Love and Joy Unto You

Happy Christmas! We have traveled near-ish and far-ish, only to return to our house with halls still decked. It feels nice to have a few minutes to enjoy the remaining Christmas atmosphere at home since we are never actually here on the day of the holiday. Today we relax, launder, make soup, watch the travel channel, play with new gifts and blog :-)

We followed the usual pattern for our holiday. Lots of Christmas activities in Columbia (as many as we could jam into December, actually), Saint Peters through the 25th and to Kentucky for a few days following that. It was a happy holiday and I can only hope that means a happy new year.

Happy Christmas and Cheers to 2011 :-)

New Project - Bad Timing

Of course it's the busiest time of year and I have no cash, time, money or sanity left to add to all of the things I'm already doing for work and the holidays, but I have a new obsession. I'm bursting with ideas for redecorating (or decorating for the first time) our master bedroom and our guest bedroom. At this point, the guest bedroom is a room that is only used when we have overnight guests. Well that, and it houses an extra TV we have never once watched, a dog crate that is rarely used and about four trash bags full of our "Goodwill donations." I'm sure anyone who has had the pleasure of staying in that room can attest that it has zero style whatsoever. And we purposely decided to wait at least six months before we did anything major in the way of decor, so after having waited those six months, plus an extra year, I think I'm ready to tackle it.

Guest Room

For our guest room, which is now sky blue on top, sage green on bottom and circled in by a Winnie the Pooh border (NO, we are not in need of a child's room) I have the following vision. I want THIS room.

There are only two things I don't love about the picture.

1. The white paint. I love the crisp, clean feeling I have when I think of entering this room, but I actually think something needs to be done with those walls....and I'm leaning toward one wall of wallpaper. Gasp! But I think one wall of super textured paper, in creams and whites and patterns might spice it up nicely.
2. I think it needs an accent color in SMALL proportions - I would go with an Asian red color or a dark purple - like eggplant.

Okay. Don't laugh at me, but as you see I may have created a few idea boards in Microsoft Publisher, converted them to PDF files, saved them again as JPEG picture images all for the purpose of uploading them here to this blog post. I told you I'm kind of obsessed. My style savvy friend Jayme will be proud :-)

Master Bedroom

Now, for the master bedroom, I even found a website that will allow you to use their floor planning services for free - floorplan.com. FYI: The room is 12 x 15 feet and the pictures below have three doors. The door on the right wall is the entrance to the room and the others are each to a closet or bathroom.

Here's how our floor plan is arranged:

Here's how we'll rearrange furniture. You'll notice one of the dressers is now longer and thinner. We're going to donate Matt's old cardboard and plywood dresser and find a thrift store gem for more storage and DIY style.

And for decorating ideas, I have a lot. Here's a mood board with all kinds of ideas I like - although I definitely DO NOT like any of these rooms for us. They each have an element I like, for instance: Some have light fixtures I like (look for an all white chandelier). Some have upholstered headboards or headboards made out of doors. Some have a wall of curtains for height and dramatic effect (even though I don't like the pattern). Some have upholstered benches at the foot of the bed, etc.

Here's our color palate followed by my current wish list.

• I want to keep the buttery beige walls we already have on three sides.
• Behind the bed, I want to paint a bluish gray. That will be the curtain wall, but the curtains will not go all the way across. Maybe they'll be sheer so they don't weigh the room down? Maybe they'll be patterned?They'll stop at the bed, leaving a space for our "headboard" and a rockin' art piece.
• The bedding? Crisp white, with some accent pillows and maybe a throw blanket. We already have the white sheets and bedskirt, so we just need to replace our duvet to make that happen.
• We'll keep our two matching craftsman-styled lamps.
• We'll also keep the old world map, but we'll change the frame from a dark wood to a lighter, possibly brushed gold paint.
• I want to paint all of the existing furniture. Right now the night stands and chest match, but they are a fake rosy maple color that I just don't dig. I've seen some really cool things done with metallic neutrals for small pieces of furniture so I'm leaning toward a pewter or steel color for the night stands and maybe something like a pale blue (not metallic!) for the chest (although this will surely depend on what I choose for the next bullet).
• I want to upholster the top of the chest to create another layer of texture and extra seating.
• If we decide to go with an upholstered headboard, I want to pick a patterned material that isn't too busy or trendy, but that will lend added texture to the room.
• Our white trim and white tab curtains on the windows will stay.
• The two dressers - the one we're keeping and the one we're acquiring - will probably be painted a cream/white color. I actually found a chest of drawers today at a store called The Attic. It's 25% off it's original $150 price tag and it appears to be solid wood. I has sleek brushed brass hardware that I think would look beautiful if the wood was painted a rich cream color. We're going back tomorrow to look at it.
• I want to GET RID of the terrible, faux wood ceiling fan and replace it with a beautiful light fixture or chandelier.
• And my final wish will never happen, but I'd love, love love to get rid of the carpet. I just feel cleaner in a room with hard floors. But I think we'll leave the carpet for Matt's cold feet and because I think I might be alone with my hard floor love. As far as future potential buyers go, I think they'd prefer carpet in the master bedroom.

So. I have new projects. As soon as I find the aforementioned time, cash, sanity, etc., I will post "before" pics and update as we go along. And maybe I'll even post some pictures of the rest of the house as it is today. It has changed a little since we moved in and it feels like it's much more us. For now, I'll dream about a wall of curtains and a swanky upholstered headboard :-)

Giving Thanks 2010

We were able to make it to see the Chipley side of the Chipley-Foster families over the short Thanksgiving break. We had a fun few days taking some time out from work to eat, relax, and soak it the holiday. Along the way, there were a few "momentous" occasions .

Matt went on his first hunting trip - duck huntin' with the boys. Oh dear.

No animals died at his hand this time around, but he returned feeling victorious anyway.

Olivia refused to wear anything but her "kitty" dress for three days in a row - and she did, but only in small doses and never whilst eating :-)

We shared a number of delicious meals, made by all kinds of cooks and at all times of the day. And, Mom bought a new green and gold tablecloth - very pretty.

Matt wore this cute (I mean, very manly and handsome) gray hat he bought after seeing them all over New Orleans on our honeymoon!

And Mom, Olivia and I collaborated on a one of a kind Turkey Day art piece that is sure to be auctioned off to a very rich, highest bidder.

Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. In case you missed it, "Our Very Own Punkin' Festival" has finally been updated!

Transcendental

"I too am not a bit tamed,
I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp
over the roofs of the world."

We're reading Whitman in class today. I sound like such a hippy dippy every year during this unit - "I celebrate myself, I sing myself" - and I love it. Despite their general repugnance for anything school-related, a lot of the students end up connecting with these original hippies.

Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Dickinson. Who would I choose if I could have dinner with anyone living or dead?  Normally put on the spot by it, I think I've finally found an answer to this question.

Our Very Own "Punkin' Festival"

I really just can't get enough of fall, so this post could be looooong.  But here are the highlights.  

On a blustery, but beautiful day in Columbia, Matt and I stopped at the park for some photos on our way to the MU game.  Around this time of year I have a constant craving for sweatshirts, time spent outside, piping hot apple cider and lots of chili.  By now, we've successfully checked those off the list.

And finally, I'm posting the pictures from our Halloween events.  Of course the holiday was welcomed by my mom's annual decorations.  They were soon joined by my dad's carved squash of varying varieties.  My favorite is the green one who looks a little like Yoda :-)  

For us Columbia folk, our festivities started with a with a trip to Saint Peters which included a bonfire, chili, S'mores and a private hayride.  These are things I used to think were normal, but now I know not every kid is lucky enough to have a pumpkin patch in their backyard.  

Anyone growing up on or near the Chipley farm knows that Halloween is important and something to be celebrated with the utmost reverence.  We learned this from my mother, who holds this spooky day way up there with (I think, anyway) the birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries.  Personally, I like Christmas because it is more of a season.  Halloween seems to sneak up on me every year and before I know it, I don't have a costume because I refuse to scramble something together if it isn't clever.  But who has time to think of something clever?  My mother.  And here she is in all her tree costume glory.  

Happy Halloween!

Honeymoon in NOLA

Our road trip to New Orleans was one hot (as in heat index) and delicious (as in food) adventure!  We found just the cutest, and very quaint, hotel online in about February.  The Frenchman Hotel was having an online special  - 50% off of their already low-for-New-Orleans rates.  We booked it the morning we found it.  What more could we want?  Adorable, French Quarter style, free breakfast, no penalty for cancellation (only in case of a hurricane of course!), a courtyard with a wading pool and OFF STREET parking??  Well, when we got there, we found it to be on just about the best street ever.  Decatur, the main drag of the French Quarter ran right into our hotel which was technically on Frenchman Street.  The Frenchman was the end point of the Quarter and our destination every night, just guiding us home. We were 16 blocks from down town, which we did walk one morning for a well-deserved breakfast at Mother's.  But on every other morning, we walked one block in the opposite direction of the French Quarter to what felt like our very own street car stop!  For $5 a day, we were able to ride all over the city and by week's end we were pros at navigating the River Line, Canal Line and the Saint Charles Line.  

It was hot as holy hamsters, but we explored the city as much as we could in the time allotted.  While we regret not being bold enough to walk into a couple of local bars to check out the music, we realize that Frenchman Street is the premier spot for jazz in the Quarter.  Also, we now realize there is a pretty cool spot for some soul food on the same street.  We shall return to the Frenchman, to explore more of Frenchman Street as soon as possible.  

We DID a lot of walking.  And a LOT of eating.  We pride ourselves on being able to scope out the best food in any area and NOLA was no exception.  We ate our weight in jambalaya, red beans and rice, calamari, oysters, beignets, muffaletta sandwiches, pecan pie and pralines.  I could go on and on and ON about when, where and how we procured each meal, but I fear that would bore most people.  But these few things must be known:  Coop's has the BEST jambalaya (ask for the Supreme) and duck quesadillas with bacon sauce.  Cafe Du Monde IS actually all it is hyped up to be.  Pandora's has the best version of a snowball (a fancy snow cone) I've experienced.  The chargrilled oysters at Acme Oyster House are delicious, but the beans and rice aren't worth it.  And pralines are delicious, but are so rich they should always be shared by two people :-)  

Our activities ranged from wandering through an above ground Lafayette Cemetary, to photographing the houses in the Garden District, to wandering the Quarter until we found a place for dinner.  Most of these were on the budget or free side since we were nearly wiped out from actual wedding expenses, but we don't feel deprived of the New Orleans experience.  The free sculpture park next to the city museum was wonderful.  The campuses of Loyola and Tulane were beautiful enough to spend an afternoon wandering.  An evening stroll through the riverwalk was a fun (and romantic) way to burn off some of our beignet bedtime snack.  

What we would do with more money is go on a haunted tour of the city and take an airboat tour through the New Orleans swamps.  We would not change our food adventures or our hotel choice.  We would LOVE to go back with friends.  

We took over 600 pictures, but here is the abridged album of our photos :-)