Jul 28, 2011

A Sinking Feeling

Well, you don't have to be a nautical genius to know that this isn't good.

My boat done sunk.

 I bid the S&S a fond farewell- she's been there for half my life, towing me on skis or a tube, serving as a comfy tanning or napping lounge, witnessed lots of cliff jumping, rope swinging, and beer drinking, ferrying me faithfully around the lake and to football games.

But, since you are sunk, it's time.  Goodbye friend.  You may be replaced by a shiny new pontoon boat, but will always be my favorite.

RIP
S&S- the best Sunesta ever to grace the waters of Ft. Loudon Lake
1995-2011

Jul 27, 2011

Where I Have Been

First off, Dolly Parton was absolutely incredible.  If you have the opportunity to see her in concert - do not miss it!  I considered abandoning the law to follow her around on her world tour.  There was one lady who had dressed her two year old as a baby Dolly, and went to the front every song to wave the toddler in Dolly's face.  Now, I may want to be a Dolly groupie, but this kind of attention seeking is just wrong.  I mean, the baby looked like a down and out cocktail waitress, as she was wearing a Dolly Parton wig and sequins.

I might be biased as Baby Dolly's mama was sitting behind my friends, and jostled the hell out of them about 25 times running down the row to get to the aisle.  Thank goodness Dolly finally noticed the child, or else some trips to the chiropractor might be in order!

After that excitement, I slogged through half of the week, then hopped on a plane to join Hubs' family here-

As North Carolinians, it was their first time to the Gulf Coast.  We played lots of Scat, a card game which was new to me (I'm a gun rummy gal myself), hung on the beach, and ate lots of fresh seafood (oh, crab cakes at the Red Bar, how I adore thee).

I think I would be quite content to spend the rest of my summer right there on that front porch. 

Jul 15, 2011

Harry and Dolly


So, this weekend has turned out to be quite a surprise.  I thought I was simply throwing a baby shower, and doing some chores.  Instead, Hubs has surprised me with Harry Potter tickets Saturday night after the shower, which is shocking as Hubs has a major aversion to the following 1) seeing movies opening weekend and 2) seeing movies at night.

So Harry on Saturday AND Dolly Parton tickets on Sunday night.

Now, this Dolly thing?  I am over the moon!  I adore Dolly Parton. She has not played in our town in 25 YEARS (she mostly goes up the road to her own Wood).  However, this show benefits her foundation- Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.  This program delivers a free age appropriate book to every child under the age of five in a county.  You can check here to see if your area offers this program. 

So I am seeing one of my personal heroes and supporting childhood literacy, a cause so, so dear to my heart.

Thanks Hubs!  You are the best!

Jul 13, 2011

Smoking Away

So, I am having a fit of color, and ready to finally get rid of my neutrally-yellow walls (and ceilings), at least in the bedrooms of our little stone house.

Now, I've got an red iron bed, with Pottery Barn's painterly paisley bedding.


I'm thinking gray- the color combo will echo the yellow and gray in the living room and dining room, and provide a soothing place for me to get some shuteye. 


I love the combination of these two colors, and the gray will provide a neutral backdrop for when I eventually grow tired of our bedding and completely switch it up.

So while perusing Better Homes and Gardens some time ago, I came across the perfect gray.

Woodsmoke by Glidden.  It's gorgeous, and I am dying to attack my walls right now.  Restraining myself to wait for the new crown molding, and a professional who can also paint my ceiling a clean crisp white! 

Thanks to Pinterest I found several other devotees of Woodsmoke, which you can find by looking at my boards, as the site is being finicky and barring me from embedding the links.
Isn't that a lovely shade of gray?  None of that institutional nonsense which bathes the battered walls of my office.

I love the name too.  It just conjures up standing in front of a bonfire, cup of something bourbony in your hand, wearing a puffy down vest and baggy jeans.  Well, actually that just sounds like my high school days.  Did y'all have a lot of field parties?  We would pack up tons of coolers, and high tail it to someone's property (usually we knew the owners), build a great fire, and either set up tents and camp, or go our merry way at the witching hour for those of us who had curfews.  Kind of sounds lovely right now, but that's probably because cold is currently a completely foreign concept.

Anyway, I painted our master walls big swatches of woodsmoke, and expectantly waited for Hubs' adoration of this gorgeous color which will transform our room.

He didn't like it.

I almost cried, and started talking about pink bathrooms.

He likes it now.

Jul 8, 2011

Dream, Dream, Dream

Oh hello! Hold on, let me grab my keys, and come on in!
Excuse the mess, I have been so busy all day painting furniture and canvases.


Why thank you so much!  It's so lovely to have such a nice little hobby that pays all my bills.

Let's go into my sitting room and have a little glass of wine, and some snacks.  Excuse the mess- I have been wrapping presents for my Christmas closet, veen though it is the dead of summer, because I am super organized.


Let me just pop in the kitchen, and get out this tomato squash tart I whipped up with stuff from the garden.




Have a seat and help yourself.  Oh, the flowers?  Thank you- I picked them this morning after gathering eggs from my chickens.  My gardening shed just makes me want to play in the dirt all day long!


Feel free to hang by the lake until everyone arrives-you know I love an impromptu party in the party barn!
 If you have too many adult beverages, feel free to crash upstairs in the sleeping loft!
Thank y'all so much for coming by and keeping us company on such a pretty day.  Stop by my fantasy life any time you please!  I'm always whiling away the hours up here in my retreat.

All images via Samma on Pinterest.

Jul 7, 2011

Just Plumb Tuckered Out

Friday night we attended a fabulous birthday dinner for two special ladies.  I had to blush, as we had been to the same restaurant a week earlier for a different birthday dinner (I adore this dining establishment, so that was lovely with me).  However, when we arrived, the bartender gawped at us and looked a bit horrified that we were to be dining in the back room again.  We were the very last diners to leave the previous Friday. . . or maybe it had to do with the very specific and complicated after-dinner drinks one of friends instructed the waitress to create.  They involved ice cream and brandy (he was a bit in his cups, I believe).

However, we managed to leave before eleven this time, and did not become too rowdy.  Quite an accomplishment, considering the number of fun-havers at our table for 24.

The remainder of the weekend was spent pooling, laking, and visiting with old and new friends.  Actually, three new little friends, as I got to meet Peg and Hunt's trips.  These girls are home from the hospital and raring to go!  Well, they do a lot of sleeping and snuggling, and are the cutest little things I've set my eyes on in a while.  I'll post pictures after I check with their mama to make sure she is down with the girls making an appearance on the interwebs.

So, thank goodness for this four day week, as my holiday weekend just wore me out!  Why is it that we need vacations to recover from our vacations?  I'm all in favor for a permanent four day work week, sigh.

Jul 1, 2011

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

So glad my dog is not the only weirdo who sits on tables.  That was at my brother's house- Buddy has never chosen that form of seating at our house or my parents.  Better squirrel and bunny watching I suppose.

Speaking of his weird behavior, I was working last night, and he scampered off to do his own thing around the house.  I come in the den to find one of my tennis shoes (no surprise), and 5 empty banana peels.  What in the world?  I look at ole Buddy, and sure enough he is grinning happily, emitting dog banana breath.

My damn dog jumped up on the counter, retrieved a bunch of bananas, took them to the (carpeted) den, where he proceeded to peel and eat them.  FIVE BANANAS.  I wish there was video of him peeling them, because I can't figure that out for the life of me.

So today Buddy will be in lockdown, dreaming of playing with bunnies. . .

Image from Pinterest.