Sea, Sally, Run!

old chair, new chair, orange chair, cool chair...

2011-03-30T13:33:00.000-04:00

Hey there, long time so post, i know. I wanted to show you my latest addendum to the house. This chair was my grandmother's, like most of the stuff in our house. I've been waiting to have it recovered. The time came.... :)

You can see that the two chairs (see the channel back re-do here) now look great together. That room is finally coming together. :)

Spring

2011-03-13T21:20:00.000-04:00

I've been busy making home feel good these last few days.... Here are a few photos.

Happy Spring (rabbit time, some of my favorite time of the year)!

Ciao!

Remodeling

2011-02-17T11:18:00.000-05:00

Posting suspended due to some internal remodeling. Will let you know when projects are back up and running. Blessings.

ciao.

Delicious Prints Pictures

2011-02-07T20:18:00.000-05:00

I promised I'd photograph the prints!

all of them together

they cover about 2/3 of the dining table

Below are a few of my favorites.

Orange Duck and Chicken Breasts Florentine

Chicen Biryani

Homemade Yoghourt

Grape Leaves

Marinated Tomatoes

Cherries Jubilee

Carrot Bread

Stuffed Eggs

Blueberry Tart

Mayonanaise

Paella Valenciana

Yoghourt Crepes

Apple Sauce (clever art with it, eh?)

And this is the extra print. I want to sell it.... We'll see what happens.

Until next time, Ciao!

loving...

2011-02-07T19:15:00.000-05:00

So, I've been trying to broaden my online reading. Jumping from blog to blog is really fun, but sometimes not as inspiring as I'd like for it to be. Although, I've run into an exception. Today I found the website GOOP. I'm sure I'm the last person on earth to know about the site, but I'm loving exploring it.

One of the sites that Gwenyth (we're on a first name basis, don't you know) is IOMOI. They customize just about anything for a small (rather large) fee. Their designs are impeccable. Loving what I see! These are designs for a line of canvas bags.... adore!

what shall i personalize when I win the lottery?

ciao!

visual change

2011-02-07T18:29:00.001-05:00

So sorry for all of the visual changes on the blog. I've been having difficulty with backgrounds and titles, but I think I'm set now, for a while, anyway....

Bare with me.

Delicious Prints

2011-01-26T15:33:00.000-05:00

Before A and I got married we were thrown showers :). At one of our showers thrown by friends of A’s parents the hostess had a collection of art in her kitchen that I noticed. Noticed actually, is probably not the most correct word. More like, OGLED. They were prints of recipes with a small piece of art on them. I asked about them, trying to act non-chalant, as if I was just commenting about any other nice feature. But, deep inside a fire had been lit. She told me that they came from a collection printed in Berkley, California in the 1960s called 30 Recipes Suitable for Framing. The recipes were by Alice Waters and the art was by David Goines.

Alice Waters is known for pioneering California cuisine and was a figure in the cooking organic and locally movement in the sixties. Her recipes are very good, and unique, from what I’ve read (I’ve yet to make any). She’s also know for her resturaunt Chez Panisse, in Berkley.

David Goines was an artist that studied in California. He explored art, typography, calligraphy, and authored some books. He has been a close friend of Alice’s since they were both teenagers. Every year he does an anniversary poster for Chez Panisse.

I began some research about these 30 recipes and was a bit disheartened. I “googled” and found that mos sets of this collection were archived or privately owned. They have not been re-printed since their original print in the sixties. I was seeing that collection after collection had been sold for around $2,000. Some for more. Being a not-even-married-yet gal, with no money, and no trust fund my chances were looking slim.

I emailed the owner of the set I had seen and informed her of my research. She was tickled to know she had a collectable set on her hands (in great condition, I might add). I looked over the next two year religiously. Amazon had single prints at $75 a piece and I had thought that I would collect this set over the next 30 years or so.

Flash forward to November 2010, almost two and half years after my first siting of the infamous prints. I got an email from a gal in Portland, Oregon asking if I had found a set yet. She said she has seen a posting of my from 8 monthes before that I was looking for a set. I have to be honest, here. I have NO recollection of making an inquiry or a post about these prints. It’s very possible that I did, I just don’t remember it. I told her I was still looking for them, and ask what she had. She emailed me that she had 29 of 30 of the recipes.

Ah, my excitement was growing!

However, I knew the prices I had seen and knew that this interaction would probably lead to a conversation that ended with, “I can’t afford them, but thanks for contacting me anyway.” She sent me the photo above of the two prints and offered to sell all 29 for $10 a piece. That’s right, let’s do the math $290.00, basically a 10^th of what I had been seeing for more than two years. I tried to be calm, composed. She asked if I could come see them, I obviously couldn’t. BUT, my dear old roomate lives in Portland! So, I begged her to go and see them. I offered the seller $5.00 a piece with the understanding that I would have to pay for shipping. She counter offered $6.00 a piece and she’d handle shipping, assuming my friend thought they were in good shape and that I wanted them. Right after Thanksgiving my friend went to see them and said they were all in great shape and more beautiful than she remembered. :)

BE STILL MY BEATING HEART!

They were purchased at $6.00 a piece! I received 29 prints four days later. They are all in wonderful condition. There is one set of duplicates, Chocolate Mousse, but can you blame whoever these were. You can never have too much chocolate! So, 28 of 30 ain’t bad for! I sincerely hope she doesn’t ever look into how much they were worth! I would hate for her to feel badly about our sale! I plan to sell my duplicate Chocolate Mousse.

The pieces are all unframed and by their nature, odd sizes. I am sure I will spend the next many years framing them all. Right now, I am planing to adorn my dining room walls with the delicious recipes and delightful art!

So happy for the find! I thought I had uploaded pictures of them, but haven't yet. I'll do it soon and post them. Tell me about your great finds!

Bird Brained Ideas...

2011-01-22T12:15:00.000-05:00

Perhaps, I’m going a little bird brained.

I saw these pictures in Mebane at a cute little shop called the Curious Peddler last spring. I really like the prints, but wasn’t wild about the way it was matted and framed - not to mention that I didn’t have $65 to spend on EACH (there were two). I asked the owner if I could purchase just the prints, or if she could order the prints for me. The person selling them was called and turned out to be an old neighbor. She said she’s look for more prints, but didn’t know if they could be found. I pretty much discarded the thought and started looking for similar things to put in our living room.

I was visiting Mebane over Christmas and saw our old neighbor. She said she have been meaning to drop the pictures off at my parent’s house, she wanted me to have them! They had not sold and she knew that I really loved them. What a dear, I can’t tell you how suprised and blessed I felt (feel)! So- Brought them home, colors didn’t so much match what I was going for. This is the room…

So, I knew I’d paint the frame and perhaps rematte the picture. Well, I got pretty zealous about getting it done. They were finishes framed pictures, so I ripped them apart. Eeeek. I feel pretty bad while I was doing it, but once they were a part, I knew I had options. Frames got painted the same as the Nest Frames.

So, I thought I’d remove the larger matte and cut a new one, but the two were glued together. Whoops. That idea wasn’t going to work unless I didn’t use either of the mattes. So, I thought, “mHmmm, why don’t I try painting the matte and see what happens.” The large matte warped a little while it was wet, but settled when it dried. :)

Imagine my happiness! Cage prints in with my nest prints!

More to come soon… Ciao!

Long, lost, blog...

2011-01-21T21:28:00.000-05:00

Well, After being out of the blogging scene for almost two full months, I’m back.

I’ve been a little under the blogging weather and feeling uninspired. I don’t have the creative engery to post whatever I like on the internet, I don’t really feel like a bonified creative expert and feel strange just posting things that don’t personally apply to me. So, I’m currently resigned to only blogging about stuff that has happened, is happening, or will happen in this Moyer Manor. Well, I think so, anyway.

We have made a little bit of progress in the house. Not much, but some stuff worth posting. The furniture cart is la fine!

A finally (iloveyou) sanded, waxed, and reassembled the fine piece of furniture. I have to say that it’s a close second to the dining table to my favorite piece of furniture in the house, now. We bought some paste wax at an Ace Hardware (natural color) and tried it on the furniture cart as the first coat. It was sort of dull and light, boring.

So, we added the Artitalia wax that came with the dining table. It was dark and rich. Ah, it did the number! It grabbed on all the hang up and snags in the wood and gave the wood so much more depth than before. A did paint the hardware after he took it all off the wood, but really only so that it wouldn’t rust as time went on. He used a flat, black, metal, spray paint.

We’re enjoying the furniture cart turned coffee table and love the look! Nothing better than spending less than $125 on something that sells for over $900 on restoration hardware... So, we are pleased and love the outcome!

Thanks A, for doing all the work!

Another blog this weekend... Promise!

Ciao!

Christmas in Pine Grove

2010-12-08T23:37:00.001-05:00

We read a lot of books growing up. Both of my parents did a good job instilling the importance of literature. Christmas books were (are) treasured at the Dail house and there are many to pour over. I thought I’d share a few with you over the next weeks.

My personal favorite of all time-

The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree

by Gloria Houston, Illustrations by Barbara oConey

I really can’t say enough about this story. It takes place in the mountains of North Carolina in the tiny village of Pine Grove. Ruthie is a sweet little girl who’s father is taken away by the war and it’s up to her and her mother to deliver the village’s Christmas tree. A beautiful story of little and big dreams coming true. The story is about being thankful for what you have and appreciating life’s goodnesses. Barbara Cooney does such a lovely job of showing off the characters and the scenery, really some of my favorite illustrations, ever. I highly suggest this read for adults just as much as wee ones! You can purchase it here, at Quailridge Books and Music.

twinkle & bling

2010-12-07T17:30:00.003-05:00

In decorating the house for Christmas there have been so many things that I’ve thought about blogging on. Obviously, all the nostalgic stuff is tempting. Old ornaments, adornments of yesteryear. However, yesterday I recalled a not so pleaseant at the time, but hysterical memory now, event.

Holiday and religious traditions can be wonderful to bring a new member of the family into. When A and I got engaged it was right before Christmas, on the 21^st and we had been traveling, so we didn’t spend any time prepping for the holidays. The next year, we spent much of the holiday separate, as it would be our last Christmas with our immediate family alone. Our first Christmas together we had been in our house only about 10 days when we started decorating for Christmas. We agreed that like our families before us, we would have a live tree. We, like our families before us, would open presents on Christmas day, with our extended family. We, too, would eat too much holiday food

Here, I insert caution for the lovebird reader. A holiday argument ensues. We had neglected to discuss before we got the tree what kind of lights we would be using. We clearly had different ideas about what our Christmas tree needed to look like. I had grown up with white lights on the family tree, and when my brother and I had been younger, we had colored lights on cedar. A grew up with colored lights. Neither of us felt very flexible. I remember us going back and forth, and neither of us having budged at all. I thought white were classier, he thought colored were more fun. I thought we looked more grown up with white, he wondered why we needed to look like grown ups. And the discussion turned into a teeny annoying light that won't like no matter how you plug and screw it in. We went to Lowes and battled the isle. I am embarrassed to say now, that I fumed and acted like the baby I felt like. We bought colored, white, and the c-7 colors (the big lights).

I convinced him to try white lights and we'd go from there. A insisted on putting the lights on, it is his job at his family's house. He started with white, I was so happy. Not 45 minutes later, he had pulled all of the white off. He then put tiny colored light on, I was not happy. So, we decided to try the big bulbs. For you colored light folks out there, I must apologize for my rigid stance on the matter. I was party being obstinate (big of me to admit it, right?). I really don't have a problem with colored lights on other folk's tree. The large lights lit the tree a little differently, but I liked the retro feel to it. A gave in to my whim and let the large lights light the room that first year. We've used the big ones for three years now and I think we are both pretty happy. They say, "Compromise is key." :)

(this is this years tree without the ornaments).

The rest of the pictures are of the house decorated. Momma Dail had a lot to do with it, she's so creative and wonderful! I couldn't have done it without her!

Front Door

Archway into living room from dining room

Sweet little stocking from etsy in foyer

Up the stairs

Half Bath

From Kitchen to Den

You might say our halls are decked... Ciao!

Cri'mas Cards!

2010-11-28T10:54:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in previous posts, I love (all) holidays. Christmas is no exception. One of the details that I love about Christmas is the post. I love checking the mail and getting cards and update letters. Many of our friends send out short notes about what's changed in their lives in the past year. In all of our busy lives it's so nice when folks take the time to update you and say it'd be nice to get together. :) I have been sending out Christmas cards for the last five years or so and I have been writing a little ditty to update folks on our lives (well my life, and then A's when we got married). I've sent out photo cards, and home printed thingys to save money. But I LOVE all that's on the market these days!

Shutterfly does such a great job with simplicity and whim!

not only do I like the card, but I want to eat "lila!"

Such great use of fonts and style. LOVE.

Shutterfly also designs wonderful calendars and other holiday cards. Not to mention their photo books and memorabilia. I have made several calendars and photos books. I have gotten prints, i really just love how quick and affordable they are.

Send me your Christmas Cards!!!!

Ciao!

Words

2010-11-24T17:21:00.000-05:00

I just came across and AWESOME post on Social Secretary's blog. The website is called Wordle and they'll take any set of words and come up with a scrambling graphic for you. I typed in my blog's url and this is what popped out...

Rad, right?! Go do one for yourself!

turning the page.

2010-11-23T23:47:00.000-05:00

I have yet to talk about my slight obsession with books. How I've overlooked this detail can only be attributed to blogging for such a short time. I HATED to read until I was in college. Perhaps because what we were reading wasn't so great. I don't know and I can't really pin down why I didn't like to read, but I didn't. My mom was pretty concerned about my exposer to literature. Good news. My love of reading had a late onset. So anyway.

One of the things I love about reading a great book is the conversations that spin out of the book's material. I have had some of my most unexpected and wonderfully satisfying encounters over books. And not just good book, bad books, short books, long books. I have recently joined a book club and am thrilled to have other people to talk about my books with. Although, I've managed to miss EVERY meeting we've had to far. What a contributor! But, I have read all the books. I thought I'd give a brief review of them...

...was the first book we read together (i use the "together" loosely, as I have yet to meet what must be a great group of readers). I actually chose the book. This novel is a very, very culturally interesting story about twin, Ethiopian boys raised on a funded hospital's grounds. Their mother dies a birth and the father is absent throughout their lives. The hospital's staff raises the boys and guide them through the poverty and intricacies of Ethiopian culture. It's a longish read at over 600 pages, but once you're in, it's worth it.

Out of 5 starts ****

Much shorter book. As the title boasts, it's irresistible, and ingenious. I had a pretty hard time putting this down. The characters are poignantly real, and lovable. You're forced into the story lines of the book with deep conviction, humor, and compassion. Krauss does a lovely job pulling things together. READ IT, it's a quickie!

*****

I really can't say enough about this book. My little review will do the story terrible justice. I have read a lot of books, a lot of historical fictions. But this book swept me off of my feet. I found myself sucked in and begging for the next page. Story is about an orphaned, German girl in Nazi Germany, and is narrated from the character "Death." Yes, as in, the grim reaper. This book in categorized as a young adult novel, not usually my favorite gig. However, it's written with care and deep thought. Zusak's use of language is next to none. I have never seen language used as descriptively accurate as in this book. Read this book. PERIOD. I have to be honest, it made me cry, a little.

**********!!!!!

Haven't read it yet. I've never read a graphic novel before. But a society run by women sounds like a great place to start. :)

Other books that are worth mentioning that are on my mind right now....

all of these... worth picking up somewhere. Read some good books? TELL ME! I love to get new ones on the list!

Ciao!

"Birthday Buns"

2010-11-22T19:46:00.000-05:00

Hello all! Sorry it's been a while, last week was busy.

So to put it plainly, I LOVE BIRTHDAYS. I love all birthdays. I love little people's birthdays and big people's birthdays. And I REALLY love "people that I love" birthdays. A turned 26 this past Saturday, and as you can imagine, I have been thinking for quite sometime about how we'd ring it in. I wanted to show A how much I love :) him, but keep it relatively low budget. Plus, he's super low key, and not a big gifty kind of guy.

Since his birthday is always the week of Thanksgiving, he usually gets a spice cake or pumpkin pie for his cake. I wanted to do something a little different this year. I embarked on the journey of homemade, from scratch cinnamon buns. Tenderly referred to this day as, "Birthday Buns!"A loves yummy food of all varieties, but had mentioned that his mom made great cinnamon buns and I had never made them. His birthday seemed like the perfect time to try. My recipe said the dough needed to rise between 1-2 hours. So, if we wanted to have the fresh, delicious buns for breakfast I was going to need to be Lindsey on the spot and spring out of bed at 7 am, just to get started (on a saturday morning? at least I had good intentions). I made it out of bed by 7:30 and happily skipped downstairs. Whipped up the dough (no actual whipping involved) and let it rise in front of the wood-stove, the perfect heat producer for rising dough. Went back to bed for 1.5. hours, rolled out of bed and eagerly went to check the dough. It was supposed to have doubled in size. Something about me sleeping during that time had be worried that surely since I hadn't been nagging it to death, it wasn't going to have done what it was supposed to have. Wrong. It had MORE than doubled in size. It was lovely! I seperated the dough into two sections so I could handle it better.

Then I rolled out and brushed some melted butter on it....

Then I spread the magic that is brown sugar and cinnamon. {Now, I have to say as I was doing all of this I got very nostalgic. The smell of yeast, then rolling the dough out, then the cinnamon. I don't know, it was all very homey and precious feeling, somehow. Call me a "cheese-ball." I know I am.}

Then I'd rolled her up.

Chopped them up, then I put them in a round baking dish, and let them rise another half and hour in the pan.

Then I baked for 15 minutes. Turned them out, and started to ice them with homemade cream cheese icing.

I made the icing thick, because I like it that way, but making it thin and drizzling would have been prettier. Look what a pretty design the cinnamon and sugar left in the dish. Prettiness!

I also scrambled eggs and fried a little bacon. I know, healthy as heck, right?! Eeeek. But it's a birthday, no need to be health conscience for that one day, right?!

A got a manssage from moì. I gave him one a few years ago and he has always raved about it, so we've repeated the past couple of years. So nice to have a man who knows the value of a good massage! Oh, and the cinnamon rolls... they were delicious! I have to say for 3/4 whole wheat they were light and fluffy, although a tad sweet. I'll cut the sugar when I roll next time. But overall, lovely birthday breakfast of buns!

Ciao!

HELP

2010-11-17T21:48:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the off-kilter title. I can't figure out how to make it in the center since I changed the width of the blog. Anybody have any suggestions? HELP!

Fa la la la la la...

2010-11-17T13:44:00.001-05:00

Some of you may know, but I am somewhat impulsive. However I have been exercising creative and Christmas restrain on a particular project since last Christmas. Last holiday season I was browsing Etsy for decorations and came across a wreath that lit a little pilot light my crafty heart. I have tried to find the gal who made this wreath, recently and I can't find her on Esty anymore- I totally wanted to give her credit! These were the two that really inspired me.

She used all vintage ornaments and some holiday ephemera. So, after pining over these two, at $65 and $85 a piece, I thought I'd start collecting some ornaments and see where they took me. My m-i-l, mom, and aunt were very helpful and went around while antiquing, collecting ornaments for me. We collected these over several months.

This is the original batch or ornaments collected early in 2010. This is what I started with. I totally thought I had MORE than enough ornaments to do an 18" wreath. Ha.

Ok, so I decided to use hot glue so that it would set up fast and allow me to work quickly and not have to hold the ornaments in place for too long. Turned out later, that I'm not so sure it was the best option, but I still don't know what would have been better. Anyway. Here's how the process went...

At this point we had a halting period. I ran out of big (well, larger) ornaments, I was down to little filler balls. I was a tad deflated, but decided to persevere the next day. A friend of mine, and fellow vintage lover introduced me to a lovely, wonderful, delightful shop called Suzanna's. In love, I'm in love this this place. Suzy, the gal who runs it could NOT have been more helpful and hospitable! I was seriously blessed by her generosity of time she spent with me finding ornaments and her generosity in how she much of a discount she gave me at the register. Really, I can't say enough. Not to mention that the BEST of the ornaments on my wreath came from her shop. Ah, typing this out makes me want to go back there, NOW!

Here's what came from Suzanna's...

And here's the completed dazzling, gaudy, Christmas adornment....

I am not really sure how I am going to hang this. The way it's hung in the picture is with upholstery thread strung around the whole thing. Yeah, ghetto. I didn't attach any sort of wire or string to the styrofoam before I started gluing... smart, right, I know. I think I might use it as a centerpiece for the dining room table. I currently have it there with a bunch of brass candle sticks with white candles in the middle. It's really loud and with all the ornaments on it, it's about 24" wide in all it's glory. I think on my next one I want less red and more silver and pastel colors. But overall, not bad for a first try. :) I am taking orders. I can get them done before Christmas if you tell me soon!

Ciao!

Help!

2010-11-11T13:50:00.000-05:00

Don't you agree that being a blogging diva would be one great job. Other than being permanently strapped to your computer, life would be good. In following the lead of my dear friend Corinne I've decided try to get as many followers by January 1, 2011.

She's shooting for 100, I think, just to round the numbers off I'll shoot for 111 followers by 1.1.11. :) HELP me! Tell your friends! Tell your family members!

And thank you veterans for your dedication and commitment to freedom!

Ciao!

Sand n' Sun

2010-11-10T10:09:00.000-05:00

I have been fortunate enough to spend the last three weekends at the beach. I know, what a bum life I live. My husband would argue that I really need to be working, but this is just the way it has worked out. So we're able to go during the off season since no one is renting the house, pretty much whenever we want. Hence, three weekends in a row.

The first weekend was after Furniture Market, a much needed break.

Sadie and Sally obviously enjoyed their time together.

The second weekend A and I got away for a much needed break (on his part, he's been diligently working while i am not making money).

Sally.

Ahh, can't get enough of this beauty!

The third weekend was a family reunion of sorts. My mom, her cousins, and me all headed down for a some girl time. It's alway a crazy, funny weekend when we all get together. This trip was no exception!

momma dail.

"grown sister" Judy, who is an AMAZING cook!

my Teena

all of us. wonderful.

Spoiled. I am just plain spoiled. Each weekend was wonderful! I loved every minute. I was created for the beach, that's all there is to it. I have to go get ready for a dinner party we're having this weekend. To BJ's I go. Until next time, dream of the coast!

Ciao!

Domestic Nesting

2010-11-09T22:09:00.000-05:00

Hey Ya'll! Over the summer I had biggish paycheck and treated myself to some home decor. I browse Wisteria often looking for funky stuff and stuff a little bit off the beaten path. I found a set of english bird nest prints that I fell in love with. I watched them for a while, they were way out of my price range for months. But in August, they went on sale. They had been $99.00 a piece (ha, yeah right!) I was able to get 8 for under $200.00. This was a TOTAL splurge. I can't remember the last time I spent a chunk like that. So anyway, I was so excited for them to arrive. The came in like 3 days and were all I imagined they would be.... except the frames. Really wasn't feeling the plain jane, natural, small frame. It was so unexciting. I let them sit for a while before I put them up because I felt sure I was going to have to modify the frames somehow.

My mom was over the other day and was encouraging me to hang them before I have a dinner party this weekend.... I mentioned my feelings about the frames and she agreed. We talked about having them reframed and knew that I would spend a small fortune. Then she suggested we paint them a fun color and see what we thought. If we still didn't like them, I hadn't lost anything. We ran out to Lowes with three prints in tow and picked a Valspar color - "Sweet Mint." It's really quite lovely! And I feel very happy about the frames and at time, I feel no need to modify them further.

I bought a paint for the walls, also. Maybe I'll get to that before Thanksgiving. Now All I need is daggum slipcover for the sofa. It's a fine shape and all, and for $35 off Craigslist it's ok. But REALLY, I need a nice little slipcover. One thing at a time, though, right!? Anyway- Seems I've been nesting a bit. :)

Ciao!

Conversion kit

2010-11-03T22:35:00.000-04:00

First, let me just apologize for waiting TOO long to post. We've been working on things around here, but I have been out of town for the past two weekends and this coming will make three in a row. :) I can't complain, really. The beach calls my name and I answer sweetly, "Yes, I'm coming, dear!"

I mentioned a few posts back that I was working on a coffee table of Ernie's (g-ma). It sat in her living room for as long as my mom and I can remember. The glass on one side didn't fit quite right. The veneer made you cringe. The stability... well, there wasn't any! I saw a post on Design*Sponge of a before and after table very similar to ours and saved the pictures for later inspiration.

before:

don't mind jack and the reflection of sally :)

I went out and bought cheap, but soft fabric. I chose a white (scary thought, but it's what I really wanted) basket weave fabric with a great hand. I bought some good old Valspar cream spray paint, staples for the gun, 2" foam, batting, three buttons, upholstery thread, and a 2" needle. Everything cost me about $50. :) We decided we'd like the table turned ottoman to be sturdy enough to sit on so A bought steel angle bar to run across the bottom (not pictured). The plywood that we filled the glass holes with were scraps from other projects.

progress begins:

And Voila!

after:

I really love it! After a bruised hand from the staple gun and between me and Abe, a few pricked fingers, I am very satisfied. So, as far a conversion kit goes what you need is: US! You dig?

Furniture Market

2010-10-17T21:32:00.000-04:00

I am in High Point this week and will certainly be pretty blog m.i.a. But I wanted to briefly share what COOL things are out. I always look forward to the creativity and ingenuity that goes into redesigning each showroom and new furniture. Y'all know, I have practically grown up in High Point and know most of these places like the back of my hand. So, seeing each space recreated every six months is inspiring. Pictures to follow. Should be posting photos most of the week, but won't have to really update with a lot of words.

Ahhhh, let's go get inspired!

Ciao!

Paper make me pretty!

2010-10-14T12:41:00.000-04:00

So sorry I've been away! Gotta good little buzz of business going on around the house the past week or so. Some interviewing for me, home projects, house guests, and baking. A's busy working as hard as ever. We're pleased to announce that our new wood stove was tried out last week when we had a few nights in the 40's and the house was warm! A worked it out so that the warm air from the den is being pulled to the rest of the house. The den was definitely the warmest room, but the other rooms were warm enough, too. We're figuring out where we're going to put all this wood that we'll be needing all winter. A's folk had a tree cut down and we're bring all of that over here. A thinks it's enough for at least two winters. I really have NO idea, but, let's just say there are enough cut pieces of wood for 4 8'x8' rows of it in our back yard, not to mention the small bit we're gonna keep in the garage. It's a LOT of wood. A wants to TARP these 4 rows- Really? Tarp? How Hillbilly, backwoods can we go- wood stove or not!? Having some second thoughts.....

We've been hard at work on not only the wood stove, but I have been working on a coffee table in our house. I've been wanting to give it some love and finally got inspired to do something about it. I'll have pictures as soon as Abe put the final touches of his portion of it.

But I thought today I'd share one of my weaknesses. As ridiculous as this sounds, I am starting to think about the holidays. The retailers do such a good job shoving it into my head that I need to get a hare's start on christmas gift ideas. I really LOVE to give a good gift and HATE to give an average one. So starting early lets me get creative and often save money by making things or not having to buy items in their peak season. Part of what I love about gifts is wrapping them. I'm a box and paper kind of girl. Bags- take a hike. My mom jokes because I always LOVED to open gifts she tries hard not to put any of my gifts in bags. I mean really, wouldn't you rather have the paper and bow than bag and tissue? Well, my intense feelings about these things have sent me into a paper fetish. I love ALL kinds of art paper, print paper, fiber paper, japanese paper, PAPER! I got into it in Florence because there were all the wonderful paper shops everywhere.

**Warning** This is possibly the most frivolous collection to start. Reason: you wrap, cut, tape, rip, throw away. Most great paper is no less than $3.00 a pop and usually only big enough to wrap a medium sized box, like a shirt box from j.crew.

I was looking at the trends for this fall and winter and fell in love, again.

LOVING chairs isn't the only reason I'd purchase multiples of this paper- the colors are great! any girl would want to save this paper, right?

Definitely paper I would wrap gifts to the men or kids in the family in...

Could this look anymore richly italian? I know I am partial, but the colors are great!

This feathery gypsy print has me pining for it! Wrapped with a dark brown bow or emerald green ribbon...

LOVE the birds in the trees!

I really love the idea of this paper, but here's a problem. When you're wrapping the snow probably can't really be at the bottom of the package- so will the gift look sorta strange?

How could you not love seeking Prancer prance on your package?

Not a great picture, but the paper is wonderful!

And here's the last one! A lot of these are Snow and Graham and there are some other companies in here, too. I failed to look at the brands when I saved them! So sorry! Until next time, Ciao!

This Might be my favorite that I've seen this season so far. So elegant and perfect colors for christmas. Oh , to wrap a BUNCH of different sized packages in this and display on my new big table....

Whirligigs and Whiz-bangs!

2010-09-29T22:10:00.000-04:00

Most of you know that I love almost all kinds of adornments; home accessories, hair accessories, and feet accessories. It doesn't stop there. In college, my roommate Lyndsey introduced me to dafont.com. It's a website that features hundreds of free fonts that you can download to your computer and use in your programs on your computer. I love browsing through all the new fonts and downloading new, beautiful, or funky fonts. Last night I started working on a calendar project and decided that I needed to look at some new fonts.

I have to say, I get a kick out of some of the names of these fonts...

"Helzapoppin"

"Holiday Home"

"iarnold"

"Jellyka"

"kissmekissmekissme"

what fun right? hopefully I'll finish this calendar and be able to post the creation when it's done.

ciao!

Some people call today "tasty tuesday"

2010-09-29T00:03:00.000-04:00

I really love to cook, and I REALLy love to bake. I try to keep myself educated on the best ways to prepare our food and what ingredients are nutritious. My in-laws gave me a great way to improve most of my baked goods: The Cornell Flour Formula!

Basically- you add

1 tablespoon soy flour

1 tablespoon non-fat dry milk (if your recipe doesn't already call for milk)

1 teaspoon of wheat germ

to the bottom on one cup of the flour of your choice. This formula creates a protein, obviously improving the nutritional value to your baked goods. I use it in almost ALL my baking. The only time I've found that I don't love it is in cookie dough, because I like to eat the dough raw. The soy flour gives raw dough and batter a different flavor that I don't really like. Other than that, I don't ever notice a difference in flavor in the finished goods. Whole Foods and Earth Fare always have soy flour that you can purchase in bulk, the wheat germ is in the cereal isle in a glass jar, and the non-fat dry milk is in the baking isle. It's a formula worth trying!

One of the recipes that seems to get used at least once a month in our house is Banana-Nut Bread. Making it at home reminds me of my momma and her yummy homemade treats. I have taken a couple of recipes over years and come up with a recipe that works great for us! Note that I use the cornell formula, but its not in my recipe below.

Banana Nut Bread - yields 2 small loafs (8" x 4") and 1 dozen muffins

1 cup butter (though you could use shortening and it works as well)

1 2/3 cup sugar

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups bread flour

4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

4 eggs, beaten

5-6 very ripe bananas

2/3 cups yogurt or milk

1 cup nuts of your choice (I love pecans)

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup coconut

Cream butter and sugar together, add eggs. Mix flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Add flour mixture to butter. Add yogurt and bananas. Mix well. Add chips, nuts, and coconuts (you can obviously use anything you want, dates, walnuts, raisins etc.) Scrape sides of bowl, mix again. Pour into greased loaf pans and muffin pans or cups. The loafs cook about 40-45 minutes and the muffins about 20-25 minutes. Be sure to use a cake tester to see if they are done. Let cool, turn out of pans, ENJOY!

Winter as we know it...

2010-09-23T09:54:00.000-04:00

Hello! We have been busy little bees here at the house. Nothing huge going on, just getting into the swing of autumn. We are doing some house cleaning out- getting rid of some things that we don't need and someone else might. Love Craigslist!

This is what we're selling- coffee table, weight bench, different colored wooden squares (good for crafts or hook mounts), my beloved mantel, some old bathing suits, printer (in great shape), and an NCSU pillow (much to Abe's dismay).

Now, we have to sell all of those things, but we just bought something on Craigslist, too! Both, Abe and I grew up with wood stoves heating our families home. We've been in our house two years, and though our heating bill has been less than we initially thought, we wanted to lower our bills a bit. A wood stove has moved into our den! I painted our fire place hearth last spring and it's been empty and lonely looking. We'd been looking since last fall, but all we had found was bulky cabin-esk stoves. This one is a little more tailored. Well, as clean looking as a used wood stove gets.

Our den is about 20 feet x 12 feet. It could be the case that this handsome little stove will be heating us right out of the room. We're anxious to see how this baby cranks up, but a tad nervous at it's brut heat. So, in conclusion, if you notice this winter that you feel cold to the bone, or even a bit chilly, pop on over to our house and wear your summer skivvies. We'll be hosting the winter hot house!

In the meantime, enjoy the outdoor heat.

ciao.

ps, if you find that you're interested in what we're selling on craigslist, search mmselling

If you have an itch, scratch it.

2010-09-16T16:05:00.000-04:00

I tell you what, I really consider myself a decent house keeper. But, when Sally got fleas about six weeks ago I felt like it was because our house hadn't been cleaned properly.

We keep her on Advantix and had never had a problem. But boy, when she got those fleas, she really got them! We immediately went to the vet and got capstar to kill the live fleas on her and hoped that the eggs that had been laid would die from the Advantix. Nope. Didn't work. We waited two weeks, she was still scratching up a storm. Our vet suggested Comfortis, it kills fleas in all stages of life. But after they told us about that, they seemed quite concerned. I asked what they were thinking and the two girls said "you probably have them IN your house." Talk about feeling nasty! I said, "No, we haven't seen any. And our cats aren't scratching." Two days later our cats started scratching. Ran out, got more capstar, made sure the cats were up to date on their Revolution and began to contemplate how we were going to get rid of our flea infestation. We looked into "bombing" the house and calling the exterminator. We have YET to see one flea anywhere not on Sally, and that has been weeks. We can't find them on her, on the cats, or in the house.

I was feeling sorta blah about the whole situation. I really didn't want to bomb the house, it can be bad for all the animals and we would have to get them all out of the house for 24 hours. And we didn't want the expense of an exterminator. I briefly mentioned to a friend that we were working through a flea problem and she mentioned that they had gone through it the year before (I have to say, that made me feel better, she's a very put together, clean friend). Her vet told her to go and buy 20 Mule Team Borax, sprinkle it in the corners of your rooms and in the carpet. You're supposed to sweep it evenly across the floor and leave it for a few days. Then, simply vacuum it up. It's an all natural product and non toxic to your pets. The boron breaks down the outside shell of the flea and allows them to then die. :) I'm off to try it this afternoon. Sally's comfortis seems to have worked and neither cat is scratching anymore. I just want to be safe, so Borax, here I come.

Our living room had an identity crisis

2010-09-12T21:16:00.000-04:00

As many of you know we've been in the very tedious process of remodeling our living room. But, I feel as if I should start at the beginning, as "it is a very good place to start."

Last autumn I got a phone call from my mom telling me that a furniture store in HP had a damaged table top from a manufacturer that my parents are the reps for, Artitalia Furniture. She said she hadn't seen it yet, nor did she know which table it was, but was I interested in it... for FREE. I hardly hesitated and said that barring serious and irreparable damage to the table top we would gladly take it. About a week later we were in the possession of a 10 foot long and 4 food wide table top. I must say that as excited as we were, we had some reservations. That's a large table and our dining room dimensions are 11'x13'. As wonderful as it is to have a very nice, expensive table top, what good is it without a base to set it on? Where in Heaven's name are we going to put a table like that and be able to move around it. In the picture below the table top has just been moved into the dining room, right off the kitchen. My MiL is holding up my Vietri. Just behind her to the right is our bay window. For the table to have fit in the this room we would have had to have one end of the table up against the window and only then, had 3 feet around the table. Needless to say, WAY TOO TIGHT! Hence, our dilemma.

So around christmas time we made do with the cardboarded table top up against the wall in the dining room wall and life was normal in our household. The longer it sat there the less I liked the brown cardboard up against my not so far from cardboard colored walls (the whole house was painted beige before we moved in). Abe came to me with the idea of moving the dining room into the what was then the living room and his office space. The idea made perfect sense, minus the fact that it had NO overhead wiring or lighting in the ceiling. For a functional dining room, one must have a little light to eat by. We agreed that we'd need to add some lighting.

Just after new years I came home and Abe has ripped out our old popcorn ceiling in the living room.

I posted pictures to show the line of progression.

Below, you'll see that the table is sitting on a base. I worked as Furniture Market for Artitalia in exchange for a brand new table base.

This last picture is such a success! The light fixture was a very generous gift from a family friend. She has promised that she'll let me repay her somehow, but has yet to let me. So generous. The two pale pink wing chairs that you'll see we bought off of craigslist. We bought the pair for $50. My plan is to slipcover them in bull denim, with a flounce at the hem. Now that we have the table set up, it's clear that the chairs are a bit low, but we're working on that. We also, as of right now, have NO dining chairs. But,we're working on that, too.

The extra stretcher you see came with the table top and we received a new one with the new base. We plan to hang the extra stretcher on the wall, it's really beautiful. The walls are a darker shade of a the gray we used in the foyer when we revamped that space.

I made a deal with Abe that we would try to finish the room as inexpensively and quickly as possible. Abe did all the work and did an exquisite, wonderful job on EVERYTHING. The date today is September 12th, 2010 and finished the last of things last night. In retrospect "quickly as possible" may need to be better defined next time. But, I hear this is how home projects go, especially when you have a husband who is always working on other people's houses. We'll be getting chairs here in the next little while. They, too, are Artitalia chairs. We're getting 8 side and 2 arm chairs that were rejected due to the wrong fabric going on them. Lucky us. These aren't free, but are a smokin' deal! Not sure if I love the fabric, but I can't really be choosy.

So sorry this was a long post, but this room has been a long time in the making for us. We're totally excited by our handiwork.

Ciao

Let there be light

2010-09-12T17:05:00.000-04:00

When we bought our house it had many things we liked. Some things we didn't know we didn't like until we had lived with it for a few months. One of those things was how our house has small windows and is surrounded by lots of trees. The trees aren't so much the problem, but the combination of trees and small windows makes for a dark interior. A place where we noticed that significantly was our foyer. We had a solid 6 panel door and decided to look into getting some sort of door with a window.

Although, this did help with some light, I was not satisfied with the overall look. Many months later after lots of thinking and research I decided to give those tiny walls a facelift. I chose two very pale grays by Sherwin Williams and decided to on a 12" and 8" stripe with white trim. Let me be clear, I'm not sure I'll ever have any patience for another striped room. It took longer for me to measure, level, tape off, and trim out the tiny room than it did to actually paint.

I have plans to continue the lighter of the grays up the stairs and into the hallway. But our dining room has taken up most of my time. But we're happy with the affect.

I'll be posting again soon!

Ciao!

And the old chair shall be new.

2010-09-10T23:40:00.019-04:00

When my grandmother died Abe and I were blessed to inherit many of her furnishings. We have so many pieces of Ernie around the house. In fact, we have one room that my mom and I refer to as "Ernie's Room" because everything in it is hers. Let me be clear. Our house would be half full if we didn't have her wonderful furniture. We love it. One of the pieces that we've treasured is her channel back wing chair. We've searched and can't find the manufacturer, but as far as we know this piece was made and originally upholstered in the 1950's. My mom and aunt Teena don't remember this chair existing in any other way than how you see it here. Now, as much as I consider myself a lover of all things old, I must draw a line somewhere, right? Perhaps, gold, brown, and avocado green all over floral would be a good place to come to a screeching halt. I honestly never gave any thought to how repulsive the fabric was in my grandmother's living room with the avocado carpets and gold matching sofa. However, I've lost that lovin' feelin'.

this is pretty true to the color. the actual fabric may have been a bit brighter.

I bought some fabric about a year ago that I intended to put on the chairs. For the sake of money and patience we've waited until this very month to move forward with recovering the chair. I am so very pleased to announce that this morning at 7:10 am, the chair was delivered to our house. I chose a backed linen fabric with a gloss sheen. I purchased the fab fabric on super sale for $7.99 a yard (that's right, picture me brushing my shoulder's off about now). I bought a white rope piping for the trim and decided to monogram the teeny footstool. Eeeeek! I love the new, clean, crisp look!

TaaaaDaaaaa!

Classics

2010-08-31T22:32:00.000-04:00

There are all kinds of classic things.

Classic Rock: The Eagles

Classic Jeans: J. Crew Jeans

Classic Fabric: Houndstooth

But, Attention! Attention!

I haven't stumbled upon classics that I've wanted this bad in a long time! These Penguin Classics linen bound books have me swooning! My m-i-l has been helping me with my collection for a couple of months now. My list of "to read" is growing faster than ever. I love a good novel, but I've never been inspired to read classics like this before. I've managed to collect 12, but am still pining for the other 8. Maybe Coralie Bickford-Smith will design covers for all books ever published! How beautiful my shelves will be all colored up and amazingly unique. Can't wait!

Looks like I have some (beautiful) reading to do....Ahhh, can't wait!Jane Austen, Here I come!Ciao!

Let's try this again, shall we?

2010-08-31T00:32:00.000-04:00

OIB Bridge during a lovely sunset

Que Sera Sera...

It's clear that I've been remiss here about blogging. I'm gonna see if I can give this the old college try (again) and do a little better this time.

We've had several people suggest to us that we should be sharing about the projects we're working on. It seems we have about a dozen going on all the time. Between A's work, my design work, and our house, we're plum full of projects to finish or get started on. As I get organized here, I'll post our more recent completions and what we're currently sinking our teeth into.

Speaking of sinking teeth... Sally (the pup) has gone through a serious "rip it up" phase that seems to be coming to and end. One sofa slipcover, three down filled pillows, one heirloom (ouch) quilt, one dog bed, one area rug, numerous "indestructible" dog toys, rope, balls, rags, and panties and I think we're finally at the end. Writing it out like that is a little startling! Any suggestions on REALLY durable toys for chewers?

I have remarked several times in the last few weeks how fast this summer has seemed to fly for me. I seriously can not believe that we've just come home from our final summer beach week. I mentioned to my momma that time seemed to be flying. She said "Honey, you have no idea. It just gets faster everyday." Scary thought, I miss those long days. I am going to try to stretch these last few summer days out as long as I can.

Until next time,

Ciao

Post Easter Delight

2009-04-13T11:06:00.004-04:00

Good Morning!

I just found this wonderful idea on Martha's Whole Living site that I couldn't pass up.... What a great way to organize jewelry. Now, if only I had this beautiful a collection!

Spring cleaning is now upon us and I'm wrestling with what to get rid of now that we've unpacked all of our boxes. Some great tips from the WholeLiving.... "Do you really love it? Do you need it now? Can you imagine yourself or anyone in your family

ever loving or needing it in the foreseeable future?" Mmmmm. I don't know about you, but those are hard questions for me to answer honestly. I feel like I'm really trying to figure out our style and I can't throw anything away unless it's a whopping negative. Abe wanted to put up colored fish in the living room- and that got a big NO from me, but subtle other things leave me throwing around all sorts of styles. Any ideas?

ready, set, run!

2009-04-11T15:16:00.005-04:00

Hello!

Here's the virgin post and I'm a little excited about this. I'm hoping to really get going on the whole blog scene. I guess we'll see how that goes. For now, thought i'd give you the skinny on what I plan to chat about on here. the title: Sea, Sally, Run!, is really quite appropriate for me,

you see. Of all regions that I've travelled to so far, i love the seashore most of all. Sally is our precious pup who above all things, keeps us on

our toes (we're deeply in love with her)! Lastly, "run" seemed the best verb to describe my life as of now. I'm constantly exploring new trends, seeking life guidance, and looking to learn new ways to love the wonderful people in my life (Abraham, my husband most often).

I work in the home furnishings bisnazz as a manufacturing representative for several furniture companies. I work for a company called JS Dail & Associates, which just happens to be my parents' company. This business is constantly changing and who knows what we will or won't

have in our bags tomorrow. Overall, I love this industry, it's refreshing and exciting to be

watching style and fashion trends and to be on the cutting edge of home furnishing style. I have the pleasure of traveling all over, from Virginia though South Carolina.

I thought for this first entry it might be good to post a little shot of my Abe and me.

Here are few photos of our little Sally (she was born in late Dec, so we're looking at photos at about 3 months...

Ok, well I think that wraps it up for me today... tune in tomorrow for some Easter Uploads!