Why I Don't Get Things Done

My official excuse for why I NEVER get anything done are these guys (well, guy and gal):



Every time I pull out the laptop on the weekends when I stay with them, this guy likes to put his face on the keyboard and/or lick my hands.



I also have to be careful what I say, because this gal can hear the words "Go", "Bye" or "Ride" in any conversation. (We discovered she can spell these words as well.)



These dogs have many names. Sir Duke Austin goes by Duke, Roo, Rufus, Duker Doo, Duke Duke, Fat Kid, Baby Bear, etc. Miss Daisy Clay goes by Daisy, Girlfriend, Crazy Daisy or Daze. Sure, I've tortured them occasionally...



Yes, people, those are REAL tears coming out of my Bubba's eyes because his dad wouldn't rescue him from the lobster costume and I wasn't finished taking my 1400 pictures.

But let's not be mistaken, they rule the roost. Whatever they want, they get. Because they make faces like this:



And this:



Whenever they are doing this:



I could try to get something done. But odds are I'd just wake them up. And I'd much rather lay down with them and snuggle. Cause they spoon. Don't all dogs spoon? Or is this sounding weird?

Not too long ago, Duke was this little:



He now weighs 95 lbs.

And Daisy was this little:



She's still little, at least compared to her brother. She clocks in at 60 lbs. But she's always been crazy:



So whenever you wonder why I haven't posted in awhile... think of this:



I understand that I have no other option but to be caught in their spell. That, or I'm busy cleaning up a mess like this:

Halloween Creepy Crawly Wreath

A few years ago I picked up a Martha Stewart Halloween magazine, with this dual cover:

This magazine remains one of my favorites ever. The projects and recipes were so much fun and I can't wait to pull it out again to feature some of these projects on the blog! I also loved the play on Martha's trademark "Good Thing" with a "Bad Thing" side.

I made this creepy crawly wreath after getting that Martha Stewart Halloween mag. Unfortunately, I don't have the pictures saved on this computer but I did remember I'd made a slideshow for an old blog I had.

I love this wreath! The picture at the end of my old house's front porch made me sad a little. I miss that house...

Anyway, this project couldn't have been easier. I think it would be great for a child's bedroom or bathroom, especially a boy, with the creepy crawlies. Here's how it broke down.

Supplies
Pipe Cleaners in black, neon orange, neon green, and purple
Plastic faceted beads
Black spray paint
Grapevine wreath
Hot glue (Gorilla glue or super glue could work, too)
Ribbon of choice (I chose black and white gingham for a girly touch)

1. Spray paint grapevine wreath black and allow to dry. This may take a couple sprays to get the nooks and crannies of the wreath.
2. While paint is drying, cut pipe cleaners to size and then bend and curl them in buggy shapes.
3. When paint on wreath has dried, glue the pipe cleaner shapes to the wreath, leaving enough room at the top of your wreath for attaching your ribbon for hanging.
4. Glue beads to wreath. I liked the beads because they gave a little sparkle to the spooky wreath.
5. Tie ribbon and hang!

So easy and would even be a good project for kids to help with.

Martha Stewart.com is offering a Halloween Party Workshop this year, with 8 weeks of e-mails filled with inspiration. Click this link to sign up.

Lame-O / House of the Week

So I can't even begin to tell you why I've been such a slacker with my blog lately. Maybe it's because I'm never home, when I am home I'm sleeping, or I've just been lacking creative juices. I feel said juices have been disguised as work juices, because the work juices are all dried up. Sadly, nothing at work has required creative processes... except when I was cleaning a toilet in an apartment for a last minute move-in I tried to tell myself, "This isn't that bad! You love your job and this just comes with the territory! That's not poop!" I don't think the creative juices like that kind of stuff.

I do have lots of fun things planned for this blog when work slows down and I have the time to get my pictures off ye ol' digital camera. While perusing my pics, I did find that a few of my before/after projects don't have before pictures. So you'll have to use YOUR creative juices to imagine the befores.

In the meantime (meaning this weekend... I hope), I've got another House of the Week to share! From the house plans over at bhg.com, we have one of my favorites, The Ridgewood 1:



I love the front of the house, even though it strays from my cottage/arts and crafts/bungalow tastes, but I'm not a huge fan of the floorplan...



I feel like it's too choppy.... but the front is B-E-A-U-tiful! I think it's the front porch, which I'd try to make bigger and in turn changing the entire look of the front of the house. This is probably why people have such a hard time building their "dream home"... too many choices and changes to make.

With promises of creative posts to follow, I'm hoping you'll forgive me... and until then, think about your plans for this weekend. Weekend dreaming is fun...

House of the Week

This house comes courtesy of Architectural Designs. It's got an open floorplan perfect for entertaining.

My fave part? These floor-to-ceiling windows in the great room are made for a big, fat Christmas tree.

A Storm Rolls In

Falling For.... Boots

Yesterday, our weather was rainy, cloudy, cool... And I thought of fall. The wind was blowing the way it does only in the fall and my mind was transported to Halloween decorations, pumpkin marshmallow candies, and prepping for Thanksgiving dinner. All these fall thoughts also made me think of boots. Delicious, cozy, warm, boots. I'm falling for these:

dollhouse "Kim"

Frye "Carson Pull On"

Hunter "Original"

Lauren by Ralph Lauren "Stara"

All photos above courtesy of Piper Lime. But my faves? These super affordable but still adorable boots from Old Navy:

Faux Suede Tall Boots

Silver Wedge Boots

Come on fall! I'm ready to get my boots on!

Wish List... Living Room

Right now, my living room consists of my grandfather's table, a crappy coffee table that my parents have had since their first home, a discount bookcase, and a futon. I've dressed the futon up with giant cushions, a bed skirt, and miscellaneous pillows, but it doesn't distract from the fact that it's a futon. I love the comedian Jim Gaffigan, and THIS is hilarious:

Jokes.com
Jim Gaffigan - Exclusive - Futons and Bean Bag Chairs
comedians.comedycentral.com
Joke of the Day Stand-Up Comedy Free Online Games

This hodgepodge of furniture has caused a heavy amount of wish-list making on my behalf. I know what's staying, the new round table with tablecloth, my grandfather's table, and my coffee table, once it's painted. The futon and the discount bookcase is going, because I have bigger plans. Color scheme-wise I'm thinking darker red, navy blue, creamy white and black.

I plan to paint the coffee table (which has moonlighted as a plant table, coffee table, a stage for my sister and I, and currently a TV stand) with the free Glidden paint I got. It's a delicious creamy white that will be roughed up a little around the edges. I've thought about upholstering it like this project from Just Beachy:



Isn't it stellar? I'm in love. It seems perfectly multi-functional, you wouldn't feel bad putting your feet up but you could also eat dinner there (not that I EAT at the coffee table...). Using this coffee table as, well, a COFFEE TABLE, means I need media storage/TV stand. I'm using this Pottery Barn piece as inspiration:



The Leena Console (or something of the same style) could go to a dining room or entry way later in it's life. I love the weathered red look, but creamy white or a roughed up black would be amazing as well. I'm that creepo that drives reeeeeaaaaaaal slow by garage sales hunting for a piece that might match. I have a pretty big living room for a one bedroom apartment so I could go with a bigger piece if I found it.

Sadly, I'll also be replacing the grill, excuse me... futon. I want something upholstered and comfortable... like this:


(Yeah, yeah it's ANOTHER Pottery Barn piece. I might be mildly addicted to Pottery Barn. Mildly. Okay, I'm a lot addicted. Who am I kidding?)

I'm looking locally for a cheaper version of this upholstered sofa because I'm in love. The neutral color is going to be perfect for the long haul. Imagine all the different pillows I can use!!!!!

I need book storage and found this picture:



I have sliding glass doors in my apartment and maybe I can't get floor to ceiling built-ins but large bookshelves with molding would do the trick.

I found this photo on BHG.com and have officially decided that I'm doing some sort of patterned curtains:



I flippin' love the large star pattern! No beige in the living room, baby! I've got a great list going... now I just need to bring it to life. How do you decorate? Is list making YOUR friend?

Color, COLOR, Color!

I've been struggling with color around my apartment. I was just looking around my place and realized that my bedroom is white, or rather, off-white. The walls and ceiling are the same color as the curtains and the curtains match the linen lamp shades... I have a white painted dresser and black and white bedding. I LOVE color! So why my bedroom is heading down white/beige boring town is beyond me.

I was over at La Dolce Vita and she wrote a post all about House Beautiful's September 2009 issue, which reminded me I hadn't checked my PO Box in awhile. Low and behold... House Beautiful awaited me. Can I say that this issue may be my most favorite issue ever? I think the Color info was just amazing! The cover alone is sooooooo swoon-worthy. Navy, white, lime green, splash of pink.... wonderful.



From the special pull-out chart in the cover to the color personality on the last page, it was chock-full of helpful hints and down-right fun stuff. A numerologist and color expert break down how your name gives cues to your color personality. Surprisingly, I was Yellow, which they described as cheerful, charming, confident, creative and a good negotiator. Ok.... maybe. I guess I was hung up on the "yellow", which totally doesn't seem like me.

They also discuss mood rings, Feng Shui Bagua (which I've dabbled in a little) and how to tell if you're a "Sunrise" or "Sunset". That quiz led me to be a "Crossover". Crossover colors are "basic and classic neutrals, like sand, taupe, khaki and gray... deep tones like dark earth brown, wine, eggplant, teal, navy and black add contrast and richness... Your white is off-white." That does sound like me!

I'm about to take the color personality quiz, which of course I'll share the results.... but in the mean time, YOU need to go pick up the September 2009 House Beautiful!

House of the Week

The Stonebrook House by from DonGardner.com

It's a Girl! (Not Mine!)

It's official... my best friend (and her hubby) that happens to live upstairs from me is having a girl. Little Grace will be here around Christmas-time AND her lovely parents are in the midst of buying their first house. Talk about exciting times! On a side note it seems the ratio of girls to boys being born by all my friends is 5 to 1. Southwest MO will be teeming with little ladies.

My BFF has asked for help with the nursery at the new house. I. Am. Super. Excited. This friend is great about letting me do whatever so I may have free reign of this nursery once she picks a bedding. One problem: there are 8 eight hundred gazillion bedding styles out now. And that's just for girls! Thank God they know what they're having... the options really would be endless otherwise.

She's tossed around the idea of installing a chair rail (swoon) or wainscoting (double swoon!). I started searching online from some inspiration and loaded up the BFF's e-mail with pictures to check out. She wants bright colors, not your traditional baby pink, baby yellow, baby green... which I LOVE her for. I know it's all about stimulating the baby's mind, but to me, it opens up so many possibilities!

Here are some inspirational rooms I pulled right off HGTV's Rate My Space page.






Most of these are boy nurseries, but I think this is the type of bright color/style she'd like for her baby girl. Once she picks some bedding (thank GOD that's not my decision) I'll have a color scheme to work with. We've got til December, right?