08 January 2012

the topiary that wouldn’t stop

When I was 16 my topiary tree died.  It made me pretty sad.  I left it where it was in my room and watched the leaves curl up and deluded myself that it still looked nice despite.  I had to be careful not to bump it, or all the leaves would fall off.  But finally, one too many bumps later it was bare.  Then I got the brilliant idea to grow ivy in the base and make it look alive again.  That worked out thru college until I left my poor ivy alone too long over Christmas Break.  Again, I watched the leaves curl up and bumped it too much.

Still, I couldn’t throw my good friend out.  I remember trying to explain this to my new husband when we were moving and the particularly unimpressed look on his face.  He’s a good guy though, and I managed to preserve the topiary tree once again.

Finally I got a bright idea.  Like I do with all my crafty projects, I roped one of my parents into working for me.  After I trimmed the little tree up a bit, my Dad attached the poor guy to a fantastic hand crafted base.  Thanks, Dad.  A perfect jewelry tree.

It’s been a good 12+ years, and I’m still rockin’ it with my dead topiary.  He has survived seven moves.

Check him out:

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I inherited all that bling from my beautiful Aunt Kay.  She was expertly accessorized. 

 

While I’m at it, here is our fancy little personal bathroom:IMG_8384

That’s a wine box I snuck from Sam’s club holding our towels.  I painted white over the wine label so I didn’t have to look at Veo Grande while I’m brushing my teeth and all that.  I mounted that kitchen organizer from IKEA here because 1. we didn't have any storage to speak of in that bathroom, and 2. while in its previous location in the kitchen, Everett had taken a fancy to pulling a chair up to the island and emptying the container’s contents whenever the notion struck him and I was all done with that.

 

And my fantastic pink shower.  This might be my favorite place in our house.

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Oh, sweet solitary luxury.

13 December 2011

Coveting

Could we just talk about this shoe for a minute?  Is this not the most perfect shoe?

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I just really love this shoe.  Thanks for talking with me about it. 

Only, I don’t prefer heels.  But if I had to wear them, I’d wear them like this.

13 November 2011

Lady Bug

Here’s Rosalyn’s super fancy, extremely well crafted, and expertly sewn Halloween costume. 

While we’re still talking about Halloween I wanted to record some things to remember about the boys first Trick-or-treating experience.  Nick took them around our neighborhood while I handed out candy, so here is dictation from Nick:

Brookston didn’t initially want to go, but finally got into it despite his dislike for his bull costume.  Once he discovered folks were handing out candy he found motivation.  Everett would yell ‘trick or treat’ all the way up the drive-way.  And by the end of the night they both would say thank you without being prompted.  At some point during the evening, Everett became enthralled with a monkey and kept saying “Where the monkey go? Find the monkey.” 

The next day we took a walk as a family and Everett insisted upon bringing his pumpkin bucket, for obvious reasons.  He suspected pumpkin buckets are the path to free candy.  And lo and behold, as we passed a lady sitting on her porch she darted inside and came back out as quickly as she could with her candy bucket!  So, through empirical evidence Everett and Brookston know that the pumpkin bucket is indeed the means to your dreams. 

We have since hidden the pumpkin buckets.

01 November 2011

Halloween Pun, I mean, Fun.

 

Everett is a door.

Brookston is a bull.

Together they’re…

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ADORABLE.

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And this is what it took to get that shot:

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We got it in the end.  It only took three adults, 42 attempts, and a container of grapes.  Rebecca did it all by herself with all three of my kids, but she’s a professional, and she’s Wonder Woman.  I don’t worry about holding myself to such high standards.  (But I do like to brag about her.)

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Nick and I went as “sick” and “tired.”  We didn’t have to work very hard on our costumes.  Winking smile 

I haven’t gotten a picture of Rosalyn in her costume yet, so you’ll have to wait and see what she was. 

25 October 2011

Roz, you’re a mess.

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But you clean up nice.

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07 October 2011

Sometimes, when I have free time,

I recently have ventured into a little logo and web design.  You can click on the pictures to see the websites.

 

Blue Dragonfly Massage

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website:

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Most of the pictures on this title page are from my talented friend Kayli who is living the dream over there in Switzerland.  If you want to see some more amazing shots go here.  Nick did the web programming.

 

Rachel Narula Music Studio

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I think this website is coming up soon. If you follow it now it links to the old site, so here’s a screen shot:

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The web programming for Rachel’s site is by Prieto Designs.

 

Nick’s ‘Hot’ Geekery

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Nick puts a lot of work into this baby.

 

Mermaid Treehouse

A year or so ago, I made a blog header for this fantastic kid’s craft site, also a talented friend:

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Although, I really think this one still needs a lot of work, but I was really inspired by those mermaids in that treehouse.   Someday I’ll take the time this design deserves and polish it up.

 

Kelly Allen Photography

And, while we’re at it, I did this logo for another talented friend a couple of years ago:

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As I put all the pictures together I realized I know a lot of talented people.  Nice job guys.  Nice job.  So, sometimes when I have free time I brag about myself and my friends.