Paint Purgatory

We are currently in paint purgatory, still trying to find the perfect living room color. Our Ohio trip has been postponed, but the good news is there is a chance we can get my storage stuff DELIVERED this weekend and it will cost us much less. The Bip is currently trying to get that worked out.

So next weekend, instead of going to Ohio, we'll probably be doing more painting and hopefully landing on the right color for the living/dining room. I THINK I can like the color we have in the 3rd bedroom, but I'm still a little iffy.

This weekend we are having some friends over for games and dinner, despite the chaos. After a few drinks, perhaps they won't notice the 15 different 'test' shades of blue on the walls that have been applied as we attempt to hunt down that elusive shade that is in my head.

Yesterday evening we had a nice little rainstorm which caused Jorge to panic, which meant we had to give him his doggie Xanax again, which meant he stumbled around drunkenly for a couple of hours with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Oh, it never stops being funny.

But it certainly tires out little Julio!

Wish us luck as we continue to embark on this paint journey...

WHEW!

I was very worried about the Bip's blue paint pick, but he sent me this photo, and it doesn't look too bad. Definitely going to give the house that lake-cottage feel once the trim is painted and all the decor is up, but it doesn't look horrible with the wood trim in the meantime, either.

Can't wait to get the curtains back up and the furniture back in it's proper places, etc.


EDIT: Spoke too soon. Not happy with any of the paint so far.

Garden Update

Here we are at Week Six!

Look at that crazy zucchini!

I love these cute yellow flowers on our tarragon!

Cute lil' mushroom.

Our rock rocks!

Beautiful orange poppy! Can't wait to have our cutting garden next year and grow a ton more of these.

Ooops

I spoke too soon about the paint.

PAINT! (Sunday)

Sunday, Josh woke up bright and early so his dad could come over and help him fix his truck. Yep, something was wrong with it again. Let's hope neither of us have any more vehicle issues for a while, ok? I managed to sleep until about 8, which is pretty much unheard of anymore in my world.

Once all the truck fixing was over, the Bipster and I headed out to get my oil changed. Again with the internets having the wrong hours of business posted. It was supposed to open at 11, but when we got there, it said they didn't open until 12. I tell ya, all these people with their late opening hours makes me feel kind of old. We're usually up and at em by 7:00 on the weekends, and by God if we don't like to be done with everything by noon. *shakes fist at sky* Obviously, the rest of the world keeps different hours. So - we went to kill some time at Target. I found (and bought) a couple of (CHEAP!) shirts (and it turns out they looked way better on the hanger), the Bip found a funky, preppy pair of plaid slip-on shoes (he's the type that can actually pull that look off), and other than that we just got some cleaning supplies. However, we did wander around leisurely, and it was nice. We ended up looking at baby stuff (always happens) and as we were wandering one of the aisles, the Bip leaned over and whispered the sweet words that every woman in Target longs to hear from her man: "Let's go look at car seats!"

So we did. It seems like kind of a racket, though. Maybe I'm wrong and we just didn't look hard enough, but there didn't seem to be any you could use from birth up until toddler time, straight through. We found some that were from 5-20 lbs, and others that were for 15-45 lbs or whatever. Wha? Confusing. Anyway, I am sure we'll get that figured out when and if that time ever comes for us, but it's fun to look. And smell the baby soap. Mmmmm.

ANYHOO - we finally did get my oil changed and then I am not sure what happened, but the Bip got all gung-ho about painting and hanging beadboard in the bathroom and painting 5 rooms in one day... Oy Vey. All I said was we needed to start painting soon. We currently have lots of spackle happening, and that needs to be covered up sooner rather than later. The only thing worse than white walls that need some color on them is white walls with whiter spackle all over them that need some color on them. The Library needs to be painted before we come home from Ohio June 7th with all the shelving. And the front bedroom needs  to be painted before then, too, because it will then become our room and our current room will be the guest room and (God willing) eventual nursery. Since we'll be bringing home furniture from my storage unit up north, including another bed, we need to get it goin'. Needless to say we ended up at Home Depot with several gallons of paint, but no beadboard. We're going to wait on that a bit.

So, we got home, did some cleaning, moved everything in the rooms to be painted into the center of the rooms (pics of that are on my flickr), then he did some more spackling (I did help some), we watched the Lost series finale (rip-off) and then he started painting the 3rd bedroom at 11 pm! We (I) ended up picking a shade darker than what we originally planned, and to be honest, I don't know if I like it. I am sure I will love it once the trim is painted white, the shelves are in, and stuff is on the walls. But the tone of our (dark stained) trim right now has got a bit of red in it, and with how yellow-toned the green is... I'm scared. I couldn't get an honest representation of it in a picture, though. They all look too lime/brown/yellow. These are all pics of the same paint, and none of them look the same.

Looks too yellow here.

Looks brown here.

Looks way too dang green here.


The thing is, I had a very similar color to this in the living room of my old house. And I loved it. But I had white trim. So, as I already said, I am sure I am going to love it once the trim is painted, the white shelving is in, the artwork is up, etc., etc.

This is probably the most true-to-life picture of it.

Ok, that actually doesn't look so bad.

And it looks good against the white.

Ok, I feel so much better about it now. Whew.

And I know our bedroom color is going to look grrrr-eat, so I am not worried about that. However, I AM worried about the blue in the living and dining rooms. I am not going to make any judgements on it (or post any photos, probably) until stuff is on the walls and it's decorated and we have the correct chairs we want. All that will happen after June 7th... there will probably be a barrage of pictures then, so brace yourselves now.

I guess we'll see whether or not he has it all done when I get home... anyone want to place any bets?

Weekend! (Saturday)

We had kind of a busy weekend... I took a lot of pictures and I am unsure if I will make several posts today, or maybe just write them and set them up to post in the next few days. I tend to make several posts at once, and then nothing for a week. Oh well, I guess I'll figure out what to do later.

Friday was our Habitat for Humanity build day at work. It has been a goal of Josh's for a long time to do that, so he came along with me and volunteered, and was very happy to do so. I learned how to install insulation. Very good life skill to have.

Saturday we got up and went to the Flea Market. It was a little chilly when we got up, so I wore jeans, and boy did I regret it by the time I got there. You see, it's kind of unusual for Nashville to have such a long spring. We tend to go from cool to sweltering in about a week. But we've had very mild weather this spring, so I've yet to bust out my sundresses. Well, I guess sweltering decided to come on Saturday, AFTER I had put my jeans on. So I basically sweat to death, and we were done at the flea market around 11:30. I can't believe it was that hot before noon!!! It's going to be 90 today, and June is just around the corner... perhaps it's finally safe to put the turtlenecks away?

Pictures from the Market O' Fleas:

(I REALLY wish I would have spent the $8 on the above vintage ice bucket)

(Can you believe these little skulls are carved from KNEECAPS? The Bip was fascinated, and considering the issues I've been having with my own knee lately, $15 seemed like a bargain for a new one!)

(Our only purchase. It now resides in the garden. If you're curious, Josh's wrist tattoo say "Know Thyself" in Greek. I believe it was over the entrance of the ruins of an ancient Greek temple and he saw a picture of it somewhere, and now it's on his wrist. It's my favorite tattoo of his.)

We had the BEST roasted corn at the Flea Market right before we left. There was a little stand set up, and it had every seasoning you could ever ask for, so you could season your corn however you wished. I think we ended up using butter buds, salt, a rosemary and garlic blend, and parmesan. I think we're going to use this idea at the little 4th of July party we're planning. Old Bay seasoning would be great on this, too, I think!

Our plan was to go to Prince's Hot Chicken for lunch. Nashville is famous for it's Hot Chicken, and rightfully so. Prince's is the best. Josh was born and raised here and has never been there! I've talked to him about it a few times, and then someone mentioned it at the Habitat build, so I was bound and determined to eat there on Saturday. According to the internet, they open at noon on Saturdays. We got there a few minutes before noon, and the sign said they didn't open until 2 p.m. Sadness! So instead, we went to "Richie's Hot and Spicy Castle" in Madison. I had never been there, but Josh has been a few times. It seemed like a good compromise.

Let me tell you, that stuff was goooood. Josh had the Cajun Catfish and Dirty Rice:

And I had the just-as-tasty, but not as photogenic Cajun Chicken Sandwich and Spicy Fries (and I had already taken a bite of it before I remembered to take a picture:

It was all so delicious. I ended up bringing most of mine home because I couldn't finish it.... It was just as yummy later that day. I can't wait to go back, and I hope we get to go to Prince's soon, too. If you are in the Nashville Area, Richie's is on Old Hickory Blvd in Madison. Do check it out.

Of course, after all that spicy, we needed something to cool off, right? So our next stop was Baskin Robbins!

(Why am I making this face? Yuck. Total Snooki face, I hate it when girls do that in photos, and there I am, doing it.)

And I can't think of a better picture to end with than the one below!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, napping, reading, and I did some catching up on some DVR'd Giada shows (which reminds me, I have some recipes to print out). It was a great Saturday!

More posts coming up... be sure to think good thoughts for the Bip today.... not only is he getting a haircut (and there is always a chance of haircuts being tragic), but he is painting THREE rooms in the house today AND putting  on a second coat of paint in the third bedroom, which he painted last night). He was also going to put up some beadboard and do some painting in the bathroom, but I think that's a little much to try to attempt in one day!

Hope your weekend was happy!

First eats from our garden!

We had a (very) little bit of broccoli that was ready to be cut before it flowered yesterday. Another day or two and it would have gotten the yellow flowers and have been inedible. So, even though it was a paltry amount, we brought it in, and I sauteed it in a bit of olive oil with some garlic, salt, and pepper.

It was heavenly! It had such a different taste than what I am used to with store-bought broccoli. It tasted fresh, and crisp, and lovely.

It was just one of life's perfect moments that will forever be seared in my memory. We stood hip-to-hip at the stove, cooking something we grew together. I felt joy from my head to my toes. I am living the life I have always wanted to. This to me, is the stuff that dreams are made of. I had a small inkling of how Martha Stewart must feel all the time.

Who knew broccoli was so magical?

Edited to add:

I found this recipe yesterday while I was reading up on broccoli-growing. Hopefully at some point I have enough garden-fresh broccoli to make it. I think I'll omit the carrots, but the dressing sounds so yummy. Not to mention, we have a ton of dill growing right now!

Steamed Broccoli with Lemon-Dill Dressing

•1 bunch broccoli (about 2 pounds)

•3 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 -inch strips

Lemon-Dill Dressing



•6 tablespoons olive oil

•2 tablespoons lemon juice

•zest of one lemon, grated or minced

•1/4 teaspoon black pepper (optional)

•1 teaspoon dried dill weed or 3 teaspoons fresh dill

•salt to taste

Wash, trim stems from broccoli and peel, cut into strips the same size as carrots. Cut florets into small uniform pieces and set aside. Prepare carrots and set aside. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. (Or prepare the steamer) Add carrots and broccoli stems. Cook for one minute. Add broccoli florets and boil two minutes longer. Do not over cook. Drain, and rinse under cold running water, drain again. Place in a large bowl and gently toss with dressing. Serve immediately.



Makes six servings.

Garden Update!

This was our garden the first day we planted it:

This is our garden as of yesterday (5 weeks, 1 day after planting).

Not bad, huh?

We only have one surviving yellow squash plant. But, it looks promising... look at all those blooms! We may have a few squash this year after all.

One of our MANY Zucchini plants:

A zucchini bloom getting close to blossoming:

With all the rain we've been getting, our jalapeno plants have grown about 3 inches. This little bud is going to be a pepper someday!

The rain has also given us a few of these in the yard:

Unfortunately, our sunflowers are not doing well AT ALL. Something keeps eating the leaves. We're just going to have tall leaf-less stems with big flowers on them... if they even get that far. I read garlic powder helps, gonna try that tonight.

Paint Colors!

Well, unfortunately I had the bright idea to take pictures of our paint swatches at night. I used several methods... flash/no flash/iphone, etc. The ones I am posting here are the ones that look truest to the actual color. I'm very excited! Maybe by the end of summer we can get everything painted....?
First, the ouside of the house. We're just going to work on the trim first, but we'll need to repaint the body of the house probably in a few years. The color we picked for that is identical to what it already is. But here's the palette...

From left to right, the colors are "Francesca" (for the brick at the foundation of the house), "Zinc" (house color), "Seal" (porch floor color). The middle color is "Bicycle Yellow" for the front door and "Picket Fence" for the trim (around windows and door, porch posts, etc). "Zinc" and "Seal" aren't really showing up true to color, but this was the best out of the photos I got. "Zinc" is more of a medium grey and "Seal" is kind of a charcoal-grey.

Living and dining room:

Top two colors are "Faded Ink" (walls), and "Nutmeg" (one wall in the Dining Room - I am not an accent wall person in the least, but this feels right to me... it's the wall of the dining room you see when you walk in the front door, and we gotta break up all that blue somehow. The credenza will be painted white and sitting on that wall - the contrast is going to be lovely!). Trim color (bottom) is once again, "Picket Fence" and I threw the "Bicycle Yellow" in there again just because yellow is going to be our accent color. I am not completely sold on that shade of blue, but the Bip is. I am going to let him win this one, and if it looks horrible, we'll just repaint.

Rest of the house:

I have these laid out kind of in the order you'll see them in, looking from the hallway, which is in the middle. I love these colors. They seem subtle, but I think they'll be anything but once they are on the walls. Also, I love how they don't overly compete with one another, since from the hallway you can see all of these rooms, including the living room.

At the bottom, of course, we have the trim color, "Picket Fence" again. From left to right is "Chinchilla" (our bedroom - and looks almost exactly like one of my favorite nail polish colors "Chinchilly" by Essie), "Heavy Cream" (second bedroom/hopefully future nursery. I actually had this color in my old house, in the bedroom I intended to be a nursery someday, too. I am so glad Martha Stewart brought this color back for her new paint line! I know it looks a little bland and off-white, but when you get it on the wall, up against white trim, WOW! It feels so sunny and welcoming, and it really brightens up a room. Perfect for a baby's room, I think), "Hemp" (hallway), "Love-In-A-Mist" (bathroom.... only top half of walls, bottom half will be white beadboard wainscot. And wow, you should see how beautiful this color is in the sunlight up against the white trim), and last but not least - "Sultana" (3rd bedroom/library).

We love our yellow kitchen as-is. The paint needs a little freshening up, but we're just going to find a color that matches and go from there. No major changes in there, yet.

Plans...

It's been kind of a crappy week.... Good things are always happening, of course, but my car battery just up and died last week. I was able to get it jumped (great coworkers!) so I could get home, but then we had such a busy weekend (Yard Sale and Mother's Day), that we never got around to replacing it.

Monday I drove Bip's truck to work (he wasn't planning to go anywhere that day as it was his first day of NO SCHOOL for the summer), and Tuesday he got the battery, but in the meantime he had already taken me to work and was going to pick me up. When he pulled into my parking lot that afternoon, steam was gushing out from under his hood. We had to drive it to his dad's old shop and wait for his uncle (who is a mechanic) to get off of work and come check it out. So, briefly there, neither of us had a working vehichle. Luckily, his uncle knew wheat the problem was, and $50 later, it was fixed. And the next morning he put in my battery, so all is well with the transportation at the moment. I'm very grateful for that.

On Wednesday, my knee started hurting again, except worse than before (it has hurt for about a month, on and off, very stiff, hurts to bend/flex, I walk kind of weird and it makes my hip feel grindy). So yesterday morning I went to the Doc and Bip drove me because it's my right knee and it just hurt too bad for me to drive with it. And then the doctor was running soooo behind I didn't get to see him (had to reschedule, meanwhile I bawled in the waiting room like an idiot), and Bip dropped me off at work. I got some of those chicken/tuna salad packs with crackers that they sell at CVS for lunch. The tuna one tasted funny, so I threw it away. A few minutes later I got sweaty all over and next thing I know, I threw up. UGH. So I had to call Bip to come get me, and I spent the rest of the day in bed. Yesterday was a bad day.

I feel better today, just kind of weak and tired. And I am supposed to go see the Doctor at 2 this afternoon about my knee, except it doesn't hurt NEARLY as bad today as it did the past two days when I couldn't bend it. But, since it's been an ongoing problem, it is still probably something I need to get checked out.

So, see? It's been an odd and kind of unpleasant week. Oh, and then today I locked my keys in my car when I got to work. WITH MY CAR STILL RUNNING. Second time I've done it, too. Thankfully, my insurance handles all that kind of stuff - at least I didn't have to pay for the locksmith!

There is always good news, though... the three things we put on Craigslist post-yard sale sold within about 12 hours. All of them! That bumped up our yard sale profit significantly.

Home Depot finally has the Martha Stewart paint colors out! We had picked colors for most of the rooms already, but decided to wait on Martha - I am so glad we did. She brought back a lot of her colors from when she had the Sherwin Williams line, and I am so pumped about that! I'll probably do a post on paint colors next, we are still trying to narrow a few rooms down to the exact shade. And I am so undecided about the bathroom....

We're about 3 weeks away from going to Ohio to sell some of my stuff that has been in storage for 5 years, and going back to IKEA (since we'll have a moving truck) to get some of the stuff we need to finish off the living room and 3rd bedroom.

These two prints (not from IKEA) will be gracing our living room walls... Yellow is our main accent color against the blue-grey walls and our furniture is cream and brown. We will have some woven-natural type accents in there as well.

I also have this print that I have had for YEARS, but I am not sure what do do with it. I feel it might be Music City overload in the living room (the two brighter prints, above, will hang together over the couch with something between them... I'd love to use my granspas old banjo... we'll see what works when we actually get to that point).

The thing is, it would actually match the living room, with all the browns and blues and naturals... I guess there is always hope for it in the adjoining dining room (which will be same color as living room, with the exception of one very dark brown wall that the soon-to-be blazing white credenza will be against... the contrast will be so fun!).

Anyway, I am not sure what to do with it. There is always the library and the guest room, right?

Speaking of the library... It will be full of these on three of the walls to accomodate all of my books.....

The two long walls in this room will have these bigger units and maybe some smaller ones, too, so that we literally have wall-to-wall shelving. There will be some smaller ones on the short wall to accomodate a small tv and some other things. The great thing about IKEA (and there are many, it's just getting through there with big purchases that is such a pain) is that they make boxes/baskets/drawers, etc that fit in these units, so you can use them for anything. I have a lot of stuff with no real 'home' - my crafting supplies and such. They will go in baskets or boxes that fit in this, and I am so happy about it!

I am not sure where the below pic came from - I just had it saved to my computer because this is kind of what we're going for, except heavier on the books. But you can see the baskets and boxes and such. We're also getting this desk, but it will be at the end of the unit, up by the window, so Bip can look out into the backyard when he studies.

The walls will be green, shelving and trim will be white, my globe collection will live on top.... Cannot wait til it's done! We're going to throw in a few orange accents, too. I love the way a few pops of orange play off of green.

I know this is getting long, but oh well, it's my blog and I'll ramble if I want to. One last bit of excellent news - my Shark Floor Steamer was delivered yesterday. It's safe for hardwoods, too. I love that it sanitizes just using steam - it will make me feel better when we have little Bippy and Bippettes crawling around. No chemicals to get on their little hands and then into their mouths (as they tend to do).

I hate the flooring in our kitchen and bathroom. It's vinyl, and it's textured, and it's impossible to get clean in those little divots... until the Shark!

This is how much dirt it got up of that horrible kitchen floor... (look at the pad on the mop).

I cannot believe how great it works! The floor has never looked so clean (but I still can't wait to replace it, or see if the hardwood underneath is salvageable in both kitchen and bath - otherwise, we're tiling!)

Happy Friday!

What a weekend! Part 2 - Sunday

As I type this, it's cloudy and rainy in Nashville. Not raining hard by any means, but I think that we Nashvillians may have a knee-jerk "rain is bad!" reaction to rain for a long time, now that we know what it can do to our beautiful city.

Yesterday - Mother's Day- was sunny and beautiful, but a bit windy and only in the 60's (I wore long sleeves! Brrr!). I would gladly trade today's weather for a little wind, though!

Josh's mom likes to organize what she calls "FFF" time - it stands for "Forced Family Fun". Since I loooove planning things and I looooove picnics, Josh and I tossed around the idea of doing an FFF picnic for a while. Mother's Day seemed like a great time to do it, and we decided to do it at Arrington Vineyards. At first, I had all these ideas in my head of making all homemade picnic food, etc. And I would still love to do that, someday. But with the Yard Sale being the day before, and Josh's exams being the day before that (he ended the semester with a 4.0, by the way), cooking was the last thing on our minds. Next time!

We assigned the drinks and wine to Josh's siblings, and he and I bought all the food. I went out to get everything while he showered and got ready. I can throw myself together in about 10 minutes, which is why he never fails to be better looking than me! I just want to be the pretty one for one day, dangit! ;) I went to whole foods first and bought an assortment of cheeses, crackers, fig preserves (put a dollop on top of your cheese and cracker - you have not LIVED until you tried it), their in-store made pimento cheese spread (delicious!), pasta and veggie salad, creole mustard, pesto, mini-cupcakes and a birthday cake for Josh's brother, who had a birthday a couple days beforehand. I'm trying to remember the cheeses I got, because they were excellent - a habanero cheddar, a goat's milk cheddar, a goat's milk gouda, a smoked cheddar, and a type of blue cheese that was phenomenal. I can't remember the name, but it was orange, like a cheddar (and tasted similar to a cheddar), except with the blue veins in it. The Bip informed me that no one would eat that one except me, but let me tell you, it allllllll was eaten, with only a little help from me.

Then I stopped at Kroger and got an assortment of breads and some sliced cheeses (cheddar, swiss, gouda) and thick cut deli meats (honey roasted turkey, bourbon honey ham and bourbon chicken), and some canned pears (more on that in a minute).

We loaded up the truck with a picnic basket and bags full of food and a few quilts. I had never been to Arrington Vineyards before, but it was beautiful. It is owned by Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn fame, if I am not mistaken.

The fig preserves on the cheese was an absolute HIT.  Almost the whole jar was eaten. Josh made sandwiches for him and his brother that consisted of the chicken, gouda, mustard, pesto and pears, and it was a hit as well. The pimento cheese was also well-received. And the raspberry wine... oh my lawwwd! It was nothing short of phenomenal. It was so nice for everyone to be together for a few hours, enjoying wine and food and weather and each other's company. I think everyone had a good time! And I feel especially proud that although everything was store-bought, we did have some special ingredients that upped the 'gourmet' factor a bit - that was important to me. And it all looked so homey surrounded by the quilts we brought. It was a lovely time!

I am apprehensive about posting pics of the Bip's family ON THE INTERNETS without their permission, so I won't post them all here, but there are a couple that I just have to share.

This is Josh, his brother, his mom and his sister.

What a good-looking family! And you have to admit that the quilt adds a lot, too! Great picnic quilt!

And here is Josh's bro and myself - obviously we were feeling the wine pretty good by this point:

We were tuckered out when we got home (and I had a rocking sunburn on my face), so we decided to just rest our eyes for a while. We were on top of the bedcovers with just light blankets over us, just going to rest a minute. I really didn't even think I'd fall asleep. It was about 5:15 p.m. Then I woke up at 12:30.... a.m.! The dogs were on the bed with us (because we had thought we were just going to rest, you see?) and they had not stirred and probably didn't want to because they knew they'd end up sleeping in the laundry room otherwise. I was cold, so I got up to pull the covers back and the Bip woke up and asked what I was doing. I said I was getting under the covers. He sleepily asked why I hadn't been under the covers. I said "Well, I hadn't planned on sleeping this long, I thought we were just going to rest." Startled, he came fully awake and asked in amazement, "Are we still napping?!" It was so funny. He got up to read for a while, but I went straight back to sleep and continued to sleep until 6:30 am. Thirteen hours of sleep! I had no idea I was even that tired, but it did my body good. I feel so good today, and I am in the greatest mood you ever did see.

To end this post, here are my sweeties curled up on the picnic blankets this morning.

I think my sweet Julio knew it was Mother's Day yesterday, because he gave me all the snuggles and cuddles that he usually gives to his Poppa. :)

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend... hope yours was beautiful, too.