An update that's been a long time coming and is very long, like this title

I don't have an interesting introduction to build up to this, so I'm just going to say it:

I got a job.

It is a miracle!!!  As some of you might know, this summer has been a little different for me.  I tore my ACL playing tennis during my last semester of college (you may remember this post).  So instead of a cool trip or a new laptop for my graduation present, I got knee surgery.  Here is a very attractive picture of me at the hospital.

The worst part?  The IV. Ew I do not like those one bit, except that I got my magical morphine through it.  So I guess I liked it, just a little bit.  I got to wear a full leg brace for three weeks.  This is what my leg looked like after that.  

Yeah it was kind of gross.  I am currently wearing a smaller, turquoise brace and my scars are healing well but seem huge.  I described them to my sister as earth worms living on my knee.  Ew.

I went to a bunch of physical therapy (which really was awesome, really!) and tried to be relatively productive as I sat watching hours and hours of shows on Netflix.  I am so grateful to my family who took such good care of me and for friends who would visit me, cheer me up and distract me from how slug-like I was.  THANKS guys!

During this time I took up cross stitching.  Best idea ever.  It was empowering to create something, to do something even though I couldn't do a lot of other things.  I made this for my sister and her fiance.  And I finished this a few weeks ago.

It's a Harry Potter cross stitch!!!!!!!  Two of my favorite things together!!!!

Alright, alright.  After that huge tangent, let's get back to the fact that I HAVE A JOB!  Once I finally accepted the fact that I needed to start my career, make money, and grow up (not quite accepted that) I started seriously looking for jobs.  A friend told me about an interior design job posting on Craig's list, so I sent them my resume and a link to my portfolio "website".  I had an interview and they called me two days later to offer me the job (this is their website if you want to check them out).

When I write it out like that, it seems very fast and easy and painless.  It, in fact, was not.  Ask my parents and my sisters and their husbands who were all with me in McCall as I agonized over this.  I had another job offer in Utah, so did I want to move there to live with my sister and her family?  Did I want to live with my parents in Boise?  Did I want to keep looking?  Did I want to move somewhere else and apply for jobs there, where ever there was?  Did I want to hole up in my room, not venturing to the outside world except for meals?  I can answer that last question with a resounding yes.  I prayed and prayed and talked to my family and prayed and whined to my friends and prayed and prayed.  And I decided.  Lesson learned: make decisions.  Do it.

Conclusion:  I have a job.  I start the 27th.  I am officially living with my parents.  I'm staying in Boise.  I have made decisions.  Fhew.

Now I'm going to go reserve Hunger Games at Redbox and bake brownies.  I love not working just yet!

Color!

After more than a month of waiting, I finally got my House Beautiful magazine. Hurray!  For the September issue, it was all about color, color, color.  Every single page inspired me and has renewed my color obsession.  Hopefully these fun facts and gorgeous spaces will inspire you too!

America's favorite paint color is...blue.

Designers and readers alike voted blue bedrooms as the way to go.  Agree or disagree?

Favorite living room color...white.

I'm a huge fan of white in any space.  Just look at my Pinterest board.  At least half of those pins have a good, strong dose of white.  How do you feel about white rooms? 

Designers liked white kitchens while readers said yellow.  Which do you prefer?  (I'm sure you can guess my preference)

The votes were again divided when it came to dining rooms.  Readers chose green, while designers said red.  Would you like a green dining room?

Or a red one?  With cockatoo statues of course...

My absolute favorite room in the magazine was this sumptuous dining room.

White moldings.  Dark chocolate walls with bronze swirls.  Mmm good.  And I want those chairs!  See more of this house here.

You should definitely grab a copy of House Beautiful this month because I'm just scratching the surface of the homes, products, and statistics highlighted in this issue.  They even have special features like little videos you can access with your iPhone or iPad.  If you haven't realized yet, I'm obsessed!

It happened

Guys, I just did it.  I joined Twitter.  Now would be the time for me to say you should follow me, but this post isn't about that (and it would be super boring to follow me since I probably won't tweet much).  This post is about the fact that it took me this long to join and that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.  Right now I feel like how my grandma probably feels when she tries to use Facebook.  She's in her 80s.  She accepted my friend request. It's awesome.

I'm sure you'll hear more about my Twitter adventures but that's all for now.  Let me know if you have any suggestions or advice or whatever.  I'd love to hear it!

Play it, Sam

I am listening to this song right now.

It's 'Til Kingdom Come by Coldplay.  I click replay over and over and over again.  And it's all thanks to this movie.

Which I am also obsessed with.  Just thought I'd share that with you...

The other blog

It's summer. Life slows down and, well, you just don't do as much as you usually do.  That is especially true for this college graduate.  Going from 18 hour days of classes and projects and homework to absolutely nothing is an interesting transition.  While I've been trying to keep myself busy (see yesterday's post) and look for a job (not going so well), I haven't done much.

There is one exception.  My other blog.  Every day since I started it, I have posted portfolio projects as well as explanations to share my interior design expertise and educate those interested in what I do.  So come check out what I've been up to at alexiscannariato.wordpress.com.

My first cross stitch

Lately I've been getting my craft on with cross stitching.  This was my very first project which I think was a success.

It's a wedding gift for my sister and her fiance...when they get married in December.  I got the idea for doing little people from Martha Stewart.  I literally squealed with delight when I saw them!

You can print off different patterns and they're really easy to follow.  I tried to replicate my sister's dress and I added extra details like a skinny tie and matching eye colors.  There you have it--a lovely husband and wife.

The text idea came from the Etsy shop wee little stitches.  It is AMAZING.  Thanks to all their awesome ideas, I have a huge list of new cross stitch projects.

Awww, look at their happy faces under the sparkly snowflakes!  I just made up the snowflakes but there are plenty of patterns for more detailed, realistic ones too.  July may be a little early for snow though...

You can cross stitch too!  Just look up videos and get supplies from your local craft store ( I love Hobby Lobby).  I watched too many videos to post, but they're easy enough to find.  There are lots of free patterns online, which I would strongly suggest following.  At least at first.

Some helpful hints:

• When using embroidery floss, I liked three strands.  It was enough without being too thick. Once you divided it, you had two strands of three.  It was nice. 
• Try to keep the back as neat as possible. I didn't really do that and bits of other thread would poke through.  It got annoying. So stay tidy!
• Keep all of your stitches the same, meaning cross the x the same direction for EVERYTHING.  Being a beginner I didn't think about it at first...

New best friends

Currently I am obsessed with these two people:  Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone.  The fact that they are hilarious, in the Amazing Spider-man, and dating.  So great.