Gathering Moss

well haaaaaaay!

2012-01-27T12:17:00.005-06:00

...is this thing on? i've practically forgotten how to blog. and it is shameful. team stone has been on a wild ride over the past year, and this blog has fallen by the wayside. we can discuss the particulars later. i'm just ready to get back to it!

first order of business, an introduction. you may recall that we lost our beloved marley dog in july. a few months later, we decided we were ready to welcome another mutthound into our pack. meet our newest family member, river:

catahoula leopard dog & black lab mix rescue pup
show name: team stone's little red river after daddy's favorite fly-fishing spot

first family photo, picking him up in little rock

ok so those were taken in september. here he is right this minute at 6 months old, with big sis sterling:

riv-a-dog also enjoys voguing:

sleeping in the cockroach pose:

and lying around with his mouth open like an alligator:

and is not spoiled. at all.

so there's a brief reintroduction to the stone family. regular posting of projects and general nonsense to follow. pinkie promise. i've missed you!

goings on

2011-08-21T12:41:00.004-05:00

things are happening at the stone house. i have started working monday - thursday, so operation finish is now a weekend undertaking. but a weekend undertaking that is going places!

painting, sewing and upholstering are in the works

and progress on the deck and landscape are happening (when the temperature dips below code-heat-stroke levels)

completed project postings coming soon...

goin' to the chapel

2011-08-09T09:35:00.003-05:00

team stone spent this past weekend in glorious sewanee, tennessee, taking part in the wedding festivities of one of my dear college friends. one of my bridesmaidily duties was to create a logo and save the date for the bride and groom. using one of their engagement photos as inspiration, here's what i came up with:

i also extracted the silhouette for them to use on their invitations and reception cups:

nothing like a long weekend of friends, food and fun in celebration of the union of some really wonderful people!

let there be light...

2011-08-03T21:13:00.009-05:00

...er paint on my dining room chandelier. i am awesome at naming blog posts. also awesome at doing projects and waiting eleventy years to post them. like when i took the plain, dark chandy that came in our dining room - similar to this:

- and lightened it up with milk paint, antiquing glaze, and new shades, thusly:

the homeless colony of glasses, bottles and candlesticks on the bar has been streamlined in the ensuing eleventy years. thank you, operation finish! also in the dining room are these items and curtains i made out of this:

fyi. it's coming along slowly. but in an awesome way that i am digging. so, you know, worth the wait.

color! pattern! paint!

2011-07-29T14:47:00.005-05:00

sure has been depressing around here recently, huh? july 2011 goes down in stone family history as the absolute pits. here's hoping august brings a major upswing.

the antidote to bummertown? color! pattern! paint! OPERATION FINISH! today i completed two projects from my long-standing to-do pile.

first, an old paint caddy of my mom's. if i'm to cart around paint supplies all the live-long day, oughtn't i do so in style?

BEFORE:

please note the carpet. when did we remove the carpet? november 2009. OPERATION FINISH!

a vera bradley napkin, a little mod podge, my kwid imperial trellis stencil and some paint later, the AFTER:

hoarding art supplies? who, me?

infinitely more festive!

next, a plain wooden tray i picked up ages ago. no before picture; just envision, if you will, a plain wooden tray. envisioning? mkay. i painted it white, mod podged a piece of fabric to the bottom, then painted on a monogram. of course.

post-mod podge, pre-monogram

monogram in progress

AFTER:

notice another fabric mod podged project in the background - the pink frame

looks like the various geometric melamine & acrylic trays i've lusted over, but for what? FO' FREE. booyah.

:(

2011-07-28T09:02:00.003-05:00

Marley Dog
1997-2011

three broken hearts at our house. we'll always love you, big dog.

operation finish

2011-07-15T09:22:00.009-05:00

greetings! anybody still out there? sincere apologies for this most egregious lapse in blogging. it's been a whirlwind few months chez stone, culminating in my decision to quit an awful, time-sucking, soul-crushing job without another one lined up. yikes! sometimes in life, things are not what they seem. time to chalk it up to "life experience" and move on. so, what's next? i'm taking a few weeks to recover and reevaluate. kinda like the post-college gap year backpacking through europe that i never had. except with less gelato and more not spending any money.

in an effort to get back in touch with my poor shriveled creative spirit, i'm going to focus a lot on this blog. there are dozens and dozens of unfinished projects stacked up in my craft room, attic and garage that can be completed for zero dollars. there are also lots of closets, cabinets and shelves (not to mention the aforementioned craft room, attic and garage) that can be thoroughly cleaned and organized for zero dollars. tons of projects! hours of entertainment! zero dollars! and so, friends, it's time for....

OPERATION FINISH

show of hands: how many of you are like me, with supplies out the ears for well-intentioned projects that were never completed? over the next few weeks, i am going to systematically revisit these projects. and finish them. for zero dollars. or as close to zero dollars as possible. who's with me?!

despite the lack of time and will to ~~live~~ blog resultant from my recent workplace adventures, there have been some projects in the works up in here. here's what team stone has been up to over the past few months...

building shutters:

the old plastic shutters in the paint-testing phase

celebrating our 2nd anniversary:

family portrait fail

building a deck:

creating a gallery wall:

still searching for a few pieces...

organizing household storage:

indeed, we are rich in candles

and snuuuuggling:

OPERATION FINISH - it's on.

lake house: our bedroom before

2011-04-09T08:00:00.002-05:00

you have heard tell of the lake house before. and it's atrocity. the pepto-pink and lavender walls; the circa 1970 toilets; the mish-mash of furniture that came with it. well, friends, it's time to see with your own eyes. i'll start with our bedroom - the before and the inspiration board.

brace yourselves.

from the bedroom's doorway:

the en-suite vanity:

close-up of the metallic floral wallpaper:

ghosts of linoleum past lurking under the vanity:

the harvest gold sink and counter:

and the matching en-suite pottay:

are you so impressed? here's the plan:

a few weekends ago, we did a deep clean and painted the paneled walls white. next steps include removing wallpaper, ripping up carpet to replace with hardwood-looking laminate and building a headboard.

operation lake house resuscitate = go.

indeed

2011-04-08T20:50:00.002-05:00

our bed this morning, 7:00 a.m.

well then. that about sums it up.

procrastination: lesson learned

2011-03-17T09:33:00.000-05:00

alternate title: why we can't have nice things.

lesson #1:

probably a year ago, i ordered a pair of monogrammed pillows from ballard designs:

with the intention of adding ribbon trim to them for our boudoir, like so:

by melissa rufty

which i did. like 6 months ago. yet failed to photograph all pretty-like for the blog. and a few weeks ago? the day before the 4 year anniversary of the day i brought a baby sterling home from the animal shelter? when i was feeling all sentimental about how much i love that dog? i came home from work to this:

and so. all i have to share now are crappy phone pictures of a bed with one pillow.

but hey, check out that grosgrain trim! with mitered corners and everything!

lesson #2:

in september, i exchanged a gift at stein mart and got a pair of black resin lamps:

i did manage to take before pictures, high five!

which i painted with linen milk paint and glazed, then placed on our bedside tables. and all was right with the world for a few months.

don't mock my salt lamp. i freaking love my salt lamp. it emits good energy and a saixy glow.

until an incident a few weeks ago wherein cstone attempted to help me make the bed.

resin lamps? do not fare well when knocked off a bedside table. sigh.

a pair of these have been ordered as a suitable replacement:

and also less breakable. time will tell...

is your household a death trap for home decor? or is it just me? anyone?

get thee to target

2011-03-16T11:31:00.005-05:00

friends. our local target was recently renovated to include a grocery section, and it has given me the excuse to be ten kinds of all up in that store on a weekly basis nowadays. target also happens to be totally bringing it in the home decor department, and i feel compelled to share.

exhibit a, $25 quatrefoil mirror:

in not my finish of choice:

but no matter. a little gold leaf and glaze later...

i wanted an antiquey chippy look (try to hide your surprise), so i got all haphazard with the gold leaf application, which resulted in the desired finish. considering getting another one to hang above it. because mirrors need friends too.

exhibit b, $12 outdoor fabric pillows in a suspiciously familiar pattern:

headed to team stone's lake house for phase one of our lake house bedroom makeover. which brings to mind another target purchase...back in the bathroom reno days, i got a simple mirror-framed mirror there like this:

when i got it home, i realized that there was a crack in the frame that had been hidden by the packaging. being ~~too lazy to return it~~ resourceful, i decided to give it a little nautical flair for ye olde lake house, inspired by this:

of course, that project is still on the to-do list at present. again, try to hide your surprise.

for funsies, here's my main inspiration picture for our room at the lake house:

i'm thinking blue & white, with a hint of rainbow trout. captain fantastic spends a lot of time fly-fishing in the river that feeds the lake, so it would be appropriate, no?

the room is currently decked out in the previous owners' choices of wood paneling painted a pale pepto pink, with a lovely accent wall of metallic floral wallpaper and a smorgasboard of mismatched furnishings. big plans, friends. big plans.

YES

2011-02-16T15:50:00.000-06:00

dear sterling and marley,

watch and learn.

love me? love me not?

2011-02-14T15:50:00.004-06:00

my camera? is broken. you see, i was trying to photograph some items of interest to share with my internet friends, and there was an unfortunate incident involving a very professional stack-of-stuff tripod and its arch-nemesis, gravity. sad story. captain fantastic has been tasked with taking the ole point-n-shoot to the camera fixers to see if they can get the zoomy lens part to un-jam. who's pretty excited about the whole thing is my blackberry, what with her photographic capabilities being used and all.

so anyway, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

cstone knows the way to my heart is through a hand-selected box of dinstuhl's and a big fat lobster for dinner. i know the way to his heart is paved thusly:

what's better than a surprise box of beer and jerky at 7:00 a.m? only the addition of a pair of the thermos coffee mugs you've been wanting. one for now, one for when you lose the first one. i know my valentine well. love you, baby!

even the big dogs are feeling the love:

this phenomenon was thought to be mythical. like a unicorn. or a piece of my clothing without a strand of their hair on it.

a rockin' makeover

2011-01-14T16:00:00.000-06:00

now that the holiday season is over, i can get back to my irregularly unscheduled blogging. which is better than no blogging at all, yes? and never fear, friends; good things come to those who wait. things like a furniture painting project for another person! not related to me! who paid me! for painting! a "commission" for a "client," if you will. and i think i will.

the client: the sweet mama of two precious little girls
the commission: transform her husband's childhood rocking chair:

into something that will better compliment his daughters' girly-girl style:

pink and green and girly? this might be a stretch for me.

or, you know, not.

a little paint, glaze and creative-muscle-flexing later, and behold:

funnest. project. ever.

*i know funnest is not the proper superlative of fun. blogging grammar is like abstract art: you have to know the rules, then you can break them. capishe?

holiday spirit

2010-12-10T14:46:00.002-06:00

we haz it.

sterl girl

marley dog

day 24: where i live

2010-12-02T11:10:00.006-06:00

via

i'm a southern girl, born and bred. i cherish bbq festivals on the mighty mississippi (for the good times with friends as opposed to the bbq i don't eat):

southern gents in their summer finery:

dad, burruss and captain fantastic on easter. yes, i am wearing a coat. never said i like/understand memphis weather.

downtown tomfoolery with life-long friends:

bachelorette partay at raiford's

hometown basketball pride:

GO TIGERS!

...and a bunch of other stuff that i don't have pictures to illustrate.

a few hours to the east gives you the great smoky mountains

a few hours west gives you the ozarks

a few hours south gives you the white sand beaches of the gulf

but my favorite spot is right here at home:

waiting for daddy circa 2009

memphis, tennessee

spring cleaning the garage, hence the redneck back yard. very tennessee of us, no?

day 23: a video

2010-11-24T13:40:00.001-06:00

just try to tell me this isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen. try.

Once upon a time... from Capucha on Vimeo.

day 22: a website

2010-11-23T16:28:00.002-06:00

websites i visit every day:

gmail.com - to check my electronic mails
hotmail.com - to check my junk electronic mails (store mailing lists, coupons, etc)
thebreastcancersite.com et al - free donating! duh!

and my google reader page, to check my embarrassingly-large amount of blogs. reader currently says that i have 1000+ unread items, if that gives you an idea. so far behind, google reader doesn't even count that high. sad story.

day 21: a recipe

2010-11-19T15:04:00.004-06:00

note the title of this post is not "a fancy recipe." which is appropriate, as fancy i am not. delicious, however, i am. rather, this recipe is.

if you come to my house, you will most likely be eating this.

(i like the smoked variety, though it gets less melty than regular)

+

wrapped around the wheel of cheese

+

sprinkled on top. i've used a variety of spices, and all are tasty. kinda can't go wrong.

bake for 12-15 minutesish, until it's lovely golden brown outside and melty inside. serve with crackers, or just dig in with a knife and your fingers. it's the poor man's baked brie. or the man who doesn't like baked brie's baked brie ( here's looking at you, dad). "recipe" courtesy of my mama, queen of party food.

want a real recipe? check out my pal the blue jean gourmet. girlfriend knows how to cook!

day 20: a hobby of yours

2010-11-19T13:04:00.003-06:00

my biggest, longest, love-of-my life hobby? making things. in general. from sewing purses for my bridesmaids to drawing my own cards for every occasion since birth to painstakingly painting furniture for myself and others, i'm always making something. usually the most complicated slash detailed something i can possibly make. for example: waste baskets. i have been dying to make some hand-painted waste baskets for quite some time now. i finally found some suitable wooden numbers, just in time for a collection of birthdays and holidays. for my first go-round, a birthday gift for my chic new york lawyer pal (whose new digs she plans to outfit in navy velvet upholstery, acrylic bar stools and mirrored case goods) i had the perfect pattern in mind: the illustrious kwid imperial trellis. painted by hand, with love. the most important ingredient in all my projects. aaaaaawwwwwww.

amidst victoria's packing paraphernalia before the big move

i made a stencil and traced it onto the sides, then painted all the blue bits by hand.

guess what's on all my friends' birthday wish lists this year?

day 19: a talent of yours

2010-11-18T10:26:00.004-06:00

are you impressed?

day 18: my wedding

2010-11-17T09:50:00.004-06:00

this has been pretty well covered. check out my first anniversary post for a quick recap.

day 17: an art piece

2010-11-17T09:45:00.003-06:00

what about an artist?

john robinette. a memphian who paints delta things. i love his series of moons over cotton fields and country churches. in real life, they practically glow. there was a showing of his work at the restaurant we chose for our rehearsal dinner last june, and i'd be lying if i said that didn't play a large role in the decision.

these are the only paintings i could find online. magical.

day 16: a song that makes you cry

2010-11-15T11:23:00.001-06:00

in a good, nostalgic way

day 15: your dream house

2010-11-12T15:55:00.009-06:00

captain fantastic LOVES it when i talk about my dream house. his hair starts falling out and his pupils turn into flashing dollar signs. but it's a dream house! come on!

dream house requirements:

fireplace. slash fireplaces. flanked by either built-in shelves or window seats.

open kitchen. that's where everyone wants to hang out!

gwyn duggan

powder room. wallpapered festively.

massucco warner miller

lonny

enough bedrooms rooms for our hopeful future family and guests.

phoebe howard

full house

decor pad

lori tippins

thibault

spiral topiaries. (with gardner to prune)

traditional home

en suite master bath.

jim howard

closet space. copious.

dream big people! house beautiful

harlequin windows.

garage. NOT on the front of the house.

maid.

and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

day 14: a non-fiction book

2010-11-11T18:22:00.002-06:00

this is about as non-fiction as it can get. imma get all anthropological up in here.

we're not allowed to refer to people as primitive anymore, margaret mead

this was the first book assigned in my first anthropology class during my first semester of college. it's an ethnographic study of colin turnbull's three years living with the pygmies in the congo in the 1950s. fascinating. i loved my professor, loved the book, loved the discovery channel, decided to major in anthropology. and for that, i say: eff you, forest people.

seriously though, good read. if you like ethnographies. neeeeerd.

day 13: a fictional book

2010-11-10T17:50:00.004-06:00

growing up, we had a cocker spaniel named sophie.

r.i.p.

i hate to speak ill of the dead, but sophie was probably the least intelligent dog of all time. poor girl. she didn't understand commands (aside from "gimme five," which she mastered for some reason), never quite got the hang of house training, often got her upper lip stuck in an elvis-curl, and had the same hairdo as george stephanopoulus.

she also liked to eat. favorite delicacies included eyeglasses, expensive video game controllers and pencil erasers, which she hoarded en masse under my bed. sophie got in trouble a lot.

after years of yelling, my parents decided maybe we would try a new discipline. we would shame her. when sophie did something bad, we'd look down, shake our heads, and say "shame on sophie. shaaaaaame on sophie. baaaad girl." all calm-and-disappointed-like.

my little brother, who was probably about 10 at the time, didn't quite get it. when sophie committed a transgression on his watch, he'd scream bloody murder "SHAME!!! SHAAAAME!!! SHAAAAAAAAME!!!!" completely defeating the purpose of the shame technique. surprisingly, neither method was effective.

the point of this story is shaaaame on lauren for taking a week-long vacation from work and neglecting blogging duties, then being on deadline after vacation and failing to blog some more. shame. shaaame. shaaaaaaaame.

so. here's a fictional book. one that i failed to mention in the last post on favorite books. this one's for you dad!

this was my favorite book from before i was old enough to remember what my favorite book was. according to legend, i was making the "hush" sound to the "old lady whispering hush" part at like 6 months or something. because i was obviously a genius.

but seriously, who doesn't love this book?

day 12: something you are ocd about

2010-10-27T13:02:00.005-05:00

haaaaahahahahaha hooooooboy. that's hilarious. i am supposed to pick ONE thing that i am ocd about? it'd be easier to pick one thing i'm NOT ocd about. which would be this: nothing.

but i prefer to say "perfectionist" or "particular." even "extremely refined in taste and preference."

probably the things i am most overtly ocd about are:

1) cleanliness. not like from germs - i'm not cloroxing every surface - i just like things to feel and appear clean. i like my bed made. i like dirty clothes in the hamper. i like dog hair vacuumed (ok, dog hair is an ocd chapter unto itself...). i like kitchen counters wiped. i like myself and my husband showered before getting in the bed (much to captain fantastic's unending chagrin).

this is what i think of when sterling shakes and the hair flies...sigh

2) food. i've been a vegetarian for 16 years, mainly because i can't stand gristle and tendons and nasty stuff like that. i also will not eat pudding or yogurt, because gross. my doctor once told me that i have somewhat of an allergy to corn, and that could be to blame for my irritable bowels. and for like 2 years i was a label-reading machine. have you ever tried to cut corn from your diet? nigh impossible. at any rate, thank goodness for cheese sandwiches and luna bars. and don't worry; the foods i am not eating out of pickiness are more than compensated for in chocolate. and carbs.

i feel you, buddy

i'll stop there, but you can expand this list by imagining anything it is possible to be ocd about. and knowing that i am.

day 11: a photo of you recently (and a sneak peek)

2010-10-26T13:45:00.007-05:00

i don't know about y'all, but i'm getting mighty tired of pictures of me. alas, another one. this is me with captain fantastic and my mama a few weeks ago when we had my parents over for mom's birthday dinner (hence the apron). then last week, i took her on a date to see wicked at the orpheum. it was faaaaabulous.

since y'all are so nicely putting up with this 30 days of blogging bidness, i'll share with you a sneak peek of my slowly-evolving dining room. here it was in days of yore, before we tore out the carpet and redid the hardwoods last november:

blogland loves c-fan and the puppies, blogland gets c-fan and the puppies

an awkward, small den with c-fan's futon, heinous aztec-print chairs, and enormous tv. the room has a door to the kitchen on one wall (at c-fan's feet in that picture), a door to the hall on the opposite wall, two windows on the third wall, and a closet smack-dab in the middle of the fourth wall (behind c-fan's head)...so awkward for furniture placement.

the estate sale aztec chairs....and can you believe, i married him still

here is the birthday girl, pretending to be surprised by the birthday cupcakes, in the dining room today:

refinished hardwoods + sisal area rug, fresh paint + drapes i sewed, plate rack + wedding china, table and chairs from in-laws + burlap runner and fall festivus. note plant that will surely succumb to my black thumb any day now. feel sorry for it.

we've currently got a little bar against the wall opposite my mom, which i'd love to replace with a skirted buffet, like this. i have a vision for the painting i will eventually paint to hang above it, flanked by my sconces. work in progress. drastically different from where it was this time last year though, that's for sure!

day 10: a photo of you taken at least 10 yrs ago

2010-10-25T10:36:00.002-05:00

all of my older pictures are in storage at present. also you are not allowed to see pictures of me as a teenager. but i have these two baby pictures of me with my mama on this computer. these were taken 26-27 years ago. so really, it's like i went above and beyond.

day 9: a photo you took

2010-10-21T13:00:00.004-05:00

captain fantastic (bottom left in the red drawers) climbing one of the great jumping cliffs on greer's ferry lake in heber springs, arkansas. the cliff is only like 30 feet, but this makes it look bigger. see what i did there? photography. genius. i like this picture because we have had countless good times at the lake.

i did not take this picture, however, as i am in it. team stone. taking the plunge off of the aforephotographed precipice. shortly before we took the other plunge. (of marriage)

and for funsies?

i took this on our honeymoon in belize. i'd like to go back, please and thank you.

day 8: a photo that makes you angry/sad

2010-10-20T09:55:00.004-05:00

the first angry/sad image that came to mind was that commercial for the prevention of animal cruelty with the sarah mclaughlin song. it always brings me to tears. helpless animals abused and caged. heartbreaking.

via

day 7: a photo that makes you happy

2010-10-19T11:54:00.004-05:00

i took this (with my phone) on sunday, and it's had me giggling for days. the most recent photo that's made me happy. for your viewing pleasure.

a boy and his dogs

he was pooped after a long weekend of camping, and the mutthounds were excited to have their daddy back. i love how they are all lying in the same position (albeit cstone is facing the opposite direction). please note that each dog has his/her own comfy dog bed in the room (inches away), yet princess sterling is on the people bed, and bad-a marley is roughin' it on the hardwoods. typical.

day 6: 20 of my favorite things

2010-10-18T15:52:00.015-05:00

(i failed to mention that the 30 days of blogging will probably not be 30 consecutive days of blogging. i don't generally bust out the computer on the weekends.)

so. 20 of my favorite things, in no particular order:

1) captain fantastic - obviously.

hiking and camping in north carolina last weekend. thankfully, not blown off this cliff.

our first anniversary trip to the alluvian, which was faaaabulous

2) my family - best parents a gal could ever want, plus a super awesome baby bro (4 years younger), wonderful grandparents, fun aunts & uncle & cousins and an excellent sampling of in-laws - love spending time with all of them.

the andersons circa 2007

my cute 91-yr-old grama dancing at our wedding with my parents & cousin/moh

paul's graduation from hendrix in 2009

with my mom's family at the beach

with dad's mom and sisters

c-fan with his parents and sister

3) the big dogs - cstone found marley under the stairs at church when he was a teenager. m-dawg had two leather collars grown into his neck that had to be surgically removed. he is now roughly 12ish and, despite a quasimodo-esque fatty tumor (that the vet recommends we not remove) and a few creaks, is still enthusiastic about life. slash food. mainly food. i found sterling in oxford, mississippi, via petfinder.com in 2007. a woman found her by the side of the road in a taped-up box that said "puppy inside." she is the cutest, sweetest, smartest crazy nut ever. we are obsessed with our dogs. you already knew that.

playing at the lake with hannah

they love each other! snuggled up on the way home from the lake in cstone's old subaru.

cutest. puppy. ever. baby sterling

4) friends - some of my best friends are still the girls i went to high school with (some even date back to kindergarten). they, and the others i've picked up along the way, make for good times. ridiculosity oft ensues.

the crew known as the ec4eva (...and clifton)

see, ridiculous

5) chocolate

6) cheese

7) painting/drawing

paintings from college

8) being creative in general

cover of my art education final project from college

9) tiiiiiny baaaaabiiiiieees - i mean, seriously.

tick tock. tick tock...

10) anything tiny, really

11) the beach (in summer)

even on crutches. which don't work well on sand. fyi.

12) the mountains (in the fall)

hiking the sewanee perimeter trail with sterly girly

13) fall in general (if it would ever freaking get here and stay...)

more sewanee hiking - most beautiful fall in the world

14) thanksgiving & christmas holidayfuntimes

15) entertaining - cstone would have friends over every day of the week if i'd let him.

new year's eve 2010

16) lip balm - i mean who doesn't love it. am i right?

17) wearing blue jeans - this stems from 15 years at an all-girls prep school with a dress code. blue jeans were only for special days and weekends, and i still get really excited to wear them.

citizens are my fave

18) accessories

i'm having a bracelet moment

19) running - ok, not really. it's not that i super love running...more that i super love having run. makes me feel healthy and helps shed stress. sterling & i ran a people + dogs 5k this past saturday, and i haven't been so proud of myself in a long time (we usually just do about 2.5 miles around the neighborhood for exercise)

20) you. you are definitely one of my faves. 100%

day 5: favorite quote

2010-10-15T14:09:00.007-05:00

well crap. already blew this one on the first post. but you can thank my inability to narrow down lists of favorites for the following excess. true to form.

"To live a creative life, we must lose
our fear of being wrong."
- Joseph Chilton Pierce

that last one is framed on my dresser. because i totally GET that. the rest of them, i aspire to truly follow.

s,o how obvious is it that i'm a scaredy-cat perfectionist? maybe don't answer that.

day 4: favorite book

2010-10-14T11:04:00.004-05:00

classics i enjoyed in school:

childhood faves:

"quiet!" said her father. "hush!" said her mum. "nora," said her sister, "why are you so dumb?"

all-time fave, read it many times

listened to the fabulous book on tape as a bedtime story over and over

ok, young adulthood fave...

currently enjoying:

i'm sure there are many more, this is just what came to me today

day 3: favorite tv show

2010-10-13T13:01:00.006-05:00

confession: we do not have a dvr. and i don't actually know when shows come on tv. i just flip through the directv menu until i find something i like. if it happens to be one of the shows below, woohoo!

according to my prime time tv preferences, i really like crime and crime investigation and the criminal justice system. the shows are just so FASCINATING.

(only vegas and new york, not a fan of miami)

(love every iteration of this show)

and the all time favorite chez stone:

to counter all that, i also like to do some light-hearted channel surfing:

(can bethenny please have her own show again?)

(captain fantastic says i'll watch any show with a title like "i didn't know i was pregnant and am in jail for dealing drugs and my baby has a bizarre and rare illness and does toddler beauty pageants." he is not wrong.)

and there is always time for learning! my absolute favorite television program, hands down, is a documentary. REAL reality tv. egyptian mummies! ancient romans! mysteries of the deep! exploring the cosmos! yes please.

neeeeeeeeeeerd.

day 2: favorite movie

2010-10-12T10:27:00.006-05:00

easy.
y'all. david bowie. seriously.

one of my first loves. (why? it is a mystery.) we had a wig like jareth the goblin king's in our dress up chest. it was my fave. in middle school, i lovingly displayed it on a cobalt glass head as part of my bedroom decor. some day i will post some pictures of my teenage bedroom. and y'all will quit respecting my opinions on interior design. at any rate, the labyrinth remains my #1 movie of all time.

other movies i could watch over and over again and never get tired of seeing slash quoting:

and of course, for my high school homies:

day 1: favorite song

2010-10-11T13:43:00.005-05:00

starting off with a doozie. also starting off by breaking the rules. can't pick just one! there are so many songs that move me in different ways. so imma list a few favorites in a few categories.

current workout faves:

* lady gaga - just dance
* la roux - bulletproof (i sometimes do my whole run listening only to this song on repeat...)
* jay sean - down
* miley cyrus - see you again

workout gear + business face, chug-n-run 2007

current general listening faves:

* marshall tucker band - fire on the mountain
* old crow medicine show - wagon wheel
* the hollies - long cool woman
* stevie wonder - signed, sealed, delivered (makes me think of our wedding!)
* turtles - happy together
* the xm radio 60s/70s classic rock station
* bonnie prince billy (when i'm feeling particularly mellow)

team stone approved tunes

then there is the whole genre i call "family car songs." my parents had a large collection of mixed tapes that we would bust out on road trips. there are songs that make me think of going to the beach, songs that remind me of driving to grandma & grandpa's place on the little red river in heber springs, songs that conjure memories of thanksgivings in the smoky mountains - all wonderful childhood times of rainbows and unicorns and joy. the songs range from alabama's greatest hits (mountain music & tennessee river being my faves) to the gogos (head over heels) to toni basil (hey mickey) to billy joel, john lennon and a veritable smorgasboard of good times. the unifying theme to all family car songs, of course, being my dad's ability to perform show-stopping air-keyboard solos on the dash.

not an air-keyboard solo, but a pretty sweet move busted by pop anderson

least favorite song of all time:

tiffany - i think we're alone now

because it played at the 1986 st. mary's halloween bazaar, during which i was traumatized in the haunted house put on by the seniors (my mom had to stay outside with my baby brother, so i had to go with a friend and her mom. MISTAKE) and after which i vomited for like 2 days because, turns out, i was running a fever. every time i hear tiffany, i think about not being able to go to the bathroom alone at night for like 5 years because i was afraid that zombie senior would be lying on a bench in there. true story.

something kinda like this, via here

and that about sums it up for today.

30 day blog challenge

2010-10-11T13:28:00.003-05:00

blogging fail. i know.

and that's all i have to say about that.

but here's how i'm going to reverse the fail: the 30 day blogging challenge, which i read about on moske monkey business. when i looked at the original blog that issued the challenge, the meckleys, laura's words spoke to me:

I love blogging but oftentimes don’t post because I either don’t have make the time or because I feel like nobody probably cares to hear about what I have to say that particular day. But, who cares?! This is my little slice of cyberspace whether anyone else reads, cares, comments or not. I would like to get back in the groove of writing more (how many times have I said that?!) so I think this is a fun way to do so.

who says i only have to blog about dramatic and fabulous before-and-afters? no one. i think it would be appropriate to revisit my senior quotes from my high school yearbook:

"who's the boss? tony danza? no. i don't think so. it's you." - reality bites

"you're off to great places! today is your day! your mountain is waiting, so...get on your way!" - dr. seuss

aaaaand i'm in. so. here's the list:

30-Day Blog Challenge

Day 1 – your favorite song

Day 2 – your favorite movie

Day 3 – your favorite television program

Day 4 – your favorite book

Day 5 – your favorite quote

Day 6 – 20 of my favorite things

Day 7 – a photo that makes you happy

Day 8 – a photo that makes you angry/sad

Day 9 – a photo you took

Day 10 – a photo taken over 10 years ago of you

Day 11 – a photo of you recently

Day 12 – something you are OCD about

Day 13 – a fictional book

Day 14 – a non-fictional book

Day 15 – your dream house

Day 16 – a song that makes you cry (or nearly)

Day 17 – an art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)

Day 18 – my wedding/future wedding/past wedding

Day 19 – a talent of yours

Day 20 – a hobby of yours

Day 21 – a recipe

Day 22 – a website

Day 23 – a youtube video

Day 24 – where I live

Day 25 – your day, in great detail

Day 26 – your week, in great detail

Day 27 – my worst habit

Day 28 – whats in my handbag/purse

Day 29 – hopes, dreams & plans for the next 365 days

Day 30 – a dream for the future

i'll post day 1 later today. good times!

quatrefoil side tables

2010-09-16T14:27:00.006-05:00

in this, my 100th post here at gathering moss, i'd like to give a shout-out to my readers. i'm not the most consistent poster on the planet, and i appreciate your sticking around to support me when i actually muster up some creativity. i prefer to post my own work here, so when life gets too busy for projects, posting falls behind. it warms my little heart when i get a comment or a new follower or run into someone who says they read my blog. a big bloggity hug to you all. aww.

and? a present! for you.

a while ago, i procured a pair of these beauts at an antique store. their quatrefoil shape remound me of omph's tini tables, recall? (p.s. i know remound is not the past tense of remind, but i like to pretend)

and then, makeover time. above is the before, and here's the after:

the new ring pull plays nicely off the ring shapes of the lamp, no?

paint/glaze/wax finish money shot:

though, as usual, my shoddy photography doesn't do the finish justice.

i followed martha's herringbone paint technique tutorial. done in a light glaze over dark chocolate paint and finished with a coat of black wax, it gave the table tops just the amount of subtle texture i wanted. and unlike the grasscloth i initially planned to use, this finish is relatively water safe! so my 'tini-toting pals don't have to worry so much about watermarking my 'tini table. shazam. (though we all know we are rife with coasters chez stone...)

when i went back in search of the oomph inspiration tables on the web today, know what i found? this gem:

which leads to the conclusion that a) i am a design genius b) i had seen this table sometime in the past, and my subconscious led me to believe that herringbone would look fab on my table tops. either way, i am pleased with my updated side tables. you like?

design crush: aidan gray

2010-09-09T12:16:00.010-05:00

do you ever come across an item you love on a blog, then visit the website of the maker of that item only to be all "are you [expletive] kidding me?" and drop jaw and skip a few heartbeats? in a good way?

what am i talking about. you read blogs. of course you do this.

that's how i felt the other day when one post on the layla grace blog led me down the interweb rabbit hole to an exhilarating array of aidan gray products. i'll take one of each, please. two of some. please put a rush on the gothic arched window and spiral topiary in the above photo. nevermind that they don't appear to actually sell those.

their lighting? is fabulous.

i'm in the process of transforming a pair of lamps with a great shape but unfortunate finish into something more like this (and perhaps i have found the perfect lampshade solution?):

had i a breakfast room, this would live there:

and who wouldn't love to sit in chairs like these:

a great coffee table slash ottoman, grand in scale:

a whole array of fabulously finished furnishings:

and decorative accessories (i'm a sucker for a wire urn. obviously.):

currently petitioning captain fantastic to make something inspired by this out of some old pallet wood stacked behind the guyrage:

also in the process of stripping and (majorly) repairing a pair of cabinets rescued from the in-laws' garage that are quite similar to and hopefully will eventually look like this:

aidan gray? is totally my jam. from the website, it looks to me like these people know what they're doing in the finish department, though i can't speak for the quality in real life. for more goodness, check out the aidan gray website. do you feel me on this?

party like it's my burfday

2010-09-08T15:06:00.013-05:00

because it was! last friday! so i took the day off work and gave myself a 4-day weekend. good idea.

after dinner with some of my girls thursday evening, i was looking forward to a day of freedom and an evening dinner party at my in-laws' house with both sets of parents and some of the extended family on friday. as expected, dinner was great fun.

team stone:

mom-in-law and cousin joe bob setting the table (remember, this is tennessee):

chatting with the dads:

embarrassment of riches:

after a fulfilling birthday, i was ready to snuggle up with those big dogs on the couch. except they were not barking when we got home? and the lights were off? because SURPRISE!

captain fantastic. he rallied the handful of friends who were in town over the holiday weekend and had them waiting at the house!

with cake! (the most delicious chocolate & heath bar cake of all time, mind you)

yes, i am 28. i know, you were going to say 15. i get that a lot. but guess what? for a month? cougar. c-fan's birthday is october 4th. rawr.

anyway, my parents were there, a bunch of people i love to spend time with were there, there was pink champagne and a keg and an assortment of pictures of me hung in banner form around the house. the boys in charge of posting the pictures took the liberty of hiding them throughout the house as well, so we're still finding candids in places like the washing machine, underwear drawer and dog food containers. the gift that keeps on giving!

and i am nothing if not generous, so i'll share that gift with you. here are a sampling of the shots that graced my walls (and other household surfaces). not in chronological order.

engagement & wedding shots from j.malahy:

first married dinner on the honeymoon in belize:

reef fishing in belize:

an early date (beer pong in the guyrage):

bacheloretting at raiford's in 80s glam gear:

our first meeting at the chug-n-run:

bbq fest 2k10:

new year's eve 2k9:

first grade art class (that's me rocking the nautical and cowlick in the middle):

doing up the redneck riviera with my pops:

...in unintentional matching outfits:

camping out in the bago:

wherein it is necessary to wear one's bago hat:

lounging in the trailer-trash yard (see: bago, above):

rooting for the tigers when they aaaaalmost won the big tourney:

hiking the sewanee perimeter trail:

ditto:

this is like a third of the party decorations. i am making a ridiculous face or doing something embarrassing in almost all of them. which apparently was the point.

it was the best birthday eva, and i'm so thankful for such great family and friends who made it that way! thank y'all so much! 28 is starting out to be a great year.

operation bathroom: reveal

2010-09-02T09:46:00.007-05:00

indeed! your eyes do not deceive you! though i will not declare the bathroom "finished," i will declare it "close enough" and share it with my interweb friends. please note that the photos were not styled beyond putting the toothbrushes in the closet and properly folding the towels. no time for that shniznaws. toss in a tube of toothpaste and a wadded-up pair of c-fan's underpants, and you've got our daily bathroom. house beautiful will not be calling on me and my point-and-shoot anytime soon, but whatev.

without further ado, behold:

BEFORE (check out more befores here and here)

AFTER (plus commentary. of course.)

the new square pedestal sink allows more room for the soap dispenser and toothbrushes without taking up more visual space. the mirror comes down over the bead board trim, which is important for those who have on more than one occasion been referred to as "hobbit-like." the light fixture, which is on because it was too dark for pictures otherwise, came from the pottery barn outlet with a steep discount and is, according to captain fantastic, "exactly like the old one." except not.

wall decor is still up in the air. recently won the fabulous magnetic frame on the right from suzanne at our southern nest, one of my fave new reads. thank you suzanne! where i really want to put it is the kitchen, but there's literally about one square foot of wall space in there. love the stripes of the frame with the stripes of the bathmat and bead board, but thinking it might give the whole place too much of a coastal vibe for landlocked tennessee. not sure what to magnetize to it either, given the rainforest-like conditions at shower time, so it will likely be relocated soon. temporarily styled the above-potty shelf with a print and some candles, but planning to display some clear containers of cotton balls and other bathroom goodies like that instead. so, you know, disregard all of that.

kept the pottery barn shower curtain i've had and loved for years and got towels in the coordinating color from the pb outlet. liked the look of the pb ribbon roman shades (which are no longer on the website), but didn't like that they couldn't be raised and lowered easily, so i made my own with a bamboo roman shade from lowe's, some fabric and ribbon a la john's journal's tutorial. works great!

tip: the lid to the tank on our potty is convex, so everything i ever set back there would eventually slide right on off. i used a little of that tacky clay stuff (like for hanging posters on dorm room walls) to secure these wee pots from local store urban gardener. like magic!

the new double towel bar has saved me i cannot tell you how much anguish over SOMEONE'S propensity to leave wet towels lying on the floor. now that each spouse's towel has a place to spread out to dry, there's no excuse! victory! wouldn't this towel rack look awesome with some coordinating leontine linens hand towels with my monogram? in the rayford style? tomorrow is my birthday. fyi.

we extended the shower's subway tile all the way to the ceiling and capped the whole thing off with crown molding. do you remember what my old shower looked like? the new shower? is like heaven. heaven on earth. delight. we removed the old towel bar and tension rod shelving and installed two tile shelves in each corner. i failed to photograph this. somewhat on purpose. because you are all now aware of my tendency to hoard drugstore bath and hair products. ashamed. but look! crown molding! pretty!

shiny white floors and baseboards. which i love. but i will say, maybe not the best choice for someone with as high of cleanliness standards as i have. i say reasonable, you say type a. i say perfectionism, you say clinical ocd. let's all just agree not to wear our dirty shoes in the bathroom, k?

contractor brad topped the bead board with a lovely chair rail and ledge. we painted the walls a soft gray that compliments the bluish-gray of the shower curtain, towels and ribbon shade detail.

and there she is!

now who's coming to the potty party?

3 projects...zero bathrooms

2010-08-23T13:38:00.005-05:00

dear internet,

once the following are accomplished, you shall have your bathroom reveal:

1) doorknobs. let's discuss how easy it is to purchase new doorknobs for ancient doors and make them fit. except not.

2) things that go on the wall. procured yet not installed.

probably start sending hate mail to captain fantastic about this, as he's the one who operates the power tools and is too busy going on 30 mile bike rides and drinking bloody marys on greer's ferry lake. i do admit to wearing my perfectionist pants where wall decor is involved. but internet, nothing less than the best for you!

but, an olive branch? i have some things to share. projects. that i HAVE completed. believe it or not. i think someone slipped adderall in my coffee this weekend. or maybe it's just that i drank coffee at all. hmm...

1) coasters

had these picture frame coasters in a large box of frames i rescued from the parents' move:

saw these thomas paul nautical coasters online:

had idea.

printed above picture. executed scribble-on-back-with-pencil-then-trace trick:

cut. inserted into coaster frames for a festive nautical touch to ye olde lake house:

decided maybe they won't make it to the lake house after all:

because one can never have too many coasters.

2) basket

mentioned to my mother that perhaps this basket of hers could use some updating:

she agreed. insisted that i not make fun of its circa-1989 sponge paint job on the blog. or post pictures of her on the blog. so here are her hands, applying stain to the freshly painted basket in my back yard this weekend:

it now looks lovely. mother-daughter bonding! decor circa 2010! good times.

3) cork board

i need one in my office to post newspaper clippings, pictures, articles, whathaveyou to show how good i am at my job. so i got a plain cheap one at michael's and gave it my own spin on the ubiquitous blogger fabric-and-nailheads treatment:

way to stage those photos, huh? now i just have to hang it behind my desk and fill it with episcoparaphernalia. my college diploma that's written entirely in latin can't wait to have company. sorry buddy, still no one will be able to read you or even tell where i went to school.

and? that's not even all i did this weekend! furthermore known as The Most Productive Weekend Ever. now that it's back-to-school time, i'll try to get back-to-blogging and sharing what's going on chez stone.

does this mean i get to shop for school supplies and a new fall wardrobe? i think yes.

dog days

2010-08-06T11:12:00.005-05:00

firstly, the bathroom. it is nearing completion. it has been fulling functioning since last friday, hallelujah, but there are still a few touches to be completed before a reveal.

secondly, marley dog. is old. and needed a comfy-er bed than the lumpy petco monstrosity cstone bought in a pinch. so i made him one last weekend.

i cut a twin size egg crate mattress pad in thirds, stacked the thirds together with spray adhesive, then sewed a cover for it. the fabric coordinates with both the bedroom and the living room, so m-dawg has somewhere to curl up no matter where he's standing guard. lying guard, rather. and mama is happy because it's cute.

i mean handsome. and manly. (marbs makes that face at me often. like, woman. get out of my face. srsly. trying to nap.)

i washed and dried both the main and cording fabric before making the cover, and i installed a zipper on one side, so it can easily be removed for regular dates with the washing machine. very regular dates with the washing machine.

gooooood booooooy.

sterling will get one too. no worries. i've got some green and white ticking fabric for just such an occasion.

thirdly, our garden. we haz one.

c-fan constructed the raised bed out of fence posts and planted it a while back. the several varieties of tomato are thriving. and woe unto the squirrel who destroys this crop, because we are EXCITED. the squash were taking over the bed for a long time, but apparently they don't cotton to 115 degree heat indices, because they have perished. r.i.p. but i don't like squash anyway, and you know what? we had our first harvest last night!

monster okra!

we promptly collected a few and tried out the blue jean gourmet's fried okra recipe.

look! i fried! almost entirely by myself! that must warrant some southern belle merit badge or something.

and they were extremely delicious. can't wait for the next harvest.

tgif, girlfriends. tgif.

design crush: mix art + interiors

2010-07-27T13:02:00.005-05:00

i can't keep not blogging because i am busy working on this bathroom and wanting it to be all complete and perfect before sharing. so i will share some other people's projects that ARE complete and perfect. how 'bout?

today, i discovered mix art + interiors in saint simons island, georgia, via one of my faves, high heeled foot in the door. they are: "a collaboration of two designers eager to bring a fresh perspective on design to the southeast. we believe that every interior should incorporate a good mix of color, light, pattern, and styles. mix is a full service interior design firm and gallery founded by Adrian Pressley Johnson and Bethany Cassell." and also fabulous.

i love mix interiors precisely for their namesake quality - the mix. that is totally my jam. mixing things.

for example...

a dining room with light walls, a dark rug, manly shelves of books & duck decoys and girly scalloped slips on the chairs:

another dining room with a mix of more masculine dark wood and straight lines with soft colors and feminine touches:

plaids + florals, wood + white, fringe + tufting:

dark + light. traditional furnishings + imperial trellis fabric du jour:

i mean, are we all just dying over the architectural details in these spaces? another amazing ceiling, accented by a great chandelier:

herringbone. brick. floors.

hoping to build a wine rack similar to this for above the fridge when we spruce up our kitchen. notsomuch for it's wine-holding capabilities as its aesthetic pleasingness (as we all know how long wine lasts around here...):

love this kitchen banquette too, with its frilly pillows + industrial pendant:

they're also all about the mix of patterns, like in this den:

i am loving the pillows, the striped walls, and the mini shelves that look almost like sconces (but without the wiring issues i bemoan - sold!):

this room feels so accessible to me, like my future kids are hanging out playing games on the ottoman and watching cartoons, and i come over from the kitchen that i'm imagining to open up behind that couch there to bring them some snacks (captain fantastic. please note.):

i love a lamp in the bathroom. it adds such a great and unexpected coziness to the space. perfect for a powder room, where you don't want harsh lighting to break the spell of the dining table's candlelit ambiance for your dinner guests:

and of course, the way to my heart = starburst mirror. i could put one in every room:

all images via mix art + interiors

i'm looking forward to what camilla has to say in her upcoming piece about mixing styles. i have a feeling it'll be right up my alley. you?

unrelated yet awesome

2010-07-22T09:40:00.003-05:00

y'all. i am having a moment that only other bloggers will truly understand.

this:

is me in college (back before my hair inexplicably most of its shirley temple curl but after i gained the freshman 15 plus 5) with my friends aggie and masey.

this:

is team stone at aggie's wedding in sewanee this past memorial day weekend.

want to see more pictures that our beloved josh malahy took of their adorable, rustic wedding? just head on over to STYLE ME PRETTY where the wedding was FEATURED YESTERDAY.

SO COOL, right?!?! aggie's like, haha some blog posted pictures of our wedding, and i'm like HOLY GEEZ, I'M HAVING CONVULSIONS FROM AWESOME. high fives to josh and aggie & andrew!

(two above wedding pics by j. malahy, of course. who also takes pictures of kids now, b-t-dub.)

good news

2010-07-21T14:20:00.004-05:00

tonight, i should be able to shower INSIDE my house again.

(not pictured: the hose, which we drape over a nail at the top of this fence in a secluded corner of our back yard when we need to take a shower. i wish i were kidding.)

potty party

2010-07-08T11:48:00.007-05:00

this:

is captain fantastic's hunting & fishing buddy, contractor brad. he is a real, honest-to-goodness contractor who builds awesome things and works on fabulous houses.

do you know where contractor brad is?

in my bathroom. my former bathroom. my current ripped-to-the-studs-floorless-pottyless-sinkless-showerless-mid-remodel bathroom. my future beautiful, clean, awesome and period-appropriate bathroom.

WOOHOO!

this was the bathroom on monday night, mere hours before the demolition began:

what? unimpressed? wondering why i was so horrified and embarrassed and disgusted?

let's take a closer look.

ree-ree

ree-ree

ree-ree

ree-ree

REE-REE

(that was the sound they make in horror movies, fyi) the dirty deets of the bathroom are chronicled in this previous post. be sure not to try to eat your lunch or something while you read. barf.

removal of the worthless shelf that was too short to store anything and was ruined by c-fan's frattastic buddy in an incident involving the final four and some candle smoke (see evidence above...i have learned my lesson about candles on shelves. and allowing that guy into my house.) once again revealed the previous owners' awesome color scheme:

contractor brad says the tiles were painted with regular wall paint. regular wall paint! what an awesome idea. except not.

i was a smidge disappointed that we couldn't salvage the original floors under the laminate, which were a great basketweave tile, but they were beyond repair.

in fact, the whole floor had to go:

and also everything else.

so the plan is this: white hex tile floors with gray grout (nixed the marble because we plan to move in a few years). white subway tile shower surround, reaching to the ceiling (gray or white grout?). white beadboard wainscot along the rest of the walls (did you know wainscot and wainscoting are interchangeable? i just looked it up. because i like to be right. beadboard won out over tile for the same reasons marble floor tiles were 86ed). soft bluish/greenish-gray on walls (will test swatches after construction is complete). keep paisley shower curtain, potty and sink. reglaze or replace tub (depending on contractor brad's tub consultant friend's final opinion). roman shade with ribbon trim for window. new mirror and sconce. DELIGHT.

i'd better have a reveal for you next week. or it's contractor brad's a$$.

(not really. it'll be subcontractor c-fan's.)

mood board monday

2010-06-24T15:25:00.009-05:00

i'm trying to make friends with photoshop again, and what better way than to pony up to mood board monday over at pewter and sage! (ok so it's technically friday...but i'm going to post this anyway and link up on monday. whatev.) this is my first time to participate in a mood board link party, slash make a mood board at all, so we'll see how she goes...

the challenge this week was to create a bedroom inspired by one of four of bedding options. i chose barbara barry's "poetical" from macy's, which i have long admired. well, like as long as a bedding line exists...so for a few months admired.

the first thing that came to mind was to compliment the silhouetted pattern with the addition of some other long-admired bedding: applique monogrammed shams from leontine linens. in choosing my color scheme, i decided to go for gray, white and hot pink, with metallic accents and pops of green. so i give you a teenage girl's room:

1) barbara barry's "poetical" bedding, the inspiration, against a white upholstered headboard.

2) leontine linens "alcott" shams. i die. so hard. also a zebra needlepoint pillow from lilly pulitzer for garnet hill.

3) a pair of serena & lily "parker" x-benches at the foot of the bed, and a pottery barn chenille jute rug underfoot.

4) annie selke home "atlas" side tables (via horchow) as bedside tables.

5) serena & lily "pagoda" lamp on bedside tables

6) pottery barn "ribbon roman shade" on windows

7) "seaside" chest of drawers from well appointed house in gray

8) stray dog designs "camilla" chandelier; i like to mix metallic finishes, as in this chandy with the silver bedside tables.

9) ballard designs "stella" mirror - grand, because every gal needs a full-length mirror

10) and a variety of festive accessories, like this worlds away green zebra wastebasket set via well appointed house, this stray dog designs peacock objet d'art, and an ever-changing inspiration board like this one from kelly green interiors.

i need to birth a girl someday, in order to obtain a license to decorate in pink and green. and play barbies. and smock dresses. like, real bad.

this room could also work for a grown-up if the pink and green were traded for subtler colors, like powder blue and camel.

did you see that? did you see how i changed the colors in photoshop? and added that blurry bamboo mirror thumbnail from horchow? i told you photoshop and i were making friends.

two mood boards for the price of one. ba-da-bing!

la chaise. FINI!

2010-06-23T16:01:00.005-05:00

french. fancy. i know. somehow i am kinda good at french. placed 8th in the state on a high school french test, then managed to place into 300-level college classes on a 7 am exam after a first-week-of-college bender. file this with my numerous other mostly-impractical skills, like being able to twist my tongue into a clover and having a degree in anthropology.

but that's not why you're here.

remember like eleventy years ago when i proclaimed that if little old ladies could upholster than so could i? no? well i did. and then i signed up for an upholstery class at a quasi-local community college in the great state of m'issip. in february. and then for months the chair sat in various states of incompletion. until this past monday night. when i. finished. upholstering. the chair.

do you hear the angels singing and see the rainbow streaking the sky as beams of light break through the clouds? indeed.

hand-me-down chair before (amongst christmas finery):

and, drumroll please, after:

thar she blows in her natural habitat, the back-lit living room:

I TAKE SUCH AWESOME PICTURES.

i also recently made a pair of pillows out of the same upholstery fabric as the chair. by hand, recall. good times. and i caved and let c-fan bring his beloved ginormous leather chair out of storage. and know what? i don't hate it. looks kinda nice with the pillow and throw even. i do, however, want to move the little chest between the chairs (which i love) to another room and replace it with something less brown, to make the arrangement a bit arier. more airy. you know. less brown. and probably hang something reflective and starbursty above the man chair.

what say you about my upholstery skillz? think they'll get more mileage than my knowledge of french pronouns and paleoindian projectile points? god love a liberal arts education.

6-20-09

2010-06-21T19:27:00.016-05:00

sunday was our first anniversary. indulge me in a little trip down memory lane, will you?

team stone! one year of marriage!

as captain fantastic's dad likes to say, we're going for two.

two days after our wedding was the 35th anniversary of my parents' marriage in the same cathedral.

1974:

2009:
same spot! same veil even. except the headpiece was converted into a small clip. obviously.

we marked the occasion on sunday with champagne in the crystal flutes that my parents gifted us for our engagement to use at our wedding

and surprisingly delicious year-old cake

and the big dogs

(the momentousness of the occasion seemed to be lost on them)

and really awesome self-timer photography after failing to blow-dry because of the bisquillion percent humidity and 107 heat index

we'll be taking a quick weekend getaway to celebrate with spa treatments and delicious food in the near future. happy first anniversary, mr. stone! here's to a lifetime :) i love you!

remember the good times at ye olde wedding blog, romancing the stones. and run, don't walk, to book j.malahy photography.

operation bathroom

2010-06-14T15:27:00.008-05:00

y'all. our bathroom. is atrocious.

like, i won't even post actual before pictures of it on this blog until we are living in the "after," so that you don't stop being friends with me and refuse to ever come to my house. some of you have experienced it in person. and for that, i am truly sorry.

just imagine, if you will...

pink tile. with sparkly flecks.

painted over. yes, PAINTED. THE TILE. i know. painted over in a shade of army green:

to coordinate with the "stone-look" linoleum tiles that were applied to the floors:

and wait! it gets better! because the other accent color in the linoleum tiles? besides army green and a bluish-gray? is pumpkin orange. which they used for the walls, like so:

are you so jealous of me right now? do you wish you lived at my house? hold on, because i'm not EVEN done yet.

know what happens when you paint over tile? especially tile that will be exposed to moisture? this:

let's talk about how awesome the pink sparkly tile looks peeking through the army green flaking paint all over creation. or not.

that is what the bathroom looked like when i first started dating captain fantastic. and i still married him, if you can believe. (disclaimer: the previous owners were responsible for the atrocity) my first order of business, practically on the day his roommates moved out a few years ago, was to hang a decent shower curtain and paint over the pumpkin orange with a creamy white. and the toilet and pedestal sink are actually lovely white porcelain. so at least there's that. but the tile situation remains.

why have we not just ripped out the tile, you ask? because it will be a project of young house love proportions (click the link to see their diy-reno of the same type of bathroom that took four full weekends to accomplish) and it is the ONLY bathroom in our house. and while i could handle driving to my parents' to take a shower, WHERE am i supposed to PEE in the meantime? hmm?

yikes.

did i totally burn your retinas with that virtual tour? let me make it up to you by sharing what i hope the bathroom will look like very soon, after i either convince captain fantastic to hire someone to do it real quick-like or move in with my parents for a month while he does it himself (because HE can pee in the back yard).

inspiration photos:

alisberg parker architects via decorpad

lori tippins' bathroom via decorpad

erika of urban grace via decorpad

main components:

white subway tile for the tub/shower - this is fairly certain.

walls will either be tiled with white subway tile or covered with a bead board wainscot. thoughts?

carrera marble for the floor - either hex or basketweave - this will be period-appropriate for the house, but with an updated and luxe edge, methinks. youthinks?

ooooh the irony that something similar was probably either ripped up or is ruined under the linoleum.

i'm still in love with the light gray-blue large-scale paisley shower curtain i got from pottery barn several years ago, so i plan to reuse it. i'd like to do a simple roman shade with ribbon trim for the bathroom's single window like so (these walls are about the shade of the shower curtain):

sconces like these (in silver):

flanking either a rectangular mirror, or something a little funky, like this:

reglazing the bathtub. keeping the potty and pedestal sink. despite the lack of under-sink storage, i think the pedestal works well in the small space. and we do have a large linen closet in the bathroom for our storage needs.

what do you think? beadboard or subway tile? diy or splurge for a professional? can i come stay at your house?

please?

design crush: annie selke

2010-06-11T16:05:00.006-05:00

say it with me now:

annie selke is bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s.

buh-nanas. seriously.

and here is why:

you guys. the legs. look like ropes. gilded ropes.

geometric antiqued gilded accents like this are such my jam these days.

this is a dining table:

and it can come with these demilune pieces for the ends:
genius!

awesome coffee table. bam:

festive etagere. done:

spindly chair. indeed:

and mirror. you're welcome:
this bed is like a building. like your own fabulous greenhouse gazebo trellis room-within-a-room:
and this upholstered headboard makes me want to bust out some plywood and a jigsaw for a little diy action:

this bench SLAYS me. slays me dead:

even this couch. which is just a couch. i want:

there's the furniture line. the pinecone hill bedding line, which i can't even begin to get into right now. or until someone is all "i'm having a baby, decorate me a nursery slash child's room."

and also, dash & albert rugs. are. my. fave.

especially these specimens:

dear annie selke,

i want to be you when i grow up.

sincerely,

me

still kickin'

2010-06-08T13:32:00.005-05:00

i'm alive! no worries. please excuse my extended absence. blame summer. or me. whatev.

there has been much bbq-festing:

MUCH bbq-festing...

(homemade ice luge...does that count as a blog-worthy project?)

wedding attending (x3):

...where approximately zero decent pictures were taken at any nuptials by yours truly. obviously.

traveling:

(my alma mater in sewanee, tennessee, for one of the aforementioned weddings)

backyard hot wing cook-off blind taste-testing:

garden building:

and other such summertime tomfoolery.

progress has been made on home projects, but nothing to a blog-reveal-worthy point. so many ideas! so little time! also so many excuses. full to the brim of them. there's the ole 9 to 5, the husband & dog trio whose housekeeping skills are a combo of toddler/teenage boy/bull-in-china-shop, the fact that grandma here needs like 10 hours of sleep to function, operation run for exercise in full effect after work, eleventy-thousand other blogs to read, dinners to cook, friends to see, etcetera and so forth woe is me.

and do you want to know a secret? do you?

sometimes, when i'm not doing any of those things listed above, i'm also not doing a project...because you know what i'm doing? nothing! and it is glorious.

be back soon(ish) with the goshforsaken upholstered chair reveal (friggin finally!), completed garden built by my handy hubby and window treatments for the dining room. woohoo!

today: sconces

2010-05-18T14:26:00.007-05:00

because why not?

my least favorite thing about sconces is how they have to be installed in the wall with electricity, and that requires an electrician, which requires time and money and planning ahead, and what if you change your mind or need to move them? complicated. my favorite thing about sconces is how they look awesome.

they can go so many places. sconces look great flanking a mirror over a console in the entryway, a painting over a buffet in the dining room, a mirror in the powder room, a doorway, windows, a bed, probably some other stuff.

i don't think i'll bother installing sconces in our current house (other than the pair with candles in my dining room, because guess what, no electricity), but for our someday house, these would do in various applications:

for a living room:

for a little girl's bathroom:
for a dramatic hallway:

all via lighting showplace

for a guest bathroom:

for a dining or living room:
for a kitchen or family room:
for a study (grasscloth included, please):

all via shades of light

for a hallway, dining room or powder room:

for an entryway:

for a bedroom:

all via circa lighting

for a master bathroom:

via restoration hardware

any other ideas of other sconceable places in the home? great sources for these lovely little lights? love or hate any of my picks?

hostess with the mostest

2010-05-13T15:57:00.009-05:00

we are officially grown-ups. on sunday, team stone hosted both sets of parents for a mother's day lunch, then had the aunts/cousins/grandma on dad's side of the family over for the afternoon. i even have photographic proof of the grown-upness of it all. thanks to my dad. because i didn't take any pictures. because i'm not grown-up enough to host a gathering AND photograph it. yet.

i bought and arranged flowers from the fresh market. even created a table centerpiece out of small vases for all the lady guests to take home as a mother's day party favor. grown-up!

we used fine china, silver and crystal. and sat at the heads of the table. and remembered to light the candles. grown-up!

(please ignore the un-grown-up lack of decor above the makeshift buffet...i do have a plan)

we cooked food! and it was all ready at the same time! (but no pictures...too busy eating)

i put flowers in the hallway:

and on the coffee table (next to our fabulous wedding album, shout out to josh malahy):

and even in the bathroom:

grown-up!

the leftover table arrangements have been beautifying our lives all week in various spots about the house:

we even hung and hastily styled the plate rack:

and i finished sewing a pair of throw pillows for the living room couch. by hand. because the fringe was too thick for my sewing machine. ugh.

here is one with some fabric i found at calico corners to reupholster a stool from my grandma's old house:

on the flip side to all the grown-uppery, this evening we'll begin a long weekend of revelry with our team at the memphis in may world championship bbq contest:

where in years past we have done this:
and this:

and this:

aaaand this:

and where i will be the only vegetarian. with a purse full of luna bars for sustenance. good times!

xoxo

2010-05-09T19:08:00.003-05:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

TO THE BEST MOM IN THE WORLD

I LOVE YOU

xoxo la

twinsies

2010-05-06T14:45:00.006-05:00

remember these guys?

i scored a pair of side tables at an antique mall a while back for $idon'trememberhowmuchbutnotalot$. this was also before i learned that photographs are best taken sans flash. obviously.

i hope you're not getting all excited on me, thinking that i've actually done something to them. but i'm pretty sure you know me well enough to realize that they still look exactly the same.

anyhoo, i purchased them because i was able to overlook their dated finish and hardware out of love for the detailed corners of the tabletops:

i knew something could be done!

....just not exactly what.

i've always been certain of two things:

1) paint

2)
but that's about it. creamy white paint and distressed edges? a shiny coat of lacquer? stripes on the front of the drawers? too many options. my brain shut down and nothing was done.

but, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? it is the east, and high heeled foot in the door is the sun. check out what a little spray paint and leftover grass cloth wallpaper did to a set of nesting tables bound for the curb at her clients' home:

inspired by oomph's ungodly-expensive-yet-adorable 'tini tables. which, i then recalled, also come in a fabulous quatrefoil design:

do we see the resemblance?

yes, i meant to post the pictures twice. as if i were holding up a picture in front of your face, then swapping it for another picture, then bringing back the original picture, then switching again. to make a point. that they look similar.

and....AND?

i just so happen to possess a roll of leftover grass cloth wallpaper from my parents former den (hung circa 1981 mind you, because remember how they are ahead of the times).

BOOtotheYA

i think we all know what happens next.

dining room chizzairs

2010-05-04T15:54:00.008-05:00

so my dining room. it needs some chairs. actually, it needs a lot of things right now, arm chairs being just two of those things. but i'm trying to focus here, people.

we are lucky enough to have a great dining table and set of shield-back chairs that my in-laws previously had in their dining room. the table needs refinishing, but the side chairs are in pretty good shape and have already been recovered in my fabric of choice, thusly:

the problem is that only one of the arm chairs still exists. ergo, we need to procure host/hostess chairs for the heads of the table.

now. do you ever see a trend, like pointy-toed shoes or skinny jeans, and you're all "that is heinous. i'd never do that." and then like a month later you own a pair in every color? that happens to me. it also happens to me decor-wise. for example: mismatched chairs at the heads of the table. read about it on design blogs. gagged. hated it. swore never to do it. changed my mind a week later. decided to do it in my own dining room.

i'm nothing if not open-minded.

then the other day i was waxing poetic to my father about how fancy and on-trend i am in my interior design plans and he's all, "your mother and i have used different chairs at the head of our dining table since before you were born." right...totally forgot that. mkay, so apparently my awesome taste is genetic. noted.

here are some examples from my inspiration files:

horchow

horchow

and here are some examples of chair styles i think would be pretty neat in contrast to the shield-backs chez stone:

lee industries

calico corners

lee industries (but 'cept not orange)

zgallerie

z gallerie

or even, for an unexpected casual twist:

ikea

crate & barrel

what do you think? anybody rocking the mismatched chairs?

design crush: elizabeth dinkel

2010-04-30T15:48:00.004-05:00

y'all. seriously.

when i look through the portfolio of a talented interior designer, the feelings i experience can only be equated to a teenage girl at a beatles concert in the 1960s. or a teenage girl at a twilight movie in 2009. or a teenage boy seeing a victoria's secret catalog for the first time.

like, i might hyperventilate.

today i came across a new-to-me designer portfolio that had me drooling on my keyboard. elizabeth dinkel design associates, inc.

this was the first image i saw:

speaks to my southern mentality - this reminds me of a lot of well-decorated homes in my neck of the woods. those walls are fabulous. and those chairs...THIS is EXACTLY why we're holding on to those old chairs of my parents that you insist are taking up too much room in your precious guyrage, captain fantastic. because some day when our living room is larger than a postage stamp, i will recover them to be awesome like this. I WIN.

consolation prize for c-fan:

she'd like your beloved ram too. she'd even approve of it in our blue and green living room, apparently. score one for you, babe.

this room also jives with our current color scheme:

except with way awesomer ceilings and a nice neutral sofa and no dog hair.

here is another fab living space:

the desk chair! the shiny velvety striped poufs! the pendant lamp! i can't even think of anything clever to say! only to use exclamation marks!

i would love to have a black and white checkerboard floor in our someday house:

the black lacquer door, pendant and hand-painted green wallpaper can come too.

this couch speaks to me:

it says, "reupholster something to look like me." well, if you insist.

check out this fabulous window seat:

the pelmet box. i die.

and you KNOW i'm all up on this paisley powder room:

love the mirror too. filing this in my hopefully-soon bathroom makeover file, as my shower curtain (which i adore and intend to keep) is very similar to these walls.

what gives c-fan a nervous tick even faster than the chairs filling up his precious guyrage space? BABIES. so let's look at some of elizabeth dinkel's gorgeous kids' rooms, k?

youthful-yet-sophisticated for a wee lad (look babe, what if we have twins!):

i love a daybed for a little girl:

just try not to have a seizure over the fabulous detailing on the curtains in this room. JUST. TRY.

super love these beds too:

i mean seriously. have you not passed out yet? elizabeth dinkel, i heart you.

time for a cold shower.

quick-n-dirty curtain hanging

2010-04-27T18:23:00.006-05:00

aka post wherein i bombard you with crappy pictures. because it's hard for a 5'2" girl to get good pictures of a drapery rod in situ. please excuse.

so anyway, anne inquired as to how i hung my curtains from the wooden rings all stealth-invisible-like. i simply took these thangs:

(drapery pins, which it would behoove you to purchase on the interweb or at a fabric/upholstery establishment instead of a craft store like joann because they will be way cheaper)

and measured seven equidistant locations along the length of the curtain (starting with one on each end to avoid any droopy corners) and stuck the point right into the fabric of the back of the pole pocket (taking care not to poke through the front of the panel). then i hung the hooks through the loops on the wooden rings, thusly:

aaaaand done! now. this is not exactly how you're supposed to do it. i thought about getting all technical up in hura and sewing on pleating tape etcetera and so forth, but we all know when that project would actually get finished and the answer is never. so half-a$$ed it is! but it looks lovely and no one will ever know. except all of you.

also happening chez stone:

1) dining room progress...

rug has arrived, chairs have been recovered, plate rack has not been hung AND NO ONE IS SURPRISED. you may also recognize that the fabric intended for living room pillows has been traded to the dining room for team curtain. i am super awesome at changing my mind. for serious this time though. it will be perfect in there.

2) the knock-out roses are blooming in the most delicious shade of hot pink...

the pictures don't do them justice. they are a deep, velvety, rich dark pink. so pretty to look at first thing in the morning when i let the big dogs out.

3) sterling got a clean bill of health at her annual check up...

and also an adorable doggie band-aid. which i had to photo-document, because AWWW.

the end.

preach on, sisters

2010-04-23T14:59:00.003-05:00

in the past 24 hours, i have come across two articles that really speak to me, in all my ocd perfectionist prep school neurotic glory. i'm all WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU GET IN MY BRAIN? and, according to the articles, they'll probably make you feel that way too.

so for anyone in need of a reminder that no one can do it all, take comfort in the words of these wise ladies this weekend:

"The New Decornographers: Bloggers with Perfect, Beautiful, Crafty Lives" by Sadie at Jezebel (thanks for sharing, kate, my daily bastion of gchat support)

"The Key to a Well-Lived Life: Lighten Up!" by Elizabeth Gilbert in O Magazine (thanks to erin at elements of style for posting)

and can i get a resounding TGIF?

fab(ric)ulous

2010-04-21T14:43:00.012-05:00

i got an inquiry via comment from sweet kathryn as to where i find fabric. short answer: everywhere. i have a hoard of fabric chez stone that includes not only yardage cut from fabric stores, but also place mats, towels, blankets, sheets and even ill-fitting or torn clothing with great prints that send my mind spinning with possible future uses (recall the falltastic pillows made from napkins?) i always keep my eye open to the possibility of finding great fabric in unusual places.

as far as fabric stores, i know there will always be quality fabrics at calico corners, broomcorn (local) and johnson's fabrics (local). johnson's is my current fave - they are a big warehouse with a nice variety at many price points, an outdoor fabric section, tons of trim and lots of intense upholstery supplies at great prices. you can also get furniture legs, bare ottoman forms, plywood tables for skirting and the like there. i also usually go to joann and hancock; though the quality of their decor fabrics are generally lower, i have found plenty of great stuff. they also have upholstery supplies, but generally the quality and price are much better at johnson's.

bedford gingham, calico corners

bocce, calico corners

tommy bahama sea breeze, joann

fabric on my chairs from joann

there are also great online sources for fabric. i hesitate to order anything online without having seen it in person, or at least having the recommendation of someone who has seen it in person. it's hard to tell the exact color and texture of a fabric online, and it's generally not returnable, so you don't want to order a lot of yardage of something only to not like it once it arrives. it's also hard to tell scale online - even though most vendors list it, it's difficult to envision a 1 inch square of pattern on your screen blown up into a life-size piece of fabric. i do like to comparison-shop online. many times i've been able to find a nice fabric i liked at calico corners or broomcorn for a lower price online, and i know that it'll work because i've seen it in person. buyfabrics.com is a good source, as is lewis & sharon textiles. i often google the name of a fabric i like and see where else it pops up for a good price.

sheshimmers latte by robert allen, buyfabrics.com

sudan, lsfabrics.com

crossection, lsfabrics.com

medici, lsfabrics.com

i've been in a neutral mood lately. can you tell?

i've also ordered fabric from online decor stores. the linen for my living room pillows came from ballard designs. i knew i would like it because a) i'd seen it in person in another fabric store and b) ballard carries pretty quality stuff. you can also order fabric by the yard from places like pottery barn and williams sonoma home (if you're feeling spendy).

fabric for my pillows from ballard designs

tile print, pottery barn

creme mini grid, wshome

of course there are higher-end designer fabrics like schumacher that are only available to the trade, if you're wanting to make more of an investment. you can get it through a local designer, and a lot of your friendly neighborhood interior design bloggers will order it for you if you ask. i'm pretty sure high heeled foot in the door, little green notebook, caitlin creer interiors and high gloss blue have all mentioned taking fabric orders. i also subscribe to the designer's attic, where shannon of pink wallpaper sells small increments of yardage (usually 1-4 yards) leftover from her projects for insane prices. these also happen to be some of my very favorite daily reads - these ladies know what the heck they're talking about. do visit if you haven't already.

schumacher crosstown

schumacher's ubiquitous chiang mai dragon

the equally ubiquitous kwid imperial trellis

i obviously spend a lot of time looking at fabric. it may be a sickness. but it hurts so good...

any other favorite fabric haunts to share?

who knew, y'all?

2010-04-20T15:56:00.003-05:00

not i.

paula deen has a line of home furnishings. all southern and countrified. like the food. but less calories. i made this discovery just this afternoon when i saw this rug at shades of light and started thinking it may need to come live in my still-to-be-striped cream hallway:

tis indoor/outdoor. paula invented it that way for to use in the kitchen. would also work in any room terrorized by giant mutthounds. like, for example, my entire household. cute, eh? i don't know what it looks like for realz, but the zoom view and "hooked stitch" description on the website lead me to believe it has a desirable texture. has anyone seen it in person?

p.s. i think paula would approve of my new window treatments, no?

progress...

2010-04-19T18:11:00.009-05:00

has been made. in my living room.

old drapes:

new drapes:

old curtain rod:

new curtain rod:

it's amazing what a difference it makes to mount the drapes all the way at the crown molding with a nice rod. i feel like i live at freaking versailles now, what with the majestic flowing draperies and heightened ceilings and all. but minus the hall of mirrors and pretend farm village. next step is to procure a longer bamboo shade and mount it up there too, to further perpetuate the high ceilin' feelin'.

AND ALSO

upholstery project. sneak peek. i've got the "ta" but not the "da." ran out of nailheads when i was almost finished and it took a minute before i could make it to the sto' for mo'.

the chair before, recall:

aaaaand almost-after:

contrary to what you may be thinking, no i was not swilling patron whilst applying the nailheads. #1 the back of the chair is supposed to curve like that in the first picture and #2 even with the assistance of a handy guide, it is nigh impossible to make them straight. or maybe i need more practice. whatev. first project, don't hate.

i also got some fabric to make pillows for the couch. it's the same fabric i waxed poetic about before, but in a different colorway.

i also plan to make pillows and upholster a stool in another fabric. considering:

thoughts?

that IS so perfect

2010-04-09T15:59:00.005-05:00

NEED:

set of coasters in a lucite box

IT'S LIKE THEY WERE AT MY WEDDING. seriously.

also likely cannot live without:

lucite tray for my coffee table

picture frame for my desk

salt-n-peppa for my kitchen

recipe card holder

just look at some of my fave available patterns:

all available at that's so perfect. perfect indeed.

operation: guest post

2010-04-01T09:29:00.004-05:00

guest post. blue jean gourmet. go.

if you're visiting from bjg, welcome! have a seat, stay awhile. visit the sidebar for a taste of what we're all about chez stone. thanks again for asking me to contribute, bjg!

for your viewing pleasure, here's a shot of me and the blue jean gourmet at a recent dinner gathering of high school classmates. sorry i'm cutting you off a bit, nishta. i can't help it that i'm SO INCREDIBLY TALL.

sorority squat picture courtesy of courtney's facebook page, which i broke lent to log onto and snag this morning

technology genius

2010-03-24T16:14:00.002-05:00

look what i did! over here! ------------->

pictures on my sidebar with links to previous projects! FANCY!

this grand technological accomplishment means there's hope yet for the world. indeed.