May Ramblings

Hello blogger peeps!
I really feel bad for not posting a lot lately.  I just havn't had much going on.  My couch slipcover is in stall mode until I can have a weekend free of plans to tackle sewing the slipcover which I spent three hours pinning as well as the back and seat cushions.

I'm excited about a few things though.  I was a little premature but updated my sidebar for some of our debt.  It's not official or anything but this month we will have not one but two cars paid off.  The ironic thing about this is neither of them are driveable.  How crazy is that?  We are using our tax return to pay off our old daily driver my 1999 Subaru Forester which just went through engine number two and is sitting waiting for the title so we can sell it to someone who wants it for parts (car universe, please grant my wish).  That will be paid this Friday.  Our last payment to my dad for our 1987 Porsche will be a week later.  Problem is it needs a little bit of work to make it driveable. 

We got our new to us Saab back last Friday after it needing a new engine (what is it with us and engines?).  The dealership paid to have a used one with less miles put in.  We had only owned it less than 48 hours when that debacle happened.  I'm really liking the Saab.  It's super comfortable with leather seats, dual climate control (front and back), heated seats all around (the SK's are loving that!), a sun roof (oh how I missed that), a killer stereo system, hand controls on the steering wheel for the stereo and more.  This is more C's car than mine so I will bide my time and save my pennies until I can get this...

I'm not gonna lie.  I kinda dig the racing stripes.  Never thought I would say that.  I DON'T dig the four fog lights on the front of this one and I would certianly love a sunroof too.  This car is so me.  Grey is my go to color in so many ways lately.  We painted the living, dining and hallway of our condo in grey.  Our Saab is silver with grey interior and I want me a grey mini cooper!

By the end of the month I will have put $950 on CC # 4 which is scheduled to be paid off in July.  In fact, all of our credit cards should be paid off by year end.  Yee Haw!  Once that happens I can relax and plan a real vacation.  A vacation to somewhere like Hawaii or Mexico.  Pretty much anyplace full of sun where I can stick my toes in the sand, drink fruity drinks with little umbrellas and relax.

I am starting a career development class in 13 days (yes I am counting) that I am super excited about.  I have a big birthday coming up at the end of July.  I am contemplating going here for the Saturday before my birthday.  Wine and Yurts, what more could a girl ask for?  They have a spa too!

The Yurts featuer King sized beds, sky dome in the center of the roof, private bath, refrigerator, iPod docking station, sitting area, patio deck, wifi and vineyard or river gorge view.

Meanwhile, I am totally addicted to this design blog House Tweaking.  Dana and her husband just bought a new (to them) house.  They have decided to downsize so she can stop working and take care of their two boys full time.  The new house is lovingly named The Underdog.  It's a mess they are remodleing while still living in their old house that is for sale.  I am really intrigued by this because my husband and I are looking at three years until his youngest graduates from high school.  One of our ideas is to buy or build a small open floor plan house. 

Another is to sell our condo and live in an Airstream trailer like this guy (Apartment Therapy is so cool!). 

Buying a rambler we could make our own is certainly something we consider.  We are thinking of moving to a warmer climate so the house buying may possibly be put on hold for a few years.  When I look at photos online of houses for sale in my area I really try to look past the old cruddy kitchen cabinets and hideous flooring to see the potential for the four walls I am considering.  Watching Dana and her husband as they turn their Underdog in to the home of their dreams will be certain inspiration and a great guide.

Speaking of addictions, I am currently adddicted to the TV show Supernatural.  We borrowed season one from our neighbor.  Right now we are on season two which we have to get from Netflix via DVD (how old school) since it's not streaming.

Today was a nice sunny day here in the greater Seattle area.  It got to 60 at least.  I am so ready for the grey gloomy days of winter (and even spring) to be gone.  One thing about our area is even when it's warm during the day it cools off at night unless you are in eastern Washington or it's August.

Well, I have rambled enough.  Hope you all are well and more more consistent posting coming soon.  Like the reveal of my slipcovered couch!

Seven Things About Me

I received a Versitile Blogger Award from a groovy blogger/twitter friend Crystal over at Twenty Eight and a Half. I am to name seven random facts about myself and pass along to seven other bloggers.

Seven Random Things About Me

1. I have exactly 2.5 hours flight time in a single engine plane.




2. I had a pet frog for 13 years. It was a joke birthday gift called "Grow A Frog" and a tadpole was literally mailed to me in a bag of water in a styrofoam container. When it arrived my mom tossed it up the stairs at me. It lived in my mom's house after I moved away and finally passed away.




3. While most people go gaga over meeting famous people, when I have the opportunity I get all nervous and quiet.




4. When I was just about to turn two my parents and I were visiting relatives in Texas. My cousins were bouncing on a trampoline with me sitting on the opposite end. Then bounced me right off. I go tup and wandered in to the house. Later that night I woke up screaming. Apparently I had broken my leg. I spent the rest of our trip in a cast and walked around so much I wore down the heel twice. I remember when I got the cast off the doctor put the saw on my hand so I would know it wouldn't vut me. I tried to stand but fell over because I was used to the weight of the cast.




5. The furthest away from home I have been is Hawaii to the west, The Bahamas to the East, Cabo San Lucas to the south and the Arctic Circle to the north. Time to get off this continent!




6. I costumed an indie horror film summer which got me a credit on IMDB.




7. I love vegetables but absolutely detest peas. I will eat them in fried rice or a pot pie but I will not eat them alone.
   

Passing the award to...

Kilted Travel Agent (refered to here as C)

The Girls Guide to Homelessness

Crazy Aunt Purl

Small Notebook

Brooklyn Limestone

Lola B's

Wicked Bride

I Heart The Internet - Another Recipe

A quick note before the post. What is UP with blogger and clumping all of my paragraphs together?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Not only has the internet given me super cool twitter and blog friends like Crystal and Crazy Aunt Purl (it's all about the wine diet). It gives me yummy food I can cook at home whenever I want. I made enchiladas not once but twice last weekend from this recipe (one beef and one chicken - I liked the chicken best). The SK's (step kids) LOVED it so I know I have a keeper recipe when I can please my entire household with one dish! The latest intsalment of the Paisley Cooking Chronicals is roasted asparagus compliments of Small Notebook. You can get the recipe here. Not only is she living in Italy (a dream of mine) but she is sharing yummy recipes too! Folks, my husband (C) does not really care for veggies, and asparagus has taken him a bit to get used to (he likes it smothered in holandaise) and he REALLY liked this dish. I think it was the prosciutto that did it. I don't even think you need the cheese. The roasted potatoe recipe you can find here (thank you Tyler Florence). I had planned to have chicken with this but I didn't really need it. It was Yum-Oh and really filling! If you try this, tell me what you think!

Enchiladas Por Favor

Last night I made a recipe for Enchiladas I found at one of my new favorite blogs, Dream Book Design. My step son helped me make them. They were a little messy in the prep but so very good even without the green onion which I forgot to put on them. They are so yummy in fact that I may make another batch in chicken so I will use all the green onion I have. I can just store it in the freezer and use them for lunches. Click here for the recipe. I am off to make chocolate croisants for breakfast!

Sabbatical

For a while now I have had the thought of a break rolling around in my head. In truth, I have been working full time for the better part of the last 18 years since I left college. I go to work every day for the paycheck, I really don't have a passion for what I do. I'm good at it, I like the people I work with and my salary is pretty decent. I did not go to college for what I do but kind of fell in to it. I take pride in doing my best every day. But I'm tired. I have a passion for other things. Other things like travel, independent film, cozy surroundings. Things that I want to be more central in my life. Other things that I would like to earn a good living at. Things that are not material stuff but experiences. Call me a late bloomer (pretty accurate really) but I feel I have finally figured out what I want out of life. Enter the sabbatical which literally means "a ceasing", a rest from work, a hiatus, lasting from two months to a year. I am planning one of those. A year off to transition in to the next phase of my life. If you have seen the movie Eat, Pray, Love this is kind of the idea. This move is based on a real book that a real person lived through. The book is amazing and inspirational and a must read in my opinion. The author took a year off to really discover who she was while living in Italy, India and Bali (all places I would love to visit). I want to travel, experience new cultures, learn new languages, eat new food, take beautiful photos, imerse myself in something different to gain new perspective. Really become centered and setteled. I am inspired by others who are following a somewhat similar path. People like Rachel from Small Notebook who with her husband and two small children are taking a year off to live in Florence Italy. Crystal at Twenty Eight and a Half who left her job and is following her writing passion. She also will be traveling to Greece and Italy this summer for the better part of a month. A friend "IRL" at Unemployed Winner who was recently laid off from her day job and is making a go of her Etsy store (she's an incredible knitter) as her full time job. Frugal Babe who has no debt and works from home with her husband. They are trying to be self sustaining through their rather large garden and other home improvements. Stephanie at Brooklyn Limestone who started her blog detailing the rehab of their home and also posts about her extensive international travel (jealous). Laurie at Crazy Aunt Purl who turned her newfound love of knitting in to two books. These women and many more are inspiration for me. This sabbatical will not happen for a couple years, probably five. We have debt we need to finish paying off, we have two kids to get through highschool. Kid # 1 will graduate in 2012 and kid # 2 will graduate in 2014. We have to save money for this endeavor. But we are going to do it. My husband at A Kilted Travel Agent is a daily inspiration for me. He recently started learning how to tattoo which is a passion for him and combined his love of art and drawing. He is starting an internship today. While we are on sabbatical he wants to learn new ways to perform this craft from other cultures like the Balinese. I have already started this journey by simplifying my life. We are agressively paying off our debt. We are decluttering our home and our "stuff". About a month ago I ventured in to the world of film by starting a production company with two friends I met on set of the indie film, The Book of Zombie I worked on in 2007. I was the costumer and an executive producer. We will sell our condo before this all starts. The money we make will go in to an account for a down on a place after we are setteled from our sabbatical. We will place the items from our home we are keeping at my FIL's house while we are gone. Our cars will stay at my parents. The only other thing I need to research is traveling and living internationally with our dog. Looks like we will need to get him a Visa and an International Travel Health certificate. Have any of you out there in blog land taken a sabbatical or are thinking about it?

Transitions

Hello my bloggy buddies! It's Friday and C, our neighbor and I are about to get take out food from a yummy Italian place. We have fun plans for the weekend and the weather is still pretty nice here in Seattle.

I wanted to direct you to a brand new blogger. I have been friends with her for about four or five years. She is an awesome person and amazing knitter.

Like many of us now a days, she was laid off from her job last Thursday - St. Patrick's Day. She is taking it all in stride and determined to make a dream out of her part time business.

Click on over to Unemployed Winner and give her a wonderful welcome to the world of blogging!

Have a great weekend!

Love Lavender?

Good Saturday morning! If you love levander then you must click on over to Lilies and Dandelions blog as she is hosting a give away. Lavender goodies and a Restoration Hardware pillow.

Be sure to check out her post on cleaning with lemon and lavender too. I know one of my current goals is to replace all the harsh chemicals in my house with natural cleaners. I'm sure this post will help get me started!

Grey & White

I saw a glimpse of a bedroom over on A Beach Cottage and I am in heaven! It's summer in the land down under and the light is much different then in the winter. Below is a photo of her bedside.

I am loving the grey polka dot pillow along with the grey striped pillow on the white chenile bedspread. LOVE taking a nap in the sun wrapped up in a chenile blanket!

Here are some other great grey & white photos from around blog land. From flicker a shot of grey and white buildings.

Birch trees are such a great grey and white background.

For you Harry Potter lovers our there, Hedwig.

Knitting

Grey and white Carrara marble.



Grey and white houndstooth trenchcoat from Soia & Kyo. LOVE!

Reclaimed wood.

Paisley


River rock.

A pile of grey knit blankets.................

I never realized how many images I see that I like that are strictly grey and white.

Valentine's Day Subway Art

Run on over to craftily ever after and check out her latest subway art for Valentine's day! I printed our her Halloween and Christmas subway art and even got Halloween framed which you can see here.

Score!

Life is so crazy.

I was reading a blog the other day about how someone made their own bed frame which is something C and I have been wanting to do. Their inspiration was over $2000 and they paid $200 for the materials plus a jigsaw.

Check out the post for their do it yourself bed here.

This post has inspired C and I and we are going to do something similar. It probably won't happen for a bit because we need to finish up our living room.

Last night a friend was going through his tools and came across three jigsaws. He gave us one. Woo Hoo!

Giveaway from Brooklyn Limestone

Starting off a New Year with a giveaway from one of my favorite blogs in blogland, Brooklyn Limestone. Jump on over and oogle her photos from her world travels.

Cool Finds

Even though I have been working a TON and haven't been posting much I still blog stalk. I came across a great little blog through Door Sixteen & Design Sponge (also great blogs) called Jersey IceCream Co.

Percy, the gentleman behind Jersey Ice Cream Co. rehabbed this 1915 house in just a little over 13 months. I absolutely LOVE the simplicity to his design style. The bedroom walls are personal favs of mine.

You can see photos of part 1 and part 2.

Not only that, his blog is dedicated to selling antiques. Go check him out!

13 Days....

Threre is 13 days until Christmas and I feel VERY far behind. I have been working at leat 50 + hours a week between my new and old jobs. That doesn't leave very much time for anything - not to mention blogging.

I have ordered a few gifts online which is nice, no waiting in line, no crowds, no parking hassles. I have not even gotten my Christmas decorating done. I did cut out our stockings Friday night. Might start sewing them tonight.

All this week after I get home from work I will be going through all of our Christmas decorations and decluttering down to what we need and will use. There are quite a few things that I just don't use anymore.

I am not traditional when it comes to Christmas decor. I tend to decorate to coordinate colors with my interior decor. Because of the lateness of the month I am probably going to be pretty minimal as well.

My big dilemma this year is to get a fake tree, a real one or a tree at all. Home Depot has great selections of 6 foot trees for $20. There is also a lot near my house that has reasonable prices. I am very tempted to buy a prelit fake tree so all I have to do is haul it out of it's bag and place some ornaments on it.

Then I think I should go really non traditional and get something small and set it on top of some old suitcases I have or just forgo a tree completely.

So many decisions, so little time.

For now I leave you with the link to the Holiday Home Link Party for inspiration and perusal. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Velvet Morning Giveaway

Click on over to La Maison Boheme for a lovely giveaway from Velvet Morning! could make a great Christmas gift for you or a friend.

Holiday Give Away

Click on over the Mrs. Limestone for a chance to win the new Holiday with Matthew Mead. Which she just so happens to have contributed to!

Go - go now!

Halloween Inspiration - Mad Scientist Lab

Click on over to Brooklyn Limestone for GREAT Halloween inspiration.

Halloween Art & Inspirtion

First of all, did you check out the CSI Project yesterday for amazing Halloween ideas? This is how I got three items for my Halloween art project below.

So far the only decor in my living room is my mantle. I felt like I needed a little more. I have a blank wall that was just begging for something to be hung on it. The best part? It was totally free!

I already had the three picture frames and burlap. All I needed to do was print out the free wall art, place it in the frame, back with burlap, close it all up and hang it.

I found BOO at Anders Ruff and the Subway Art and Eat, Drink and be Scary at Craftily Ever After.

Thanks to these two lovely ladies, I have great Halloween wall art for the cost of ink. There are soome GREAT inpirations out there in blog land too.

• Creepy Lighted Halloween Portraits at Heart Tree Home
• Witches Spellbook at Through My Looking Glass
• Dr. Jekyll's Laboratory at Three Pixie Lane
• Bat-iful Party Invitations at My Insanity
• Ghostly Mirror at Flamingo Toes
• Apothecary Jars at The Autocrat
• Black & White Decor at Madigan Made

And so much more. I urge you to go to the CSI Project, there are over 200 entires/ideas just waiting to be discovered!

Halloween Decorating

We actually got most of our Halloween decorations up the last weekend of September. I finished my last minute stuff yesterday before my girly candle party. Not all of our decorations were brought out as we decided on a slightly new direction to go this year. Our goal? Slightly tattered and some what Victorian. We didn't even buy too much new stuff this year which was nice. We have a few ideas in mind for year to build on our theme.

Remember how we used to have a lot more bookshelves in the hallway? In our decluttering efforts we are down to just the books on this shelf. The only thing here that is new is the skull with the brain peeking out. C and a friend were out looking for a skull he could use for this and happened upon this one already cracked. Perfect!

Here is some detail of the some of the items sitting on the shelf. C made me a casket case filled with potion bottles and some very scary looking wine selections. Like Vampire wine. Truly a good red!

I found the label for the Graveyard Spirits here. I just printed it out on paper and used my Xyron to make it in to a sticker. And hey, that brain isn't going to get any fresher!

The pictures hanging over the shelf change as you walk by them. Who knew Great Uncle George had a Beastly side?

Moanin Lisa

The mantle this year has all the same stuff from last year. Don't you think that one bust on the left looks like Vincent Price?

In the dining room you can see my new grey walls too. LOVE! Just ignore the printer in this photo. It's going to live in the credenza below, I just need to get a hole drilled in the back to accomodate the cord. These are the pumpkins I slaved over last month. The photo is actually my grandmother when she was around 3 circa 1920. The lampshade I covered in burlap and added a black gross grain ribbon.

This gentleman visitor just doesn't like my cooking apparently.

The shelf over the garden window in the dining room. A combination of critters, books and other items. I didn't get around to writing up creepy book titles for my books so just took the dust jackets off of books I had that were black. I have seen a trend recently to take book covers off and just have the yellowed pages of several books stacked on each other. Could be a fun way to add to the look. I have more of the flame lights like over the mantle here too. Because of the light it's hard to see they are on.

There used to be this great shop called the Salvage Studio in Edmonds. That is where I bought the Scrabble letters that spell out Halloween. Two of the previous owners have their own blogs, check out Beth and Lisa.

The top shelf of the bar houses the Dan Aykroyd Crystal Head vodka.

Wich apparently this creepy crawley is interestded in tasting.

Knock and enter...if you dare.

We weren't too savvy when we shopped for our condo. Who knew it would be located IN a graveyard?

Conveniently located near a Morgue.


Vampire bats are known to inhabit graveyards. So far we have only found one - but it's BIG!

An inspiration of mine in blog land. If I could only channel Mrs. Limestone. Her blog started out telling the story of their renovation on their early 1900's Brooklyn Limestone. I highly recommend ready the entire thing. She's hugs in to Halloween so check her out. Her decorations for the last couple years have been great and I can't wait to see what she comes up with this year!

If you like the effects on my photos. Check out a free site called Picnik.

Cleaning Up

I know I have been a bad blogger and have started a couple posts that I will get to in the next few days. Got to upload the photos still.

Last night I got home from work and spent several hours (5.5) cleaning my house. I am tired of the stuff stacked around the place that we might get to some day. Frankly, our condo was starting to look like a storage unit. When we had people over, our bedroom was the dumping ground as everything got chucked in to and the door closed.

All this clutter also prevented me from accomplishing things I want to do. Things like, relaxing on the weekend with some knitting or sewing or baking, Enjoying time with the bonus kids. Having enough room to work out. Sitting and watching a movie or reading a book. All without feeling anxious without all the stuff all over the house.

Well - no more!

I cleaned the heck out of my place last night. Anything that did not have a home and was not going to be donated ended up in the dining room. This morning we are going to schlep it all out to our onsite (does not cost extra) storage unit. I would rather have the clutter out there until I can go through it. We do have our storage unit pretty organized and this won't add too much to it. We just don't have to live with it on a daily basis.

For those of you out there looking for more ideas on living simply, decluttering and decorating well, check out these posts....

Remodeling This Life is doing a 31 days of simplicity.

Dear Lillie's decorated her patio for fall in Apple Pie on the Porch. LOVE!

Tightwad has Ten ways to make use of your old magazines.

Rowdy Kittens is talking about Bike commuting with baby.

We started our Halloween decorating last weekend and plan to finish this weekend. Photos to come soon!

Also, some hopefully exciting news. Just putting it out there for positive thoughts. I will find out on Wednesday and will let you all know!

A Glimpse

A double post day!

Don't you just love it when you hear about someone who loves what they do? Like their job was meant for them?

Well, that is the case for Anna over at Door Sixteen. I have been reading her for aboujt a year now. She is a gal in New York who is slowly bringing back to life a house in Newburgh. Although her style is different from mine I really enjoy her design perspective and writing style.

Her real job is so very cool too! She is a book design cover. I have pondered a change in career direction and graphic design is at the top of my list. Not certain that is the way I will go but the thought of having her job for a living would be so very.

For more information on her job and how she got it in to it, link on over for part one and two.