Purge Day...

...usually means something different in a university setting, but here it means making room for new purchases and donating to Goodwill. These are all items that I donated. The oldest was a shirt from 1999. Yes, it was over a decade old, and even though it still had some life in it, I had to let go.
The result, amidst what I swear to be the worst lighting in all of creation, is a much less cluttered closet. I even stacked T-shirts in this industrial-looking basket I found for cheeeeap. Ahhh.

Happy New Year.

A Little Retail Therapy

Ok. Remember how I bemoaned my excess of clothing options and said that I would not be spending money come January 1st? Well, good news. It's not January 1st yet.

After an admittedly ho-hum Christmas at home-home, I decided to come home early to Nashville to take advantage of post-Kringle sales. I didn't find a ton (whew), but I did score two awesome sweaters at Banana Republic.

Each one was originally marked at $59.50 and then put on sale. At the register I was pleased to find that until noon on Saturday, all sale items were another 50% off. It was nice. You can hardly find a sweater at Old Navy or Target for about $16. Not to worry, though. I made room in the closet for this--post forthcoming.


Oh, and over at Anthropologie I found this cool bowl for $1.97. It was originally priced at $5, which is completely decent, but I couldn't pass it up. I hope that you had a great Christmas, and I know that some of my friends and readers also hopped on the Dec. 26th shopping train. What did you find?

Allllmost there...

Have you ever had one of those (holi)days where you feel like you have it all together--and then, out of nowhere, you don't?

This Christmas has sort of been that way for me. I had most of my presents bought back toward the end of summer, or so I thought. Now I'm kind of scrambling to wrap and pack a bag for home and tidy up and catch up on my DVR.

Needless to say, I probably won't be posting again until after Christmas. But thank you so much for checking out Specs Appeal this year. I appreciate every comment, follower, and view. Merry Christmas!

And thanks to Martha for this little candy sweetness.

Out With the Eyesore...

As most of you know by now, I recently moved into my first apartment in Nashville. I was sort of surprised by the lack of overhead lighting (none in the living room or bedroom) and appalled at what they considered to be acceptable in the dining area.

See Exhibit A. It's brass, and it hangs down so low that I hit my head.


Well...



I should say that it hung down so low that I used to hit my head. :)

Yay for this stylish, yet scale-appropriate, fixture from Schoolhouse Electric, by way of my friend Holly. The maintenance guy from the apartment complex came and installed it for me, and I have to say that I am enjoying how it looks.

Why, Thank You!

Recently I was asked by the lovely Jenn over at Department of the Interior to guest-post on baking, and I was only too happy to oblige. She published the post today, and I love the way it turned out. It has some pictures of what I baked, along with a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks.

Give her blog a whirl if you like cool things and great design. Thanks again, Jenn!

Christmas, Apartment Style

Today I thought I'd give a little holiday-peek into what I've done around the apartment, and then I realized I only took two decent pictures. The lighting situation in here is dire--more on that later.

First up is a little makeshift candy dish, courtesy of a small flower pot found at IKEA back from February's trip to Atlanta with delightful Ann Marie. I guess it's not really the most Christmas-y, but I like it just the same.



And here is my Charlie Brown tree, compliments of my awesome friends over at FredFlare! They sent me a little housewarming present, and I think it's just right! It came with a red glass ball, but I accidentally broke it. Yikes!

Here I've substituted with a nice, if somewhat oversized, felt ornament. Please pay no attention to my lumbering loaner telly. I plan on upgrading in the new year.

I also put up a ribbon on which to attach cards and holiday pictures, but I couldn't get the lighting to cooperate. It's simple and unobtrusive. Please take my word for it. :) I hope everyone is having a great week!

Ching, clink, ching...

I know it's a few weeks early for a New Year's resolution, but I'll just say it. I shop too much. Ok. That probably won't change, but maybe it's safer to say that I sometimes buy too much.

Here's the thing. I don't always spend tons on individual items, as most things that I buy are on sale, but the irony is that I end up with crazy muliples in many situations.

I'm a big believer in having the staples on hand. Toilet paper, flour, your favorite rice and chocolate. Whew. I need to draw the line, though, at other things. This weekend I hit up my local J.Crew and scored BIG time. I got a sweater, a dress shirt, a sweatshirt, and a tote bag for about $100....but I really don't need any more clothes. The closet is full, and I still feel like I wear the same thing every day.

I could go on about my affinity for shampoo and cookbooks and greeting cards, but I'll save myself what could be construed as embarrassment. My goal is to go for three months (January-March) without extraneous spending. Pray for me.

(image from realsimple.com)

The World Is Too Much With Us

For some reason, this title to a William Wordsworth poem came to mind today. It goes along rather nicely with this image from Real Simple and with me these days. Whew.




Allow me to indulge just a bit and share some poetry love here on the Specs Appeal.

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.

Batchin' It Up

Trader Joe's Mini Ravioli + boiling water + Prego + mozzarella = delish.

I Did It!

Yes, dear readers, I ate an entire pie by myself. Post over.

Just kidding. Well, sort of. I did eat the whole pie by myself, but it took several days. I bought it from a guy at work whose daughter was selling them as a fundraiser.

It was chocolate chess, and it was astoundingly good. This is all that's left, and it sort of reminded me of an older post I did--for some reason. :)