What Ana Does

As mentioned, we found some extra budget and made all my back hallway dreams come true this month.  This is where we started. Note the awful pink "terracotta" floor tile that was cracking in the laundry room. The door to the left is the garage, the powder room is to the right. And that door at the end is the coat closet. And the laundry room door is at the end to the right.  Make sense?  My beef with this poky hallway is this closet and this wall. It cuts the floor space into nothing, and if it was gone, it could be an awesome little back ROOM.  Don't worry, this is one of three closets back here. Remember the coat closet at the end? And the laundry room has a closet, too, and cabinets.  We need to remove this wall. And as much as I teased Dave about doing it ourselves, he wasn't buying it. So I made this little drop zone to make the best of it ( here's the post here, for more details ).  So the simple PLAN: Remove the closet, retile the floor -- all the way into

I love books and read lots and lots. When I tell people how many books I read a week, they think I'm crazy and say "I could never read that many books, no matter how much I love to read." To that, I say, you're probably doing it wrong. ( YDIW series ) First off, some people don't care about reading or they're just not in the "book reading season" in their life ... totally get it. When I had young babies, I didn't read more than a very few books a year ... maybe. Not biggie. I don't judge. But if you're eager to read more, and think it's impossible, it's probably not.  Pick easier books. If your goal is to read three books a month, a pretty attainable goal, don't pick books from a MFA- English program. Skip the Tolstoy or Vonnegut. Sure, they're worthy but "War and Peace" is a damn dense brick! You're not being graded, so pick more "easy" books, than classic that require a comprehension guide. Mix it

 As someone who makes a living creating social media content I have a lot to say about this subject. But mainly most people are DOING SOCIAL MEDIA WRONG.  Don't get mad at me. We didn't have any of this 10 years ago and we're all not on the same page about how to use it. We've been experimenting. But, yes, there's a right way to do it. And most people do it WRONG.  At its core, social media apps (Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, TikTok, etc.) are for CONNECTION. And to sell things and gobble up your time. But, at it's best, they are a means to be inspired and connect to people with similar interests or ideas. And even keep up with family and friends. YAY!  But, if you're taking hours to scroll through your feed. If you're not interacting with any posts. If they make you jealous, uncomfortable or angry. All red flags. YOU * ARE * DOING * IT * WRONG.  Curate your feed! Follow only those that ADD to your day, not subtract. Look for influencers and content cr

In the first of my series of "You're Doing It Wrong (YDIW) we're starting with houseplants . Lately, I've been collecting a lot of houseplants. This house loves the plants. Our windows are large and bright, and I'm home to look after them. So, I'm covering every available surface with plants. And I have a few friends who also like plants, but mostly, I hear "I can't do houseplants" and "I love houseplants but I always kill all of them!" Of course you do. Everyone does. And that's why people are doing houseplants wrong. You don't buy them to keep them to just "keep alive." You buy them to enjoy until they eventually die. Because yes, they will probably eventually die. Killing houseplants isn't really the failure everyone thinks it is. We buy bouquets of flowers and they all eventually die, so why don't we accept the same will happen to most of the house plants we buy? Even houseplant experts know a certain numbe