09/09/09

Welcome to today's round-up of NINE inspiring ideas in honor of yesterday, 09/09/09.

1) This fabulous bedroom via Desire to Inspire. I love those high-hung, soft curtains, the doors to the little patios, the library feel, and the fireplace. This may be one of the favorite bedrooms I have ever seen.

2) This dreamy pink bedroom via Brabourne Farm. Love the wrought iron, love the fireplace, and what a sweet design on the back of the chair.

3) This power suit via Carla Zampatti. Matrix-meets-evening suit.

4) The article "Getting Beyond the Confession and Guilt Checklist" by Julie Clawson over at Sojourners. It is a reflection upon the following quote from Rob Bell's recent sermon at Mars Hill:

Confession is admission, recognition, declaration, and agreement that we have participated in the wrong order of things — in ways that don’t further the Shalom of God. And then we repent and say we want to return to the order that God wants.

Knocked my socks off! Comforting and convicting at the same time.

5) This make-your-own-frame world map project from A Soft Place to Land.

For such a large piece of art, framing would be a big investment. But Kimba made her own out of door framing and corners in a few easy steps. PLUS she links to where you can buy these muted maps from Natural Geographic.

6) This site by New Choice Health.

Do you have any idea how widely the costs vary on medical procedures? Neither did I. Did you know you can haggle the costs down, ask for a discount for paying in cash, and otherwise "shop around" for best prices on medical procedures? We would never buy a car without shopping around at different dealers, so why should we spend tens of thousands on medical procedures without cost-comparing? This site lists costs nation-wide. As a test, I looked up costs for hernia repair surgery in Dallas, TX. Costs ranged from $1,000 to $2,500 - that's a big difference!

7)Texas Price Point is a very similar website run by the Texas Hospitals Association, but it is limited only to Texas facilities' prices. Its purpose differs slightly- this website makes you chose a specific procedure AND a specific hospital, and it helps you estimate what your bill will be. For instance, delivering a full-term baby via an uncomplicated Caesarean section at Baylor Hospital in downtown Dallas costs an estimated $10,387 and requires an average 4.3 day stay. The Dallas county average is just over $12,250 with an average 3.7 day stay.

8) The latest catalogue by British clothing and home decor company Toast.

9) The Toast home catalogue (on the same site).