An Office Update

Coming back to work after my materity leave was not easy. The first day was a lot of crying, on my part, only consoled by a warm welcome from my coworkers (they even cleaned the microwave for my arrival). I always keep my work space clean and I try to keep it decorated with being cluttered and over the top. I have brought in plants for my office and the common spaces. I bought some Ansel Adams prints on sale at art.com for our common space, the plain white walls made me crazy when I started two years ago.  I organized the library, supply closet, files and tables. It is so much better now.  I swear a lined up stapler and tape dispenser, a few prints, a few plants and a pretty tissue box does wonders. #beautify

I share my office and another attorney, who is the best and tolerates my putzing and decorating. He made sure people didn't dump on my desk so I didn't return to a mess but, my photos needed a refreshing and I need to make a few changes. While on my leave I kept seeing gold desk accents but I didn't want to spend my money when I have work issued items. So what did I do? I bought a 3 dollar can of Rustoleum metallic gold spray paint and took my items home. (Note: I have a job that doesn't care and I didn't interfere with the function of these items. They are theirs so if I leave the now gold items stay).  Here's some shots of my workspace now. Its a lot better for me, things that didn't match are now gold and shiny and feminine. Its a lot easier to leave my beautiful baby when I'm in a workspace that doesn't make miserable.

 

I was worried the gold would clash with my silver frames but I like it. Its bright and feminine. Everyone comments on how nice my office is :)

 

An old pier one pillow I had in my home office that I never use.

The flower pot was from an orchid that I killed (my green thumb does not work on orchids and violets, I over love them). The flowers are flower pens I made at home: thin duck tape, faux flowers from something and some purple pens.

These are much better than the standard black.

A painted letter I don't use in my home décor anymore. I hyphenated my name but go by my husbands in my private life and my maiden name at work.

These are dollar frames I bought at Michaels and just found some free vintage printables online. The hooks were all different colors but the gold makes it look more sophisticated and less like a dorm room.

So now my office is aqua (of course my signature color), pink, white and metallics.  And this little bit of effort really made coming back easier.

Toilet Overflow

This is basic knowledge but, apparently people don't know this. If your toilet is overflowing, for whatever reason, turn the water off. How may you ask? (as SOOO many have when I give this advice) Next to the toilet usually towards the floor there is a handle on a pipe going into the tank turn it until its tight.

(I borrowed this image from another handy girl!)

 

 

You will know when its off because the water stops. If it will flush, flush it and there will be very little water left in the tank. if you need to plung or repair the 'stopper' in the tank or tighten the tank screws (yes there are some on the bottom of the tank and on some toilets need to be occasionally tighten), do so and then when whatever was wrong is fixed, turn the water back on. That is all. Your welcome ;)

Family Holiday

An old draft post that I am finally posting...This Easter I hosted my first joint family holiday. My husband and I have been together nine years, owned a home two years and been married for a year and a half. But, it took a little girl to bring our families together for the first joint holiday. To say I was all nerves was an understatement but it went surprisingly well. We come from families with very different traditions and attitudes. His family is quiet and more religious, my family is loud, crazy, and well less religious. I expected awkwardness but instead thanks to their common denominator, my daughter, there was surprising peace. Effortless chatter, smiles, pictures taken, it went well. No we didn't break out the good china like I wanted, no we didn't eat on time, yes my little cousins let the dogs out of the yard and clean up took two days but, still, overall it was a positive experience. Now we will see how future events go but we are off to a good start!

Lowing Expectations

Father's Day was yesterday, and like most holidays I envisioned a day of laughing, hanging out, and enjoying each others company. Instead, it was more a day of aggravation, burnt breakfast and overall disappointment. When I went to leave my father, whom we had spent the morning with, to go back home and meet up with my father-in-law, I apologized for how the morning had went. My father looked at me and said something that I have been thinking about since. He said "it was nice Aim, you need to stop worrying about it being perfect because it only wasn't perfect for you." He then told me that all he wanted was to spend time with the baby and me. Instead I spent the morning trying to print photos of memories, rather than making them. I was also upset that my husbands gift didn't arrive, even though I had ordered it with plenty of time, and at the end of the day realized all he wanted was me to watch TV on the couch with him.  Lesson learned.

Low on Expectations,

High on Love

 I need to stop worrying so much about things being perfect and rather than trying to obtain fanaticized moments I create and cannot actually obtain. This tendency is making all events in my life not seem up to par. And I do it in almost all aspects of my life: I don't make enough money, drive a nice enough car, live in a nice enough home, etc. Nothing is good enough because I want perfection. When really, I have a good job, a nice home, and a nice car. This is something I don't want to pass on to my child. I think a lot of us do this, we build something up in our minds and we are disappointed when it doesn't live up to it. we don't enjoy what we do have. I don't think I can stop being a perfectionist but I need to start taking breaks and see what is good in my life. Hope you can do the same.