Living Room: Bombe Chest Update

You may recall in a previous post I shred my lifelong love of the bombe chest. Well, I am happy to say that I found the perfect bombe chest for my living room. I scoured Craigslist for weeks, seeing bombe chests running anywhere from $300-500 smackeroos. Well, persistence paid off and I am convinced that Craigslist is my friend because I snagged this little baby for $100 bucks. Thanks so much to my friend Melissa, who not only helped out with the use of her pick-up but also helped me carry into the apartment. And of course, a big thanks to Nicky who, in her preggo state couldn't help with the lifting of the chest, but did a great job keeping our spirits lifted with her funny stories. Love those ladies.

Without further adieu, here she is in all her glorious splendor ready to be the new media center for my living room. Isn't she a beauty? (excuse my horrible lighting and grainy iPhone photos, again). xoxo

The Vintage Schoolhouse Swivel Desk Chair

{Photo Source}

I LOVE the schoolhouse swivel desk chairs that are sold by Pottery Barn. They remind me of the chairs the teachers and librarians sat in when I was a kid. However the price has me cringing. They are asking $399.00. I don't know about you but I can't even begin to justify spending that kind of money on one wooden chair. Especially one that is a remake of an original design.

So...what's a girl to do? Renovate of course!

But where do you get a vintage schoolhouse swivel desk chair without paying an arm and leg? I'll tell you where I found mine. In the alley! Someone actually threw their chair away. Imagine how my eyes bucked open when I saw it. Discarded, unloved and tossed out like a bad habit. It's been painted who knows how many times, adorned with loads of rocker stickers and the casters are completely gone. Poor chair...

But as I have said before...one man's trash is another man's treasure. I had my daughter drag this baby into the house. The family looked at the chair. Then they looked at me. And then they said... "Mom, you can't be serious. This is ugly and it's short."


Oh, if only they knew the treasure that lies before them. This is not a chair "inspired by"... this is the REAL DEAL. It is still in great condition. It's sturdy. The wood is not warped, split or bent from what I can see. I sat in it, swiveled in it and even tried to rock it back and forth to make sure it wouldn't fall apart on me or have me flat on my butt from falling over. Guess what? It passed the test!


{YAY! The crowd cheers. The crowd being just me because the kids still think I am crazy.}

This is going into my home office/workspace. I plan to remove the stickers, strip the paint, sand it, repaint it in white, sew up an aubergine seat cushion or two, add new casters and roll it right up to the table desk that I recently completed!

Wonder how long this will take me. Let's find out together. Follow along as I share my process. I'm super excited!!!

Renovating My Body: Raw Food From 30 Days to 21

Hi there! Well I know I started out with the excitement over doing a 30-day raw food challenge but I had to bring it down to 21-days. I am actually travelling to a conference for event pros on January 23rd and with the activities I will be involved in, it will be nearly impossible to stick to a raw food diet, although I will do my best to eat as healthy as I can.

 {Book available on Amazon}

I began on Sunday, January 1 using the book "The Raw Food Detox Diet" by Natalia Rose. Her book taught me so much about how improper food combinations actually place waste and toxins in your body and the way different foods are digested using very specific enzymes. It really opened my eyes as to why I may have ended up in the hospital last fall with digestive issues. So I started this journey with the New Year with the hope that my body will feel healthier, I will have more energy, better skin and cleanse my body of all those horrible toxins that have wreaked havoc for way too long. It has been quite interesting, actually. As of this moment, I have completed my 4th full day of the raw food detox diet.

 {Photo taken by babygirl}

So here I am. I know I promised a photo in a tight fitting dress but I can barely stand showing you how I look in this photo, let alone a tight fitting dress. Seriously, sharing this photo with my stomach fully relaxed is mega-embarrassing to me. This is a problem in my family. It starts with the gut and then spreads to the rest of the body in outrageous proportions that I can't even begin to wrap my mind around. As you can see, my legs are fairly thin, as are my arms, but this top doesn't show them very well. My biggest concern is that belly. It doesn't match my body and I CANNOT STAND IT. Most of the time I find myself sucking it in when I am out in public because I hate the way it looks and I feel people look at me weird. I had someone ask me when my baby was due. I mean come on. This is not how I want to live my life. The reason my abdomen is distended is that I have a lot of waste in my digestive system and that is what caused my pancreas to excrete an overabundance of enzymes, bringing with it cramping and pain. And it is the reason I had issues with my spleen around Thanksgiving time. AND it is the reason I ended up at Cedars-Sinai. Great hospital but I prefer not to be hospitalized, ya know?

My goal is to flatten that belly down. I don't believe in wearing Spanx to cover up a problem that needs to be addressed, so I am doing all I can to dwindle my middle down through healthier food choices and exercise. Another thing that was recommended to me was to get a colonic or use an enema to help eliminate the waste. As gross as this sounds to you, I am even more freaked out about acutally administering this but if it will help my my abdomen go down and will create a healthier digestive tract, then I will suck it up and go for it. And I will spare you the details when I do. However, if you are following along, it's important to know that any changes in my body's appearance and weight may not be just from the food and exercise but also by eliminating waste in my digestive system.

I'm eating a tiny bit of cooked foods and proteins, because this Raw Food Detox Diet actually takes beginner raw foodists through levels of transitions to introduce raw foods to your lifestyle. I have had organic roasted chicken, cooked whole wheat pasta and soup. And I can also indulge a bit with hot chocolate, chai and organic cookies. The book provides you with a bunch of great recipes that allow you to eat without getting bored with your food and still provide you a chance to indulge a bit.


I found this great video on YouTube that explains a bit more about this particular type of diet and why using this book along with incorporating raw food into your lifestyle is a great thing: