Fashion Friday

I really like the style of this coat:

But don't you think you'd check your fly before posting a picture online for all the world to see?
Or, at the least, notice it when you bring the picture up on your computer screen?

Awesome.

Master Bedroom Progress: Lamps!

I showed you guys these shots awhile back for Centsational Girl's "Where Do You Blog?" post.

In our old house we only had enough room for one side table in the bedroom and this was it. It was actually pink when I stole rescued it from my father's basement. Now I kinda wish we'd kept it pink... *sniffle*

So we had mismatched bedside lamps for over a year in this house because the Mr. didn't have a bedside table. I couldn't decide on anything. Plus, our bed is high and nothing was tall enough.

PLUS, I couldn't make a decision on lamps. I would find some that I kinda liked, not buy them, then decide that I had to have them, then they would be gone.

I found a pair of silver lamps at Sears that I loved, but one was missing the harp and the other had a funny golden hue to it.

Then I found an adorable teal pair at Home Goods, hesitated, and missed 'em.

Then a lovely cream double-gourd pair with a fun vertical ripple pattern at TJ Maxx's. They were gorgeous. I waffled for like a month, they had them the whole time... I finally went back for them and they only had one! I had them call every store in the city and no one had them... Sad, sad day...

I recently walked into Home Goods looking for something else (I have no idea what now) and the most wonderfully fabulous lamps ever practically jumped off the shelf at me!

They are high enough to read, they came with a huge, fun shade, and they look nearly identical to the first pair I wanted from Sears! Yay!

Mr. has a bedside table now, too. Post to come.

Quick Fix: Urn It

I found these urns at my locally owned garden store for 40% off! They're ceramic and I really loved the shape:

BEFORE

The color though? Not so much. It makes me think this is what the "before" urns Eddie Ross blogged about in this post may have looked like.

A can of Rustoleum Cover Stain.

 AFTER

The black is only for Halloween (maybe).

What color should I paint them? Any ideas?

I need your advice!

The house is painted.

The front door is painted.

And the porch ceiling is painted.

BEFORE

Already blue, but there were some imperfections near the edges... 

DURING

Can you tell which is the new paint? I can't. 

AFTER

I don't have an after photo, because I need your help! Since July of 2009 we have had two naked bulbs on our front porch. And not just simple, naked bulbs. BLUE naked bulbs. 

That's right. Blue. Why? I have no idea. The lady that lived here (Eleanor) was crazy (seriously) and there are all kinds of little unique touches just for her. Which is the way a house should be. But unfortunately naked blue bulbs are no longer working for me, especially since one of them is burned out.

So. Here is where you all come in. I need new light fixtures for the front porch. Mister and I do NOT agree on anything, so it's up to you. 

Here are some other views of the porch. 

From the front (obviously)

From the side (see the naked bulbs?)

Here are the current options:

This is the one Mr. likes (I hate it)

I don't think the stainless will pop against the ceiling.

 I thought oil-rubbed bronze would look best with the door hardware:

too weird?

 

 

 

It's a covered porch. Mr. is an electrician and said it's not necessary to pick an outdoor light.

I like these for the back of the house, behind the garage.

 What say you? Any other ideas? What is your favorite light? Money is not an issue (within reason). Should you be able to see the lights from the front? Should they be totally flush or hang down a bit? Stainless or ORB with ORB door hardware?

The Exterior: Final Reveal

Okay. I know you guys have been waiting with baited breath (humor me) for the reveal of our new paint job. I was convinced everything needed to be "perfect" before I could show you the pics, but I finally realized after two full weekends of planting and mulching (hell. pure hell.) that it wasn't going to be perfect. I finished mulching the front on Saturday and it looked sooooo amazing! Then by Monday morning everything was covered in leaves. Damn nature.

So without further ado (what does that mean?), here it is:

BEFORE

Real estate photo that I have been unashamedly using for the last 15 months. 

AFTER

My point and shoot does not have a wide-angle option. Poo.

BEFORE

AFTER

Some more gratuitous shots:

The beast does not follow direction well, Gidget does, so she gets top billing.

These urns started out a hideous color; post to come. The ornamental cabbage was FREE at my local garden center.

My mom bought me this little dog when I had an apartment balcony. I got the pot on sale!

 What do you think? It's a bit dark, but it's growing on me.

Monkey Love

Who me? I didn't eat the baby... Dozer did.

Macaroni and Cheese

Nope, this isn't a recipe post about delicious, cheesy pasta goodness.

I finally picked a paint for the front door! I decided our front door needed to be the same color as those yellow-ey/orange Mustangs, which I have deemed Macaroni and Cheese Mustangs. I am not a Ford fan, but I would buy one just because I LOVE the color!

 Here it is before and boring:

BEFORE

Aren't I creative? A grapevine wreath painted black. Genius. lol

AFTER

I upgraded my wreath too!

The color is Martha Stewart Pencil in Satin finish. You would not believe how hard it is to find a good yellow-orange. Everything was either supercrazybright yellow or pumpkin orange. I was tempted to buy a touch up pen from Ford and have it color matched. In the end, I also discovered Disney makes a color called Smackeral of Hunny, which is almost identical to the Pencil.

The door hardware was a weird black-ey/brassy/yucky tone, but I love the ornate shape of it so out came the ORB spray paint!

From this:

To this:

 Much better, no?

And just for fun, let's see a close up of the bow:

 What color is your front door? Do you decorate it for the seasons?

Spongy, Delicious Marshmallows

Did you know that it's possible to make your own marshmallows? I didn't until I began seeing them for sale on Etsy. There are quite a few sellers, but the one I linked to inspired me the most. Her's are so beautiful and fluffy and colorful!

Plus, the merchandising is phenomenal, makes me want to buy them all!

So I googled marshmallow recipes and found this one. I'll admit, when choosing recipes from blogs I generally prefer ones with photographic evidence of what the steps are supposed to look like. I will say I am a good cook, but a good baker? Not so much. Baking is all about precision and delicacy and attention to detail... of which I have none. Cooking usually just involves throwing some crap in a pot and turning it on. Or sticking something in the oven and taking it out when it's browned. At least that's the way I see it.

Anyway, I put off making them for weeks cause I was sure I was going to screw them up, but I finally made them and they turned out great!

Finished product. I added some purple gel food coloring for interest.

This is what they look like in the pan before you cut them up!

After you dump them out.

Look at that beautiful texture.

Yum!

 

The recipe makes 96 marshmallows. I took a container to work to get rid of some and can you believe, about half the people I offered one to didn't want one. Really? Would you pass up a homemade marshmallow? I sure as hell wouldn't.


Have you made anything interesting lately?

Sneak Peak: Exterior

Can you believe we've lived here more than a year and I haven't "landscaped"? Heck, Kim planted up her new house after like five minutes! But, I kill everything green and see landscaping as a waste of money... Alas, I must find a middle ground - which I've decided is Hostas. Hostas don't need sun to flourish or bloom and allegedly they are impossible to kill. Admittedly, we had Hostas at our old rental house and I did abso-freakin-lutely nothing to them. EVER. and they still looked lovely. There are some here and they are the only things that came back this year and still look nice into the fall. I hate it when foliage gets ugly and brown before winter. Yuck.

Anywho, my point is, the house is finished (or as finished as it was going to get with him), but I can't show you yet, cause my plant areas look poopy. I bought some plants yesterday and will hopefully get them in the ground this week sometime. Until then, this is all you get...

It's reeeeeeaaaalllllyyyy blue, isn't it?