day 4: favorite book

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?