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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Blank Slates: My First Apartment


Lovely card and doormat greeted me when I moved in from Miss L. 
I doubt H-land residents are getting the same treatment these days.


It was a very big step for me - my first grown-up apartment. Senior year of college, I lucked out and got a single with its own bathroom, but this was the first time I'd have my own real (read: not dormy, cinder-block wall treatment) apartment.

A little over a year ago, I moved out here and took up residence in this humble little 780 sq foot gem in Sherman Oaks, CA in a complex that will be known to you as "H-land." I had a great first year at H-land, thanks mostly to Miss L, my friendly resident manager.

However, nothing great lasts forever apparently and this summer, Miss L was out and new management was in. I recently moved from H-land to M-ville, a delightfully cheaper, brand-new complex that is (thus far) management drama free.

On this blog, I'm going to be doing a lot of features on decorating my *new* M-ville apartment (more on that move later). So really, it's important that you have a sense of where I started and what's going to change in the new place.

Here we go- here's my blank slate from July 2008 - (I'll be posting pictures of how I decorated this apartment in future posts.)

THE KITCHEN


 Oo, look at all that natural colored wood. And a bar! Ate at that a few times before I had an actual table. The rest of the time, it became my catch all for papers I was too paranoid to toss out.


THE BEDROOM (oo la la)

The humble beginnings complete with sweet Duke T-Shirt comforter
(most of those shirts were free believe it or not) and yes, yes that is Batman.



Hey look, there's the corner. Exciting!













What's up Mr. Walk-in Closet? Guess what my "lovely" apartment manager says to me when I moved out of this apartment, "oh you got really screwed on the closet! Mine is way bigger here."
Yes, you're starting to see why I moved.


THE BATHROOM

Okay, for a small apartment, this was a pretty ginormous bathroom, I gotta say.



Lastly...
THE LIVING ROOM




And here you can see my super neutral couch...




PS - As you can see, I had a deck but I was out on it maybe once in over a year of living there. Part of the problem was it was right next to the front of the building and felt almost like a playpen for people to watch me hanging out there from the street.

OH, and my bedroom window was right by the box to buzz people in. People also liked to have arguments out on the stoop (right beside my window as well). So that was fun and felt very safe too. Not to mention the fact that after Miss L left, there was a distinct increase in the loudness and obnoxious of the people outside my window.

Coincidence, I think not?

Look out for a few posts on my move shortly.

Monday, October 5, 2009

It's a Muppet-kind-of-Monday

There's nobody quite like Jim Henson. At least not to me. I read a script about a year ago that was floating around the industry- The Muppet Man, a biopic for Henson. By the time I finished the story, I was in tears as it ends with his sudden death in 1990. Later, I was amazed to find that a lot of what happens in the script was based on actual truths from his life. It re-awakened in me my childhood love and identification with the Muppets. 

It probably all started with Muppet Babies, but really - even now, things like the Muppet show and the movies - the sense of humor, the sense of innocence and irreverence, the undeniable strength of heart the characters have - it all still really moves me. 

Out here in LA, I saw a posting for a position with the Jim Henson Company. It had all the normal requirements but there was one that caught my eye and has definitely stuck with me since -to work for Henson, one must have a "sincere love of silliness." A sincere love of silliness. Yep, that fits me to a T. 

Below is a really honest and touching segment from the Muppets post-Henson's death. They sing "Just One Person," a song that was apparently his favorite and it really hits home when you think about his legacy and all the creations he brought us. If you look further on YouTube, there's a lot of clips from his funeral that are equally haunting and inspiring. Be sure to check out Frank Oz's touching speech and Big Bird singing "It's Not Easy Being Green." 

 

Living with Annie means appreciating Pixar movies on a deep level

As you'll soon learn, I'm a big Disney and Pixar-phile and currently work for Disney Animation. I'm working on my story skills, reading lots of books on development and screenwriting, and just generally trying to get up to speed on how to make the kinds of movies that I find so incredibly inspirational and heartwarming. Today I found this great, brief feature article on Totalfilm in which Pixar mainstays like Lasseter and Andrew Stanton share their insights on very memorable moments in the studio's history. Take a look - I got a lot out of it!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Recipes


Cooking, baking, I do it all… baby.

Entrees:


Other:

DIY Tutorials and Projects


Below, you will find all of my DIY tutorial and project posts.

Enjoy and leave comments wherever you wish! Feedback is always appreciated.


Before and After Transformations


Here are all the fantastico before and after projects I've undertaken.
Check back as I post new features!




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