New Year, New Look

You may have noticed something a little different at my blog. A whole new look! It's nothing fancy but it feels a little more personal than before and was the best I could do with my own design knowledge.

I have no idea what I'm going to wear tonight but I am going to friend's house to celebrate the inexpensive way. I'm also going to play with my makeup a little bit and see what I can figure out for a New Year's Eve look.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year!

The Completed Guest Room

As promised, I wanted to share with you my finished product in the guest room. It took a very small budget and in-laws coming to stay to complete but I'm glad to scratch it off my list. I will remind you what it looked like before and then share the after pictures.

Before



After









Bed and Chair - Free from family
Dresser - $20 from Craigslist
Nightstand - $5 from garage sale
Love sign and candle holders - $20 from Marshalls
Curtains and lamp - $25 from Walmart

I still have to reupholster the chair cushions or buy new ones since the pink doesn't go well with the room but I didn't have time to change them before our guests came. I will probably go with a gold fabric to go along with the gold/brown theme. Given that I had a very small budget, I think the room turned out pretty nice.

Baby It's Cold Outside

I woke up this morning to a house that was 63 degrees ( we haven't been putting on the heat for energy reasons). Not so bad once you layer some clothing and throw on some slippers. However, when I walked outside to go to work, it was 40 degrees outside!! 40 degrees in Florida is cold!

Thankfully, I had a classic peacoat to wear to work and keep me warm. So now that everywhere is cold, even sunny Florida, I think we should focus on some great jackets to buy, in case you need more.

DKNY Wool Ruffle Front - $209.99 at Macy's

Indigo 3/4-length trenchcoat - $175 at Banana Republic

Style&Co Knee-length Hooded Puffer - $64.50 at Macy's

Wool-blend Tab Waist Coat - $49.99 at Old Navy

Hydraulic Pleated A-line Toggle - $79.99 at Macy's

Coffeeshop Plaid Dress Coat - $48.99 at Target

Tommy Hilfiger Hooded Faux Shearling Toggle - $129.99 at Macy's

Back To Normal

Hey everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and holiday weekend. It's been fun reading everyone's posts about your new toys and the great trips you took. My Christmas was great because I got to spend it with family and friends, who could ask for more??

My in-laws came Wednesday to stay with us and I also picked up my mom to stay so we had a full house all weekend. I made a delicious Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder the first night and I was happy that everyone enjoyed it. I had to work a couple of hours Thursday but was back in time to see this sitting on my front porch:

My wonderful in-laws got us 2 white rocking chairs for Christmas and had put them together while we were at work. How sweet is that? They look so good on our porch and I joked that my husband and I were one step closer to being an old, married couple :) We had Christmas eve dinner at Carrabba's, which was nice because we hadn't been out to eat in awhile.

Christmas day, we opened presents bright and early while it was gray and rainy outside. My husband's big gift to me was this, which I love!
As if the rocking chairs weren't enough, his parents also gave us both a hundred dollar bill to buy ourselves one of these:
We spent the rest of the day at my grandparents and had a fantastic meal and more present opening. It was nice to see my in-laws and grandparents talking and having a good time, it's always nice when families get along, right?

The rest of the weekend went by in a blur. It took me 4 hours to take my Mom back home to Orlando when it should have taken 2 and I also celebrated my best friend's birthday. At last, Sunday I got the house to myself and spent all day watching old Buffy episodes and doing laundry. Now, back to reality, which for me is a 2 day work week and hopefully a great New Year's Eve party this weekend. Hope everyone is surviving their day back to work!

Have a Merry Christmas!

Work is crazy today, which makes sense considering I have the rest of the week off. So, I won't be posting until after Christmas while I entertain family and celebrate the holidays.




I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Christmas!

Yay For Cold Weather!

If you are reading this from the Northeast, you are probably not saying the same thing. I hear it is snowing like crazy up there. Here in Florida, we are getting the much-awaited cold weather right on time. It never feels like December when it's 80 degrees outside so to walk out this morning to a brisk 45 degrees was great. Now if it will only stay this way for Christmas....

The in-laws are coming to town on Wednesday and I spent a good part of yesterday getting the guest bedroom set up and decorated. I will post pictures soon but this is what it looked like after I painted it:


It looks great now so I hope his parents like it!

The holiday parties are over, the baking is done, and the Christmas presents have been purchased and wrapped. I can now enjoy the next 4 days without any stress :)

Interesting Science Books

I haven't really touched on my favorite interest, which is science. I have a Bachelor's in Biology and have loved science since I was a little girl. At first, I wanted to be things like a paleontologist, archaeologist, and marine biologist. The marine biology interest stuck with me through college but I realized how much school I would have to go to and how underpaid I would probably be so I decided on the basic biology instead. However, marine biology is still a big passion of mine.

Being a so-called "scientist", I have always had an interest in reading books relating to current science issues, such as global warming and future discoveries, but I've come across some great books that would intrigue anyone, not just scientists. Here is a list of a couple popular ones:

The World Without Us

Have you ever wondered what would happen to everything humans have created after we're gone? Alan Weisman dives into the subject by creating a hypothetical situation where the entire human population just vanishes one day and leaves our man-made creations behind for nature to take over. It is a fascinating book backed by science; he focuses on different cities areas, such as New York City and Chernobyl, to show what nature and weather will do to buildings, roads, houses and even bio-hazardous materials and how even animals would be affected.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

A science and history book for those who didn't delve into either in college. It's a great book that compresses all the important scientific events in history into an interesting read and relates them to things that scientists are working on now. There is a lot of humor and eccentricity included and makes you feel like you are learning new things every time you pick it up.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

For anyone who has a morbid curiosity, this book might be for you. Mary Roach gives accounts of cadavers, their history, and the moral/ethical issues surrounding them today. Some things she covers includes them being used as crash test dummies, decomposition, and new alternatives to burial and cremation. It is not for the faint of heart and does include pictures.

An Inconvenient Truth

Based on Al Gore's award winning documentary, this book focuses on the current global warming crises and the science behind it. Top scientists in their field present evidence and visuals on how global warming came to be and how it can be reversed. The findings are scientific fact but the subject is still under controversy.

If any of you have read these before, please let me know what you thought :)

Jean Strap Substitute!

Remember last month when I talked about Jean Straps and how great they are at making your jeans straight when you tuck them into boots? If not, you can go here to check out my post.

Well, I was browsing the Target dollar aisle (which I love to do) and came across a much cheaper substitute...

Mitten Holders!

They come in different colors and are only a dollar! Even though they are not adjustable, I figured it was worth a shot and they really work! Just strap them to your jeans and never worry about bunched up jeans again!

I used them with my new boots I bought at Target:

Hope this helps some of you ladies out!

What Would You Do?

The other day, my husband and I received a check in the mail from our insurance company. They said it was a dividend and that it was a thanks for being a customer. The check was for $100 and totally unexpected. I called it "karma money" because I assumed we had done something good in order to get a check like that out of nowhere.

Then the discussion came up on what to do with it; pay bills, go shopping, donate, or put away in savings. There are so many choices that we aren't sure what to do but it made me think:

If you were given $100 out of nowhere, what would you do with it?

I know the good answer is to say "donate" but I want honest answers people! :) Do you have student loans to pay off? A charity you like to donate to? A great pair of shoes you've been itching to buy? What would you do?

My Christmas List

I love everyone's idea of making a list of things they want if money wasn't an option, but I'm going to pair it with my already existing list. Let's see what I can come up with :)


Dear Santa,

I've been good this year so here is my list:

I would really like this pair of shoes:
but I guess these are more practical:
A Chanel purse under my tree would be wonderful:

but I'll settle for the Target version:

Could I maybe have Dior Passage No. 9?:

No? Then I'll ask for D&G The One:

Could I have this library in my house?

Library of Making It Lovely... isn't it gorgeous?

Alright, well then I guess this will do:
If you don't want to give any of these things to me Santa, I do accept cash and check :)

Sincerely,

Scientific Housewife

My Complete Jane Austen Collection

My favorite author is Jane Austen. Each and every one of her books is a true classic and masterpiece. I join the majority when I say that my favorite Jane Austen book, and my favorite book of all time, is "Pride and Prejudice".


What is almost better than the book? The BBC movie starring Colin Firth. Boy, is he dreamy or what??


For awhile, one of my goals has been to own every single book Jane Austen has ever written. I've slowly been building my collection, including a book of her story "Lady Susan" and her uncompleted work, "Sanditon".

Last night, I happened to stop by a small local bookstore that specializes in trading books. In the past, I haven't had luck finding Jane Austen books there (they say they can't keep them on the shelves), but it was my lucky night because the last book to finish my collection was there; "Northanger Abbey".


I now own all of her books and couldn't be happier. I can't wait to read them all again!

Happy Early Christmas To Me!

I was the lucky winner of a beautiful mini chandelier from Yvonne of Design Vignettes! She is a talented interior decorator with a fantastic blog, I insist you go check her out!

I found a place to put it and just in time for the holidays!



It will look great at my Christmas party! Thanks again, Yvonne :)

Deck The Halls With Decorations

As promised, I finally took pictures of my Christmas decorations. I am proud of what I accomplished given I did not have enough decorations for this big house! Regardless, my house puts me into a Christmas mood every day, even if the weather outside does the opposite :)










Hope your homes are full of cheer!