Archives for July 2010

Every once in awhile I just need to purge my brain of a bunch of unrelated information. It helps me control the crazy.

So, that being said, I apologize in advance for the disconnected randomness that’s about to happen.

It might be best to just nod your head and pretend like it all makes sense.

– TJ Maxx has really stepped it up with their selection of lamps.

– In the last few episodes of “The Hills,” Justin Bobby’s hair looked like Prince during the “When Doves Cry” era.

– Zaxby’s chocolate milkshakes are delicious.

– I think these kelly green shoes are adorable. But I wonder if I could ever incorporate them into my daily fashion routine.

Thoughts?

– The CMT Crossroads with John Mayer and Keith Urban is Music Happytown, and everybody needs to visit. I LOVE IT.

– Football season starts in six weeks. This is excellent news.

– I read an interview with Simon Cowell the other day. He said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Harry Connick, Jr. is the new judge on American Idol next year. DO WE DARE TO DREAM?

– David Crowder Band’s “Oh, Happiness” has become our theme song for the summer.

– I haven’t seen any of the Twilight movies. And I’m one of seven people currently residing in the US who still hasn’t seen The Blind Side. So I’m pretty sure that I’ll be asked to leave the country soon.

– Last night, right after I started putting the bedroom back together again, Alex told me that he was proud of me for finishing with painting. Then he said, “You know, Mama, I’m SO proud of you that I think I may have to cook you breakfast in the morning.”

And then: “But Mama? I don’t really know how that would work out since I can’t cook.”

Bless him.

…but not quite.

Because right this very second, our bedroom looks like this. Except that it’s light outside now, of course.

So clearly we slept in the guest room last night.

But today – oh, today. Today will be full of magical, oh-sweet-mercy-the-painting-is-finally-over moments. And hopefully some finishing touches. And no small degree of rejoicing.

Anyway, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to run a few room-related errands. And I’m also going to try to think of new and inventive ways to avoid blow drying my hair. Because when we get into this portion of the summer? I dread using the blow dryer with the fury of a thousand smoking-hot flat irons. But unfortunately, if I DON’T use a blow dryer, my hair looks like I slicked down the top part, crimped the middle section, then set fire to the ends.

So basically it’s a look that’s very happening and with it and now.

Have a great Tuesday, y’all!

So we bought this house, what? Three and a half years ago?

And when we bought this house, I vowed and declared that I didn’t need to change a single thing – but if I were to change anything at all, it would be the color of our master bedroom. I loved the sage green walls at our previous house, and this color was very, very burgundy. With a slight dark-purple tint. An aubergine, if you will.

However.

When it came right down to it, the prospect of painting our bedroom totally overwhelmed me. The room is big, and there are doors or windows on every wall – which means lots of cutting in (here’s a fun fact: I am NOT A FAN of cutting in). Plus, the color was so dark that I had visions of 2 primer coats and 2 paint coats and STILL seeing little glimmers of burgundy-with-a-hint-of-aubergine peeking through.

And besides all of that, I have been endlessly indecisive about a color. I wanted something that would be soothing but still have enough richness to anchor the room (have I been watching too much HGTV? because I’m pretty sure that last sentence sounds like something that Candice Olson would say). And since we’ve had the same coverlet and shams for ten years, I felt like the new paint color would usher in new linens, and how, HOW COULD I EVER MAKE SO MANY DECISIONS, HOW, I BEG OF YOU?

Remember, I am a person who can take upwards of 20 minutes to pick out a salad dressing.

But last weekend several of the puzzle pieces started to fall into place. And within a couple of days, I had the wee beginnings of a plan.

So.

I’ve been painting. And I love the color so much. It’s nothing that I ever imagined for our room, but now that it’s on the walls, it’s exactly what I didn’t even know I wanted. Don’t you love it when that happens? I tend to overthink color choices (SHOCKING, I KNOW), so this time I asked my husband to go to Home Depot with me, and thanks to his decisiveness, we’d picked out a color we both agreed on within ten minutes.

This is certainly some sort of record.

And oh my goodness – I am so in love with the paint I’ve been using. It’s Behr Premium Plus Ultra (nobody asked me or paid me to say that, JUST FOR THE RECORD), and the primer is built in, and IT HAS CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER. Totally covered the burgundy-aubergine on the first coat. That is no small feat, my friends. I’m doing two coats just to make sure that the color is even all the way around the room, but the paint is a dream come true. I would dress it up in a tuxedo and take it out for dinner and dancing if I could.

But of course I can’t. Since it’s a paint can and all.

Anyway, I’ll have some before and after pictures in the next couple of days. I still have to paint behind our bed and then get the room put back together again. This hasn’t been a quick project because the little man has had lots of company the last few days (that’s not a complaint – we love the company), and there have been lots of breaks for pool time and Words With Friends time and Despicable Me time and church time and maybe even a little bit of The Hills time (THERE WERE SEVERAL MARATHONS, AND I AM NOT A ROBOT, PEOPLE).

So that’s what’s been going on here. And the color, by the way, is a Behr color called Atmospheric. It looks gray in the can but blue-gray on the walls – with a little hint of green late in the afternoon. Here’s what the first coat (still wet) looked like on the wall next to the Previous Owners’ Enormous Headboard Structure That Was Apparently Cemented To The Drywall And Therefore Cannot Be Moved (seriously – if we try to take it off, the whole wall will come down, and that is why I have turned it into a little bit of a feature wall, but that is another story for another time, especially considering that the four or maybe even nine of you who are still reading this have endured quite enough for the time being, oh thank you).

Admit it. The color is so soothing that you’re totally relaxed now, aren’t you?

May I offer you a pillow? Or perhaps a fleece blanket?

Okay. I need to fire up the DVR before I go to sleep so that tomorrow, when I start painting again, I can rest in the peace of knowing the outcome of the camera challenge on The Next Food Network Star.

After all, I believe it’s important to stay up-to-date with current events.

You never know when there might be some sort of quiz.

Now I don’t want to sound like Nellie Negativity, but last year we had a string of holidays that ’bout near put me in the bed. Maybe it was because our family and friends were a little scattered. Maybe it was because of poor planning. Maybe it was because of THE RAGING HORMONES OF FIRE. Regardless, that whole time frame from my birthday last fall to this past New Year’s Eve?

Not my favorite.

But this past weekend? And all the 4th of July celebratory-type activities that went along with it?

JUST DELIGHTFUL.

Oh my word. I hardly even knew what to do with myself, what with the wrapping up of a long holiday weekend and not feeling overcome by a strong and powerful desire to stay in my pajamas all day and watch reruns of House Hunters and fry chicken.

Which reminds me. Y’all offered the BEST suggestions for 4th of July food, and I totally changed my menu as a result. I cooked a chuck roast, shredded it, then made a big ole pot of black beans and a batch of homemade salsa. We fixed soft tacos, and then I sauteed some fresh squash and zucchini for a side dish. I think my parents may have wondered what in the sam hill I had against potato salad and baked beans, but they persevered. And also: we went bowling. That story may need to be told in the form of a six-part dramatic series, but in the meantime I just want to say that I think my daddy has been hiding his bowling light under a bushel.

I mean, we just had no idea that he was skilled in that particular area. In fact, I don’t think I’ve bowled with Daddy since I was, oh, ELEVEN, but I mean to tell you that he doesn’t mess around. And it just tickled D to no end to see Daddy walking around looking for just the right bowling ball so that he could put the appropriate angles on his release. D said he felt like he gained a whole new understanding about the source of my competitive spirit, and while there’s no question that he made some other valid observations about my gene pool, quite frankly I don’t really remember them because I was far too busy calculating how I could stage a three-frame comeback and bump my very own child into last place.

But in the end? My child SMOKED me in bowling. As did my husband and my daddy. I’m still not over it.

Anyway, in addition to having All The Food & Fun, I actually made some headway on a few house-related projects this past weekend. And since I like to go where the momentum carries me, I’m going to take a little bloggy break. I’m hoping to do some painting and rearranging and whathaveyou, and if I know anything about myself at all, I know that whenever I start the painting and the rearranging, I tend to get a smidge obsessive.

And by “smidge,” of course, I mean OBNOXIOUSLY OVERBEARING.

So.

I’ll see y’all in a few-ish days. Hope you have a great week!

We left the house at 10 this morning.

Here’s where we went:

1) gas station
2) library
3) Walgreens
4) a cute little place for lunch
5) Steinmart
6) Ross
7) shoe store
8) bookstore
9) thrift store

It was retail overload. Even if I only bought a tank of gas and 4 Berenstain Bears books at the thrift store for a whopping 39 cents each.

Mama didn’t buy a thing. But she really, really likes to “look.” She can “look” all day long. And today, she did just that, because we got home at 4 this afternoon.

Then I made homemade pizza.

Then I slipped into a post-retail haze and watched the entire HGTV Thursday night line-up.

And now I need to make a grocery list, but I’m struggling because I’m tired and I’m distracted by a girl on House Hunters International who’s wearing a full-length caftan in Greece in the summertime and I’m worried that she’s burning up.

Maybe it’s a dry heat.

Anyway, I have a question: what are y’all cooking for the 4th? Because while I know I could go the standard hamburger/baked beans/homemade potato salad/homemade ice cream route – and I still may – I’m sort of feeling the urge to do something different. Only I don’t really know what “something different” might be because I think this post is probably proof that I’m not so strong with the coherent thoughts right now.

So. Thank you in advance for your culinary insights and collective wisdom.

And just so you know, the caftan girl picked House #3. I hope she’ll be happy and cool there.