Ikea Drawer Makeover

I finally went to an Ikea for the first time!!  I had such a good time that I am going back in a few weeks.  The main reason for my 1 hour trip to Ikea is that I needed makeup storage.  Yep, you read correctly....makeup.  My makeup was taking over every available space that I had and I was not a fan of the plastic storage units.  So, I found a lovely 9 drawer unit that would house all of my makeup vices. 

Ikea link here

I swore to myself that if my makeup didn't fit in this unit, I would need to admit that I had a problem!  It's 9 drawers for darn sake...it had to fit! 

Early on, I deliberated on purchasing the drawer unit due to the white color.  My bed room set is a vintage beige, french countryside color.  It's extremely hard to match.  The white drawer unit would stand out.  Yet, I found no other alternative that was budget friendly so I went ahead and purchased the drawer unit.

Assembly was super easy and I was pleasantly surprised with the actual construction of the unit.  It's sturdy and durable.  It doesn't feel weak, cheap or unstable.  I love it.  It's the best money I have spent on any organization piece.

As I had expected the white looked really out of place in my beigey bedroom.  So, I explored Jo-Ann and found a beautiful decorative pattern trim.

I was initially looking for decorative fabric but I was worried about messing up on the application.  So I started looking for something that would allow me to reposition upon application... just in case I made terrible boo-boos.  I stumbled upon decorative trim that is meant for walls or drawers:

It was perfect.  It's self adhesive, removable and it even had 3 of my favorite words.  EASY TO USE!  WOOT!  I was instantly sold.  Did I mention that it only cost $5 with my 50% off coupon?

The hardest part of applying the decorative trim was matching up the swirly flower pattern.  It just took some careful tracing. 

I found it helpful to remove the drawers and trace the shape on the decorative trim.  Next, I cut the shape out and applied it directly to the front of the drawer.  Any excess trim was removed using an exacto knife.  Make sure to carefully cut close to the furniture to prevent any peeling of the trim.  Ater that...you are done!  It's literally that easy!

I left the sides white but I may cover them in the future.  I am so happy with the makeover!  It matches perfectly in my bedroom.  Plus, it was sooo easy and cheap.  What more could I ask for?

*Note - I have had my drawer set for about 2 months and I have not had any peeling*

Until next time,

Guild Wars 2 - Beta Weekend 2

A few weeks ago, I teased you all with a GW2 photo.  Well, I'm baaaaack with many more!  This past weekend was the second beta weekend.  Last beta, I didn't have a chance to post photos or even tell you about my adventures.  Since I currently play a mesmer in Guild Wars, I decided to create a human mesmer in GW2.  The new game offers various races which is something completely new! However, I decided to be vanilla and play a human.

For those of you not familiar with mesmers, they are described as magical duelists who rely on deception and confusion to keep their opponents in check. A mesmer will use illusions, clones and phantasm to confuse and attack their opponents.  I think what I enjoyed the most about playing a mesmer in GW2 is the fact that I can use a variety of weapons and still cause a decent amount of damage.  I seemed to favor the great sword a whole lot. 

 

You can also wield a gun as mesmer.  How B.A. is that?

Guild Wars 2 offers players the ability to take up professions.  I took up tailoring and leather crafting.  To be honest, crafting armor was not as intuitive as I would've thought.  However, once I figured it out, it was fairly easy but expensive!!  I crafted myself sexy armor and many items bags for myself and fellow guildees.  Below is the armor that I crafted for myself.  I called it my genie armor.

The first beta, I was experiencing some graphic issues so I could not see water nor fire.  The above image is actually taken in Lions Arch, which is a town that houses quite a lot of water.  You can see fish just swimming on...but no water.  So each time I jumped into a body of water, I looked like I was swimming in thin air.

My guild kept telling me that we were taking photos on a fire pit but...I wasn't lucky enough to see the fire. 

I didn't even believe them that there was fire until I saw their photos....

 I enjoyed playing with massive groups of folks. My guild is pretty big so it was pretty awesome to roll through towns and quests as a giant mass.

 You can also purchase gems either via real money or through in game gold to get special in game items.  Since it was a beta weekend, each user received a limited amount of gems to try out.  Most of my guild purchased pirate costumes and we had a pirate party.

We wouldn't be good pirates, if we didn't attach innocent people.

As a pirate, you receive special skills and apparently, a cannon is one of them!

Above is the pirate costume dyed pink, blue an purple.  Sexy, right?

I was attempting to take photos while my guild was going nuts in the background.  They got a box of fun and were enjoying it a bit too much. 

If you don't have a cool and fun guild like mine (you can always join mine!!) you can always roam the countryside and who knows...maybe find a friend?

I also randomly tagged along to nearby groups in order to complete heart quests. They helped me kill a lot of Wurms.

Overall, I have enjoyed my time in Guild Wars 2.  It is quite a departure from GW1 but I have really enjoyed it.  Being able to jump off cliffs and having the ability to wield heavy weapons (regardless of class) has been great!  I also feel a bit more useful as a mesmer in GW2.  I have also enjoyed the randomness that GW2 has had to offer.  Below are some of my adventures.

The Guild and I found a piggy quest that turned you into a pig. 

Apparently, the Charr have cow races?  When they did grow to love cows so much?

There are giant creatures and bosses.

We found a glitch...somehow we fell under Divinity's Reach.  It looked so bizarre.

In Lion's  Arch you can go diving! 

I also found remnants of old Lion's Arch which was apparently flooded under the current Lion's Arch.

While in Lion's Arch, I found a living, moving whale!!

There was so much to explore in Lion' Arch...I some how stumbled into a Sylvari bar.

I can't wait until a definite release date is announced and/or until the next beta weekend!

Until the next beta weekend...I will be sleeping under this Yakky thing.

Garbage Concert

I love Garbage.  Not actual garbage but Garbage...the band.  If you haven't heard of them, they are headed by lead singer, Shirley Manson.  The band was pretty popular in the 1990's.  Can I just confess my adoration for Shirley now?  She's sexy without being in your face nude.  She's loud, rebellious and just all around amazing!

photo is from Nylon

On Wednesday, May 23, 2012, I was lucky enough to see Garbage live.  It was my first time seeing them live in general since their 7 year hiatus.  I loved it. 

The show took place in Washington D.C. and it was sold out!!  Unfortunately, the venue did not allow for cameras, so I have terrible cell camera shots of the concert.

Although Garbage is currently promoting their new album "Not Your Kind of People" they played a ton of their hit songs.  Stupid Girl and Cherry Lips were probably my favorite songs of the night.

Did I mention my pics were terrible? Curse the venue and their no cameras allowed rule!

 In general the show was spectacular. Garbage sounded great live...if not better.

Thank you for the lovely show!

This photo is not mine...but there is a similar photo at the Garbage official site.

I recommend you watch/hear one of my favorite Garbage songs - Cherry Lips

 

Naughty Piggy

I have the brattiest and the naughtiest guinea pig ever!  Each day, I take Roo out of her cage and allow her to run free in my sun room.  Roo loves it.  However, she always seems to find the best (worst) spots to get into.  I've made it a habit to gate off areas that I don't want her in....yet she has made it her life goal to get past the gate.  Persistent much? 

Not only is she a naughty brat but she's also half goat.  By half goat, I mean that she chews on everything!  And I mean, everything!  So, here I was letting little Roo run free.  After her run fest, I picked her up very lovingly and set her on my shoulder (something she loved as baby).  She was literally on my shoulder for 3 seconds when I thought to myself that she might chew on my hair.  Too bad she was 3 seconds ahead of me and had already done so!!  She not only chewed on my hair but she actually cut my hair off!!

How you ask? Well, she's got razor goat like teeth that infiltrate hair! Not only, did she attack my hair but we practically had to fight her to spit the darn thing out.  Boy was I shocked to find half of my hair in my hand!  Luckily, most of my hair was up that day so she only cut a bottom section.  Either way, now I am always sure to watch my hair around her.  Crazy half goat critter.

I thought you all would enjoy my terrible story.

Until next time!