Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Voila! Before and Afters

With my father-in-law's 90th birthday approaching and friends and family coming in from all around, I've been feeling a little self conscientious about the house, most especially Paul's study...you'll see why in a moment. Now there wasn't anything wrong with my powder room, it was a pretty color of dark putty if not a little dark. But ever since I was at Julia's house a couple of weeks ago and saw her fab bathroom with its fab paint job, I've been wanting to try the technique which she told me was easy. So after receiving very slow, simple instructions from her via email, I went after it. What I didn't read between the lines when she said it's simple and easy was that she'd left out the "F" word-fun. It should have read, "It's easy and simple but it's no f***ing fun". I love to paint but this was quite a challenge. By the time I was finished I was happy, at first just because I was finished, but then I was happy with the results. You can decide for yourself below...
...how many times have I posted photos of my smoking baby head? You win a book of matches if you can tell me.
I know it's not politically correct to show a toilet but I have to. Above the toitie are a couple of souvenirs from Oella Mill before it was gutted which make them sentimentally fun for me. The other reason is to show off my black and white striped toilet seat; got it at Uncle Bobby's garage sale years ago for $1. I have to check Nene and Mellie's bags every time they leave as they both threaten to steal it. There's going to be some kind of court battle when I'm gone for this one.
Just a wall pic to give you an idea of how the treatment looks. I've always wanted that Chocolat look...you know...the movie. Love the movie, LOVE J.D., but also love the way her bakery looks which this kinda turned out like. I used the same robin's egg blue that I have in other rooms and, on top of the putty, it really has that naturally worn look.
This was the project that had to be. When we built the house 12 years ago we made the mistake of going along with the plan of having carpet in the family room and what was supposed to be the formal living room but we've always used it as Paul's study. After his last cat died we had to have the carpet taken out of and wood put in the family room as she "used" the hell out of it in her last days. By that time we had figured out that carpet is gross. The last room downstairs with carpet was Paul's study. Now my dog has "used" the hell out of the carpet for every bodily function imaginable plus, as shown above, she had scratched a big area all the way to the sub floor.
Here's the perp...see she can't even look at me she's so ashamed. As if to bring the point home to the floor salesman-CAUTION: MAY BE TOO GROSS FOR SOME-she threw up cat shit on his floor sample. He could already clearly see the stains and the hole but she just had to prove that she was the one responsible. That was a special time for me.
But look what we have now!! Wood! Beautiful, low-maintenance wood. Paul's not seen it yet as he's been out of town all week...yes, I like to have all the fun...umm...work to myself.
It's almost as if normal folks live here and not a bunch of hokies with goats running around inside. Paul has the "fanciest" room, I guess the most formal, since all his furniture is new and picked out all at once as opposed to my style of curbside re-do's and hodge podge and smoking baby doll heads. He's more grown up.
But I added my little quirky touches like the photo of his grandparents with his grandfather's wallet next to the silver tray with cordial glasses and Sambuco.
Last, but not least, since the swap Christmas tree came down I've got my swap treats spread all around in fun places, lots I'm wearing (even some you're not really supposed to wear). Here are some hanging on the "flowers" and perched on the shelf. And below are some gathered.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Must See JustAskDoug From YouTube

For your best viewing experience pause the music playlist on lower right then pause the video until it fully loads then hit play to view vidie-enjoy!!!! If you love it like I do go to JustAskDoug on YouTube and leave pleasant comments-thanks!

What tha...?

Last night we attended a post-Christmas, Get Even With Santa, party where I knew no one. It turned out to be a blast. Kathy and Dave are fabulous hosts; fun, food, drink, gifts; they had it all. I was lucky enough to pick the number 2 for gift picking and I was even more lucky to have picked the above, apparently a gift that has been seen at Kathy and Dave's annual party for the last several years. Of course I was the only person there who wanted to keep it. When I say keep it I mean I'll not be taking to the party next year either. In case it's hard to tell, it's plastic monkeys, one having a baby the other the doctor mounted on a wood piece with plastic doctor's equipment. There's even a baby that's coming out. Need I say more? It's sooooo me.
When the openings were over, some 50, the number 1, 2, and 3 people get to decided whether or not to keep their gifts or trade with any others. I stuck with my monkeys. Then they did something I've never done before and voted on who was the best sport about what they got "stuck" with as a gift. I got the most votes so I got the additional gift above. Nice red bag, nice 2008 ornament, and nice repro framed vintage card. Inside:
A bottle of Hope. I guess if I drank it all I'd feel hope but when it wore off, since it turned out to be wine and I can't drink wine, I feel well...not at all hopeful. Still a very cool bottle and a totally cool monkey...umm...still don't have a good noun for it...thing. Don't even think about making an offer, it's priceless.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Updates on The Pink Cabbage

Please check out what's new at The Pink Cabbage at http://www.pinkcabbage.blogspot.com/ . We have literally turned the place upside down. Better yet, come on in and see it for yourself.

Meet Sofie and JustAskDoug

Voila, here's Sofie, Kristen's bff sitting with Justin New Year's Eve in Austin. She's the reason for the trip there and what a great reason. She was gracious enough to take us all in including the three dogs we brought with us and all the kids were gracious enough to take Mom along with all their fun friends to play that night and then down to The Drag New Year's morning for breakfast. As beautiful inside as out, wow, just like Justin...what a coincidence! They are just friends...brother (Lucas) and bff (Kristen) are the couple.
When we left Austin we stopped in Salado to meet (well, they all knew each other, I was meeting) Sofie's dad, Doug, and step-mom, Carol. Now I had already experienced Doug and Carol through YouTube and was a huge fan of them and their creation of JustAskDoug. If you don't click on there and give them a try you are sorely missing out; they are hilarious in their dry, droll vacation clips...you just gotta watch them all...now!
Doug makes his living as a dentist and Carol sang opera in New York. Small world: Carol knows the opera singer who used to live two doors down from us, but you can imagine how small the opera world is, not many make it that high. Doug wanted me to make sure that the dead plant was in the picture-you MUST see their vidies to see why. Leaving comments on their YouTube site is most appreciated also. Yet another fabulous experience while I was there-Sofie, Doug, and Carol.