igniting my shopping mojo

I have been woefully remiss in my shopping duties lately. My normal robust shopping verve has been replaced by a somewhat hesitant form of uninterested restraint. To right this wrong, I have started two projects around the house. The first, establishing an entryway. I have to be honest, before buying Domino: The Book on Decorating, it hadn't occurred to me that a. we really had an entryway (dude, it's just a door that lets you in and out) and 2. there was anything to do with said door. If you think that way too, you're wrong, my friends. As the book explains, there are great entryways, and you can build one, too. This project doesn't require that much in the way of expenditures. A few picture frames with a couple of prints from our wedding (nearly four years ago), and a tall glass vase to hold Beauty the wonder dog's Chuckit! and tennis balls are all I expect to spend money on. (Note: I did find a cool piece of flair but have to take some measurements to see if it'll fit. And, really, it's only $15 so it hardly counts.) The rest is comprised of recycled goods from our house, including a copper-topped side table we had hidden in our bedroom, a glass and copper candle lantern we used to have outside on the patio and a funky metal dish that will eventually serve as a holder for wallets and phones when Henry is no longer of the age to nab them solely because they are within reach. The second is - drum roll, please - updating Henry's room to fit his new toddler persona. That's right. In just a few short weeks, we'll be saying goodbye to Henry's cage, I mean, crib, and hello to the toddler bed. The bed and bedding have been ordered and now I'm in the midst of a rather tiring and extensive search for art. I highly recommend Etsy.com, which has an amazing array of children's art available at very reasonable prices. Of course there will be pictures but until I am done I can't actually share with you anything other than how the entryway currently looks. Please hold your comments, Internet, these were taken before I knew we had one.

Please note, the shelf by the door was purchased in 1994 at Fred Meyer. It was initially bought as a bedside table for my dorm room at Linfield. My mom and I had to construct it because it was one of those do-it-yourself-type tables. During its fifteen years of service it moved with me five times, living in a house I shared with Julie and Steven, the apartment Darr and I shared in Newberg, a basement room I rented out at Darr's best friend's mom's house while we were on a break, and my studio apartment in the Pearl before landing at the condo. If it had been any heavier than it was, I don't think it would have survived with us as long as it did. And now, I'll be donating it to Goodwill so it can continue to serve and function as the grand old side table it is. Or...I suppose we could unscrew it and pack it away to bring out when Henry gets ready to go to college.