She's Baa-aack!

Ok, clearly I've had trouble keeping up with my life my blog this past month. As many of you know, I was promoted to a new position at work over the summer, and let's just say I had my work cut out for me. At first I didn't think much would change, but then we hit our busy season. September turned out to be a crazy month - Jesse and I were constantly at work much later than our usual schedule, plus I was traveling for about 10 of the 30 days in September. But enough about my sob story, I'm back in action! :)

This month I'm planning to:

1. post pictures from my sunroom re-do (finally)
2. show you a few of the festive seasonal accents that I picked up
3. show off a few DIY projects my mom and I tackled when she came to visit AND
4. share pictures of my new office at work, which I'm currently in the process of setting up (get excited -- there will be before and after photos!).

So to kick-off my October blogging, I should begin by telling you that I went shopping tonight ... and I had fun, a lot of fun! I only went to TJ Maxx, but I found a few things* to get started with my office makeover, plus a much needed accessory-organizer for my dresser.

*Moment of truth: I found WAY more than a few things, but after stuffing my arms full of wonderful TJ-treasures, I decided to cut back on my splurge, which meant that the cute chunky-heel leather boots and sleek DKNY black bag had to go back to the shelf, along with a few other less-important impulses.

Anyway, I'm really excited to show you what I got for my dresser. I found this really neat shadow box with a hinged, magnetic frame that opens up for easy access:

I forgot to take a before picture, but here is a cropped
"during" picture to show off the original shadow box.

And here's a better shot with the cover open.

For the past year or so, I've been planning to re-organize my jewelry box and make some of my everyday pieces more accessible. I've toyed around with the idea of making my own hanging board for necklaces or earrings, but I never settled on a final plan (enter shadow-box, center stage). So when I saw this shadow box at TJ's I knew I found the perfect piece! Rather than spending countless hours and god-only-knows how much money, I decided to use the shadow box as my new earring case.

Oooooohhhhhh .....

Aaaaahhhhh ......

And in case you wanted a close-up! 

So for just $13.00 I found a perfect solution for my previously over-stocked jewelry box! I love how accessible everything is, and the fact that all my earrings, most of which cost me less than $10, are behind a glass case -- classy -- or should I say glassy?! Too much? Oh, it feels good to be back!

P.S. I'll get back to the office decor soon -- Ikea shopping trip planned for Saturday, so you're sure to see something posted on here if I make it out alive! :)