Greenscape

I am so glad I went with neutral walls and curtains in my dining room so I can change out the table settings for different holidays and seasons. I've gone green for this first part of March, but I don't know if this will stay until St. Patrick's Day or not. Easter is one of my favorites, and I might want to get all that cute stuff out soon so it can be up longer. I also really wanted some metal letters to spell LUCKY on the table and something to put inside the picnic basket as more of a centerpiece, but haven't found what I'm looking for. The chippy green corbels are one of the first things I bought from The Seedbox a long time ago and have always been one of my favorite things. I think they might take permanent residence in this room.

Zensational

When Lane got into town last night, we met Lindsay and Tyson at Ocean Zen for dinner. They have really good food and some beautiful aquariums with the cutest little smiling fish. Both times we've taken Macauley there, one little fish (the same one, I don't know) has really taken to him and followed him all around the circular tank.

Dinner was tasty and Macauley was on his best behavior. As we walked to the car, I thanked him for being such a grown-up while we ate and Ryan said that meant he and Macauley would do something fun the next day. Macauley said, "How aBOUT, since I was so GOOD, to reWARD me, tomorrow we go to TOYS 'r US?!"

Sisters on the hunt

Lane and I spent a snowy Saturday out and about and came home with lots of treasures today, the biggest of which is this fabulous wicker porch swing that my friend Colleene gave me a great deal on at her shop! Just what I was wanting at such a savings. She really is one of the nicest people you will ever meet and has the best stuff at Discoveries by Colleene, just off the square in Ozark. I plan to paint the swing black, but not until it gets warmer...it was miserably cold out there today. Also at Colleene's, I got this cute little black birdcage on a tray. I haven't decided where I am going to put it yet, but I love it.

The clock obsession continues and I found this one at a little flea market on Main Street in Nixa for only $3. Macauley has spent the evening making the alarm go off and wants to take it to school next Friday for show and tell.

I liked this rusty green matches holder and I think I will put it out on my screened porch for lighting candles. We are looking forward to using that area of our house when the seasons change.

I found this rusty baking pan and thought for now it might be a good place for all my new little clock faces to live.

The tiny dog with the bow tie will live in my black shadowbox in my office. I just love his sweet little facial expression.

We found a place I'd never been to in Nixa called The Curiosity Shoppe. I bought a few postcards, including this one that I put with my green stuff for my March table. The stuff was arranged nicely in this store and I think I will try to go back sometime. We also went by The Little Red Shed off CC in Nixa, and I think it's just getting started since there wasn't much of anything in there yet. Might be worth checking back sometime, I don't know.

At Riverview, I found a set of six shamrock teacups and a cute little mint green kitchen scale.

The butter pat is also from The Curiosity Shoppe. I found a bunch of old valentines at Riverview, many of them "To Teacher" which I thought was sweet and fit my line of work. I will pack those away and be surprised by them when that time of year comes around again. Lane bought a big piece of rusty ceiling tin, a large black frame, some blue glassware and an almost Moroccan wooden candle holder. We ate at the tearoom at Spring Creek, and it was packed. We had to wait forever but the food was yummy. There is a new shop next door called The Avant Garden, which Lane and I thought was a very clever name. We liked a few things there but didn't leave with anything. We also stopped at Leola's on the way home and I saw a big silver tray I really liked that is exactly what I want for my kitchen island. Next week is their spring open house, so maybe I will go back and get it then. There was an empire chandelier there that I also put on my think-about list. Something else that made both Lane and me think (but not about bringing it home) was this crazy cat in one of the booths at Riverview. The tag says "conversation piece." Hmmm...

Aunt Lane is coming!

And we are ready! Macauley enclosed a blueberry cereal bar inside this envelope he made for her. He was planning to leave it on our doorstep to greet her but decided he wanted to give it to her in person. We're so glad she's visiting us!

Banished

Poor Booker. The new couches have arrived and even without being told "no" he has sensed that he is not to jump up on these. He's always been a bit neurotic and uneasy about new things. He paced back and forth by the couch but has been unsettled all afternoon. Time will tell if the "no dogs on the couch" rule stays or goes by the wayside. But for the first time ever, he finally nestled onto the leopard print dog bed I got him quite a while back. Can't you just tell it in no way compares to the comfort of the couch for him? Poor baby.

Baby boom

My collection of Baby Bens and clock faces continues to grow, thanks to a huge lot of vintage clock parts I won on ebay that arrived today. I sorted through a bunch of pieces and chose what to keep and what I will (hopefully) sell in my booth. I kept the gems for myself... All the faces are small, none much bigger than about 2.5" and all in my favorite black and cream. There were a bunch of bigger clock mechanisms and casings, but I only kept a few that I thought I might be able to turn into frames or something. I also kept the littlest gears and other odds and ends, maybe to use in crafting but probably just to put in a jar and have. I like the old tags, too. Obviously from a repair shop long ago. One is simply labeled "JUNK." Ah, how I love that word...

"Check" these out

Finally, I have curtains in my office/studio...& I love them...

Why is it so hard to...

...let go of these old, comfy things? Our new couch, loveseat and chair are to be delivered tomorrow, and I should have listed these on craigslist by now, but I just can't for some reason. They photograph fairly decent, but trust me, they've seen better days. The slipcovers at least. But they're so comfy and so familiar and have been with us for just about forever. Underneath the slipcovers, they are navy, the way we bought them for our first apartment probably 11 years ago. Ryan had been literally losing sleep over the senior thesis he had to write and when I offered to "help" him with the paper he said he'd buy me a couch, which we'd both been wanting. Excellent trade-off in my opinion. He went to work one Sunday and I made the 40-some page paper come together and he delivered on the deal. I had the white slipcovers made right after Macauley was born, or was it before? They have been with us through five moves, many gatherings, a pregnancy, parenthood, four cats, a dog and countless cozy nights and weekends parked in front of the TV or just being lazy. Maybe it will just take seeing the new ones tomorrow for me to give these the final shove, but I don't know. I've been picturing them in other places in the house, split up, recovered, untouched, but I'm pretty sure they just need to go. I may have to pry Booker off. He loves these old things, too.

Do you know what this means?

After seeing Macauley sick all last week and being disappointed by a cheapo plastic gumball machine he spent his Valentine money from Grandma on, Ryan impulsively got him this one at Sam's and brought it home last Friday night. I had taken Macauley and Megan to the indoor pool at Chesterfield Family Center, and when we came in after two hours (!) of swimming, the treasure was waiting for them. They were so excited helping Ryan unpack the machine and load about half of the 850 huge gumballs that came with it. Later, as they chomped on their first of many of the massive globes of pure sugar and gazing at the infinite supply still inside the glass opening, little Megan quietly asked, "Macauley, do you know what this means?" Macauley shook his head, still chomping, and Megan answered succinctly and increduously, "We. have gum. for the. rest. of. our. LIVES." Adorable. Later I told Ryan what this really means: "We. will have. dentist bills. for the. REST. of our. lives."

Lucky finds

What a beautiful day today...sunny and temperatures in the mid 60s. Made me think of the little jar I got for 95 cents at STD on Sunday. I haven't decided what to fill it with, but I thought it was cute and it fits right in with some of my other jars. Two of those are filled with dog treats and one has Ryan's Splenda in it.

I also picked up this itty bitty glass nesting hen and put her to roost on my kitchen window.

I stopped by a new thrift store on Campbell which isn't much of anything yet but I will keep checking back. I did find this small bunny planter which looks like Majolica and is stamped Japan on the bottom. I was totally scoping out the thrift store building because it would make a great flea market...I think that would be fun to own one.

At STD I also got this green metal picnic basket in hopes of turning it into some kind of centerpiece on my work-in-progress St. Patrick's Day tablescape. I don't like faux flowers or greenery but I cannot seem to keep anything real alive inside the house. I have an ivy that dwindles by the day. I couldn't resist the little puppy in the green basket either.

The tablecloth is also from STD, but the horseshoes are a recent ebay purchase. I would rather have some from my Papaw's old barn if there were any still left there, but these will do for now as a nod to a "good luck" motif.

Also found the wooden nursery crate at STD...it says Lamar Greenhouse & Florist and I thought maybe it was used to carry plants around in to buy or something. There's the ivy who's hanging in there but isn't nearly as lush as when she came to live with us.

I was so tired of the bare winter porch that I just quickly set a few things out there and hung one of my honeysuckle wreaths. We're still kind of in between seasons, so I didn't want to go too springish prematurely, but it's better than nothing. It definitely feels like spring outside and is supposed to again tomorrow, but we'll be back to colder temps by the weekend so I better remember to bring the ivy back in or she might leave us for good.

Loving life

It's been kind of an overcast afternoon since we got home from school, really peaceful actually. No friends over to play (Megan was "too tired" after her first ever full day of pre-kindergarten), no requests for snacks (from Macauley or Booker)...just some quiet TV time for Mac and Book in my room and Internet surfing in my office (which I'm loving lately) for me. I've been getting lots of decorating ideas these past few days and I can't wait for the weekend when Lane is coming to visit and we will do some treasure hunting. Tonight though, Ryan said he'd take us out for dinner and then we'll settle in for another comfy night. Macauley is a little worn out himself--today was the kindergarten field trip to the Discovery Center that he'd been looking forward to for weeks. He has also been coming home with lots of letters lately, some written by him, others to him. I loved this one addressed to his dear old dawg.

Even the cats snuggled in this afternoon...Maya Angelou was outside on the prowl, though.

A gray scale kind of day, but I feel such contentment, sunny or not, looking around the house to see my boy, my dog, my kitties, and my treasures, like this sundial face I got from The Seedbox and hung up in the kitchen. Turns out "sun" can come from lots of different places...

Yippee!

I made some big purchaes for the house this evening, including a new couch and loveseat from JCPenney Home Store's Linden Street Collection. They had a promotion this week for a free chair if you bought the sofa, so I got all three pieces and they will arrive this Friday! I have enjoyed our white slipcovered couches for several years now, but the slipcovers are worn and tattered and the whole set has seen better days. We have a lot of memories attached to that furniture, so it will be hard to see them go but I think I will list them on craigslist tomorrow to make room for the new ones.

I also ordered some drapes and valances from Country Curtains that I've been thinking about for a while now. The linen ones above are for my dining room. I was thinking about doing a really cottagey floral in there, but I like the idea of having a neutral backdrop and changing out the table settings with the seasons. I love the little pleating along the edges of the valance. The black and white check are for my office. I actually orded a slightly different scalloped valance rather than the Austrian one in the picture. I feel like curtains up will make the house feel so much more settled in. I'm still trying to decide what I want in the kitchen but I think I talked my mother into sewing some panels for the living room. The pictures are from the website www.countrycurtains.com . If you're looking for curtains, they have nice things and I have bought from them before.

I never would have thought of that

We came across these foam XOXO letters when I was putting away my Valentines decor and Macauley asked if he could have them. I never would have reimagined them the way he did, and I thought the way he saw them was both unexpected and kind of clever...

He turned them into people and inflicted the one with its eyes Xed over with chicken pox and several needle pokes for all the shots it had to have. I asked where he'd seen Xs for eyes like that and he said he saw it on Spongebob when someone was "passed out." Interesting.

Later skaters

We hit the Springfield Skateport this morning for another birthday party, this time for Kora Turner, the little girl of one of our college friends. It's always fun to get together with our friends from Drury and having everyone's kids together adds a whole new dimension to our parties. On Macauley's left in the picture above is Avery Swan and to his right is Catherine Rhoads.

Of these three, Avery seemed to take to the skating the most. Macauley got frustrated when I tried to drag him around the rink, but he did a lot better scooting around on the carpet with the girls. When we headed to the snack bar for cake and ice cream, Macauley slipped and fell mouth first on a gun from one of the video games and knocked his top front tooth loose. It bled, he cried, the manager brought an ice pack. I know he has to lose his teeth, but it's sad for me to see his adorable little mouth changing. So far the front one is hanging on, but probably not for long. The skates were off after that so we had lunch with Catherine and Stephanie at Red Robin and then did a little shopping before picking up Ryan and Adrian downtown at the Chili Cook-off.

Tick, tock...look what I got

Ah, ebay...how do I love thee? There was a box on my front porch this afternoon and I went from having only one lovely old battered clock to a collection of six lovely old battered clocks in a beautiful instant. I bought two lots from one seller and spent about the same on five clocks as I had on the first I purchaed (the fourth from the left).

Love these! And I certainly love that they don't keep time...I've never been a watch person myself and worrying about how much time I have left or don't isn't fun or productive. I just remembered there was another clock that came with all these that is more gold and I set it aside to sell in my booth, so I guess I'll have to go to the flea market tomorrow and spend a little time. And money. Twist my arm.