Some home things. And also I'm still alive don't worry.

I was thinking of starting with a big mea culpa for the long gap in posting (I know you feel the loss keenly...), but the honest truth is that this is likely to be the norm for awhile so it's no use pretending otherwise. These days I'm fully occupied being a student, without much time for DIY unfortunately. BUT, I knew this was likely to happen, which is why I tried to do so much over the summer.

I have found time for a few small and random things that I thought I'd share lest you go into complete blog withdrawal. First, I found an old fashioned straw dispenser at Goodwill, which now resides in the kitchen. I love that it ties to the retro kitchen theme I've been attempting to cultivate, and also that it gives me a handy place to store my straws (for some reason I love drinking my beverages with a straw -- wasteful, I know).

Another new item in our kitchen -- though it really has nothing to do with DIY or decor -- is our snazzy new espresso machine. I got it for Sam as an engagement present, since he got my such a nice piece of jewelry and all :) Sam has wanted one of these for awhile now, but we kept restraining ourselves for budget reasons. Of course, I agonized over which one to get, since I wanted one that will hold up just like our relationship (though I hope we outlast it...but I didn't want something that was going to break before we even get married). Behold, the KMix Espresso maker by DeLonghi:

Mmm, isn't s/he pretty?

I've also made a few additions to the bedroom gallery wall, as is my wont. First, there's the drawing I purchased for Sam from the website I Want to Draw a Cat for You. We first learned of this "cat drawing service" on one of our favorite TV shows, Shark Tank. Basically wantrepreneurs (a term I love for people who want to be entrepreneurs -- I think someone I know made this up at some point?) pitch business ideas to a panel of business tycoons to get them to invest. This was by far the weirdest one we've ever seen, where this guy's business was essentially that he draws pictures of cats for people based on their description of said cats. But Mark Cuban (owner of the Dallas Mavericks) actually invested. And since Sam does love his cat, I decided to buy a drawing as a surprise present. Here's what the cat drawer -- aka Steve -- drew for us:

Bet you can guess some of the key adjectives I used to describe Owen....

Anyway, I framed it and added it to the gallery. I also framed some pages from a calendar I made Sam a few years back, which consisted of a rectangular piece of parchment paper for each month with a different inside joke of ours printed on every page. They don't really make sense to anyone but the two of us, but here's a picture of one anyway:

                     

That's right, a helicopter.

It was nice to do something with a few of them, since we stopped displaying the actual calendar once the year in question (I think 2010?) passed.

Here's the full gallery wall with the updates:

So those are a few goings-on around the home! I hope I'll find time for some more projects this fall, and will definitely keep y'all posted!