Color Blind

When we bought our house in 1996 we took the kitchen back to the studs. The only thing that remained from the original kitchen when we were done was the dishwasher.

At about the ten year mark I was really ready for a change. We also travelled to Italy that same year and I started dreaming of a warm Tuscan kitchen. I poured over magazine. I picked out new counter tops. I brought paint samples home at a rate of three a week.

Two years ago we had the wall paper stripped and painted the walls a nice neutral color and replaced the pulls on the cabinets. This was meant to get me through until the kitchen facelift rose to the top of the “financial priorities” list.

Finally this spring we said fuck it and I went full bore into picking out back splash and floor tile, faucet and sink. (And OMG the grout. Do you have any idea the number of colors of grout that exist? I didn't)I hired a contractor and over a few weeks’ time it was out with the old and in with the new.

But a problem remains. In all this time, over five years’ time, I have been envisioning yellow walls. Beautiful warm, yellow walls. Not the exact SHADE of yellow, (I currently have splotched of paint here, there and everywhere) but certainly yellow. The thing is? In the one place I painted a large swathe of what I thought was my top choice I just….wasn’t…sure. You know that feeling?

I had neighbors come over and render opinions. I had family come over and render opinions. I had had very nearly every guest at my daughter’s graduation party render an opinion.

Samples of backsplash and countertop in tow, I consulted with professionals at three different paint stores. I brought more paint chips home.

Now, more confused than ever, I consulted Precious Oldest. She surveyed the choices, looked me square in the eye and said, “Mom, why are you over thinking this? You want yellow walls; you’ve always wanted yellow walls. And I’ve never known to care what anyone else thinks about ANYTHING, why would you start now?”

I think I’m going to paint my kitchen walls this weekend. YELLOW.

Holiday Home Tour

Once again, many thanks to Jen for organizing what has become an annual event. It gets me motivated to get my decorating done. While I think my home looks nice I don’t know that I possess the same home décor gene that others seem to have. I am not, at my core, a very creative person. So with THOSE low expectations let’s take a look around shall we?

Technically, for Catholics, Christmas doesn’t begin until December 24th. We are now in the season of Advent. We celebrate each evening around our kitchen table by lighting the Advent Wreath.



I have things hidden in several nooks and crannies in the kitchen.





The living room is one of my favorite rooms. It seems to accept Christmas so gracefully.







Our traditional Frasier Fir.



For years the mantle hosted the Santa Collection



But take a closer look...



intermingling of the species!



A selection of some of my favorite children's Christmas books.





I had a small dinner last night. I took these when I was getting set up.



I should get something up abut that soon.



The family room historically hosted the Snowmen



But yes!



Look at me and the co-mingling!



This guy is new, a gift last year from a co-worker.



Hell, even the bathrooms get dolled up.



The sunroom looks pretty even at night.



Now I'm off to explore all the other Holiday Home Tours! Merry Christmas!!!!

Updates (Starring good news!)

My sister is home from the hospital! While she is taking a total of eight prescription medications NONE of them need to be injected. Can we say “halleluiah”?

My mirror is up and I’m very happy with the results.


And let me just add that taking a picture of a mirror and not putting yourself IN the picture? Is a whole lot harder than it might seem!

If you can ignore the “which damn camera are we supposed to be looking at?” expressions on our faces, this is me with my mother, my sister and my niece from the wedding a few weeks back.



Growing up we didn’t think we looked much alike, but geez now that we’re older? Yeah, maybe a little.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

I don’t know exactly what happened this fall but we have been a positive whirlwind of home improvement projects. For the last several weeks I presented a list to The Saint on Saturday morning of all of the things I wanted to get done over the weekend, taking special care to highlight the things I would need his assistance on.

(An aside on the subject of lists: I love them. I love the sense of relief that comes when a large project is broken down into manageable steps. I love crossing items off the list when finished. I love the feeling of accomplishment when lists are complete.)

One nagging item keeps showing up on the list every weekend as no forward progress was being made; purchasing a mirror for my dining room. I've had the same picture and sconces over my side board for something like fifteen years. I have grown weary - WEARY I tell you- of the look and wanted a change.

People let me just say that buying a mirror was WAY harder than I anticipated. I had a good idea of shape, size, frame, etc. nevertheless I failed to execute the task.

On-line shopping was next to impossible because I could not get a good bead on either scale or color. Catalogs, while slightly better than on-line, presented other challenges including cost. Throw in shipping (mirrors are HEAVY!) and... well you get the picture. Dragging my ass through various stores hither and yon proved both exhausting and annoying while yielding no acceptable merchandise.

I began to fear in my heart that a visit to a mega store was the only solution.

(An aside on mega stores: As nearly as I can determine my residence is about a nine hour car ride from the closest IKEA store. I will wait here while those of you NOT geographically challenged vis a vis IKEA stop to weep on my behalf at the injustice of my situation. HOWEVER, what we DO have in close proximity is Nebraska Furniture Mart.Vast amounts of floor space, an army of salespeople, furniture, appliances, rugs, electronics and crowds, oh dear Lord the crowds!)

After an exhaustive search for the now elusive mirror, The Saint suggested I try Nebraska Furniture Mart. I nearly went apoplectic. Very few times have I ventured to NFM because the sheer size of the place fills me with dread and a side of panic. I came up with all sorts of reasons why it was just.too.damn.hard. Then he offered to come with me. He would shield me from the wretched refuse and huddled masses that are the other patrons. He would leave a trail of crumbs so that we would not get lost in the maze of furniture displays. He would not complain if I found something I liked but had to look at every last OTHER mirror just to be sure.

After girding our loins we set out in search of a mirror....

to be continued...