Random Thursday: 5 Fun Facts About Me...

 

Hello again RTers! Hope you're ready for another installment with an all-new topic brought to you by Lin, Meg and I:

1. I'm a very light sleeper. I get woken up at the drop of a hat (probably literally).

2. I have no middle name. No idea why - I guess my parents were lazy.

3. I have had 12 different piercings at various points in time.

4. I totally judge books by their covers.

5. Both my parents are foreigners. (They're British).

That's it for this week! Link up below!

Random Thursday: Spring Cleaning Organization Tips...

 

Alright ladies and gents, Lin, Meg and I are all set to go with another Random Thursday post topic - this one is seasonal!

Yet another area where I am no expert, I'm afraid. My house is a complete and utter disorganized tip. But I appreciate a good organizational scheme as well as the next girl, so here are a very few things that might help you out.

• First of all, IKEA. That place is full of amazing ideas for using every single nook and cranny of space you've got. 
• Find creative ways to re-use things. I keep empty glass jam jars to use for storing bulk food items or bathroom bits 'n' bobs. I also love tea tins (as I mention again below), and I use them to refill with loose tea or, once again, for storage. 
• Walmart is another place to get great organizational items. I often use desk storage as bathroom organization. It's cheap and you can play around with what to use it for. 
• Use unusable space. By that I mean areas you don't really think of as useful - like under the bed or those weird nooks and crannies in the backs of closets. You can get great tupperware bins for storing out-of-season clothing and bedding. 
• Pinterest. 'Nuff said.
• Not exactly organizational, but I loved this article on easy DIY projects.

And for good measure, here are some photos that I wish I could create in my house:

I'm really into tea. I often buy it just because I like the tin 

it comes in. So I love these display shelves.

If my kitchen were this organized, I might actually cook.

Bonus: If you click on the image it takes you to an article 

of great organizational tips!

I'm sure that was totally not useful, since my idea of home organization is the stuff everyone knows, but maybe there was something interesting in one of the links! One-up me and link up below:

Random Thursday: My Dream Home...

 

Random Thursday o'clock with Lin, Meg and I! This week's topic is all new and hopefully will get those creative juices flowing!

So I'll come clean. Along with not really giving a crap about fashion and style, I'm not one for fancying up the ole abode. I like it to be lived in, clean (though probably not tidy) and... well, to feel like me.

I don't spend a ton on furniture, I don't match stuff and most of my furniture is hand-me-down. But one thing I do love is books. I am inspired by libraries and most of the time when I think about my perfect house, I'm imagining a porch with comfy reading chairs, reading nooks, a window seat to sit and read when it's raining, a fireplace with cosy armchairs. And bookshelves. Lots of bookshelves. So here are some pics that made me daydream.

What an amazing use of space. Plus when 

you look at the ceiling to daydream, you've got a good view!

I would have killed for this when I was a kid.

Not crazy about the antlers... but the rest is pretty cool!

I love how organized and tidy and cosy this place looks. 

My home will NEVER look that good. It's like grown up 'n' shit.

If I had this reading nook I'd probably give 

up watching TV entirely.

So we don't get a LOT of summer days here, 

but for the ones we do get... this would be perfect.

I like how homey and bright this one is. 

I love how it's messy.... but in a really good, homey way.

Whereas this is way more stylish than I could ever aspire to.

I wish I could step into this picture, curl up in that chair, 

and spend days there reading one book after another. 

I love houses that have kind of "hidden" nooks to curl up in.

Possibly the coolest chair ever. I'd pile pillows 

until you couldn't even see me in there.

That's probably enough bookish home decor for all of you, so I'll stop. Though I could totally keep going. Now it's your turn to share your dream home with us! Link up:

The Poke

No, I'm not referring to Facebook. I just discovered this awesome site for when you're bored, called The Poke (time well wasted). From what I can tell, it's mostly lists of funny things. Here are a couple of my faves so far:

30 Amazing Street Posters to Brighten Your Day

50 Brilliant Pub Chalkboards

And the one that started it all: Unfortunate Publishing Layouts of Our Time

Random Thursday Confessional: Tell A Secret...

 

I'm back! Though I gotta admit, it was hit or miss there for awhile. There was talk of opening up a shrimp truck and never leaving the beach. And I don't even like shrimp.

On the up side (you know, other than the fact that I did return so y'all can heave a gigantic sigh of relief that your life isn't going to be M-less), it's time for Random Thursday with Lin, Meg and I! This week's topic is another head scratcher, I tells ya.

Oh lordy. I have no idea where to start with this one. Kinda tempted to procrastinate and see what you guys all go with! But I won't, 'cos I take hosting seriously. So here ya go.

The Serious:
I don't talk about this stuff much on my blog, because it's my refuge and somewhere I go to have fun. But given this week's topic, I'm taking a deep breath and sharing. I have struggled with self esteem and depression most of my life since adolescence. I've even considered medication from time to time - though I haven't gone down that road (yet, anyway). Some days it's a struggle to see the point in going to work or expending the energy to do... well, anything. I do it, I always pull it together, but it's not always easy. And I tend to worry all. the. time. I'm slowly coming to terms with the things I can't control and learning to focus on the good things that are constant in my life. But I don't think I'll ever be a "happy" person.
I don't know if it's bad brain chemistry, a rough childhood or something I could control (which is my ultimate fear - that I'm failing somehow and doing this to myself), but whatever the cause, I often have to actually sit down and list all the good things in my life and force myself to think about them. It's exhausting, and some days I just don't have the energy. I know I'm not the only one, though, and that helps. I have some amazing friends who surmount similar (and much harder) obstacles every day, and reading The Bloggess always helps. That woman is an inspiration. So anyway... on to lighter (and even more embarrassing) topics...

**Update: I decided, after linking it in this post, to spend some time catching up on the wonderful world of The Bloggess. Coincidentally, her most recent post is about depression. And she links to a friend's blog, which is both hilarious and right on the money. So if you're in the same boat - or just curious - go check them both out.

The Amusing:

• I can't handle movies that involve an animal getting hurt. I am fine with grisly murders and psychopathic killers... but throw a sick puppy in the mix and I'm a wreck for days. When I was a kid my mother had to take me out of the theatre during Bambi because I was wailing so loudly when the mother got shot. Not much has changed. I refused to read Charlotte's Web as a kid, and I won't ever watch Old Yeller or Marley and Me. EVER.
• I sometimes enjoy embarrassing entertainment. I'm talkin' teen fiction (yes, I have read the Twilight books) and Awkward. I know they're terrible, and I feel the shame... but I keep on reading/watching anyway. I blame University - I developed a nasty habit of reading the most mind-rotting, terrible, asinine books at the end of every rough semester to give my brain a rest. This is how I ended up reading (or rather, skimming - which is how I got through all 4 in a week) the Twilight books, along with the Shopaholic series. I honestly can't decide which was worse.

Will that do? I hope so, cos anything more embarrassing than that and I'd have to kill you! Alright, now it's your turn. DISH.

Random Thursday: Spring Apparel...

 

I'm sitting this week's RT out, because I'm hanging out somewhere like this:

BUT don't worry, Lin and Meg have got you covered! Head on over and see what they've got to say on the topic of: 

And don't forget to add your link to the link up so I can check it out when I get back. Later, bitches!