MoneyExchange

Money blogs are my new weakness. I read them like crazy. I'm recently learning about "snowflaking" from blogs like I've Paid For This Twice Already.

After reading some back entries, I signed up for an account at MoneyExchange and received a $25 bonus for doing so. Here is what MoneyExchange is:

"MoneyExchange is an easy way to transfer money between accountholders—anytime you are online. Pay a friend back for dinner without hitting the ATM. Give a roommate your half of the rent without writing a check. Send a sibling cash to cover your half of mom’s present —without mailing a thing. Sound easy?"

Kind of like PayPal without the fees. I added one of their banners to my toolbar on the bottom left. If you click it and sign-up, I get a $10 referral bonus (up to $500). And until May 15, 2008 you can get $25 just for signing up! So please do! Who doesn't need an extra $25?

Doug, Jack and Me Boutique Inspiration

All images in this post are of the russell+hazel® store in Minneapolis. They were downloaded from the russell+hazel® website.

This is what I imagine/day dream/foresee my design boutique looking like in the future. Everything is just perfect. Colors, floors, the light... amazing! And I will definitely carry russell+hazel® items in Doug, Jack and Me when that day comes.

M is for Maya

My sweet friend Erika is having a baby girl sometime very soon (**fingers crossed**) and I would love to get her this "M" pillow from The Yvestown Shop. The fabrics she uses are just beyond adorable for any baby girl. Check out The Yvestown Blog as well - she always posts the most calming, serene pictures.

Living Room Inspiration Board

For a birthday present, my mom is replacing my ugly green carpet in my living room/hallway. But before the carpet is installed, I would like to paint the now white walls with a taupe color and repaint the molding & trim a nice crisp white. The inspiration board I made, pictured above, will be the look I'm attempting. All pictures used (except for the the bookshelf project in the upper right) are from the paint palette galleries at Domino.

F that S

I saw this picture on an Apartment Therapy House Tour of AT editor and At Home At Home blogger Laure's old mantle. The note card cracks me up every time I think about it. Hilarious.

Agnes & Hoss Lamp

From Agnes & Hoss.
Adorable! I think that fabric would be great as wallpaper in a small bathroom too.

Upromise

So my recent fascination of money-issue blogs lead me to the Upromise website today. I have to admit, I am very excited about Upromise. Who wouldn't be excited for free money to put towards my looming student loan? And after that's gone, my unborn child's college education. The best part is you can sign-up yourself as the beneficiary and then change it when a little one comes along that you would like to send to college one day.

All you do is register, pick which debit/credit cards you would like linked to your account and that's it! A percentage of your purchase (from 1% up to 25%) goes into your Upromise account. Free money! You can also invite friends and family to link their debit/credit cards to your account and then their purchases count too. There are tons of online shops that participate - Target.com, OldNavy.com, BestBuy.com - for example, places you shop everyday, and they even give special offers for shopping through Upromise. You just have to go to those sites through Upromise's Shop Online link or special toolbar that's available to download for free. You can also link your grocery and drugstore saver cards. I'm telling you - this is awesome.

What's the catch? I haven't found one yet and I can't wait to start saving from shopping!

Dream Bedrooms

Bedroom of architect Elena Coleman (via Design*Sponge)
Bedroom of decorator Annsley McAleer (via the SCOOP)
Bedroom of designer Bonnee Sharp (via Design*Sponge)

Bookshelf Project

This project was on DesignSponge last Thursday and I keep thinking about how I'm going to do it. I believe I could fit two of them next to my fire place and possibly fit a flat screen TV on one of the shelves. I think it is a great way to display some of the awesome wallpaper that is out there right now without have to commit an entire wall to it. Weekend summer project anyone?

Here are the directions (via DesignSponge):
Amber’s Billy Bookshelves by Amber Blakesley
Items Required:
3 billy bookcases $59 ea.
3 extenders $25 ea.
6 billy byom doors $35 ea.
2 rolls wallpaper $80 approx. ea.
1 quart tub wallpaper primer $15
1 quart tub wallpaper paste $15
small roller $3
sponge $2
smoothing tool $5
1-2 helpers
Grand Total $652

Time Required: Saturday afternoon

Steps:
1. Built the bookshelves
2. Built the extender units
3. Wallpaper the flat back pieces of the bookcases that are included. Making sure to match up the pattern across all three units. The backs that Ikea gives you are cardboard, not real wood. I would suggest you have real pressed wood cut to fit the backs of the bookshelves.
(I was already knee deep in constructing bookshelves when I found this out, so I went ahead and used the cardboard backs and it all worked out just fine.)
4. Install doors.

Anyone Want To See A Cute Summer Dress?

I'm sure no one reads this anymore (as if they ever did!), but I'm sure going to start trying to post more often. I swear! But I saw this dress on jcrew.com and HAD to do something about it. I'm dreaming of summer everyday (like the majority of the Midwest) and can imagine wearing this dress to every summer occasion.



Island eyelet short dress $185

Style Me Pretty Inspiration Boards

Hello! Remember me? Yeah, sorry I haven't posted in a while. But you know how summer goes, first volleyball started on Tuesdays, then softball on Fridays, then people got married and needed paper stuff like 28 handmade table tents, then I bought a condo, then I'm moving into that condo this weekend, then I'm going to L.A. for 5 days. Then I shouldn't be busy at all, right? Anyways, I specifically emailed this to myself so I would put it on here....so here it goes.



Style Me Pretty was having an inspiration board contest and even though I'm no where near getting married, I couldn't help but look at every single one. Maybe it's because I've been doing stuff for people's weddings finally and starting to love people's different styles. The one above is my favorite and more towards what my own personal inspiration board might look like. So go vote for your favorite!

Dresses

This past Friday my friends and I threw our friend Erika a Tropical Bachelorette Party (she's getting married in Punta Cana in about a week). She wore white and the rest of us dressed in tropical colors and most of us wore dresses. I am telling you these dresses made our whole night. And now I am obsessed with wearing dresses. I want to wear one out every time we go out now. Mine (the yellow one) was from Old Navy - only $30. Kara's (in the green) was only $22 from Body Central. Flippin' changed our lives and worth every penny!

So since I have dresses on the brain, I've been spotting cute ones everywhere. Most recently on Oh Joy from Delia's:



How cute is that little get up?? Anyone else seen some cute dresses out there?

I'm a Winner!

So most of you know I developed the bad habit of constantly reading design blogs at my now old job. It was basically my job. One of my favorites, Hostess with the Mostess, frequently posts Surprise Giveaways, which I frequently enter. Guess who freakin' won one out of 246 people! Me! And a chick named Janice, won "75 customized note sheets & a cute acrylic clipboard, packaged with grosgrain ribbon in a decorative box" from Whitney English Paper.

This is the comment that I left when entering the contest (at 9:01 am Central Time):
I guess this is a sign I need to start running the show. Thank-you Hostess with the Mostess! Soooooo happy. After having strep throat for the first day of my new job, having strep throat period, and being trained on data entry today this is very good news. Oh and after watching the LOST Finale too. Can anyone tell me who's funeral that was?? Anybody?

p.s. I'm not supposed to be doing data entry with me new job, I'm just being trained in it. And I hate it. Where is this show I need to be running??

Just What I Was Thinking

Frecklewonder: night owl plaque
The rain this morning made me want to stay in bed. Then I found this plaque today while browsing the Frecklewonder shop (she has a blog too). Already sold - for only $6.50, what a deal!

Etsy: HELLO May by ashleyg

HELLO May by ashleyg

One in stock and I want it! Ashleyg is also the Etsy Featured Seller at the moment. A very talented girl who pays her rent and then some off of Etsy. Me too, please?

UPDATE: I just purchased the HELLO May print! It's my first Etsy purchase and I think it's a really really good one (it's even featured on Design*Sponge's "Around the Web" sidebar, so of course it's famous). I'll let you take a peek at it once it arrives in the mail. Speaking of sidebars, I now have an Etsy Mini in mine with my favorite Etsy finds. How cute! Down the road, it will feature what is for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Smallest Coolest Apartments 2007

#19 - Laure's Sparkling Space

This is (so far) my favorite entry in Apartment Therapy's Smallest Coolest Apartment Contest this year.



There are many others to browse - so have fun! A couple of my other favorites:
#30 - Ron's Hotel "Sweet"
#22 - 42anderson's Love, Eat, Party

I will be posting my freshly painted bay window wall later this week. I am getting ready for a little Cinco de Mayo Cookie Lee Jewelry Party (long name) this Saturday and the goal is to have all my spring cleaning done by then.

The Daily Puppy

You just have to go to The Daily Puppy right this second. Just go. And if it doesn't make your day better in .5 seconds, then I just feel sorry for you. I can't get enough of the cuteness!!

This little guy, The Colonel, is my favorite today. Look at that face!

Poster Addiction

If you've been looking to order a screen-printed poster from Aesthetic Apparatus, now is the time! Right now, you can receive this FREE Yo La Tengo poster with your $30 or more order.


I was lucky enough to receive a $15 gift certificate to Aesthetic Apparatus (thanks, Kurt!) for my birthday and was able to purchase these two posters:



I am definitely putting the Submarines poster in my living room because the colors go so nicely with my Volante Farewell poster (also from the wonderful Aesthetic Apparatus). The Gomez poster I will have to live with for a little while and feel out where its place in my life will be. Happy poster shopping!

Going Solo

So I have made the executive decision to go solo with Doug, Jack and Me. I love my dear friends Allison (Allijack) and Rose (LadyNoble), but am ready to take the blog and idea of Doug, Jack and Me in another direction. Since I do most of the posting anyways, I don't think either of their feelings are getting hurt too bad.

As for the future of Doug, Jack and Me, be prepared for a new identity, which will include an actual header!

The Yvestown Blog

The Yvestown Blog

I was routed to this blog through Decor8 this past Sunday and I've been going to it everyday this week. I find myself just staring at her beautiful pictures. Click here to learn more about Yvestown. I definitely suggest adding her blog to your bookmarks or del.icio.us.