Saturday...

can be described with the following sequence of events:

belly dance : My first belly dance class was a blast. I'll be back for more.

bird poop : On my head. Yes, head. Does anyone know if there is a statistic on this? Like a one in a million chance of being shat upon? Are my chances of a repeat greatly diminished now that this has transpired?

barnes and noble : More specifically the fight we were in (siding with the rest of a long line of patient, cheery, happy to be buying bargain books on a weekend afternoon customers) with one very ornery old man in a Cosby sweater.

condo project #1

Our housing situation is about to shift! We will be moving from my spacious, much loved 1920's apartment complete with 4 walk in closets, a sun room/studio, large second floor porch, original hardwood floors, gallery style hallway, vintage tile and fixtures in the bathroom, charm to spare, you get the idea, I could go on but I won't, to Brett's rather "compact" first floor condo. Yes, it too has original fixtures and vintage charm, but they are of the 1988 variety. But, I am ready to move onto this next chapter of our lives and I embrace it as a design challenge. We have already made some huge strides and made it over to get it on the market, but I just don't think it's going to sell in 6 weeks. So, I am already mentally moving and settling in.

bedroom, dining room, playroom...

This weekend I got an email from West Elm that sale furniture was an extra 20% off. A dresser I have always loved was on sale and I had a gift card, so we decided to pounce. We saved about $700! And I figure it will be a piece we can use in many rooms in many houses in the future.

Yup, looks good now! No one lives here!

These are some shots of the condo bedroom, the dresser will go on the wall facing the foot of the bed under that large painting. Doesn't really match the dark wood sleigh bed that is in there now, but that will probably be replaced by my upholstered headboard.

So, to tie the headboard to the light wood dresser and complete the room, I need some bedside tables. I have always had my heart set on a pair of Saarinen marble top tulip tables, but that is not really in the budget right now and I don't want to invest too much into the decor of this condo since I hope we won't live here for long. So I am giving myself a budget of $100 for the pair, hopefully less! Make? Buy? Find? We'll see what happens.

Atlanta flea markets, here I come!

torture

Yes, torture. I am sick and have no sense of taste left. First torture session of today? Our Sunday going-out-to-breakfast ritual. Today we picked Java Jive just down the street and I could not taste any of my food. So I skipped the usual cheddary, mushroomy, turkey-y omelette and had a boring granola yogurt thing. Then we came home, I moped around and Brett suggested that we get in bed and watch the movie he netflixed for me. This was a great idea and just the thing really, except that we watched Julie and Julia. And I all I want to do know is make boeuf bourguignon, which would be a waste. Soooo, guess I'll be channeling all that foodie inspiration into a cup of tea and crackers. Delish.

Sniff.

secret crush

Oh, Mr. Rochester! You're ever so dashing. I honestly had given up all hope that you and Jane Eyre would ever see each other again, let alone get married. But you did and I wanted to cry. Only, you really will never see Jane Eyre again, since you are now blind. But you are still a dashing enigma and I heart you. xoxo, Mrs. Smith

I just read Jane Eyre. Can you tell? This is going to be a year for the classics. My brother-in-law gave me The Count of Monte Cristo for Christmas. I will get through it! All 1179 fine print pages. And I commit to finishing Anna Karenina, which I've been reading for about 9 months. If nothing else, I love it for the names. There is a glossary of all the Russian characters' names in the back and I sometimes just like to read that out loud, by myself. Try it:

Ekaterina Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya

Darya Alexandrovna Oblonskaya

Konstantin Dmitrich Levin

Sergei Ivanovich Koznyshev ( I really like that one )

Stepan Arkadyich Oblonsky

Fortunately, they all have nicknames in the book. Can you tell I am not leading any book club discussions? No, I don't think I really analyze these books as they deserve. I just like stories and being sucked into something. It's also neat to think about all the other people who have read these books over the years.

the little things

Do you know what this is? Um, it's Barbie furniture. By Jonathan Adler. I would like to say I would have killed for this as a kid, but I probably would have thought it was just weird. My dollhouse décor was really more of a nice mix of eighties country chic with a few nice accent pieces from My Little Pony, a bible June and I used in a kick-ass English project in eight grade, and service for 4 from the Barbie Camping Dinnerware Collection.

Oh how I loved that doll house. Legend has it that my dad and uncles waited until the last minute and were putting it together Christmas Eve when I was 4 or so. I suspect there were a few beverages involved and the doll house was never quite finished to her lovely faux Victorian balsa wood kit glory. But that's ok, I still loved it. There is something intriguing about miniatures, don't you think? I am amazed by detail that can be achieved on a small scale and how we can own things in their tiny versions when we've maybe never even seen the real thing. I have a tiny version of the Robert Indiana Love sculpture that was $5! Gotta love $5 art.

a little love in the kitchen

Oddly, I find cast off minis all the time. I was one of those kids who was always touching stuff and picking crap off the ground. Once I found a squirrel's tail on a walk with my family and I brought it home and saved it! Nice. But another time my mom and I found $110 in 5 minutes on a walk. Really nice. Here are a few things I have found lately: the minute monster hand, petite piggy and teeny dice came from my apartment yard a various times in the last three years; the mini marlin fish is from the beach in Mexico and the baby Barbie shoe is from the beach where we spent our honeymoon.

this little piggy...

This is a strange post, eh? Oh well. This is just a day when I am stuck in my kitchen, glued to CNN watching the horrors that people are suffering. Strange post, strange day. xoxo

a cutting mustard

Not sure we'll finish the ENTIRE jar...

Whenever my dad visits and asks if he can bring us something from home, I always request horseradish. Real, hot, fresh horseradish root; none of this "prepared horseradish sauce" that you get down here that is really just spicy mayonnaise. Dad opted to throw in a Hotter Than Hell mustard this batch. We found it in the fridge today, and it's getting used since a big portion of my new year's resolution has to do with making use of what I've got. Brett stepped up to the lunch plate today and slathered some on, pretty much a wasabi-roast beef nightmare. There were some tears, some light sweating, milk consumption. Thanks, dad - youch.

application prowess: 3.5 out of a possible 4 stars

pepper jack cheese for extra kick

only real men can cry

I should reaaaaally...

go out for a run. Like right now. It is almost noon, Brett is getting a haircut and we are going to se Up in the Air at 2:10. So perfect window of opportunity. Alas...

exciting news...

We just found out that our wedding is going to be in print! We will be featured in the Real Weddings section of the summer 2010 edition of Bride's Magazine, the Atlanta publication. I don't love all the pictures of me that they chose, but not much I can do about it. I'm more excited about getting a credit for designing the invitations...

ski trip!

Ski bums

Some differences between the last time I skiied

(probably in 1998?) and now:

Rental gear now is way nicer than the gear I owned then.

My calves fit into the boots better, thank god.

I am no longer fearless, way more cautious.

I did a test run on the bunny trail. They have this new thing called a magic carpet that has thankfully rendered the T bar obsolete.

I drank wine in the lodge.

I sat between 2 boys on every chairlift ride.

I didn't match and didn't care!

I was scared for other people's children. Especially the three year olds bombing down the black diamonds.

They don't use the sticker and paper clip thing lift ticket anymore, now it's this hi-tech paper and a plastic zip tie :(

I noticed all the parents skiing in jeans and old jackets and ratty equipment while their kids were decked out in designer outfits and brand new gear. Gotta love parents.

EVERYTHING is logoed, sponsored or a place for advertisers to catch your eye.

There was the hum of everyone having a great time in the lodge and on the slopes, scurrying along to wherever they needed to be. I had lots of flashbacks to hauling gear on the ski trip bus, the time my dad set all of our locks to the wrong combo, eating fries, drinking cocoa, quarters for the lockers, and driving home from Titus Mountain in Megan's Taurus, singing along to Alanis Morrissette and feeling safe and warm. Oh, and spending actual cash money, all wadded up in the awesome ski wallet hanging from a cord around my neck!

Us with some weird parasite that infected us out there!