the mud

So, this is our master bedroom.  Pretty bland and boring.  I love my bed, which we bought about 8 years ago from a catalog.  But the old shams and blanket just weren't what I envisioned for our master retreat.  The old wreath too.... it's gotta go.  So we began with a paint color.  I'm all about free paint and Ace Hardware had free quarts of paint on Saturdays during the month of March.  I thought I would only need one because I was only painting the wall behind the bed, but I add to go back the following weekend.  If you remember the rest of the room is wallpapered and we are not into self-torture trying to get it all removed.  So we're working within our limits.  Painting one wall. I found this lovely color at the paint store that coordinates with the wallpaper and the window treatments but isn't too dated.  (Or so I thought...)  It's a pale aqua blue called Crystal Lake, ironic because that's the name of a lake near ...

"It's that time of year,  when the world falls in love..."  EEEKKK.  Stop the song.  What happened?  What happened that we so easily forget the miraculous, good will toward all, merri-ness of Christmas?    It's okay.  Just resist.  Resist the urge to do everything.  Everything we do is a marathon these days.  We moved into a neighborhood where they ride around on a trolley seeing judging seeingjudging no, SEEING other people's Christmas decorations!  (Now, what-who Susie Santa thought this up, I don't know!)  But, it's not a contest, really.  Why do we make it out as such?  We scrambled around yesterday just to make sure all the bulbs on the lights work, the wreath is hung just so, the garland is fresh and the tree is placed just right in the window.  Are we crazy?  In short, yes.  As much as I complain though I love it!  We had a wonderful time rolling around in a li...

A year ago, almost to the day, we found a new house completely by surprise and it has changed our lives.  We were not looking for a new house - really it found us.  My husband was out running and a few days later took me for a drive (actually we were on our way home from the store).  When we pulled up out front, I looked past the barren yard and broken windows and envisioned the home of our dreams.  I think even our realtor thought we were crazy.  It has been a long year and when we finally moved in last May, the real work was still before us, literally.  Now, almost 6 months later, we've had the plumbers, the electricians, the carpenters come to do their work, but now it's our turn.  I am working to make this house a family-friendly home, the kind you see in movies where all the kids come home for Thanksgiving.  Check out the set of It's Complicated .  (Thanks to Julia at Hooked on Houses!) I don't quite know if we'll ever get there, (I'm...