A Tour of Our Not-So New Home: Living Room & Kitchen

Our entryway. This is where we take off shoes. Note the litter box, makeshift cat bed, and cat toys.

A while back, I made a big announcement all about our new home in Brooklyn. It's been four months since we signed all of the papers, and I still can't get over the fact that Daniel and I actually OWN a piece of New York City. Like, who does that?! Apparently we do.

I'll just never forget walking out of that conference room after hours and hours of signing contracts and mortgage agreements. I had the biggest cheek pimple of my life, rivaling any blemish I ever sported in my adolescence, and yet when they handed us those keys, I was an adult.

And guys, let me tell you: I am so in love with this place. I mean, I should be humble, but I am just way too excited to care. Our new apartment is sexy. It's bright and spacious with a gorgeous view and SECOND BEDROOM. We live downstairs from a family with toddlers who sound like elephants in an aerobics class, and we don't even mind. It's that good.

Yet, for as much as I love it, I've done a pretty crappy job of keeping YOU (as in The Avoiding Atrophy readership) apprised of the happenings of our new digs. I think I've been waiting to get everything just so, and it's still not, but whatever. We've made some progress, and I'm psyched to show you where we are in our renovations. Today I'll be showing you around our living room and kitchen, but be on the lookout for future posts featuring the rest of our pad. For now, though, come on in!

The Living Room

If you were to have walked into our living room at Christmastime, this is what you would have seen. We purchased the couch and the rug from IKEA in what was perhaps the most stressful IKEA visit of my life. Our plan was only to buy the couch that day, but we left with the couch, a rug, a dresser, a duvet, and a new frickin bed. My heart could barely take the spontaneity of it all. I have such anxiety about spending money, it's ridiculous. Like, I should be studied. But whatever. Now that some time has passed, I'm able to look at all of my new furniture without a sense of crushing guilt.

I would also like for you to note this zig-zaggy blob sitting in front of the couch. Some time in the beginning of November, I got pouf fever. By "pouf fever", I mean that all of my waking moments were spent googling inexpensive poufs/ottomans. I just became fixated. I mean, you've seen poufs all over Pinterest, I'm sure, but did you know that they cost about as much as a full college tuition to a private university? Not really, but they are more expensive than you'd think. I got lucky and snagged this little guy up for $35 at Kohl's on Cyber Monday.

The newest addition to our living room is our coffee table. We've been needing one, but the space is kind of narrow, so we have been a bit puzzled as to what kind of table might work. One day, however, while walking through a museum called West Elm, we happened upon the perfect one. I realize, by the way, that you may think of West Elm as a furniture store, but I maintain that it is a museum since, for the most part, nothing in there is actually available for me to own, but rather for me to admire. As we were wandering around this museum, we stumbled upon a lovely coffee table with a modest price tag to boot. Here she is:

I know, I know. She's kind of weird. She looks like three flying saucers coming in for a landing, but we don't care. To us, she is perfect. We just set her up last night, and we can't stop talking about her. We are so very proud.

Oh also, please note that we are the kind of people who color coordinate our books now.

Also located in our living room is our dining area. I scored this set of chairs on Craiglist for $10. They need some work (you can see the loose strings and stains all over them), but I'm just jazzed to have chairs that don't fold. Not to mention, we finally have a place to legitimately put a kitchen table. By New York twenty-something standards, that basically makes us Rockefellers. 

Things I still want to do in the living room:

-Hang pictures

-Get a chair that actually faces the TV

-Install some kind of jaw-droppingly gorgeous light fixture

-Buy some new throw pillows

-Curtains

-Take down the paper chain that I made for Christmas...though I weirdly like it because I'm five-years-old

The Kitchen

Daniel and I have decided to turn the next few months into our big renovation season. I mean, we don't really want to be outside anyway, so why not get shit done indoors where there are heaters and a warm kitty to cuddle with? This weekend, we completed our first major renovation: painting our kitchen cabinets. Here's what they looked like before:

Don't tell me you love those cherry cabinets. I don't want to hear it. With all of that dark tile (which we plan on removing) and the white appliances (why?), the cabinets were just not working in that space. Here's what they look like now:

LOOK AT ALL DAT LIGHT! That's what I've been exclaiming all day today while walking around my apartment. As Daniel has mansplained to me many times, all of the light is now being reflected as opposed to absorbed, making our kitchen appear much brighter. It's like heaven.

And by the way, if you'll allow me to complain for a moment, this whole thing took FOREVER. I had never painted cabinets before, but naturally, I assumed that we could probably do it in the span of a single episode of Friends. I assumed wrong. It took us all weekend as well as this morning. I've lived the entire past three days with paint in my hair, but whatever, so worth it. I'll just develop some renovator's amnesia, and keep on trucking on.

Things I still want to do in the kitchen:

-Add a back splash. I'm thinking hex tile or subway tile. Not sure yet.

-Remove and replace that nasty black tile. What were the previous owners thinking there? I'm not a fan.

-Maybe try some open shelving by just removing a couple of the doors from the cabinets. We'll see though.

-Replace the countertop with a butcher block

-Install a prettier light fixture over the island

-Actually get a real kitchen island, or at least a larger cart

Anyway, so that's our living room and kitchen. Please affirm me in all of my home decor abilities. I still lack the confidence to actually believe that I can make this place look like grownups live here. 

Do you have any home projects you are working on?

Butt-Destroyed Office Chair Gets a New Look

Have you ever completely destroyed a chair with your big ol' butt?

Allow me to rephrase that.

Has your big ol' butt -- proud and wondrous as it is -- has it ever worn down a humble office chair over a period of a few years?

Well, mine has. And if you've read this blog for any period of time, you'll note that this isn't the first time that my butt has won out in a war between itself and a chair. It's a lifetime struggle that I am sure will haunt me for the rest of my days.

I'm not fully sure how long I've had this particular chair, but as you can see in the above picture, it has seen better days. You may be wondering what explosive event caused such a giant rip in its upholstery, and friends, that is a fair question. But let me assure you that this bizarre injury happened gracefully over time. Every day that I sat down to write the next great American novel/read a Buzzfeed post was a day closer to this chair's demise.

And I could totally just throw it out, but forget that -- I'm a blogger. And bloggers don't throw things away. They upcycle. They DIY. They take things that are on the verge of uselessness and breathe new life into them.

So I grabbed a staple gun, some fabric I had lying around the house, and I set out to Frankenstein the shit out of this god-awful chair.

The first thing I did was remove the rest of the upholstery. This probably wasn't necessary, but man, it was really cathartic. Please ignore the awkward oil stain that I discovered on the chair after this process was completed.

From there, I laid out my fabric and cut all around the seat with the carelessness of a toddler. I hope you've never mistaken me for a professional.

Afterwards, I laid the chair on its side and began stapling. 

It was at this time that I encountered a snag in my plan: it turns out I'm afraid of staple guns. I would pull the trigger, and immediately my mind would be transported into a world where one of those staples got lodged in my hand or my eye or my stomach. In general, I have never been a fan of guns. Rifles, staple guns, laser guns -- they all feel awkward in my dainty hands.

When it came time to smooth out all the wrinkles, I may or may not have called in reinforcements.

But whatevs, y'all! The chair is done, and here's what she looks like:

Give my butt a few years, maybe even months. It will eventually win another war with this upcycled chair, but in the meantime I am going to sit in this thing without a care in the world.

By the way, these pictures were taken in my NEW apartment in my NEW office, and while you're getting a sneak peak here, stay tuned for an epic NEW HOME post. 

For Halloween, I was pizza

As I have lamented numerous times on this blog, I was not raised in a Halloween-friendly household. Look, my parents are good people, so I'm not trying to point any fingers here, but they just didn't think much of this particular holiday. To my recollection, I trick-or-treated just once and dressed up only a few times beyond that. Here I am dressed as a pig, utterly clueless as to how I should be feeling:

If you haven't already realized, I was a very stoic child.

Because of this void in my childhood existence, I have made it my life's mission to celebrate Halloween to the fullest as an adult. I dress up, eat pillow cases filled with candy, and walk the streets in the dark of night marveling at everyone's inspired costumes.

Still, because I lack the proper training, I find that I sometimes freeze up when it comes to choosing my own costume. After all, I'm making up for years (YEARS!) of Halloweens gone by. It's a lot of pressure, y'all.

I'm getting better though. You may remember that last year, I dressed up as a piñata, and I felt absolutely unstoppable while strutting my stuff at the Village Halloween Parade. This year, I knew I needed to up my game. I racked my brain until finally I realized that the answer had been in front of me all along.

PIZZZZAAAAAAA!!!!!!1!!!!!!1!!11!!!!!!

It's easily one of my favorite foods, and in NYC, it's an absolute staple. As soon as the idea occurred to me, I took to Pinterest for inspiration. That's where I stumbled upon an excellent tutorial from Studio DIY for an ingenious couples costume: Pizza and Delivery Boy! I told Daniel, he ordered the materials from Amazon, we threw it all together and BAM --

To date, it is probably my favorite costume I have ever worn. I'm not going to pretend it didn't take me a full day to make, but it was totally worth it.

We spent the evening with a bunch of our friends passing out candy at our church in Hell's Kitchen (Our Saviour New York), and guys, I genuinely cannot describe how fun this was. If you've ever wondered how trick-or-treating works in NYC, let me tell you: these kids have got it made. Instead of going door-to-door to different houses in a neighborhood, they go door-to-door to businesses and other local establishments. And as you can imagine, these places have way better candy. At OSNY, we gave out 100% chocolate deliciousness. No raisins or pencils or any such nonsense. Twix, Kit Kats, Milky Ways -- the good stuff.

In my costume, I have to admit, I really stood out. People reacted so positively to seeing a giant slice of pizza walking around the streets of New York ("Yes! Pizza! Yes! YES!"). I had quite a few people ask to take pictures with me.

After all of the candy had been passed out, we went to a group dinner to eat -- you guessed it -- pizza. Instead of being a pizza cannibal, though, I opted to bust out my alternate costume throughout the meal.

Still, I couldn't resist getting a dollar-slice for the following disturbing photo op:

Don't worry. I didn't actually eat my fellow brother-pizza while in costume. That would have been disgusting. Instead, I passed him off to my husband.

So that was my pizzalicious Halloween. What was YOUR costume?

Galentine's Day

If you're a fan of the show, Parks and Recreation (which, like, who isn't?), then you know that GALentine's Day is just around the corner. It's a holiday invented by Leslie Knope, played by the always-brilliant Amy Poehler, which celebrates the friendship of gals. Here's the breakdown:

Via

While I'm sad to say that it is not yet recognized as a national holiday, I'm definitely holding out hope for the future of Galentine's. Today I celebrated this sacred day a bit early with some of my favorite women in all of New York City. Here are their faces:

My face is also in this one.

We enjoyed a truly scrumptious brunch from the good people at Boulton & Watt, and we talked about the French language, cheap manicures, and some of our life's greatest ambitions. It was wonderful, something I've been looking forward to all week, and in honor of this gathering, I made my lady friends some crafts (I crafted!).

True story: I had planned on stopping at a drug store on the way to buy a bunch of candy to put in these jars, but as always I was running late, so I just told them to fill them with their hopes & dreams. Thankfully, they were good sports about it.

Having a strong female community is literally one of my favorite things about being a person, and I am so glad to have had an opportunity to celebrate these lovelies. My life has been powerfully impacted by the encouragement of women, so to my friends all over the world of the female variety who have dazzled me with your friendship --

Happy Galentine's!

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Speaking of great gals, I'm excited to introduce you to Ashley who blogs over at Mint Sparkles!

First off, it should be noted that when I visit Ashley's blog, I just immediately get happy. Seriously, go there now because it has to be one of the most cheerful blog layouts ever! I'm a sucker for bright colors and sparkly goodness, so her aesthetic is right up my ally.

What I love about Ashley is that she has an eclectic combination of interests. She writes on a seriously impressive array of topics, but one of my favorites is her series called "Student Sessions". She's currently a student now, and she offers some awesome insights into how to make the most of your college experience. I definitely wish I could have had someone like this girl guiding me through college life (and on that note, I also wish I had a time machine to take me back to those good old days because, guys, college is awesome. Ashley, if you're reading this, stay in school forever.)

Another series you shouldn't miss on Mint Sparkles is "Techie Tuesdays" where Ashley introduces you to all of her favorite apps & gadgets while also providing some much-needed tech tips and tricks. If you're trying to decide which iPhone photo editing app to use, you should probably check out this post. If you want to know when the cheapest time to buy a flat screen TV would be, Ashley's got you covered with this post. Basically, anything tech-related -- this girl is writing about it in a super fun way. 

So seriously, if you're looking for a blog written by someone fun, smart, and down to earth (Ashley loves spending time watching instant Netflix and shopping in the dollar-section at Target...just. like. YOU!), do yourself a favor and hop on over to Mint Sparkles now. Tell her Christy sent you! 

Pretty Damn Good DIY Christmas Gifts

This year, Daniel and I decided to give our families a little bit of handmade goodness for Christmas. Over the last month, we have been crafting various gifts inspired by Pinterest for all of our loved ones. We thought it would be a fun and inexpensive way to really give everyone something special.

In some cultures, these projects are called do-it-yourself, or DIY. However, if you know anything about me, you would know that I struggle with the Y aspect of DIY. I'm more like a DIFM (do it for me) kind of girl. I have nothing against crafting or hand-making. I simply lack all the necessary crafting sensibilities. My friend, Kaley, once showed me how to put thread in a sewing machine and I literally had a brief thought that she might be a witch. I just don't get these things.

But I challenged myself this Christmas, and now that it's all over, I'm happy to share what we created. After making these gifts, I must say, I got a little attached. They became my precious babies, the fruits of my labor, and they were hard to give up. I'm really glad to hand them over to the people I love the most. Take a look.

Warning: several of these projects feature plastic toy dinosaurs, all of which were harmed in the making of these gifts. 

1. Dinosaur Mason Jars

original inspiration via Mason Jar Crafts Love

I mean, seriously, shouldn't everyone own a set of these?

 2. Wood-burned State Cutting Board 

This one inspired a lot of questions, and rightfully so. When I bought this, it was folded, and it appeared to just be a small run-of-the-mill cutting board. Upon opening it, we realized it had this hinge which revealed the circular indentation. Feeling too frazzled to care, we went ahead and wood-burned it anyway, but does anyone know what specific use this object has? Either way, there is a Texas shape on it, so I think it's cool. 

3. Gold Dinosaur Magnets 

original inspiration via The Yellow Spoon

We gave these little guys away this Christmas like they were candy. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of all of the magnets we made, but many of them featured dinosaur butts, which was a real win in my book.

4. Wood-burned Recipe Cutting Board

original inspiration via Nutfield Geneology

This is my dad's famous chili recipe wood-burned onto a cutting board. If you're lucky, maybe I'll post the whole thing for you one day.

5. Chevron Clock 

Buy your own clock kit on Amazon

Paint it, tape it, paint it, untape it, clock it. There were numbers we could have added, but we liked the minimalist look of it.

Bonus: The picture in that frame is a childhood photo of my boo and his baby brother, Nick. 

6. Framed Glitter States

original inspiration via The Effortless Chic

We made these to go in the nursery of our soon-to-arrive niece! Her mama went to school in Virginia, but of course, her heart is in Texas.

7. Painted Wine Glasses

original inspiration via Radical Possibility

I decorated these with metallic sharpies and baked them for good measure. According to the internet, the paint should stay.

8. Book Art

original inspiration via Ruffles and Stuff

How many times have you seen silhouette prints on book pages and loved them? Did you know you could just PRINT THEM FROM YOUR PRINTER? Well, you do now.

9. Citrus Body Scrub

recipe via Marta Writes

This stuff smells delicious and I hear it works wonders on super dry feet. I'll be making some for myself here shortly because my husband complains that I scratch him with the soles of my feet in my sleep. Disgusting.

10. Photo Coasters

original inspiration via She Hearts It

I made a set like these two Christmases ago for my mama-in-law, so this year I decided to make some for my side of the family. These are coasters, but my mom has opted to display them as pictures on her mantle. Pictured (from left to right): Amelie (my niece), Jo (my sister), My mom and Dad, Missy (my sister), and obviously, Daniel (my hubs) and myself.

11. Dinosaur Jewelry Hanger

original inspiration via Make Dreams Come True

This one was probably my favorite to make. We saw something like this being sold on Etsy and while it is definitely impressive, we wondered if by chance, we could make something similar. AND WE DID. It was fairly time-intensive, but we're pretty jazzed about the finished product.


All-in-all this was a fantastic experience for Daniel and I. It really allowed us to think on the people in our lives and what makes each of them special. I've tried to convince Daniel to quit his teaching job and open an Etsy shop with me, but he's being totally uncool about it. Lame.

Let me know what you guys think! If any of these have you feeling inspired, feel free to pin them on Pinterest for the next time you feel compelled to give a handmade gift.

You guys are awesome. I hope you had a very, very happy holidays!

Throwback to My Halloween Costume

I realized this morning that I never posted my Halloween costume on here, and I'm kind of super proud of it, so that's ridiculous.

Here's the Instagram that rocked the nation:

If you can't tell, I was a piñata and Daniel was a "birthday boy". I snatched this idea up after seeing this lovely tutorial from Camille Styles. I kind of followed it, but I mostly winged it because I have zero patience.

I got a bunch of streamers and spent hours hot-gluing them to a cheap little shirt-dress. The second I put it on my body, it all fell apart, and after a mini breakdown, I just decided to put it back together while I was wearing it. It was quite a process, but this was the final outcome.

That's a piñata, right?

We spent the evening with Kermit, Harry Potter, and a warrior of sorts.

And we laughed a lot, and took blurry pictures on the B train.

 Aaaaaaand that was Halloween. Anyway, I just thought you should know.

What did you dress as for Halloween?