Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Ugly Houses

I'm officially addicted to this website Ugly House Photos.  It's just too much of a good thing that I can't stop my eyes from seeing just one more or clicking one more page.  What is it about people who love to look and see how other people live?  There are a lot of us, no doubt.  And the blog owner has done a great job of finding some very unique homes, then following up with some history and his remarks.....love it.

And secretly, I've found rooms in some of those houses that I would LOVE to have right now-lol!  I don't know what that says about me, but I know that I like 'em!


So go check out Ugly House Photos if you have some time to kill.  Or even if you don't.  Just be forewarned, you won't just stop at one page.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Decorating the space above kitchen cabinet tops

A few years ago, we remodeled the downstairs area of our house.  We basically moved the kitchen into the space that was the dining room and moved the dining room into the kitchen space, making one large room with the sink as the divider.  It's much more casual than it was before, but it suits our needs.  We did the work ourselves so it's less than perfect, but doesn't look THAT bad.  I'd post photos if I could get them off of my external hard drive but for some reason, it doesn't want to power on this morning.

The main difference between the old kitchen & the new kitchen is that there is space above the kitchen cabinets now.  We re-used the cabinets (they were new when we moved in so no need to replace them) but the way we hung them left 2 foot gap between them & the ceiling.  Right now, I just have random vases that came with flowers my husband has sent me.  The good thing is, there are A LOT of them :)  The bad thing is, they're all the same color & shape, not very interesting without the flowers in them.  I've been wanting to put something fun & interesting up there but I just can't think of what.

I think if I had to put a label on my decorating style, it would probably be contemporary with Scandinavian influences.  I don't really like fake plants and stuff, but I won't rule them out.  DEFINITELY not country or cutesy type stuff, so no bears, little signs that say "Bistro" or anything French looking.  I do like those wood letters that say "Home" and "Love" and stuff though.  But they're not that easy to find in my price range (which is super cheap, we're on a tight budget right now saving for vacation & trying to follow the Dave Ramsey plan).

So, right now I'm on a search for interesting "above the kitchen cabinet" decorating ideas.  While there are lots of forums discussing it, there aren't a lot of photos.  And those who do post photos mostly have, you guessed it, fake plants, Bistro signs and cutesy stuff.  Sigh.....

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Top 10 Awesome Android Features that the iPhone Doesn't Have - Lifehacker


Top 10 Awesome Android Features that the iPhone Doesn’t Have



10 Awesome Features the Android has and the iPhone does not

Check out this great link "Top 10 Awesome Android Features that the iPhone Doesn't Have" from Lifehacker, one of my favorite go-to sites.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Help Us Rebuild: Our Story

Can you give Katey a helping hand?
Katey Needs Our Help! * Katey Needs Our Help * 
Help Us Rebuild: Our Story  Aprils Army  Chickatey (Katey's Etsy Shop)
Please click on this link to read the story about Katey from New York who recently lost everything in an apartment fire, including her beloved pet rabbit, Olivia. She did not have renters insurance so she is left with only with only a few things she was able to retrieve from the rubbish. She and her fiance were also in the middle of paying for a very small, frugal wedding. I'd love to see people from all over the country step up and help this nice couple in some way - if you live in the NYC area, you can contact her through her blog Or, you can purchase an item from her Etsy Shop. The awesomely snarky-fun website Regretsy has also written about it (and done a much better job) and you can read about it here. Finally, a great group of Etsy artists & designers have gotten together to help too, you can see their amazing creations here where sales will benefit Katey. I know people are genuinely good and I can't wait to see how great this all turns out.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Are you obese?

Illustrated BMI Categories - a set on Flickr

This is a fascinating study on the extreme differences in weight between people with the same weight/height and who is considered "obese" (when they look fine to me), "normal" or "underweight.
Morbidly Obese


Obese

Normal
Overweight

Underweight

I wonder what other people think.  No wonder there are so many people in this country with eating disorders.