farewell, facebook: an experiment

Inspired by a combination of a couple of my friends, a book I’m currently reading, the approaching Lent season, and something I’ve wanted to try for a while…I’m giving up Facebook until Easter Sunday. And while I know the idea is that you can have Sundays to “cheat”, for me that would be like giving an ex-smoker one quick puff on a cigarette – I just can’t be tempted. This has to be all or nothing. :)

When I first pondered this idea, I thought for certain I was setting myself up for failure. But the more I get used to it, the more excited I am to take on this little experiment. I use Facebook as a time-filler and distraction, yes, but also as a way to keep up with friends and family – both local and long distance. While Facebook fits the convenience of our over-scheduled lives in that we can quickly feel “caught up” by reading a friend’s status update…are we really caught up at all? I recently had a coffee date with a friend and everything we talked about were things we would never have put “out there” in a social media outlet. In other words – staying in touch via Facebook in no way takes the place (or even is a substitution for) keeping up in person.

I’ve calculated that in a typical week I spend three or four hours reading the news feed, sending messages, and perusing links posted on Facebook. If I could save this amount of time every week, I could meet a friend over a lunch hour and squeeze in another coffee date – two IN PERSON encounters every week. I could have real face-to-face conversations and get away from a computer screen. Yes, please.

Lent seems as good a time as any to set a time frame for this experiment. And the fact that I’m reading MWF Seeking BFF, an experiment in which a girl dates a potential friend every week for a year, just reinforces the concept of getting out and making face-to-face interaction happen. Yes, I catch up with girls once a month at book club, and Page and I try to get out with other couples on the weekends, but I’d like to try and make this a higher priority on a more regular basis.

I have taken the bookmark out of my computer toolbar (both on home and work computers!) and removed the app from my phone. This alone helps in not being tempted, although I’m never short on reminders that it still exists. I had to laugh at myself though – today, day one alone, I had three or four times where something happened that was worthy of a Facebook update. Like I went to my eyebrow wax and they were out of concealer, so I had to go back to my office after my lunch break looking like I’d taken a beating in a back alley with my two red eyes. That would have definitely been status-update material. At least the story made it onto the blog. :)

Speaking of, I’m only cutting myself off from Facebook, not all media in general – I still have my blogs (both writing mine and reading the ones I follow) and I still have my beloved Pinterest. I realized as the hours ticked down to the start of Lent that I would lose a lot of legitimate information once I took Facebook away – I get a lot of my “actual” news and local information via the site – not just friend info. So I set up TweetDeck on my work computer. I’ve never been well-versed in Twitter and this will be a good learning opportunity for me – plus I love that the organizations and companies I follow can subtly post their little news bytes in the background of my screen while I work.

Anyone else ever given up something like this? Permanently or for a short while? A friend of mine went on FB hiatus while she was studying for the bar and I remember thinking I could NEVER do that…but one day in, it still seems possible. In general, I actually feel a little lighter – it’s one less thing to check and “keep up on” each day. We shall see…stay tuned. :)

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Posted in just livin' life

oh my olio!

I think I’ve been neglecting the wonder that is Olioboard on PURPOSE because I KNEW this would happen…it’s already a mild obsession. It feels all too familiar…like when I first discovered Pinterest…or even back in the day, Facebook.

I’m going to have to set some rules for myself – like limiting how many HOURS a day I can play on this site. But damn if I won’t have a plan for every room in our house – and a visual to convince show Page what our master bedroom should evolve into!

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Posted in home sweet home, oh, for cute!

let the (bookcase) games begin…

Now that we’ve been unpacked and settled in our house for a few weeks, we’re ready to disrupt the peace with our first house project…built-in bookcases!

We are really excited to add a little architectural interest in the living room, and more than anything – more storage! Plus it will be cool to know we’ve added our own mark in this room with something we did ourselves.

Because the floors are floating, Page will have to actually cut into them (trying not to think about that) to place the bases for the bookcases, otherwise over time, the weight of the bookcases would warp our floors. We’ve picked out some pre-built, unfinished cabinets for the bases (helllloooo storage!) and then Page will build shelves on top of those, and frame it all in with some molding to match the existing baseboards. As for me, I have the job of priming and painting all the pieces.

Here are our cabinets, in our basement, in all their “before” oak-colored glory….

And they will go on either side of the fireplace on this wall, go up to the ceiling, and the width will stop short of the speakers….

And while I can’t find an exact replica example…I’m hoping they will turn out something like our own version of this…

Source: houzz.com via Erin on Pinterest

 

Wish us luck! :)

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Posted in home sweet home

Manolo blue office progress

From the beginning, I knew my office would be what I deemed Manolo blue. And so, I began to gather some fun items to start pulling it together.

Several blue accents, but overall I love the clean, white workspace…

So glad I went with the “small” version of this light – it was much bigger in person than I had imagined, but I love it and it looks cool both in the day…

…and at night (especially from outside!)

The last items I need to add are this Ikea chair and ottoman that wouldn’t fit in the car during our last furniture excursion to Mecca. In the meantime, I’ve looked elsewhere but can’t find anything I love as much, and for this price point, which I’m pretty tied to considering it’s just an occasional reading spot and not a daily use living room piece. So far, I love working in here and am looking for any excuse to go to a city with an Ikea to finish this room up! :)

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Posted in home sweet home

party planning

I think I want to come back in my next life as a party planner…the kind who has millionaire clients with no budget. :) Until then, I’m keeping myself content with some preparations for the second annual Oscar Party

…and today, having a few friends over to watch the Superbowl.

It’s not a year where we’re particularly hard core about either team, but if we had to pick, we’ll go with New York. So some jello shots in their colors were a must, as well as these chocolate covered football strawberries.

I originally saw these during college football season, and finally got around to making them. I did the laces with white chocolate and this handy tool – LOVE these and have a couple of sizes.

I bought mine at Crate and Barrel but have also seen them at Sur La Table. The best part is that they fit my collection of Wilton brand decorating tips. Sooo much easier than those stupid decorating bags that rip if you buy the plastic version, and are impossible to clean if you get the fabric kind.

We’re also making these sandwiches that a Pinterest user lovingly referred to as “crack sandwiches” as well as these corn dog muffins from Iowa Girl Eats (and I know I’m not the only one using this recipe this year!).

Are you planning any fun parties or doing anything special for the Big Game today??

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Posted in let's party

decal deliciousness (the guest room update)

A few weeks back, I posted about some upcoming guests and our desire to get the guest room together in time for their arrival. As you can see in this before pic, we had not accomplished – well – anything, as of a couple weeks post-move-in.

So we moved out all the random stuff we had been storing in here, and up the curtains went and in moved the red hutch (previously in our townhouse kitchen). A mirror went on the wall, and a lamp I had victimized with my white lacquer spray paint phase earlier this fall set up shop as well.

We had a new bed delivered and I ordered a comforter and bedskirt from O.co and bedding from my true love for all things housewares, West Elm. The room was functional by the time our guests arrived mid-January.

Unfortunately, my favorite thing for this room didn’t get here in time for our guests and a few weeks later, my mom came and stayed and bless her for helping me with this much-needed bit of character in the room. The room is the smallest of our bedrooms (since it is the least used) so we didn’t want to spend big bucks on a headboard, nor did we want to take up valuable inches with one. The solution? An awesome red headboard wall decal from Blik.

Get it level…(with the help of the iPhone – there really is an app for everything!)

Smooth it out…

…and admire!

Ta da! Love the character it brings to the room, and I couldn’t have asked it to match any closer with the repurposed red hutch (which you will notice still has our wine glass racks beneath…someday we’ll get those hung elsewhere!)

Might not hurt to steam some of that bedding, either. Just keepin’ it real. :)

I still want to do something fun with the lamp base, add at least one end table, and get some art up on the walls, but for now I’m happy that progress has been made!

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Posted in home sweet home