"Warhol of Fame" Induction

You know how most recovering alcoholics say they can't have just one drink, because that drink will likely lead to a complete backslide?

I'm that way with clutter. As a hoarder-turned-minimalist, I'm well aware that I'm one magazine/mail/laundry-covered nightstand away from disaster. So I keep my nightstand clear. And my dressers. And my counters. But the inside of my cabinets have to have stuff in them. That's why my apartment's clear-glass kitchen cabinets pose a huge conundrum for me. How do I keep stuff in a cabinet, without having the cabinets look all clutter-y, leading me to fall off the wagon, right into Hoardersville? 

That's where the soup comes in. I realized I could store all our soup in the glass cabinet, and it would look kinda cool. Warhol-esque, if you will. Form meets function! It worked perfectly. Everyone who came over noticed the display and seemed amused. 

Then my friend Tamara shared some breaking news with me. Target has started carrying special edition Campbell's soup cans - inspired by Andy Warhol. Life imitates art! 

So I raced out the door to Target... and bought 31 cans of Campbell's tomato soup. (Which, I realize, is a lot of soup. My inner hoarder might've come out to play. My decluttering guru, Peter Walsh, will not be pleased.)

So, now, my cabinets are extra-artsy. In fact, I think they deserve a "Warhol of Fame" induction. Meantime, my non-soup items have been shoved in with the pots and pans. And my plan is to have soup for lunch today... and tomorrow... and the next day... until my Splenda no longer resides in my spaghetti strainer. Dream big, Dobson!
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Ready for RedEye

Red Eye file photo. Spring 2011. Courtesy Hi Def News Caps.

To prepare for a Thursday night taping of Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld, I made the following to-do list:
-Hand our four month old baby off to my husband.
-Study up on the day's news topics. 
-Shower.
-Do hair and makeup.
-Try on several dresses and pick the one that looks best.


Here's how my day really went:
-Scan the day's news topics on my Blackberry while calming a crying baby, hoping my husband will be home from work soon.
-Welcome husband home by immediately handing him the baby. Realize I forgot to say hello. Apologize.
-Take the baby back 10 minutes later, because he seems hungry.
-Stop feeding the baby after a few minutes to change him, because he has wet through his diaper, his outfit, and my outfit.
-Get a sudden flash of inspiration to dress the baby up like his favorite toy, Ernie, in a striped shirt, blue pants and red shoe-like socks. 
-Do a photo shoot of the baby with Ernie.
-Spend an extra few minutes taking a photo in which the baby's face isn't showing, because he says he doesn't want his future girlfriends to see it online someday and mock him for loving an Ernie doll. (Yes, that's right. My four-month old talks. In full sentences. And worries about his online reputation. He's a smart one.)

Dressed like Ernie in striped shirt, blue pants and red "shoes."  

-Welcome some friends who have dropped by to meet the baby. Give them a tour of our home, warning them not to trip on the baby toys in our dining-room-turned-playroom. (I've done a baby-tastic home makeover. Full blog on that coming soon.) Apologize for STILL BEING IN MY PAJAMAS. At 7pm. Yikes.
-Shower, shampooing twice to get all the spit-up out of my hair.
-Burp baby. Sigh when he spits-up in my twice-shampooed hair. Decide to just leave it there and hope the Red Eye viewers don't notice.

-Realize there's no time to do my makeup or fix my hair. Hope the beauty team at Red Eye doesn't mind me showing up with a bare face and spit-uppy hair.
-Throw on the first dress I see in my closet. Cross my fingers in hopes that it will fit, post-pregnancy. Realize that it does fit. Rejoice! Head to Red Eye.

Host Chat: Baby Shower Edition

I've spent the last few weeks in full nesting mode. Sure, I'm having a baby later this year... but my real motivation wasn't the due date, it was my recent NYC baby shower! The shower was held at my home, which meant I had the perfect opportunity to show off the baby room.... IF I could just get it finished in time. Which meant taking a Facebook freeze, Twitter timeout and Blogging blackout. (Did you miss me?) Any time I spent online was at sites like Etsy and Serena and Lily, looking for inspiration! I'll show photos in a later post (once the kid is born and signs a waiver granting permission for his/her room to be shared publicly). In the meantime, here's a look at a nursery that's pretty similar to my soothing space:

Jill Dobson's perfect nursery is
similar to this Serena & Lily room

I ordered so much stuff in such a short amount of time, I'm sure my credit card company thought my card had been hijacked. In fact, I actually called the Customer Care line to inform them it was just me doing all that shopping, not a thief with a penchant for Pottery Barn Kids! I felt compelled to do this after the Frozen Credit Card of 2010 event. Over the holidays last year, the credit card company froze my account after I did two very suspicious things -- purchased men's clothes and made a donation to a charity. I can just see the fraud department guy sounding the alarm, saying, "Jill Dobson doesn't shop for other people!  And she sure as heck doesn't do anything for the needy! This is a clear case of identity theft!" Yeah, dude, Robin Hood stole my credit card. And bought himself a shirt at Penguin.
Although the baby room is done, I'm still picking up items for the baby-to-be. Which means I'm shopping for someone besides myself. But don't worry... I haven't assisted any underprivileged people today. After all, I wouldn't want to disorient the credit card company too much! 
Plus, I'm #StillATerriblePerson as my nemesis on @BillShulz will probably tweet as soon as he reads this. That guy loves it when I blog about home decor and/or fashion! He just loves it!

Host Chat: Million-Dollar Nursery

Perhaps I've mentioned I'm expecting a baby? Yesterday a friend asked, "Has the nesting instinct kicked in yet?" Yeah, baby! I'm cleaning out closet drawers, de-cluttering like crazy and gradually turning our guest room into a nursery. And while I love House Beautiful, I've actually turned to Us Weekly and People for baby decor inspiration. Ever since seeing a photo of Jennifer Lopez's nursery for her twins in 2008, I've been in love with neutrals. No powder pinks or baby blues for J. Lo... or J. Dobs!

Jill Dobson's baby will likely have significantly
fewer Missoni baby blankets than Rachel Zoe's baby.

I also looked to new mom Rachel Zoe. Us Weekly reports the fashionista's son's closet alone is worth $87,000! Most of that is due to high-priced baby fashions, including a reported $3,700 shoe collection. So far, my future kid has one lonely pair of shoes in an otherwise nearly empty closet. And that's because someone was nice enough to give us an early baby gift. (Thanks for the world's tiniest Uggs, Annie!)
In addition to shoes, Rachel Zoe's baby's closet is also full of Missoni items. I'm guessing the blanket pictured above was one of several gifts from the design house. My house, so far, is Missoni-free. Since neutrals are more my style, I'm OK with that. In fact, I'm over-the-moon for the beautiful Angela Horton baby blanket I received in shades of tan and cream. Gorgeous. (Thank goodness for my generous friends, or my kid would have a spotless-yet-empty nursery!)
I've heard reports that Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon dropped more than ONE MILLION DOLLARS on their baby nursery. Though, to be fair, they have twins. So that averages out to a much more frugal $500,000 per baby. Which probably feels like a drop in the bucket when you've sold 175 million albums. 
The equivalent for me would be if I spent $12 on my kid's room. Sounds like somebody will be taking the bus to the dollar store! Or, if I change my mind about neutrals and decide to start decorating in vivid zigzags, I could take the bus to Target instead... to load up on their new Missoni for Target line. It's nice to know that even though I've sold exactly zero albums, and starred in exactly zero reality shows, I still have options. 
Let the shopping begin - I've got twelve bucks burning a hole in pocket!