Operation Move - Step Three

Part Three has involved quite a few purchases. Hmm. Not really good considering I have no money. But hey, I am selling old stuff and using the money from that to buy new stuff. Isn't that the responsible way to do it? It is in my book!

My lovely cousin, Sabrina, has been helping me loads with getting ready for the move. We love hanging out and have so many things in common. She recently moved back home after having lived in Copenhagen for a few years. It's great to have her close by again. As you can see we heart hanging out! She helps carry moving boxes, she helps clean and drives me all over town. Well, today was a longer drive to get to a destination we both love so dearly: IKEA!


Ikea is my best friend! At least when I have money to spend there. Otherwise I hate the cheap cheating slag waving all the cheap furniture and great deals in my face! Uh, easy now... Ikea is a good place, don't taint it!

Anyway, getting away from the point. We went to Ikea today, and I think my husband, Martin, was really glad that we chose to go alone and not insisting he came with us. He, like any other man on the planet I guess, hates Ikea. So off we went in Sabrina's massive Ford station car, ready to load it to the max. In my attempt to be responsible and cost effective, I had written a list of things I needed and done calculations of how much money I would need to spend. Needless to say, the list didn't resurface from my bag until the ride home. I actually didn't buy a whole lot of stuff I didn't need. Sure?! No, really!

The things I had to buy were shelves for DVD's - which we have loads of, another carpet, bed sheets, a bath curtain and cheap boxes for my closet for all my delicates :) I got all of that, being the list follower that I am. What I didn't need to buy I bought as well. I bought extra shelves for DVD's - one would never be enough. Also, my earlier mentioned Shepard Fairey posters needed frames as well. They were hella expensive, because the posters are so big. But it will look absolutely amazing! And it is the one thing my husband would really like to put up on the walls of our apartment, so of course they need proper fitting and they can be put up. Then I bought new umbrellas, because we walk quite a lot since we sold our car, and there is "no such thing as bad weather", apparently. Inspired by the ever cool Jessica Jones of howaboutorange.blogspot.com, I chose the orange ones. Then I bought small things like gift wrapping supplies, stickers, toilet brush - you know, the essentials!

Our local Ikea closed down its gift wrapping department quite a while ago. It has been impossible to find any cool gift paper, ribbon or anything, really. But now they have reopened that "department" with a small, but cool and essential collection. Last time I bought these green delights! Gift paper, ribbon, silk paper, masking tape, a book and gift tags. Such a cool design. On my visit to Ikea today I went with the pink version. Green and pink look cool together, so I can mix and match, and the colours are for boys and girls.

I feel like I have done a great job and that we really needed these things in order for us to make the apartment extra cool. All the black frames with cool posters, the green carpets under the dining table and the sofa table will look absolutely amazing. I wish we could afford a new couch that would fit the style a bit better, but money doesn't grow on trees! Who knew?!

Also buying the stuff to fill your apartment with is such a cool process. Before you can decorate a place, you need to buy the stuff to decorate with. Mission accomplished!

Now bring on the pasta and the oatmeal for the rest of the month!

Operation Move: Step Two!

Today we picked up the key for our new apartment! Not really as excited as I thought I'd be.. Probably because we were told that is was completely impossible to get the key before Monday July 1st.. So we arranged for our movers-helpers-friends to come the following weekend. But now! We have an entire weekend ahead of us with no car to move our own stuff, loads of other plans and all we want to do it get started..

Anyway. We went down to check out the apartment again and brought my parents. They loved the place and made me feel a bit more excited about it. I am excited! Really!

Another thing that has helped the excitement along is my new posters! As I wrote about in a previous post, I was in love with these vintage camera posters and that they would look great in a simple, black frame with a white passe-partout around it. And tadaaaaaa! Today I picked up the posters from the graphic design store, and immediately put them in their frames. It looks absolutely amazing! Don't you think?

As I have gotten older, I have finally found out what kind of style I would like in my home. Luckily, my husband and I agree on a lot of those things. Sometimes he tells me I am going overboard with some stuff, but then he finds a plastic motorcycle in 1:24 and wants to put that in the prime spot in our living room. When it has been there for a while I get to put up more of my stuff! I actually think that it is so wrong not to let the man of the family have a say in what their home should look like. If he cares - which, let's face it, most men don't - then let him have a say! I hate those homes where it is so obvious that the woman has decided everything and there is no trace of a man living there. It is all white, beige and generic. If your man has a hobby and he wants to display it, let him!! For God's sake.. It is one of the keys to a healthy relationship. After a couple of years of being without any influence in his own home, the man will eventually struggle to find himself and at some point find himself estranged from his own life. I have seen it happen, and it is ugly! So what if he wants a big screen TV or big-ass speakers? The quality of the TV is great and the sound from the speakers is so much better, the bigger they are. So what, if he wants to put up little cars and motorcycles? As long as the colors match the rest of the stuff, who cares! What isn't the man thinking about the woman's stuff that she insists of putting up? This is my advice to women in the world; Let your man have a say if you want a happy, long and interesting relationship!

Speaking of going overboard with the stuff I like. I was recently given a reproduction of some old, vintage paper dolls called Big Marie and Little Marie. They refer to a Danish biscuit called Marie-biscuits and they are great :) Of course, when the biscuits were called Marie, a personification of them would be the only right thing to have. This reproduction would look great in a frame matching the camera posters and would look absolutely lovely over my new working-sewing-drawing station in the new apartment. So, naturally, the poster got fitted in it's frame and is ready to hang on one of my walls. It is too cute, I think! (Sorry for the dark photo!)

I think that was it for updates on the move. Looking at the pictures, trying to figure out where to put them, is getting me excited again about moving and starting over a new place. Hopefully this move will give us the kick in the face... no, butt... no, just kick, that we need to start changing our lives and make things happen for us instead of waiting for this things to happen to us.

Shepard Fairey posters generously donated!

One of our very good friends, Rasmus, is a big Shepard Fairey-fan.

The only thing I knew of Mr. Fairey was his cool election posters for Barrack Obama - there were a few different ones.

Rasmus wanted to sell some of his posters, and found that he has duplicates. So he offered them to us for free. He had his other posters valued by an auctioneer house in Denmark and the estimated value was about £150 per poster. And now we have two!

I absolutely love this! I don't really know what else to say about it. The look on her face is so sad, but strong somehow. She is ready to fight for her Black Hills. Put this in a black frame with a passe-partout, and it will be perfect! It is going to provide just the right colour splash on our white walls in our new flat.

I am not quite sure yet how I feel about this one. The first thing I see - obviously - is the machine gun and it makes me think of Russia. Why that is I can't tell you. But the poster has a perfect message. It is so provocative to me, but it is so true. I am glad, though, that I don't get many Americans in my home so they'll challenge me as to why I need to promote this message. I don't know why it gets me, but it just does. Wow, I am really good at analyzing pictures, their meaning and message. My Danish teacher would be so proud of me :)! Also, the poster has classic Fairey symbols as the "obey" text and the white dove - with a target for the machine gun to hit. Go America!

I'll hang the two posters in our new flat once we've moved and I'll see if the machine gun grows on me. The Black Hills I will love to bits, no doubt. And you do need a pair, don't you!

You can do it! Believe in yourself! Action is the key to success!

I am a sucker for motivational posters, photos and snapshots. Not just motivational posters like "Action is the foundation of all success", but photos with all kinds of quotes like "Music is a safe kind of high".

The first thing I did when I changed phones from my iPhone to my current Samsung Galaxy SIII was to find a new android app, where you can download these kinds of backgrounds, screen savers and photos. I have so many that I don't know what to do with them.

Do I take the time to think about how this very clever quote applies to me and my life? Sure! Do I forget about it 10 seconds after I downloaded it? Maaaybeeee... Do I live my life as I am advised by these photos? Definitely not!

So why do they catch my attention like they do? There is just something about the wording of most of the photos that appeal to me. "Oh, I should have said that to my sorry excuse for a "best girl friend" when she told me to fuck off because I was going through a depression". "Oh, this is so cute, it reminds me of me and my dad when I was a child". "Oh, this is for my best friends in the world".

What the freak?! Why not just think of these things for myself, remember it and live by it?
I try! I have set the "Action is the foundation of all success" as my screen saver on my computer because I use that to write applications and find jobs I need to apply for. I use that specific background to remind that I need to do something - anything - before I can even think about being successful. If I sit around all day I'll never get a job, and this particular background actually helps and motivates me a wee bit more.
And I always manage to find loads of pictures that seem to describe a completely random situation just perfect.

So I guess I'll keep hording random pictures, posters, photos, images and whatnot :)