put the filter film over the lense, and to put the dark slide in the flap to protect the picture, all while trying to keep my camera steady, look through the view finder, and put two ends of a paper clip into two tiny holes. Not really my idea of fun. Seriously, it took me three times to get it all right.





Even though they were messed up pictures, I kinda dig the first one a lot. It looks like some weird X-ray or a ghostly sewing machine. After my little juggling act I concluded that everything else seemed to be working just fine, but that I'd like to get the shutter fixed eventually( Denver Pro Photo has a guy that fixes cameras and he has some positive reviews on Yelp). After my second bout with this camera I left it sitting on the kitchen table for a few more days. Then one day before work last week I got some crazy urge to give it one more shot. I looked around for something I wouldn't mind taking a picture of, I decided on my hanging string of pearls, and gave the shutter button another try. I was literally shocked when my camera made some noise and out popped a picture. Shocked I tell you!





I'm not really sure why it magically started working. Maybe just getting the things running after who knows how many years of being dormant did the trick, but I was quite pleased. That's a bit of an understatement, I was really excited. I texted Matt on my way to work, and told just about anyone who would listen that day. I even printed out a new cover to put in my iPhone case to celebrate! Dorky? Ok, maybe.





Now my next project for this will be to create a cute bag to store it in. I'm going to base it off of this one that the Impossible Project sells. I would just buy it, but it's only made for the non sonar models, meaning mine won't fit. That's ok, it's pretty much a boxy envelope which doesn't seem too difficult.





Are you a Polaroid enthusiast? Have you ever used Impossible film? What kind of cool things have you picked up from an antique store?

Oh, and just so you know, I was not compensated for this post by anyone. I am just excited about my new toy and wanted to share!

I'm sure my followers on Instagram are already aware of this, but I love painting my nails! Don't worry, this is not turning into a nail blog. Besides, the name of my blog wouldn't really be appropriate as I do not procrastinate when it comes to changing my nail polish. As soon as it starts to get chippy, off it comes. Anyway, I thought I would scour through my Instagram pics for manicures that I was especially happy with (basically the ones that I thought were worth taking a picture of) and linking the inspiration/tutorial that led to said mani.




First up is this straw manicure. It kinda reminds me of glass rings on a coffee table or something. It was pretty easy, however you have to wait for your base coat to completely dry. That is the worst part of all I think. I saw a much more colorful version of this on Pinterest (where else?) and here is what I got. Since the link isn't a tutorial I'll share how I did it. Take coffee stir straws and dip them in a little blob of nail polish, I use foil to blob it on to, then stamp it onto your nail. I found that the inside of the straw would have nail polish suspended across it and would make a circle instead of a ring, so I would just blow through the straw to clear that before stamping. Oh, and unlike me, maybe let the rings dry a little before your top coat.


Now who doesn't love glitter? Aside from removing the glitter I'm sure 99.99999% of nail polish fans like glitter. The's no particular skill involved in a glitter mani, but I've found a few that have inspired me.

1. Gradient glitter with a matte topcoat


3. There wasn't any inspiration for this heart glitter mani, I just liked the polish. Just a fair warning though, the hearts don't transfer onto your nails very easily. I don't think there's enough in the polish so you'll have to fish them out if you get this.


I've also been turned on to using those little hole reinforcers for easy half moon manicures, although for the life of me I can't remember the first place I saw the idea. There's not a lot to explain, but I usually tear open the circle so that it will lay better before I put them on my nails.


This water marble video was the one to finally get me to bite the bullet. I had seen them and understood the concept, but she just made it seem so easy. Because its pretty time consuming these are my only two attempts. I didn't even have to re-do any (why yes, I am awesome) because they got messed up. Sure there was a little bubbling here and there, but overall the results are pretty impressive. Oh, and if you're in the mood for compliments, do a water mani.


This one isn't a water marbled mani, but I think they are like cousins. One of the Instagramers I follow always has awesome nails (among other things) and she told me about this link to a Saran nails technique. I think next time I will use colors that contrast more.


Dot manicures are pretty easy too, but the do require some sort of inspiration. At the very least you should have some sort of plan for your dots. The first one was inspired by this, and the second one I just made up for the holidays. Can't find a dotting tool at a store near you? You can do what I did and buy this set at Michale's.


Not too long ago a Konad kiosk opened in the mall where I work and I quickly gave them some money. It's really easy to do, I just need to buy some more stamping polish.






You might remember from my skirt tutorial this water color mani I did. Sarah from Chalkboard Nails has this brief explanation on how to do a water color mani, as well as a link to a video. However it was her second attempt that inspired me to give this super easy technique a try.


Alright, last one. I used this gradient technique from The Beauty Department for a second Nuggets mani just the other night. It might not be on my fingers for too much longer, due to their 3-1 game deficit to the Lakers (boo Kobe you rapist!). I followed this tutorial from The Beauty Department, but instead of an ombré look, I used the team colors. The mani is a little fresh here and I usually just pick the rest of the polish off my cuticles when I take my morning shower so don't judge me.


So there you have it! Have you ever tried any of these techniques? Got any that I didn't mention worth trying? Does anyone know where I can get this cat stamping plate? I want it so bad!


This blog will now return to its normally scheduled programming.

Be gentle with me. I've never made a mood board before, so if it's dumb just tell me how wonderful I am anyways. Ok, now that we have that out of the way let me tell ya what I'm blabbering on about. This stupid closet, that's what.

It's like a normal closet in the middle of the house. I guess it's supposed to be a coat closet, but being equal distances from the front or back door it just seems dumb. So our plan for this little slice of square footage has been to convert it into a dry bar from the get go. Why you ask? Well two reasons really.

1. We like booze
2. We don't like walking very far to get it. (read: lazy)

Here's our list of things we want to do in order to achieve this, and because I love lists with things crossed off I'm including things we've already done. Just to make myself feel better, mmmkay?

Remove doors and hardware
Paint door jamb
Paint walls
Lay backer board
Install tile (already purchased, we just need grout)
Install lower cabinets
Install countertop
Backsplash (same tile as floor to keep things consistent)
Upper cabinets or shelves (I think we'll go with shelves but just incase we change our minds)
Run some electrical thru the wall from the kitchen
Lighting
Stock with booze and wine

We're almost half way done already right? The nice thing about this little project is that we can really do one thing at a time without it looking like we live in a construction zone. Now, onto the mood board portion of this post.

1. Dark stained butcher block countertops from Ikea stained to match our wood flooring (great tutorial from Stillwater Story) 2. I LOVE these decanter pendant lights by Lee Broom. I'll be hunting for some decanters to DIY this soon. 3. Ultra glossy lower cabinets from Ikea. 4. I have a few of these Edge wine glasses from Crate and Barrel, but I need more. With matching champagne flutes, of course! 5. This tile from Floor & Decor will be on the floor and black splash. 6. Our wood floors from Lumber Liquidators, it's been discontinued twice now but just incase the link doesn't work in the future its called Tuscany Oak Handscraped from Virgina Millworks.
It seems to look a little stark right now, but whiskey is a nice warm amber color. That will warm it up nicely. If we do open shelves we could have some smallish art in there too. I guess the good part about installing it piece by piece is if it starts to look like too much stuff shoved in a small place we can just stop.
So hopefully I will be spending the whole weekend tilling 9 square feet of space. It will be grueling, but hopefully I'll live. What will you be doing this weekend?

P to the S, are you planning on entering my Instagram Photo Contest? You've got less than 3 weeks to enter, so get on that ish!

 This weekend Matt and I went to Tampa to see his dad and step mom (hi Allen and Vickie!) enjoy some warm weather, and sun. Matt has a conference in Orlando starting on Tuesday, so we left on Friday to make a weekend out of it. With both of us being away from home no projects were completed. Womp Womp. Not that we really have anything big going on right now, but here's a little sneak peak into our collective brainstorming and what we are slowly working on lately.

Painting Trim!!!


Lame right? Trust me, I know! Since deciding to paint all of the old wood work white last fall has been slow going I thought I'd share an update.


1 whole door frame! Well that and 90% of the door that goes in the frame. The door got better paint prep in the form of sanding the flat surfaces down to bare wood and is sitting in the garage as we speak. The frame itself was just sanded with sanding sponges. I'm not too worried though, we did the same thing in the kitchen and the doors are still looking great 2.5 years later. I did however have to caulk some gaps between the pieces of the door jam and trim. I guess after 30 years things start to pull apart.



After the caulk (shut up Matt) was smooth and dry I finished the last coat of paint. Once I give the door it's final coat and a few days to cure it will all go back together. One door down, 8 to go.

In other news, we've decided to do more hard wood flooring! Crazy? Us? Meh. We plan on doing the loft, hallway, and stairs.  I've pinned a few stair transformations (here, and here), but we'll see how it goes. Honestly I wouldn't mind hiring someone to do that part for us.  And as far as the transition from the mangled drywall between the railing and the new flooring, we will just use some trim painted out in the same Creamy White (Bher) and install them at the same time. (oh, and that little sliver of wall between? Well let's just say (spoiler alert!) its going to be bright!. 


Once we install the wood in the loft we're going to turn it into a fancy office/library! I've shown Matt a bunch of those pipe shelves (here, here, here, and here), probably a few too many. But good news is, he likes them! Ideally we will put them along the far wall where our desk is currently. 


The fireplace hearth is a little bit of a problem right now, but I pitched the idea of ripping out the brick hearth and replacing it with tile when we do the wood floors. That way we have a uniformly flat floor and don't trip/stub our toes trying to get to the most useless 4 square feet of our home ever. We'll see if that actually happens.


What have you been up to lately? Did you skip off to somewhere else for a break from your weather lately? Do you have any home improvement plans for your tax refund? Tell me, tell me now!