Apr 30, 2011

April Tornadoes...

...bring out the good will of men and women.  This week a fury tornadoes blew through the state of Alabama.  Many lives were lost and many more homes were destroyed.  Here is the neighborhood my sister and I lived in while we were at the University of Alabama.
The numerous homes on the lake (more like a large pond) were completely demolished, and nearly all of the small cottages were ripped apart.  Here is our house with trees on top of it.  It's barely standing and will likely have to be torn down. 
The devastation was just unbelievable, and I am thanking God that my sister and her friends (and her puppy!) survived.  I am most proud of all of the clean up efforts she is helping to organize in Tuscaloosa.  I am most sad for the people of the small, small towns that out-of-towners (and people like me) have never heard of.  So many heartbreaking callers on the radio shared how their small towns of only a few hundred people have been ransacked and no one is there to help.  With the outpouring of donations and volunteers in Tuscaloosa and Cullman, it makes me wonder why Fox and ABC are not getting the word out about the others who need our help.  This Missing Persons forum makes me cry every time I browse through the photos and the names of the missing.  My prayers are with those who have lost loved ones and their homes.  Please visit the Red Cross donation page to give what you can for the disaster relief.  There is also a need for blood donations.

Apr 23, 2011

Springtime is Here!

Well this is a smorgasbord post of sorts.  Mostly because I am bewildered by the fact that the last post was 21 days ago!  I'm super-excited the warm weather seems to be here to stay--aside from the weekly tornado warnings and downpours.  Since we bought the house at the end of last year, we've been saying, "Oh, we'll take care of that in the spring."  Well guess what?  Spring is here and summer is coming! April has brought the rain and the azaleas that have since died.  Now I'm ready for the May flowers to come out!   I feel like a broken record every time I think that we've almost finished painting.  Now we only have four rooms of baseboards, five fronts and backs of doors, and this left:
Be sure you know if the existing paint is latex or oil-based.  Our house is full of surprises--different finishes and bases in every room.  Thanks, previous homeowners.

I painted the doorway trim in the kitchen and the pantry and swinging door two weekends ago.  The Sherwin-Williams label says to wait three days for the paint to cure before taping.  Done.  Well I taped it off today to take care of this convenient two inch space of wall between the pantry and the adjacent wall.  Needless to say, I peeled off the blue tape, along with half of the trim paint.  Agh!!!!!!!!!!!  If I keep taping one to paint the other, then this viscous cycle WILL NOT END.  This house is going to send me to the place they keep the crazies.  If there is anything I hate more than painting, it's redoing work that I've already done.  One reprieve was the fact that all of the touch-ups (of wall paint only, obviously) are done, and the back entryway is painted just like the kitchen.  By the way, Meditation by Benjamin Moore is the awesomest gray/green saturated wall color.  I wish my whole house was done in this color instead of my safe, ultra-neutral Powell Buff. 

On a side note, it's time for summer cuts.  I'm thinking something short and piece-y instead of my standard long bob curled under.  When Dear Husband says my hair is getting long, it must be time for a cut--especially since he knows to never comment on my hair unless it's a compliment!
Not my favorite person, but maybe this cut a touch longer.
This looks like it could be perfect with my thin, non-volumized hair.
Even Bear Bear was ready for a fresh cut!
I'm pretty sure he is the most adorable baby ever!

Apr 2, 2011

Box Pleats, Please

Until Dear Husband a) learns how to use the circular saw, b) learns how to use the jigsaw, and c) finally builds the U-shaped surround for the farmhouse sink, I took matters into my own hands.  I bought a yard of medium-weight linen blend in gray from fabric.com and read up on sewing a kitchen sink skirt.  Sometimes sink skirts look really country, especially when they are gathered and made of a mini floral print.  So by using an adjustable spring tension rod from Wal-Mart ($3), my iron, and needle and thread, I followed a box pleat tutorial to make a skirt for my sink.  I went with a 5 inch center pleat and hand-stitched a blind hem on the rod pocket and the hem, leaving the sides pressed instead of sewn.  A perfect fit!

Apr 1, 2011

The Flat Forest

So I'm loving collecting nursery inspiration from real (read: not designer) baby rooms for my friend's nursery. Such fun to pretend!  What I am not loving are all of the highly rated photographs on Rate My Space with those awful wall decals.  Other than the fact that everyone has their child's name or monogram plastered on a wall, I am beside myself with these trees.  Who knew?
This example from RMS has 3-D objects (I am guessing birds) actually glued to the wall.  Love the lavender, but nurseries have so much potential.  And they don't have to be redone after one or two years if the decor is tasteful.  Since commoners, like myself, have not found a chic way to display this "art" I turned to Etsy.  Ha, I found 5,703 tree wall decals.  Very cheesy.  Surely at least one could look right?  Well, after about 15 pages, I gave up.  But I was happy to see some of them being offered in matte finish. The only thing worse than putting an 8 foot tree sticker on your baby's wall is putting a shiny tree sticker on the wall (or maybe putting the trees in your living room, as many Etsy sellers are advertising).  Just say no to wall stickers in the bedroom.  Maybe a playroom with tons of natural light.  Maybe.