Ever since moving into my house last July one of the things I couldn’t wait to replace was the shoddy old kitchen faucet. It took nearly a year, but with the help of my mom and stepdad (okay, mainly my stepdad) I can call it finished! I love the new faucet’s gooseneck shape and the pulldown hose feature. There are two buttons on it that allow you to flip back and forth between stream and spray and needless to say, well, I kind of feel like a rockstar in the kitchen now! If you like it as much as me you can check it out here. One more project done and in the books!
PS: Sorry for the bad lighting in the photos – the weather was all over the place yesterday!
Lately I’ve been hearing some mumbled meows around the house. From what I can gather there’s a little bit of passive aggressive behavior going on (ignoring the litter box in favor of other areas and who knows what else) due to lack of blog fame.
Some other blogger’s pets (Paco, Morran, Chuck and nameless others) get screen time and, well, Roxy and Peanut don’t. I need to remedy this asap for the sake of my carpeting, so I’ll skip right to the introductions.
Name + Origin: Roxy, after the clothing line for surfers, natch How We Met: given to me by my mom’s neighbors – straight from a farm in Arkansas! Birthday + Sign: August 10 + Leo Hobbies: sleeping, cleaning herself, hacking up hairballs from previous activity, flopping, chattering Likes: lasers, bubbles, salty snack foods Dislikes: when Peanut tries to get some lovin’, strangers Arch-nemesis: my mom’s cat, Jack
Name + Origin: Peanut, the vet named him after a childhood pet How We Met: adopted from Roxy’s vet after being abused and abandoned Birthday + Sign: July 4 (approx.) + Cancer Hobbies: keeping watch over the yard, acting as a garbage disposal for unwatched food, fetch, playing in water (I promise he’s a cat) Likes: toys, bird watching, eating peoples’ hair, attacking Roxy Dislikes: dairy, wearing hats, the doorbell Arch-nemesis: the vacuum
So now, hopefully, we have all that cleared up. Welcome to Design Crush, Roxy and Peanut. You make my every day so much better.
This small china cabinet sat in my grandparents’ basement for a good 40 years before I got my hands on it. How it got there is another story: my dad found it waiting to be picked up by the garbage truck in front of a neighbor’s house. He used it to display his model collection (so cute!) for a few years before it was relegated to the depths of the basement. There it languished and accumulated old carpeting tools and other bits and pieces. And a ream of old typing paper, which is what I remember it most for.
A few years ago I was living in Cleveland and getting ready to move to Oklahoma City. I asked my grandma about the old cabinet in the basement and if she wanted it any longer. My dad drove it up to my apartment in the back of his pick-up and it was mine. And it sat in a garage for almost three years.
I knew something needed to be done to make it presentable (the years in the basement hadn’t been kind), but didn’t think the wood would stand up to refinishing. So painting it was. And glossy black it became. It now houses the majority of my barware collection. I love how the stainless steel pops against the black!
My afternoon was made when the swallow drawing I ordered from Alicia at Ten Dollar Drawings showed up in the mail! She made it more “tattoo-y” than specimen-like for me upon request. I can’t wait to frame and hang it on my gallery wall. (Thanks, Alicia!)
Let’s be honest, there’s aren’t exactly a lot of homages to Pittsburgh out there. At least not gorgeous ones like this Pittsburgh print from JHill Designs. I would have paid full price (I snatched up the medium), but this bad boy is on sale for 20% off through the end of the day in honor of the Steelers beating the crap out of the Cardinals in the Super Bowl last Sunday! Yay. Now I’m homesick.
Piece by piece my house is starting to take shape. Yesterday it was in the form of purchasing a few of these cute – and super soft! – grey stitch pillows for my bed. I love that they have a removable cover for clumsy people like me who are prone to spillage!
As I’m about to post this I just realized that I have yet to show you my home. Any of it. Not the exterior, or the interior or even anything. I promise to get on the ball at the start of 2009 and reveal too much information, more than you’d like most likely. But for now, these teeny, tiny tidbits of my holiday decor will have to satisfy you. I didn’t go all out this year since I’m leaving town so early (December 19 – eek!), but what I did put up are my favorites. Thanks for stopping by my home!
The Tree. I’ve been collecting glass ornaments – mainly pink and clear – for the past few years and this is the first year my tree has been able to sustain itself on glass alone. I’m thrilled with it. And at night, when the lights are on it’s so sparkly and lovely!
The Mantel. I didn’t change everything out just to decorate – the candlesticks on the left, the vase on the right and my For Like Ever print are constants. And that guy in the middle? That’s Herme. I bought him two years ago from artist Brenda Little here in OKC. He stands about 20 inches tall and is entirely handmade. He’s also my favorite decoration – I love the slight grimace on his face (that’s what attracted me to him in the first place!) that most of us feel during the holiday season.
Elsewhere.I love the “ice” covered grapevine wreath that’s hanging over the door to my hall closet. When I first bought it a few years ago I left it out year-round. The Merry star that adorns the door to my garage was a super great deal last year at Target the 26th! This little rolly-poly Santa that sits on my end table is my most fun piece! As you should be able to tell by now, I love vintage Christmas pieces and he fits the bill nicely.
I’m lucky enough to have a spigot in the back of my house and a second one right in the front. My problem? No hose! I think I need either the yellow or purple one. (Thanks, Jeni!) I also thought I’d take a quick minute to update you all on the house progress. Thanks for being interesting and keeping after me about it! Everything is moving along slow, but sure.
Here’s my to do list at the moment: • organize books on shelves in living room • find goldenrod colored sheers for the master bedroom • clear empty boxes out of dining area • put table and chairs in dining area • organize office • hang frames, mirrors, etc. • clean trash out of garage and hose out (see why I need one?!)
1. Painting is hard work. Especially six rooms of painting in two days time. My arms literally felt like they could be in slings, so I’m clearly not cut out for daily manual labor. Needless to say, I harbor a newfound respect for people who paint for a living.
2. People leave one thing when they move out of a house: DIRT. Really gross dirt. Cabinet dirt. Floor dirt. And the worst of all: toilet dirt. *gag*
3. I have a lot of stuff. A. Lot. Of. Stuff. That I can’t wait to go through and purge. Some will end up in the trash, but most will go to Goodwill. I’m happy to say that everyone who helped me paint my little heart out this weekend did not leave empty handed!!
4. I hate tearing down cardboard boxes even more than making them. Seriously – what a pain! Can’t they just magically disappear now that they’ve served their purpose?
5. Cats do not enjoy moving Upon arrival at the new house they spent copious amounts of time under my bed. And in the bathroom and kitchen cabinets. Of course the first night they decided to become curious and roam around making all sorts of noise. Damn nocturnal critters!
6. I can only stand to eat fast food about once every two months. No time, of course, to prep actual meals – you need a kitchen full of pots, pans and utensils to do that – so fast food it is. And even when I opt for the salad I still felt like crap. Can’t wait to hit up the grocery store tonight to stock up!
7. The kitchen is my favorite room. I have more cabinet space than I could have ever hoped for. A refrigerator with an ice maker – which seems small, but is a huge deal to me. And a great triangle set-up between the fridge, stove and sink. Love it!
8. The garbage men are going to work for their paycheck this week. Between the last owner’s trash and my ‘Moving In Trash’ it’s going to be quite the haul of crap. (And that’s not even counting all those boxes I haven’t cut down yet!)
9. I really, really like my new home. And I hope that feeling lasts for at least a few years, because I never want to pack again!!!
10. You guys are freakin’ awesome! Seriously. Thank you so much for and the congratulatory words and wishes. You are my favorite part of this blog.
Ever since moving into my house last July one of the things I couldn’t wait to replace was the shoddy old kitchen faucet. It took nearly a year, but with the help of my mom and stepdad (okay, mainly my stepdad) I can call it finished! I love the new faucet’s gooseneck shape and the pulldown hose feature. There are two buttons on it that allow you to flip back and forth between stream and spray and needless to say, well, I kind of feel like a rockstar in the kitchen now! If you like it as much as me you can check it out here. One more project done and in the books!
