thank you dear

for making me wish i was back here with the flu that you so graciously passed on. i'll get back to bed just as soon as i'm done shipping current orders from here and finishing my state business taxes which are due monday.

and dear readers, i'll be back soon with a discount from overstock.com!

image from here via here

stranded in the bay

this man needs a little more water to float his boat. this man is my neighbor. this man took my husband duck hunting on sunday. they left at 5 am, planned on returning early afternoon. they came home about 730pm. a little off schedule.

this man, well, let's call him joe, because his name is joe, and my husband started heading back toward shore, that coastline there in the background about a mile away, 3 hours before low tide, thinking they had plenty of time before low tide. they thought wrong. and...they got stuck. there wasn't enough water to get back to shore. they had to wait and wait and wait for high tide for water to float the boat. they tried to pull the boat. no go. i still think it's a bit of a coincidence since i mentioned to my husband that i would like him to help me with house chores on sunday. he came back just as i put the mop away and pulled the dinner from the oven. how convenient for him.

you go girl

francesca sciavone. remember that name. it's my prediction for the women's singles champion of the 2011 australian open. are you watching? we are. sciavone won after 4 hours and 44 minutes of play (the 3rd set alone was 3 hours). she fought for every point. they played 47 games of tennis. the final score.... 6-4,1-6,16-14. no tiebreaker in the 3rd set. way to go, sciavone.

*image from here

eye catching

this was one of the best rooms (in my opinion) in the latest issue of lonny. it's from marlien rentmeester's home in the pacific palisades. the family room is done in shades of eggplant and burnt orange, a fresh color combination. what a great room to spend a weekend afternoon. lots of natural light, fireplace, beautiful artwork. the only problem i'd see is.... do you stretch out on the beautiful sofa or in one of those comfy chairs. hmmm....

love is in the air

valentine's day is just around the corner. ok, the corner being 3 1/2 weeks. and as always, i've got your back. there's some cute stuff in the shop for you to buy and give to your loved one. and they'll love you back since you got them something so cute.

xoxo typography on paperbag cardstock.
xoxo tic tac toe on bubblegum pink herringbone.be mine on mauve tone on tone chevron. i'm bringing mauve back.
forever on taupe tone on tone chevron. my husband will give me this one. he likes saying "forever" to me to remind me of those vows we took almost 4 years ago. romantic, huh? not so. it's usually after he does some obnoxious man thing.
these are supercute! give some for valentine's day and save some of the rest of the year when you want to send a little love.
kate's getting this one for her prince charming. if you buy it, too, i'll put your and your beloved's name on it.
and if you're a gift giver for valentine's day, tie one of these on your package.
all goodies can be found here.

the kids are all right

i watched the golden globes last night while on the treadmill at the gym. no, i wasn't on the treadmill for 3 hours. but rather an hour. and i saw this

win best motion picture, comedy or musical and annette bening win best actress in a motion picture or comedy.

have you seen it? it was one of the movies i watched over the holidays. i watched it, and the next day watched it again. i liked it. i really liked it.

then i started googling. and found this. the home of mark ruffalo, also starring in the movie. my kinda of home. casual, comfortable, cheerful.
although, according to this, mr. ruffalo no longer lives here. hmmm, wonder where he's moved to?

pixel's 3!

today is pixel's birthday. she's 3. i went back and looked at her baby pictures and found these. this is my favorite of her. she took to steve right away. she had these incredible blue eyes as a puppy.
at 3 months old snuggling with daddy.
we love her. i love her. i didn't always love her. her puppy stage was very trying for me. she drove me crazy. i didn't know what to expect since she's my first dog. she totally uprooted our lives. all of a sudden (ok, maybe not all of a sudden... maybe after a year or so of discussion) we had this little creature who needed a lot of attention all. the. time. you couldn't just throw down a litter box and she'd pee in it. not like a cat. i can do cats. nope, she needed out and out again and out again. and out every 2 hours. and then she'd still pee in her crate.

for her birthday, pixel got to sleep in the bed last night. this is big. pixel's not even allowed upstairs. she sleeps in her crate every night. not last night. last night we had a full house in the bed. the lineup.... steve, pixel, me, cali and beauty (the cats). yep, all 5 of us. it'll only be a once-a-year event. pixel's a blanket hog.

happy birthday, pixel! we love you.

european elegance

last week lindsey of everything leb posted this kitchen on her blog. i fell in love. with the farm house table right. there. the long wood island. the gigantic window by the sink. the shelves!
the photo was taken by morten smidt. i dug around and found the rest of the house (also by morten smidt). it's just as lovely. it belongs to the neleman family. hans neleman is also a photographer.
the foyer. gorgeous dark wood floors throughout. white walls.hallway.
dining room. love this! that brick gallery wall!
the library. (i think i need to color-arrange my books.) and i love their distressed leather sofa... makes me feel not so bad about all the "character" my 5 month old sofa has (thanks, pixel).
master bedroom.
a moment.
another moment.
mrs. neleman's watercoloring rendering of her house.

beautiful, huh?

saving $129

$129. restoration hardware. cast in resin. not real.

image via here

free. hubby who hunts and stumbles upon shed deer antler and brings it home to wife because he knows she liked the $129 one. real.

mega millions

it was $355,000,000. i didn't win. 2 other people did. whatever.

when steve and i were dating long distance at the beginning of our relationship, i would buy a lottery ticket on my way to see him. the thoughts of what i could do with several million $$ entertained me for hours on the road. as steve says, visualizing spending lottery money is a great form of mental masturbation. he said it. not me.

when i bought my mega millions ticket the other day, i started daydreaming again. how would i spend millions? first i'd save some. enough so that i never have to work again. then i'd take care of family and friends. then give some to charity. then i'd start my spending spree. i'd have houses in several places. this could be our northwest retreat. it's on bainbridge island. and for sale now.

please step inside. i'll show you around.
we'd spend most of our time hanging here. or here. baking. cooking.playing on the ladder. til someone gets hurt. (it's always me.)let's go outside.
we'd dine outside by the fountain when the weather's nice.and then have s'mores by the fire.and if you came to visit, you could have your own guest cottage. shucks, you could live there full time. we wouldn't mind.
nothing too fancy. just a nice simple northwest retreat.

i want to be here

snuggled in a chair by that roaring fire reading a book. no tv. no internet. sipping on hot chocolate.yes, i know. i just took a staycation and rested and relaxed. but i feel the urge to be in a cabin in the woods.

images via here

back to reality

it's the first monday of the new year. 2011. i hope you had a great holiday. this is my first sewing project that i finished on my staycation, just in time for our new year's eve dinner for 18. a grey wool table runner.

i love its texture against the farmhouse table. it's actually a cross between a table runner and tablecloth. it unfolds and stretches almost to the sides of the table, purposing as placemats also. i'll give myself an "A" for creativity (saved myself from buying/sewing placemats) but a "D-" for practicality. hmmmm, how will i wash wool when somebody spills on it?

back to my break. there was a lot of this going on. a lot.
between tv watching, movie watching, reading, baking, cooking, eating and visiting. and i loved it. and sad it's over.

now it's back to reality. back to this filling my days.

happy new year to you.