Bye Bye Blue

Six years ago, when we moved into this house, long before we even started our renovation, we had all of the walls painted.  For our bedroom I chose a bold blue, something beachy, with hints of green in it.

Originally I had picked a paint that was a much more mellow color, it was almost white with just a hint of blue/grey in it, but after seeing how well the bold color in our son's room turned out I changed my mind and went with this blue instead.  I had had a bold color in our bedroom in our last house which I loved, so I thought what the heck, it's only paint, and went for it.

After a few years I began to see this color all over the place and that's when my fond feelings for it faded.  I'm weird like that, and as soon as something becomes popular, well I tend to hate it and want to move on.  You know, kind of like when they play a really great song over, and over, and over on the radio...and that song you once loved just becomes annoying?

So, about 4 months ago I began the hunt for a new wall color...yeah, I have lived with a paint color I didn't like anymore for about 4 years and 4 months!  Just because I don't like it any longer doesn't mean I feel like changing it.  I used to not bat an eye at painting a whole room, but I did it for so many years, that now I just cringe at the thought of re-arranging furniture and clearing a room out to paint the walls.  I think a whole house renovation will do that to you, it sucks the remodeling/changing things up life right out of you!

But as much as I detest the idea of painting, I'm even more tired of staring at 3 different color paint swatches on my walls.  But I have finally settled on a color, and we even have the new paint, so there really are no more excuses I can use.

I thought I wanted a soft grey that had a lavender undertone, but once I put it on my walls, and even though this room gets a TON of light, it just looked muddy.  Instead, I ended up with a soft pale grey that looks almost white.  This from a girl who swore she would never want an all white room...well besides my kitchen.  Oh, and white walls are all the rage right now...so forget what I said earlier about things being popular...blah, blah, blah.

But I think I'm going to like it.  It has enough grey to make it interesting, and it still looks nice against the bright white trim in there, so fingers crossed it will work.  But the blue won't all be gone from the room when it's finished because my ticking stripe duvet and new bolsters will make sure that the blue isn't really gone.

And in a separate act of craziness, Mr. Tide and I have decided to try and tackle our kitchen backsplash tile installation ourselves.  After having numerous installers come out and say it seemed too complicated, or wanting a fortune to do it, we've decided to just do it ourselves.  We've done tile work before, and after being so frustrated with not finding someone to do it I was actually looking at buying different, more simplistic tiles we could do ourselves.  But after pricing out new tiles that I would actually like, we thought what the heck...the worst that can happen is that we have to get all new tiles if we screw up, and we are thinking about doing that anyway...so why not at least try!

I think this might actually drive me a little buggy before all is said and done!

To my Canadian readers, I wish you all a very lovely long weekend in celebration of Canada Day! :)

Ahhh

There was a time when I made my bed every single day.  I piled it high with heavy comforters, pillows, and decorative throws.

But then I realized that sometimes you don't "have" to do the things in life you don't really want to do.  And I think it's nice to just let your mattress and sheets breath a little after supporting your body for hours each night.  Even sheets like to see the sunshine and feel a cool breeze sometimes, right?!

I still haven't given up my top sheet even though I use a duvet and down insert, but it's only a matter of time before I fully embrace my new casual existence.

These things take time after all, a messy bed used to make me feel like I wasn't keeping up with things...now it just makes me go ahhhh and want to linger a little longer.

I hope you find time to linger this weekend! 

*Duvet - Pottery Barn Outlet....Sheets - Target/Simply Shabby Chic (my fav!)*

Summer Style

It's been a very looong time since I've shown you any changes we've made to our house so I thought today I would show you the new chairs we just bought for the sitting area off of our kitchen.

Truth be told we haven't really made very many changes to the house lately because I've been so busy working and I haven't been concentrating on things like making the house look nice.  But last week my in-laws were coming to town and having company is always a good excuse to spruce up your house!  Because we had given our son and daughter the blue checked chair and wooden rocker that used to occupy this space it was time we found some new chairs.

I knew what I wanted, but I was having trouble finding just the right chairs to go in this spot.  It's located right off of the kitchen and to the left is where our office is located which is open to the whole room.

The door to the back yard really prevents you from putting anything in the middle of the room,  and I knew I didn't want a couch or loveseat because I wanted people to be able to take advantage of the water views, be able to chat with Mr. Tide and me while we are working, and be able to converse with someone while they are busy in the kitchen...so swivel chairs seemed like the perfect solution.

Have you ever looked for pretty swivel chairs?!  Let's just say that the majority of them have those gawd awful bases that you can see below the chairs and they aren't what I would call attractive.  After searching for awhile I settled on a look from Lee Industries who makes beautiful high quality furniture which is still made in the USA.

And after visiting one of my favorite local stores, Traditions of Loveville, which just happens to be a distributor for Lee Industries in my area, I hit pay dirt!   I'm not known for being a big "plan ahead" sort of person, so it was serendipitous that Traditions had not one but two swivel rockers and in colors that matched my color scheme and the vision I had in my head just a few days before my in-laws arrived...score!  One of them was even on sale, so I ended up getting a great deal on these two chairs...thanks Becky!

These babies are not only comfy but they are also slipcovered so you can slide those puppies off and throw them in the washing machine in case another set of pups, ie. Misty Belle and Mr. Quinn bring a bit of their muddy fun inside and onto the furniture.  And if I decide to change the look of the room at some point I can always pick out new slips with different fabrics or colorways.

You may have noticed  Miss Misty in one of the photos above, she is the perfect photographer's assistant...and what you can't see in any of the photos is that Mr. Quinn is right beside her.  I think Misty was a stylist in another life, she's always right there helping me set up the shot.  Quinn must have been a male model in his former life, as he is always ready for his best shot!

After my in-laws left last Sunday I decided to do a little rearranging and I finally brought in an old Coca Cola cooler I had found in the attic at the farm property we own.  I cleaned it up and brought it inside to sit underneath the sofa table made from an old shutter that I've had for years.  That whitish swath you see on the cooler is actually an old hunk of masking tape that I'm sure bore our family's name on it once upon a time.  Growing up crabbing, boating, camping and picnicking meant having your name slapped on everything so that you could claim your stake if something fell overboard or wandered away.  I thought about trying to remove it, but I think it just adds to the piece, so I decided to leave it on.


 

I also decided to take down the license plates and horse pull and put up one of my images which is printed on metal and has a high gloss finish.  The seagull picture, which I took awhile ago at the beach in Chincoteague, has been sitting in a box for over a year and I just didn't know where I wanted to hang it until now.

Throw in a few summertime accessories like these old croquet balls from a set my parent's once owned, a pair of binoculars to help you see the herons, osprey, and eagles outside, and a few books about the Chesapeake Bay area and you are all set!

So here is the room before, last December complete with a blurry Mr. Quinn, the kitchen table which is now in the dining room, the old furniture, and previous wall decor...

 BEFORE

And after...ready for some summer fun!

AFTER

Hmm, now what other rooms can I rearrange and buy new furniture for... ;-)

I hope everyone is staying cool and if you are getting too much rain, please send some our way, we've been hotter than the hinges and dry as a bone!

A Little Me Time

When you've been going at breakneck speed since long before the holidays, sometimes you need a day to just regroup and recoup...you know, a little "me" time.

The formula for "me" time is pretty simple really.  All you need is a quiet place, I recommend a big comfy chair or your bed, and some good reading materials, or even a movie you've been wanting to watch.

Of course it never hurts if you have lots of fluffy pillows and some pretty sheets too.  

I hope you each find a little "me" time this week!

Shells for Christmas

No words today...well these are words, but you know what I mean.  It's my birthday, I'm 29...again!!!...and my dear husband bought me a new toy to use on my camera, so I'm off to try it out!  I hope you enjoy these shots of my Hepplewhite chest all decked out for Christmas!

 

Oh, a few more words...thank you for all of your wonderful comments about my kitchen windowsill, and my other coastal themed decor from my last few posts!  Have a wonderful day!

My Dream House

I have this recurring dream, well it's a nightmare really.  It starts out innocently enough with Mr. Tide and I shopping for a big new house.

The house has plenty of rooms with high ceilings, a large well appointed kitchen, and lots and lots of storage.  The high ceilings and storage are both things we desperately lack in our current house, so my "dream" house seems like the perfect place to move.

Sometimes my dream house is also located on the water, just like this house, and sometimes it's even better waterfront, with a big huge pier and a luxurious boat at the end of it.

But each and every time in my dream when we have bought the other house, and we're moving out of this one, I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness...shear despair actually!  I break down in tears at the thought of leaving this little house behind.  The dream always ends the same way, with me crying and regretting our decision to move.

So I guess with all of its quirkiness, lack of storage, 8 foot ceilings, and other shortcomings, I really, truly do love this place.  And when we have a sunset like the one pictured above (these photos are all straight out of the camera), well I think it's easy to see why leaving this place would break my heart!

In other news...I am WAY far behind on returning emails, or replying to comments, but I will get there...maybe, hopefully!

And the song below, which was written in 1943 during WWII, is probably not unlike my dream, only much, much worse.  Not knowing if you would ever come home and be with your family again at Christmas must have been a nightmare I can't even begin to imagine!  I hope that during the hustle and bustle of this crazy season, you will slow down and really enjoy those around you, and not focus on the things you and everyone else wants, but be thankful for everything you have!  

There's No Place Like Home

Sorry about my wonky watermark, and apparently Photoshop wasn't interested in watermarking the other two images...maybe it's smarter than I am and realized that I hadn't downsized it properly! ;-)

Today, as I snapped these pictures of the bluebirds in my backyard who were busy trying to make a place to call home for the winter in our bluebird box, I couldn't help but think of what this day really means to me.

I've mentioned before that politics are not something I very often discuss, because I feel we all have biases, personal reasons, and ideology that shapes what we think about various things from religion to politics.  So like the old saying goes, I think it's best to steer clear of those discussions unless you are with close and very open minded friends, but certainly not in a public forum, unless you don't mind the mud slinging that ensues.

But as I watched these sweet creatures making their nest, I couldn't help but think that no matter where you live, who you vote for, or what you believe, we all want a place that we can call home.  And as I thought that, my mind wandered and began to think about all of the men and women who throughout history have sacrificed, some during wartime, others not, for something they believed in.  Something that often took them, or continues to take them so far from the places they call home.

Today I will honor those people by wearing a red poppy and hoping that for those who lost their lives so far from home, or for those who are now so far from home, that they will take some comfort in knowing that at least for today, they will be remembered.  Happy Veterans Day!

If You Only Knew

When I wake up each morning and look out the window on my side of the room, this is what I see, a field full of wildflowers.  Well they are weeds, swamp sunflowers and some purple weed I don't know the name of, but I like to call them wildflowers, it makes them sound prettier.

We as human beings have the ability to do that sometimes, turn weeds into wildflowers or reality into fantasy.  I had just been thinking about that when I popped by Jane's Blog and read her post, on what real life looks like, not the gussied up version we plaster on our blogs so often.  You can check her post out by clicking HERE.

Parts of Jane's post cracked me up, while other parts rang so true for me that it was a little scary.  But the truth is we are all living parallel lives in many ways, and knowing you aren't the only one with dog hair serving as a 5th food group in your house, or that the laundry threatens to eat you alive, makes you feel better.

For those of you with OCD, or who live perfect lives where children sing songs or write you poetry each day, or your husband makes you breakfast every morning (ok well that one is true for me), then turn away...no run away now!

No, that is not how real life is, because if it was, then shows like the "real" anything wouldn't be so popular.  Sitcoms like Father Knows Best (I loved that show!) and Leave it to Beaver would still reign supreme.  And don't misunderstand, I know that any show with the word "real" in the title is anything but real, but the premise that it shows people's vulnerabilities,  or the literal messiness that is real life is what people crave.

When I run in to people at the grocery store they will often say...wow you are so organized, you have so much going on...I don't know how you do it.  I often wander away thinking...were they talking to me?!  No, there must have been someone they knew standing behind me, because honey, if you only knew!

If you only knew how I cussed like a sailor this morning when I cut my finger on my #@$% tripod as I wandered around in my PJs at 8 am taking pictures.

If you only knew that I was frustrated beyond belief that after cutting my finger so bad that it bled like a stuck pig, all of the photos I took looked like crap.  So bad in fact that I am now sending my hugely expensive lens (the one that I've been saving for, the one that broke the budget this month) back to the store I bought it from!  And did I mention that the photo of the juvenile eagle 1 photo up, would have been awesome had the lens worked?!  Sadly, those juveniles don't just show up on my doorstep every day. :(

See that chart in the photo above, it helps you determine if your lens and camera are working properly to get clean, crisp photos (the ones taken with my new lens were horrible).  Yep, Mr. Tide and I spent precious time trying to figure out if it was me, or the lens.   All bets are off when a contest arises to determine if I am wrong or it the piece of equipment I am using is wrong.  9 times out of 10 it is operator error, followed by me saying things like ..."I can't figure this thing out!!", and I walk away in a huff.  Mr. Tide, the man who exemplifies the saying patience is a virtue, usually steps in, reminds me what time of the month it is, and helps in any way he can.  Lest you think he is perfect...he does however have the ability to walk past a folded pile of clothes for weeks without feeling a need to put them away!  And he believes that crumbs spontaneously generate from the kitchen counters, because he swears he wipes them down.  ;-)

If you only knew how much dog hair is on my floor right now you would swear a herd of alpacas live with me.  And yes, I vacuum frequently, but apparently I need to do it twice a day!  Ok, that is never gonna happen!

If you only knew that when the Verizon man showed up at my house yesterday I freaked out thinking, dear lord, I hope he doesn't need to go inside to check the line...maybe I can keep him in the living room and dining room which is straight and moderately dust free!

If you only knew that my dogs were barking and I had no bra on, not a pretty sight! (sorry Papa Jim and Doug if you are reading this!).

In blogland, time and reality are suspended.  There are no broken down barns like in the picture above.  It is edited, so all you see are the pretty flowers, the clean corners of houses, and the ramblings about finding the perfect this or that...but that's not real life.

I want friends who can call me and say, "ok, tell me if you think I'm crazy," and I don't, even if what they tell me would sound crazy to someone else!  And friends who I can call or email and say "ok, I cried because I'm afraid the plane is going to crash or my kids will get hurt while I'm overseas," and they won't tell me I've lost my mind, but will instead tell me that everything will be fine.

If you only knew how other people really lived, you wouldn't be so self conscious about how you live.  You wouldn't feel the need to say, "oh my house is a mess, when you just spent the last 2 days cleaning!"  You wouldn't feel the need to crop a photo once you realized that a pile of mail, or a pile of anything was in the shot.

My life is anything but organized, perfect, or even pretty some of the time, but it's wonderful none the less.  It's full of the good and the bad that make for an interesting life.  I am constantly entertained by the quest for everything that is vintage and imperfect that seems to be the style trend du jour right now.

People are paying exorbitant prices for things that are chippy, rusty, and imperfect and then trying their darnedest to arrange them precisely into their picture perfect worlds.  Does this not sound crazy to anyone else but me?!  Why crave imperfection in things and demand perfection in ourselves...this makes no sense to me, but what the heck do I know anyway!

If only you knew how little I know, how much I have to learn, how far from perfect I am, you would all run screaming for the hills...

***I was asked to re-instate the comments feature on my blog, but please know that for now I won't be able to reply unless you ask a specific question.  I know that sounds ungrateful, because I do love reading every one of them, but right now it's what I need to do, and I thank you for your understanding!"

Sing for Your Supper

Today, I thought we'd take a peek inside my cupboards and around the kitchen.

I love my glass fronted cupboards.

And my napkin rings given to me by my sweet daughter!

You can't live in Maryland and not have a set of crab glasses.

And this blueberry creamer and sugar came from my parents who raised blueberries, yum!

This beautiful white platter was a gift from my neighbor last Christmas, I think she knows me pretty well!

The plate above the range came from Giant, the etched bottle was found at a local gift store, and the green bottle is from my dear friend Celia, she gave it to me in high school and I added the slate tag years ago.

On the hutch are some treasured kitchen items from my mother and grandmother, and that wooden block with the beach babe is from the talented and oh so sweet Linda at Itsy Bits and Pieces!  Thank you Linda, I love it!

As you can tell, I don't worry too much about jamming things into my glass fronted cupboards.  Storage is at a premium in this little house of ours so everything has it's place and there is a place for everything.

Gravy boats, milk glass salt and pepper shakers, and even chickens find themselves at home here.

I love my fishy chowder bowls.

The strawberry topped sugar bowl and butter dish peeking out behind the blue vase belonged to my grandmother.

Above the hidden microwave are my fancy smanchy glasswares.

And a few pretties too.

And because no kitchen would be complete without one, here is my cookie jar.  To see more kitchen pictures click here.

Now, go sing for your supper! ;-)

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