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Thursday, October 28, 2010

An Open Letter to Markham Roberts


Dear Mr. Roberts,
I saw pictures of your latest project from Town and Country on several blogs and
I was blown away. Your work has a stylish lived-in look that I adore. The colors, the fabrics, the layers, it just makes me happy all over. In fact I rushed right out and bought a copy of the magazine.


Is this not perfection?

You can do no wrong. And I don't say that to too many men.

I got to thinking about how hard you must work and how deserving you are of a vacation. I am sure you have already visited all the typical hot spots, so I started thinking outside the box. How do you feel about North Carolina? Do you like the beach? Bar-B-Que? Monster trucks? (Just kidding about the monster trucks)


So here is an open invitation for you and a friend to come visit North Carolina. And me. But this is all about you. We can shop, go to the beach, take the boat out. Maybe a booze cruise with dinner. Translation: shrimp burgers and cold beer. And you don't have to do a thing. Unless you want to of course. If you get bored and want to decorate while on vacation, I am willing to let you use my home for your creative outlet. That's just the type of person I am. So let me know what dates are good for you and I 'll starting cleaning up the guest room.
Sincerely,
Sissy

If you want to see more pictures go here.

pictures from: A Roof Over My Head



Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Book Club


Is there anything better than a Coke, popcorn and a good book? The Coke and popcorn are easy. Finding a great book can be difficult, so I am here to help.
Just finished Cutting for Stone and loved it. Thanks Wendy for the recommendation. I can't wait to read his other book My Own Country. Cutting for Stone starts with the birth of Siamese twins. Oh, and did I mention their mother is a nun? Curious aren't you?
Then my friend Heather (who lives in Nashville and I never get to see) said she loved Orange is the New Black (My Year in a Women's Prison). That was all I needed. I ordered it from Amazon and when I got home yesterday there was a padded envelope waiting for me. It was like finding cute shoes on sale, total joy! I've already starting reading it and I am hooked!! I may even skip Dancing with the Stars tonight to read.

Has anyone read these books? What did you think? Do you have a favorite book that I should read?

PS Do you read the comments? Did you see the one from anonymous yesterday? The one that kind of hurt my feelings? What did they mean that Bill doesn't care about my day? What could be more exciting? I thought it was from an angry, bitter housewife. Evidently I am very gullible. I was telling Bill about it and he started cracking up. Yep, he wrote it. He thought I would know it was from him. Oh, he is a funny man, just a laugh a minute.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Craft Warning

Warning: I am about to talk about a craft project. Sometimes I can't help myself. The urge to craft is just too strong. An idea had been brewing ever since I saw a fabulous little girl's room on Full House.

Remember these panels? Well I needed something to put on the walls in Butterball's room. We moved him to a big boy bed and now had an entire blank wall. In a few years we are going to move him to the guest room, which is bigger and brighter, so I didn't want to spend too much time or money on art.


So I got some foam board and covered it in fabric I already had, some of it thanks to Paula. This part was really simple, I just used spray glue. Did you even know that they made a spray glue? Sure the floor got a little sticky, but it needed a good scrubbing anyway.

One of the finished panels.

There was a slight delay while I convinced Bill that this would be a fun project for us. Thankfully he wanted to play in a golf tournament this weekend so when he wasn't playing golf he felt guilty enough to help me. Can't you see the excitement in his face? He is working on the next step: making a frame from a 10 foot piece of molding.

Slap on a little paint...

Contain your enthusiasm while you nail the frames to the wall...

And it is done. Now wasn't that fun? And easy. Well, for me anyway. I'm more of the idea person and Bill is the mule. But he is a willing (if grumpy) mule.


I need to decide if I am going to put art inside the frames, use them as bulletin boards for Butterball's artwork, or silhouettes of all three children. This is just a rough draft of Cricket's cute little head.

So..thoughts, ideas?.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Random


I was cleaning out my photo files last night and came across this picture from Living Etc.

Talk about an inspiration wall....I like it. I like the chair, the lamp and the magazine pictures stuck on the wall. I also like the top the girl is wearing..have you seen anything similar? I checked Living Etc. and couldn't find the rest of this house/office/studio. Any ideas? Thanks! Sissy

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Fireplace Wall Part 2


Back to my fireplace...the next baby step I hope to take is switching my gas logs for some...
Don't you love them?

I think they fit in nicely no matter what your style..
I am also thinking about painting my firebox yellow! Wouldn't that be so fun? Thanks to Betsy P. for the idea!!!

So what do you think? Logs or balls?

PS I had several people ask about the curtains in my pictures from yesterday. If you are interested see this post.

picture from: Things That Inspire

Baby Steps


You know my living room I am always talking about redoing? It needs it. The furniture hasn't been recovered in over 10 years. 10 years of hard living!! I want new furniture. Or should I recover the old furniture? Paint the walls? Neutral drapes or bold print? This is why nothing gets done. We moved in, I stuck all my leftover furniture in there and haven't changed one thing. Until now.

Two years ago I decided it was time to fix the fireplace wall. I called the electricians and had them pull wires through the brick wall so I could have sconces. Yes, we lived with those wires hanging out of the wall for two years!! What is wrong with me? What you can't really see is that the wall is covered in the most unattractive brick that I just couldn't live with.


I called in back up and Laura Hutton helped me get my thoughts on paper. We had a plan. We were good to go. And then waited two years to complete the project. That's just how I work. Part of the problem was those giant sconces you see above. They weren't part of the original plan. So we used the blue tape to help us reconfigure the wall. And the blue tape stayed up for over a year. I swear I didn't even notice it after a while.

Finally we called the carpenter and got to work. He covered the entire wall in wood and hid the wiring for the sconces behind it.


Then added trim and more trim.


Close up...this brings me such joy.

And finally..the finished wall.



It may be hard to get a good idea of how it really looks in pictures, so next time you are out just stop by and I'll be glad to show you. I just need 10 minutes advance notice so I can stuff all my junk in closets and under the furniture.

There is so much more to do, but at least I am making baby steps. Dear poor tired furniture, don't you worry, mama is going to fix you up (or put you up for adoption).



Monday, October 18, 2010

Searching...


I've been on the search for the perfect sweatshirt.
It's the little things in life that make me happy. And crazy.


Saw this.

Wanted this. But $138 for a sweatshirt? Really?

Got this. Also from J Crew. And let me say, it looks a lot better in person. And if it doesn't, don't tell me. I love it and don't want my bubble burst. I just think this picture is very unflattering. Sometimes J Crew prints pictures without getting my approval. I want to say, stand up! Put a shirt under that thing and maybe add some lipstick..just saying, if they had asked.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Bloggers are Nice



Remember when I let Cricket pick out fabric for her room? One of my favorites was that orange and white fabric in the middle of the bottom row.

I first spotted it in Elle Decor. The article said the duvet cover came from West Elm. I searched high and low and couldn't find it.

Then I got an e-mail from Paula.

You know her as the talented blogger from Two Ellie. She said the duvet was from Pottery Barn (not West Elm) and she had used it for a project in her son's room. Not only that, but she had some left over..would I like it? Are you kidding? I was thrilled. She would not let me pay her and mailed it out right away. Bloggers are nice. Really nice.

Cricket and I both loved the print, but in the end, she choose something different. But I loved the fabric so much I had to use it somewhere....


I am now working on a project for Butterball's room. Here is a sneak peak. I just hope my ADD doesn't kick in before I finish.

A big thank you to Paula!! If you have been living under a rock and haven't seen her blog check it out: Two Ellie. She has also just become the official blogger for French Market & Antiques. Check out the new blog at Mrs. French.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Mirror Marriage


Sunburst and Atoll sitting in a tree
K-i-s-s-i-n-g



If this mirror...

Married this mirror...


I think their children would look like this.
Aren't they great looking?


Monday, October 4, 2010

Enough Stuff


Random pictures that I like.


Do you see a theme?



No? Me either.


Maybe it is the collection of items in all the rooms. I like enough stuff to tell you a little bit about the person living in the home, but not enough to win you a spot on Hoarders.

What about you? Stuff or no stuff?

Friday, October 1, 2010

Fashion Gods

I have been wanting a pair of Hasbeens clogs for awhile now. I even ordered a pair back in the Spring, but the shipment was delayed by several months, so I decided to wait.

Then yesterday Rikshaw Design did a great post on clogs for Fall.

I loved them all.

They reminded me of something...I decided to dig around in my closet and guess what I found?

I know? Can you believe it? Thank you Fashion Gods (Mary Kate & Ashley)

I bought these five years ago at Dillard's (who even shops at Dillard's) on sale. They appealed to my Janis Joplin-Hippie side. I do sound a little like a Clydesdale clomping through the house but that's O.K. You have to make some sacrifices for fashion and now I am really excited about Fall!! What has you excited about cooler weather?

P.S. If you are in dark hallway and hear clickity-clack, clickity-clack, don't be afraid. It is just me in my new found shoes!

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