iPhoto, iLost, iCried, iDon'tHaveAPostToday

First my mini-sob story, then I need some help!

Today's post was going to be dedicated to Lucy's 8 month milestones. On Monday, the 19th our little bug reached her 8 month birthday! 

Well, last night my computer had other plans. Because of the bulk of photos I have between this blog and Lucy and the fact that the photos from our Canon are large files, I was quickly running out of space on my laptop and recently switched my iPhoto Library to an external harddrive. Great idea, right? Well it is. Except when you let your external drive fall off the couch and the plug pulls out of the computer without being 'properly ejected'. That's exactly what happened last night. And when I plugged my external drive back in, my iPhoto Library is showing ZERO photos.

As much as I want to cry at the thought of losing every photo I've taken in the past six years, I'm not going to weep into my k-cup decaf this morning. I'm not going to throw myself a pity party either, but instead will look on the bright side.

I can access pretty much all of my blog pictures from Blogger or Photobucket (which I just started to use and now wish I had been using it for longer). The only blog pictures I can't get are the ones I took this past weekend and planned to post about this week. Annoying, but I'll live. I'm a little upset about some of the fun friends and family pictures, but I realize that the ones I really love are either on Facebook, someone else has a copy or I've posted on this blog. I'm heartbroken that every single one of my million Lucy pictures are no longer here. Again, I have my favorites and people have copies, and luckily I post about our girl on this blog and can save some from here. I just won't have every single photo, including the adorable ones we took on St. Pat's. I only uploaded a few before I lost the photos

Lesson for the day: I need a picture backup system. This was bound to happen sooner or later. Also, I now need to get an office space where I can properly work at a desk and not on the couch with a computer on my lap. That I actually do have in the works for our spare roon in the basement. Jordan is working on trying to salvage my pictures today using a few tricks we researched online and people have suggested. Maybe just maybe he will have some luck and my pictures will be found by end of day. Otherwise a trip to the Apple store is in order. I do have Picasa on my computer, but I use the program so infrequently, that the photos aren't up to date and are sort of random and scattered. 

Here's where I need your help:

Bloggers - How do you store/backup your photos? The external drive is a great idea for those who aren't clumsy and accident prone like myself (seriously, I can't even eat a meal without spilling down the front of me). But I need some sort of backup system. Any suggesstions are greatly appreciated!

Now, let's turn that frown upside down and end with a picture of me and my girl on St. Patrick's Day (that I had uploaded to Blogger before this fiasco).

Painting with Corks

I've found that some of the best art is art that is both easy to do and inexpensive to make. We have tons of corks at the house. And I mean, TONS. I've been trying to come up with great, unique ideas to use them in the house, both practical and decorative. 

I had been thinking about this 'dotted' Etsy painting I pinned months ago that I've wanted to use as an inspiration to create my own art. It wasn't until recently that I thought to use a cork as sort of a 'paintbrush' and use it to apply paint onto the canvas. 

I really like how each dot is different depending how much paint was on the cork and how hard I pushed the cork against the canvas.

I'm loving this cheap and easy DIY art.

Have you used something in a way it wasn't meant to be used to create your own art?

Maxi Re-Do

I know I talk a lot about DIY in the home, but there are times when I DIY some of my clothes, too.

Like many other girls my age, I loved watching Sex and the City. I found Carrie Bradshaw's wardrobe to be incredibly inspiring - not just because she wore gorgeous pieces, but because of the innovative way she dressed. So much of how they dressed Carrie was a DIY project in itself. Her character would take something simple and wear it in a way it wasn't meant to be worn. Carrie would wear a sleeveless or backless cocktail dress paired with a very bold, visible bra underneath. Or she would take the simplest t shirt and wear it with an elaborate skirt and heels. She wasn't afraid to push the limit and show a little belly or wear a ridiculous headpiece. I wished I could dress like that and get away with it.

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Also, I think we all should acknowledge that Carrie Bradshaw was years ahead of the whole ombre hair trend.

This week I did my own little mini DIY to my outfit. I've been seeing Maxi skirts everywhere and while I've been loving the trend, I have yet to jump on the bandwagon and buy one for myself. Now I have about a dozen maxi dresses from when I was pregnant and pretty much wore a maxi dress everyday that I wasn't in leggings. 

Years ago I bought this maxi dress from Urban Outfitters. I love the print and have worn this dress dozens of times. Who doesn't need a good black and white dress?

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While I love my maxi dresses, the strapless and opened back isn't really suitaut to wear a cardigan or blazer on top.

I decided to do two things: 1. wear the dress that I love in a way that's appropriate for work, and 2. create the look of a maxi skirt that I craved without going out and buying a skirt. To do this, I simply folded the top of my maxi dress in at the empire waist paired my dress with a simple v-neck gray t shirt and fitted waist belt. ble to wear to work. And because it's been so unusually warm this past week, I wasn't abo

Maxi dress: UO; v-neck T: F21; necklace: F21; belt: gift

Sure this isn't that crazy and innovative, but it was wearing something in a different way than it was meant to be worn. I'm vowing to be more creative and thoughtful in the way I dress. I still think that I missed out on a good 6 months of fun clothes when I was pregnant and now I'm making up for it!

While I can't ever say that I don't repeat outfits, I do try my best to re-wear certain pieces in different ways and pair them with items I wouldn't necessarily think to at first. I hate to take staple item and wear it the exact same way with the same pieces each time, no matter how much I love the outfit.  Call me crazy but I think a really good outfit should only be worn a handful of times before it's been overdone.

It's 6:00 and it's still gorgeous out! Jordan and I are off on a date night tonight, then enjoying family time all day tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

Spring Cleaning - Mini Blog Update

I apologize for how light my posts have been this week, but I promise it is all for a good reason.

While I haven't been doing many DIY around the house this past week, I have been doing a lot of behind the scenes work on the blog. For the past three weeks I've been working closely with a designer who has redesigned the SKOL blog.  We are hoping to have it completed in the next week and installed shortly after. I'm also trying to clean up some old posts, fix pictures, edit tags, blah blah blah.

Basically, Spring is coming and I'm ready for a fresh, lighter and brighter look and a more organized blog. We can call it a 'spring cleaning' of the blog.

Here is just a sneak peak of the new layout.

We still have a few small tweaks and proofs to go through before it's up and running. I'm so picky that I'm sure I'm driving the designer nuts. I can't help it though, I'm a detail oriented person.

I'm really excited not only with how the layout is going to look, but with the new direction I am planning to take the blog. Included in this blog 'spring cleaning', I am working towards having an up-to-date house tour page, and an actual 'about me' page among other things. I am also creating a completely organized and easy to maneuver catalgoue of all my DIY projects in one place. 

I also plan to branch out a little with my blogging. While this blog is primarily a DIY blog that talks a lot about home decor, I would like to do more with the lifestyle aspect. I've done a few clothing or beauty posts in the past and a recipe post or two, but would like to make it a weekly occurance. So I have decided to dedicate Friday posts to a 'lifestyle' topic, whether it be fashion, nutrition, recipes, fitness, whatever I'm feeling that week. I'll let the next few weeks be sort of a test run and see how it goes.

Check back later to read my first Friday Lifestyle post!

And don't worry, I'll be back next week with some fresh DIY and a pallet update.

Inspiration: Florals

Maybe it's because Spring is around the corner, or maybe it's the fact that I can't keep a real flower alive for more than a week, but lately I've really been into floral patterns both in home decor and in clothing. I'm seeing flowers everywhere. I been craving those bright florals, and have been mixing them with gold and lace - so girly and so unlike me!

Even the Anthropologie homepage is covered in blooms.

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I just bought myself one setting of these dishes from Anthropologie to use on my place rack in the dining room. I love the hand painted look of the design on these dishes and the colors look so good against the dark furniture and neural colors in the dining room.

 

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I bought this sachet from Anthropologie a few months ago and stuck it in my undies drawer. Not only is it an dainty little accent, but it makes my clothes smell so pretty.

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I recently bought this adorable floral contact case from Urban Outfitters to keep on my nightstand for those nights that I don't fall asleep with my contacts in!

The frame is an another Anthropologie purchase. It's one of my favorite little floral details that holds the first picture of Jordan and me as a couple almost 6 and a half years go.

Here are a few other florals I've been liking lately:

These two gorgeous upholstered chairs from Anthropologie.

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I'm finally coming around on the idea of wallpaper in the home. I used to be very anti-paper, but now think it would be cool to use on an accent wall, or inside of a small closet. These are my two favorites:

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If you aren't quite committed to going as bold as wallpaper, there are many, smaller accent pieces that can be incorporated in your home instead.

Pillows are the easiest way.

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I love, love this LOVE pillow

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You could also go simpler with a shower curtain or duvet cover.

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And if you're willing to splurge a little, this flower rug pretty fabulous.

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 I'm certainly loving and craving florals for Spring and Summer and plan to incorporate some more into our home. How do you feel about florals?