Fashion Inspiration

I've always thought Reese Witherspoon was so cute. If I were a guy I'd want to date her. LOL. If I lived in LA I could see how we'd be BFF's. She's a good Southern girl, she seems kind and gracious. She's never scandolous. She's a mom of two and a great actress. And to top it off, she has amazing fashion sense. If we were BFF's I'd totally raid her closet! I love her casual chic style. It would be perfect for my lifestyle as a SAHM. Her style is modest but fun. And those fabulous handbags of hers could fit all my junk and all 3 of my monkeys' junk. She should start up a clothing boutique called Reese. Maybe I'll give her a call and let her know!

Home Tour: Update

We enjoyed our tour today of the house for sale. It has a nice layout that flows well and would accommodate our family well. I totally forgot to take pictures while there, so here are some of the photos from the listing.


Here's a back view. It has lots of large original wood windows. We have a love-hate relationship with original wood windows. They are beautiful to look at, but not energy efficient.


You can see in this photo the massive windows with lots of wide trim and the beautiful hardwood flooring - but not so beautiful wallpaper. This was one of the bedrooms. All 5 bedrooms were upstairs along with 2 full baths...more on that in a minute.


The landscaping is pretty and mature. I took note of all the azaleas, crepe myrtles, and other ornamental indigenous shrubs.


The living room was quite large and attached to a sunroom. The sunroom attached to a sunporch. Lots of light!


The home did have a few drawbacks. The 2-car garage had been converted into a workshop in such a way that the entire structure would need to be demo'd if we ever wanted a working garage. But the workshop could serve as extra storage and/or painting studio (Yay for me!). The laundry room is in the dark, damp basement (Boo for me!). The closets are teeny tiny.

And then there are these...

Yes, that's pink tile and avocado green fixtures (Jen, those are all yours if we get the house).


The kitchen was last updated in the 70's. The 70's were good, partially because I arrived on earth in '76, but the 70's were not good to kitchen designers. Luckily the kitchen has tons of potential with plenty of space for a renovation.

On a positive note, the home was very well kept despite the lack of updating. It didn't appear to need many repairs. And the backyard was level and a nice size. There was a separate gazebo/outdoor dining area that would be very awesome for Summertime dinners and having friends and family over.

Home Tour

Tomorrow we are going to take a look at this house that's for sale. From the description it sounds like a good fit for our family (5 bedrooms and 2.5 baths in a smaller and older version of what we already have). I'll take some photos during the tour and update soon about what we discover, which hopefully won't include a colony of bats - flashback from another old house we once owned!

A Glaze of Glory

{Before}

{After}

I had my first experience with paint glaze today. I've wanted to try it for a while. I purchased these crosses about 4 years ago at Big Lots. I love Big Lots, by the way. I liked the design of these crosses, but I didn't much like the Italianate paint job with the fake terra cotta look (although they do sorta match my kitchen decor like that...hmm, interesting). I decided to go with black even though now that seems sort of boring considering all the awesome colors I could've chosen. But I was a little hesitant to use a vibrant color for fear they'd look like souvenirs from Tijuana. (Well, and also because I have 10 cans of black spray paint in my garage from another project that never happened.) I may decide later to reverse the colors and use an off-white base with a dark glaze. That would've been very nice come to think of it. But it was fun to be creative again and get paint all over my hands.

I've always had an intrinsic need to create art in my life. I feel happiest when I'm painting and creating. I love to oil paint, but only when I have the time without distractions. Nothing is worse than getting all my supplies out, getting into a groove, having fresh paint mixed exactly the way I want it, seeing a canvas coming to life, and then suddenly being forced to stop before I'm ready. I guess I'll need to learn to get over that if I ever plan to paint again. One day I'll post some photos of my oil paintings on here. I'm starting to get this major urge to be creative and artistic again. This little glazing project just fed the urge. I'd really love to try my hand at glazing an old piece of furniture, like an old chair or small accessory table. The glazing process is quite simple and the sky's the limit. I'm going d-o-o-o-w-w-w-n in a glaze of glory (thanks Bon Jovi).

Gaze Upon The Beauty

Here are some beautiful farmhouse specimens in and around our area. All of these are different in their own unique ways, but somehow they are all united in their practicality and simple elegance.


Maryville, TN


Philadelphia, TN


Knoxville, TN


Strawplains, TN


Powell, TN


Maryville, TN

Griffin is 10 Months (Feb. 23)

Griffin has been doing all kinds of new stuff this month. The week that he turned 10 months he advanced from crawling army style on his belly to crawling on his knees. This seems to be much more efficient for him and allows him to get around faster. It's almost time to put the baby gates back up. I really hate those things, but they are a necessary evil. I'll have to retrain the older two about the rules of the gates, like how to not leave them open when Griffin is around and how to not slam them in each other's faces as a form of revenge or torture (you gotta love the sin nature).

Griffin has been imitating and doing new tricks to get our attention, like banging toys on the table or squealing until we look at him. He then gives us a big grin. It's really cute. He likes to give me big slobbery open-mouth kisses and grabs hold of my hair or shirt and pulls me toward him to give me a big hug. I really enjoy the affection!

Unfortunately he has been battling some itchy eczema and cutting a lot of new teeth at the same time. That has interfered with his sleep (and mine too). This past week he has been tolerating baby food a little better. He has only gagged a few times when I've attempted to feed him - and he thankfully did not vomit any of those times. That's progress!

Don't Be Fooled by the Blocks That I Got

The newest craze in our home...