Guest Room Complete! (ish)

At some point you just have to call it a day and take the damn pictures, right? Our guest room is "done." And by that I mean I still need to switch out the ceiling fan from the 1980s, I don't love the chair pillow, and the curtain brackets needs to be re-installed wider, butbutbut... perfect is overrated. The way life is going, I'm just thrilled that I managed to repaint. This room is truly a breath of fresh air compared to the mishmash it was before, so I'm moving on from perfect and calling this a complete success! Here's our updated guest room, pulled together from lots of existing items and freshened up by springy green.

Sources
Wall Paint - Benjamin Moore Classic Gray
Bookcase Paint - Benjamin Moore Acadia Green
Curtains - Waverly One Wish fabric in Mint Julep
Bedding - Old West Elm with new Anthropologie throw pillow
Art, books, and accents - Stuff we already had
Rug - Shades of Light
Lamp - Ballard Design
Throw - Brahms Mount
Mirror - Hayneedle
Furniture - Existing stuff

Friday I'm in Love

Hello Friday! I'm looking forward to a weekend of neighborhood relaxation, catching up with friends, and pumping like a madwoman. First, though, a day full of meetings... and some fun links! Stuff I'm loving this Friday includes:

Beyoncé Voters

What can I say, I love a trendy political tumblr. I think it was Texts with Hillary that set the bar for the genre so high (for me, anyway). And now Beyoncé Voters is on the scene, gallantly serving that important life role of "procrastination rabbit hole." Nicely done, Beyoncé Voters, nicely done. (Side note: can anyone explain why "Beyoncé" has an accent on the last 'e'? No really, this bugs the crap out of me.)

Vigilante Cold Brew

 This summer I've become completely obsessed with Vigilante Coffee's cold brew. I love the Red Stripe-meets-JFK bottles. I love the ease of refills, every weekend at Eastern market. But mostly, I love how smooth and strong this stuff is. Locals, go get some - seriously.

Fantasy Hideaway Wallpaper

This wallpaper is so dreamy to me. I picture a renovated attic study, totally girly, books everywhere, a great desk, and a comfy broken-in velvet sofa. My kind of room.

Friday I'm in Love

Hi friends! I'm working out of T's company's New York office today... all the better to scoot up to Connecticut tonight in time for family dinner. Last night we ate at Babbo, which has long been on my to-do list, and tonight we'll eat at a longtime family fave, The Place. From chianti-stained pappardelle to clams and corn on a tree stump... I try to be well-rounded, you know?

My view today... not too shabby

I hope your weekends are full of good cheer. Here are some tidbits from my world this week. Have a good one!

Women's Congressional Softball Game

One of my favorite things about living in DC are those moments when you realize our nation's capital is actually just sort of... a small town. Cue our neighborhood elementary school athletic field hosting the Women's Congressional Softball Game this week. Nerd Celebrity people-watching (my favorite kind), long-lost friends in the crowd, a favorite senator on the mound and a favorite congresswoman wielding pom poms, playing against the Media team featuring a slew of fantastic female journalists. Oh, and Andrea Mitchell and Sen. Klobuchar as the play-by-play and color announcers? I think I have to attend every year now.

Fur Rugs?

Are these rugs ridiculous, or as amazing as I suspect? Because I sort of love them. One on each side of the bed to greet our cold feet in the morning? Cats who will love us forever because we just brought the coziest rugs of all time into the house? I'm on to something here, right?



Lace Flower Pots

I'm totally charmed by this simple DIY. These would be adorable hanging out in my sunny office window back in DC. I think it's glue gun time!

This and that

This is one of those weeks where I look up and am shocked to discover that it's already Wednesday. So before the week escapes me completely, some tidbits:

Bedroom Progress

On Saturday we painted our bedroom, set up the new furniture, and purged. Let me tell you... that felt pretty awesome. I'm excited about finally getting the room to a good point and sharing it with you. I've even caught myself just hanging out up there, it's getting so clean and pretty. That's pretty major considering it used to be my least favorite place in the house. Putting together a gallery display over the bed is going to take some time, but I think the end result will be great. (By the way, see how the curtains aren't long enough? I've been meaning to fix that problem for over a year.)

TJ at the office

My latest eBay find: one of the Nationals presidential bobbleheads. Those racing presidents are one of my favorite things ever... of course I had to have this.

Oops

Speaking of the Nats, at the ballpark on Sunday I acquired the most awkward sunburn in the history of awkward sunburns. Let's just say that unclothed, I still look like I'm wearing a white v-neck tee. I'm desperately trying to correct the situation with strategically applied self-tanner in advance of our family portrait on July 6. Something tells me white shoulders with a sundress isn't a great look. When will I learn?

HBO, Always

This week it's 100 degrees outside, so I feel less guilty than usual blathering on about television. Tell me - is anyone else despondent that Girls is over? The show completely won me over, due almost entirely to Lena Dunham's writing. I mean, "she wears floral capris like her hymen’s still intact," are you kidding me? That line just kills me. Another television obsession of late that I already miss: Veep. An instant classic, that show. Since I'm already sharing raunchy lines today, how about Veep's spit-out-my-drink analogy of "that's like using a croissant as a fucking dildo." Oh, yes. One facial expression from the man I will always call Buster Bluth and I am done for, completely. And finally... we have entered the land of Game of Thrones, at long last. We're making our way through Season 1 via Netflix, and yep... everyone who told me we'd get hooked on this show, you were correct.

Friday I'm in Love

I'm looking forward to a weekend in DC where we shall slooooooooooow down. My plans include tinkering around the house, garden, and neighborhood, hanging out with friends, and booing the Yankees. Sounds pretty perfect to me right now. I hope your weekends are filled with slow goodness, too. Here's three little links from me to wrap up the week. See you on the flip side!

'Grow Your Own' Calendar

 I'm obsessed with this gorgeous planting guide print, available here and discovered here. I'd love it if they would expand their reach and include planting seasons for places other than England. Perhaps my Grandma Jessie Mae can be the planting expert for the Eastern NC calendar... But would I choose that one, or the Mid-Atlantic guide? Hypothetical decisions abound! Regardless, this piece would be perfect hanging in any kitchen or back porch, don't you think?

Bedroom Upgrades

 I recently received a much-deserved (if I do say so myself) promotion and raise, and to celebrate, I ordered a piece of furniture I've been ogling for ages. Actually, I ordered two! These gorgeous Bedford Chests will serve as beefed-up nightstands for us, filling out a wall where we have space for more substantial furniture in what is otherwise wasted by only using small nightstands. I'm so.flipping.pumped that we're about to have more storage in our bedroom. We are ever so slowly getting a vision for what that room can become (only a year and a half after moving in... why does the bedroom always get shortchanged in my world?). I think I might even do some painting this weekend... it's been too long since these hands wielded a brush! The dressers are delivered Saturday... color me excited.

More Belle Boggs

 I know I recommended a Belle Boggs article last week, too, but this one was just too beautiful to go without mention. It was sent to me by my friend Cate (join me in wishing she was blogging again, why don't you?), and with good reason. In this piece (Yearning for Conception: The Art of Waiting), Boggs reminds me of Barbara Kingsolver in my annual spring/summer read Prodigal Summer. There's infertility, sure, but it's woven into the fabric of the NC Zoo, biology, and nature. Gorgeous stuff.

Weekend this and that

Today I'm recovering from the most embarrassing injury in recent memory: a swollen and achy foot due to dropping a large box of cat litter on it. Limping and everything over here. It's a glamorous life I lead, what can I say?

We did lots of home improvement tasks over the weekend, in between checking out the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial and cheering for the Caps/enjoying delicious homemade cocktails with Nole and her husband. Here's a little taste of our weekend:


MLK, Jr.
Most art and memorial critics have less-than-friendly things to say about the new MLK memorial, but what struck me most of all during our visit was how much it matters that it exists at all. The site was packed with visitors who really weren't concerned with debates over the sculptor, the site design, how stern MLK appears, or the memorial's use of quotes. In this respect, I think, the public's opinion matters most. And while I'll play the contradiction card by continuing to express disappointment with the execution of the World War II Memorial, I'm going to call our Saturday visit to MLK among hundreds of other visibly touched citizens a success. The kids learning about MLK absolutely made my day.

(Are you on Instagram, by the way? If you are, look me up! I'm @magmaeA and while a late-comer to the app, I've been loving it. You can see some of my recent photos on the left sidebar. Other shots from our morning among the memorials include Thomas Jefferson across the basin and the Korean War memorial.)


"White" v. White Update
You guys are probably sick of hearing it by now, but I just can't get over what a difference repainting our house's "white" interiors WHITE makes. Take a look at my mid-way stopping point with the lower kitchen cabinets, where the frames are done but not the doors. I mean... wow. Mythic Bright White is my new Instant Gratification BFF.

Cats v. Chairs Update
Thanks for all your great suggestions on my original Cats v. Chairs post. We're now in the process of determining whether the cats got the message by unwrapping one chair at a time. The naked chairs will all be re-treated with the anti-cat upholstery spray. So far we've exposed one chair and the cats have ignored it. This afternoon I'll expose another. And if we fail, I'm going with your aluminum foil recommendation. (And yes, I still have a newspaper mockup representing Future Vertical Art on the wall. Sigh.)

Nail Update
I've been sporting this great Halloween-y shade on my nails lately... it's OPI's Cayenne Pepper. I think I saw it on my mom a couple of years ago and ran out to buy it the next day. It's yummy. And also... hello LONG! Seeing my nails from the back is entirely new for me. I'm sort of blowing my mind with these things. Even so, I'm far from cured... if the nails don't smell like chemicals, they're still headed straight to my mouth. Gross. But on the bright side, a foolproof way to build my polish collection...

Sea friends

Meet my new friends: colorful sea life illustrations on vintage encyclopedia pages from RococcoCo.

Aren't they gorgeous? I've been wanting prints like these since I featured a hot air balloon illustration when I guest-posted on Oh So Beautiful Paper. Our downstairs bathroom seemed perfect for it.

I think they'll be fantastic popping off the Galapagos Turquoise walls.

The prints will be hung in a tight stripe all the way around the room. We'll also eventually replace this light fixture and hang something fun from the ceiling.

It took me some time to figure out how we should frame the prints, by the way. Black or white seemed too harsh, and silver wasn't right, either. I settled on Oil-Rubbed Bronze to act as a neutral and relate to the weathered wood mirror and the shells in the room. This involved lots of Oil-Rubbed Bronze spray paint, which if you're me happens late-night and leaves your backyard looking like a bronze murder scene. Just keeping with the spooky season...

When cats attack (the dining room)

So before I dive into the ridiculousness that is our current dining room setup, how about a sweet cat and craft photo first?

Okay, Fanny's actually looking rather honey badger-ish in this photo. But the pumpkin! I want to paint every pumpkin I see now. Or gold-dip furniture legs. Or something, as long as I can continue to use this paint.

But we should probably move on to the real story, aka "Why Fanny Might Be Wearing That Bitchy Expression." See, we bought dining chairs. But not the ones I said we were going to buy. Instead, I came across the 2nd-choice-but-originally-more-expensive nailhead chairs not only on clearance, but an additional percentage off clearance, plus I had a coupon. (Making you proud, Mom!) So despite the fact that we originally preferred other chairs, we decided it was meant to be.

So at this point you are probably asking yourself, "Why are the chairs wrapped in plastic? I knew she was concerned about stains, but c'mon." Props to those of you who thought my saran-wrapped dining chairs have anything to do with preventing stains, because that would be logical, however unlikely.

Here's the cold, awkward, weird truth: we are engaged in a battle of the ages over here. Humans Vs. Cats. And I refuse to let the cats win.

The dining chair fabric is every-so-slightly textured, which it turns out is the feline temptation equivalent of me home alone with good cheese and a bottle of wine. Imagine us snuggling on our couch watching tv and all of a sudden, the worst sound new owners of dining chairs can imagine... riiiiiiiiiiiip. Then imagine us leaping off the couch screaming at the cats, trying to gracefully run around our hulk of a coffee table in our tiny living room, and face this sort of expression (old photo, but you get the point). Mood ruined.

Kitten doesn't give a sh*t

Our first step was wishing we could employ a spray bottle, but the distance logistics don't work for immediate punishment sprays, so that's a no-go. Our second step was an anti-kitten liquid upholstery spray meant to deter cats, but it did nothing. Our third step is where we are today, trying to both deter them from the chairs and provide them with a pleasurable scratching experience elsewhere. So the full set looks like this freakshow:

(Head chairs to come... maybe red? Maybe an un-scratch-worthy material?)

And you'll see that we've also gathered every scratching implement in the house and placed them around the table, offering a wealth of scratch-worthy surfaces dusted with fresh catnip.

Neighbors and pedestrians outside our windows are puzzled

The cats don't seem to like the feel of the plastic, so that's good. But I'm pretty sure they're mostly just laughing at us. And how long am I going to put up with this saran wrap, anyway? I'm not sure. It's been a few days, and the cats have left them alone. But I have zero confidence that we've fully turned a corner. De-clawing our beloved furballs is of course out of the question, and we already clip their nails regularly. But seriously... trying to watch high-quality programming like "Revenge" while steeling myself against the sound of claws the whole time is also out of the question. We shall see. And in the meantime...

I don't have buyer's remorse.
I don't have buyer's remorse.
I don't have buyer's remorse.

97 more recitations to go...

September snippets

Here are some little snippets from my phone's camera that I thought it'd be fun to share:

Downstairs Bathroom Paint

 It's on. Ben Moore's Galapagos Turquoise, that is. Staying true to my island vibe in the kitchen (which is painted BM's Azores), this blue makes me happy, and works wonderfully with pops of red and orange. More to come on this project!

Fall Nails

I'm so into this color for Fall: Essie's In Stiches. This pic can also serve as a nail-biting update. In short, I'm doing okay. It was a rough summer (too much captive-audience driving and not enough nail-painting to deter me), but I'm optimistic that Fall's yummy colors can keep my teeth away!


Oiled Butcher Block Counters

It took me five months in this house to oil our butcher block counters, but it won't take me more than two to do it again. They look fantastic... so rich and warm. I used a bottle of butcher block conditioner that I already had for our cutting boards, and it worked like a charm. I also hear that plain mineral oil will do the job. Our kitchen continues to make me really happy. Sorry for this nighttime shot - I've gotta get out the real camera on a sunny day.


TJ and the Nats

 I don't have a National League team, so it's been really fun to cheer for the Nationals since we moved to DC. At a game last weekend, it occurred to me that besides the fact that we can walk to the ballpark and it's a young team with a lot to root for, the Presidents Race alone makes this a team worth loving. I couldn't be more on board if I was wearing a giant foam head myself.

Friday I'm in Love

It feels great to be back in the normal swing of things enough to do a little Friday I'm in Love action. So let's jump right in!

Jonah Hill: Skinny, but Still Funny

  

Jonah Hill's new physique has been freaking me out... until watching this and realizing that, no, he didn't lose his hilarity along with his midsection. I'm excited to see 'Moneyball' this weekend, by the way. Anyone else?

Happiest Space Ever

I love this. As in, if I get sick of my downstairs bathroom decorating project I may just have to start painting happy little squares everywhere.

Girl Needs a Girly Bike

I want this. Hardcore want it. "Neeeeeeeed" it. Those little orange and red stripes?!

That's all from me! I'm excited to do some nesting and have some low-key fun this weekend. Happy Friday, folks!

Happy is as Happy does

More and more, I find myself in step with this gorgeous print below. No one's life is perfect... but it's how we handle what we've been given that makes us who we are, and makes others someone I'd like to spend time with. What's your life philosophy when it comes to contentment?

Print: Mary Kate McDevitt

I think this one's going to go up on our bedroom wall, by the way. I've started collecting great prints with pops of blue for our bedroom. The caveat, of course, is that I'm not allowed to do any fun decorating in that room until I tackle our overwhelming need for clothing storage/organization. Now that we've settled down from our travels a bit, doing so is finally a real possibility. And that feels pretty great.

Butterfly maps

Ahhh, weekend! So many friends packed into a few short days, from our dear friend who married us, to this adorable blogging duo, to a slew of T's high school friends who are busy doing great things. Add in some naps, a great movie, and some 17-year-old whiskey, and you have quite the weekend!

Things kicked off nicely on Friday with the delivery of five-sixths of our map collection from Bug Under Glass. I'm thrilled with how they turned out.

Bug Under Glass sells lots of gorgeous insect-related items, but this mapfiend had to have a set of their vintage maps framed with native butterflies.

On the top row, we have North Carolina, New York City, and Connecticut. On the bottom row, Boston, New Mexico, and a placeholder for Dallas. Kevin from Bug Under Glass didn't have a good Dallas map on hand, but I asked him to go ahead and send me the rest of these babies anyway. I love seeing our geographic history up on the wall... and the finished look with Dallas will bring us full circle.

Where's DC, you might ask? We're on the hunt for a DC-themed vertical art piece to hang beside this collection, currently represented by a sheet of newspaper. I'm the queen of mockups, what can I say?

All in the name of balance with our lovely radiator, of course!

I recently discovered that some people are skeeved out about framing butterflies (see comments), but never fear, Bug Under Glass is a humane harvester. (Here's some pretty fake butterfly framing if you're still skeeved.) Personally, I think these little beauties are just gorgeous, especially paired with the maps.

What do you say to framed butterflies? Yay or nea?