This week, since I get the whole week off of work, I have a long to do list to tackle. Several things on the list are your good old "do laundry, hang new painting, clean bathroom" but some are little projects I have been meaning to get around to since we moved in! And I have a good excuse to do them, because my aunt is visiting from California for the holidays, and is planning to come over to our place for lunch later this week! So first things first: install under cabinet lighting in the kitchen (below is the "before" picture).


This is something I have wanted to do so badly. We have one overhead light in our galley-style kitchen, and wherever I am standing, the light is behind me. So I am looking down at my shadow when I am trying to fix dinner or do dishes! It's pretty annoying...

Anywho! I finally did it today on my first day off, and man does it look good! It makes the whole kitchen, and even the dingy yucky cabinets look a lot more expensive, and nice. I got the system from Ikea (and had to go back a few times because they sell all of the parts separately, and I didnt get all the right ones at first).


But instead of drilling holes and screwing them in to the undersides of the cabinets like the instructions tell you to, I used a heavy duty doublestick gel tape that we carry at work.


We rent, so we cant make any permanent damage to the cabinets, plus now we can just take them with us if/when we move again! I also got some inexpensive cord control strips that we had laying around (also from Ikea) to hide the cords on the sides of the cabinets.




Twisty-ties were also very helpful for bundling up the excess cord underneath each cabinet section. Hiding those cords was tricky!



And voila! The results:

I asked for a couple of bags for xmas this year. They are all very expensive gifts, but I think that if I were to get any cash or gift certificates this year, I would use it to buy a giant, vintage leather, caryall bag. The problem is that I know exactly what I want, and I am having a hard time finding exactly that. But below are a few contenders...

First and foremost, abknyc bags are just amazing.




This site, although it seems weird, is awesome for vintage bags.





If this one were leather, I would have to die.


If I could roll them all into one, with the short rolled leather handles, simple giant bucket shape, some type of buckle detail, and maybe a cross body strap, the result would probably be perfect.

I am so in love with pinterest! I probably spent all weekend, snowed in, scouring pinterest boards. They have the most beautiful way of laying out gift guides, wish lists, inspiration boards, I have ever seen (a graphic designer's dream). And I can imagine it is super easy to use too! Add from any website?? Yes, please. So far, it is invite-only beta, anyone know how long it will take to get my invite?

In researching holiday gift ideas for family and friends, I found a few that could be MY perfect gift guides too! I'M OBSESSED with everything in these boards:









What are you guys dreaming of for the holidays? For me, its everything warm, cozy, rustic and masculine. I guess that's how winter makes me feel.

They get less scary the further you go, I promise.