James Dean

In honor of Mr. Dean's upcoming birthday (Feb 8th) I thought I would show off my love of James.

Some of you may already know how much I love him but some of you may have no idea. I believe it started when I saw a picture of him (one of those cheesy, tacky, gift shop old hollywood pics) and was intrigued. Then I did a little research on him, saw one of his movies and fell in love with him. Plus, he is damn sexy.

Through the past 10 years I have collected and decorated my house with photography of James Dean. I have trimmed it back a bit when I moved into my new house but he is still not forgotten completely.

If you don't know about James Dean, he was a great young actor in the early 50's and in his short career snatched two Oscars. He also had a love for racing cars and ended up being killed in a high-speed car accident when he was only 24. At the time of his death he was known as one of the best, most talented and star studded actors with a long legendary career ahead of him. He was also known for being very mysterious, rebellious and someone who preferred to keep to himself.

Anyways, I thought I would share some of the James Dean items I own.

Collage I created with photos from his famous sweater photoshoot

James Dean 2009 Calendar

James' 3 Movies

Classic James in my dining room

Book 'The Rebel' Fictitious story about the continuation of his life had he survived the car accident

If you want to learn the basics check out the James Dean wikipedia listing.

He is the only man I would ever leave Chase for (well him and JT).

A How to

Due to a nice little 3 ft snow drift that accumulated up against my front door I had only one way in and out, the side door.

Unfortunately for me when I left the house yesterday (for the first time in 2 1/2 days)the side door locked behind me, thus leaving me no way to get in my home.



After 30 minutes and having to think like a criminal I figured out how to "break into" my house. I also realized some security measure I probably need to take now.

It was quite an adventure to say the least.

The Sickness

I have always prided myself on the fact that I almost never get sick and I absolutely NEVER throw up (drunk throw up excluded).

Well, that is not the case. Sunday I started feeling a little scratch in my throat, which slowly became a sore throat and an enlarged gland sticking out of my neck. By Monday a cough had started to form and for the past two days snot just continues to flow out of my nose.



All I can do it take a nice little mix of NyQuil, DayQuil, Sudafed, ibuprofen and cough drops. It seems to do the trick most of the time, at least allowing me to breath and swallow without too much pain. The only downside is this weird little high I am on from all the meds.

When I was a kid my mommy would put me in bed, bring me orange juice and snacks, give me the perfect medicine, and make me soup and grill cheese. And now... I am all on my own. The only company I have is cuddle company from Paisley. Even she seems annoyed by my endless nose blowing and coughing. It is times like these where a live-in boyfriend would really come in handy. I need someone to take care of me.



Instead, I had to make my own homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch and dinner. I had to stand over the stove with a spoon in one hand and a wad of kleenex in the other. It is just not right.

Calling on well wishes. : )

And then comes SNOW

I woke up this morning to a winter wonderland! The ice had been covered with snow. Oh how I love snow.

Snowy world from my front yard

Paisley really likes the snow. She even likes to stick her tongue out and catch some! She also likes the snow more than the ice because she can get traction. Yesterday when she came barreling out of the front door she bit it on the ice.

Paisley catching snow

Our office is closed again today so I get to stay home and work in my jammies, which is quite nice. I also seem to be more productive in my home work atmosphere. So for now I will just enjoy the beautiful white view and cross things off my to-do list.

Working from home

The ice apocalypse has once again made its presence known in Oklahoma. While this one does not appear to be as bad as the last ice storm it was still enough to close our office and send me and my fellow Third Degree comrades home.



So now, my home becomes my office.



I have all the essentials...

Coffee

Computer

Heat

And Paisley gets to curl up on the couch and watch mom work.



By the looks of it I will be here again tomorrow. And later tonight I will be cozied up on the couch under a warm blanket watching the new show about Advertising, Trust Me. I just wish I had tuna noodle casserole like Kathleen.

Moleskine

One of my favorite things these days is stationary and journals. I love them.

Every time I walk into Barnes and Noble I am immediately pulled to the stationary section and more specifically their selection of Moleskine products.

If you are not familiar, Moleskine is a line of notebooks that are famous for being the notebook brand that Hemingway, Picasso and Chatwin used. That is not why I like them though. I like them because they have every type of notebook you could possibly need.

My favorite Moleskine right now is the Kraft Moleskine Cahier Plain Journal. I love this one because it is so soft and flexible. It has a really nice raw quality to it. It is also the perfect size for jotting down notes at meetings.



I also have the Black Moleskine Reporter Ruled Notebook. I carry this one with me in my purse so I can write down things I see in stores that I want, phone numbers, books I see that I want to read, etc. It is the perfect size and very classic.



The entire collection is very appealing, including the new mini's they have come out with. I really like these but they are not as functional because the writing space is so tiny. I might just have to find a use for one though.



Next time you are in Barnes and Noble check the collection out. You will probably end up finding a reason for buying one.

Quick Post...

Thought I would sneak in a quick post about how absolutely gorgeous it is right now outside.

76 degrees in late January? Seriously?

As much as I would love some snow on the ground, because I am obsessed with snow, this is pretty great.

I am counting down the minutes til I get out of this office so I can grab the frisbee, get Paisley on her leash and enjoy this incredible weather.



So nice to have a park right across the street.

Anybody want to get in on some frisbee action just come on by!

And it all comes crashing down

As someone who lives alone (except for Paisley) there are things that happen that you are not quite sure what to do about. This was one of those times.

About 4 months ago as I was waking up one morning I noticed a drooping occurring on my ceiling. But I thought oh well. About 4 hours later as I was watching the Dallas Cowboys a huge crash came from the back of the house. Yep, the entire ceiling in my bedroom had come crashing to the ground!



First of all, NEVER put up those awful cheap ceiling tiles. They were super ugly and then they don't hold up. As you can see some of the nails came loose and since they are all attached together they slowly loosened the entire ceiling and pulled each other down.



The debris also left a ton of dust and crap all over my room. Most of the initial materials fell on my bed. Thank god I was not sleeping when it happened!



These are the crazy things that happen that you need a boyfriend or husband for. Since my pseudo single lifestyle leaves that to be desired I had to call my dad over for reinforcements.

I did end up getting a nice new textured ceiling put up. Unfortunately I had to sleep on my couch for a week while they were doing the work. Ugh. Good times.

So far so good

As some of you might remember, I am not drinking right now. It is part of my get healthy, cleanse and detox thing I am doing.

So far it is easier than I thought. There have been 3 'for sure' occasions where I would have consumed a pretty good amount of either beer or liquor and at least a couple dinner nights where I would have normally enjoyed more than a couple glasses of red wine. Nothing, I have had absolutely zero alcohol of any kind since December 31st/January 1st. It actually feels pretty good.

Since I still want to hang out with my friends and have a good time I decided to drink an energy drink while everybody else is guzzling down libations. It was my idea to at the very least stay awake and try to match their "high."

My plan isn't exactly working and when you come down off of those things its rough. I think I will just go with water or tea or diet coke next time.

28 days til my next drink of alcohol. No problem. I got this.

Tuna Casserole

I am famous for very few things but one of them is my tuna casserole. Yes I know, it sounds super 1970s avocado kitchen but it is delicious. Just ask my friends Kathleen and Liz who can't live without it. I even use the threat of not making it to get what I want. hehe

The recipe is super simple and quick which makes it even better. It takes about 20 minutes prep time (mostly the noodles) and about 20 minutes in the oven. Just the basics, and don't skimp on the cheese. Yum!

Ingredients

You mix all the ingredients together except the noodles in one big bowl. You can sneak a dip with a cracker at this step to test.

Mix it all up

You bake it in the oven at about 375 for 20 minutes to get a nice golden brown color on the top layer of cheese and crackers.

Cheese and crackers

After all that you are left with a delectable dinner to enjoy with friends or by yourself.

Finished product

I suggest you save it all for yourself because in my opinion, the leftoevers are even better!

My house is a very fine house...

Around a year and a half ago I packed my bags in Norman after graduation and headed back to the city. As I exhaustively looked for a place to live I had to shack up with my parents for an entire MONTH! A month is a long time in living with parents world. But it is nice to have meals prepared for you and your laundry done.

Since I work in Bricktown one of my main goals for my new residence was proximity to work. After driving to work from Norman and then from NW OKC I did not want a commute.

There were several areas along NW 23rd and NW 36th area that my mom and I explored but everything was too small and not well kept up. I narrowed my search to Edgemere Park/Crown Heights area but because this is such a perfect location with nice places to live things were not popping up for rent very often.

One day after work I decided to take a quick drive through Edgemere to see if there was anything new available. Luckily I glanced over through the park and saw a shiny white "For Rent" sign in a yard where there previously had not been one. As I would find out later I called the number about 10 minutes after they put the sign out.

As soon as I saw this place I new it was meant to be. It was perfect in every way. Except that she didn't allow dogs, which I would later talk her into when I found Paisley.

The house is a late 1920's duplex built to house the large population returning from war. All of the original architectural features are intact. The house has a detached garage and basement.

This is a quick floorplan sketch of the place so you can get an idea of the space. Its a row style setup with a lot of classic architectural elements. Note: This is not to scale at all.


So now that you have the back story, lets take the tour...

Front of the house. My front door is on the left.

View towards my side of duplex

Please, come on in

Living room as viewed from front door entrance

Couch area. Note the built in bookshelf behind the couch.

Mantle and foe fireplace.

Custom fireplace wood carving. Each house in this area has its own custom carving adorning their fireplace. So articulate and beautiful.

Dining room and home for my mountain bike

Bar area. The cabinet is original. This area is right off the kitchen.

Kitchen. All cabinetry and counter tops are original 20's

Bathroom. Nothing special. Just clean and simple.

Where the magic happens...sometimes.

My dresser nook. Notice my James Dean collage. I love him.

Last but no least, the best part of my house. The proximity and view of the beautiful park across the street. (Note: I will dedicate a post to this in the spring when everything is green and lustrous.)

The park.

I absolutely love my home and I can't imagine living anywhere else. This is the best place for my Pseudo Singe lifestyle. I am also fortunate to have several friends nearby. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

My Green Addition

I finally decided to add a plant to my house. I used to not like indoor plants. I thought they looked tacky and only old people had them. I have since changed my mind. I wanted something green and organic to add the look and feel of my living room. I moved my bike into the dining room when I had my Christmas tree up and decided to leave it there. Once the tree was gone I had an empty area to fill so in comes my new plant!



So far I am really enjoying it. It really makes that space in the corner look so much brighter and happier. After I realized that the plant elevated my mood I did some investigating. I found out that having plants around can be very beneficial.

1. In addition to calming your heart rate, plants lower blood pressure and reduce muscle tension related to stress
2. Plants help us relax and focus, leading to increased productivity,creativity, idea generation, and problem solving capabilities. In fact, the presence of plants helps so much that it has been shown to relieve the symptoms experienced by children with ADD.
3. Plants help patients recovering from surgery and ease the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
4. Plants also help clean the air we breathe by absorbing toxins and acting as little oxygen factories.

I still need to re-pot the plant from the plastic container it came in to the pot I purchased I Lowes. I think I will tackle that tomorrow. For now I am just enjoying the view.

Organization to the max

I am a huge organizational neat freak. I must have things nice and clean and put in their place. I also like to have a well thought out "home" for everything in my house. An area where I would really like to take this to the next level is my desk area.

This is my desk area as of a couple days ago.


I already purchased on of the major elements of my remodel. It is a dry erase calendar. This is the centerpiece of what I want to do with that wall space.



Awhile back I found some awesome stuff in the Pottery Barn catalog that has become my inspiration for the area.




Because Pottery Barn is too expensive for my Pseudo Single income I want to try and recreate this working with my budget.



I am obviously creating a much smaller unit but I am taking the main ideas from the Pottery Barn image. I am in search for a matching cork board for the area. I also found some Peel and Stick Chalkboard Sheets that I am ordering to put on the right side.



I am excited to get this area all set up.