Day 145 - It's Not a Kitten, but Not a Bad Start

Today I became a plant person!  I am so excited about my two new additions in my apartment. I actually have other living THINGS in this space with me (hopefully the only other living things...).

I also just got back some artwork I had framed a few weeks ago.  I hung them all by myself which for me is quite a task.  I normally leave such an important responsibility to my boyfriend but I figured since I accomplished buying two plants I could accomplish hanging two pictures.  I even took pictures of the plants and framed art to share:

This plant is supposedly "eco-friendly."  I have no idea what that means.  Aren't 

all plants eco-friendly?  Either way I like it.  Apparently I can't post the picture of the other plant so I give up (I've tried like 6 times...must have an error in the file).  It is spiky and cute and lives in my kitchen.

And here is the artwork I framed and hung.  One is a portrait of my mom when she was in London in 1977 (coincidentally she was 24 then...the age I will be in a mere couple of hours) and the other is a print my friend Megan made a few years back.  

I am almost to the level of apartment completeness that I desire.  Just need a table and chairs. Which I THINK I will be getting tomorrow.  I found a great little round table with three chairs (one is maroon!) that would fit perfectly in my kitchen.  Justin was sweet enough to offer to drive to work tomorrow so we can pick it up on the way back.  I'm so excited - I hope it is still available tomorrow!

Now if I can just work on getting that kitten I want... 

Day 133 - Living Alone = Fantastic

People told me I'd feel lonely or scared or bored living by myself.  Absolutely not the case.  I think I like living alone almost TOO much.  Perhaps this will fade, but a month and half in and I am still doing splendid.  This is probably stemming from the fact that I have lived with roommates for the past 6 years and I was about done.

Oddly, since I started living alone I have had a heightened interest in cooking, cleaning and decorating.  Something about it feels more gratifying than when I used to do these things in a shared space.  Perhaps it always felt like I didn't get to fully enjoy the benefits of those things.  But now anything I do here directly impacts me and only me.  Excellent!

Cooking:

Today I made cranberry, walnut & raisin scones.  Delicious.  And tonight I am going to make a marinated vegetable salad that I can bring to work for a couple of days.  I am so over buying lunch at work.  It has gotten ridiculously expensive for mediocre food.  I'd much rather spread my dollar a little further on something tasty.  I am trying to plan out my meals ahead of time but it's still kind of hard.  I re-read Leo's 50 tips for grocery shopping and I'm still not there yet.

Cleaning:

I have always been a fan of a tidy and clean space (I frequently use that compressed air stuff to clean out crumbs and debris from my keyboard at work) but it is especially magnified here in my mini-kingdom.  I dust, vacuum and clean my bathroom once a week.  And I make my bed every day.  I still suck at laundry - but I'll get there.

Decorating:

Ugh.  This is going to be the downfall of me.  I am constantly thinking "hmm, I should go pick up a plant"  or "I should get a few more frames" or "I should swing by the custom frame shop to put that artwork in."  Decorating could be a dangerously expensive habit if I don't watch out.  Spending a lot of money is NOT the direction I'm trying to head.  I just got some art custom framed that cost me far more than I had planned.  I think I'll be going back to matting my own stuff.  I'm totally capable of doing it.  

All in all I think that I have really stepped it up on my domesticity simply due to the fact that I don't have cable.  I'm sure if I had cable I would waste an enormous amount of time.  You can only spend so much time online and reading so I have subsequently upped my domestic game.

We'll see how long this all keeps up...only takes 30 days to make something a habit!