I'm pissed off... I mean 'on'... :)

In clinical, I was making my rounds, hopping from room to room to see what my students are up to. As I was about to exit one patient's room, there was a person in front of me trying to get into the bathroom to empty a container of urine and put dirty laundry in the hamper. As she struggles to open the bathroom door, amber waves of urine crash against the sides of the container, and I had a quick thought that this isn’t gonna be good. The urine splashes out of the container, and right onto my jacket… onto my face… and into my left eye! Bagaughspshhfa! Luckily, I maintained my composure and dignity (which was quite an accomplishment with pee on my face, I must say, so here is me patting myself on the back! *pat-pat*... good job, Erin...), and rinsed my eye out quickly and talked to the appropriate people at the hospital and the university to follow appropriate policy. Found out that I now have to rinse my eye out for about fifteen minutes cuz a quick rinse isn't good enough… yeah…

The eye rinse at our work is pretty much a HUGE bottle of sterile normal saline, aaaaaaaaand it had a ton of dust that had collected on it, which normally I would find that rather gross, but considering I just got pee in my eye which is even grosser, I just found it disheartening.
“This is what I’m suppose to use?!”
“Well, at least it’s not expired!” said one of our fabulous nurse managers who was helping me out; she poured while I held my eye open over a sink (we're all about teamwork at my job! :).  But we could only pour a little bit at a time cuz every time she poured the solution on my eye/face, I couldn’t breathe! I have no idea why! I felt like I was underwater! It was very traumatic! And I have this sneakin’ suspicion that she rather enjoyed it (just kidding, she’s wonderful! :). I laughed and said, “I feel like I’m getting water-boarded! I tell you whatever you want! Mother’s maiden name?! Social security number?! It’s yours!” We finally got a good system down where I was able to get an adequate amount of oxygen while having my eye cleansed. By the end of it, I was more composed and am a stronger person for it… tried to convince her I could try to become a marine due to my ability to tolerate water-boarding… She told me that they would break me into two… probably… but a girl can dream, can’t she?


Along with the comforting act of getting my eye flushed, I got to go the emergency room… due to policy… double yeah… and got to sit there for a couple of hours for them to tell me that I did what I needed to and I can go home, and I need to keep an ‘eye’ on it (bahahaha! I crack myself up!). Oh how my life is so exciting!

Shop Stop: Willow Lake, T.F.A., and Roots

On Friday, my dear friend, Jen, and I went to some of our favorite antique/vintage home decor shops all around the St. Louis/O'Fallon area.  And all of these spots are definitely worth checking out!

Our first stop was in O'Fallon, MO: Willow Lake Home Decor!  Oh how I adore this shop! And how I adore the owner!  She integrates the old with new- takes antiques, mingles them with new products and creates beautiful, harmonious living spaces.  She has such a great eye for decorating, and she places clippings from decor magazines to help you visualize it at your home.  You have to walk around the store three times so you don't miss anything cuz she has sooo much packed in the store.  Bonus: everything is really reasonably priced- yeah! 



These goggles were rather tempting for me!  But I resisted... for now :)



Our next stop was in the Tower Grove area: T.F.A., Jen's favorite place!  T.F.A. stands for 'The Future Antiques' (aren't they clever? :), they specialize in 50s/60s decor.  Amazing vintage chandeliers, furniture, clothing, and dishware (*love the dishware*)!  Some of their stuff is a little pricey for my liking, but you can haggle with them a little.  You will also have a lot of "OMG, my mom/grandma had this!" moments :) 



I loved these letters, kind of hard to tell in the picture but they are angled, not flat... and they were not for sale... booooo! 



Our last stop was in Maplewood: Roots! Ya, we get around :).  This is another place I like to go for decor ideas, and the ladies who work here are so sweet!  Everything is fairly priced and they have some rather unique items.  This is also a media-mixing/jewelry-making/steampunk-loving dream store!  They have antique/vintage game pieces, flash cards, watch faces/gears, and other awesome randomness to make beautiful art with.  Also, if you are looking for antique sign letter (plastic or metal), this is the place for you!

And here are my finds for the day!



I got this antique typewriter at Willow Lake.  I had bought it to go on my antique desk that I use as an end table, but it was too big, so currently it's hanging out on my coffee table.  I put a page from a children's book in it to add a little somethin' somethin'...



I got this cute little red crab from TFA.  He is actually an ink well (shell pops open), and he is currently 'sunning' himself by my flowers until I find a more permanent spot for me... 



And I got a bunch of vintage flashcards at Roots.  I currently do not have time to make something with them yet, but here is a little picture word-play for you :)