Costco will be the death of me

Does anyone else have this problem? I know I can't possibly be the only one. Do you know what I did last night? Well, not just me, me and the husband, actually. We went to Costco and spent about six times more than we had intended. SIX TIMES. It's amazing how you can go in there and be like "Oh, I've totall been needing that, and look at that great price!" And BAM! purchase justified. Costco, why must you have such amazing wares?

So what did we get? Well, most of the items were gifts, and for the sake of not spoiling upcoming birthday and Christmas gifts, I'll refrain from sharing those details. But just know that I managed to knock out three Christmas gifts. Impressive, right?

Among the non-gift related things I can share with you....

Yup, that's right, I got myself a new pair of running shoes. You know, so I can start working on #11 of 26 Before 26. And, of course they were a great price ($30 less than they would have been elsewhere)- how else would I have justified the purchase? So with that, it's time to get my butt to the gym this morning. It's been far, far too long. So long that my husband suggested I should maybe just cancel my membership. Nothing like that to kick your butt into gear. Wish me luck and pray I don't collapse on the treadmill.

In Love with Vintage Scales

My latest obsession is vintage kitchen scales. I want one. Like bad (Husband, are you listening??). I think they add a sweet touch of vintage beauty to a kitchen and frankly I'm just in love. Plus, imagine the adorable photos I could take using it as a prop!

 How great is this hanging grocery-style scale? And pretty much everything else about that kitchen too.

{via My Sweet Savannah}

Or this countertop one tucked in with the canisters?

 

{Country Living via Decor de Provence }

Hello, fall! This one was a yard sale find from Walnut & Vine (link below). How come I don't find things this cool? Oh yeah, probably because I don't go yard sale-ing. Note to self: get my butt up on Saturday morning, there is gorgeous junk to be found!

{via Walnut & Vine}

I am so in love with this one it hurts. That color is perfection. I want it. Guess what? It's for sale on etsy! Unfortunately though, I'm on a bit of a spending unnecessary money hiatus, so this one just isn't in the cards at the moment. But it can be yours! See the link below photo to go buy it yourself.

{BUY it on etsy from yesterdis}

Here are some other etsy finds:

{buy it here}

{buy it here}

{buy it here}

{buy it here}

Maybe I'll get lucky and happen upon one while thrift store shopping. A girl can hope, right?

I love grocery shopping!

Ok, I don't really love grocery shopping, but I seriously love this notepad. It makes grocery day a little less annoying, and that is a beautiful thing. It has a big magnet on the back, so it hangs out on my fridge. I just check items off as I run out of them. Plus, items are grouped together as they typically are in the grocery store, so I have less time going back to aisles I've already been down. Genius!

Want one too? I got mine at Anthropologie, but you can also buy it here.

I'm also thinking I really need to get this one-What to Eat:

Fall Wishlist

Although it still feels exactly like summer here in San Diego, I know that the calendar says September 16th and that means Fall is coming! Fall might be my favorite season. (But don't judge me if Winter, Spring or Summer come around and I start calling those my favorite seasons too...they all are special in different ways)

Anyway, I've been seeing so much fall goodness in magazines, on Pinterest and all around the blogosphere and I can't help but get excited for boots, sweaters, fall tv and all things pumpkin. Along with all of those, I have a few extra things on my wish/to-do/to buy list this Fall:

A Cable-Knit Throw

How cozy does that look? Don't you want to just snuggle up under it on the couch? I know I do. The one pictured above is from Pottery Barn and costs a whopping $79, but I think I found some looks for less, from here (IKEA )and here (QVC of all places)!

Something, anything with card catalog details

 via Dream Book Design

Ok, so something on a MUCH smaller scale because my slightly less than 700 square foot apartment can't even begin to handle that gorgeous beast, but you get what I mean. Maybe I'll try and make something using card catalog pulls, found here. What does this have to do with fall? Good question. I won't even go down that rabbit hole where it makes sense in my head. Just know that it does.

 Branches in a Vase

{via Fiori Belli }

Don't those branches just make you feel all autumn-like? I want some sort of branches to replace the spring/summer flowers I have in the vase in my living room. I love the branches in the picture above- hopefully I can find something similar at Michael's.

The Perfect Pumpkin Muffins

Once upon a time I had the most amazing pumpkin muffin recipe at my fingertips. Now, it is no more. Sooooo....this fall will be my quest to find the perfect pumpkin muffin recipe. Get excited.

Butternut Squash Soup

Never made it. But I know I love it. This goodness needs to happen soon in my kitchen. Any recipes? 

Send 'em my way.

Roomy Boots

Dear husband, if you are reading this, I know you're asking yourself WHY I need another pair of boots. Well....let me start by saying that I didn't buy any new boots last fall or winter. Yeah, that's pretty much all I got. I just want them. I don't need them :) Basically, I want boots that are really wide around the calf. Apparently my calves are big for my shoe size because I always have trouble with my boots being too tight. Why can't I find boots that fit like this?:

{via}

Rice Pudding 

My coworker has seriously turned me on to rice pudding. I need to learn how to make it. So good. Definitely happening.

and last but certainly not least. What would fall be without....

Pumpkin Spice Lattes

{via starbucks} 

Oh, Starbucks, how did you manage to make something so amazingly delicious? Now that I have my espresso machine at home, I must figure it out!  I've seen a few recipes floating around the internet, but none seem like quite what I'm looking for. Time to get in the kitchen and experiment!

What are you looking forward to for Fall?

From Inspiration to Reality: Jami's Bedroom

When my friend Jami told me she was gearing up to decorate her bedroom in her new place, I jumped all over it. She kindly agreed to let me create an inspiration/reality board of sorts based on some pictures and a few ideas she already had.

She is going for a black, white, yellow and gray color scheme in this bedroom. Can I tell you how much I love that color palette? It feels so fresh.

Here are a few of the inspiration pictures she sent over:

{via decor pad}

She’s obviously not afraid of some bold patterns- LOVE!

 {via apartment therapy}

I love the script on this rug.

{source unknown}

Don't you just want to curl up on each of those beds and read a good book? 

 Based on her photos, this is what I created:

black yellow gray by mrslindseyadams on Polyvore.com

click here for chevron rug from urban outfitters {click on any of the above thumbnails for product details}

She already picked out some black hemnes furniture from IKEA (which I also happen to have in my bedroom :). And she already has two nightstands that are just waiting to be painted a cheerful shade of yellow (so the ones shown in the board above are purely for show).

I think sticking with a white duvet and adding pops of color with accent pillows and perhaps a quilt is the way to go. That way, if you want to change up your color scheme in the future, you have a good, neutral base going on.

The gray chevron rug makes my heart pitter patter. I love the bold design it adds without being too overpowering to the room.

Above the bed, I thought it would be fun to mimic the script from the gorgeous rug in the inspiration pic, above. Three simple black frames can enclose some simple DIY art. Find a scripty font online (I like www.dafont.com), type out some words (a favorite quote? Song lyrics?) in a word processing program, print it out and pop it in the frame. Easy!

Obviously, Jami has some great taste so I’m sure she’ll do fine all on her own, but I appreciate her letting me take a shot at it!

Have an inspiration picture you want to re-create in real life? Have a design dilemma? My VERY amateur self would love for you to let me attempt to help. Send me an email at lindsey@lovelindseyblog.com! Maybe I’ll feature your question/design in an upcoming blog post.

 

Treasure Hunting

Two weekends ago, my friend Nicole came down from Pasadena for a weekend visit. Our favorite thing to do together? Shop! Thrifting, to be exact :) We managed to mix in a few other non-thrift stores too, of course.

This time, I pretty much shopped vicariously through Nicole. Most of my thrift store finds need a little love and turn into projects. Unfortunately, my vision can sometime be greater than my drive and I take my sweet time getting around to actually completing a project. So, I'm trying to finish up the projects I already have going at home before I bring home new ones.

Anyway... Nicole was on a hunt for some items for her new apartment. Most specifically, 3 mismatched chairs for her dining room. The plan was to paint them all white, to go with her green table, giving the room an eclectic, yet still pulled-together feel.

So, we started the day off at Kobey's swap meet. Despite the fact that I've lived in San Diego for YEARS, I've never been there!

At first, it didn't look too promising. We were hoping for some vintage thrifty furniture finds, but seemed to be walking by endless booths of cell phone covers and knock off purses. But, we rounded a corner and found gold! Holy moly, I have no idea how I resisted all the great finds.

There was one item I just couldn't resist though. I've been wanting a vintage soda crate for who knows how long and looky what I found! For $5!

At the same vendor, we found these colorful books for Nicole's apartment. Love it!

 

Chair #1 found! A little white paint and a recovered cushion and it will be perfect!

I love the lines and detail of the dresser. It was unfininshed and so ready for a coat of fun, bright paint.

Boxes of vintage stamps. I've seen brides use these for wedding invitations and they look amazing.

 I loved these two books. I really should have bought them. I have no idea what they were about (besides the obvious- Spain), but I loved the covers and that there was one in English and one in Spanish

Vintage game of Clue. I wonder if it had all the pieces?

I loved all of these suitcases. I saw a photo recently of  vintage suitcases stacked in a guest room as a nightstand. If we had a guestroom, I SO would have snatched a few of these up

.

Chair #2. Found!

Needing som re-fueling, we headed to The Living Room in Point Loma for a quick latte and bite to eat. 

I think by that time I had camera fatugue, because the pictures are lacking, but we managed to make it to Amvets, Big Lots, Goodwill, The Rock Thrift Store, Salvation Army (where chair #3 was found!), Pier One, World Market, Ross & Marshalls. Whew! That was one long day, resulting in one VERY full car...

 

And since it took me a whole week and a half to get around to this post, Nicole actually was able to refinish her chairs! Doesn't it look great?

I need some of that motivation she has. If I had purchased these, it would have taken me AT LEAST a month to get around to buying the paint, and who knows when I would have completed the project. Oh, well.

Dark Horse...

I'm sure you've been anxiously awaiting the news. You probably can't take the suspense of waiting any longer. Well, wait no more! I am the proud owner of a new ceramic travel mug. Which one did I choose? #10! *insert scratching record sound here* huh? There wasn't a #10 in the post below... but I happened to be shopping at Ross this weekend and saw this gem:

So cute. I love all the colors, especially that sunny yellow lid. And no ordering online, paying for shipping and anxiously awaiting arrival. I'm an instant gratification kinda girl.

The best part? I turned that sucker over to find this glorious price tag:

$3.49? um. yes, please!

Of course, I picked up a few other things espresso machine-related on my shopping trip. If you give Lindsey an espresso machines she's going to want... an adorable chicken wire basket ($7.99 @ World Market, unavailable online) to hold all of the espresso machine accessories AND a stainless steel frothing pitcher ($6.99 @ World Market, unavailable online).

This is now my happy corner in my house.

Curious about that bottle of goodness on the right?  Post coming soon...