Crazy Summer '12: June

I'm not ready for June. Judging by my MIA status for the last week, May has been a little more than I could handle too!

Friday is my son's last day of first grade, which means that June is here. June is here, people!

I'm gearing up for the big race I run every year this month, and I've decided that this will be the last year I am team captain. I admit, I'm pretty much an expert at bossing people around and organizing things, but it's a lot of work and after two years it's time to hand the job to someone else! I'm really excited for the race itself though, and can't wait to get my 32-hour-in-a-van relay stank on.

(if we have to reek at least we get to reek in some beautiful country, right?)

June will bring out-of-state family, some mini vacations and...I'm also working on some big projects that I can't talk about yet, which is one of the reasons I've been invisible these past few days! Squee! Stick around to watch the fun unfold, y'all.

Misadventures in Family Photography

Last night my family drove to our church to have our photographs taken for the photo directory. A large company takes photos and publishes the directory while working their hardest to sell people $500 in portraity fabulousness; maybe some of you are familiar with the process?

Let me first say that I truly did feel bad for the guy taking our pictures because obviously he had never met children such as mine. My boys, when put together and told to behave in a studio setting, somehow morphed into crazy performing monkeys who have reached their limits with the establishment and begin to fling their poo at the audience (the monkeys, not my kids).

Long story short, it was rough and felt rushed. The photographer kept switching us around, taking photos of different combinations and posing my kids unnaturally (I can honestly say my kids have never stood back to back with their arms crossed while grinning). After the first 20 attempts the photographer started saying things like, "gosh, I've got to get a good picture of the two of you!" as he began to sweat visibly. (Did I mention that I really did feel a bit bad for him?)

We did capture some gems though, like the required couple shot where I put my hand on Mike's shoulder and we both give the camera "soft" looks. Um, Mike doesn't know what a soft look is. And I think 90% of the time they end up looking silly. Really, if you're posing, why not smile? When you're 80 and you look back on your senior shots are you going to say, "Dang, I looked fierce! Why didn't I submit that photo to Vogue??" or are you going to say, "Gee, I sure wish I had smiled!"

I wanted to say, "it's really okay, I have no intention of purchasing these," but I knew he wouldn't listen. So we suffered through it and then went to the preview room, where he gave us the hard sale. I won't go through that, except to say:

• Photographers should know that women don't want their upper arms to look squished and fat in pictures. Or is that just me?
• We didn't purchase anything.
• The photographer may or may not have said, "you're not getting any younger or thinner." 
• He DID say it.
• I did not slap him. Gold star sticker for me.
• We will get our complimentary 8x10 of the church directory shot, the only one we had with all four of us smiling semi-naturally and looking at the camera. Never you mind that half my face is obstructed and my youngest is on his way out of the shot in mid-leap. 

At least people in the church will recognize us when they flip through the pages of the directory... "oh, I know who they are!"

Nightstand-a-palooza

Look what the cat dragged into my garage!

New nightstands! 

No, they're not for my room (my hacked ones are practically new!). They're for my guest room which doesn't have a matching pair, only one lonely little table.

 

 My handy brother-in-law was nice enough to use his magic skills of a carpenter to put these together for me over the weekend (what took him 2 hours would have surely taken me 2 weeks days weeks. sigh.) and I can't wait to finish them!

I just need to decide... how. Decisions, decisions.

Update: See what I really had in store for these nightstands (hint: they weren't actually for my guest room)

$50 NOVICA {Giveaway}

(This giveaway is closed.)

A little while ago I was contacted by NOVICA to see if I'd be interested in checking out their website and offering a gift certificate to my readers. NOVICA is an online fair-trade market full of amazing products made by skilled artists from all over the globe. We shoppers gain access to products and artists from developing countries who are then able to be compensated fairly for their creations -- it's a win/win situation! There are some beautiful things too, so of course I jumped at the opportunity to share it with you.

They sent me a gift certificate and I also get to share a $50 gift certificate with one of my readers - Father's Day is coming but I admit that was the last thing on my mind while I browsed tonight. At least I'm honest, right? Ha.

Take a look at some of the fun things I found...

'Aqua Freeze' Margarita Glasses

 

Leather wrap bracelet & Leather and pearl wrap bracelet

Maguey basket

Beaded clutch

Rhino statuette

Iron sun

So what did I end up getting? This gorgeous turquoise wrap -- just imagine it over a little black dress at an outdoor wedding, me with my hair up loosely and a glass of wine in my hand... I can picture it now, and the entire vision hinges on the wrap. I'm buying shawls; does that mean I'm old?? Who cares, I think it's so pretty!

Have fun shopping!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Ultimate Spring Skin Survival Guide

The school year is almost over and the sun is out; spring is heating up and summer is on its way. That means it's time to talk skin! Skincare is near and dear to my heart, mostly 'cause it's my largest organ and I can't get away from it. Ha. But really, I have sensitive skin and I'm fair, so I've seen my fair share of weird reactions and sunburns.

I also have a confession to make: I sweat. Yeah, yeah, we all sweat... right? Except no, we all don't -- not really. I sweat. I know there are other 'change your deodorant each stick and pray to the perspiration gods before important events' ladies out there who feel me on this one.  Thanks a lot for those fabulous genes, Dad!

There are a few basic rules I follow to stay sane and comfortable in my own skin during the heat of these upcoming months:

1. Hydrate. Drink a lot of water!  We all hear this constantly, but it really does make a big difference in your overall health, skin included. So load up and drink up for a healthy glow.

2. Moisturize. If you live in a hot and humid climate then definitely opt for a lighter summer formulation, something oil-free and not greasy... but make sure you're still applying plenty of moisturizer to your face and body to keep it healthy and looking great.

3. Apply plenty of sunscreen. This is crazy important and another thing that most of us are familiar with and could probably do a little bit better at. Make sure you're using a facial moisturizer with sunscreen and don't forget about your other bits and pieces too -- you don't want the face of a 30 year old with the décolletage of a 70 year old -- not attractive. If you're frighteningly pale like moi then use a gradual tanning lotion for your legs so as to not scare the neighborhood kids and pets.

 
4. Stay dry. Deodorant is pretty much my best friend in the heat (see embarrassing confession in first paragraph). Dove Clear Tone Deodorant is available in both regular and clinical strengths that both do a great job at both keeping you dry and moisturizing your skin. Dove Clear Tone Deodorant also helps reduce dark marks in your underarm from shaving to help you feel even more confident when baring skin in sleeveless summer styles. I am a big fan of the clinical strength, what with my overactive sweat glands! And I have to say that I love how it kept me dry but my skin stayed soft; some of the stronger formulations can do a number on your underarm skin so I was definitely happy that didn't happen. 

5. Keep makeup fresh and basic. Sometimes the idea of wearing makeup in the heat can feel unbearable, and wearing creamy, heavy product is certainly a recipe for disaster. I swear by an easy, five-minute routine in the heat. I use tinted moisturizer (with sunscreen!), a bit of concealer (under eye area and unfortunate adult stress-related red spots of karmic injustice), a touch of translucent powder to set it, a bit of neutral blush, my one true love mascara, and lip gloss. And that's all she wrote. I avoid cream formulas of any sort, shimmery or sparkly things, and dark eyeliner or shadow that will be more obvious if smeared. 

6. Blot it up. Pick up some oil-blotting papers at the store and stick 'em in your purse and your car. Use them as a remedy for the mid-afternoon greasies. Avoid using powder to absorb excess oil because it can end up looking caked on and can settle in fine lines and ruin your healthy spring and summer glow.

 Are you ready for the heat? Do you have any skin tips to share?

 As part of the DailyBuzz Style Program, I received free Clear Tone Deodorant and a stipend from Dove. However, my opinions are entirely my own.

It's In the Details: Factory Window Shower Enclosures

Let's talk showers. I'm all for a clean, frameless glass shower surround -- I'm a fan, for sure. But I pinned this photo months and months ago, and I cannot get it out of my head.

Remains Lighting

I? Love it. Lurve it. Lah-oovve it. I've moved way past 'like' and I'm firmly in 'like like' territory. I'm schoolgirl-giddy. Steel factory casement windows used as a shower enclosure? It's so industrial. So unexpected. Almost urban and a little masculine... whatever it is, it's exciting to me.

via Home Bunch

Then, stick that industrial, masculine shower enclosure in a bathroom with cottage touches and you hop right into juxtaposition land, my favorite place to visit! Those oversized honeycomb tiles, the rustic vanity... aaaaaahhhhh! (that was an angelic choir). I'm crazy for it, as in "your weird aunt that no one talks about" crazy. But cooler. Or something.

It worked in my head. Long story short, factory window showers = fabulous detail in my world. 

What about in your world?

A Room for My Mom

(I'm left justifying this post just for you, mom.)

Y'all, my mom rocks. Sunday was Mother's Day and tomorrow is her birthday so it seems a fitting time to share the love (and my status as most favorite child to walk the planet ever, I'm sure). She is an incredibly strong, beautiful, and crazy smart lady and I'm lucky to have her as a mom and a role model - she's actually the reason I started blogging. (As a writer and a journalist, her solution to any problem is "write about it" or "have some wine." Sometimes both. Like I said, she's a smart lady.)

(Mom looking babe-alicious circa 1971)

(heehee! Check out my dad's sweet corduroy jacket.)

(Mom with my Great Aunt "A" who is quite fabulous as well)

When I was five years old, my mom was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. She had a modified radical mastectomy with lymph node removal plus chemo and radiation, and she survived. Like I said, she rocks. I feel so happy and blessed that I (and my entire family) have had her around for the last 24 years. (Take that, cancer.)

I wanted to do something special for my mom, so I decided to (surprise!) offer to redo her room since if I don't paint something every few weeks I start to get antsy and everybody deserves a nice room but it's so easy to push it off in favor of other projects. I have no "before" photo to share yet, but her room could use a little love and she often brings up ideas or plans for increasing its fabulousness. (Make no mistake: this room is not as bad off as the Winnie-the-Pooh guest room of 2010)

So I put a few things together based on things she already has (brass lamps + a sweet trunk) and things I thought she would like. Mom, if I missed the mark, um... deal! Just kidding, feel free to tell me what you'd like changed... there's no deadline!

(P.S. Mom, my gift to you is actually something to go into this room, so I'll let you know when it's ready.)

 

(why we don't take family photos)

Update: here's the finished room!

What's Up Chicken Butt 05.11.2012 - Failure!

I thought it would be fun to conduct a chicken-related experiment today and let the birds sample some chicken snacks. I did a little research and came upon a fun little list of treats that birds are supposed to love, so I whipped out some bowls and went outside to make chicken vlog history.

Never you mind that my neighbor probably thinks I'm already 10 shades of crazy for having chickens in the first place... now I'm standing in the backyard alone, talking to myself about experimenting on them. I wonder why he never wants to hang out. Hmm.

Either way, it was an epic fail and I couldn't get the chickens to do anything that I wanted them to do. We apparently bought the birds that were bred without the trained monkey genes. Rookie mistake.

I spent an hour trying to entice the birds over to the treat bowls by repeating various forms of this futile exercise:

What I've learned today: 

• I just wasted a couple hours
•  Chickens don't respond to commands like "come" and "stay!"
• Chickens are kind of bratty and need to learn how to be better team players
• They're still purposefully avoiding the treat bowls now out of spite. I know it's spite.
• Chickens don't deserve treats when they're naughty.

My Mother's Day Gift Round Up 2012

Mother's Day is coming up this weekend, and I've been seeing lots of great gift ideas shared on blogs to help celebrate your mom (or for you to read and oh-so-subtly leave open on your computer so your husband can get some holiday inspiration).

I don't know about you, but when it comes to my ideal Mother's Day I'm actually not very concerned with pretty little packages tied up in ribbon. My dream day goes more like this...

 Mother's Day Breakfast Printable via Oh Happy Day

Why, you shouldn't have! But I'm glad you did.

Add a liberal amount of this:

Source unknown, sad face.

And I wouldn't mind a little pampering, I suppose...

via Unique Beauty Salon

A few of these for all my boys would be a fun touch (don't worry, they're not real!).

Super awesome Mom's Day tattoo printables via Oh Happy Day

Throw in plenty of time for this (meadow optional):

via DisneyFamily.com

And if I could carve out a nice fat chunk of time for this, I'd be super duper happy:

 via Olicious Life

...just so long as there's one of these in the vicinity:

DIY Mother's Day Door Hanger via Twig & Thistle

Sure, Dad may be too tired to do  much of anything by the day's end...

 
Awkward Family Photos

... but don't worry, Father's Day is just around the corner.

In the Garden

I've been spending the last few soaking up as much sunshine as possible and working in my gardens (which need plenty of love)... I'm actually sitting on my front porch in one of my adirondack chairs as I write this!

On Sunday, my parents drove up to visit and deliver a beautiful Mother's Day giftie that is now residing in a position of honor on the stump of one of my dearly departed aspen trees from last fall...

The one upside to losing those trees to bores is that I have a couple more spots of sun in my otherwise shady yard... I'm taking advantage of the other new sunny spot by sticking a tomato in it. 

I haven't had much luck with tomatoes at this house... grow, baby, grow! It's an heirloom variety called Pink Brandywine. I took that photo the moment the sun touched it this morning -- it should get 6 or 7 hours of sun daily in that spot, and since the plant information tag says that's okay I'm going with it. It's times like this that I miss my Utah house with its garden and its sun and my rows of sweet corn and peppers. Oh well, thank goodness for farmers' markets!

Grandma and Grandpa also brought some strawberry planters that I had been looking for. My boys adore strawberries and are over the moon excited at the idea of picking them on our back deck. So excited in fact, they had to throw on some gloves and help out when it came time to plant:

Last night I also planted my first hydrangea -- I'm a bit nervous since lots of people seem to have issues with getting them to bloom, but I'm going to give it a try. Doesn't it look pretty in its anti-chicken armor?

That's the sad, sad truth of running a backyard poultry farm, friends... nothing young or low to the ground is safe from our feathered frenemies.

I just love this time of year, and I love spending as much time as I can outside -- it's a good thing since I've got a couple giant bags of soil amendment to work into my flower beds soon...

Are you a gardener? Do you know your stuff or do you just pretend and call your dad a lot, like me? ;)

Painted Dining Room {Reveal}

How did you spend your weekend? I painted my dining room!

It only took me 2 1/2 years of wanting to get around to doing -- way to go, me! My dining room is my least favorite room to paint because of all the doors and trim I have to paint around, so while I've wanted to paint the trim forever, I knew it would be a beast...

...and I was right. 

Two rolls of painters tape, sixteen (!) total  hours of serious painting, one tube of high-wire painter's caulk, and several doses of ibuprofen for neck spasms later, and I'm still incredibly glad I went to the trouble. For me the cost (in labor), while high, was worth the end result... let me say though: I'd never do it again. Ha!

Friends: painting over wood paneling can be tricky enough because it can bleed through if you don't prime it right (with oil-based stain blocking primer), and if it's tongue and groove like mine it can be full of nooks and crannies that need to be caulked. In addition, painting ceilings is something most people don't look forward to in the first place... but vaulted ceilings made of glossy orange tongue and groove paneling, well that's pretty much my own personal little seventh circle of painting hell. 

So if I ever move to another house with this sort of ceiling and I decide to paint it on my own, please slap me upside the head and remind me I promised to hire painters.

Back to the joy, though... love my dining room! Love it, love it, love it! It's so bright, and although I originally left the beams dark to appease the husband (men and their stained wood, go figure), I actually like the contrast and I think it ties the ceiling in nicely to all the dark wood windows in the room and throughout the house.

I had to run right out to my front yard and pick some Lilies of the Valley to celebrate.

Here's a reminder of how the room used to look:

and here are a couple more after shots!

Do you like the change as much as I do? Because I need someone to tell me I'm normal for wanting to pitch a tent and live in there for a few days.

Sharing at Home Stories A to Z, Thrifty Decor Chick, The Shabby Creek Cottage

Paint Prep {Pity} Party

I am officially entering the "regret" stage of my dining room trim painting project.

It was inevitable, as I tend to paint first and think later (it's a useful philosophy if you're among the many who want to paint rooms but can never bring yourself to actually do it). I'm all too familiar with the pangs of frustration as you remember just how long painting can take, and then the sad creep of resignation to keep going since half a teal room doesn't really work in your world. (or your marriage, if you're like my husband. He sees paint swatches up and he's all, "again?!" Ha. Yeah, again, honey.)

So, picture it: 2012, Sicily my dining room. I was super excited to get started even though I knew I was going to be slightly miserable for a few days since I had like a marathon's mileage worth of painters' tape to put up. I choose to cut in walls by hand when I paint, and I can even cut in trim by hand (although I prefer to paint trim first so I don't have to worry about a nice line).

... but this? 

 This was bananas. Window trim, but not windows... Ceiling panels, but not beams... it was time for some tape. And then some more tape. And a text to my husband pleading with him to pick up even more tape on his way home from work. You get it, I taped a lot. On a ladder. Off the ground (me + heights = Jerry Springer worthy fights). It was dumb.

By the end of the taping, it was time for bed and some therapy.

This morning I woke bright eyed and with a renewed sense of project naiveté. 

Priming! It's been a little slow as I'm doing most of it free hand (tops of baseboards, sides of casing) and I'm a little freakish about my new floors, but as of this very moment I am 100% done priming all the trim in this room (which is an accomplishment in and of itself) and I'm ready to prime the ceiling. First coat of paint up tonight sometime?? We'll see, that might be the primer fumes talking (I taped the windows closed! Curses!)

Back on the ladder we go...

P.S. I already love the white(ish, streaky, primed) trim. The room feels so much brighter and it makes me happy and lightheaded. Unless that's the primer fumes again.

Do You Do "For Now" Projects?

I've decided to start a dining room project I've been putting off for a while now: painting all the trim. The only costs involved are some paint and primer, but I've struggled with the idea of spending time on something that is temporary -- even though the job is primarily labor, in my house grand plan I'm going to remove some doorways (eliminating lots of the trim I'm about to paint) and replace the trim around the 5 windows to tie them all together and make the windows a single focal point in the room (there goes the rest of the painted trim). 

So is it worth it?

 

  If you had asked me 6 months ago I would definitely have said no (I do have lots of other things to do), but I think I'm changing my mind. I'm still totally against temporary projects that are large, expensive or massively time consuming, and I'm sure I'd pass on this paint job if I was planning on making the more permanent changes to my dining room in the next year or so... but I'm not. So how much cost or labor is acceptable to make your space better in the interim?

(See you later, orange ceiling)

I think we all probably have a different answer to that question, but I think it's one we need to make sure we're asking. It's so easy to get caught up in the excitement of a new project or the idea of making progress in a room that you aren't happy with, that we end up losing sight of the big picture (or even our budgets).

There are several things I consider when deciding whether or not to pursue a "for now" project:

• Cost - everyone's budget is different

• Time/Labor  - please don't undervalue your time, this is important!

• Impact - is it going to create more work for you down the line to work around it or remove it when the time comes?

• Timeline - is "for now" 3 years or 3 months?

 For example, a quickie temporary $53 slate backsplash was acceptable to me -- but I worked really hard to keep the cost down (and cut some traditional corners to save money that I wouldn't have if it was a permanent installation). Slate isn't what I would choose for my permanent kitchen's backsplash, but it's nice looking and the price was right so it works in my "for now" kitchen beautifully.

Spending a long weekend prepping, priming, and painting what feels like miles of dark stained dining room trim is acceptable to me (barely), but spending the money and time to replace that trim for a style I like more (even with pre-primed material that would allow me to skip the stinky, stain-blocking oil-based primer) was not acceptable. Budget plays a big role for my "for now" decisions.

 

Today I'm sanding the trim before I hopefully get some taping and priming done... I'm trying to aim high and be optimistic but the realist in me says I won't be done with priming today if I want to serve my family something other than cream of cinnamon toast crunch soup for dinner.

What about you? Do you do "for now" projects? Are you working on any of them right now?

Some Mildly Interesting Updates!

Happy Wednesday! Where have I been this week? Um, well... I slept in?

Not really. I've just been relaxing a bit and preparing for the craziest month of the school year... May is bananas, y'all. Also I've been trying to make a plan to divide and conquer some outdoor projects this summer so I actually get a few things done, rather than flail about and dabble in 20 projects and get only 20% done on each of them -- that was the old Anna.

Photo from 2011
(Stripey wood be gone!) 

 I wanted to thank everyone who commented on my last post -- I really appreciated all your thoughts on replying to comments and I will continue to read through them while I try to decide what direction to go with this blog. Several people said there was code to automatically email replies when you post them, but I'm 99% sure that's for Wordpress blogs and I'm on Blogger. If I'm incorrect in this assumption, please send the information my way and I'll love you forever and ever.

Also, thanks to everyone who sent me good wishes for the performance I was in on Sunday! Y'all are too nice. It went well, my sister worked her behind off (she leads her church choir and once or twice a year opens it up to the community for larger, more adventurous "productions") and it was a fun night! My sister Buffy is a fabulous musician and a talented conductor and I really enjoy working with her whenever I get the chance, even though she bosses me around because I'm her little sister (obviously she didn't get the memo that I am the Queen of Everything). I forgot to tell Mike to whip out his iPhone and record my solo but from what I understand they recorded the whole concert, so I'm sort of looking forward to hearing it... sort of. I have issues listening to myself talk, or sing... and heaven forbid I should appear on video -- watching myself sends me into fits. Anyone else like that?

Photo from hartshots
(me and Buff singing at her church last summer... ignore my dorky expression!)

 If you don't follow me on twitter or Facebook, then you may have missed the monumental announcement that my husband surprised me with an iPhone while we were down in Utah for the concert. This is big time news in my world since my phone died almost two months ago and I've been using my mother's old flip phone from something like 2003. Mike got our wireless carrier to make an exception since we were so close to the upgrade date (it's actually tomorrow) and surprised me by putting the new phone in my purse and telling me I had missed some calls. Aww. The funny thing is my purse is so insanely large I was pawing through it looking for my old phone and I completely missed the iPhone box for a little bit -- seriously, it's the biggest most Mary Poppins-esque purse ever... the things I pull out of that bag surprise even me.

So to be 100% honest, I really haven't posted this week because I've been too busy dominating in Draw Something and Scramble with Friends, and enjoying Pinterest from the comfort of my bed. The truth comes out... shame. But really, move over Bob Ross because I am all about making happy little trees that resemble happy little trees if you think outside the box and I cheat assist your understanding by scrawling "happy little trees" above my photo in handwriting that rivals my 4 year old's.

Back tomorrow with something more relevant, less about me and (hopefully) more productive! Just gotta think of something to do... ;)