Market Research-2010 Color Trends

I subscribe to Gift Beat, and they had a very interesting article in their last issue about color trends to watch for 2010 from Sherwin-Williams, the paint giant. You can view the palette in detail here. Here's a screen shot of what to expect. If you click the link above you can delve further into the colors. There are 4 themes for 2010: Rooted, Treasured, Simplified, and Refreshed. Pretty, huh?
Color always inspires me like crazy! Hope you enjoyed!

~Lori

Obama-The Perfect, The Good, The Ugly

In case you haven't heard, there's a huge election in Massachusetts today where Martha Coakley (D) is in a Senate race for her life and the life of the Democratic majority in the Senate against Scott Brown (R). Coakley's run a lackluster, obtuse campaign and Democrats are having a collective freak out because Ted Kennedy's seat may go to a tea party candidate whose convictions run as deep as friendships on Jersey Shore. Oy. This is not good. A Coakley loss could mean the 'death of healthcare.'

Throughout the entire lead up to this election, Obama and the White House have made many miscalculations that are probably going to cost them. As a proud member of 'Obama's base,' I offer where I think Obama and the greater 'Obama machine' went wrong.

Incorrect Assumptions...

1. The vibrant base that elected Obama would somehow become tone-deaf once he got into office and behave as sheep pining for a shepherd.

WRONG. Why? Who do you think Obama's base is? Folks who have no access to technology? Folks who ran off into the hills after the election, waiting for smoke signals about the 2012 race? No. The base who elected Obama...their lives are filled with nuance. We aren't ignorant. We understand the difference between a public option and an exchange. We understand what it really means to allow insurance companies to compete across state lines. We're sickened by vote buying and lame-ass elected Democrats. We despise bail outs and pointless wars. This is 2010, dude. We tweet all damn day. We practically know what you ate for lunch.

2. Any attempt at bi-partisanship is better than none. Oh, and it's noble, too.

WRONG: And WRONG. We have a -0 respect for Republicans in general, and quite frankly, we don't understand why Obama has any at all. Why campaign effectively against Republicans and then throw all of that momentum in the crapper the second you enter the White House? Have the Republicans done anything to help you or the country? No. They blew the 2008 election by thinking that running an empty vessel for Vice President was even more fabulous than the empty vessel who ran this country for 8 years. (They called you a terrorist, remember?) They risked the basic security of our country for their own political gain FOR 12 YEARS IN A ROW. Can we please not aim for a baker's dozen here?

This isn't a Montessori school exercise in social graces. This is the United States of America. The Republicans presided over a corrupt war; they drained our economy to fund it with mercenaries from Blackwater and cost-plus contracts to Haliburton and KBR; they tortured and imprisoned people for nothing; they took their eye off the real terrorism ball; they presided over a gargantuan theft of wealth by bailing out Wall Street, and they called anyone who questioned their actions in this regard un-American and un-patriotic. Today, they show up at mis-named rallies with goofy ass hats, tea bags, and absolutely sick posters.

At this point, striving for bi-partisanship in this climate is the actual unpatriotic thing to do.

3. The perfect can never be the enemy of the good.

WRONG. Why not? Sometimes the distance between good and perfect is a country mile on a foggy day. The perfect is always the enemy of the good. They're supposed to be enemies. If they weren't, how would we know what we're fighting for? Where are the standards, the goals, the benchmarks, the platform shoes of our platform? There's a difference between the good (a dirt road) and the perfect (a paved road) when that dirt road runs backwards at no lawful speed limit (dirt road and all that) and crashes into the same trees that it was trying to get away from. Who's going to fix that car? The perfect mechanic who was overlooked for the good one? Turns out 'the good one' doesn't even work on cars. He works on motorcycles. Whoops, our bad. (Come on, he looked so 'good' on his resume.)

4. The best time to expose your backbone is after you've had the crap beaten out of you in a Democratic state.

WRONG. Granted, I'd like to see that backbone again because I'm starting to think it was a temporary medical procedure or something, but mirages aside, if this is what it takes to get Obama riled up, then someone in the White House has let the perfect be the enemy of the good for waaaay to long.

Mr. President, your base was so fired up after your election that we would've moved to the moon to outsmart Al-Qaeda. Now, we can't even outsmart a tea bagger in Massachusetts. We don't want to look that stupid. We're the liberal elite, remember?

~Lori

The Capitol Necklace 14K gold by Lanyapi

My Memory's Not What It Used To Be

I have a difficult time remembering some phases of my life. Part of that is from years on Topamax, or as those of us who tired of it, 'Stupamax.' I took it in an attempt to regulate my migraines, but I don't take it anymore. Anyhoo, there are huge sections of the first 40 years of my life that I don't remember. I've been cleaning out my apartment lately because I have an irrational fear of becoming a hoarder (lol-thank you A&E). In the process of this cleaning, I found a box of years of canceled checks. I started to flip thru them and some of my memories returned. I'm going to use them to reconstruct my life and write about it here.

So, here goes nothing...

January is Organization Time!

January is a popular month for re-organizing. I freely admit that I love organizing my beads as much as I enjoy making jewelry with them. I hardly ever throw away a container without thinking, 'I could put beads in that!' Here are some interesting organizational options from our handmade friends at Etsy:

Distressed Brown with Aqua Flowers Desktop Organizers

Large Knitting Needle Case

Get Organized Chalk Vinyl Labels

Trendy Trash Brown Dots, FREE SHIPPING

Coupon Organizer Jezebel

Tan & Blue Stripe purse organizer

twenty 10 calendar

*whew* Are you inspired yet? You know you are!!

Until next time, Lori

My new shoes...

Of all the gifts/purchases made this holiday season, I am the most stoked about my new shoes. I'm a Keds girl. I love them and they fit me perfectly. I have several really cute pairs already, but these are the latest additions. I adore brown. I wear it constantly.

Hampton style!

Savanna Velvet Grey Slip On!

I love the sneaker. Love it, love it, love it!

BOGO SALE - Buy 1 Get a Clearance item FREE!

♥ BOGO SALE THRU 1/10/10. BUY 1 GET A CLEARANCE ITEM FREE!

♥ Free CLEARANCE item can't be more than $3 beyond your purchased item price. Ex: If you buy a $9 pair of earrings, you can choose a free item up to $12.

♥ Request free item in notes to seller at a checkout. Don't put it in your cart.

♥ Limit 5 free items.

Behold the New Coffee Table

So a couple of days ago, I blogged about the new sofa I got and the fiasco that ensued when we finally ended up hoisting it over my 2nd floor balcony. Well, also got a new coffee table. I specifically wanted one that I could use as a storage as well because I need more storage! So, I bought this coffee this thinking it was a solid piece of wood. It's not. It actually has a shelf that pulls out underneath it! This was fate because it gives me the perfect place to store (most of) my ridiculous plethora of beads. Behold...

The coffee table in standard mode:

The coffee table with the shelf pulled out:

A close up of beadle-mania!

I'm too ashamed to photograph the bookshelves full of findings or the other 2 storage towers. I need help, omg. Hope you're having a good Monday!

~Lori

My New Year's Nightmare

Today was one of the most insane days of my life. I awoke excited and determined because my brother-in-law was bringing new furniture I'd purchased--a new coffee table and sofa. My existing coffee table and sofa were Ethan Allen originals and 35 years old. The new sofa is a gorgeous deep dark mocha brown. Removing the old sofa wasn't easy because it's heavy as hell. We thought that would be the hard part. But no. Turns out the new sofa I got was too wide for my apartment door. We took the door off the hinges. Still too wide. There's also an artic wind blowing thru here today, so we had the door off, the sofa stuck in it, and no way to stop the wind. My friend, Brian, who'd come over to help, ended having to sit in his car to keep warm until some moving guys I called could come help us. Eventually, they decided hoist the freaking sofa up to my 2nd floor balcony and bring it in like that. Seriously.

The coffee table I purchased, my BIL didn't think it was kit, but it was. Turned out to be pretty complicated to put together. I took my friend, Brian, out to dinner for helping me and freezing his butt off, and he called me on his way home to tell me he'd gotten a flat, and he was stranded in the freezing cold dark. I changed back into my clothes from my pajamas and drove across town to pick him up and get him home.

We'll deal with the flat tomorrow. I'm exhausted!