I'm doin' it.

I am soooo doing this. I already have the built-in-kitchenclosetdeskdumpingarea and I'm starting the new look for it tonight. Now, functionality isn't super important here on this project. Alas...it's never the primo reason for doing anything really. It's hurts to be beautiful..and all that jazz. But anyway, it's that upstairs I have a home office already--and it's fully equipped so I am making over the kitchen desk for organizational fabulousness. (ie stop drowning in last week's mail)

Here are my inspiration pics.

But oops first I gotta know, which one do YOU like best? That's a legit question...that's what we do here in the Greater DC area...the National Capital Area...we VOTE! Ha, so comment after you decide, one vote each...votes will be tallied sometime tomorrow or the next day and yeah, serious votes only please. We got standards here at ATOTS.

OK, here's the kinda look I want.

Desk #1: 

Right off the bat space #1, love the chinese chippendale chair. But that's not the space. I like the space because the clean, white design and the hidden storage on the top. My closet has the same doors.

Desk #2

OK-space #2 has the pop of color that I love. And the white accessories. Plenty of space on the writing desk AND symmetry with the bulletin boards. I like, I like.

Desk #3

 Desk #3: Brilliant choice to have a mirror with the lamp reflecting. LOVE this and I love the use of space on the doors. But all white, needs more color? I dunno. Yet.

Desk #4

 Space #4: I love everything about this little space. The chair distracts me (in a good way) again, because bright shiny things usually do...but the turquoise goes in my house and so does the dark khaki on the walls.

Desk #5

 Desk #5: Ummm...I'm note sure what is so great here. Other than it's functional and the colors all flow...blah..

Desk #6

 Desk # 6: Come to mama!!!! I L-O-V-E this and it underscores the need for fantastic wallpaper in strategic places! Love the color, the size, the smart use of the doors, the floating shelves. They did SO great on this one.

Desk #7

Space #7: Small and to the point, great wallpaper again.

Soooooooooo....what say YOU?

xoxo
Lulu

PS- Yes, I will post before/after pics because I aim to truly inspire. 

Weekend Recap!

The weekend= great success! I hope everyone had a nice weekend too! 

Friday night we stayed in, ordered pizza and watched LOST. We just started Season 5 and I vowed that this season I will not read the spoilers. Usually I do because the stress of not knowing what happens makes me hate the show. Literally. I will just give up and read Glamour, and it makes Joel annoyed. It's the weirdest reasoning, but if I can read the spoilers I'm more excited about the show. I guess I don't love surprises?! Wahhhh! We shall see how long it lasts...

Saturday night we had the garden party and I think my outfit did the trick. It was an optical illusion, the all black, and I felt good in it! It was a great atmosphere, great food and great company!! We had a wonderful timeeeeee.

Sunday was my baby shower and it was so awesome!!! It was at my Aunt Kate's house, and we made out like bandits! Everyone was so sweet and generous to us. Our baby is all set with tons of cute clothes, toys and books! 

Here are some pictures...Yes I made them black & white because my face needs all the shading help it can get. Bloastsville, USA Population: Charlie Nixonsleeve. Awesome!

Me and Elizabeth!

Lulu and our cousin Jean

We got some great books!!

Mother Nixonsleeve and Lulu

Some of my girls!

My fellow preggers gal, Kathleen

Hooray for baby items!

These are just a few pictures, but you get the idea! It was really great. Thanks to everyone for making it so special :)

Lastly I just wanted to quickly shout out to Christina over at Christina's Adventures! I won her giveaway a few weeks ago, and this weekend I got the prize in the mail. It seriously made my week. Not only did she include the pillows I had won, but a personalized mug, and bag. SO CUTE!!! Things like this make me want to be nicer. Read her blog! She has a lot of awesome, crafty ideas!

This is what I saw when I opened the box...

The pressy inside! :)

See you ladies and gents tomorrow!!

xo,

Charlie

Happy Birthday Charlie!!!!

On behalf of ATOTS and the family Nixonsleeve, we hope you have a great day!!

Love you!

xo,

Lulu

high/low 9.8.10

Whew! Busy day. Good thing that Charlie and I rarely ever discuss our work days and other time consuming real life things here at ATOTS. Less headlines, more lifestyle. Keeping it light. All op-ed, all the time.

OK, so remember the movie The Story of Us. SO good. Bruce Willis/Michelle Pfieffer shared their "high/low" events each evening as a way to recap their day. So here goes my Wednesday High/Low:

Buckle your seat belt...I'm going to put some politically incorrect stuff out there today, because I want to and it's my (our) blog.

HIGH: 1. My husband thinks/knows that Marilyn Monroe is at least one eighth Asian. Chew on that.


LOW: 2. I am formally requesting that pregnant women STOP taking pictures of their stomachs and posting them on facebook. I am not alone in this sentiment and the truth is that no one seems to have the heart to speak up. (I can't help what my eyes land on in facebook so it's useless to assume 'people who don't like it just don't have to look'. It's called a NewsFeed and I'm a news hound so I am hereby calling on the readers of this blog to spread this plea for decorum around town.)

NSFW
(hello I would not violate my own rule by posting an example duh )

But, as long as I'm putting this out there under the Your Intense Energy is Making Me Feel A Little Bit Bombarded Category, which I will only do once*, I also want to add that I miss the days where you could watch TV without being inundated with commercials for:

1. erectile dysfunction medication
   
2. tampons
   
3. personal lubricants
4. "fresh balls/fresh breasts! order your Happy Rack Pack today!!!" (i am so sorry. this is not a joke. XM Radio listeners know what I am talking about. google it but maybe not if you're at work)
5. toilet paper that sticks on bear's butts
6. hair removal devices so you stop painfully knicking your legs while shaving
   

and all other very personal items that frankly need no advertising. I think that consumers know by now. Is there anything that requires discretion in this day and age? Just putting allllll of this on a big, long list of things I don't want to hear or see any more of:)

HIGH: 3. I'm on board with the circle scarf (now that I have one) and only wonder why after years of subscribing to LUCKY Magazine it took me this long.


HIGH: 4. The movie Inception was CRAZY but SOO SOO good. Just saw it and give it two thumbs up! Leonardo DiCaprio was a really strong lead-surprise, surprise-and the supporting cast were all recognizable actors but sort of the types that you can't place their names. Michael Caine was in it just long enough to lend credibility. It was a mystery/suspense with a sci-fi premise. Not the typical genre I like, but I was game since Nick Lachey gave it a shout out on twitter. Anyway, when Ellen Page came on screen I immediately thought miscast--but I was wrong. That can happen. She was really good--she shook off that Juno-ness and held her own. Did you know she is Canadian?
Like all of you, I can't wait to hear about the Sprite Chicken.


Reminder of our 1st ever ATOTS GIVEAWAY-->for a really sweet planner, it ends on Friday--and I hope that everyone enters [here] to win!

That is all!

Night night,
Lulu


* I reserve the right to change my mind and blog as early as tomorrow on the same or similar topic

!! DotMine Day Planner Giveaway !!

We are so excited to announce A Tale of Two Sisters is participating in a giveaway with dotmine day planners!!

"dotmine day planners was founded by Lisa Edwards and Sara Nicoli, two Ann Arbor, MI moms who traded the corporate life for the entrepreneurial world.

Our business concept remains constant: develop, design and distribute day planners that appeal to and serve you. A strong and growing consumer base votes annually in the marketplace, and our projects are proven winners. Moms, students, professionals and hip, organized dads look forward to choosing their new dotmine day planners each year and love the unique organizing tools found inside." (via)

the perks of dotmine planners:
*compact and not bulky, they open flat for easy access
*17 months calendars to accommodate both the school and calendar year.
*daily, weekly and monthly views (monthly views you can actually write in-- a must!), room for notes, and tear-off margins for lists
* fun, color and unique covers!

So which dotmine lady are you?

  

You will have your choice of any of the planners shown below:

          

So exciting, right?!

There are a few ways to enter the giveaway:

1. Become a fan of dotmine on Facebook! Just click here to go to their Facebook page. Once you're a fan...write on their wall and tell them A Tale of Two Sisters sent you! Also tell them which planner you like best! This will be good for one (1) entry.

2. Become a fan on dotmine on Facebook, and follow A Tale of Two Sisters. (Be sure to comment on this post that you are a follower, and tell us which planner is your favorite!) This will be good for two (2) entrys.

3. Become a fan of dotmine, a follower of ATOTS, and post this giveaway on your blog. (Be sure to comment that you linked the giveaway so we can give you maximum credit!) This will be good for six (6) entrys!!!!

We will tally up all the entrys and choose a name at random. The giveaway starts today, and runs until Friday, September 10th at 5 pm! There is no better time to get organized, then back to school time!! Enter now! :)

Feel free to email us with any questions!
Good Luck,

Charlie and Lulu

All images via dotmine planners visit their website to see all of the amazing products!

Wordless Wednesday 8.18.2010

small victories in cyberspace

I cracked the code. Quite literally.


I now have an adorable signature block on my gmail account. Oh yeah.
It even has my business headshot and website logo and everything...and I did it all by myself! This was something that I wanted for a while and I finally took the time to figure it out.
Success is a few glorious emails away, for sure.

xoxo,
Lulu

**UPDATE**
I wish that I could type out step-by-step instructions ladies...but that is what the excitement was all about...I just super-sluethed out the instructions from multiple sources. I googled "html in gmail signature block" and a bunch of instructions came up on other people's blogs. (yay for the bloggers!) and then since I use Firefox as a browser it was easier I guess, I had to download a plugin and then I copied someone else's html example and cut his personal stuff out and put mine in. Searched for the pink html codes and fonts and it worked.

A salute to all my fellow veterans

Happy Veteran's Day indeed! I feel as though Veteran's Day is getting more publicity this year...and that is an amazing thing. Perhaps it's the aftermath of the election and the love and pride so many Americans are feeling or it's a result of the hyper-media state we live in but either way I am proud! Here's a little trivia for you all that you'd probably never guess...alongside my husband, father, brother, father-in-law, sister&brother-in-law...........I'm a veteran too!! For 4 years I was stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here in Washington, DC.
Will always have a special place in my heart for Army Nurses!!

That's me...second from the left. It's the only pic I have online of me with some of my ROTC classmates from Villanova. When I was in college...in the late 90s....we didn't have digital cameras, cell phones, text messges, facebook, blogs, etc etc etc. We simply attached two empty cans together with string...and talked to eachother that way. Things were so much more simple then.

But anyway, it's a bond that I have with these sweet people that will never go away--no matter what or how ever long it is in between seeing each other. Here's a quote that I received this AM from the girl standing next to me in the picture. It got me real good!!!

Definition of a Veteran:

"A Veteran-whether active duty, honorably discharged, retired, national guard or reserve is someone who, at one point in life, wrote a blank check made payable to the United States of America for an amount up to an including my life."

So--make surrrrrrrre you thank a veteran today!! Not me, but someone who you know. Because it actually makes a difference!

xoxo,
Lulu