the purple art defeats me

Now that we have at least ordered all the furniture for the downstairs, (and can we just not talk about the stairs?  they don't go anywhere I promise) we are starting to try to pull together the art.  My fabulous mom gave us this wonderful sign, before she even knew what our house would look like and it fits beautifully.  It found it's home on the mantel the first day, and I think it's staying put for now. 

The rest of our art, that I have carefully collected or personally made has been banished to the craft room.  They just don't fit.  The colors are all off, the sizes are just odd, nothing seems to work together here.  I had found one piece at TJ Maxx that we hung in the entry, and it fits great; but needs a little table under it or something to go with it.  I found a piece I L-O-V-E at Z Gallerie, but mom hated it so I didn't buy it, and now it's $100 more.  Suddenly purple has become a pop color and they took the price up.  Jerks.  (Guess I should be calling myself the idiot for not just buying it then).  But, I like cheap(er) art.  So I attempted to mix the several pieces together into ONE AWESOME work - except it didn't work.  It was great in concept, easy to execute, looks like crap.

 

First -- lots of colors of purples and greys to mix up!  SWEET! 

Then I painted these long and wide blades of bamboo, mixing about 9 different colors on each. 

The final was to have the purple-ish blades above mixed with grey tones, standing up on the wall.  I have about 30 blades so the piece would have been 4 feet tall by about 6 feet wide.  Or roughly big enough to fill the giant space above our bed.  Totally bummed.  Brian did offer to buy me the piece at Z, but now I'm just heart broken.  I spent $80 attempting this and the right piece is now an extra $100, so I'm down $180 and 2 months of wishing for it.  I did pull out the last purple piece I did (kitchen wall in the last house), and it's too bright.  I pulled out my "black hole" piece (on the mantel in the last house) and it looked great, but too small.  Maybe *hint hint* it will just be there when I get home from Asia!!!!! 

 (and maybe a new grill too????)

love this quote

I had to share.  I found this on Etsy, and it doesn't quote an author, but I do like it:


Listen to the mustn'ts child,
Listen to the don'ts
Listen to the shouldn'ts
the impossibles, the won'ts
Listen to the never haves
Then listen to close to me
Anything can happen, child
Anything can be.

Eclipse Trailer

http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Worldwide-Premiere-Watch-The-Twilight-Saga-Eclipse-Trailer-Video_1

I don't really need to comment do I?  Besides, it hard to type while wiping drool off my face.

Happy Earth Day

This is my latest set of Reduce Everyday bottles.  My 3rd set of Water Week and my 2nd 40oz.  Dishwasher safe, seem to last a really long time, don't leak and come in lots of fun designs.  go to http://www.reduceeveryday.com/ or Container Store to get yours and save the landfills some plastic!

And since I do my part on the water bottle side, I feel free to float in my tub almost every day! This 6 foot ultimate tub took me hours to pick out, and hours for the builder to figure out how to get it in our new bathroom. I can go completely underwater and literally float on top. It's guaranteed to stay at the original warmth for at least 30 minutes. They actually built it with those arm rest & foot rests, but they actually help it take less water. This tub is 25 gallons less water to fill than the last one I had! Pretty awesome, huh? Smart engineering, and one HAPPY girl!  and I love the stone around it, and my milk chocolate walls!

its the little things

*Potterybarn.com

Who would have though Sand Timers would make a comeback?!? I have seen these guys out and in force! And I had to scoop one up! I got mine at Pottery Barn, the little one is 5 minutes and only $6. It's in one of the 6 bathrooms, so come on over and see if you can find it! And no, it's not like a time limit that I'm going to enforce. But honestly, if you need the bathroom more than 5 minutes, it is time for you to think about heading home...

We actually had quite the shopping trip in Pottery Barn this weekend. We got curtains and rods for the family room, breakfast and dining room. Not that curtains are all that fun, but they really do help make a house feel more like a home. 

I also got the garage cleaned out enough Brian can park his truck in it. He's never been able to park in a garage, and I just hope his parking skills have improved enough over the last 4 years of being in a city that he can handle it.

It’s really the little details that make a house feel like a home. And slowly but surely we will get there. Now if I can just find my candles...