Where did my painting weather go?!?

Now of course I knew that 80 degrees in March was too good to be true. That doesn't mean I can't miss it when it's gone. I was all prepped and ready for three painting projects, but now it's gone cold again. It snowed today! I hope everything that is blooming can survive this little cold patch.

Meet Oscar.

Oscar is our newest foster. He's been with us about six weeks now and is currently taking applications for his new forever family. Oscar was found as a stray before he was pulled into rescue. He needed to be neutered and brought up to date on all of this vaccines, but all of that has been taken care of. He is a wonderful dog and will make a great family pet. Half Beagle, half Boston Terrier, he is an absolute sweetheart. How about those ears?!

Trash picked.

Remember this little stool? Soon after buying it I decided that it would be better off as part of a pair. My intention would be to put the pair in front of the dining room window, assuming the dining room is ever finished, to hold most of my houseplants. The dining room gets great light through the huge picture window, so I'd love to make a mini botanical garden in that room. The height of the stool is perfect for in front of the window.

I thought it would take me a while to track one down, but I got lucky on a trip back from the store recently. Driving down a fairly busy street I spotted a little twin stool on the side of the road. I got myself turned around and quickly scooped it up. It was dusty and dirty and in need of repair, but hey, it was free! It still had a moving company sticker on it, so I imagine that maybe the caning was damaged in transit and it was relegated to the basement until it was time to be tossed. Or maybe it was already broken and just didn't make the cut in the new house. Either way, score one for me.


The stools aren't 100% identical, but they are close enough for me. My plan is to paint them both, either black or cream, put a piece of glass on top and then top them off with the plants. Since I'm going to put glass and plants on top anyway, I'm not too worried about fixing the broken caning. I may try to glue the ends back into place, but at this point in time, I won't be replacing it.

I'm taking off Thursday and Friday this week to work on some projects around the house, including these. I'm so excited to have all this warm, sunny spray painting weather so early in the year. My front yard is going to be a little furniture factory the next few days. Wish me luck!

I almost passed this up.

This antique dressing table is another lucky hand-me-down from my aunt and uncle. Beautifully hand painted by my aunt, it had lived in their guest bedroom for as long as I could remember. Actually, it shared a room with the full size bed that we are now so happy to have in our guest bedroom. Clearly, my aunt and uncle were ready for a change, and luckily for us, were ready to give up these great treasures.

I was going to pass on this dressing table, as the faux finish was not really my style. My sister encouraged me to give it another thought, and my aunt reassured me that I'd of course be free to do with it whatever I wanted, no guilt, no worries. And with that green light, I moved quickly (before I changed my mind).




I knew I wanted to use a cool aqua to pair with the gray walls in the small guest bedroom. I picked a color, and at the last minute changed my mind to go one shade darker, and I'm so glad I did. I used Benjamin Moore's Oceanfront, and the color is exactly what I wanted. I used a paint with a built in primer, to make sure I got even coverage over the existing faux paint finish.




I still have to finish painting the knobs and put them back on. I dressed it up with a few accessories, including this Boston Terrier piggy bank from Urban Outfitters and a stack of books we picked up at a local antique store. It also makes a great place for the latest addition to my vintage hat collection.

Greenery.

I'm really enjoying these little miniature shrubberies I found on clearance at the grocery store after Christmas. The pots they came in were cheap felt, made to look like Christmas stockings, so I quickly covered that up with a bit of craft paper and some twine. Best part is, they smell like lemon. Here's hoping I can keep them alive awhile!

I'm mobile!

Blogging from my shiny new iPhone. Who, by the way, does not like it if you don't capitalize the "p". I'm not at all sad to have given up my crappy old Blackberry, and I'm looking forward to using this fantastic new phone to be able to upload pictures straight to Blogger.

Shop Local Saturday.

I did my part, did you? While my stop last Saturday wasn't exactly local to me, it definitely counts as a local business. It just happens that it was two hours away from my home. I spent Saturday morning driving a rescued Boston Terrier to meet her new foster mom. On the way to our designated meeting spot, I saw a sign for an antique store a little up the road. After I saw Madge on her way, I headed for the store.

It was a combination craft and antique store, and I supported both. In the craft section of the store I found a few reproduction iron work pieces. Reproductions don't bother me, as long as they are well made, and of course, well priced.




The sailboat key hook was $7 and the reproduction wall hook was $10. The key hook will be easy enough to find a spot for. I'm not quite sure about the latter, but I'm sure we'll figure something out.

As for the antiques, I waded through booth after booth of random crap. There were some interesting things, but nothing that really struck my fancy, except this...



I picked up this little cane top bench for $20. It's a pretty common piece, and I'm hoping I can find a twin to it at some point in the future. It's been painted and distressed, which is not really my style, but it is in otherwise good shape. Once I decide where it's going to live, I'll give it a nice clean coat of paint. The caning on this also matches the chairs we bought over the summer at another antique store.

I intended on making another Shop Local stop, at our favorite cupcake shop, but errands got in the way. I'll find another day to support them ;)


I almost forgot! This is Madge! I picked her up from City Animal Services on Wednesday and she spent a few days with us. Poor little lady was picked up as a stray, and due to her old age was scheduled to be put down. She's now settling in to her permanent foster home. Good luck Madge! We'll be thinking of you!

Don't try this at home.

Mostly because, I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm just faking it, and I think I got lucky with this one. My aunt and uncle brought this old table to us on Thanksgiving. After a long useful life, it had been relegated to the barn for the last few years. When my aunt learned we were looking for a table for our eat-in kitchen, she gladly offered this old gal up. I love the style, and the grain of the beautiful beech, but it had seen better days.



Being that our garage is already full of pressure treated timbers, leaf blowers, miscellaneous chairs, a fire pit, etc, I needed to get this out of there asap. Also, I absolutely detest the little table we had in the kitchen, so I was plenty motivated to get this one done.

There was no shellac, polyurethane or any other coating on the table, so I started to clean it with steel wool and some denatured alcohol. My brother in law told me about the successes he'd had using it on old furniture, and so I'd picked up a can a little while ago.

I was lucky that it was another warm day here, so I was able to work outside in the garage. I wore gloves to protect my hands from the alcohol and worked in small sections. As I worked across, I scrubbed gently with the steel wool and sloughed off the dirty residue. Then wiped everything clean with a damp rag and warm water. When it was dry I took my orbital sander to the top, using 220 grit sandpaper.

I'm pretty happy with how well it cleaned up. The watermark you can see here is the only spot still visible. Not bad considering how it started out. To finish it off, I ran to Home Depot to pick up a can of Minwax Finishing Wax. It went on easily, and buffed to a nice sheen. I almost went with Tung Oil, but was afraid an oil might highlight any leftover imperfections. I'm glad I went with the wax. It came out exactly as I'd hoped.

This is the table we had in the kitchen. I hate it, but it served a purpose. We don't eat here ever, but still needed a little something in the space. This little oak table just looked so cheap, it drove me crazy.

And after, with the new table in place...

Maybe approves!

Oh hell to the No.

We have bees. More specifically, yellow jackets. What started as one, quickly grew to two, to five, to twenty. And then I called the exterminator. After a dose or two of some very unhealthy and not-so-earth-friendly poisons, most of them were dead. I say most, because it can take anywhere from 3-7 days for the nest to die. The most fun part is that as the nest dies, the queens come out, and the queens are enormous. shudders

I have learned way too much about yellow jackets this week, by the way. Aside from the lack of sleep from being so paranoid, this whole fiasco has had me praying for a frost, which would help kill these things off for good.

I'm giving it until Saturday to go back into the master bathroom, which is where they've been coming in. I have a feeling I'm still going to be looking over my shoulder for a while in there.

Out of chaos...

It was a cold rainy day here yesterday. Strangely sunny and windy at the same time. The oak leaves are falling now, reminding us how quickly the seasons change on us, and that snow (yes, snow) will be here before we know it. We're coming up on two years in the house. Unbeknownst to us at the time, but the day we closed on the house, was the same day our sweet little Maybe was born. She's sitting next to me now, all knotted up with Rulloff, and I can't tell which one of them is snoring louder.

Anyway...coming up on two years here, and of course we still have a zillion projects to finish, but we're also still getting organized. Today was paper day. Sorting and sifting through piles of old mail, file folders and general mess that needs to be dealt with. I hate mail. It just keeps coming, and 75% of it goes straight into the recycling bin. Mostly because it seems the former owners of this house never forwarded their mail.



This little area is in the corner of the kitchen. Rulloff's crate sits underneath, and the counter is generally a catch-all for mail, keys and miscellaneous junk. The bulletin board I installed last summer is not really functional as it falls off the hook if you touch it, and we'll pin things up but never go back for them. It also doesn't help solve the issue of the mail.



I found these wall hanging files, which are also magnetic and chalk friendly, at Target for $4.98. They've been working well so far.


I repurposed a few photo frame magnets as reminders for the dog's heartworm and flea treatments. Business cards and gift certificates sit in the tray for quick access. I'm pretty pleased with this quick little revamp.

Make mine Missoni.

This is probably the 8,700th blog post about Missoni for Target, and I am way late to the party blogging about this, but I feel that being that my love for Missoni is so long-standing that it makes this still relevant. I bought my first Missoni scarf about 12 years ago in Paris. I was 20, and being 20, I was kinda broke, but I saved up to spend the $75 on this scarf. Ok, do the math, I'm totally dating myself. My roommate, one of my very best friends to this day, saved along with me for this purchase. I think it was a Saturday, and we ventured over to the Left Bank to go to the Missoni store.

Now the Google search I just did shows a big shiny Missoni store on Rue St. Honore (Right Bank), which must be "new", and by new I mean in the last 1o years. Laura, correct me if I'm wrong, but this was a small-ish store on the Left Bank, yes?

So with a wallet full of francs, I made my selection. A modest piece, mostly blue and black, with a bit of bronze and a row of black sequins for a little flash. I wore it daily, as you do with scarves in Paris. Come to think of it, I wore it for months with my Helmut Lang jacket and Barbara Bui loafers, maybe I wasn't as broke as I remember.


Anyway, I was long in love with Missoni at that point. When show season came around I would relish just going to the Missoni showroom in Milan for castings. If that casting took two hours, I did not care. I would sit happily in those surroundings. I never did their show, probably because I wasn't a brunette, but I'd never hold that against them.

When I heard Missoni was producing a line with Target, I was thrilled. When I learned it would be introduced while we were on our honeymoon, I was nervous. Part of me wanted to believe I could come home and happily shop away with a full selection of the line. As it grew closer, I knew there was no chance. People were already amping up about it. People who probably had no idea what or who Missoni was two months before. Margherita who? Missoni what?

Then the line was released. Everything was sold out online. EVERYTHING. I was in a hotel lobby in beautiful San Sebastian, Spain, with shitty wireless internet, and there wasn't a damn thing available. As an eternal optimist, I was flabbergasted. My sister wrote to me about the nightmare in New York City, celebrities (who can afford regular Missoni prices, mind you) were sending out assistants into the insanity that was every Target store on Tuesday, September 13th. It was a week later before I could make it back home and to a Target store. I chose to go to one of the crappier suburbs first. Maybe they don't know about Missoni there? Everything that was left was on one shelf, right by the front door. Mostly it was bras and some kids leggings. Nothing in any sizes of anyone I know or love. I left brokenhearted. Two days later I went to my Target and had slightly better luck. I found an adorable knit romper for my beautiful niece, who is five months old. Along with that I found a hat and mittens, of an indiscriminate size, that I'm sure will fit Miss HM (my niece) sometime in the next two years.

I had accepted that this would be all I would find, despite many articles claiming Target would do another release. I was not holding my breath for that. And then I got a call, and a text. A photo from my younger sister of a rack full of Missoni at her local Target, with the caption, CALL ME! She found a treasure trove of leftovers, and was ready to hook me up! She scored me a few makeup and travel toiletry bags, along with a few picture frames. This was just today, so I haven't gotten anything yet, but I am VERY excited. I'll be sure to share my treasures with you.

Our best production yet.

We've been busy. Not so much around the house, but more in a we got married and then went on a two week honeymoon to Spain! Yay, us! Now that is what I call being productive.


It was a perfect little day. We got dressed for an 11am appointment at City Hall. Dave realized he couldn't find the bow tie to his tux and was just about to dash off to the mall when I remembered I'd bought a black satin tie for him for Christmas, but I'd stashed it in the closet and then forgotten about it when Christmas rolled around last year. Me (rifling through his tie rack)"What happened to that black tie I got you for Christmas last year?" Dave, "What black tie?" Doh! I dug around in my hanging closet organizer and found it still in its hiding place.

Our photographer arrived and we hurried off downtown. After a brief but very lovely ceremony we drove to our photo location, a former private residence with amazing gardens. As you can see, our photographer is amazing!

After our photo shoot we headed off to the local pub for snacks and a few cocktails, then home for a nap before dinner. Photo shoots are hard work, and we were pooped from a day in the sun. We got back into our dressy clothes and went to our favorite restaurant for dinner. It was a lovely day, and we got to do it exactly like we wanted to.








I was going to stop here, but you know I had to get some pictures of Maybe and Rulloff in here. I bought them both flowers for the occasion, a corsage for Maybe, and a boutonniere for Ru. Rulloff barely made it 5' from the car before he'd lost his flower. Good thing he already comes dressed in his "tux". Maybe kept hers on like a good little Maid of Honor.

Drink this.

We love us some Bobby Flay around here. Dave has an official man crush, and while I don't exactly share his sentiments of, "oh, he is a beautiful man", I will say, the man can cook. Last weekend, in the midst of a record heat wave, we remembered a recipe from one of Bobby's books...



Watermelon Martinis

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
5 cups watermelon, seeds removed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/4 cups vodka
2 ounces melon liqueur, optional
8 lemon twists, for garnish

Directions:

Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan and cook until the sugar has completely dissolved. Let cool.

In a food processor, puree the watermelon flesh. Add a little of the sugar syrup to sweeten, to taste. Pour the pureed watermelon into 2 empty ice cube trays and freeze for at least 4 hours.

In a blender combine the frozen watermelon cubes, more simple syrup, to taste, lemon juice and vodka, melon liqueur and blend until smooth. Pour into 8 frozen martini glasses and garnish with a lemon twist.

YUM. As we were cutting and pureeing the watermelon, Dave had the genius idea to try adding some fresh basil to the mix. Oh. My. God. Extra Yum. It was so good we've taken to having virgin versions of the watermelon and basil cocktail with breakfast. Instead of freezing the watermelon each time, we just toss chopped watermelon, a few leaves of basil and ice cubes into the blender. Much faster, and oh so refreshing.



Enjoy!

Hold me back.

Phase II of the retaining walls is *finished. I'm giving that finished a little asterisk because we still need to put the bricks in the treads of the stairs, but the major work is done. I can't believe how long it took, and how much wood we used. The stairs are huge!



The final phase will include two additional walls behind the low wall in the foreground. One low wall will run parallel to the existing wall, creating a (hopefully) protected bed for plants. Another wall will run perpendicular to that, creating a 90 degree angle, and raising up the far end of the upper lawn. Those sections should be easy to make, once the digging and leveling is done. After working on the stairs a few nice, straight walls will be a cinch.

I'm going to hold off on planting too much in the new beds created by the retaining walls. The sand is terrible for the plants. I'll have to mix in a good amount of potting soil, mulch, compost, etc to get some decent dirt going in there. Between the sand and two rambunctious dogs, my ferns, hostas and astilbe are having a rough time hanging on. I am however, determined to have a lush garden back there.

I was pleased to have a few daylilies bloom this year. Last year I had a whole heap of lilies grow up, but nothing even close to flowering.


I wanted to share my pots of annuals. Coleus was hard to come by this spring, so I opted for a different look.