pink nostalgia

w for the win

This is what our backyard looked like Saturday night when J was waiting for Alex and me to get home from a birthday party and snow cones.  He knows those lights make my heart smile.

This is what the back of our chimney looked like after our friend Jeremy custom-made me a wooden W and after I painted and crackled it and after J came outside carrying a screwdriver, level, and screws and after Alex followed behind him carrying the step ladder, ruler, and pencil.  He knows that I love his motivation on my crafty home projects.

And this is what it looked like the next morning after church when J beckoned me to the back porch just to gaze.  He knows I'm prone to tears on Sundays.

Yay.

P.S. Just in case, the W stands for Wells.  : )

the definition of love

About a month ago, Jason, Ethen, and I were lingering at the dinner table.  It was one of those scenes where everyone is done eating, but no one wants to leave the table.

We started talking about love from family.  How do you know someone loves you?  What do they do?  How does it feel to love?  What IS love?

We each answered, gave lots of examples, and talked about the five love languages.

And then I recalled a perfect definition of love.

It took me a bit of courage to bring my Bible to the kitchen table discussion.

I said, "Here is how the Bible defines love:

'Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.' "

Word.

Ha, get it?

We had a moment, and that moment stuck with me for a few days until I figured out how to preserve it.  It took me lots of trial runs plus one viewing of Three Ninjas with Alex to get it right.  It's the first thing you see when you walk in the door.

It says that when you walk in that door, this house is about love.  This is how we are to treat each other.  Our boys will know what love is and what it should be.

a perfect moment

Last Friday, I came home for lunch with Jason and the boys.  It was Spring Break, so everyone but me was off.

Alex ran into the kitchen to tell me about their trip to Academy: "I looked at bikes for you, but guess what.  They did not have pink.  They did have purple, but you should probably see it first."

Jason said, "Hey babe, when you're through with that, I have a perfect moment to show you."

Okay...?

He took my hand and walked me into the pink room.  We stood facing the windows; he rotated my hips to point me towards my desk chair.  He held up his hands like a movie director framing the scene.

"I was in here a few minutes ago, thinking about you and waiting for you to get home, and I noticed how perfect this all looked together - the new perfect floors, the light streaming in, the pink wall, your chair...  It's a perfect moment.  I thought it would make a great picture, a perfect moment."

"Did you take a picture?"

 

Sigh.

And then what happened next, oh man...

the birdcage progression

My favorite feature of our master bathroom is not the double sinks (although I might change my mind if we didn't have those) or the jacuzzi tub (which sounds much better than the practicalities of it).   It's the separate room for the toilet...because, you know...PRIVACY.

I've been wanting a little shelf to go over the toilet to hold the spare toilet paper roll.  Fortunately, neither one of us has been in that jam where we have to pass the new roll through the door.  Yet.  So last week, I went shopping for a shelf. 

Below is an outline of J's response to said shelf.

Phase One: The Hard "No"
Day Zero, 7:42 p.m., via text (J in gray on left, me in blue on right)

[option/permission photos sent by me to J] 

Phase Two: The "Maybe"
Day Zero, 7:48 p.m., via text (J in gray on left, me in blue on right)

That sounded like a "yes" to me, so I bought the birdcage with a 50/50 shot of keeping it.  : )

Phase Three: The Acceptance
Day One, 2:16 p.m., via text (J in gray on left, me in blue on right), while the bird cage was still in the bag with its receipt

Day Two, 5:32 p.m.

Phase Four: The Accession
Day Three, 7:36 p.m., while browsing in a boutique store killing time for our Papa John's pizza to be ready

J: Hey, babe.  Do you think we should add more birdcages to the house?
me: What?
J (pointing to several large birdcages hanging from the ceiling): Yeah, like maybe one in every room?
me: Ummmm...

random thursday stuff

I just (at lunch today) finished the third of three books that I read back-to-back-to-back (The Thirteenth Tale, Sharp Objects, The Lovely Bones).  All were intelligent, a little suspenseful, tragic, and surprising.  It felt really good to have that reading bug again.

We just (yesterday) had wood floors installed throughout most of the house.  They look amazing.  I don't really want to put furniture back in the pink room because I don't want to cover up the floors.

Did I mention that J tore up the tile and thinset by himself??

I love the wood floors.  I also love that we checked out 48,212 stores and websites to make sure we were getting exactly what we wanted.  I am not being sarcastic, but I am exaggerating.

In the middle of all of the construction dust, I got this pic from J:

A construction dust love proclamation??  Who else gets that??  Be still my pounding heart!

We went to dinner with (almost) all of J's family last night.  Pappy was on a roll with one-liners.

"She [our server] talks too fast.  She needs to slow down!  I'm from Buckholts!"

Pappy: Alex, no beer for you tonight.
Alex [grinning]: Okay.
me: What about Ethen?
Pappy: No whiskey!

Pappy [talking about his wife, Diddy]: After 62 years, I still ain't got her trained!
Diddy: What'd you say?
Pappy: I said we've been married for 62 years!
me: What about the rest of what you said?!
Pappy: Don't worry about that!

Diddy: I want to go to the pound and look at getting a new kitty.
Pappy: We might get a puppy, too. 
Mia: Daddy, I'm not sure that's a good idea.
Pappy: We'll raise them together so they get along.
Mia: You should really think about it if you want to get a puppy.
Pappy: Okay.  We probably won't get one.

The weather is getting just warm enough and staying just cool enough for the hammock.  The boys fixed it yesterday.

Back in...January?  We had a few sunny days in the 70s.  J and I ran errands allllllllll day Saturday, got home late afternoon, and had the same hammock thought.  He attached the hammock to the tree straps while I grabbed the hammock pillow and Baylor quilt.  We were all snuggled up, my head on his shoulder.  I had just entered that awesome sleepy state where I was starting to dream but still hearing the leaves rustle.  Then I heard, "Rrrrrrrreeeeeee," got halfway through my drowsy, "What wa..." when DOOOOFF!  We crashed to the ground.  There were about four seconds of looking at each other through stunned silence, then four minutes of laughter.  And that's why I say "fixed."

I'll leave you with a magical double rainbow on my way out of work yesterday.  The photo is pretty good considering I was carrying my purse AND an umbrella.

behind the photo: ten things

Obviously this is not a posed photo.  It's not even staged.  I literally got up, took it, and sat right back down.  The boys didn't even know I snuck it with my phone.  I kind of love this photo because it truly is an honest look at an honest moment, and it tells so much story.

1. the flowers that J gave me for my birthday.  Each year, he buys my flowers, and each year, the arrangement has at least quadrupled in size. 

2. peanut butter Reese's pieces cookies.  There are 12 in a package, and this one was the only one left an hour later.  It was gone before bedtime.  We were literally passing the plate around as we were playing...

3. Monopoly Empire, received from my Uncle Jeff and cousin Kristen for Christmas.  Such a great family game.  It goes really fast, it can change really fast, and there's room to make the rules up as you go.  BTW, the standing rule in our house is: if you roll the dice off the table, you lose a turn.  Alex asked to play it as we were finishing up dinner, E replied, "I can do that," and blam, J won.

4. E's Muscle Milk on the ground, his pick from a run to the convenient store down the street.  To give you perspective, everyone else picked ice cream.

5. the ottoman I was leaning against as I was texting with Rita, seconds before and after this photo was taken.

6. the carpet we're professionally getting rid of.   J considered...you know what, this is a separate post.  : )

7. the couches we're professionally getting rid of.

8. tossing the football [dive catch], not unusual at all except it's usually Al & E running/tagging/juking down the hall and into the living room.

9. E playing with his hair, phone in his lap playing music through the sound bar via Bluetooth

10. E's Sting baseball jersey that he wears to school.  He likes it because it's pink.

You can read what happened an hour before the photo here.

a wheat wreath

Say that five times fast.

A wheat wreath.

A reat wreath.

A re reath.

A wheat weath.

A we weath.

Moving on.

I had seen this wreath years ago way back when people got crafty ideas from magazines instead of Pinterest.  I'm talking college days.  I would say this magazine clipping survived 6 moves (the Village to Marlo's to the crap-partment to Mike's to the house to the single apartment to the current house).

Special thanks to Lauren Conrad for that lovely ribbon which was wrapped around her bedspread that I bought from Kohl's last summer.

Of course, as I was taking photos and standing on a step-stool, the FedEx guy delivered one of J's gifts and said, "I've never seen THAT before!"  I said, "What, a wreath??"

kitchen conversions chalkboard

This was one of those internet-browsing afternoons where I started by looking for nail polish and ended up finding some kitchen conversion charts on Etsy that I had to have.   The longer I looked at them, the more I knew our kitchen was missing something.  But why buy one when I could make one??

I used this awesome free chalkboard printable.  All of the color variation you see in the photo is part of the file.  Then I just typed and tinkered in Photoshop Elements while I watched Burn Notice.

The "chalk" is all typed fonts.  It's actually very light gray because plain white was a little too stark for me.  I printed on quality matte cardstock.

I repurposed the frame from here (and repurposed the bird to here).

 

And now, the only thing our kitchen is missing is a cheesecake!

how to: love infinity

Step One: Fall in Love with an Idea

I wanted some art to go over our bed.  J vetoed my first choice:

: )

I saw a print by Oliver Gal that I instantly loved.  It's pink (my favorite) and orange (J's favorite), and it might be the perfect blend of abstract + girly for us to agree on it.  Yes, we both like it!  Snag, it's out of print.

Step Two: Make it Happen

J had a blank 24" x 48" canvas.  I had acrylic paints. 
Total cost in girl-math = FREE.

We held up the blank canvas over the bed to make sure the size was right.  Then I played with paint while the Wells boys played baseball in the front yard.

I was really inspired by Wilna to just go for it.  I had SO much fun on the background.  But oh, man, I was nervous painting the infinity!

I think I spent about three hours on this project - one for planning (mostly sketching the infinity), one for painting the background, and one for painting the infinity (two coats).  To make the infinity, I sketched it on wax paper (so I could see the canvas underneath it), then I cut out one quarter of the sign to make a template.  I marked the center of the canvas and traced the curve then reflected it across both axes (Papa might be the only reader to appreciate this!).  Math is fun!  : )

Step Three: Reap the Rewards

J almost got emotional when he saw it.  Which made me almost get emotional.  It was almost one big emotional weep-fest.

It's been hanging for less than 24 hours, and J has told me no fewer than three times that he "really loves the painting."

I'm planning one for the breakfast nook next...

around the apartment: the mini album

Five months later, I finally made a mini album for the apartment!!

Click on any of the photos to enlarge.

The name of my apartment complex was The Retreat.  J thought it was the perfect metaphor. 

 

That diagonal stripe paper might be in my Top 5 of All Time.  : )

Each page is 8" x 3.5".  I was inspired to do a fabric spine by Celine Navarro.  I pulled out some threads along the edges of each piece of fabric to create the little bit of fray.

You can read the blog posts about the apartment haven here.

And don't worry - all of the "apartment" things have found homes in the new house.  : )

the love bench

Tonight when I got home from work:

"Babe, look at this 'love bench' I made for you."   

(Subtext: "Babe, I built a bench from stone with my bare hands because I thought you would like it.")

True story.

so this is christmas...

This year, I am determined to start traditions and make it count.  Not because there are kids in the family, but because that's the way it should be. 

It should be a contagious season. 

You should decorate as a family.

You should have presents under a tree.

You should make small sacrifices to encourage joy.

Christmas is like Disneyworld.  You get a FastPass to childhood excitement, wonder, and magic.

Every time I walk through the living room, I get that one song lyric in my head.

So this is what a proper Christmas is...the smell of a real tree , stockings hung on the mantle, memories of the four of us decorating while Christmas songs played and a mint chocolate candle burned.

I cried when we brought our fresh tree home.

So this is Christmas...it's gonna be gooooood.

Song: Happy Christmas (War is Over) by John Lennon.

go pink or go home!

A snippet by way of introduction:

me: When do you want to paint the scrap room?
J: As soon as you pick a color.
me: ...This weekend?
J: Sure.

I mean, it's that easy.  : )

I was deciding between a great medium gray and a pink.  Then I bought a gray table to use as a scrap desk, plus I have Audrey on a gray background, plus I wanted pink, and this seemed like a good time to risk it.

I wanted a pink that was unmistakeable and unapologetic but with enough purple in it to not look like bubble gum or Pepto.

Here are the top two - Valspar Quartz Pink (left) and Valspar Simply Lavender (right).

And the winner is...

Simply Lavender (with a flat finish)!  Hey!  Go big or go home, right??

Jason and I cleared everything out of the room, then I taped and painted the bottom trim while he rolled and finished the top trim.  We arranged and rearranged (and rearranged and then one more time back over here) the furniture and hung everything on the walls.  In. One. Day.  [Ha, and with no bickering!]

It's funny - when you hang out in the room for a while, you don't really notice the pink anymore, especially in the daylight.  But then you leave and come back, and it's like, "Whoa!  This room is PINK!"

And look what I spied the first pink night:

Edited to add: Jason and I agreed when we visited the room at lunch today that it's very purple and not overwhelmingly pink at all.  We wondered if we had been wrong to make so many pink jokes.

happy fall, y'all

In the past, I haven't decorated much for the seasons, but this might be the year house. 

There will be many more pumpkins next year.  I think I might love pumpkins.  I've honestly never given them a fair shake before, even though I try (and push aside) pumpkin pie about every two years.

Just add a few things out of boxes plus a few of J's paintings, and the fall mantle is complete!

i gotta pocket, gotta pocket full of sunshine

My apartment makes me really happy.  I especially love it during the day when so much sunlight comes through the balcony doors and the ruffly curtains are pulled back and puddling on the floor...sigh.  It's one of those things that just makes your heart warm every time you walk into the room.

I had this whole page in my head, and then I took my sweet time scrapping it.

I love the pale color pallet.  These photos are kind of dark, but it looks like it's been drenched in sunshine, like it's a little washed out.

Happy Wednesday.  : )

Song: "Pocket Full of Sunshine" by Natasha Beddingfield.

this is my kitchen: part 4

Part 4: The independent kitchen.

Now THIS kitchen.

This kitchen means that I'm on my own.  This kitchen means not having to share or make compromises.  This kitchen means I am living by myself for the first time ever, standing on my own two feet, and figuring it out as I go (and by the way, it's easy).

This kitchen means butternut squash ravioli and roasted tomatoes and roasted Brussels sprouts and the delicious fried rice I invented.  It's fussy girl-food that boys won't touch, and one time it was garlic bread and marinara for dinner...because I can.

This kitchen is exactly big enough for one person to cook a delicious meal for two while the second person gazes lovingly from the entryway.  : )

This kitchen forces me to be creative and inventive and calm.   There are no measuring cups, flour sifters, tarragon vinegar, or jalapenos.  This kitchen has washi tape instead of refrigerator magnets and an awesome gray casserole dish because I couldn't pass it up.  I feel rebellious in this kitchen.

I don't notice the time in this kitchen.  I just know that I can whip up a smoothie in two minutes and unload the dishwasher in three.  And it's always clean, and there's always a flour sack towel hanging from the oven door.

This kitchen is perfectly sufficient and perfectly mine. 

 

See the other kitchens here.

this is my kitchen: part 3

Part 3: The Grown-Up and Growing Up Kitchen

I loved this kitchen until I didn't. 

It's a little small square-footage-wise, but there's just enough storage, and the countertops are completely maximized.  I love that the counter makes an L to the left of the stove - perfect for chopping/assembling/scooping while tending to the burners.

It was painted in the middle of the red-kitchen-trend.  I found red dishes on clearance at Crate & Barrel that my parents bought me for Christmas (after I made multiple phone calls and visited multiple store to hunt down a full set).  I love the antique white, the stainless steel, the brushed nickel, the porcelain sink, and the fridge that my parents bought.  And I should love it - I picked it all. 

I have made lots of food and had lots of friends and family in this kitchen.

 But I didn't always want to be in this kitchen.  Cooking for me is an expression of love when cooking for someone else and happiness when cooking for myself.  I could easily go for a few weeks or more without wanting to cook and sometimes couldn't walk through it without a knot forming in my stomach.  There is a perpetual dirty travel mug in the sink.  There is usually trash on the counter.  There is always something molding in the fridge.  Coming home to a dirty kitchen is like a punch in the gut.  And so sometimes this kitchen was an exemplification of the much huger stresses in my life.  

 

See the other kitchens here.

around the apartment: the living room

When Beth came to visit she said, "Okay, I tried really hard not to picture what I thought your apartment would look like, but if I had, this is exactly what I would have pictured.  It looks like 'Angela'."

The vaulted ceiling makes it.  I didn't get to see a top-floor unit before I moved in, but it was definitely definitely worth the price of the stairs.

Do you want to talk about the white couch?  I've wanted a white couch for years.  And since I have no one to tell me no, I did it.  And then I justified it to my mom because I innately know that's it's SO impractical!  I needed to justify to someone that it was a calculated risk!

AND, listen to this - I didn't even freak out when one of my friends got chocolate on it.  I didn't even fuss at her.  I just removed the cushion cover and washed it.  (And honestly, I should have known better than to give her a melty delicious chocolate chip cookie on a white couch!)

But I still swoon over the couch and would purchase it again.  It's just right for this season.

My mom and I made the chevron Euro pillow and I made the other two.  : )

This desk is right next to the front door, and it's a perfect place to drop my keys, shades, and mail.

I love these curtains from Anthropologie, but let's be real.  I'm not paying $450 for curtains.  Not when I can get muslin for 50% off at Joann's Fabric and have my mom make these, all for about $60 + minimal sweet-talking. 

Sigh.  I love them.  They stayed open nearly all summer.  : )

So that's the apartment.  It feels like mine with no compromises.  It's clean and girly and frilly and bright.  And I love it.

You can see the rest of the apartment here.

around the apartment: the kitchen

The kitchen was just a kitchen until I added my aprons.  : )  I cannot even tell you how excited I got  when I realized that these hooks would fit perfectly on this wall.  I gasped and started hitting my palm on the table.

I love the top of the fridge.  So cheerful.  : )

My cookbooks are stacked on the bar, and I couldn't resist displaying a scrap page there. 

When I was apartment shopping, I was pretty bummed at how little counter space there was.  But then I thought about the bar being an extension of the countertop (and even mimed putting food up there).  I serve up chips and guac there, I unload groceries there, and I set out ingredients there. 

It has wood floors, is open to the living room and overlooks the scrap nook. 

I think my favorite meal cooked in this kitchen so far might be those taco salads...oooh, or chicken enchiladas... 

Yes.  Yes, definitely the chicken enchiladas.  : )

around the apartment: the bathroom

I know, I know.  It's just a bathroom, right?  But this one's pretty great. 

It has two doors - one to the bedroom and one to the hall.

I spent an inordinate amount of time shopping for shower curtains.  Nothing was quite right.  And then it occurred to me that if I just used a clear liner, I wouldn't have to coordinate with the beige accent tile plus the shower would be one less place for a robber to hide.  I really loved how it turned out, plus it makes the room look bigger.  Definitely a bonus round.

The biggest challenge is that the bathroom doesn't have any drawers.  Most of my everyday stuff is in the medicine cabinet.  My makeup is in a bag under the sink.  And then I have a few small things in cute containers on the counter. 

So yeah.  That's the bathroom.  ; )