Things that I think are pretty.

Monday, September 26, 2011

It's Monday...  while everyone else in the world is grumpy because (well, it's Monday)...  I am in a terrific mood.  I just aced another test, in a class that I never pay attention in and often skip (Dude! It's really early in the morning and I still work super late nights) (Oh.  Just joking, I mean... I always go, all the time and I'm a really attentive student.)  I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, but I have plans for a nap this afternoon that I think just might be pretty glorious.  I've also got a wedding this weekend and a chance to see a lot of people that I love...  It's a good day!

So, here are things that I think are pretty.  I'm just in that kind of mood. 

I love this look, it's kind of the stripes/floral mix I'm going for in the kitchen.  Super adorable.  It's from this lady, and her outfits are just perfect.




This picture?  Forget about, it.  This is everything I love about flowers (and I really love flowers.)




With Hannah's new tattoo, all I can think about is just a little more ink.  I've got lots of ideas (and I know everyone's already seen this picture from we heart it) but I love this.

Gorgeous!  And it is... (enough, that is.)




Seriously?  Tiny pies.  I know.




Plastic animals to show wedding guests their table numbers.  Don't be surprised if you see a grouping of painted plastic animals as the table centerpiece at an event I design someday.




My seester, Hannah.  She's (luckily for her) my roomie and the frequent victim of my need to "talk through" some of my design ideas (not so luckily for her.)  She's also wearing my vintage hat and purse in this picture (and I used my magic curling iron to fix her hair, so I'm basically responsible for how hot she looks.)




Look at this.
I want to go to there.


I briefly/only for 10 seconds/actually never/kinda thought about having a child last week so I could design a teenager's bedroom.  I'm thinking about it for 3 more seconds so I can look at this kid's room.

Just joking.  No kids.



And this, of course.   It's almost too obvious, because we're just that pretty.  (I often look back at sentences and realize how many time I've used italics.  Often I change it because, come on, that's just ridiculous.  Just as often, though, I keep it.  We all know I actually talk this way.) 



OK.  I need to get back to studying (one more test tomorrow!) but so concludes my Monday edition of "Things I think are pretty."  You're welcome.  (Especially for the last one.  Unless you're actually in that picture.  Then... I'm sorry.)




I'm totally gonna pretend that I took this photo.

Except that I didn't.  I did, however, love it so much I thought I'd put it as on the blog permanently.  (Well, permanently-ish.  I change my mind a lot.)



I found it on flicker and stared at it for a minute, wishing I had the time/energy/motivation/money to really get into photography.  I don't neccessarily want to become a photographer, but I'd love a nice camera and a little know-how.

'Til then, I'll have to drool over everyone else's gorgeous shots (and steal them for my blog.)

That test whose ass I thought I kicked?

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Totally did.  Got an A.
 

I Chuck Norris-ed it, for real.

Bathtub full of books.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

When I lived with Amber, I started collecting books.  I'm a big reader (and a fast reader) but I used to never really buy books.  I had a dream once where I had a giant library (the kind with a ladder and everything!) and I realized that in my dream I wasn't that old.  If I wanted that library, I was gonna have to start getting on it!  I started collecting books from thrift stores and the clearance section at Half Price Books (only a dollar!)  I go thrifting a lot and every time I do, I stick my nose over in the book section and see if there are any of my favorites or ones I'd been wanting to read.  I started collecting my library and soon amassed quite an amount - they overflowed from my one bookshelf and started giant piles on the floor.  Well, one day Amber and Ben decided to re carpet the upstairs and I had to get everything off my bedroom floor.  Where did I store all of my extra books?


In the bathtub, obviously.

So I've decided to have a child.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Not because I have any desire to push a real person out of my body (in ways I think it's really unfair that actual large things have to exit a person), or because I really want to be a mom (helping raise my four younger siblings was enough for me - for now.)  I mostly want a kid (a girl, to be specific) so I can design this room.


I actually don't want a teenager.  I changed my mind.  I forgot about the whole actually-having-to-raise-a-teenager part of this fantasy.  Why doesn't someone just hire me to create this room for their kid and they can then raise her?  This is a much better idea.  (And I get money out of it!)

I love this room (done by Teen Vogue for some lucky little teenybopper, to promote their new bedding line.)  It's got a great mix of stripes, florals, graphic elements, polka dots and ruffles.  There are a million colors and prints in this room, but they all work against a clean and neutral background. (Nothing makes red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple look better than a large amount of white.)

I was so design-y, even as a kid, that all my stuff matched.  (In a horrid, bedding-in-a-bag way...  Dude, what did I know?  At least I was trying.)  When I first got my own room (and by got my own room, I mean started sharing a room with a baby, who had no say in the design process) I had this sweet sunflower/blue and yellow gingham theme.  I'm sure it came from some bedding set, but I had blue walls, a yellow rug and all the accessories... the whole shebang.  It. Was. Awesome/Heinous.  (I loved it)  I think I later had this leopard thing going on for my bedroom that we probably shouldn't get into if I want to keep up some pretense as a interior designer wannabe (I believe I brought it to college with me - my "I was a kid!" defense is starting to wear down.)

All this to say, I would have loved this room as a teenager.  It's everything a teenage girl could want to be... Cool, fresh, bright, fun, adventurous and still totally young.  (Easy, breezy, beautiful.  Cover Girl)  Obviously, the same could be said about me at 16.  The previous sentence - while using enough obvious sarcasm to be false - is not really funny unless you knew me at that age.  Now, though?  I'm totally cool.  

No, I didn't just go to CVS to buy some makeup remover so I could remove the glittery rainbow and unicorn temporary tattoo that I put on my neck at work last night and pretended to be really hardcore with.  Why would you say that? (Neck tats are super hardcore, OK?  Don't judge me.)


Art and test ass kicking.

Friday, September 16, 2011

I just had my first big (and by big, I mean, Godzilla-sized) test since I've been back to school.  It was this morning and I was super stressed out about it.  Let's just say that I picked out a paint color and bought it and haven't even painted my house with it, I've been so busy studying...  I know, that's pretty stressed out.  (More on the paint color later.)

This morning, however, I pulled a Jackie Chan on this little Adapted Physical Education test and showed it who's boss.  (Prize for the person who can correctly count how many times I use a metaphor for doing well on my test today in this blog post.) Therefore, I am in a fantastic mood...  Lucky everyone who gets to be around me today.

While I was studying (really hard, despite what I'm about to show you says about my procrastination techniques) I came across this post on Apartment Therapy (I only took a short break to browse the internets, ok?) about collections.  I'm a big fan of them, but the example they gave that I loved the most wasn't technically a collection, it was more of an art installation.



  I clicked over to his website, Rune Guneriussen and immediately spent the next few minutes (Ok! It was more than just a few!) drooling over his dreamy photos.   There are quite a few that use a collection of lamps or lights and are taken at night.  Dreamy is really the only word you can use for these photos.  (Ok, well, the only word that my studying-exhausted brain can come up with at the moment.)


He's got this amazing series with a bunch of office-y chairs on a rocky cliff and in the water.  They're all amazing, but I think my favorite one is this. 


The moss, the tree, the rocks, and the books!  I love love love it.

I want a giant white loft with painted white floors and a huge print of this hanging where it's viewable from every point in the house.

Beautiful photos for a killer day.

Stop! It's kitchen time... Oh, oh, oh, oh! (That was a MC Hammerreference, fyi.)

Monday, September 12, 2011

I've been SUPER lazy in doing anything even remotely connected to unpacking my apartment.  I think starting school back up for the first time in forever and packing/moving all in one week killed any desire I had to unpack.

But, since my lovelies Bri and Loryn helped unpack all my dishes/most of the kitchen stuff when we moved in, the kitchen is definitely in the front running for being finished first.

It's definitely pretty boring right now, though.  A few parts are a little janky, but it's just mostly boring, remodeled, basic apartment kitchen.


It's a galley layout, with the sink/dishwasher on one side (with a cut out in the wall over the sink that looks into the kitchen.



The other side has the stove, refrigerator and a few cabinets.



Real exciting, huh? (and pardon the iPhone pictures)  The problem with kitchens in rentals is that there isn't a lot you can do with them.  You can paint (with the small amount of wall that shows between the appliances and cabinets) and put down a rug, but that seems about it.

I found this photo a while ago, and while it is of a laundry room (not a kitchen - though Hannah would argue that I use both infrequently), it had some really strong design elements that I loved.


Love it.  LOOOOOOVE it.  La-huv it.  Lurve it.  I love it.  The clean lines and colors of the background, the bold black and white striped rug, the vintage map, the floral curtain...  (And can we talk about the colors in that fabric?  I'm obsessed.)  While my floors, counter tops, and appliances are not the clean white background this photo has, I do have white cabinets and I'm planning to paint the walls a nice super-light gray to counteract all the brown-ness that's going on currently.  (Who puts brown counter tops in a kitchen anyways?)

Loryn, in all her internet genius-ness found me the perfect runner.  (You'd be surprised how hard it is to find a black and white striped runner!  Well, that's not a million dollars.)  That's on the shopping list.

I'm also trying a way to get that amazing floral print in there.  I don't really have any place to put a curtain, but I have a sneaky idea...  I've been googling different ways to apply fabric on the walls.  I know it sounds cray-cray, but wallpaper is super expensive (and pretty permanent) and I've heard that it's really easy to affix fabric to the wall with starch and then just peel it off and wipe down the wall when you're done.  

Whether I go all out and cover a wall (the end wall of the galley kitchen, by the way.  It's what you see when you stand in the doorway and look into the kitchen - like in the first picture.  It's also not visible from any other part of the house except for the dining room, if you're looking into the kitchen, so it doesn't have to match anything else in the house.) or just use the fabric somehow in the kitchen, I'm excited to bring some color in there.  

The fabric that is in that photo is GORGEOUS!  It's also freakin' expensive.




Isn't it lovely?  I want.  So, if you've got a few more bucks after giving me the money for that dresser, I'd like a few hundred dollars to get a couple of yards of this stuff.  (Feel free to just round up to the nearest thousand dollars.)  

Since I can't afford that, I've been looking for something comparable.  Here are a few different fabrics I found at JoAnn's yesterday.

Cute, but not the best thing I've ever seen.


I like the colors, but I'm hoping for a light background.



I've got to keep looking.  I'll go to other fabric stores, but JoAnn's always has at least one 50% off coupon, and that is nice, because I'm a cheap-o.  (Thanks, mama! ;) 

The last thing I'll probably do is make another version of my spice shelves.  I built these shelves at my old apartment, but they're a little too long for my new kitchen.




They're just simple shelves with super light wood and covered in burlap.  I think I'm gonna put four shorter ones in the area above the sink, next to the pass through.  (You can see it in the second photo.)  The best part is... this will allow me to get even more spice jars!  Frankly, I use about 25% of the ones I already have, but spices are just so pretty.  I can dress up my kitchen all I want, but the intense yellow of the turmeric and the red-orange of the blackening seasoning are the best parts!  Dude, don't judge me.  Maybe someday I'll be on the verge of this amazing culinary experience and I'll just happen to have the necessary crazy spices.  Not everybody has whole allspice and star anise in their pantry.  What if I need it?  (This paragraph is very italicized.  I think that means I'm a little too dramatic. Whatevs.)

I've been collecting a bunch of vintage glasses in all colors, shapes and sizes, along with my ridiculous collection of saucers/salad plates.  (I really wanted to have all different dishes in normal plate size, but all the cute ones are so tiny!)  As soon as I get my butt in gear, I'll be working on a project for an awesome silverware collection as well.  I think I'll wait until I talk about the dining room to throw those photos out, though.  

There you have it, 1,000 scintillating words about a kitchen I haven't even decorated yet.  I'll probably get a call about a book deal by lunch.




Anyone have a spare $4000 and change they could give me?

Thursday, September 8, 2011


I don't know when I first saw this dresser, but I've loved it/had it saved in my "I'm too poor" folder/dreamed up ways to hack it/wanted it for a few years now.  It's from Kent and London, fancy English furniture makers, and I'm sure the detail and care that go into lovingly handcrafting make it worth every penny... But I'm never gonna be able to afford it.

I constantly have it in the back of mind and when I see a cheapo dresser from Ikea or something with a bunch of drawers, I have to stop and think, "How can I turn this into that killer alphabet dresser?  Cause I totally could do it!"

Having a dad who's got decades of carpentry experience and given me just enough know-how and tools to build a few shelves or frame out a bookshelf has made me a bit over confident with my woodworking skills.  It's dangerous/awesome/gets me in over my head.

Just joking, I am posting about pancakes.

So Monday was the first morning Hannah and I woke up in our new apartment and obviously something had to be done to mark this momentous occasion.
Enter rainbow pancakes.

I should have started this out by talking about how much Hannah loves pancakes.  She does.  A lot.  Only with good syrup, however, none of this Aunt Jemima crap.    I wanted them to be a surprise, so when she woke I up, I banished her to her bedroom until they were all done.  I'm pretty sure that in pursuit of artistic perfection, they weren't as good as the one she makes (which is to say, very very good.)  But, of course she said she loved them.  Hello?  I'm her sister and I made her rainbow pancakes!  Of course they were delicious!

It wasn't very hard, just a few paper bowls to divide the pancake batter in, (and to keep my precious vintage dishes dye free!) some food coloring, and a little basic color theory.  (That phrase sounds way too fancy.  I just meant that red + blue = purple.)

What you can't see in the background of this picture are a million unpacked boxes.  I wish I could say that since this picture was taken, all/most/even a few? of them had been unpacked.  Ummm... yeah, totally!  I'm all done.


 Or, I haven't even started.  Whatever.

Table 19, your pizza is ready.

Friday, September 2, 2011

The odds are very high that none of you will get the name of this blog (unless your last name is Corder and you're my sibling.)  You should all remedy that situation and memorize the script to the seminal classic "That Thing You Do" by the celebrated auteur Tom Hanks.  (No, none of those phrases were meant to be sarcastic.)  Then, you can jump right into the Corder kids' favorite pastime: proving they can quote this entire movie line by line.

I just wrote a paragraph defending my love for this movie.  (It included the phrases "nostalgia," "beautiful cinematography," and "moving soundtrack.")  Then I realized that I don't need to justify my feelings about it and deleted it.  So there.  Make fun of me (and then watch the movie, succumb to its greatness, and apologize for how wrong you were about it all.)

So, this blog.  Hannah and I are moving into a new apartment tomorrow and I wanted to chronicle its transformation into pure awesomeness.  So, why not start a blog?  I'm obviously really funny and super crafty.  I'll probably be putting Apartment Therapy and Dooce out of business tomorrow.

Sometimes I'm really good at documenting the various crafty/sewy/buildy things I do; sometimes I totally suck at it.  (Dude!  I cross-stitched an amazing 30 Rock quote grandma pillow for someone this summer and failed to take a single picture of it!  I know, I know...  It had vintage fabric on the back and the text was surrounded by super granny embroidery.   It said, "Ambition is the willingness to kill the things you love and eat them in order to stay alive.")  I'm hoping that having this blog will force me to use my camera more often (only when I'm being awesome... Nobody really wants to see what I'm eating for breakfast - though I won't promise that if I make some rainbow pancakes or something that you won't be subjected to a quick photo.)

I'm also hoping that this will be a good outlet for all the design ideas bouncing around in my head.  I've luckily got some super stylish/interior design loving friends, but my poor sister is done hearing about my plans for our apartment.  She's rather sweet and listens for a while, but I can tell when she reaches her limit by the way she shrieks "I don't know/care/wanna hear one more word about what color rug will go best with the couch!"

What have we got going for this blog so far?  My general hilarity, craftiness, the gorgeous apartment still in it's little cocoon (I was going for a little worm turning into a beautiful butterfly metaphor there, if you didn't get it), and rainbow pancakes...  But, let's not forget the old lady that lives in my 26-year-old body; she's got some killer cross-stitch and embroidery projects to share.

All that to say:  I'm starting a blog (which you know if you're actually reading this, so that statement was pretty pointless.)  You should read it everyday. 
 

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