Greetings from Lamb at LambAround: Life with my Sexy Nerd! I’m thrilled to be here with you today and am so happy to be able to help Michele while she’s on her bloggy maternity leave. No babies here, unless you count my two dogs (and I doubt that you will). I guess you could maybe count my husband (aka, the Sexy Nerd). He’s messy and he turns into a mega-grouch if kept up past his bedtime. My blog focuses on my life as a newlywed, with emphasis on my cooking and decorating endeavors. I also host a weekly blog hop, Not “Baaad” Sundays with LambAround. It’s unique in that bloggers who link up actually compete against one another for the chance to win the Best in Show award.
This is the built-in bookcase in our dining room. It’s really not that bad, right?
Right??
If Pica wanders in much further, we may never see her again!
The bookcase that my Sexy Nerd worked so hard on (before pics here) had become an easy place for us to stash homeless objects. It started innocently enough – a basket, a candle or two – but we were soon overwhelmed with junk.
And step one, sorting through the junk, took forever! Mostly because of things like this:
Ummm, is there a reason we’re keeping this little pot of dirt inside a glass? And what do these screws belong to? We do have a garage…kind of a better place for screws. And Biscuit ate the little plastic pieces out of the timer the last time it was plugged into the wall (seriously!) so there’s no sense in keeping it.
Sand from my trip to the Seychelles. Pretty, but it doesn’t belong on the dining room bookcase.
This picture is actually hanging on our kitchen wall, not on the bookcase. When the task at hand it cleaning, (boo!) distractions come easily.
A mix tape! Remember these? With that sliver of Scotch tape holding the top closed, I was ready to be thoroughly distracted from cleaning. After all, you can’t just find a mix tape and move on. You have to find out what’s on it! You have to dance!
You have to rummage through the guest bedroom to find the broken boombox (do people still use the term ‘boombox’?) that you’ve held onto just for the cassette player, which still works. Barely.
After a little LL Cool J, SWV, Master P, and Jay Z (really, truly all in a row on the tape. Rappers adore initials!) it was time to focus.
And make a bowl of my Even Better Ramen Noodles. While dancing, obviously.
I’ve been looking for this!
Sorting through old magazines, I came across another major distraction. They don’t even make Domino magazine anymore! You would have taken a break from cleaning to read it too.
These 3 cloches were a steal at $10 for the set. As much as I love them, I don’t actually have a place in my home that would benefit from their display. For now, they’ve been relocated to a cabinet in the kitchen. Every time I clean, it seems like the area I’m focusing on improves, while the rest of the house gets messier.
An empty instant coffee canister and a piggy bank with a wart on its cheek. Why was I keeping these?
A souvenir from our second cruise. It just isn’t as much fun without a drink inside.
It’s funny to look back at things I loved when we first bought our house. How has my style changed so drastically in just 3 years?
Oops! Let this be a lesson to keep your books organized.
When all the junk was finally sorted through, it was time for phase two of my bookcase project.
Much better!
But something was still missing.
Ta da!
Next up on the Spring Cleaning agenda…
(if you’re squeamish, you may want to skip this photo)
(and perhaps the photo beneath it)
Cleaning the floor!
*Disclaimer*
Although it may appear otherwise in the 2 photos above, I assure you that I was not cleaning the bookcase naked. Really, who would do a thing like that? It’s cold in my house!
Gypsy Thread
Wednesday 6th of April 2011
Oh boy do I have spots like that in my house. Worse probably. *sigh* Excellent guest post.
Beverly @ FlamingoToes.com
Wednesday 6th of April 2011
I seriously need to do some spring cleaning. I have a few spots like that in my house! haha. Thanks for the inspiration!