i think ikea must dabble in some kind of black magic...
or else they're just really great at marketing. :P
you might go in there for just one small thing, but they'll make you look at every single thing they sell to get to that one thing...which for me means trouble.

whenever i go there i feel like a rat in a maze.
seriously though, the first time i ever went, i felt a small sense of panic.
i didn't know how to get out!
what if there was a fire or something?

i guess i'm getting the feel of the maze a bit more now though.
rats can learn.

so yesterday i went there with some international students.
if anyone reads this who doesn't know me in real life, i have a lot of international friends.
i'm married to an international person, and i work with international students.
so each semester when new students come to the university, we take them to ikea to help them find furnishings on the cheap.

so yesterday i went to ikea not for myself...but for the sake of others. :)
but of course i ended up leaving with something for myself...thanks to the ikea devilry.

the world map pillow came home with me yesterday.


this pillow has been trying to break me down for awhile...ever since i saw it in the ikea catalog a couple years ago.

yesterday i finally lost my resistance and gave in to the trickery.
$14.99 is more than i pay for most pillows... (i like shopping for that kind of stuff in india or super clearance.)

but hey, not only is it a world map pillow...but there's a big X on india! my husband's native home!
and i know just enough hindi to know that it was made by a girl named rina! (signed in the bottom left.)

i think i'm still bewitched!
...but isn't it too cute??

as a kid i remember the huge grandfather clock in our house dinging on the hour.
it's almost like a background character in my childhood.

my grandfather had given it to my grandmother as a anniversary gift...and then my grandmother had given it to my dad.

well, a couple weeks ago this long time family member came to live in our house!


a grandfather clock may not be something that would be my typical style, but i knew that i wanted it to live with us, so i just hoped it would get along with the other things in our house!

anyways, i think the adjustment is actually going pretty well.
we put it in our dining room/den. play nice...


pardon the truly horrific phone pics.
using our real camera means having to sort through all of our ireland and india trip photos...the thought of which overwhelms me at the moment.

but anyways, it's nice to see my old friend here now. i still need to figure out how to hang the weights and all back inside now. i bet my ol' friend google can teach me.

do you have any things around your house to remind you of your childhood home?

ps- i love how any picture taken in our house is sure to have at least one dog sneak into it! can you find the dogs in the pics?

thank you PBS masterpiece theater for bringing me my latest televised addiction.
downton abbey.


i've only seen one episode so far, but it looks like you hooked me in right from the start.
castles. victorian england. drama. PBS crack.

i think we really need this outdoor house light from pottery barn.


not only would it solve our security issue of needing more lighting in front of our house...
but it could also replace those ghetto 70's numbers that we've got going on.

aaaand, it could be a great valentine's gift! ( plus, it won't make me fat, and it won't wilt, and our house will wear it every day!)

3 birds, one stone. :)

not to mention that's it's on clearance...and it's super cute.
pretty please!

with much love from your thrifty and practical wife,
m ;)

confession.
home decor makes me more excited than clothes.
i think i'm officially an adult.

if i had to describe my decorating style, i think i'd call it 'british raj with a modern twist.'
yeah, i just made that up.

but the british part is because i have some pretty traditional pieces...mostly family hand me downs.
the raj part is because pretty much everything else is from india. or world market.
the modern part is because, well, i'd like to think that i make it look cool. :P

we've lived in our house for a year and a half now, and we're slowly getting all the rooms furnished and to our liking. one room that i still can't get quite right though is our master bedroom.


i think one of my biggest issues with it is the bed. it needs some drama.
that headboard is one my mom gave me (that i think she garage saled from my grandma) about 8 years ago when i moved to my first real apartment. i spray painted it, and since then it's moved with my 4 times. it's pretty rough.

thus, draped over it is my wedding veil. one of the only things in the room that i'd say really goes with the whole 'raj' theme. it has some awesome indian embroidery on it. oh, and i guess the green block print blanket on the bed...that's one thing that i smuggled back from indian this time.


well, the good news is that i'm getting a a new headboard!
i'm suuuuuuper excited!
and what makes me extra thrilled is that my big baby brother is making it for me...
out if this!

that happens to be an antique door from my parents old house...i'm in love!
i love things that are sentimental, and also things that are completely unique, so this definitely fits the bill for both! oh, and i love things that are free! :)

he's going to stain it darker to match my other furniture.
so now i'm inspired to make some other changes, and i need your help.

i need to bring a bit more india into this room, and i think some piece of art over the bed is just the place. with a window on each side, the bed is really the focal point of this room

i was on the hunt for a cool wood carving or wall hanging when i was in mumbai last month, but my prey was elusive, and i didn't find what i was looking for.

so now i'm thinking of putting some kind of blown up photo up there.
i need a pic that will inspire tranquility though...and romance. ;)

so i was browsing some free stock photos, and i found some pics of the places in india that we honeymooned! how bedroom appropriate. :)

but what do you think...would any of these look good blown up oversized and framed above the bed to give this room a little more raj and romance?

#1

#2



#3

or be honest, would something like this look cheesy?
i've tried over and over again for a mosquito net above our bed, but since the husband is from a place where they're actually a necessity, he doesn't find them as romantic as i do. :P
so let's get creative!

it is done.
i'm officially a thirtysomething, so watch out.

i guess the weird thing for turning thirty for me isn't so much that i feel different...but somehow i feel like it changes people's perceptions and expectations of me...should i be more responsible now?
is the bio clock ticking or what?

then again, maybe not...maybe it's all in my head.

but despite the weirdness factor, i did have a marvelous birthday week.

i was able to see my family, and take my dad's books from my parent's old house...he had like a gazillion amazing books. it meant a lot to me to get them, because i super miss my dad.
but sadly i had no place to keep them.

soooo...for my 30th bday my husband got me a library!
ok, so really it was some billy bookcases from ikea, but they made our office feel just like a library, and made me oh so happy! i feel like i'm being hugged by my dad's books!


i'm in love!
...with my husband i mean. ;)

 and the week was nicely topped off with a bollywood style birthday, which for me just means lots of crazy bollywood dancing. that stuff is seriously the best stress relief ever.
nothing like that to take the years off...plus amazing friends and food.



so thanks for the bday love everyone...
and please tell me i have a baby face. :)

what can i say about my twenties.
well, they've really been the best and the worst years of my life thus far...

so today on the last of being a twentysomething i thought i'd just list in no strict order the highs and lows of this passing decade:

cut off my long hair
traveled to africa
graduated college
met the love of my life
moved to missouri
first real apartment
got a masters degree
thought i could never be with the love of my life
moved back to texas
started working with internationals
became a dog mama
married the love of my life (it worked out)
traveled to india for the first time
lost my dad
lost my grandma
mom's home makeover
traveled to germany and austria
bought our first house
first white christmas ever
traveled to ireland

so if my life were a line graph, these would be the biggest peaks and valleys...well, obviously some much bigger than others.
wow. life changes a lot in your twenties.

ok thirties...let's try keeping it in the peaks. :)

so clearly blogging wasn't one of my new year's resolutions this year!

life's been pretty busy since we came back from india.

3 house guests, pet sitting, a conference, a cold, christmas, new years...the days have been packed.

and now i am experiencing my last few days of being a twenty something.

yes it's true. on to the new decade.


i hope our texas snow bodes well for this new season. love it.