calling all kitchen aids...

I am looking for a helper. someone who doesn't mind painting #$%^& kitchen cabinets. because really, seriously, the girl who loves to paint is sssssssssssssoooooooooooo sick of these things.

okay. whine and cheese served. time to get over it and show you the progress. perhaps these photos will spur me to the finish line, but somehow, i don't think so. it's been......an underwhelming process to say the least.

 i guess it helps a TINY bit to look back...because it was a truly ugly kitchen. photos somehow soften reality, so it doesn't look as bad in the pics as it did in real life. gold-ish paint and wallpaper do not make for a hip place to be.

i did add a little cabinet 'bling' at the end, which i love.

i also love the open shelves...and the nice big window to dead-grassville.

mostly, i like that 'white' means 'clean' in a kitchen.

okay. so it IS a little bit cute.

somebody wanna come over and finish this side of the show?

what you cannot tell from the 'reveal' shots is that the whole bank of cabinets on the stove side is not painted yet, only primed. probably another good saturday of work. but at least it's closer....close....oh crap, it's just not a fun job. try to forgive me for falling short, okay?

 

timing is pretty good, tho, because I can feel some extra time in the kitchen coming on REAL soon :)

back from vacation

this is what my leg looks like.


don't ask.

mostly, because i don't remember/know what happened...doh.

birthday recap

so, the big day was yesterday.

since it was also the last 'vacation' day i'll have in awhile, i got my cabinets stripped of the last bits of grandpa paint. that felt good.

after weeks of debating whether or not to celebrate '50' with a real, actual party, in the end i chickened out. it turned out that the two friends who rescued me from spinsterhood and celebrating alone were exactly what i needed.

well, and apparently i needed a free birthday sombrero, too.

that's not even really a side hug, carey. see how your hand is not actually even TOUCHING?! :)

2 rarely-photographed art girls on an even rarer night out.

i'm so grateful for these two, the ones that i most often pour my soul out to, and share my hopes and dreams with. surprisingly, last night i did some of both. i think a week spent alone was causing me to get a bit more reflective than i even expected.

sigh, it was nice.

i did wake up this morning after a FULL night of silly dreams and a slight hangover from one large watermelon margarita.

so, on we go to this uncharted territory called 50-hood! i am fully expecting good things, and happy to have gotten this far mostly unscathed :)


happy weekend, friends!

projecting

that's what i've been up to.

no, not 'projecting' like thrusting forward.

projecting like 'project-ing' - natch.




this week off is going by very quickly. it's nice to be relaxed, but wow. i want to be even MORE relaxed! ha.


i have been fairly busy. the kitchen is KILLING me. but hopefully i'll have a full reveal by next week sometime. it's going ever so slowly. but still. it's going.

in the meantime, i did one little quickie project.

remember this guy?

i got him in pipestone a couple of years ago. it's great to have an extra storage piece for quilts, etc. he was very very brown, which sometimes, i like.

but now i'm in the mood for a little less brown.

it's hard to show 'true' color with a phone camera. but i do seem to be continuing in my green decorating style. literally. let's paint everything green.

i think the first photo might be closest to the real color. a nice apple-y green. i did my best effort to distress the edges just a tiny bit to let the orange wood show thru...which really makes the orange knobs stand out.

except for if you are color blind. then my whole house looks the same :)


anyway. doing a bit of a social day today, with several 'visits' planned instead of projects. it's good not to forget about people, after all.




happy thursday!

checking in....

so, it's my BIRTH WEEK. thanks to karen, i feel liberated to say that I am celebrating all week long :)


i am home, onto project land, where to be truthful, i am probably happiest.

the weather is GLORIOUS. i plan to sit in my lounger this afternoon and bask. basking is good.

i'll leave you with a few shots of 'up north' in minnesota. it was a quick trip, but a really nice, relaxing one.

Our little cabin near the water.

Isn't the light pretty?

I'm not much of a water person, but the dock was nice.

socks and sweat pants. quite the fashion statement.

sunset on big portage lake.

I loved the sound of the loons and the otherwise quietness.

i have to say, the ipad was a nice touch, too.

pies are my favorite.

i guess you guys already know about my love of pie. i have discussed it in this very place before.

so, no surprise that i was quick to order 'a year of pies' when i saw it on a blog roll the other day.

oh. so. pretty.

pies are insanely beautiful, aren't they? i can hardly wait to make one of these lovelies....the writer is ashley english, who has a host of good 'housewife' books under her belt. and the book is beautifully designed, too. doesn't hurt ;)

growing up, i think we thought of pies as kind of 'special' - we had them, but mostly for special occasions. we were more in the 'cake camp' when it came to everyday desserts.

as i'm older, i've decided that i'm much more of a pie person. i still think of them as special. which is probably a good thing, since pie every day would probably not be prudent.

however, i have a couple pie thoughts up my sleeve....don't be too surprised if you see a pie or two showing up around here soon!

:) happy day.

thrifting weekend.

I had a great weekend thrifting, have not gotten my fill of thrifting this summer, in fact, have barely gone out at all.

I found this shell at the y-store. it's kind of plain looking, actually.

the 'coolness' is on the back of shell - it says 'Salerno, Italy - 9-23-1943' - I love that it has a 'story'!

also found a lovely little turquoise ring. it was blackened when i got it, now it is vintagey good.

the best find of the weekend was this painting. i did not realize at the time how perfect it was for my living room.

it seems quite old. it's an original oil painting, and the colors are 'just me.'

i have spent some time staring at it this weekend. i think it might be up there in the top 2 or 3 things i have ever thrifted. so beautiful....the first thought in my mind when i saw it was 'be still and know that i am God'

so, there you have it...my segueway into a relaxing monday.

i finally decided i had better relax, now or never, as summer winds down. this is always a trick for me, this relaxing thing. but the weekend was a good start. i am trying to begin each day by thanking God and relying on HIS peace for the day. not my own, which usually proves to be rather short-lived.

here's to a week of whatever relaxes you....live the one life you've got, kiddos!

strange elixir

hurray for august 1st!

this is the first day of the month of my FIFTIETH year!!

i know how i am usually SO annoyed with those people who insist on a 'birth month' instead of a simple birthday...yeah. you really ARE that special (snarl).

he he. for some reason, it strikes me that after 50 freaking years, i might actually deserve a birth month this time around....hmmm. ya think?


the good news is that the bad goop i have been sick with seems to be pretty much over with. still a tiny bit queasy, but after tons of advice

go to the doctor!

eat yogurt!

stay hydrated!

go to the doctor!



i found myself relying heavily on my own sense of my own body, AND of course dr. google.

dr. google is good and evil, as we all know.

i mean SURE, he did convince me for awhile that i might have colon cancer.


but then later, he taught me how to make this fantastical cocktail

that, my friends, is a mixture of 1/2 T. apple cider vinegar and 1/2 T. of honey in a cup of warm water.

that, my friends, is my newest substitute for coffee, which i have not had since last week.

that, my friends, is kind of a *pow* thing to drink at first, but after a bit, not too darn bad.

it cures arthritis.

it cures stomach ailments.

it makes your skin better.

it makes you skinny.




or so dr. google says :)) ha ha.

it may or may not have helped to make my innards feel like they were not falling out! ha. i will give it the benefit of the doubt...because 'old wives tales' are new school.


and that is what i know.

happy wednesday!