Week 3 - Already??

***Updated on Saturday***

I don't feel like I've done much lately so I'm sort of surprised that it's already week three. I think the tasks at hand are a bit more approachable, esp. since the week's area of focus - the entryway - is already in good shape. The hall closet will be the main event, I think. Hopefully there is a little $ in the budget for some organizers and stuff. I don't like to go on Container Store binges, but closets, once thoroughly purged, do seem to benefit from a bit of "containerizing".

Here's the official list:

1. Vacuum, dust, and mop throughout your home: again? I feel like I just did this! But it probably DOES need it again. I didn't really get this done over the weekend. I need to focus on it this week. I can say I'll just do one room a night but once you do one, you might as well do them all and then you've got 5 hours of work ahead...

2. Clean entrance and related closets: "Entrance" is clean, mostly stuff for the outbox, but the hall closet is another story all together. Ok so the cleaning has been done and I tidied up the closet a bit but any greater organizational feats will need some funds...but it's looking pretty neat and works well too. Just not very photogenic (which is fine, seeing as I don't have a working camera and all).

3. Arrange to have all repairs taken care of in the next three weeks: Ok, this shouldn't be too hard. After I help my Dad with his taxes this week, my Mom def. owes me a trip to the apt. for some home improvement chores :) We will hopefully get through the remaining items from my list in week one. Nothing too major.

4. Declutter your entrance: Gotcha. Could use a bit of decluttering I suppose. Done, moved a few frames, wasn't too cluttered to begin with.

5. Move all old mail, catalogs, and magazines to the outbox: Easy-peasy. I didn't do this. I made a mess in the living room and left this pile half sorted. Not sure why I didn't get to it but it's not much. Will tackle in Week 4.

6. Look into what you would need to create a landing strip: I have this set up already, so DONE! :)

7. Cancel any unused subscriptions: My only subscription died a few months ago...sad to see Domino go. So no unused subscriptions for this girl. Done!

8. Identify cool rooms and warm rooms: Let's see - Living Room is cool (though the book says it should be warm, more energy or something...), Hallway is warm (though the book says it should be cool, it's really mostly white), Bedroom is cool, Bathroom is cool, Dining Room is warm, Kitchen is warm. So...done?

9. Apply the 80/20 color rule: meaning that rooms should be filled w/ 80% neutrals and 20% accent colors so as not to overwhelm. I think I do an ok job here, esp. since most of my walls are white. I need most of my color help in the bedroom I think. Need new rugs, bedding, curtains maybe, etc. I get it, I just don't get to do it until there are funds. The plan is in place though. Will list details in bedroom week.

10. Cook two meals at home: I think this still means that I have to do it, not the boy. That's the challenge. Right. So this week, I haven't even been HOME for two meals. Monday night the boy cooked after kickboxing and the dishes still aren't totally done yet - on Saturday. Yikes. Tonight we shall cook though, and tomorrow as well I am sure. I promise to do some of it. I did get to do a lot of dining out though so I can't complain - Tues. at home w/ Mom, Wed. at Niche for my b.day w/ the boy, Thur. at Crown Candy for my b.day w/ the girls, Fri. Ethiopian w/ some friends from college. Yum. I cooked on Saturday night - most of it on my own! Hooray! Fabulous lemon-oregano chicken thighs, trader joe's harvest grain blend, asparagus w/ horseradish butter, and salad (the boy made that). One is better than none. :)

And we're off!

Week 2...

And one more thing about yesterday. I bought a TV on Woot. It shipped. After lots of basketball, golf, and movie-watching this weekend (I rarely turn the TV on, so lots is defined as a few hours on a Sunday)...I am really looking forward to it!

Week 2 Updates

Real quick, here are a few updates:

1. Computer stuff for my Mom took all night (who was I kidding?), but the boy came by the house (kept me sane w/ the 10 yr old Dell drama) and we did get to enjoy some eggplant parmesan and lots o' wine and conversation, so clearly the evening wasn't a wash.

2. I came home to a nicely repaired screen door. Thank you David! Bring on the spring breezes (now for that latch from the HD...).

3. I also came home to a letter from the landlord (sent to all 6 tenants in my building). Apparently the bathtub issue wasn't your run-of-the-mill hair and soap scum clog. Apparently people in the building have been flushing all manner of grossness ("feminine hygiene items, birth control items, and paper towels" to be exact). Ugh!! Do I apparently now live in a dorm? They had to have an actual plumbing service come out and snake the entire building's line to the sewer. If it has to be done again, the cost gets passed on to us. So not fair. I've got my sights set on some likely culprits - the two apts. upstairs were inhabited last summer by several SLU boys (w/ the same last name - brothers?) and a revolving collection of women. I hope they move out this summer. That's been a given. This incident just brings that hope home. I mean, they moved in furniture last year at like 3 am. Didn't start out on the right foot. I didn't complain, tried to brush it off. Just really hope they're gone soon.

So there we are - some ups, some downs, and not a whole lot of progress forward. Friday though. And Sunday. Looking forward to it :)

Week Two: Kitchen Week

***Updated Several Times - Progress has been made, but some are just gonna be incomplete...for now***

Well, here are the official to-do's for Week Two:

1. Fix one thing in your apartment yourself: I'd like to add to my list of things to fix, and then fix this - I just noticed that the little telephone alcove needed a coat of white paint. I'm going to do this. And probably also fix the latch on the screen door. Need to wait till payday for the HD trip. Just finished touching up the phone nook - painted the shelf semi-gloss white and messily got it on the beige-y wall paint...which wound up being ok because after I taped off the shelf to touch up the walls I noticed a million other spots on the wall that needed beige-y touch ups too. Done. Got the latch for the screen door, just need to decide where to put it and then that's that. FINALLY done. At end of week three :)

2. Clean your kitchen from top to bottom and thow away old food: I really wanted to get this done tonight, or at least make a big start on it. It's gross but feels so good to do it. And I need to do it. But I think I have to help my Mom with her computer instead. Last night and Monday were gym nights/late dinner so there wasn't much time to clean out the kitchen - only time to cook. Tomorrow is girl's night and then Friday is well, Friday. Saturday is a wedding. Hoping to get this done sooner than later. Perhaps all done by Sunday? Heard that the Kitchen Cure was going to start in a few weeks over at AT's sister site, The Kitchn. Since I totally put this off, I think I'll just take care of this stuff then...I promise!

3. Buy a water filter and use it: Already done!

4. Run your hands over every wall in your apartment: I've done this before. I guess I'll do it again. They are plaster and they are cold, except in July when they are just tepid. Ahh drafty rental apartment sans quality HVAC system. You are wonderful. Done. Cold. That's that :)

5. Clear space for an outbox: Outbox is already in full effect just inside the front door - oh so annoying and visible.

6. Clear one surface and use the outbox: I hope to clear the surfaces of my kitchen cupboards and surely something will go in the outbox. Well, I didn't entirely clear a surface because I don't have too many cluttered-up surfaces, but I did stick some old sheets and a throw blanket in the outbox while putting away clean towels in the linen closet. I think that counts.

7. Buy fresh flowers: Friday. Payday. I promise. Done - cheap and long-lasting pink and yellow alstroemeria for me.

8. Determine your style: I pretty much have this figured out. If labels are your thing, I'd go w/ calling it the darling "organic modern". Gah! Labels!

9. Find a new recipe and cook one meal at home: I don't think Monday night's black bean tacos count, nor does last night's asparagus risotto. We cook several nights a week. I have promised to cook for the boy once this week. Friday? Very little cooking was done from Wed. - Sun. Andrew made french toast, potato casserole, a yummy salad, cooked up some potstickers, etc. on Sunday but nothing was done by me, so I don't really count this as done. I promise I will be better in the coming weeks.

I am really really crossing my fingers for an easy go with Mom's computer tonight so I can get something done at my place. If not, Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Sunday are the best I've got. My kitchen needs some deep cleaning like whoa. I'm all motivated just no time. That's how it goes sometimes.

Springtime = Curing and Allergies

*** updated Sunday evening (got more done than I thought I would!) ***
*** more updates Monday morning! ***

Well if there is one thing that will get me to blog a bit more regularly, it's the Apartment Therapy Spring Cure. I am a sucker for spring cleaning and this has been one long winter so I am MORE than ready to get moving and spruce this place up. Of course that means springtime allergies are also in full effect, but I find that a small price to pay for a reprieve from grey skies and all-around gloominess brought on by lack of outdoors-time.

So here we are in Week One and the best way to keep myself motivated seems to be posting my list of things to do, then updating my progress along the way. Today it took me a LONG time to get motivated - I was bumming because I was tired and felt stuck because I'm eternally broke. Finally I broke out the Murphy's Oil Soap and my mop and before I knew it, the entire bedroom was mopped and cleaned up and I started to feel far from stuck. I'm lucky - I have a job, I have a nice apartment, I have free time to spend taking proper care of it, and I have Pandora radio to keep me moving. All in all, not a bad outlook :)

I wish I had a camera to post photos along the way but mine met an unfortunate end back in August and it hasn't made it to the top of the shopping list just yet. Maybe for my birthday...hint hint. ;) Barring that, I'll just do my best to keep things updated around here - it's truly thrilling stuff I know. But perhaps blogging for the cure will encourage me to jumpstart my blogging on other topics - such as my utter sense of procrastination when it comes to planning for grad school, my neighbor's weird classical music habit that floats into my apartment at all hours of the day/night, my most favorite topic of all - food, etc. We shall see.

WEEK ONE

1. List repairs and solutions:

• Patch holes in screen door: already asked David to fix it! Done :)
• Fix latch in screen door: trip to Home Depot should cover that. Done.
  
• Fix running toilet and "sticky" handle: tempted to ask my Mom to show me how. She's a pro. 5 kids and 4 bathrooms will do that.
• Deal with the peeling paint on the kitchen sink backsplash (perhaps an excuse to break out some color other than white??).
• Recover dining chairs: not really a repair but that fabric has seen way better days and it's easy. The hard part is picking just the right Amy Butler fabric to use! I bought the fabric today (3/30) and I'm looking forward to it arriving. Love Etsy. I do I do! Ok, now it's here and I need to borrow the staple gun from my mom and get going. It's gonna be sooooo cute!
  
• New light in Kitchen? New light in Bathroom (that's not the one, but I've got something similar already)? New thermostat? New Hallway sconce? I may have an electrician hookup and while none of those things are broken per se, they've also got room for improvement.
• Deal with non-draining bathtub (Sunday night bathwater still draining Monday morning -yuck!) - David has been called and hopefully he can get on that today...). Hooray! It seems to be fixed. :)
  

2.Vacuum/Mop floors, clean baseboards and doors:

• Bedroom - DONE
  
• Bathroom - DONE
  
• Hall - DONE
  
• Living Room - halfway done! I am rearranging and vacuumed the rugs, dusted the baseboards, and swept, but need to roll up the rugs, move the furniture and mop. Goal to be done with that by the end of the 4/12 weekend.
  
• Dining Room - DONE (as well as touching up all the spots on the wall - long overdue!)
  
• Kitchen - DONE
  

3. Remove one item and place it outside: aka get rid of at least one thing - give it away. Set it by the dumpster or go to Goodwill. I have a bag of clothes waiting by the door. Will drop it off tomorrow. Not Done. Taking it over lunch tomorrow. DONE (took it first thing this morning).

4. Buy fresh flowers: Well, I'm kinda broke and my tulips from TJ's last Saturday are still kicking it. I might swipe some greenery for free outside somewhere.

5. Try not to sniffle and sneeze too much while doing all that cleaning: We will see...thank you Allegra and Pro-Air. Hehehe, well, there were some sneezes along the way, but what can you do?