Looky what we did!! Damn. We’ve worked so hard over the past eight months. The only bit left to do in the living room is the light fixture, which is marked by blue tape that we keep forgetting to remove. Ha. I will be taking some more photos for the neon wall, of course. I love neon!

Our new front door, which I absolutely love! It’s actually a shade of turquoise (and matches the cute stool), but it’s looking more baby blue here. The rabbits are coat hooks. The mirror was my Grandma’s; the old school tennis racket was my Dad’s; my Grandpa carved the duck; and the painting is the one we bought in Crestone.

Our cool niche shelves, with new brackets. They hold a perfectly well-curated assortment of knick-knacks collected over the 25 years we’ve been together (my Grandpa carved the eagle!), and have a nice view down the hall.

Our bright dining room! The dining table was our first major furniture purchase as newlyweds, and is starting to show its twenty-three years. Suitcase painting by Gabe Fernandez. The original floor (which was also in the kitchen) was probably my biggest labor nightmare. It was one layer of crappy vinyl, one layer of plywood underlayment held down by about a thousand (I kid you not) one inch staples that had to be removed one-by-one with pliers, and one layer of faux-brick tile under that. Oof, my poor hands.

But NOW, in the morning, the light of the sun warms my back while I eat and read. Happiness. I painted the closet door that terrific orange color (Sherwin-Williams Armagnac) to hide how badly beaten up it was. Not a single surface on the main floor was spared an update, and the reason why it took us so damn long.

The kitchen. YOWZA. In the first two photos, you can see where the sink and dishwasher (which when we first turned on the water became GEYSERS) were originally. You can also see that there wasn’t a place for a normal sized refrigerator. The giant window in the third photo was reduced by about a foot because it wasted a whole heck of a lot of wall space. Unless you were a child or a dwarf (Little person? I never know.) any cabinet placed below that window would have been waaaay too low. The flooring is Marmoleum. I left the window wall without upper cabinets to avoid having the kitchen feel like a narrow hallway and to show off the hubster’s mad electrician skills. He installed all the cool lights; Restoration Hardware made them, however, every hardwired fixture on the main floor, actually. They’ve got my number.

The best and only view of the hubster’s office for the time being. What you can’t see? Shower doors for the upstairs bathroom. Purdy.

My office! Egads. I love, love, love it. The cool chest of drawers was my grandparents, and the hubster, when he needs a little break from work, sits in the chair next to it (he’s doing it as I type, actually). I like that.

Sanctuary!!

Alive

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

Howard Thurman

 

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Queue ‘Em…

Terri – A true to life story (though not actually true) about a boy struggling to fit in, to keep his unconventional and mentally ill uncle and caretaker above water, and to be a decent friend. Sweet and sad.

Greta Gerwig has my number. I like everything she does, so surprise! Mistress America is a boisterous romp with two future step-sisters as they navigate college and adulthood. A little bit wacky and full of great one-liners!

Au Service de la France – Also a bit wacky and terribly French. It’s 1960 and Andre has just joined the French secret service. He doesn’t know what he’s doing at work or in the romance department, but that’s okay, most of his colleagues don’t either! Laugh out loud funny. Beh, oui!

DOPE – Oh, my goodness. Three brilliant and nerdy teens get caught up in the L.A. drug trade. Hilarity, wicked-smart schemes, and a bit of terror ensues. The edge of our seat storytelling kinda stressed us out, in a good way. Gah. Great soundtrack, too!

Ex Machina – An uber-wealthy recluse and tech genius rewards one of his minions with a week at his estate to conduct tests on an artificial life form. Provocative! To what lengths would you go to gain freedom? An interesting question.

Another Earth – A woman who made a grave mistake years earlier attempts at penance in this heart wrenching film about the sudden appearance of a parallel world very close to home.

Parker Posey does nutty and brilliant as only she can! Price Check follows her as she attempts to revamp a poorly performing super market chain, turning the office on its ear.

How to Be Single – A very fun examination of the ways we struggle to find the right partner, very relatable, even though I haven’t been single in a quarter century! Whaat? Rebel Wilson positively steals the show.

The Heart Machine relays the tale of a man certain that his online girlfriend (they Skype) actually lives in town. Trippy. I love how it looks at the ways ways we unintentionally self sabotage to cope with fear and loneliness. Soo good.

 

 

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Beams

Give me the splendid, silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling.

Walt Whitman

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F O G

Lots of pictures, not many words. Me, as of late. Working on getting to a quiet place, one without so much house work. Ooh la la! We are on the home stretch, most definitely. The hubster had his final electrical inspection on the kitchen this afternoon. And photo documentation of that whole process is one trim piece away. Huzzah!

I am working hard to get phase one of our garden complete. Over the past few weeks, with the help of two of my favorite teenagers, I moved hundreds of pounds of rock, planted five evergreens of various species, four currants (two black, two red), one gooseberry, one rhubarb, one black raspberry, one rabbit brush, one serviceberry, one elderberry (though I wish I had two), one plum tree, one cherry tree, six lavender, one echinacea, three caryopteris, three reed grass, and five peonies! Two hundred bulbs and five iris go in the ground on Friday. Whaaat?

My office is still a hot mess, having to step over piles of “in process” organization, but the many wonderful distractions have been worth it. Like hiking in the fog with my friend Phoebe (brrrrr…). Hiking in the sun with my friend Katherine. Making pie cookies with sweet neighborhood littles and their Mama. Sleepovers with my parents, brother, and dear friend Jeff (In our comfy guest room! And on separate occasions!). Watching fil-ums and dining out with the hubster. Finally getting the kitchen completely organized. It’s a process, rewarding and slow. So very slow.

Happy Wednesday!

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