first friday

that's the name of the event we have in downtown SF on the first friday of the month. i have NEVER been. that shows you what kind of a bad siouxfallsian i am!

all that is about to change, because tonite i am going. i'm going to see this guy do this thing:

that is kristie lou's boss; he's an artist. a real one, which seems rare. he's the featured artist for the sidewalk chalk competition that is going on downtown this weekend. apparently, he's been drawing superman breaking out of the sidewalk on his back patio for several weeks now! ha.

lou and i plan to go and see the final results tonite. word has it, she might even step in and help with the 'coloring' if he needs it this afternoon!

so very blessed to hang around with people FAR more creative than myself. it's motivating. and i am proud.

so, i may not be a real artist like Mike, but i'm still a repurposer/dreamer/doer.

here's a sneak peek of my weekend project. it's going to be fun for me to work on :)


happy friday! go get some art in your life, okay?!

ta da! the finished art - and Mike with his wife Kathy....

the very best thing.

as these days drift into september, one my favorite things is to wake up in the morning, feeling like i just slept outside, thanks to the low window that runs directly behind my headboard.

this is what's technically known as a 'design challenge' because technically, you're not supposed to put a bed in front of a window.

it's turned out to be so fantastic, except possibly when the cat walks on your head in the middle of the night because she senses there might be a bunny within reach.

speaking of very best things, don't you just LOVE when their ears get all bent over like that???!!! sigh.


what a good day we have going.

sew sew day

wow, i'm realizing that this summer i have not blogged all that much! not sure what happened. but i really have missed it, i think.

check out the great organization skills demonstrated here!

every once in awhile, i like to look back and see what i was doing '1 year ago' on my blog. this is the photo that popped up today. whew. ESPECIALLY thankful this year to be moved and settled. fern my not be my last home (in fact, i am already thinking about the next one) - but she is a welcome respite for now...and really, moving is right up there with root canals and irs audits...so, it's nice to not be doing that.

 i'm a little bit excited about the next 'project' i have coming up. i finally got around to buying some fabric for dining room curtains. i really wanted a big, more modern pop of 'wow' when you open the front door. i think this might do the trick.

btw, i love ordering fabric online! this was a GREAT price, and the quality is excellent. linen-ey and soft and it came on a BOLT, for heavens' sake. that is wonderful.

my thought is that i will line the drapes also! first time i have never done that, i'm going to use my fab ikea lined drapes as a 'pattern' - i got some sheets last night at walmart to use, much less expensive than by-the-yard choices!

and lastly, i got betty, my old old old sewing machine back from the sewing machine doctor yesterday. she is rockin' the zig zag stitches now! last year, i tried to buy a new sewing machine. got it out of the box, looked at the manual and thought 'whoa, i like betty a LOT better' - she is my one and only, a gift from my grandma when i was just a kid. i am pretty sure she will outlast me, and is perfect for the kind of sewing i do. did. want to do. whatever. i love betty (whose last name is White, btw, it's a brand).

so, good things on the horizon! i will probably not start until the weekend, but i'm excited to get sewing! i know it's usually spring cleaning that people get excited about, but fall projects are even MORE fun :)


happy day!

much ado about nothing

wow - wonderful 3 day weekend over here on the back forty! it's funny how i NEEDED. needed. even after an 11-day vacation, even after all of the rest i enjoy regularly.

i have a few pics to show what i was up to...not the least of which was playing with instagram....not sure i like it much, i think i will stay with the hipstamatic app mostly. mac world problems :)

first off, i spent some time in the kitchen. NOT painting, but actually enjoying the space. i decided to try making a successful granola bar, which i have never really been able to do.

this one is GETTING there...original recipe here.

after reading 111 reviews, i made a few changes...like cutting the butter waaaaaaaaayyyyy down. next time i'd like to try adding a bit of wheat germ and/or protein powder, to 'healthy' them up a bit....

Ingredients

• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 T unsalted butter, melted
• 1 3/4 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/3 cup dark choc chips, chopped
• 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Spray an 8x8 nonstick baking pan with vegetable cooking spray. Line with aluminum foil, and spray again.

In a medium bowl, using a hand beater, beat the egg white until frothy. Stir in the peanut butter, brown sugar, and honey. Add the melted butter, oats and other ingredients.

Spread mixture into the prepared baking pan, pressing FIRMLY to form an even layer. (I layed wax paper over the mixture, then pressed in with the bottom of a measuring cup).

Bake until the edge of the mixture begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 1 hour. Cut into 12 bars and serve.

these guys were also taunting me. and threatening to rot if i did not pay attention to them.

am i the only one who likes to blanch things?!?

7 pints of tomatoes, hopefully i will also get a batch of salsa in a couple of weeks....

i also took some time to tend to the outside...the grass that remains was looking pretty shabby. i bought some grass seed to 'reseed' some areas, so that is on my list next.

in the meantime, i bought some fall plants to decorate the front door with...i got the ones that had not started blooming yet, but in a few days they should be very nice.

see the cute little rusted 'shelf' i got while thrifting? perfect for this space!

oh. and the outdoor fishies came to live in the basement. 3 goldfish remaining from the pond outside. i hope they like their new thrifted 10 gallon tank!

speaking of thrifting, i found a wonderful quilt for $10. i think it will live in the basement bedroom, which is slated for paint and sprucing up sometime soon (winter, maybe?)

kitty and i also took naps and read the kindle...in that order :)

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!