tag

Okay, here's how bad I am... I don't even remember who tagged me or how long ago it was! But I've been laying around with extra time on my hands, alternating a hot pack/cold pack on my back, so here are my finished answers once and for all! I'm not going to tag anyone specifically either, because some love to play and some just don't. So if you want to play, I'd love to hear your answers! If not, that's ok too :)

What is your current obsession?
anything creative and colorful

What is your weirdest obsession?
reduced fat Ruffles potato chips - I think I’m slowly trying to kill myself with salt

What are you wearing today?
usually jeans and a tie dye shirt but today my jammies

What's for dinner?
probably corn quesadillas w/ guacamole but I never think very far ahead

What would you eat for your last meal?
spaghetti w/ meat sauce and mushrooms from Lombardi’s in Cambria, corn on the cob w/ butter and salt & pepper (I know - you normally wouldn’t eat that w/ spaghetti, but this IS my last meal.....), and homemade flan from Sandpoint Idaho.

What's the last thing you bought?
multi-colored polka dot dishes from Pier 1 Imports

What are you listening to right now?
the fan

What is your favorite ice-cream flavour?
no ice cream for me unless I want to be ill for days

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
Wow. That’s hard. Definitely somewhere in the mountains but I haven’t been to enough mountainy places around the world. I'm going to say Switzerland, British Columbia, or Sandpoint Idaho.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Edinburgh, Scotland

Which language do you want to learn?
I don’t

What's your favorite quote (for now)?
It’s from Gandhi and I’ll paraphrase:
“You can tell the greatness of a nation by the way it treats it’s animals”

What is your favorite colour?
Color is my bliss and I love all things colorful. But my big favorites are yellow, red and turquoise. I have another favorite, which is pink, but it’s like my sacred favorite or something - I rarely use it or decorate with it. Perhaps it’s because I lead a life surrounded by boys that I keep pink seperate, all to myself. Wow, that was a long answer.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
I think my tie dye t-shirts are half my identity and half my security blanket

What is your dream job?
a writer, photographer, artist, and singer all mixed together

What's your favourite magazine?
for years it was Country Home, which just folded :( But I do love Guideposts - it restores my faith

If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on?
It totally depends on my mood - it could be any of the following:
a) coffee table books
b) something from an antiques store (probably a quilt)
c) arts & crafts supplies or gardening supplies
d) fun stuff for my dogs
e) eBay or Etsy

Do you admire any one's style?
Strangely, no. I wish I did.

Describe your personal style?
casual to a fault, super colorful, earring-conscious, perhaps a little too groovy

What are you going to do after this?
visit some blogs and then take a nap

What are your favourite movies?
I have lots of favorites. After years of all types of movies though, I pretty much stick with light-hearted ones now. The state of the world sucks my emotional sanity out of me - I enjoy movies that restore it. "Chocolat" is an example.

What's your favourite fruit?
bananas and strawberries - almost all berries actually. oooh - and seedless watermelon

What inspires you?
music, color, art, crafts, photos, a well done display, textiles, visiting other blogs I admire. Kind-hearted people.

Your favorite book?
probably To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, but I have a LOT of favorites

Do you collect something ?
old quilts and vintage croquet balls

be right... back

Okay, so this has been my life for the last several days. My back has been giving me assorted fits for a few months but this last week has been awful. I'm not even sure what happened? It was finally feeling better and then we painted Davy's room... and then went up the coast - lots of car riding, lots of walking... and somewhere along the way my back was in more and more pain. And it kept getting worse instead of improving. Currently it feels like a knife is in my left shoulder blade. Needless to say, I'm finally laying low because I have no other choice. Sometimes that's a blessing in disguise.

My friend Diana saved me. I've lost count how many times Diana has been my lifesaver over the last 20 years. She's a nurse but I didn't want to bug her. She's going through some big time stuff of her own right now. But she found out I had taken an entire bottle of Advil in a week, and she had a cow. So look what she brought me - "real" pain relievers, a break from Advil, icy hot patches, and even a box of popsicles because she knew I would be hot and miserable with a heat pack on my back! Now that is a real, true blue friend :)

So I'm just hanging out in my jammies, alternating hot and cold packs, and taking it easy. I'm armed with magazines and TV shows my dvr recorded. I can catch up on all my favorite blogs. I have my two dogs right next to me, and they make me happy no matter what. And my family has been good to help me out. What more could I ask for, really? Okay, maybe some Ruffles and diet Coke. But still. AND... I'm actually starting to see some improvement in the pain department! FINALLY! So yay to all our blessings including good friends :)

Vodoo That I Do - Davy's Room Redo!

Remember this sad, sorry excuse for a room?

Without any further ado.....

Here is Davy's new room! YEAH BABY!

Oh my gosh... we worked sooo hard. Davy was awesome. And I have to mention right here and now that Davy's friend Liam was an amazing help with all the moral support, shopping, painting - I'm not sure we could have done it all without him! Especially because it was a thousand degrees in that room and we were miserable! Liam, you totally rock!

I wanted to make sure Davy was an integral part of all the decisions made. I was there to guide him, but this needed to be all about him. It was interesting to see what became very important to him, and what he opted for my opinions on. I also wanted this to be a learning experience for him. I wanted to teach Davy how to prime, paint, etc. It took longer, but it was worth it.
From what was displayed on what wall, to what items went on what shelves, Davy was a great decision maker. He was also patient about learning certain design tips, like why things look better in 3's, and basic symmetry. And John was an awesome help when it came to hanging everything, especially the shelves! But Davy was right there using the drill and learning about toggle screws vs. studs.
This wall choked me up a little. From the beginning, Davy wanted the painting I made for him for his graduation on this wall. But little did I know he wanted another painting of mine as well, which we hung up above. I asked him if he'd like the wooden sculpture I painted and named "three brothers" in his room also, and he did(!) They look great together... I was really touched :)
It was fun to watch Davy decide what items and mementos he wanted to display on his new shelves. He wanted to keep everything super simple and uncluttered. Now that he's getting older, it's neat to see what certain things are important to him.
Of course, his girlfriend Val ranked high, as do the gifts she brings him from all her travels :)
The brothers and Paul McCartney memorabilia ranked up there too :)
The black cubes on either side of his bed are a great place to stash all his favorite books. We're still looking for the perfect chair and doing some tweaking, but we're all really happy with such a terrific transition. And that, my friends, completes the tour of Davy's room redo!

I *had* to add this photo because it's just TOO COOL!

"Coraline" movie night: Emily, Liam, Davy & Val.

Love you guys! :)

one last post from the coast

Cambria sunflowers - ahhhhhhh :)

cool stuff :)

Davy feeding little friends in Morro Bay :)

the Megibug at the Morro Bay Rock :)

Matthew at Morro Bay :)

a flock of cute ceramic birdies :)

goodbye to Cambria and the beautiful central coast

(WAAAAA!)

***Davy's bedroom redo reveal MONDAY!

Farm Chicks Giveaway

The adorable Farm Chicks are having another giveaway - you have 24 hours to enter! They've been to New York for business, and have collected lots of wonderful goodies from their favorite places. Including some to give away! There's a sample pic below, but there are many more goodies on their blog if you click on over to enter.

I ❤ New York

post from the coast dos

Still enjoying life :)

Charming Solvang (I can't believe I forgot a pic of aebelskiever!)

more from my favorite nursery on earth

traveling with boys..........

......... and why I'm about ready to kill them

our favorite place in Cambria - we go waaaaay back

Quaint Cambria on Burton Street

kangaroo paws :)

anniversary post from the coast

Happy 27th anniversary to us! How the heck did THAT happen! LOL!

We are up the coast in one of our favorite places on earth, Cambria California :) Aside from the boys driving me crazy with all their endless brawling (remind me why we didn't get 2 rooms?), LIFE IS GOOD.

We stopped in Solvang on the way up the coast, where I took the pics of these lovely blooms... we ate pizza in Morro Bay... and then arrived here in Cambria late afternoon. As we drove, we watched the temperature drop 40 degrees! NOW do you know why I'm in HEAVEN!?!?! Ahhhhhhh :) Today we'll be heading into San Luis Obispo to visit all our favorite haunts like Boo Boo Records and Gumball Ally, and enjoy the Farmer's Market. Then back to Cambria for Italian food at our favorite place for our anniversary dinner. And of course I can't wait to visit all my favorite places and people here in town!

Enjoy the blooms - more to come :)

break time

We interrupt the currently scheduled ranting and raving about the revolting southern California desert heat, to bring you this amazing and uplifting show of beautiful begonia blooms in Brussels Belgium. Wow. Alliteration :)

You know how I feel about color - ahhhhhh :) This gorgeous show of color and craft instantly brought me out of my pathetic pity party - at least for the moment! Thank you Shannon!
These photos are from last year's annual palace "carpet" - can't wait to see what craftsmen have in store for this coming August. Be sure to click on the individual pics so you can see them larger if possible.

HEAVENLY!!!

!@#$%^&*!

Yes, my little world here still feels like it's on fire with no end in sight. Until Halloween. And the weatherman reports it's 93 when it's really 108. So stupid. And oh my gosh, do I need a pedicure. Sigh.
It feels like a freaking oven outside. AN OVEN. When I get in my car I feel like my heart is going to stop and I'm going to turn into goo and melt right into the seat. And I hate it. And I can be mad about it if I want.
Because at any moment a river of hot lava is going to come flowing down my street. It could happen. And baby wipes will not be able to clean it up. Nope.
And yes my back still hurts thank you for asking. And it's too hot to eat Ruffles and my diet Coke melts before I finish my giant Coke glass. And I sweat more on my left side than my right side. And nearly ever pore on my body ended up on my head. And I don't know when I'll ever have a good hair day again.
I'm not even sure what the above photo is of... it just somehow reminded me of doing the laundry in my garage. Did I mention I'm feeling sorry for myself? I get this way every summer. I can't help it. Such a weenie. I can't handle anything over 70 degrees. It's a shame too, because I have so many good qualities... they all just melt away with the heat. Sigh...

BUT! DAVY'S ROOM IS DONE! AND IT LOOKS AMAZING!

SO HANG TIGHT FOR THE REVEAL! HAH!

photo credits: www.fotosearch.com

temperatures rising in more ways than one

I'm grateful for sunshine. I like it very much. But today I reached my boiling point. That may even be literal. Because it is forty million degrees here and it feels as though life as we know it is going to combust into flames at any moment. It is making me extremely cranky. I can't think straight. I get sick to my stomach. It makes my head hurt.
Oh, but it's a dry heat. Yeah, I'm aware of that. But I should be grateful I don't live in Arizona. Yeah - got it. Grateful. Still miserable. Well, at least it cools down at night. Really? Then I haven't been able to sleep because...? Why can't you just try to be more positive? Oh I have been but you must have missed that part. Now my retinas have burned out of my eyeballs and my brain has been fried for tacos after church.
So what you're saying is, you're hot. Yes, that's right. I'm hot. And very cranky. And while I'm at it, I'll add that I threw my back out. Again. So I'm in pain. I'm hot and I'm in pain. So I'm very, very, cranky. Extremely cranky. If I were you, I'd probably be on my way about now.

Images:

www.get-software.info

www.noaanews.noaa.gov

www.cmnh.org

That Voodoo That I Do

This is Davy's room. It makes me want to run screaming into the night. It doesn't always look like this though - sometimes it looks much worse. Now, to be fair, this picture was taken during a stressful senior year. But who am I kidding - he had plenty of time to clean it. It just doesn't bug him.

But after graduation - and constant, relentless, annoying encouragement from me - Davy started thinking it might be time to redo his room in more of a mature style that reflects more of who he is and his personal style. I was glad he finally saw the light. Especially since he had no choice.
So here are Davy's "before" photos. We never did get any real before shots before we took everything off the walls and disassembled his room. Hard to believe, but at one point his room was really cool. It had all kinds of musical instruments on the walls, music posters, and vinyl records on the ceiling (which will remain).
Now everything has been moved to the center of the room and we've started taping off carpet, etc. to prime and paint all the walls. New posters are being put in new frames, new display shelves will be going up so Davy will finally be able to highlight some things that are special to him, and some seating will be added so friends will have places to sit comfortably, or Davy can use while playing guitar.
It's going to be GREAT! We are working feverishly, so hopefully we'll be done in a few more days. Stay tuned for the final results - same Bat time, same Bat channel :)