the marvels of technology

isn't the internet amazing? thanks to the technological genius of email, what began as captain fantastic's everyday, mundane real estate work contact with a gal across the country developed into a virtual friendship. their standard work correspondence gave way to discussions about wedding planning and honeymooning, which lead to her reading my wedding blog and becoming my facebook friend. we've never met, but we regularly correspond through facebook and read each other's blogs (she's a talented photographer, check her out here).

what is the point, you ask? today, my virtual friend liz tagged me in a virtual game on facebook, but i thought i'd share it here, because i had way too much fun with it.

Instructions for Playing:

1 - Go to Wikipedia. Hit “random” or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random - The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Quotations Page and select "random quotations" or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 - The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days - Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photo-editing software (GIMP, Photoshop, etc.) to put it all together. Only modify the image if you want to (size issues, artistic purposes). Typography: anything goes. Also, add the photo credit to your description.

the instructions tell you to upload the finished product to facebook and tag the people you want to play, but you can also post it on your blog like i did. or not post it anywhere. you know, whatev. it's just for funsies.

here's mine:


Wiki Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Botswana-related_topics
Original Flickr Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/asia5555/4249968505/
Quote: "It's the good girls who keep diaries; the bad girls never have the time." Tallulah Bankhead

it's crazy how fun the outcome is. the internet is the best.

keyword: durability

story of my life now. let me tell you how destructive several hundred pounds of man and mutt can be on a daily basis. or perhaps you have experience yourself, in which case, my condolences. if i had a nickel for every time i've said "we can never have nice things!" then i'd have the money to replace all the nice things that have been ruined. so. new game plan. buy things that are durable. really durable.

for example. things that are not durable: sisal rugs.


see that wee, adorable dog? either of my mammoth dogs would accidentally step on that dog and be like, "what was that, a grasshopper?" then they would roll their muddy backsides all over that white couch and do a beethoven-style slobber-fest all over that carpet. and you know what slobber does to sisal? if sisal gets wet, it stains. wouldn't last five minutes chez stone. believe.

durable compromise: indoor/outdoor sisal-look rug. booyah. even better? 9'x12' indoor/outdoor sisal-look rug with a little ripple down the middle that capel rugs has to mark down an insane amount even though the little ripple will probably come out after it's been on the floor for a few days (which, subsequently, it does). check it:


i love the sisaly texture and subtle diamond design, which you can see in that magnified bit that popped up in the middle of the picture when i pulled it off the capel website. the best part is that you can basically take it in the backyard and hose it down. which might come in handy when, hypothetically, your sister-in-law's dog pees on it not 20 minutes after you bring it home. i wish i were kidding. i told you sisal wouldn't last up in hura.

so, there you have it. our living room rug. this is how she looked all decked out for christmas.


what is that black cord? the directv cable, snaking through three rooms in the house because we have not yet had the outlet moved from the former den to the new living room, even though one of us has tripped on it every single day for like 3 months. details....

and to prove my point, please compare the wee, adorable dog on the living room couch above to the mutthounds on my living room couch below:


but dang if that rug doesn't still look fabulous. i rest my case.

the resolution will not be televised

...but it will be blogged.

i bet you hope my first resolution is to stop using ridiculous puns and other such nonsense for blog titles. too bad, so sad. my blog, my rules. and i love puns and nonsense.

so. 2010. here we are. a new decade. coming up on nine years since i graduated from high school and five since college. wow. i still feel like a kid. i can't believe that i'm a grown-up. married. with a house. and two dogs. and friends who have children. several children. legitimately.

time sure flies.

2009 was a big year for me, namely because of that whole till-death-do-us-part marriage commitment wedding-planning bit.

(www.jmalahy.com)

i've also learned a lot about myself - what i enjoy and what i do not enjoy, what i want and what i do not want, what i'm good at doing and what i struggle with doing. quarter-life-crisis and all, you see. i hope 2010 will be a year where i make great strides from THINKING to ACTING, from DREAMING to DOING. and what better way to create accountability for mylazyself than by proclaiming my new year's resolutions for all the interwebs to hear? none. none better way.

and so, without further ado, my 2010 resolutions:

* exercise more. slash at all. let's start off with the requisite american resolution, shall we? the summer of my freshman year of college, i up and ran down my parents' street. and didn't die. since then, i have had an on-again-off-again relationship with running, the peak of which was during the summer of 2007 when i was running three miles per day...and stress fractured my hip...which derailed my running for about a year. the best laid plans, you know. i also ran considerably in the fall of 2008, until i decided that wedding planning counted as exercise (it does). 2009 saw barely so much as a brisk walk, and that's a shame. therefore, in 2010, i shall run again. let's set the bar low here and say twice a week. i'll bump it up for 2010.5 if all goes well.

(me & the captain - sweatbands, front row - the night we met at the first annual chug-n-run)

* create. often. nothing on this planet gives me a greater sense of accomplishment than arts and crafts. i love drawing, painting, coloring, doodling, sewing, decoupaging, writing, photographing, and generally creating beautiful things with my own two hands. always have, always will. from the simplest klutz pre-assembled craft project to the most skillful paintings of the louvre, i love it all. i always wanted to be an artist, and i'm ashamed to admit that i let one college professor's opinion derail my life's main passion. i admit it to you, internet, and my tens of blog readers: i want to be an artist. in 2010, i'm reigniting the flame.

* worry less. this one is tricksy, but very important. less second-guessing myself, my abilities, my choices. less paralyzing visions of fiery car crashes and brain aneurysms. less headaches and irritable bowels. less hyperventilating over rumpled duvet covers and burned french toast. more seeing things as they are and dealing with challenges as they arise instead of freaking out over things that have yet to occur. in 2010, i'll learn to keep my worries in perspective.

* make more decisions. be confident in them. did the world come to an end when i bought a non-returnable rug for the living room and ended up wanting a different one? spoiler alert: it did not. i just moved that rug to another room, where it happens to look awesome. so enough of my perfectionist wishy-washing. let me introduce you to lauren 5.0 (we've been through several upgrades of late, kinda like windows, but with the cooler skinny-jeans-vibe of mac) - now with new decision-making capabilities! in 2010, i will obsess less and enjoy more.

(source unknown)

* DO more. organize the house, including the storage areas. keep it organized. put things away when finished with them. (hint: this would be an excellent resolution for the entire household, ifyoucatchmydrift). fold laundry right from the dryer, every time, even if it's almost bedtime. call friends and family, just to chat. get together with my girls more often. take the dogs to the park. sign up for art classes. read. learn to take better pictures. post more regularly on this blog. actually DO the projects i DREAM. and for chrissakes, turn OFF the tv. in 2010, i will live less in my head and more with my heart.

(my high school besties, new year's eve 2005 - our last one all together, five years ago!!! everyone hates this picture, heh.)

in summary, 2010 will be a year of action, a year of accomplishing, a year of enjoying. this year, i plan to put my creativity to good use, to turn ideas into realities, to live the life i wish to live.

BIG PLANS.

you feel me?

haaaaaaaappy new year!

team stone hosted a little new year's soiree to ring in the new decade.

please notice the one, singular ornament on the tree, courtesy of my brother in celebration of our first married christmas. we hung that up on christmas day after receiving it, but never put anything else on the tree. i was entirely smitten with the bare evergreen with white lights and couldn't bare to junk it up with a zillion ornaments, so we went simple this year.

the new dining room contains little more than a table and bar at present (in fact, our "chandelier" is currently still a ceiling fan...), but that didn't stop me from doing up the table all festive-like with a variety of candlesticks in natural and sparkly materials, sticks, crystal, and the omnipresent topiaries and paper stars:




here she is in action:


cheers to a happy, healthy and successful 2010 to you and yours!

from our house to yours...

everybody's doing it...

...and with good reason. darby's cinnamon honey butter is delicious. many thanks to darby for sharing the recipe and to the guinn sisters for their tip that the jars were available at my local superlo.

this little elf and her big brother brought me my baby grand piano more than 20 years ago, and they have been reunited this holiday season :)


that reindeer is my fave too. holy goodness, I LOVE CHRISTMAS.

it's the most tedious time of the year

so here's what we've been up to:

stripping. wallpaper.


uuuuuugggggghhhhhh.


after scoring, dousing in glue remover and ripping, we were left with a second layer...which we scored, doused in glue remover and ripped...aaaaaaand ripped and ripped and scraped and ripped in teeny, tiny, wee little pieces until every last bit was gone. then scrubbed the walls down with water to remove the rest of the glue residue. it. took. for. ever. thank goodness it was only the hallway. thank. goodness.

then we replaced one section of quarter round


...and flexed our scraping muscles some more to clean up approximately 50-yrs-worth of gunky paint on the baseboards.


after forever and a day, we finally had a clean slate



then it was time to fill in a bisquillion little holes and gouges and scuffed up edges...


and, drum roll please...PAINT!


wooho...

ok. so, technically...still not done. because we're painting stripes. however. that will have to wait until after christmas. baby steps.

don't worry, there's plenty of holiday cheer chez stone in addition to all the paint and brushes. holiday vignettes forthcoming. and the tree is coming home tomorrow.

...at least that's the plan.