making it bright

christmas light alternative: i stuffed some of the lights into a couple infrequently-used mason-jar glasses i have, added festive party glasses to the display, and --- voila! --- instant kitchen nightlight. this might be my favorite original decorating idea ever... likely i'm not the first person in the world to do this, but i've never seen it done before!

good story: last week i went to Target. twice. i went on Saturday, came home, and made over my bathroom as well as a small part of my kitchen (think: wall art, vibrant & provincial-looking green scrollwork, French, and carrots. enticing, eh?). that night i had Giordano's pizza. it was excellent.

on Monday i went to Target again. on the phone that night with Boy Wonder, i admitted it. "you went to Target again?" he asked. he couldn't keep the incredulous tone out of his voice, and of course i caught it and then i felt like a freak. these freakish feelings soon faded when i remembered how amazing my night had been, post-Target, because of Target.

at Target i bought some holiday things --- namely, Christmas lights. Christmas lights have always been a staple of my decor wherever i've lived --- i do believe my career under the buzz of fluorescent bulbs has instilled in me an obsession with low, more flattering light. therefore, the subtle, soothing glow of one string of Christmas lights per room has always done the trick for me, not to mention the fact that it serves as a nice nightlight for me to come home to at the end of an evening out (and i tell myself it wastes less electricity than leaving a lamp on).

since one of my strings had recently burned out completely (yes, i tried replacing the fuse and some of the burned-out bulbs. nothing worked), i took this opportunity to not only replace that string, but invest in a few more. i came home Monday night with 2 strings of 100 and 1 string of 50 white lights (on a white cord, of course!). i also splurged for a string of 25 larger colored lights, whose rosy glow you can just see on the right side of the photo below.

filled with a sense of purpose, i dashed into my apartment, deposited all of my Target loot on the couch, and rummaged through everything until i found the boxes of lights. for the next hour i stood on tiptoe, bent over backward, taped, ruminated upon, and then finally stood back with my hands on my hips to survey my handiwork. 3 rooms of my apartment were transformed and bathed in the softest, and simultaneously most festive, beams of happy light.

good story?
good story.

a new arrangement: before, a string of lights was draped over the bookcase, illuminating the patient spines of Auden, Dickinson, and Eliot. this time around, i started the trail of stars by the front door (just out of view to the left), strung them above a previously-dark corner, and tucked them into some vintage boxes on top of the bookcase, after which they cascade down the wall and land in a large white bowl with a delicate grey damask pattern painted on the inside. it's like a non-traditional lamp (lights-in-a-bowl) --- again, a new lighting concept for me that i haven't seen before! i tucked some of my favorite postcards from friends into the cascading constellation of lights on the wall. instant loveliness.

last week,
i was master of
making it bright.

this week,
i'd like to continue the trend.

what are you doing
to make (& keep) things bright
in your life?

---she.