Frames of reference

We've been busy this week! D seems to have caught some of my enthusiasm, and he's joined me in the quest to make his office turned walk-in closet back into an office. All the random papers formerly piled up on the desk, chairs, and floor have been filed away; the actual closet's contents have been rearranged and consolidated so the door can be opened and closed; D's art has been framed and mounted on the walls; and a floor lamp has been moved in so the room can have more light. Now D can't help walking in every day after work just to enjoy his new space. There are a few last things that need different homes, but beyond that, the office is complete. Unbelievable.

Our reorganization unearthed some items that have turned into fun little additions elsewhere in our apartment. First, our former Texas license plate (I've blurred out the identifying information):


I work out on this elliptical every day when I'm here -- I originally bought it when I moved to the Lone Star State to be with D back in 2005. Seemed like an appropriate place to display our old plate with all the mileage this machine has racked up since then. It practically needs a name now that it has its own tags.

Next, something a bit naughtier but hopefully amusing. The background: a local frame shop was having a sale (buy one frame, get the second of equal or lesser value for a penny), so we picked up this little cream model when we were getting others for D's art. We had no plans for it -- I just thought it was cute. Then D found a coaster in the office that he'd brought back from a conference a while ago. It was a perfect fit.


Now where to hang it? Well, our guests inevitably have to ask us where the bathroom is as it's not obvious from the long hallway that comes off our living room. What better place to put a sign that says this?


Okay, no more bad jokes today, I promise. Our next exhibit on the tour brings us to the bedroom:


What, you don't know what you're supposed to be looking at? Good! We took a giant piece of whiteboard from the office (no room for it) and turned the white side to the wall, leaving the conveniently mahogany colored backing facing out. It's now our trompe l'oeil headboard until we're ready to buy real bedroom furniture.


Lastly, my favorite project, which was finally made possible once I could access the printer in the office: pictures for our photo coasters. You may recognize some of them from earlier posts or the slideshow in the sidebar.



We took all of the shots ourselves, and they can be changed to suit the season. For now, we have the Seattle and Puget Sound set (top) and the botanical garden flowers set (bottom).

We've also been hard at work in the kitchen testing some new recipes, but I'll save that for another post. Time to add more miles to the Texas steed ...