DIY: closet wars

Yes, it's done, complete, finished.

The closet that has had much anticipation is now a full on masterpiece. Despite having to buy a new electric saw (I'm always up for a trip down the power tool aisle) and that I'm fairly convinced that my neighbors have all created voodoo dolls of me for my endless, incessant hammering.

So with no further ado ...

always have to have the before image 

 

And of course, the chaos along the way ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

heart strength DJK turns 1!

Can you believe that my sweet baby nephew/godson is one?!?!? I love every little bit of this kiddo and his monster themed birthday party!

 

 

 

... love doesn't count chromosomes ....

buckhead boy vs town of turtles

A new addition ::cough cough:: eye sore :: cough on my commute from my condo in Sandy Springs through Buckhead is the not quite so adorable "Buckhead Boy" statues commissioned in Buckhead, GA. At first glance, the patriotic flag stag caught my eye while driving past Piedmont Hospital. Being that it was just recently Independence Day and 'cardiac hill' for the Peachtree Road Race, I anticipated it would disappear as quickly as it arrived. Oooo, was I wrong. This week I've noticed at least 3 additional bucks in various get up along Peachtree and even onto Roswell Rd... Now, I'm all for a little city art, but really ... Buckhead Boy? He's a little cartoonish and way too cheesy (and that's saying a lot coming from me).
Patriotic, I get. Unfortunately these not so adorable deer are a money generating scheme from the city of Buckhead -- which can be done, just perhaps not with something of this caliber.





Take my quaint town of Sandy Springs here. We have the turtles. Who doesn't love driving through the town and seeing the different turtles here and there? And yes, they raised 750,000 dollars off of auctioning them back in 2005, and yes, all the money (so we've been told) has gone back into the city parks and Heritage Lawn, where the city hosts all of it's outdoor events. Sandy Springs has 27 turtles to date in permanent homes. There is even a map of all of their locations... Adorable.

artistic inability

My closet master plans .... please ignore my inability to sketch. And the poor image quality.

If it turns out anything like this I'll be estatic. Mm and would love to replace the door with some 'see-through' or rustic type door. Oh yea, and my master closet also doubles as the laundry room, thus the washer and dryer.

left side

right side

walk in view

 
what my closet currently looks like ((::embarrassing::))

:: three ::

Sir Lexicon has survived his first 3 yrs of life. 

Albeit he lost his mom, got stuck in a car engine, got abducted by some strange cat lady (me), has been on an airplane, lived in 3 homes, and most recently broke his arm tightrope walking.

But ... this little monster has stolen my heart and has been my little babe since day one .. although then he fit in the palm of my hand and had to be fed with an eye dropper. 

Oh, Sir Lexicon. 

day i found baby Lexicon ... 6 weeks old

The day he got his Sir added to Lexicon. It was a formal affair.

the move to Atlanta .. claiming dibs on his spot in the new bed.

growing up in southern california, he didnt know what to do with the fluffy stuff of the snowpocalypse of 2011

oh you know ... just being him

quit growing little buddy

happy birthday sir lexicon!

moose

Just returned from another great adventure somewhere in the US. This time I went for a work conference for 4 days up in Jackson Hole, WY. Spent 5 nights there, the boyfriend met me for the whole week, AND I got to see some pretty awesome wildlife. In the spirit of conferences and scheduling, he's what my week entailed:

sunrise

Sunday night: Land in Jackson, WY., 6pm. Greet the boyfriend and check into Hotel Terra.
Monday:
 6am Gym (aka watch the sunrise)
 7am - 2pm  Conference
 2pm - Hike 4.5 miles to Phelps Lake with boyfriend

7pm Dinner in downtown Jackson, WY 
9:30 pm SLEEP!! 









TUESDAY:
 7am - 1pm conference
 1pm -2pm Sit in parking lot because of emergency hotel evacuation because of a gas leak near the gondola. 
 2pm - 4pm Sat on the deck at Dornan's in Moose, WY taking in the view of the Teton Mtn Range

Then had my first moose sighting! ... Followed immediately by my 2nd!

After Dornan's we took the free Gondola up to the top of the smaller mountain at Teton Village and had a drink and some appetizers at The Deck.

gondola

the deck ... and boyfriend

the view 

Jenny Lake

WEDNESDAY:

7am - 2pm Conference
2pm Drove into Grand Teton National Park and took a boat across Jenny Lake. Hiked about a mile to Hidden Falls, then another 2.5 miles around Jenny Lake back to the parking lot.

Hidden Falls

a lot of water .... a lot

boyfriend was going to pet this deer it let us get so close

7pm Drive back into Teton Village ... see our Mrs. Moose friend again. This time, we stopped for pics instead of my quick drive by shots. Then hit up The Gun Barrel Steak and Game for dinner. I ate elk. (I hope the Redwood Forest Elk get the memo). 

Thursday:

7am - 1 Conference
1pm Drive to Yellowstone National Park

old faithful -- went off for 4 minutes!

baby buffalo!

lots of buffalo

Grand Prismatic Springs

Paint Pots

more buffs

All in all, it really was great to get out and hike, walk, explore new places (see the boyfriend ... 2 1/2 months went by rather slowly) and the conference was really great as well.

yellow bellied marmot

Oh, and here a few other pics just in case you didn't think it looked amazing already: