celebrity sighting...sort of

a couple weeks ago michael and i were thrifting in rockville when we spotted none other than matt lesko, "the question mark guy", riding a motorcycle wearing his question mark suit. he waved to us and a debate about whether or not he was the real deal ensued. his wikipedia page reveals that he lives in kensington, md (very near where we were) and that he does in fact wear those suits in his everyday life. so we can be reasonably sure we saw the real matt lesko. best day ever.

living room makeover

when roxanne moved out in june, the living/dining area of our apartment was a vast empty space. all the furniture save for a chair, a bookshelf and a dining set was roxanne's. when my mom came to visit in july we set about redecorating.

here's the dining area before:



here it is after:



where the dining table used to be, there is a sideboard that i bought and repainted but it's not quite finished. pictures will be posted once i add all the hardware and mount a wall mirror over it.

here's the living room before:



here it is after:



the orange chair and small bookcase are flea market and thrift store finds respectively. the clock also came from the arlington flea. there's a lamp that's barely visible but that also came from a thrift store and is awaiting a paint job.

the star of the room is definitely the couch. i bought this ikea futon on craigslist:



white cushions are just asking for trouble. i toyed around with a few different options. i was planning to make a large quilt to drape over the cushions to protect them. but on a whim my mom decided she'd try to sew new covers for the cushions. several yards of ikea fabric and a couple accent pillows later and the futon was transformed!



there are still a few projects in the works so expect some more pictures to come!

i'm back?

lots going on at the moment. my mom's in town and is helping me turn my apartment into a real-person home. we spent my birthday weekend thrift shopping/estate-saling and eating cheesecake. lots of home improvement projects in the works. hopefully i'll have some before/after photos soon. going for a mid-century modern look which is tough to do on my budget but i think it'll come together nicely, hopefully before my new roomies arrive!

i'm going to try to ressurect my blog but things may fizzle out once i'm back in school and working full time. but hopefully i can finally keep it going through the school year! keep your eyes peeled for updates!

adobe photoshop cook

i am in love with this. i sort of wish it actually existed.

unlovable

so my brother finally sent my birthday present and i'm super excited about it.

unlovable is part novel, part comic book that follows the turmoil of overweight high school sophomore tammy pierce. the book is based on a diary from 1988 that the author, esther pearl, found in a gas station bathroom. and let me tell you guys, it is hilarious. i always sort of wish i'd kept a diary in high school but after reading this i'm kind of glad i kept all my teenage angst to myself. my brother gave me volume 1 for christmas and i read it in a couple of hours. he sent me volume 2 for my birthday and i can't wait to read it!

mmmmm...delicious

ever heard of the kfc double down?

it's bacon and two kinds of cheese sandwiched together by two pieces of fried chicken. disgusting? understatement. but michael brought to my attention that the dinner i made for us earlier this week was essentially a vegetarian version of this monstrosity. nevertheless, it was delicious.

my new favorite food

okay so not necessarily my favorite, but these little nuggets of delicious rank way up there. what are they, you ask? they are wedges of macaroni and cheese that have been battered and fried. i know, i know. we, too, were apprehensive initially.

but after one bite we were converted. and we'll never look back.