Happy Halloween!
31 Tuesday Oct 2006
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in31 Tuesday Oct 2006
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in03 Tuesday Oct 2006
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inYep, I am back to my old tricks again. One post a month these days is a pretty good run, I guess?. I hit Trimester 3 a couple weeks back, and the old sluggishness is trying to wrangle me in its grips…But I have been trying to fight back with all the nesting and tying up of loose ends that came on the scene in Trimester 2. This whole pregnancy thing is a roller coaster ride, really (not one of those crazy, big, loop-de-loop coasters…more like the teeny-tiny-kiddie coasters you go on at the local state fair/carnivals…so, not too bad, all things considered). I do really hope that my old organized and time-appreciative self emerges once the hormones move out of the way.
So what’s been doing?
* My Favorite Sister Helped Feather Bump’s Nest *
My most favorite, best, incredibly sweet sister came to visit for a long weekend this past weekend. She is seriously such a rockstar. We shopped for baby essentials (like a crib, for Pete’s sake!), organizational and storage tools (it’s a sickness in my family–we LOVE storage baskets and organization bits and bobs; The Container Store brings us all to our knees). We washed loads of itsy-bitsy baby socks and onesies and blankets and anything that may come in contact with Bump’s skin.We cooked. We crafted. We ate. A lot.
Lizzie threw me a lovely little shower with my friends here in SC. It was a wonderful time, and so wonderful to have my best friend here by my side, going along on this adventure with me. I love my sister to bits. I miss you, Lizzie!!
Lizzie always looks great. Me, I am currently hoarding chins (please don’t report me to any chinless wonders; I don’t know how to give them back). The one shower pic where I don’t look bloated is here. Because I am a vain mommy-to-be. In real life, I am growing MAN HANDS, cankles, and waddling like a duck. And collecting extra chins. I do love that Bump is kicking and rolling like nobody’s business these days. That makes all the swelling and the carpal tunnel syndrome and achy joints worth the little world in my belly.
My parents got us a Pack N Play that will be where Bump sleeps in the early days on the first floor (nursery is on 2nd floor). Currently, the PnP lives in our room, but it has handy wheels for transporting to other parts of the house (and huzzah! it fits through our doors)! Lizzie got us a very swanky, very spendy swing-bouncy-carrier dealie (it’s like 3 pieces in one!). It’s very schmancy (to a gnome with no previous parenting experience, anyway).
Amy and Lizzie put these together last Friday night. I am so lucky to have these 2 fabulous women in my life. Seriously.
* A Different Nest of Mine Debuted This Week!*
I have been sitting on this little bit of news for a while. I am so excited to share with you that you can now send an e-card from Evite with an illustration by little old me on it! Check out the Thank You e-cards. Mine is called “Bird Nesting Thank You.” It may be another no-biggie for big-time illustrators out there, but it was such a fantastic bit of Big News in my world.
* I Fell Off-Track with the Bloggy Parade of Homes *
Because I’ve been so easily distracted and had so many other little tasks I wanted to get done…but I’ll be adding more pics eventually to the Flickr set I had for the Parade of Homes. I’m trying to document the house now, as it’s clean…everyone keeps telling me how crazy the house will be once we have Bump arrive (knowing me, I totally believe that is irrefutably true).
Here’s a pic of our front door. Kind of decked out for fall:
* Happily Handmade Giveaway Fall Round Underway *
Now, something for you: go and enter in the latest round of the Happily Handmade Giveaway! There will be 50 winners chosen for this round. Super fantastic goodies from your indie designers. Remember to enter at The Walrus! Good luck!!
On that note, I bid you adieu for now. I will be flitting about your blogs sometime this week, promise. I am feeling like I am playing catch-up and cramming a lot these days. Oy. Happy October, all!
01 Friday Sep 2006
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inBloggy Parade of Homes: Bathrooms
This week’s Parade of Homes, hosted by Shannon, is of bathrooms. We are pretty lucky to have 3 different spots in our house where we can cop a squat and catch a read.
This is our first floor powder room. Monkey and I painted it just before the fixtures and fittings went in way back in March. I love this color! I think I ended up hanging all the artwork a bit too high…Oh well! Lots to keep our guests entertained while they do their business!
This is our master bathroom. The first pic is what you see when you come in from the master bedroom. A super-sized tub that we rarely use as a tub but serves quite well as a drying rack for Monkey’s workout clothes. Oh, the pile of clothes by the door is our laundry hamper. I need to do some washing this week, clearly! The other pics are of Monkey’s and my vanities. We do try to keep neat in *some* areas of our living spaces…
This is the guest bathroom upstairs. It will eventually be Bump’s bathroom, since the nursery is upstairs. For now, it’s pretty neutrally decorated. Meh.
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Seven Secrets
Last week, Mipmup started up this fun meme. I’ll play; will you?
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Baby Talk
Belly & Bump are still happily growing! This is a pic of week 26. My innie has begun to morph into an outie.
I thought it might be useful to do a mini FAQ/Gnome Learnings/Questions for moms who’ve been there little section. Because there is so much to learn in being a first-time mom-to-be!
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Monkey LOVE!
This is a little birthday wish for my beloved Monkey, who will be celebrating the day he came into the world tomorrow, September 2 (we’ll be visiting with his sister and rendezvous-ing in Atlanta). I am eternally grateful for the cosmos’ stars’ perfect alignment to create such a magnificent man and bring him to little old me. Gentle, goofy, considerate, sweet as can be, extraordinarily supportive, and such a handsome hubby…I am counting my lucky stars that we get to share our life’s adventures together.
Happy Birthday, sweetheart! I love you!
(Casey is catching her beauty sleep). Happy weekend, everyone! Hope you have a restful and enjoyable Labor Day holiday!
25 Friday Aug 2006
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inIncidentally, Kitchen is the title of a book I loved in high school by Banana Yoshimoto…. I finally got my act in gear to play this week in the Bloggy Parade of Homes! This is our kitchen, very well-lived in already. I LOVE it! (I’m working on the catch-up rooms for a later post…this has been a nutty busy week!). Check out the other kitchens here!
A couple overall shots of the kitchen. The first pic’s got a bit of the breakfast nook (which we still don’t have a proper table for…so the schlumpy loveseat remains there…on the right is our catchall cookbook bookcase…it collects a lot of our detritus when we walk on by it). Also, our barstools are too tall (they were bought when we were in the apartment, with its taller bar counter and all), but they kind of work, so they’re staying for now…
Our fridge, which is next to our drinks counter (mugs, coffee, teas, cocoas, and booze). Our oven, right in the center of the kitchen. Look at me being all Holly Hobby and baking fresh goodies for this photo (actually, I just made these for our neighbors: orange cinnamon sweet rolls).
Our kitchen sink (I love the light we get all day long) and our schlumpy sofa in the breakfast nook (sorry it’s a bit dark, but there isn’t much more to the nook than the sofar right now…).
Happy weekend!!
21 Monday Aug 2006
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inGoodness, it really is ridiculous how much time passes between posts around here. I am trying to get back on blogging track, but I am easily distracted…and I have pregnancy brain…and my organizational skills (which were tip-top, back in the day, I’ll tell you–I am a Capricorn, after all) have been less than stellar. Far less than stellar. Like subterrestrial.
First, I wanted to thank all of you for your very kind, warm comments and emails regarding Bump. We are overjoyed, as you can well imagine. It’s been such an amazing ride so far, and the good outweighs the icks by leaps and bounds. Big THANKS and yay!!
Want a belly shot? We still have to take this week’s (week 25) pic, but for now, here’s a snap of week 24:
Belly has been growing. I “popped” about the middle of week 22 and finally look pregnant rather than just tubby around the middle. Huzzah! Baby has been doing all sorts of wondrous gymnastics and tumbles (and cutie hiccups) in the belly. When I first popped, all that extra size and movement brought the queasies back for a few days, but things seem to have settled into a nice, peaceful rhythm for now. All that drumming and tumbling is just a fantastic way Baby is talking to us right now. I love it! My appetite has not grown by amazing leaps and bounds, but I have already gained 18 pounds since pre-preggers weigh-in. They say you should gain between 25-35 pounds with your pregnancy. Yeep! I hope I don’t go too far past the weight recommendation. Because you know how much of a slug I’ve been since becoming pregnant! I am also retaining water big time in the hands and feet, so wedding rings are currently on hiatus (Monkey and I had to collaborate on a sitcom-like soap and water dance over my bathroom sink to free the rings yesterday. Youch.). I am buying a fun, cheap-ass ring to wear in the meantime (I liked a lot here, but am getting this one for now). Yay, cheap jewelry.
Oh, and I had the glucose screen last week. We happily passed with flying colors. I was expecting the absolute worst in terms of chugging down a sickly sweet syrupy drink in 5 minutes, but it wasn’t that bad (Hawaiian Punch flavor!), and the needles are kind of old hat to me now (I have to give myself daily shots of this, for just-in-case safekeeping of the pregnancy). Yay for passing each test well!
Monkey and I also started the registering process over the weekend, thanks to some encouragement from Lizzie. I guess we were being a tad too laid back for her taste, so we went. It was OVERWHELMING for me. We only got a quarter of the store covered (we were there for something like 3 hours) when I said we needed to leave the shop pronto…which means, unfortunately, that we’ll have to go back and do this again. It’s mind-boggling how much stuff you need with a new person. And that’s after I’ve read up on just getting the necessities (this, this, and this are good)! I’ve been getting wonderful advice from moms who’ve recently had little ones, so that has made a huge difference (thanks, Leslie, Michelle S, Stephanie B!).
What’s doing in non-babyworld….
Ta-ta for now, will be posting more this week! Happy Monday, y’all!
25 Tuesday Jul 2006
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inSchmoo Angels: Pepe 1992-2006
This morning, my parents’ immensely lovable terrier mix, Pepe, was still lingering on this earth. By afternoon, he was en route to doggie heaven. I hope his flight attendants give him lots of cuddles, belly rubs, and all the treats he can even hope to eat.
We were lucky to have Pepe Schmoo for 14 years. He came to us as a wee little pup, not quite weaned (but his mother had passed away after birthing her pups and the owners needed help with the pups, so we helped him along as best we could). We fed him, in his first weeks with us, from a bottle. He was such an enthusiastic eater that his tiny belly would balloon up, and off he’d waddle, stuffed and content. The cutest little blond stuffed sausage on legs.
He looked like the tiniest little blond lab. We had no idea what kind of pooch he’d be, but we were smitten all the same. My dad often would carry Schmoo along with him on errands to the supermarket or local hardware store inside his deerstalker cap. Everyone would coo and just be beside themselves with how adorable this little pup with the big, loving brown eyes was.
Pepe turned out to be the ideal dog. A little shaggier and shorter than we’d expected, but with a personality at least 20 times taller than we could even imagine. He grew surfer hair, complete with natural, if unruly, white-blond highlights. Lizzie and I (being home from school for the summer) housetrained Schmoo in less than 2 weeks. He was so bright and so eager to please. And such a looker to boot.
In his grown-up years, our Schmoo was treated every spring to a good shaving. It was fabulous. He looked like a tiny spring lamb, and he bounced with every step, glad to be free of his long, hot hair. In fact, he was just growing out his spring cut this year when his little body decided it was time to go, on a high (hair) note.
He was a snuggler. A champion-grade snuggler. If you looked like you might be headed to sit or lie down, Pepe would run off to be by your side or on your lap the instant you plopped down. He loved to sleep in the crook of your bent knees. He would always be so excited when it was bedtime. He got even more excited when we were away at school for weeks and would return for a visit and, quite possibly, a nap. His favorite snugglers had returned! And to nap! With him!
Pepe was a singer. He loved to croon along with you if happened to sing a few notes just right off-key. If you were lucky, he might even get onto his hind legs and do a little spin for you. He loved even more to be dressed up in costumes and clothes. Anything for a little extra admiration!
Pepe was a runner. He loved to play fetch. He loved even more to play tug-of-war. New toys would always make his soft brown eyes brighten up. He’d always playfully grunt and growl and even bark at play with his new toys. You knew he was a happy pooch. He simply loved being loved.
And love him we did. We do. Walks in the park always drew out people of all sorts who wanted to stroke him. And he loved it. Loved kids, loved other dogs, loved cats, even. And they all seemed to love him too. But he was always intensely loyal to us, his people. We were so lucky to have been given his brand of snuggly, protective, warm Schmoo Bear love.
I’m sad that he had to leave us yesterday. That my dad had to help usher him onto his trip to Doggie Heaven via the vet’s office. But he had been extremely ill for the last several days, and it just couldn’t be dragged on any longer. None of us wanted him to suffer. I’m sad that I wasn’t there to be with my dad and Schmoo, but I know that my dad is glad to have had the extra time to spend with Schmoo both before and after he left that sweet little furry shell to sprout new wings and be off to his new fields of frolic. We’ll miss you Pepe Schmoo. We’ll miss you forever.
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Half-Baked
So sorry for the sad post. It was important for me to get my thoughts down for Schmoo. He was such an integral part of our family.
But all is not doom and gloom. I have some news to share.
I was scared to share this, with the bad luck we had twice last year…
But!
We are half-baked! I’m now in week 21 with a bun in my oven! Part of the reason I’ve been such a slug for so long and not blogging (or doing much…first trimester had me sacked out all the time, exhausted and queasy). We were supposed to start the fertility clinic’s “Plan” to conceive when we learned, oops! we conceived on our own!
We’re keeping our fingers crossed that we pull through all the way with this bun. We want a fully-baked, fresh little bun. Feel free to toss a few good vibes and happy hopes our way. We’d be grateful and so appreciative! We could use all the happy vibes and support we can get.
We don’t know gender and are waiting to find out! I just love and am amazed by the morphing my body is going through to house this bun. Monkey got to feel Bump kicking for the first time this morning. It is such an amazing journey! I started prenatal yoga a couple weeks back. It’s been great!
Other randoms (also, I owe a TON of emails to friends…please forgive my very extreme tardiness in replies…I am thinking of you but just lacking on time lately…I’m trying to make up for the sluggishness of Trimester One and tying up loose ends all around the house; will be writing you back soon, promise!)…
{1. my new favorite pillow, since my belly’s getting heavier and the legs and hips are kind of crampy and I’m supposed to sleep on my left side…Mom made me this lovely pillow cover for the big, squishy, fabulous body pillow she scooped up for me. Monkey thinks we should name it Sidney, since it takes up about the space of a whole person in bed. 2. A snap for Leslie’s In My Life pool at Flickr. I am LOVING summer fruits (always have, but glad I’m getting cravings for them instead of stuff I shouldn’t eat (well, I get those too, but I try to stay on track with eating well)…3. I also crave veggies. Yay!}
{1. Casey checking out a new crewelwork piece I scooped up for $20 at the local furniture consignment shop. It’s huge and fantastic. Monkey is not so smitten with it, but I love it! 2. Lizzie came to visit us over the 4th. I love my sister to bits. Here were are en route to drop her at the Charlotte airport. We stopped at Steak N Shake so she could meet up with her old boss/friend Stephanie, who just moved to Charlotte from Chicago.}
{Goodies of all sorts: 1.These are the goodies I sent to Kim (who hasn’t posted about the swap??) for the Brown & Aqua swap hosted by Heather. I still haven’t received my package from whoever, but oh well. Those are the breaks with swaps sometimes. You make out like a bandit or a beggar. 2.I made out like a bandit on these fab housewarming goodies from Jes, Hope, and Dawn! Aren’t they sublime? Antique glass stand, lovely pitcher, gardener’s cookbook, and a pendant from Jes! and 3.I also made out like a bandit in Amy’s Fairy Tales & Fables ATC swap! I was lucky enough to get one of Amy’s Bremen Town Musicians cards, Christina’s Open Sesame cards, a Snow White & The Seven Dwarves card from Jennifer Buckley (no URL), and an artvelope from Holly.}
{1.Mr. Toad lives in our front yard somewhere. He is a cutie. We have a Mr. Toad living in a pool pipe in our backyard. I don’t believe they’re the same Mr. Toad. 2. &3. I promised to give proper props to my Dad for his organization skills. Our FROG and garage were major dumping grounds for moving boxes and such, and it was hard to even put a foot into either space. Dad magically tranformed each space into usable home space. He is such a rockstar.}
{Some random pics of our backyard. 1.Our crepe myrtle bush is doing very well. I love its red blossoms! 2.Our butterfly bushes are doing great too! They’ve grown so many more pretty blooms since this picture was taken. 3.Our hydrangea bush seems to want to produce lovely blue flowers, which I love! BUT, out of the 4 bushes, only 1 bush had a blossom to offer, and at that, only one blossom. What can we do to help them out? We’re in zone 8 and the soil is sandy…}
Ok, enough blather for now. Hope you’re nejoying summer so far. I’ll be back to my regular grind soon…
22 Thursday Jun 2006
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inHello, hello! It’s not too far from being July already. Nuts! I had a blast having my folks here. They are super cute and love to mobilize and get stuff done. Much like Lizzie. Like I said before, I don’t know how that trait skipped me. But somehow it did. Anyhoo, much good food was consumed (my mom is the best cook ever, and I am totally not biased about this!), lots of home reorganizing and decorating occurred, and dad also rewired a lot of stuff for us so we could be super cool cats with dimmers and motion sensors out the wazoo. Plus, our big playroom (aka, “Daveland”) got all neatened and super effectively laid out by Dad. The week went by entirely too quickly, but I was glad to have been able to spend Father’s Day weekend with my folks (and I was so sad when they left…Monkey and Iwatched The Family Stoneยน the evening after they went home and I wound up bawling my eyes out!!).
Ok, how about more pics? Less cumbersome than reading, right?
{dining nook curtains, dining room curtains. Mom made curtains for 4 rooms in our house. She’s such a creative, do-it-all saint!}
{bedroom curtains, made by Mom. our new bed with new bedding, not made by Mom; though she did help me make the bed with the new bedding .}
{good eats. banh cuon, xoi with lap xuong (chinese sausage) and dried shrimp, and basic noodle soup. lots more good food made and consumed, but somehow I got remiss and just ate rather than took photos. bad gnome.}
{goodies received in the mail: my buddy Kramer sent Monkey and me a great tower of treats for housewarming (so yum!!), and I got the goodies on the right from LindaNeto in the June Coloriffic Swaporama.}
I still need to snap all the great handiwork my Dad did. He’s such a cutie. Always tinkering. Totally made our garage all neat and capable of containing 2 vehicles. Set up the surround sound and overall theater experience of Daveland.
I feel bad that they spent their vacation doing things for us, but that is what they like to do on vacations. Me, their first apple, has fallen far, far from the tree. I like to lounge about and do not a whit on vacation. I miss them much and wish they’d move here too. That way, they wouldn’t feel the need to do anything but come and visit!
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Two great contests!
Two of my great blogworld-cum-realworld creative pals have some great contests happening this week! Do pay a visit for a chance to win some FABULOUSNESS:
ยนI love Christmas-based movies. I loved this kooky family. It reminded me a bit of my kooky family. Lots of great laugh-out loud moments too…way better than the trailers would’ve prepared you to expect.
07 Wednesday Jun 2006
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inthis creature from the deep was found in the sandy trail behind our house. looks like a crawfish, but is actually a pine cone!
Goodness! I really think I may have been infected with Rip Van Winkle Syndrome, or somesuch, because, for the life of me, I really cannot fathom how the month of May quietly slipped away all stealth-like.
I thought it was high time I did chime in, though, since my folks will be visiting for a full week in only a few days’ time (I am so excited I can barely think straight. ADD at new heights these days, folks), and no online time happens when they’re here (lots of cooking, eating of ridiculously fabulous food, crafting, DIY-ing, shopping, touring of the city’s fun spots, and probably some lounging about will happen…but online time…likely no).
How’s about a quick round-up?
my most recent coloriffic swaporama goodies to go out. the theme this month was black + white + _____; my swappee likes turquoise. I hope she likes the package!
Amy of APL Creations’ ingenuity hosted a fabulous ATC & mailart swap. The theme was Fairy Tales and Fables. My ATC’s are fairly simple watercolor and ink numbers, and the envelope was fashioned from scrapbook paper and a printout of a vintage copse of trees.
Um, I have a hard time being decisive. I’ve bought so much fabric from this delight of a shop (I am thrilled to bits they are just down the road from the house) that they know me by name and projects.They have so many yummy fabrics! Anyway, the first pic, the one with the brown background and ivory & blue vines and birds are going to be our dining room drapes. They garnered the most votes and enthusiasm as a choice.
Look at this sweet gift from Amy. They’re goodies by Heather Simpson-Bluhm. Amy gives me beautiful stuff all the time. Just because!! Can you imagine how spoiled I feel? I love that I’ve been so lucky to find such a wonderful friend in this amazing lady right here in Columbia!
So, over Memorial Day weekend, Monkey and I bought a big stash of new furniture. The seafoam couch, we’ve had for a while (one of our first new furniture pieces when we moved in–Stephlys, we got that one at Sofa Express).But Monkey has forever been smitten with handsome red leather couches, all Frenchy-salon-like. And we came across this lovely number at Strobler (a local indie furniture shop) and wound up buying it along with the pair of modly leather wing chairs. Now, to make that seafoam work with the rest of those pieces (I’ve started by putting a lovely chunky-knit deep red throw Lizzie gifted me on it)….
Also! Over Memorial Day weekend, my little sister paid me the biggest, most wonderful surprise ever! A by-the-seat-of-her-pants roadtrip with her buddies to come and visit little ol’ me! I was just thrilled to bits. Thrilled! My little heart was overflowing with joy, wonder, suprise, happiness, happiness, happiness. I have the best little sister in the world. Her boys, Brutus and George, were a treat too (love my nephews!) and both partook of the pool with Casey. So cute!
Last month, Kathleen hosted a fantastic CD mix swap. I love these kinds of swaps for all the great music you get to learn, collect, enjoy! The first pic is of my mix, the second is from Kristen of Mood Swing Studios, the third is from Christina of Christina Hankins Paint, the fourth pic is of Kathleen‘s lovely mix (plus a bonus magazine with an article on Danny Seo’s home), and the last pic is of Leslie’s of The Paper Princess (plus bonus cute-ass erasers!).
I’m excited to next participate in the Pink Sky Productions collaborative CD project, which is hosted by Under a Pink Sky, and which I learned about via Kathleen (that gal knows how to hook us up with good music!).
What else! The house is practically done. We finally got the backsplash tile installed (no, we did not DIY, because Monkey was convinced we’d screw it up…even the pro tiler had a lot of difficulties, so I guess it’s just as well we didn’t) in the kitchen, got our lawn (yay, no more sand EVERYWHERE!) and landscaping in, and our pool is done done done. Now to tie everything together so they feel all homey. We love our house, but there’s a lot of decorating and making it feel like home to do now (the FUN part!).
I hope that you all are enjoying your June so far. I will aim to be a better blogger and less of a flake and check in once my folks have left…I generally update my Flickr a little more often than the blog these days, so you may find newsy bits there! I am making my rounds to visit you all shortly!! Happy Wednesday!
18 Tuesday Apr 2006
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inAnd that is what I’m sticking with for why I haven’t posted for a month. But it’s about time I changed my lazy-arsed ways. Because we closed on the new house a month and day ago. Because the sweet Kathleen and the sweet Anne have both tagged me to do a fun new meme. Because I’m trying to be a good blogger again…Here we go (and be forewarned, the ADD still has me in its eager little clutches…and this is a pic-heavy post to curry favor with those blog readers who may’ve been put off by my long absence…ahem!)!
FIVE
Five minutes to yourself: Snuggling pooches whilst reading. I’m on a big kick of late to reread the books I loved as a kid. I’m currently re-loving Ramona the Pest.
Five bucks to spend right now: how would you spend it? Real Simple magazine (wait, when I buy it off the newsstand, I think I might need more than $5? I don’t know…I close my eyes to the cost when I do let myself buy an issue).
Five items in your house you could part with, right now, that you hadn’t thought of already: several spare bookcases, all those extra undies I save for when Aunt Flo visits, piles of paperbacks, CD’s, crazy pile of cardboard boxes.
Five items you absolutely, positively could not part with in your house: laptop, printer, photos, camera, (people and pooches are not items, but obviously, I’d never part with them!)
Five words you love: scuppernong, punctilious, crunch, pfeffernusse, tingle
Five folks I’m tagging: I hope I still have any readers! I’m tagging and hoping you all will play along: Frecklegirl, Adrienne, Anne Marie, Stephanie, and Stef.
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The Move
So, we closed on St. Patty’s day, just a bit over a month ago. It was exhilarating, it was exciting…it was exhausting. Thanks to the graces of the cosmos, Monkey and I were blessed with fabulous siblings. Fab.u.lous.
{this sweeet doormat was part of a bundle of fabulous housewarming gifts my favorite little sister brought on her visit a few weeks back. it now sits outside my craft room door.}
Monkey’s sis, Jane, and her family came and totally rallied us up to move all the big and most of the little things we had to move. They were by far one of the best moving companies around. And they worked for nothing. And on the kids’ spring break! Nuts! Seriously, they were priceless in getting Monkey and me motivated to get things done and quickly, they helped us unpack and settle in a bit, and they brought the crucial element of family, which I think is the topmost important factor in making any place you lay your head feel of home.
{here’s a shot of us having our first dinner in the new house. they totally made it feel like a HOME.}
And then the week after, my super duper sweet Lizzie came to help us settle in some more. She is so organized and with it. I wonder why I didn’t get half the sense she has? She helped us completely polish off the rest of the fiddly bits that needed to be moved (there were a lot, because I’m a packrat and swaps-addicted…and I own a RIDICULOUS amount of crafting bits and bobs), she scrubbed and vacuumed, she organized, she cooked, she inspired lots of fun impromptu shopping trips for curtains and linens and things of that ilk. She helped make the house feel like home even further (it was really a bit too quiet for the few days that I was kicking around the house on my own in between Monkey’s sis/family’s visit and Lizzie’s arrival). I’m totally campaigning for her to move down the street from us. I miss her!
{here we are beaming and shining on after a yummy Thai meal. move to SC, Lizzie!}
While Lizzie was here, we also visited Folly Beach (where dogs are still welcome until summer season opens) and ate outside in our screened porch daily. And all that shopping! Come back, Lizzie, come back!
{Casey and Monkey dipping into the Atlantic}
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Playing House!
Ok, here are a few shots of some of the parts of the new house. There is still furniture to be bought. More organizing and settling in to be done…
{corridor to the dining room, which i am so glad we chose Bathe Blue for! new sofa in the great room}
{the screened porch overlooking our pool. it is still in need of pooldecking, so it’s very sandy with deck frames laid out but unfilled. Our pool company has been slow. Monkey took his first dip this weekend to clean the pool of its detritus.}
{casey relaxing in the sun on the deck after a swim. she was the first one in the pool. she leapt into the deep end and proceeded to freak the f out. lizzie and monkey cooking.}
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Goodies Galore!
We’ve had the great fortune to receive many goodies over the last few weeks!
{Lizzie painted me this pool-esque plate. I love it! And Amy & Ron gave me this fab tea pot and rooibos tea sampler as a housewarming gift.}
{Amy & Ron gave Monkey an Antworks thingie and a blue light for his faucet. They gave Casey a couple adorable Shabby Chic dog toys. Aren’t they the living end?!}
{Second String swap goodies. Pic on left is of all the fabulousness from down under courtesy of the fabulous Shell, and pic on the right is of goodies I sent to Karen. Details here.}
{Flickr April Coloriffic Swaporama goodies. Sonia sent me the goodies on the left and middle (recognize the mary janes she painted on a tank top for me?), and I sent the goodies on the right to Teresa}
{this stash of crafty deliciousness came from Hanna. She sent it in exchange for a cutie birdhouse.}
{these goodies come from my ever delightful socal gals, Leslie (sweet argyle notebook, pic frame, notepads on the left) and Jenn (yummy cutie Easter cookies on the right)}
{Lest you wonder if we obtained a new addition to the Williams household, as pictured above and as an enticement at the top of this post, I shall say this. We’ve had the absolute joy of dogsitting this sweet little girl for a long weekend. Her sister tagged along with her folks to Chicago, but Zoe got to stay with us and warm my lap. So cute!}
15 Wednesday Mar 2006
Posted Uncategorized
inDudes, we’re closing on the house in two days. Two days! I am all kinds of excited. We had a formal walkthrough last night and we have another one just before closing on Friday.
We’ll be moving piecemeal to start off. Which is a good thing, because we’ve been struggling to begin packing. Monkey and me, connoisseurs of procrastination. Monkey’s sis and her family are coming in to visit and help move us this weekend. It’ll be fun! It’ll be nuts! It’ll be great!
I’ve been dabbling in all sorts of things in the last few weeks. Met up with some great gals here in Columbia to form our own Craft Mafia! Making fun things for the sake of making (and not selling). Becoming completely obsessed with all things seashell. Like this (I may try making my own with a cheapie Ikea mirror shortly). And this, which I can’t remember where online I found it, but remembering it was some kind of crazy pricepoint like $600 (I’ve become obsessed with finding cheap chandeliers that are not hardwired that I can encrust with seashells). Kim, who is an artiste supreme and a fantastic blogworld person, has extraordinary seashell creations already under her belt.
I’ve got a load of fab snail mail to share pics of, but I still need to edit/resize them, so they’re coming later.
So much to get my hands into. So little time.
Need to pack. Seriously. Just wanted to peep and say hello and hope you’re having an extraordinary week and I may be slow getting back around to all my blog reads, but I’ll be there as surely as the gnome procrastinates…
Happy Wednesday!