Homeowners: The Office

The office has become one of the most used rooms in our house and just so happened to be one of the first places I tackled once we moved in. Since J is working from home and I'm in school, we both knew we needed to have specific places to work instead of just spreading out on the kitchen table or somewhere else in the house. 

After a paint transformation from pastel-pink with sparkle to a soothing sage green plus the addition of two new desks and some decor we already had, here's a peak into where we've been spending a lot of time lately. 

We decided to take the closet doors off and put my desk snuggled into the space. It worked out perfect because there's an overhead light inside all our closets and it helps the room not seem too crowded with two big desks.

This is the usual state of my desk... covered with Basis of Disease books or lab manuals, tons of notes and colored pens and of course, coffee! I reused the frame that held our table-settings at the wedding to hold some of my favorite pictures from that day. As much as I hate how much time I spend sitting here, at least I've got my own little set-up to make me smile.

We bought two bookcases from Target that now hold both "for fun" books as well as all my textbooks. Our diplomas are finally hung and I made a few prints of encouragement to lighten things up. I have to say my current favorite shelf is the one that holds all my new med school equipment, purple stethoscope and all!

The office window faces to the front of the house and lets us know who's coming and going throughout the day/evening. And there are always signs of Ollie in the form of dog hair, toys and sometimes even his silly self making the office that much better.

Now if only I wasn't spending hours upon hours up here ;-)

My Creations- Picking It Up Again

It's been quite a while since I pulled out my sketchbook and had some creative time with it. Well a few weeks ago when I was home sick, I figured it was the best thing to do. So while watching many episodes of many different shows while laying on the couch drinking tea, I filled up some pages.

Picking it up again really felt great. There's something very soothing about creating something from a blank sheet of paper. 

The Nail Files: 3x

Today I'm sharing my current polish!

I believe it was a little over a year ago that OPI released a combo pack in their Bright Ideas! colors that included three polishes and one Rapid Dry top coat. My set was part of my Easter basket last year from my mom. I typically don't wear many cooler colors when it comes to nail polish so admitedly I haven't worn the blue polish ever. Oops.

But this week I decided my toes needed a summer color and what better way to do that than with Atomic Orange! I love this color but the polish itself is a little thick. It usually takes three coats to get even coverage without streaks. Plus, incase you haven't noticed, this set of polishes are the minis! I think they are just so cute, little miniture versions of the normal bottles. But I do think the tiny brush makes application a little more difficult. Regardless though I stuck it out and applied all the necessary coats between doing laundry and house work one night this evening.

I love this color and would consider buying a bigger bottle when this little guy runs out.

Link up with Tara and Vicki!

The Nail Files: 2x

It's that time of the week again for The Nail Files with Tara and Vicki!

This weeks polish is 

Topless and Barefoot by Essie

It's a perfect neutral I can wear anytime of the year. I didn't want to go too bold with spring colors quite yet but I'm definitely done with the darker colors from the winter already. After seeing these photos though I might go back and add a third coat because it does look a bit streaky with just two. 

And because I took a sick day I painted my toes as well. 

Rage by Orly

The Nail Files: 1x

Today I'm linking up with the Nail Files hosted by Tara of Fabulous But Evil and Vicki of My Vickilicious Life.

Today I'm featuring my current nail color. 

Pepe's Purple Passion from the OPI Muppets Line

It's a deep purple/red almost wine color with hints of red shimmer.

I currently have this color on both my toes and my fingers. 

Because there's never enough shots with the ring :-)

Trying to illustrate the shimmer and sparkle this color has is more difficult than I would have thought. 

What color nails are you sporting these days?

My Creations- New Sketchbook

My younger sister has always been "the artist" of the family. I've been crafty my whole life but that has rarely included drawing and painting type activities. While I was home her newest activity was water coloring and I thought, "Hey, that's something I might be able to do too."

An extra Altoids tin, some watercolor paints and a little bit of magnetic strip and I had my own set of paints. You know the tiny plastic paint tubs, the ones that come in a row all connected? We cut them apart, attached a magnet to the bottoms and filled them with paint. I use the lid to mix colors and the clean up is simple. (My sister's the genius who came up with the tin, I'm not taking credit for it.) All I needed was a few paintbrushes, a cup of water and a sketchbook to create in.

So I went out and got a mixed media sketch book and have been doodling and painting ever since. I always thought that to be an artist you had to be good at drawing people or animals or scenes.... none of which I could ever accomplish without the use of stick figures and excessive squinting of your eyes to make it appear decent.

However, I've already changed my opinion completely. It's been freeing, soothing and fabulous to create whatever I feel like; whatever inspires me. Whether it's Type A detailed patterns or free-flowing curves I plan on spending a good amount of time this summer filling up my book and possibly adding more colors to my tin.

For now it's back to my current page and my paintbrush amidst my loads of laundry for the afternoon. I can't wait to show you more of what I've been up to lately.

Have a fabulous and creative Monday!