So Long 2009

What did I do this year?

...got married in the rain, learned how to knit, lost my father, fell in love with M, chartered a boat, logged some miles, stopped drinking coffee and started drinking tea, spent each day smothered in puppy kisses, did a lot of belly laughing, was the weak link of a kayak, bought a house in a new city, had a breast cancer scare, woke up to a few surprises, took my share of dips in the Atlantic Ocean, saw my first Jaguars versus Colts game, overdosed on Shark Week, turned a Temporary Leave of Absence into a Resignation, stopped drinking tea and started drinking coffee, played stage mother to a talking bulldog, began writing a blog, sucked down a few coconuts, sprouted several gray hairs as Zoe had surgery, evicted a tenant, adopted another puppy, had a fist fight with Peyton Manning, saw things I'd been missing, fed a giraffe, celebrated 25 years of friendship with my bestie, moved 3 times, regretted reading The Kite Runner, watched a tornado, learned a lot about beer (thanks, honey), missed people who I chose not to see, turned the big three-oh...

How To Scrape A Textured Ceiling

I wrote about it when we tackled The Office. Now, here's a little Show And Tell in The Guest Bedroom of The Historic House By The Water on how to get rid of a popcorn textured ceiling.

Forget nice restaurants or jewelry. A guy that scrapes your ceiling is where it's at. Believe me.

Tips:
-Always wear goggles and a mask when scraping.
-If your popcorn isn't scraping off easily, try spraying water on it first.
-Tape off the room that you're working in. There will be a mountain of a mess. Really, a mountain.



Click here to see how the ceiling turned out.

Before + Progress Pictures: The Historic House By The Water: Guest Bedroom, Part 1

Before + Progress is an ongoing series keeping you up to date on whatever project is currently occupying our time. There is still lots to be done at this point to make the Progress photos actually qualify for the coveted After stage.

Double click on the photos for a close up view.

It's high time I filled you in on what we've been up to in the guest bedroom at The Historic House By The Water, isn't it? I'll warn you, the progress isn't all that exciting, but at least we're on our way.

This is what it looked like when the sellers lived here:



So far, we've cleaned all of our packing boxes out of the room, removed all of the screws and nails (and lighting fixture and window treatments), and scraped and sanded the ceiling.

Basically, we've prepped it to be painted.

Here are some before (left) and progress (right) photos:

What else can I tell you about this room? It has Northeastern exposure and overlooks the side and back yards. It has wood floors and 2 windows with original wavy glass. We'll be painting the walls Behr Cotton Whisper and the trim Behr Moon Rise.

Stay tuned for our progress...

It's Not All Fun And Games Here

I mean, seriously.

Yeah, I Draw 005

Sunday Scores

Because of the whole Craigslist saga, I forgot to share some exciting finds The Redhead and I picked up this weekend. Well, exciting to me, anyway.

Drumroll, please...

This is what $8 and smiling sweetly at the yard sale girls scores you in San Marco on a Sunday afternoon:



Not bad, eh?

I usually resist cutesy, useless decor items but -- be honest -- doesn't that happy little bird sort of make you smile? I named him Worker Bee and put him on my desk in the office. There's something about naming a bird a bee that just cracks me up. I know, I need to watch more television.

The coat rack I'm thinking of using as a purse holder in the guest bedroom. 'Cept my purses tend to be of the very-pricey-you're-supposed-to-keep-them-sitting-on-a-shelf-in-a-dustbag variety. But I'd kind of like them to be displayed, since I don't get many miles out of them lately. Then again, I know that hanging them will probably do a number on their handles. On the other hand, it would clear up a LOT of much needed closet space -- I have quite a large collection. So I'm going back and forth over it.

Any thoughts? Any good estate sale finds of your own lately?

Twelfth Bag Of Mailbag: Holiday Cheer

A big, fat thank you to my wonderful new friends who took a moment to drop a bit of stylish, creative holiday cheer into our mailbox! Aren't you the greatest?! I love the purty cards (and admit to being more than a tad jealous since we uncharacteristically passed out greetings of the banal Tar-jay variety this year -- hey, give me a break, we're still living out of cardboard over here). Your festive, imaginative notes totally put smiles on our faces.

I have the best readers eva.

EVAAAA!

Fine, Peyton, You Win

"Who doesn't love a Peyton Manning Bobblehead?"

Oh my. I'm not sure I can live with this.

We Almost Got Tackled

Double click on the photos to enlarge.

My first Jacksonville Jaguars game!

And I was cheering for The Colts.

Not, like, loudly or anything. But BoyToy, having been hatched in The Hoosier State nearly 3 decades ago, is a die hard horse fan. And we are married and everything, so I'm sort of guilty by association. Especially when the person I'm associated with is peddling around in a blazing blue and white jersey that screams Sanders on the back.


Me, left, sporting my best Deer In Headlights Look with The Colts Fan. Classic, no? Us, right, in the stadium.

My first clue that I was wise to wear a chocolate velvet Banana Republic blazer in lieu of the child size twin jersey that Frecklehead had hunted down at the mall earlier in the day, was when we arrived to the stadium and a curly haired teenager began yelling obscenities about our Indianapolis team so vehemently out of his Cayenne's window that he nearly caused himself to vomit. All while we just shrugged and turned up the radio.

Then there was the Jaguars fan who suggested that his tailgating buddy run us over with his Suburban. So there was that.

No matter, we still had a fabulous time. Even if it did take me nearly the entire game to figure out that their mascot was not, in fact, a Care Bear. ("It's a jaguar, Kelly -- see, it sort of looks like a tiger -- get it?" "Oh. Really? Doesn't it look like a bear to you? That does not resemble a cat at all.")

So much for fitting in.

The beginning of the game. I've always thought big American flags are pretty. I'm conservative like that.

The Colts won!

I've never been impressed by box seats, but there's something to be said for televisions and a private potty.

Brown Paper Packages

Tied up with string.

Say Anything: All I Want For Christmas

Say Anything is an ongoing series of quotes that I identify with or am intrigued by.



Think twice before showing this movie to your 5 year old repeatedly. Did I mention how much I liked this flick as a kid?

By the way, am I the only person who gets a little teary eyed and nostalgic when I see a Charlie Brown worthy Christmas Tree?

Before + After: The Historic House By The Water: Office, Part 4

It's nice to be getting settled in a bit. These pictures are definitely a more accurate reflection of what the room looks like on a daily basis now.

What else made the office reno cut?

These small Ikea filing cabinets which fit perfectly underneath our desks and are just the right size for storing our unbelievable amount of paperwork. A lot better than fighting with large, clumsy filing cabinets. We love them so much, that we decided to buy another one.

Also, the little kids got a new Boots + Barkley bed from Target:

Don't you love that pattern? Here's what Slate thinks:

And here he is breaking it in:

Last, but not least, check out a close up of my side of the work space. This is generally where I am when we're chatting:

That's Not Exactly What I Didn't Really Mean

This was the conversation we had before bed the other night:



Me: Can you believe that a family with 5 children used to live here?
Andrew: Really?
Me: Yeah. Remember, it was in that story that the sellers left for us...
Andrew: Oh, yeah. Wow, 5 kids.
Me (grinning): You know, (elbowing him) we could do that.
Andrew (flipping on his side toward me): Yeah, we could.
Me: We'd only need (more grinning) 1 more.
Andrew (now looking confused): 1 more what?
Me: Dog.

Silence.

Me: Wait, what were you thinking?
Andrew: No more dogs.
Me: But then we'd be a family of 7, too...
Andrew: Maybe. But no more dogs.
(Me looking confused.)
(Andrew grinning.)