LOVE SHACK PROJECT- ADVENTURES IN SHELVING!

My tiny little cottage is severely lacking in storage!  Just one tiny, long, narrow, useless closet!  Anyone who knows me,  is familiar with my very large shoe collection, as well as other clothes,  and therefore  in  need of someplace to put everything!  So with the help of the wonderful free section from ,Craigslist I’m off to meet up with Michael.  Michael is a  super wonderful, pieces architect, moving to Palm Springs, and in need of someone to take all his beautiful, matching, white shelves!!

Could this be a more perfect match??!!  The universe really does love me!– or at least wants me to put away my clothes!

Michael lives all the way on top  of one of those  super, tiny, winding, canyon roads– and then down another VERY steep driveway!  It’s very pretty– but I cannot even imagine how difficult it would be to move, or build a home with that kind of limited access!– or even worse– how could a fire truck ever maneuver through all that!!

I pull up, and Michael is extremely impressed that I actually found it ( the road signs seem very contradictory at a few turns).  He is sitting in a garage full or about 15 beautiful matching tall white wall shelves with gorgous glass wear on them.  He seems very organised and with a great sense of design.  ( perfect for an architect!)

We proudly load up 4 full shelves into the back of my truck- and  im already  on my way  back for my 1st trip!   YAY!  I start up his very steep  driveway,  and am about halfway up when I hear a very  bad noise…. shelf-gone-wild- sliding out the back , onto the driveway, and towards Michael.   OPPS!   Luckily the shelf survives and  thankfully, avoids impaling  Michael!   We  sheepishly, reload the shelf, making sure its more secure this time! –  I start off again, hazards on,  driving extra slow- and fearing decapitation the entire time!  Luckily I make it back without accident, arrest, or injury!

I unloaded, and head back for round two to michael’s.    When I got back,  we first take  a huge load of items to donate to the nearby Out of the Closet Store,  and then load up my truck with round two!   I ended up making 3 full trips.  (12 shelves and a huge terracotta pot! )  Apologies to  anyone stuck driving behind my slow crawl with hazards on across  town!

THANK YOU MICHAEL!    I now have shelving!!  TONS of shelving!!  Now,  how to arrange it all!!   It’s a huge mess- and every single part of my body hurts!

THANK YOU!

LOVE SHACK PROJECT- THE CIRCLE OF LIFE

Today I am celebrating the eco-friendly circle of life that is Craig’s List !    If you’re not familiar with CL;  not only can you get free dirt,  but you can also list  things you don’t want anymore- and someone will come to your house and take them away for you!    It’s beautiful!   Today I got a huge round mirror for free from a sweet med student  leaving town for her residency,  and 3 different people came to my house to take away the bulky shelves and extra things that don’t fit into my  tiny cottage!  I feel so much lighter without the weight of  too many possessions cluttering up my  little universe.

When you drive around Los Angeles, you’ll notice an astonishing amount of storage rental places.   I think when you find yourself at the point  of needing to rent  a storage space to store all your stuff-  you  might wanna consider  whether  you  really  NEED all  that stuff!

My living  room looks  so much bigger without the huge wall unit & heavy shelves I had–  and it was fun meeting  all the  people who  came to collect them!   And-  as an added bonus, recycling is good for the planet!

Tomorrow I am meeting up with a wonderful architect named Micheal, who’s moving to Palm Springs-  and he’s going  to  give me all of his shelving!   YAY!  The universe is taking very  good care of me!

THANK  YOU!

LOVE SHACK PROJECT – TRIPPING OVER DESTINY

I’ve been thinking a lot  about fate and destiny and the universe  lately.  Wondering if there’s really some  kind of plan for any of us- or   are we all just tripping over destiny?  Can you  really read the future in tea leaves?–  or is the tea-leaf reader just very good at interpreting what you need in your life into the shapes in the tea?  Does the universe really send you signs- or do you  just think you see a sign?   Or maybe, destiny is just a matter of being open to possibilities and the willingness to follow wherever they make you?

In my case, it was a broken down car that finally pushed me out of the rut I’d been in;  forcing me to take action and step outside of my comfort zone.   As a result,  I found myself,  late at night, in a random parking lot; and quite literally tripped  over destiny and looked up to see a sign from the universe right in front of my face.   The sign said, “For Rent”.

Since then, I have tried to continue following the signs- and they  have led me to so many interesting and fabulous people who I would  never have met otherwise.  Everyone of them has a story.  Maybe that’s what I’m supposed to do?  Tell their stories, as they guide me along my  path?

I went back to Obi-Wan Melissa today,  & not only did I  get the last of  the dirt for the back yard, a beautiful Bougainvillea bush, & a stature for my garden,  but I also  met her very  besotted boy-friend!    What a great couple!

Do you believe in destiny??

Here’s a picture of my finished dirt pile, Bougainvillea  bush, and statue!

AWESOME DAY!  xoxo

LOVE SHACK PROJECT- HAULIN’ DIRT

Today, via the genius that is Craig’s list, I continued on my quest for free dirt- and meet up with the delightful Melissa!   I pulled up to her home- and she was outside, working on one of her many, halfway-done projects involving masonry, carpentry, painting, gardening, ect!  You name it- and Melissa has done it-  and  done it all looking super cute & fit in her short shorts!  I was very  impressed with her skills!   As I listened to her quirky war-stories while loading my car up with dirt;  recognition dawns on me- and I  realize,  like looking in the mirror,  I’ve just met someone from my  home planet!

” Are you an Aquarius?”  I interrupt.   YES!  Of  corse she is!   It was all so  obvious -  the hand painted multi-color trim, the sweaters in the kitchen  & shoes in the dining room, the crazy cocoffany of invention!   I’ve found  my do-it-yourself guru!

I went home and unleaded my  dirt– almost done!!  I’ll have to get some  more  dirt from Melissa tomrrow.

here’s a picture of my progress.

LOVE SHACK

My love ( yes- there’s someone putting the love in the shack… omg- that sounds kinda wrong)  suggested that I fill in the one side with dirt- so that i can  plant my garden and a treed privacy wall.  That sounded like a great idea- and since its so small- only  3 feet by 17 feet – sounded pretty easy.  So I went on Craigslist, and  responded to a listing for ” free dirt”  from a  nearby couple that lived nearby that had a pile of dirt left over from their own backyard excavation.  They were very nice- and  to my good fortune- even loaded the dirt for me into my  car.    They were happy to finally be getting rid of their massive dirt pile haunting their back yard-  and I suspect- also took pity on my feeble attempt to load and maneuver the wheel barrel!  – Or perhaps they were just  saving themselves from the inevitable pile of dirt landing upon their lawn when I eventually lost control of  their very wobbly wheel barrel.   So the husband very nicely loaded up the back of my SUV ( I put a couple of old sheets down on the way-back) with 4 full wheel barrel loads twice on saturday and once on sunday.  3 carloads!!   I then unloaded them from my truck to the backyard with a plastic waste basket from the bathroom.  Not very much – and slow going- but sadly, that’s all I could carry.  ( I’m much weaker that I realized!)

So I spent a great part of the week-end trudging back and forth with my dirt-  and have only managed to fill about 2/3 of the space and every part of my  body hurts!   Hopefully the nice couple will still have some more dirt for me this week-end!

here’s what I have so far….

TINY BACK YARD!

Here is a picture of the back yard  at the starting  point!   What should i  do?!

LOVE SHACK

HI EVERYONE!

It had  been a  really  long  time  since  I last posted!!  I’ve made  a big change in my  life-  and  have moved out of my spacious holly-hood apartment into a tiny cottage on the west side!   I was really surprised how much anxiety moving caused -  especially since at one point in my life- I didn’t think twice about moving across the country or overseas EVEN!–  and  now,  moving across town was giving me panic attacks??!!  WHO  have I become?   I’m suddenly re-discovering myself– EEEK!

So now- in one short month, i have given my 30 day  notice, looked for a new place, found one,  been approved , and moved my giant accumulation of STUFF  across town and into the tiny cottage with NO STORAGE!    Don’t get me wrong-  I am now blissfully happy in my new place- but I have a lot of  work to do to get  all set up and  moved in  properly!

So I figure, this is the perfect time to start blogging again- so i can share my journey in do-it-yourself-ing and home repair!   I’m kind of surprised to find that I am not as skilled as  i  thought!! LOL!  So hopefully, some of you will be able to give me suggestions and advice along the way as well!

My first plans are to  A., fix up the  back yard and made a garden & create green privacy wall.   B.,  fix up the front with pots, planters, shrubs, flowers- so that it looks like a cute cottage!  C., solve my  huge  lack if storage problems in the  bathroom, bed room, closet, and pantry!  Theres more  to do after that– but  those are my 1st  three objectives!

To that end- ive already spent an afternoon in Pasadena trying ( unsuccessfully) to dig up free bamboo!  – since then ive been warned of the dangers of planting  bamboo ( it spreads like cancer & must be contained!!)   I’ve  also tried to build my own  bathroom space saver/shelf to go over the  toilet ( also unsuccessful)  Note to readers-  home depot will cut your wood for free- but their saw is warped & does  not give a precision cut!!  — Meaning….your shelf will look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa!!!

So- that’s the introduction to the Love Shack Project & Blog!  I will post pictures and share this journey with you!

xoxo

Lorielle

Look at this Fall 2011 Brian Atwood pump!! Featured in Harper… on Twitpic

Look at this Fall 2011 Brian Atwood pump!! Featured in Harper… on Twitpic.

 

OH WOW!!!

yesterday wearing @bearpawshoes @homanz bag @amijamesink tee on Twitpic

yesterday wearing @bearpawshoes @homanz bag @amijamesink tee on Twitpic.

Below are a few celebrity “PAWSPOTTING” shots of @LorielleNew… on Twitpic

Below are a few celebrity “PAWSPOTTING” shots of @LorielleNew… on Twitpic.