Money Well Spent

Since the beginning of this year, I have made room in my budget for two things that have been nothing short of life changing. Seriously, I cannot believe I waited this long for either of these things...

First off, I decided to sign up for a locker + laundry service at my gym. Those of you who follow me on twitter may have noticed me checking into Lifestart Gym around lunchtime each day. Yes, I am lucky enough to have a job where most days, I can make it over to the gym to workout during the day. With the exception of hot yoga (which I do at Inner Bliss), I'm not a head-sweater. Meaning that for the most part, I don't need to wash my hair after I work out. My gym has shower facilities in the locker room, and this year, I finally pulled the trigger and decided to pay the extra $15/month for a locker and laundry service. The benefit of this is (a) I leave all my gym stuff AT the gym, and so I'm not hauling stuff between home and gym everyday, and (b) I'm saving myself at least a half a load of laundry EACH week (and I HATE doing laundry). The biggest benefit of this whole system is that for the weeks that I'm not traveling, I've been making it to the gym 4x/week on average!!!!!

In addition to hating laundry, I also hate cleaning. Don't get my wrong, I LUUUURRRVEEEE a clean house... I just HATE spending time cleaning it. So earlier this month, N and I decided to cut back on eating out to fit a cleaning lady into our monthly budget. She comes once every other week, and her first day was this past Thursday. I cannot even describe to you the sheer joy of coming home to a spotlessly clean house. Seriously, she is amazing!!! I know some people are squeamish about having a stranger in their home when they are not there, but the best way to overcome this is to go with someone who is a referral from someone you know. Our cleaning lady has done work for my neighbors and many of their friends for a number of years, which certainly made me more comfortable hiring her. And for those who are curious, no, I do not clean the house myself before she comes. I usually just throw out unnecessary paperwork and consolidate unopened mail in one pile!!!

Seriously, LIFE.CHANGED. I'm making it to the gym more often, and I'm not stressed about having a messy house anymore. If that's not good for my health (both mental and physical), I don't know what is!!!! 

Home Improvement and a GIVEAWAY

N and I have lived in our house for about 3 years. In those 3 years, we have taken up ZERO home improvement projects. I suppose that's a good thing, and a testament to the fact that our home needed no work, but to be honest, I'm getting a little restless. I want to change some things around. Nothing overly complicated -- mainly cosmetic things. Change out some light fixtures, new paint, that sorta stuff.

I would love to have our attic guest room look like this:

Source: decorlase.com via cleshopaholic on Pinterest

I would also love to find an armoire and repurpose it like this for our bathroom:

Source: frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com via cleshopaholic on Pinterest

Lucky for me, my home redecorating impulse is perfectly timed with The Great Big Home + Garden Show, which is being held at the Cleveland I-X Center from Feb 2 running through Feb 10th

I've never been to the show before, but I'm told that this year's event hosts over 650 exhibitors showcasing a variety of home activities like cooking, gardening, and home improvement. There are going to be a number of celebrity guests including Cleveland's very own Matt Fish, of Melt Bar and Grilled, Peter Walsh from TLC's Clean Sweep, and Matt Fox from HGTV's Room by Room, among other guests. 

There are a number of other cool features like the Idea Home and Dream basement-- all things to give you ideas on perhaps changing things around in your own homes. There's also the Product Runway show on Feb 2nd (that I've blogged about before here) and the Q104 Four-Legged Fashion Show on Feb 9th (Otto and Clair are very upset that they have not been invited to participate).

So, if all of this sounds interesting to you, you can save $4 buy purchasing tickets online here, and using the code SHOPCLE.  

In addition, you can also enter to win TWO TICKETS right here by simply tweeting about this giveaway and linking back to this post. For example: I want to win @cleshopaholic's giveaway to the Home and Garden Show  http://bit.ly/10LaZzD

Please make sure you leave a comment letting me know you tweeted and also leave your email address in the comments. You can also enter by linking back to this post on your Facebook page.

The contest will end at 5:00 pm on Sunday, January 27th, 2013 with the winner announced on January 28th.  

Good luck!!!

Disclosure: I was provided with two tickets to attend the event and two tickets to give away on my blog. As always, all opinions are 100% my own. 

A little touch of the Holidays

I know its a little early for Christmas decorations, but over the weekend I was greeted by an absolutely intoxicating smell as I walked into Heinen's, and I was powerless to resist...

Winterberries + cinnamon scented pine cones for under $20 total. Yup. They're up. And I'm not even ashamed. Because my kitchen smells AMAZING!!!! Also, I've been told the winter berries will last all season, so really, if you think about it, its less expensive than fresh flowers!!

Designing my Home: The bedroom

So, N and I have lived in our "new" place for almost two years. It may surprise you to know that its taken me this long (and lots of Pinterest inspiration) to finally make some decisions on how I want to decorate our bedroom. Our walls are a grayish brown, and this time, N let me pick the rest of our colors!! Although, I'm not sure he was quite prepared for this:

Organic Cotton pintuck duvet cover in Light Amethyst, courtesy West Elm

So I've decided that our bedroom is going to be in shades of purple and white!!  The duvet cover and our new down comforter (Thanks Mom and Dad for our Christmas present) arrived late last week. Wow. It is SO ridiculously comfortable, that I've not only been sleeping like a baby, but I've been finding it even harder than normal to wake up in the morning!! ACK!! Unintended side effects. LOL. Seriously though, I absolutely LUUURRVEE our new bedding! Now I can't wait to tackle other rooms in our house!!

What's your next re-design project? 

Get in the Holiday Spirit (locally): Urban Home and Garden

A couple of weekends ago, I was at Beachwood Place with clefoodgoddess for the Compassion from Fashion Event, when I happened to noticed a wonderfully decorated store that I had never noticed before: Urban Home & Garden. Lucky for me, the wonderful staff were more than happy to let me take pictures! I found out that the store is Cleveland-based, and there are two locations- one at Beachwood Place, and the other at Beachcliff Plaza in Rocky River.

Seriously, this store is really cute, and has some adorable little gift ideas and stocking stuffers. Not only can you enjoy the Christmassy spirit, but you can get some of your shopping done, and support a Cleveland business while you do it!!!

You and Me

Although N and I have been in our house for almost a year, its still a work in progress. Once we got our intial furniture and decorations set, we decided not to rush the rest and just pick up pieces as we found them. Our house is very contemporary: lots of dark wood and steel accents. We've picked up a few vintage pieces over the past year, and although I never thought of myself as a vintage-loving person, turns out, I do really LURVE vintage. (I'm not quite there on the vintage clothing though; I have to get over some ickiness issues first).

Anyway, late last year, I found these on etsy:

They took a while to get here (not unexpected), and I have to say, they are SO cute!! They're about an inch and a half tall, and look perfect sitting in a windowsill in our living room!!

Dark Spots

Our house is definitely a work in progress (even though we've now lived here 6 months!) N and I have a dark spot in our living room. It's the end with the L-shaped couch, and while we've tried using an end table with a lamp, its just not throwing enough light to the dark corner. I've decided we need a lamp behind the couch. I think we're going to go with this one:

Brushed Steel Arc Lamp, available at Macy's (on sale now, plus free shipping!)

Exploring Cleveland: Cleveland Auction Company

After dinner at Fahrenheit last Friday, N & I took a little detour across the street to the Cleveland Auction Company, where we picked up this beauty:

Vintage Scale $65, Cleveland Auction Company

They have some of the most unique pieces for your home and your wardrobe (jewelry and even a few pieces of clothing). I know I've said this before, but its worth saying again; if you're in the market for one-of-a-kind home decorating pieces that no one else will have, this is THE place to find it. I don't know how or where they find this stuff, but it is absolutely fan-tas-tic!! I'm completely enamoured by some pieces they've recently acquired; there's a HUGE brass candle stand with an offering box that I'm completely head-over-heels for! N is a little creeped out by it because its origins are from a church, but I'm still considering it.... I'll let you know if we get it!!

I'm Gilt-y

Earlier this year I was introduced to Gilt, which was simulatenously the best and worst thing anyone has ever recommended to me. Best, because its so awesome; worst, because I really don't need more avenues to shop. If you're unfamiliar with Gilt, its a member's-only site that features "sample sales" by well known designers. The stuff they offer is extremely high quality and extremely discounted (compared to retail), and includes designers like Alexander McQueen, Furla, Donna Karan, Judith Ripka, just to name a few. Here's the best part; not only do they offer clothing, jewelry and accessories for women, but they also feature a full selection of items for men, children, and home. They also do vacations, but I'm frankly unfamiliar with how those work. If you would like to join and you're looking for a membership referral, email me with your email address, and I will send you an invite (its really not that exclusive, you could probably just sign up yourself, but I'm happy to invite you if it will be easier. Full disclosure: if you buy something, I will get a $25 credit, so there's something in it for me too : ))

Here's the pros and cons:
Pro: One-of-a-kind designer merchandise
Pro: deep discounts
Pro: they  have an app so you can log on wherever you are
Pro: high quality stuff
Pro: you will look absolutely fabulous in anything you buy
Pro: excellent customer service
Pro: free returns (please check return policy on individual items)


Con: shipping charges. There is no free shipping
Con: stuff sells out quickly. And I mean REALLY quickly. The sales usually begin at noon, and if its a hot designer, they could be sold out by 12:30. SO, either stay at your desk at noon, or use your iPhone/iPod Touch app.
Con: if you're looking for overnight delivery, its not going to happen. Each sale has a different time horizon, and they're really good about letting you know approximate delivery dates. But, if you're looking for somewhat instant gratification, you should probably use another website.

N and I are in home-decorating mode and were lucky to fine this awesome candelabra ($44) and cocktail shaker ($26).

Oooh, I can't wait to have an extra-dirty martinis with extra olives by candelight!