i'll take these, too

persimmon permission

i've been dreaming of these two bags in the most perfect tomato red color. now that they are both on sale, i'm considering them MUCH more seriously. with the other half's approval, i shall spring... but for which one?

doing it all again

funny. just two days ago i was telling someone how i'd want to do brick floors in the next house. yes, you read that right... NEXT house. i'd definitely do this all over again. despite the head/heartache.

then wouldn't you know it, i about fainted from this amazeballs kitchen when i saw it today.

boom.












*lonny

it's raining. and i want it not to be raining.

i want to be here instead... in the sunshine.

a little bit country

i can see you've been somewhat laying off the eternal quilt bender there, country living. who's your sponsor?

the final countdown

tomorrow, people. tomorrow we will begin the move we've waited so stinkin' long for... into la casa nueva. nevermind that it was supposed to happen LAST weekend. it's finally here. and holy crap, i'm excited. just how excited, you ask?



you're welcome.

you complete me

and yes, you had me at hello.

nailed it

isn't this the most perfect coral color? just the right amount of pink to balance the orange. i think it's mani/pedi time. who's in?

the countdown begins

we're moving into our new house in 10 short days. i can't believe it... after 4 months of renovations it is FINALLY time!

so WTF am i doing looking at what other houses are on the market right now?

i think i'm terrified of what we're about to do. i mean, we couldn't have gotten the house any cheaper, it is going to be brand new on the inside, semi-brand new on the outside, has a huge yard, is in a great little neighborhood and is within walking/biking distance to downtown.

but it has one draw-back... it is small. i think the size is finally starting to sink in and it is scaring me a little. at 940 sf, it is 150 sf smaller than our first house, but has SO much more character. it will be fine for the two of us (and the beagle) and even for our first child. so i think maybe it isn't that that is scaring me so much as i'm facing the prospect of being let down. i know this sounds insane, but i don't know what this house looks like or feels like in the summertime. that is critical for me. a house always looks so healthy and loved in the summertime. since we bought the house in the fall, i have no idea what it will look like -- what the trees will look like with leaves, how the air will circulate through the house with open windows, if we'll be able to grow a garden and flowers, what it will be like to sit on the back patio and enjoy saturday morning coffee or a beer after work. i have an idea of how those things will be -- and they'll be perfect -- but i'm kind of afraid of being let down. it has been over a year since we sold our house and it has been four long months for this house to be completed in the renovations. and i've been excited every single minute of that process.

life has been handing us a few lemons lately, so maybe that's why i'm feeling a bit anxious. a car wreck that totaled the husband's car the day before he left the country for work, maintaining crazy hours at the office (or bringing the office home), the stress of paying both rent and a mortgage until the house is done... the list goes on.

but you know what? just in the time i've been writing this, i'm realizing how stupidly blessed we are to be where we are -- we adore the city and state where we live, have jobs, phenomenal friends, health, family, a beagle, each other and now an amazing house. damn.

i guess i'll just go make lemonade and meet you out back on the patio.

me likey

*living,etc

stream of con-shuss-ness

here goes:

1. the contractor is driving me up a wall. he's the worst communicator in the world. the painters are doing a shitty job, the house has sat stagnant (read: NO work has been done) for days now and we're supposed to move in 25 days. Count them, 25. and that's not just a hope, that's a need -- our lease is up in 25 days. i'm irritated. well, insanely pissed is more like it, but i'll go with irritated.

2. paying rent and a mortgage at the same time makes me want to have husband run over my foot with the car. because i think that would be less painful. refer to point #1 to remedy point #2.

3. what's with this damn weather?

4. i went to the gym last night for the first time in XX weeks. yay me. it was awesome.

5. there's no way that my house will be the way i want it to be when i move in. even if you've renovated to the studs and started again, made a design board for each room and had it all mapped out, things change. my mind does anyway. i need to see it, feel it, live in it before making some of these decisions. it just takes time to decorate well. period. i need to remind myself that every freaking day.

6. i miss woxy.

7. i need to remind myself that i'm still young. but when i hear college kids talk about what year they were born, it makes me want to vomit.

8. my brother is great. people think we look more alike the older we get. whatev. we have similar personality traits, but sometimes i think he should be more like me and i should be more like him. you know, the best of both worlds.

9. husband of the year in 2010? mine.

10. i need to simp.li.fy. holy crap, i cannot wait until we are in our house and we no longer have to look through boxes for things we need.

11. the following would be an awesome scenario: me, husband, beagle, west coast, palm trees, sunshine, approx. 78 degrees, good coffee, good music, croissant, pool, beach, adorable bathing suit in a tomato-red that magically makes me look like elle mcpherson, stylin' beach bag, aviators, corally-pink nail polish, fresh flowers, pineapple from hawaii, perfect sun hat, clothing/accessories by milly, tori burch, kate spade, calypso and other equally classic/girly design houses, an inspiring book, lip gloss, spf, and not a care in the world. i'm sure there's more i could add, but this is getting long.

12. my meeting tonight was canceled.

13. i wish my cousin was fully healed like nothing had ever happened that day she was in the delivery room.

14. i wonder if my car makes me feel old?

15. this clementine is gooooood.

16. what?! 3:28?! already?

17. did i mention my meeting tonight was canceled?

18. damn, it feels good to be a gangster.

home for the holidays

i'd rather go brome for the holidays. so that's what i'm gonna do.














suck it, tradition.

December

WTF?

oh, yeah...

and we bought a house. built in 1949.

we're gutting, moving walls, freaking out, installing things, fixing things up, freaking out some more, designing, deciding, planning, mapping, stocking up on four loko while it is still caffeinated, laughing, crying (not yet, but i'm pretty sure it is coming), yelling, dreaming, partying. we will blog about the adventure. sometime. i promise. maybe.

let's do this.

dang, y'all

i'm 31 now.

highly enjoyable

discuss.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

so let's talk about respect. it is one of those things that your parents teach you when you are little (at least hopefully they do) that goes along with calling people mr. or mrs. (or ma'am or sir for all of you southerners). it's teaching your kids to respect someone's privacy by not asking socially taboo questions and minding your "p's and q's." it's treating your friends properly, your significant other... for my dad it even means vacuuming and washing your car on a weekly basis. i guess inanimate objects need respect, too.

but as you get older and you enter the workforce, you inevitably meet people along the way who have no idea how to respect their colleagues for what they've accomplished. i've done a lot, and a lot isn't new to me. i know how to do my job and do it well. and to be honest, the job i'm in now is pretty boring considering i feel completely unchallenged during the day. i've done bigger things than this, i've accomplished better things than this -- both personally and professionally. but it is the latter that just makes me want to pull my hair out.

being the "low man on the totem pole" in a particular place of business doesn't mean that's always been the case. and it sure as shit doesn't mean that person is lacking in experience. yes, i know there's always an opportunity to learn in any situation... blah, blah, blah. i know that, and i'm not discounting that. but many o' days i want to pull out my resume, my portfolio and whatever else i can arm myself with, make copies and hand it out for colleagues to "refresh" themselves with what i'm capable of doing -- and what i've already accomplished and know how to do. sometimes i dream of what i would say to one of them before i got up out of my chair and completely peace-d out... like in a movie. when characters aren't real. and their jobs aren't real. and they don't depend on the income from their non-real job. because they make millions at their real job. acting like they have a job. being "one of us."

anyway...

all i'm saying is this: respect, people. respect what i've done. respect what i do. respect what i know. i deserve it. i work hard and i'm good at what i do. people are expected to do that for their bosses, but how many of those bosses actually deserve it? that's what i thought. but we have to do it anyway or else that boss can fire us. it really is a good swift kick in the teeth for most of us, isn't it, friends?

my situation isn't unique. i know that. i complain about stuff like this a lot. i know that, too. but when i spend most of my life working, it seems to be a popular topic of conversation. so i guess how i plan to handle my situation will be unique. or maybe it won't.

i don't know yet.

heart

*once wed

need vs. want

these both fall into the "need" category:

get-away

You wanna go to the Islander Inn in on Ocean Isle Beach? I do, too. You can enter to win by visiting The B Keeps Us Honest. And if one of the 3 of you who actually read this blog wins, you're taking me with you. Understood?

Oh, and did I mention that Jessica gives away a crapload of stuff all the time? Just something to think about.