My Dad’s old drawing table & my favorite mug from Design House Stockholm.
Evan and I (especially Evan) have both had a couple of really busy weeks at work, and we’re both looking forward to having as low-stress and restful a weekend as possible before we have to do it all over again on Monday.
I know it might sound weird to a lot of people, but I actually find lying on the sofa and doing nothing incredibly stressful. It’s one thing if I’ve decided to watch a good movie with Evan and we’re all curled up together with the dogs, but mindlessly vegging out with my eyes glazed over rarely makes me feel good. My free time is so limited, and as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing more satisfying—and yes, relaxing—than completing a project.
What I need to avoid, though, is setting myself up for failure by making overly-ambitious to-do lists and then running out of time to get through everything. The worst feeling is when it’s Sunday night and I just have a bunch of half-finished projects and various messes to clean up, and I know I’ve wasted the whole weekend.
REALISTICALLY:
• Laundry, cleaning, etc.
• Grocery shopping
• Trim and mount two ENJE shades for the kitchen windows
• Devote two solid hours to basement organization (baby steps!)
• Watch The Road with Evan
• Clean up dressing room/bag up clothes for Goodwill
• Make the lasagna recipe in Appetite for Reduction
• Iron the pillow shams that have been lying in a wrinkled heap in the dining room for 3 weeks
• Figure out what that weird wire in the backyard is (We’re pretty sure it’s an old, inactive phone line)
• Get some decent sleep
44 Comments
Be careful with the wire! It could just be telecom (cable/phone) but it could be electrical & if the ground is wet well just be careful!
Oh, don’t worry, I know. 🙂
Watch The Road first thing! You will feel compelled to complete all of your projects to make you feel better!
Wait, do you mean because it’s bad? Or because it’s inspiring?
The Road is intense. It’s definitely not bad – but I wouldn’t necessarily call it inspiring. You’ll probably need a good pick-me-up after watching it.
I can’t even imagine watching The Road: the book was only finished because it was a book club obligation and it was so intense and depressing that I couldn’t even think about the movie! Kathleen is definitely right about the pick me up. I read romances for weeks after finishing just the book.
I also wanted to add that post-apocalyptic literature is not a genre that I read. Ever. Not my thing. So when I brought home the book and started reading it, I turned to my boyfriend and the following conversation ensued:
Me: “Wait a second…is this book about…the apocalypse???”
Him: “Yeah, didn’t you read the back of the book? What did you think it was about?”
Me: “I don’t know, I thought maybe there was a fire or an earthquake or something.”
D’oh.
The road is very intense, very good but intense!
Sounds like a good pan 🙂 With two kids, I dream of weekends like that.
Thanks for the tips on the Enje roller blind, btw. Was planning on a trip to IKEA at some point to get some blinds for our non-standard windows and this will come in very handy.
I meant plan.
i discovered your blog just recently via the homie awards over at apt therapy/the kitchn. i absoutely love it, and am looking forward to regular reading…
about that feeling of stress when laying about on a weekend. i hear ya sister. AND it’s always a challenge for me not to have a mile long list for the weekend – one that’s impossible to complete.
your house is beautiful. 🙂
definitely watch The Road, but watch it when you know you can do something super nice afterwards, otherwise you will carry an awful feeling of desolation around for ages. Do NOT leave it for Sunday night.
I hope that a certain part of The Road doesn’t put you off basements even more! 🙂
Okay, Suzanne, Claire, and Alice…you’re scaring me a little. I promise I won’t leave the movie for when I’m already in a fit of despair!
I was going to comment about how I do the same thing (make overly ambitious to-do lists for weekends – and just about everything else, too), but then I just started laughing at the comments about The Road. I haven’t seen the movie, but I read the book a few years ago (which was excellent, but makes me not sure if I could handle seeing the movie!) I’ll be interested to hear what you think and what you do as a pick-me-up afterwards!
The Road – well let’s just say I won’t watch that movie again. It was just too intense and very grim (at least for me). I had read the book before seeing the movie so I had a pretty good idea what to expect.
Love weekends like this!!!
Much love,
Future Mama
Love the finish on the old drawing table and all of the little cut marks. Are those little worm holes? Only ask because our living room coffee table has some too (probably from when the tree was alive) and it adds so much character. 🙂
Those are actually pinholes from my dad’s (many) years of owning the table. He would pin papers and fabric for collages while he was working. The table is gorgeous—you can see more photos of it here.
I love wormy-wood, though!!
I just wanted to say that I’ve made that lasagna recipe twice in the last week. Isa’s recipes are so fantastic. Have a good weekend!
I’m so excited to make it! I think it’s going to be dinner tonight.
I’m the same way with list-making! Sometimes I even try to cross a few things off on Friday night, just to get a “head start”.
I DO THAT TOO. I confessed as much to a friend recently, and she thought I was insane! Perhaps we’re both insane, then. 😉
Ha! No, I think an insane person would write a recently completed item on a to-do list, just for the pleasure of crossing it off. Not that I know anything about that…
i like the last item best. and now i want lasagna. weekend!!
I loathe having to iron anything. I need to iron my curtains and bedspread so bad. If you do it I might be shamed into so go for it!
I hate ironing curtains!! I never know what to do with the part I’ve just ironed. I swear this is part of the reason I switched to roll-up shades. I am now curtain-free!
And this is why I love your blog. Because
a) one of my pet peeves is “wasting the weekend” and my boyfriend doesn’t get that – and clearly you do!
b) I procrastinate ironing stuff, except fabric that I want to sew with and
MOST IMPORTANTLY: c) because you just admitted that something random was lying in your dining room. Hallelujah.
As far as The Road – well I’m glad I read the comments. I don’t think I want to see it!
i totally agree with the lying around doing nothing stresses me out thing.
i am not a go-go-go person, but i am a surf web / flick through magazine / watch tv all at once kind of girl. recently i took up knitting again so that i had something to do whilst watching movies: my movie watching habits had become almost non-existant because i couldn’t focus on the movie AND the internet at the same time…lame, yes, but so be it.
for the record; my knitting skills are madly improving, and my (hypothetical) ‘to watch’ list slowly shrinking. and it doesn’t feel like i’m wasting time, unlike browsing ebay with ncis or something equally as mind numbing on in the background.
maybe i’ll watch the road next…
The book is much much better than the movie! Movie is ok (and, Viggo..!), but I loved the book.
The table is great, old wood looks perfect.
Ack! The Road!
I barely made it through the book. It was so awful. Beautifully written, but terribly sad and depressing and full of foreboding.
Foreboding gives me hives.
My friends make fun of me because I’m not able to “relax” and have this need to get things done. That said, I often waste tons of time window shopping and doing “research” on a project before actually jumping in and doing it. Of course, having a house that needs a ton of work also makes relaxing difficult. The ugliness screams at me and I can’t hide from it. And yes, I do put things on the list just so that I can cross them off. That’s bad?
Hi Anna,
We have lots of windows to cover in our house and I have been wondering about these shades. I don’t have an Ikea anywhere nearby to have a look at them in person so I was wondering how much privacy they offer? My living room windows face a street so I wonder what the effect is at night when the lights are on in the house. Can you see through yours from outside?
Thanks!
Kathy, they’re definitely NOT totally opaque, but they do provide enough privacy for me to feel comfortable. You can still see shapes/movement inside when the lights are on, but that’s the tradeoff for having such nice light diffusion during the day. Also, my first floor is very high off the ground (like a parlor floor—you have to walk up a tall porch to get in the front door), so unless someone inside is RIGHT next to the window, you can’t really see anything.
If you really do want 100% privacy, though, these are going to be too sheer for you.
completing projects IS stress reducing. it feels so freeing and wonderful to work on something and to get it done. I agree. though I do like to veg on the couch afterwards as a reward for a day of being productive.
That sounds like a pretty tame weekend! There’s nothing like taking it slow & getting things done at your own speed. No rushing around. Then the curl up at the end of Sunday with a couple margaritas. Nice!
I know exactly how you feel! When I do nothing for a day, although sometimes well deserved, I feel like I’ve wasted an entire day. Also, my lists are always waaaay too long and I ususally don’t get done what I actually want to get done. Maybe it’s because i have HORRIBLE time management!
i like your blog more and more! great cup!
Please dont watch The Road. Its the most grim film I have ever watched and it still haunts me in the worst possible way! I wish I had never seen it. Honestly I cant erase some of the images burned into my brain. Also the feeling of desolation, I had a pain in my cheast after watching it.. you’ll be left feeling so sad and depressed. Its Grim Grim Grim! Dont do it! You’ll thank me I swear!
Love the table!
You must tell me how the lasagna turns out! I’ve been itching to make that recipe. And don’t let The Road intimidate you. It’s not that bad.
Came across this and thought of you 🙂
http://www.zakkanouveau.com/market_teatowel.html
Oooh yes, I’ve seen those—so pretty! 🙂
Hi! I’m new to this blog, but I felt compelled to post on this about the Road. I was going to tell you not to watch it unless you had something fun to do after, but, like, five people already beat me to it… The book was bad enough, I can’t imagine the movie.
Aaaanyway, I love your blog (and that mug)!