Valentine Book Wreath

I'm working in Macon again today (and tomorrow) but I wanted to make sure I showed this:

Flower Patch Farmgirl may say she's not crafty, but she's obviously telling a fib.  Here's how she made it.  This is definitely NEXT on my project list!

Progress

Here's what I was working on yesterday.

This is the back section of the new store in Macon--the Teen/Young Adult/Children's section.  Yes, it is as bad as it looks, but pretty soon we'll have all these books sorted, priced, and the shelves filled up.  We are making progress.

Plus, we get to spend time together.  Not really quality-time together, but being-in-the-same-building-time together, and that's good enough for me.

I have also been working on the pantry and hope to finish it up tonight.  I like progress.

Working Hard Today

Shane and I are going to be working on the Macon store today.  We have less than 2 weeks to go until our target openning date of February 8th.  Hopefully will get some good pictures today I can get up tomorrow.

I Got Nothing

Got nothing today.  Shane and I are working like crazy people to open our new store in Macon by the 8th of February.  The Macon Telegraph did a story on retailers in the area where we're moving in and included us.  You can see the article here, scroll down a little until you see "New Bookstore Coming" about halfway down.

Or just read it here:

New bookstore coming
Another midstate-owned business, Gottwals Books, expects to open in the North Park II shopping center the first week of February, said Shane Gottwals, who owns the business with his wife, Abbey Gottwals. Some renovation had to be done, such as installing shelves and painting, to get the space ready, he said.
The company, which sells used books it gets on trade in, first opened in Warner Robins in March 2007 and opened a store in Byron this past summer.
“It has done well enough that it prompted a Macon location,” Gottwals said.
Also, the rocky economy contributed to the decision to open a Macon location, Gottwals said.
“We had been turned off by Macon ... the good areas have been so expensive,” he said. “With the recent downturn in the economy, we have been able to get lease terms ... we can afford.”
About 95 percent of its nearly 50,000 books it sells are used, but it has “a lot of new releases ... and we special order new books,” he said.
It’s not a Christian bookstore, but Gottwals said, “we’re definitely a Christian-run company. We do weed out the trashy romance novels and things like that.”
“Anything bought from here is guaranteed for half back in a store credit, if it still has our sticker on it ... even five years down the road,” he said.
Gottwals said he has hired the two people who will work at the store, but he may have to add workers if business picks up.
Tentative plans are for the store to be open 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays, except Wednesdays, when it would close at 5 p.m. It will be closed Sundays.
“We see a lot of potential for this side of town, especially with Carol’s Linens coming.” he said. “It has a lot of visibility. If people can see the name, they will come in.”

 In other news, I got to hang out with a couple of my favorite people Monday and Tuesday.

My Uncle Paul and Aunt Laura are missionaries in Argentina.  We see them every couple of years when they're in the States for furlough. 

I'll try to take pictures of the new store next week so you can see the progress we're making on it.

My Curtain AHA! Moment

Last night I was sitting at the kitchen table, eating an apple, waiting for Shane to get home, and staring at the curtains in our den.  All at once.  I know, what skill.  Anyway, I was thinking about the curtains because I hate them.  I have no idea why, but I liked them when I first got them...

{What do you mean it's time to take down the Christmas wreath?}

So there I was, munching on my apple and thinking about how much I wanted new curtains for the den, and it hit me.  BAM!  I could just swap the curtains from one of the guest rooms!  I thought that MAYBE they would be perfect for the den.

Five minutes later I was very happy.  These curtains are beautiful and they'd been hidden away in the little-used guest room.  Now I can enjoy them every day.  They even tie all the green in the den and kitchen together nicely.  They are raw silk and look a lot like these.  I got them with a gift card we got as a wedding gift.

So that got me thinking...what other things in my house can shuffle around to give a space a fresh look?

I'm not a very cool person.  But I wear these shoes and pretend that I am.  Or someday could be.

Valentine's Day Decoration

NEVER EVER have I EVER decorated for Valentine's Day.  But my apothecary jars were looking a little sad after Christmas so I Valentine'sed them.

Red feathers in one (I'm not crazy about the glass etching on that one--I may turn it back around), Sweethearts (the self-proclaimed "The official candy of Valentine's Day), and some red hearts I cut out of of some left-over-from-Christmas velvet ribbon.  I may (or may not) get around to replacing the candles in the lanterns with red ones.  Wish I had pink pillar candles.

Do you decorate for Valentine's?

Currently Reading

I kept hearing about this book after I read Graceling last year and loved it so much.  So when I got a copy of Princess Ben in at the store, I saved it for myself to read.  It's not my favorite, but it's pretty funny and lighthearted so it's a good right-before-bed read.

At work I'm reading Friday Night Lights.  Partly because it's on the reading list for one of the high schools around here and I want to be able to recommend it.  Mostly because I'm obsessed with the tv show.  Seriously.  I love it.

In my car, I'm listening to Born to Run.  I've had a couple customers ask for this one so it got me curious.  I'm about 1/4 through it and really enjoying it.  Definitely glad I got it in audio and I'm not trying to read it.

 

In other news, two of my favorite people in the whole wide world are coming to visit today.  My Uncle Paul and Aunt Laura, who are missionaries in Argentina are on furlough and coming by.  Hooray!

Linked to J. Kaye's Book Blog for What are you reading Monday.

Favorite Things Friday + VOTW

Welcome to Favorite Things Friday.  I like to take Fridays to look around my house and appreciate the things I have.  I seem to spend a lot of time in I-wish-I-had and so Fridays I take a step back and go to I'm-so-glad-I-have.  AND I'm linking up to Amy over at Design-Aholic for her Victory of the Week McLinky.

Today I'm going to make good on my promise to organize my kitchen cabinets and drawers. 

Monday I showed you this:

 The truth is, I don't think this picture looks too bad.  What you can't see, though, are the knives hiding underneath everything else and the way that the drawer doesn't shut unless you shake everything around to make it fit.  You also can't see the junk drawer to the left and the equally messy drawer to the right.  You CAN see my yellow measuring spoons, though.  I love those little guys!  You should get some yellow measuring spoons.  I promise you will love them!

Now the drawers look like this:

 

I got a couple drawer dividers at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  I found these in the closet organization section.  They have a ton with their kitchen stuff, but none that were the right size for me.  I took everything out of the drawers and decided what stuff I needed to keep (actually, I think I kept it all).  I moved all the junk drawer stuff to a smaller drawer on the other side of the kitchen.

Then I got to working on the lower cabinets.  What once looked like this (notice the potholders on the door):

Turned into this:

And finally this:

This really requires no explanation.  I just emptied everything out onto the kitchen table, got rid of the lids that didn't have matching bowls anymore and such, put down some pretty green contact paper from Target, and put everything back in.  Easy-peasy.  Turns out I don't have too much stuff, I just had a lot of stuff thrown in there haphazardly. 

Remember this picture from Tuesday's post (from Real Simple)?

Here's what I did with the cooking utensils I use most often:

I didn't have a cute orange spatula, but I do have a pink rubber spatula from Williams Sonoma.  The summer my cousin, my brother, and I all got married my aunt brought all the girls in our family rubber spatulas in different colors.  I picked pink because it made me smile.  Still does.  I just love that little guy.  And see that white milk jug?  I picked him up at Goodwill a few weeks back.  I didn't know what to do with him and turns out he is perfect for holding my wooden spoons!

Earlier I told you to notice the potholders on the door of the lower cabinets.  Putting them there always seemed like a great idea.  It's right by the stove and the pans, after all.  It just never felt right to me.  I always wanted to keep them on the counter.  Then I saw a picture somewhere of potholders hung up along the backsplash.  Duh.  That makes so much more sense.  And since my mom got me some pretty green striped pot holders for Christmas, I like looking at them!

So there you have it.  A BIG thanks to Amy for hosting Victory of the Week.  It was a great motivator for me this week!  And thanks for letting me point out a few of my favorite things, too!

The people of Haiti are in my prayers today. 

Hurricane Katrina 2005: At least 1,836 people lost their lives in the actual hurricane and in the subsequent floods.

10,000-50,000 expected deaths as a result of the earthquake in Haiti yesterday.  And even 50,000 is a conservative number compared to some estimates.