Mama needs a new pair of shoes!

Or three new pairs.

I went to the mall today. After the last few months of trying very hard to only buy things for the house, I exploded into a shopping rage today, buying myself all sorts of new things. The most exciting purchases had to be these three pairs of shoes from Macy's. I found the black and brown ones first on super duper clearance. I got both pairs for $51, and they are so comfy. I saw the red ones, but since they were full price (still only $69), I held off until the end of my trip.

But I ended up going back because I have been dying for a great pair of red heels for a year now. I wear so much black and a good red shoe would be the perfect accessory. So even though they weren't the most comfortable, I couldn't resist after seeing them on my feet. So cute!



I needed a little work wardrobe revamp. Every once in a while I fall into a frumpy zone, and I never want to give a frumpy image. In addition to my shoes, I picked up three tops, three skirts, a scarf, a dress, and a blazer. And now I am forbidding myself from buying clothes for, well, at least until Maria comes to visit in a few weeks. I think I can make it.

Join the Club

So many of the blogs that I read daily promote wonderful independent designers and real fashion design icons, but you know what? I can't afford that stuff, as lovely as it may be. So for the most part I stick to the usual "mall" stores. Maybe that's uncool, I don't know.

But one of my favorites, that I don't frequent as often as I'd like, is Club Monaco. If I could own a store's collection as my wardrobe, this would be it. Heavy on the black and white. And abundance of stripes. Classy enough for work, funky enough to make me feel like I'm not another corporate drone.


Lucky for me (unlucky for my wallet) it's within walking distance of my office, so I took a stroll over there today and my oh my, they were having some incredible sales! I picked up a tank, two light sweaters, three tees, and that scarf in the picture on the right.

C'mon, I needed some new clothes to go with my new hair.

Streak Be Gone

I think I'll always wear glasses. Not just because I have this weird eye phobia (so contacts are out!) but because it's part of my identity. I embrace my geekdom. And another part of my identity is short dark hair. Whenever my hair grows out, I just don't feel like myself anymore. So when my amazing stylist, Sandi, works her magic, I'm returned to my good ol' Melissa again.

I finally feel back to normal!

Question for you. I can't decide whether I want to tuck my hair behind my ears like in these photos:



Or leave it untucked like here:

Geez, my face looks really puffy in that last photo. Bad angle.

I look like trash.

Why in the world would I ever let my hair get this bad? You know, the cut isn't too terrible. But my lordy, look at my roots! Sure, it was awesome for a while, but I got this done months ago. And with the move and busy work times, I just haven't had a chance to get out to my salon. But all that changes today! I have a 4pm appointment, finally!

So goodbye embarrassing hair!

Shows Galore

Nah, I don't want money. Saving is silly. Spend! Spend! Spend!

This is in reference to all the good shows coming up that I just can't pass on. I already got Radiohead tickets for August 12th, and I can't wait for that show. [August 2001 Radiohead show at Liberty State Park ranks as my favorite show of all time.]

I also discovered yesterday that Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band will be playing The Troc the night before Radiohead. Gotta see that. I'm headed out at lunch time to get tickets before the whiney, too-cool-for-school teeny boppers get them first.

While I'm there, I might as well pick up the Built to Spill tickets that we've been meaning to get. It's the Perfect From Now On tour, which should be super-neato-completo.

And then this morning I saw that Ben Folds is playing the Mann Center with a full orchestra. Oh come on. So yeah. I bought those as well.

Geez. There are some fun other shows coming up too (like MGMT, CSS, Stereolab, and Hot Chip), but I'll hold off on those tickets for now. What can I say? Melissa hearts music.

Sleep-talking Nonsense

I do not like to be woken up. And when I wake up, I do not like to be spoken to. Rob, however, talks at all times of the day. Middle of the night, while he's eating, even while he's using mouthwash. Seriously. So it is not uncommon for him to attempt to start a conversation when I'm half asleep. Most of the time I can ignore him and fall back asleep, but if he requires a response, I immediately turn into a cranky-pants.

I've been using my iPhone as my alarm clock since I haven't been able to find mine post-move. I suppose I've gotten used to this fact because at 2am this morning when my phone went off, I pushed a button, assuming I was hitting the snooze. A few seconds later, I hear a random voice.

"Yo, where you at?"

Rob says something to me about my phone. I respond with, "that's just the alarm," and try to go back to sleep. The "where you at's" keep coming, and Rob says, "Melis, someone is on your phone." Still half asleep I repeat, already getting irritated, "That was just the alarm." More talking coming from my phone. Rob, not understanding how I don't realize the fact that a wrong number called me and instead of hitting "snooze", I hit "accept call," says, "You're getting 2am phone calls from strange dudes! It's not your alarm!"

You'd think I'd wake up by now, right? No. I snap, "That's just the alarm service! I called the alarm service and this is who's calling me back!" and fall back asleep, half realizing that there really was a strange dude on the phone and pressing the "end call" button.

I nearly forgot all about it until Rob reminded me this morning. Whoops.

I Want It All

I have a serious shopping problem. And having a new house, I am finding that I can pretty much justify the most unnecessary purchases. What do I want now? A quilt/coverlet. During the summer months, we still sleep with a big ole down comforter on our bed. It's fine for Rob because he'll sleep without the covers, but I have this weird thing where I NEED to be covered, even if it's sweltering.

And now the addition of the ceiling fan has made it worse. I hate having cold air blowing on me. So I tuck up under the huge comforter and then in two minutes I'm sweating like crazy. I pull the comforter away and in two minutes I'm freezing. I need a light quilt/coverlet that I can hide under without melting.

After doing a little looking around in my price range, I found this one from West Elm. I love the green! I kind of lean toward green, have you noticed?


But I really shouldn't buy anything else right now. Everyone tells me, "Buy a little bit at a time," but what if you want everything at once???

Oh yeah, that contest.

Whoopsie, totally forgot about it!

Well, using the Random Number Generator, I got #6, and comment #6 was none other than fellow HOWie, Kimburgerly! Congrats lady! Send me an email (mel829 at mac dot com, in case you don't already have it) with your address and I'll send the goodies your way!

Tired of house photos yet??

Sorry. I'm obsessed, what can I say? It was another productive weekend. My parents came at 10:20am on Saturday and didn't leave until 6:30pm. It took that long to install one ceiling fan and four light fixtures. My dad rocks for doing all of it for me. I think I could have done it myself, but it would not have been easy!

I took some more pictures today. But instead of posting all 18 here, I made a little slideshow, which means if you wanna, you can view it. If not, you can avoid it.



And just for the goofy factor, here are two non-house photos. This is me in front of my brand new, West Elm vanity that Rob bought me for our anniversary. It is the most wonderful piece of furniture!



And here's Rob, showing off for the camera as I was taking some photos of the dining room. Which way to the "gun" show???



Hope everyone in the blog world is doing well! Remember, my Lab Partners giveaway ends tomorrow, so don't forget to post a comment if you want a chance to win!

In Da House

ANOTHER trip to IKEA yesterday. But I picked up the few things I needed, so hopefully I can go one week without having to go back. I did get to pick up a few plants. Fingers crossed that I don't kill them. Rob has an issue with throwing away plants, so we have a collection of 5 almost dead plants that he still waters regularly in hopes of reviving them.

It's really starting to feel more like a home. This is absolutely terrible, but I'm really not crazy about the blue on the walls! There is no way I'm repainting anytime soon, so I'll learn to love it.

My dad is visiting on Saturday to help me install a ceiling fan and replace the light fixtures like the hideous one in the photo below. Ick. I think that will make a nice difference.

Feeling Moody

Not really.

But I wrangled up a submission for the Decor8 Mood Board Contest. I wasn't intending on entering. I thought about it a few weeks ago and tossed the idea aside. But I really needed a fun creative exercise, so I gave it a go.


(click image for details)

As long as I'm living in this house, I will never have a nice garden/outdoor area. My 8'x8' concrete patio doesn't exactly equal outdoor-oasis status. So this mood board was my chance to play around, as if I actually had a yard! There are some crazy good entries so far. Checking out the flickr set has been inspiring.

What's a meme?

FashionMista meme'd me! I don't think I've ever used that term before. I should look it up to make sure it isn't naughty or something.

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
June 1998 - Just graduated from high school. I was so glad to get the heck out of there, and I haven't stepped foot in there since.

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
Get estimates from 3 vendors for 3 different projects.
Go to IKEA to get a hanging light for my kitchen.
Head to Starbucks around 10-ish for my now daily ritual of a Doubleshot Energy+Coffee
Create some posters for the career fair next week
Post this meme thing.

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Well, I have a package of Combos sitting in front of me. Doughnuts and brownies are my weakness. Anything in nugget form.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Quit my job and go all out with melissahead designs.
Take my mom to Korea so we can finally see our family again.
Encourage Rob to start some sort of youth organization in Camden.
Fly or chauffeur my girlfriends to NYC for a crazy shopping spree/spa vacation! (I need some girly time.)

5) Places I have lived:
New Jersey pretty much covers it all, other than a few month stint in Maryland when I was a baby.

6) Jobs I have had:
Car dealership receptionist (worst!), panty pusher (Victorias Secret), designer

7) Bloggers I am tagging who you will enjoy getting to know better:
designgrrrl
Maria - post something already!
suffix.abuse
Artsy Fartsy Shopaholic
Midwest Modern Girl

Lab Partners Giveaway!

Nearly a year ago I bought this adorable set of gocco prints from Lab Partners to frame and put in my kitchen. However, I went with a different color scheme, so I don't have a spot for these lovelies. Do you??


(image courtesy of Lab Partners)

I don't want them stored away in a box when they deserve to be displayed. So leave me a comment in this post and I'll pick a random person to send them to! They measure 4.25"x6" each.

EDIT: Duh, I realized I never said when the drawing would be! I'll pick a winner on Monday, around 6pm ET. Something fun for the start of the week!

"I'm living, dude!"

Demetri Martin jokes about how encouraging the "living" room is. Start "living", stop "dining." Anyway, I was working on both rooms last night. And this little piece of furniture is sort of part of both. We got this buffet from Crate and Barrel a year or two ago, and I used to keep all sorts of craft supplies in there. But now that I have the "craft lab," it has a whole new purpose. Since there really isn't space behind the dining table, I have it against the wall off to the right, on display.



Those two prints are the ones I bought from Vol.25. Super cute, right? I realized after taking this photo that I hung them backwards. The wind flows through both prints, so I had to switch them.

Now that I finally have some art on the walls, it feels more like a home. My parents might be coming by this weekend to help me install my light fixtures, thank goodness. I feel like it's really getting there!

Blog Facelift

My blog needed a little work. So I gave it a minor facelift. Hopefully more interesting changes are to come. One of my problems is that I never used "labels" on my posts. So when I went to create the "Stuff I Wrote About" section that you'll now find to your left, I realized that going back to tag my posts is going to be quite the process.

But in the meantime, it's a little better.



Once the house gets settled and my craft lab is in full swing, I'm hoping to rethink melissahead. I never really went gung ho into that project, so I need to start from scratch and really consider what it is that I want melissahead to be. So in the meantime, the melissahead etsy shop is on hiatus. More about that in the future.

Hey, by the way, my darling blog-friend, FashionMista "meme'd" me the other day. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I think I have to answer some questions or something. Soon, I promise.

Take a seat.

I thought I would get to this project sooner than this, but I must have been disillusioned because I thought my whole house would be set up by now. Crazy me! Last night I finished up some boxes in the dining room, so I was finally able to move the dining table to the area where it belongs. Then at 10pm last night, I thought I'd give this project a go. I only finished one chair. Turns out I'm not as handy with a staple gun as I'd like to believe, so I'm saving the other three chairs for when I get a little bit of energy.

What do you think?? I really like the fabric. And I think it's a nice touch in the room. I'd still love a new dining set, but in the meantime, this will work out okay.



Like usual, things have been non-stop busy. I feel like my house will never get done at this rate! Tonight we're headed to the Sox @ Phillies game, which was an anniversary gift to Rob. But apparently the weather isn't going to cooperate. Heavy thunderstorms and hail is predicted. Nice.

Two years down...

...a lifetime to go.



I love you, Rob!

I made it through the week.

I don't know how, but I did. Actually, I do know how. Starbucks Doubleshot Energy + Coffee. I've had about 10 in the last week. And my ticker is still runnin'!

This was probably the busiest week I've ever had at work, in the 6 years I've been with my company. It's also the most productive week, so I guess that's good. The short story is that we had our biannual corporate meeting, and there were many materials to be created in a very short amount of time. Ain't that always the case? So I did a few late nights. A few working weekends. But everything got done, and I think the meeting was very successful. I'm proud.

Also, at our meeting kick off, I was given a "Marketing Excellence Award" for all of my dedication and hard work. Technically I didn't get the actual certificate because I'm the one that makes them, and they didn't want to ruin the surprise. Ha! But the American Express gift check was a nice surprise!

But after all of that, I was completely worn out. I got home at around 7:30, scarfed some fast food, and then this was me:



The nice thing is that I get a half day! In fact, my boss is already urging me to head out, but I have a few things to take care of first because I know next week is going to be busy again.

There's no such thing as too many bags.

However my closet space would like to disagree.

I did a good job of organizing my closet last night after installing a few more shelves. It feels roomy. All of my things are in order. There's space to stand and possibly even lie down if I really wanted to, which I might. But I think I'm in need of more bins/containers! I don't know where to put my scarves and hats. I bought bins for the hall closet for my winter scarves and hats, but I don't think I want my fashion items mingling with my functional items.

Here are my hall closet bins, from Home Depot:

So, do I get more for my closet? Or is there a better way to store those?

Another issue I'm dealing with is what to do with all my bags. I kind of wish I had hooks for them, but I think that'll take up too much room. Do I get a bin for those too? How do you ladies organize your bags?

Am I really an A-hole???

Yesterday I was cursed out by a crazy Philly man. Here's the story:

Leaving my parking garage, I take a little alley to get onto Race Street. Since Race is always backed up, you have to wait for a kind person to let you into the line of traffic. A nice man in a truck let me go yesterday, but since the light hadn't let out, I just inched up into the small space, waiting until I could completely turn left onto the street. By doing this, the back of my car was blocking the sidewalk.

It's never a problem. People just walk behind your car. Big whoop. It's freaking Center City. Well, one crazy man didn't want to walk around, I guess, so he starts cursing at me. "F#$%ing a**hole!" I couldn't completely understand what he was shouting. But as he passes behind my car, he smacks it! Whatever, crazy dude. Now your hand is even dirtier than it was prior to touching my dirt-mobile.

As he stares me down while he keeps walking, I stare back, smile a HUGE smile, and give him a friendly (yet condescending) wave. He DID NOT like this. "F#$% YOU!!!! F#$%ing a**hole!" Wow.

I think that was the first time anyone called me an a-hole (to my face at least).

It's a wrecked...

...house. All messy messy. With stuff lyin' all about.

Okay, that was supposed to be like Brick House, but I don't think it worked well. Anyway, it's a crazy day at work, and will most likely be crazy until our big meeting next Wednesday night, so I will probably be neglecting my blog. But I thought I'd show you a few more photos of my disastrous home.

It's wonderful, I love it. Honestly. But there is so much clutter everywhere right now as we try to unpack. I have no idea where my alarm clock, good shoes, or face wash are.

Here's MY bathroom. Both full bathrooms upstairs are teeny tiny, so there's no option for me and Rob "the bathroom hog" to share. So I claimed this one as my own. Love the cb2 shower curtain!


Here's a photo of Rob's green room. He'll blend in well since he only wears green and brown. I really like the wall color/wood color combo. It feels very relaxing.


I am currently the Queen of Containers. Since I have so many random things, I'm just throwing them in boxes, bins, etc.


Even in my bathroom! Bins everywhere! I need to make prettier labels though.


The ceilings are pretty high downstairs. It makes the walls feel so bare. I need some art! It also makes my tv feel even smaller. I'm still not sure about the layout. I need to play around a little.


I guess that's it for now. Hopefully I'll have some more to update soon. We still haven't put all the blinds up yet. And Rob is so insanely paranoid that someone is going to break into our house. So security is number one priority in his eyes. Getting every inch of ugly cardboard out of my sight is my number one priority.

Wish me luck as I try to make it through the next 8 hectic work days.