what i've been doing

okay- i know i haven't posted in FOREVER. and i know i committed to painting the dining room by october 20, but haven't even started yet. i promise i have a good excuse! make that 5 good excuses:

1. playroom

2. powder room

3. master bedroom

4. master bathroom

5. window, door & floor trim (which should count as 100 excuses)

actually, only the playroom is 100% painted (it looks AWESOME). i finished painting the wainscot in the powder room so the toilet & sink can be installed. and i primed the master bedroom & bathroom so they can be painted as soon as the floors are finished. AND... i filled nail holes & primed about 1000 linear feet of trim & molding.

i will be taking pictures to back up my excuse, but take my word for it- i've been a busy lady! and now i have the exhaustion induced head cold to show for it. this is why i have no updates on the dining room! BUT- i did choose a paint color! thanks to all of you who supported the dark blue color: i agree wholeheartedly. in fact, i probably would have left the color alone if the plaster hadn't had to be repaired! i chose a deep blue just slightly brighter than what is currently there. i think it's going to be good!

DURING & AFTER pictures coming soon... hopefully! my family might like to see me a little since i've been painting for 3 days straight now. thank you to my mom for watching my girls & cooking her bootie off for us- love you!

A Place of My Own

this past week i've been reading A Place of My Own by Michael Pollan, and i think it's worth sharing. if you haven't heard of him, he is also the author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, both excellent books about food & culture in America. i am not a professional book reviewer, so bear with me...

the basic premise of this book is the author (Pollan) going through the process of designing, planning and building (with his own hands) a small building on his property. along the way, he researches different methods & writings on architecture, design, construction... it's REALLY interesting to read about debates on foundation design in the words of an author turned DIYer! and i have not considered many of the issues he discusses- a building's position on it's property or the way it meets the ground as vital to its personality & energy. fascinating stuff! plus, i enjoy Pollan as an author, so reading about design & architecture in his words is just icing on the cake!

these are pictures of Pollan's Writing House, which is the subject of his book.

i found these pictures on his website.

*please note that Pollan is not a sponsor of my blog- look at my blog: i obviously have no sponsors! ha!

i am linking this to the last ever Hooked on Houses

"Hooked on Fridays," even though it's saturday... because i love her blog and my daughter's name is Julia, too!

thoughts on selling our 1st home...

we have lived in our current home for over 5 years. this is the only home our daughters have ever known. we have put a lot of our sweat & tears into making it just right for us- adding a bathroom, painting the walls and the deck, endlessly working in the yard. it's not perfect, but we've really loved this little place- except the kitchen. i've hated the kitchen since our kids were born & i realized how little storage & prep space this little kitchen has! but it's cute & adequate- and could be remodeled if someone had a vision.

so now our house has been on the market for 4 months, and it is cleaner than it ever was during the 5 + years we lived here! and now that i've invested so much time & thought in our new house, i'm SO ready for this one to be sold. not that i won't miss it or feel emotional about moving... it's still a special place. i'm just completely over this whole "keep it squeaky clean" and "leave at a moments notice with 2 kids & the dog" business. i have a 3 & 1 year old. squeaky clean is such a monumental task!

but anyway- i do love this little place. here are some links to the pictures our realtor & friend, Karen Smith, took:

http://realestate.stltoday.com/RealEstate/Sales/Listing.asp?lid=197-90052593

and

http://tour.previsite.com/mls/5245/90028981.html

she took better pictures than i ever could! i try every season to capture just the way the sun looks coming in the bay window, or how the snow kind of sifts onto our front porch like powder sugar. i just don't have quite the eye for the right angle or light, so my pics are just ways to keep my memories, not professional quality!

so... anyone want to buy our house? : )

procrastinator's party

well, i wouldn't say i'm exactly procrastinating... i've only painted 5 rooms in the last month- about 1000 square feet, not including the actual floors i painted in the girls' rooms. but i like the idea of announcing a project & being committed to doing it or risk public shame! so here goes- my next room to complete work on will be:

the dining room!

the floors have already been refinished- no more sponge paint, thank goodness. and the plaster has been repaired, so no more water damage. what's left? priming the new dry wall & plaster, choosing a paint color and painting the walls, change the finish on the light fixture, decide what to do about the ceiling... plenty left to do!

i'm having the hardest time deciding on a color- do i want it to flow from the kitchen color (Topsail) since the rooms are open to each other? do i want it to coordinate with the living room (White Hyacinth)? do i want it to show off the color in my china (cobalt blue & white)? and am i going to keep the ceiling painted the same? lots of decisions to make!

i'd love some suggestions- please!! : )

so i'm linking this post to The Inspired Room's Procrastinator's Party!

happy tuesday!

so tired...

i spent 4 hours this morning/afternoon making a lawn for our newly regraded mud pit- i mean backyard. i took some pictures, but it looks EXACTLY the same as it did yesterday. there are just a few less rocks & twigs! i started by raking the whole yard to clean it up & rough up the surface. then i used a rotary spreader to distribute seed starting fertilizer, limestone, and gypsum. all of that is just to make the soil better for growing grass. then i spread grass seed (a fescue mix with 1 part ryegrass, for those who are interested), and i covered it with a finely ground compost mix. then i watered it all to get it started! i may have a few "sproutling" pictures in a few weeks!

quite frankly, i feel like this:

or maybe like i was hypnotized by this beautiful young lady:

luckily, we are having a low-key afternoon with The Little Mermaid & snacks! if they were up for the playground, i might fall over. : )

backyard transformation- part 1

my husband and father spent the entire day saturday working in our new backyard. to be honest, i figured they would clear the vines & brush away, maybe move the rocks into a pile. i CANNOT believe how much they accomplished! i think the pictures say it better than i ever could! enjoy...

BEFORE

(view from back steps- building on right is the garage)

BEFORE

(view to the left of the back steps- note the large pine tree in the middle of everything)

BEFORE

(looking towards the garage- back steps on the right. messy!)

AND THEN THE BOB CAT ARRIVES!

Everyone loved driving the bobcat- well, all the men. i enjoyed painting ALL day. but it was fun to watch them playing- i mean working- with the big machine all day!

and then the chainsaws came out...

bye bye pinetree!

and before i knew it, the drains for our future patio were going in...

this is a little better view of the work they did in the backyard- the regrading work looks so good! i know it doesn't look like much, but a few months ago you couldn't see the neighbors for all the brush. i'm SO happy!(oh, they built that fence a month ago, too! don't be jealous of my handy husband & awesome daddy!)

so now i have to aerate & overseed the mud pit- i mean backyard.

stay tuned for further developments! : )

dumb...

i erased my profile from my blog accidently. i feel dumb- it should not be this hard to keep an online "journal" of my family & my home! i can't make it look cute without spending more time on it than i would like... grump grump complain complain grump.

and that's all i'm going to say about that.