Eat it up

I'm back! Did you miss me?

I had a fabulous time back home in Buffalo. My nieces are super, SUPER adorable and I could eat them up! Maggie was so good to me and let me cuddle with her lots (Mom was super jealous...sorry mom =) )


There were other highlights besides the nieces, believe it or not. On Friday my mom, Aunt Rose, Aunt Mary and I went to see a Frank Lloyd Wright house called Graycliff.



It is the summer home he designed on Lake Erie for the Darwin D. Martin family. (Mom and I went to see their Frank Lloyd Wright home in the city (of Buffalo) last year. ) The house is still in a lot of disrepair but it was fabulous anyway. I really enjoyed seeing this house....I think I just liked the house the most out of the 3 I have visited...I could see myself living there and being comfortable.

Now it's back to working on my own house. We have a few weeks before Andrew's parents arrive and I think we are gearing up for a house warming party soon. I need to sew curtains and hang more pictures and pick out more paints.

Here is a glimpse of the yard that I took last week from one of my studio windows. Look at that grass grow!

On the road again

[Mikaela, Kelly and Maggie; Renaissance Festival Sterling NY 2005]

I'm hitting the road again. This time up to my hometown of Buffalo to visit my two cutie nieces and the rest of my extended family. Be back on Tuesday.

Camping with love

Well, after a rough start (sick dog, sick Sara, sick Andrew) we made it to Wisconsin in one piece and had a very relaxing and wonderful weekend. I love Wisconsin! Everytime I go there I am so relaxed.

Congratulations Keith and Shaili!


What an awesome wedding. So simple, sweet and beautiful. It was a little hot, somewhere in the 90s, but the park was the perfect location. I got to see lots of old friends that I haven't seen in quite some time (Hi Dave and Janine!). And I met new people too, like Alex and Rebecca. Go check out their website. They just started a non-profit organization and are doing some really awesome work in Africa.

I actually ENJOYED the camping (stop laughing Denice!). No, really, I did. The fresh air, the stars, the moon, the raccoons, campfires, mashmallows. There is something about camping that just makes you feel good. I didn't have a care in the world. I think I should camp more often.

As usual I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I wanted. We decided it was safer not to take the camera on the Wisconsin river but I wish I had. It was so gorgeous and we had a blast. The water was so much fun.


Now we are back and I have a couple days off to do whatever I want!! I think I'll start with making some toast.

Wedding in Wisconsin

Andrew and I are off to Wisconsin this weekend to attend Keith and Shaili's wedding.

I am looking forward to: celebrating Keith and Shaili, knitting in the car, roasting marshmallows, meeting new people, using our tent for the second time, floating on the Wisconsin River, soaking up the sun, taking pictures, breathing the fresh air, and hopefully feeling relaxed and carefree.

Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend of their own. Be back on Monday.

Press On

[Red Rocks, Denver Colorado; May 2004]

Press on:
Nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance.
Talent will not;
Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not;
Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not;
The world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
Press on!

~Calvin Coolidge

Garden of mud

Here is completed knitting project #2, another baby blanket but this time for my good friends in Seattle.

Pattern: Big Bad Baby Blanket; Stitch n' Bitch
Yarn: Baby Ull; 100% merino wool

And by special request for my mom (since she helped us do ALOT of work on the yard on the 4th of July)...pictures of the progress made on the backyard this weekend.



I ripped out the entire garden that the sellers left here (muddy looking area on the left). There were a zillion irises! I replanted a mixture of irises and day lilies along the back fence. Some ferns and hostas got moved under the tree to the right and Andrew tore out the rest of the plants and turned all the soil. Now it is covered with grass seed which is quickly being eaten by every bird in the neighborhood.



At the moment Hurricane Dennis is turning the backyard into a giant mud pit!! It won't stop raining! All this rain might be good for the grass seed but I think it is taking it's tool on some of my other plants...=(

Thanks Mom for this book and this book that you sent me in the mail, you rock!! I can't wait to read them.

TinCan Therapy

[me and Bob; John & Leigh's Wedding, June 2005]

Been contemplating these thoughts from Ali… and these thoughts from Danny…

I’ve been so busy posting about the house that I’ve been stashing away a lot of other feelings, thoughts and worries that have been brewing.

Maybe my body thinks if I ignore them they will go away… they aren’t going away…
I know this from all of the Pop Tarts and Whatchamacallit bars I have been eating out of the vending machine this week. And the fact that I told Andrew 3 times this morning that I haven’t been sleeping well.

Things are S-L-O-W at work….which is awful because it gives my mind WAY too much time and freedom to roam…. and it usually roams to all the wrong places, like my insecurities, worries and such; or to the internet for shopping therapy.

Change is in the air.

Change=Fear=Worry=Me in hiding, dysfunctional and a ball of nerves 24/7 (God bless Andrew)

I try to think back and remember how I handled other times of change… When I moved to Missouri back in 1998. When I left my job in 1999. When I moved out of my sweet little rental house in 2004. The thing I handled the best was probably leaving my job in 1999 and for the life of me I can’t remember why I handled it so well!!! I should have been terrified! I had no job prospects and no place to live! (the job I was leaving provided housing…no job, no housing) But when I think back on that time I remember feeling liberated, excited, light, airy, free and full of possibility. Maybe it was because I was only 24 but I wish I could find that feeling again.

I don’t mean to sound cliché but I suppose this is my mid-life crisis? (or more accurately, “I’m not in my 20s anymore” crisis). I’m 30 and I feel lost and I don’t want to waste any more time feeling that way.

And this is why I LOVE my dear, dear friend Bob. I have been wracking my brain for weeks, wavering between this decision and that decision and last night I somehow ended up at the TinCan, drinking a Coke, talking with Bob, surrounded by the DirtyDogs softball team. And Bob said to me “Two years from now….would you rather have decorated your house…or become a decorator?”

And in typical fashion my mind responded, “Well I’m not sure I want to be a decorator or that I’ll be good enough, blah, blah, blah”….. But my heart got the point.

THE POINT IS… in 2 years I would rather know that I at least tried. That I went out and tried to find the thing that made me happy. And who knows…maybe in 2 years I’ll be a decorator….or maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll be in a graduate school program for science…or education; or maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll be serving coffee at the shop around the corner

but maybe, just maybe…. I will have discovered a way to spend my days that makes me happy and joyful and full and alive.

As much as I love buying things, objects, and stuff for my house (which represents lots of other baggage like having money and security)….it could never compare to finding happiness.

London

I just went to read Crazy Aunt Purl and Laurie had posted about what happened in London this morning. I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders as I realized that I am not the only one in this world who is sitting at work in a daze of sadness and confusion. I considered writing about my feelings this morning but I was actually embarrassed to write anything....because I thought I was the only one reacting to the news! Just like Laurie, everyone in my office is just moving along, business as usual. Sometimes I wonder where these people come from?

I feel awful for all the people of London, knowing how it feels to see your country under attack. I feel awful for the people who were killed and injured and the families that are sick with worry. I feel awful that I live in a world where there is so much ignorance, hate and evil and I feel helpless to stop it. I feel trapped; scared to travel; scared to live my life. I feel terrified to even consider bringing a child into this world someday.

All I can think to do is to repeat my mantra. To try and remember that where there is darkness there is also light. Do not focus on the darkness.

"You are the light, You are the refuge, There is no place to take shelter but yourself."
~inscription over Buddha's ashes [via Andrea at Superherodesigns]

House update

Well my Mom has come and gone but it was a really awesome visit. Thanks Mom! If felt like we were go, go, going the whole weekend but it felt really great.

Sunday we stopped at my favorite vintage store and made out like bandits! Mom got me this super cute square table cloth, ,

green art nouveau vase

and an original Milo Baughman chair!



Here is a before and after of our fireplace paint experiment....

I think I like not having it white, but I'm not sure we picked the right shades of paint. I think I want an even darker brown and a more gray khaki on the bottom. I'm leaving it for now though, need to do other projects.

Monday we did a TON of yard work. Our yard was so SOOOO overgrown. It looks so much lighter, brighter and more open. =) Andrew and I are going to try and work on it some more this weekend. He is determined to have a lush, green lawn before his parents visit in August.


Thanks for coming to visit Mom and thanks for all the goodies. I had a great time and I can't wait to see you again in a few weeks!

10 Tenets of Whole Living

1. Happiness is a choice. You can make that choice today and every day.
2. Good health isn't a gift; it's a habit you can cultivate.
3. Stay connected to the natural world. It will feed your soul.
4. Think more about what you should eat more than what you shouldn't.
5. Nurture your spirit. It's the source of your strength.
6. A healthy, fit body is not enough, true fitness engages the spirit.
7. Laugh at yourself. You're funny.
8. Believe in yourself. Your intuition is rarely wrong.
9. It's never too late to take the first step toward your aspirations.
10. What you pay attention to will thrive.

[via ali edwards]

Birdbath... or maybe it's Dogbath

Quick week recap...
Monday and Tuesday - painted living room and dining room ceiling

Tuesday evening - cut living/dining room walls with "birdbath" paint


Wednesday - tickets to Cardinals baseball game
Thursday - One last final trip to the apartment and first coat of paint in living/dining room


Friday - finished second coat of paint in living/dining room and then went to the airport to pick up my mum!

Andrew is off playing with his friends in NY at their annual pool party, HI Andrew's friends in NY! I miss you guys! And my mom is here to see our new house and help me decorate!

So far so good. This morning we painted all the trim in the living/dining room, shopped for curtain fabric and picked out paint for the fireplace.


Tomorrow we test the curtain fabric and paint the fireplace (not sure how this idea will work out...but it's fun trying!). I think we will throw in some antiquing for good measure.

And just in case you were wondering.....we are fully aware of the fact that it is the 4th of July....because Kula is in the tub -




Poor Kula!!! (she hates fireworks!)