Baby, It's *Still* Cold Outside

San Francisco has been hit by a serious cold snap that would take the spring out of anyone's step. I know people say this every year, but it really does seem colder this year than in preceding winters. Sans Christmas trees, stockings, and twinkling lights, the chilliness has lost its charm.

This morning's Design*Sponge roundup of fireplace accesories cozied me right back up to frigid temperatures, though. If only I actually had a working fireplace, I would absolutely have to have these black cat andirons. And by the way, Sears? Who knew? These would be awesome at Halloween, too.

Resolutions & Goals

I knew I was not going to get these together as soon as I had hoped … and I was right. But better late than never! Funnily enough, after re-reading the diatribe below, my Resolutions & Goals actually seem a little mundane. Maybe I am a whiskey. Here are a few off the top of my head:

* Blog more. Obviously! My evil iPhone wiping all my pictures – TWICE – has really cramped my style. I had good intentions of using the pictures as mental triggers to review my year via the blog since I was so delinquent in 2010, but alas, two years’ worth of memories evaporated like that. I was crushed, but life moves on.
* Learn how to sew.
* Re-learn how to knit (the class was a success but I’ve already mostly forgotten – I’ll be banking on muscle memory). I know a number of cutey-petutey babies (and cutey-petutey babies to shortly be), so I really need to get cracking on this project (and this one!) which are so darn cute they inspired me to take the class in the first place.
* Still haven’t ridden that bike ….
* Cook more. A lot more. I am already well on my way to success with the some beautiful new KitchenAid and Le Creuset gadgets and cookware from my mom and Will. I’ve developed a mild Jacques Pepin obsession that has really inspired me to get cooking. For further inspiration, I’d like to read Julia Child’s “My Life in France” this year and Ruth Reichl’s “Tender at the Bone” based on Jill’s recommendation.
* Stick to the maniacally complex and stupidly daunting, OCD cleaning schedule I’ve created for the house (developed two years ago, adhered to for approximately five days). My plan for success is to designate two hours every Saturday morning to just knock it out (with Will’s help) and have the rest of the weekend to enjoy, guilt-free!
* Infuse more sanity into what feels like an ever-increasingly busy life with a more regimented schedule. This really feeds into other sub-resolutions, like eating breakfast every morning before work, running more, going to more yoga classes, and the overall goal of taking better care of myself as I continue to hurdle at lightening speed toward my late, late twenties and haven’t really ever done so before.
* Spend less, save more (really, who doesn’t have this one on their list?).
* Be a better friend, daughter, sister, and girlfriend. Take more time for greeting cards, phone calls, and staying in touch.
* Take better care of my hands. Between picking at my nails, clumsiness (read: nicks and scabs – HOT), and a stubborn antipathy to moisturizer, they sure look terrible.
*TRAVEL – I’ve seen very little of this big, big world.
*Volunteer, perhaps at the animal shelter (potential danger of accumulating dogs and losing boyfriend very likely).

I have no doubt there are more, but that seems like a decent amount of things to aim toward. I’ll keep you updated on how I’m doing, and maybe you can help try to keep me honest?

All or Nothing

I have never been good at moderation. Downright terrible, in fact. It seems to be an inherent personality trait that I either put excruciating effort toward something or none at all. At seven, I used every cent of my Christmas and birthday money to buy the entire My Little Pony village - it stretched nearly eight feet in my room. Twenty years later and just a few months ago, I ordered every single Derian item I could get my hands on and have yet to find a place to actually fit them in the kitchen. A few years ago, I was regularly practicing yoga for 6-8 hours per week, even refusing to accept dates that interfered with the schedule, but have not stepped foot in a studio in well over a year. Ever taken a look at the pattern of my blog posts?

Housecleaning is another prime example of my propensity to bounce from extreme to extreme. An astute friend might observe that the first time she sees my apartment it is spotless. As in, go ahead, throw your food on the floor and eat it right there spotless or really, do look under my bed because you will not find a single dust bunny or storage bin spotless. But on her next visit she may notice it looking somewhat less clean, the next visit a little clutter here and there, and the next it being slap you in the face messy. The truth is, as much as I'd like to pretend I've got it all down, that the apartment is always immaculate, that lovely meals are served every evening at seven o'clock sharp, and my hair is always freshly shampooed, that's just not the case. I always strive for, well, perfection and do pretty well for a minuscule sprint of time but gradually slip. More like a landslide than a slip. The pursuit of perfection always ends in burnout for me.

I become acutely aware of this "all or nothing" trait of mine when it comes to making New Year's Resolutions. For as long as I can remember, I have made enormous lists of rather lofty goals every year and, surprise, do not really ever fulfill them in a meaningful, lasting way. I remember being stunned when my roommate in college stated that her resolution was to stop biting her nails. I thought, that's it? What about losing that freshman-fifteen, volunteering at a soup kitchen, getting better grades, or in my case, reading ten books with the goal to learn how to play the stock market and be a billionaire by thirty? Not biting your nails? That won't make you a better version of yourself.

I would assume that anyone who has actually read through this lengthy diatribe sees me moving toward the revelation that I should ease up, not bite off more than I can chew, maybe just try wiping the spot off the cupboard door next time instead of seeing the spot, emptying out all the contents of every cupboard, washing them inside and out with Pine-Sol, rearranging everything and labeling all the shelves accordingly thus rendering me unwilling to ever clean my kitchen again (sad but true story). Nope. The moral of this rant is that I am who I am. I don't think I'll change, and more importantly, I don't actually want to change. I don't want to be a whiskey that mellows with age. I want to be a bitchin' Cabernet that is more awesome with each passing year. Yes, I wrote "bitchin" and yes, I miss the Nineties.

I don't intend to pull any punches this year when making The List. The key to reaching my goals is having systems in place and, not to sound too fascistish (eat it, Palin), to be fairly regimented in daily life. When you're an ambitious but ultimately indolent dreamer like me, you just need that. Luckily, I have a pretty nice co-conspirator who has also resolved to lend a hand in keeping up with the household related resolutions.

The List to follow this week. Although I did write a novel above, so I shouldn't be due to post for another six months.

Daily Derian :: 2

Starting it off with a bang ... these were my must-have's from the new collection. Best. Coasters. Ever! I *heart* silhouttes.

Daily Derian

A few months ago, I received notice through a Gilt email that Target - possibly the best store of all time - was expanding it's line of collaborations with famous designers. They do this often, and more often than not I find the offerings somewhat "meh" as my interest in home furnishings and decor steadily supplants a dwindling obsession with handbags and clothes. In late 2008, they collaborated with John Derian, a famous designer and creator of some of the most fabulous eye candy in the world. Known for his decoupage designs using carefully curated antique and vintage prints, he has a large following of fans drawn to his beautiful cakestands, paperweights, bowls, and all sorts of lovely things (check out his website - screw Disneyland, this is the happiest place on earth).

His first collaboration with Target kicked off a frenzy among girls, well, just like me. Every blog was talking about it, everyone was waiting for the goodies to hit stores, everyone was growing frustrated with Target employees who would stare at you blankly when you tried to locate the items ("He's really quite famous - you should know who he is!"). It was tough to obtain anything in store, but somehow (and by somehow I mean I had to drive to Sacramento for a set of coasters) I managed to get my paws on a few treats. With all this madness in mind and furthermore more people exposed to Derian, can you imagine what it was like a second time around this year?

For brevity's sake, allow me to create an outline of how it went when I saw the email notifying me a BRAND NEW collection would be available PRE-SALE on the Gilt site:

1. Elation! Fear! Joy! Panic!
2. Set Outlook Calendar with 5 day, 2 day, 1 day, 2 hour, 15 minute reminders. Check.
3. Perusal of financial situation. Is a savings account absolutely necessary in life? Creation of the Derian budget.
4. Should I take the morning off work? No, don't be ridiculous. Just don't work at work from 9am until however long it takes.
5. The morning arrives. Coffee consumed. At work an hour early. Waiting. Compulsively hitting Refresh starting at 8:57am. You must be fast. You must be efficient. Quick decisions or it will be gone within seconds at the hands of greedy girls who won't love it as much as you will.
6. The virtual gates open! Cakestands! Coasters! Tumblers! Trays! It's all in the cart! What? Oh god! The last card I used on the site was shut down two days ago because of fraud. System not allowing me to upload my new card. SYSTEM CRASHING! A cyber-stampede of women has taken it down! PANIC! Did my cart save? What is the customer service number - why ISN'T IT LISTED?! (People like me is why).
7. Google to the rescue. Dialing. 20 minutes with a sympathetic befuddled operator who can't help because *dun, dun, dun* it is the office network firewall more tech words not letting the page load to input new C.C. info. I SHOULD have stayed home!
8. PANIC!!! Idea: WILL! Dialing. Honey, don't ask me questions. I need you to do this for me. (I'm later told Will heard the desperation in my voice and immediately took out his credit card without a word). Success! We're in. My stuff is in the cart - the same thing happened to everyone, so no purchases have gone through, it's all still HERE! JOY!
9. Waves of relief. Heartrate returning to normal. Eruption of cheers from the small crowd of Special Events ladies that has assembled around my cube (it was just like Rocky!).
10. Fabulous stuff arrives. All is there. But something's not quite right ... they've accidentally given me three sets of extra coasters that I didn't actually purchase. SCORE.

Later, I also picked up more stuff in-store and on the Target website itself. I know, I have a problem. But the fun (and nutsy) part is that I've photographed it all, and plan to share it with you piece by piece in a new feature I call "Daily Derian."

Day 1: The Desk Organizer

I honestly didn't think I needed this. I actually just bought it because, well, it was there. However, you can see for yourself that I really did not it afterall. My desk is so Zen-blissed out now.

BEFORE: The infamous middle drawer

ENTER: Pretty and functional thingy

AFTER: Awesome

Baby Shower Sneak Peek

I had the pleasure of hosting my very first baby shower this past Sunday. What better way to celebrate new life than trying new crafts? The lovely mommy-to-be is our neighbor, Juliette, who is a photographer/graphic designer/impossibly cool person. No pink junk here! The pressure was on.

Given what mum does for a living, really nice pictures will eventually follow, but for now, here's an iPhone snap of our entryway, and my first attempt at tissue paper pom-pom dahlias!

I *Heart* Crafting

What I apparently do not *heart* is keeping up on my blog. :( For my teensy cadre of folks following, so sorry for the absence. Work, flu, life, etc.

Thought I'd dip my toes back in the water with something quick and simple: a Valentine's Day craft project I did (obviously awhile ago). Inspired by this incredibly beautiful storefront window that was featured on Design*Sponge, I spread some Valentine cheer of my own with paper rose adorned boxes, filled with some homemade sweet treats.

Scissors + paper + glue gun = surprisingly easy little paper roses!

No one likes an empty box, though - even a pretty one - so I whipped up two Martha confections: chocolate truffles and raspberry financiers.

Mmm, the financiers were so nutty and delicious! I need to make these again.

I experimented with two different types of chocolate for fun, but the real key is the different brands of cocoa powder that - all being different colors - create different color truffles once they are rolled in the powder.

*** I'll try to be better, scouts honor.***