couch v. chairs.

so, we bought a house that is too small for a couch.

space enough for a couch is apparently something you do not notice when you spend a total of one hour in a property before you decide to BUY it.  plus, what kind of living room isn't wide/long enough for a couch?!?!

or maybe you do notice that kind of stuff, but we certainly don't.

anyhow, we bought a chair and a half (dolphin, not orange) before thanksgiving and have since decided it was a bad idea.

now we're on track for a four chair living room.  1 // 2 - walnut // 3 - cream, not the color shown // and 4????  we're still looking for the fourth, and haven't even seen our current three together in real life.  this could actually be a wonderful disaster in which we end up with five (and a half) chairs that go nowhere in our domicile.

oh, and we're thinking super wooly cable rug, will we regret that once summer comes around?  so.many.questions.

{living room that is not ours via}

weekend.

this weekend, well, mostly it was uneventful.  a touch of snow and weather that was just cold enough to keep us inside.  which wasn't bad, in fact it was filled with hours in bed watching homeland, SOOOO GOOD.  but then an errand needed to be run, far away from the comfort of our covers and computer.

so we trekked out to the suburbs, and you know what is in the suburbs?  besides our errand, good vietnamese food, that's what.  we stopped by banh mi dc and had ourselves the most delicious $9.00 lunch around.

we snagged a #2 and #8 and a custard steamed bun.  the custard was a bit too heavy and the bun, not as light as i like, but the #2 WAS TO DIE FOR.  the #8 wasn't too bad either, but damn, the former has me wanting to go back, like now.  the perfectly spicy pork, lotsa mayo and quite a delish showing in the bread department.  the mass amounts of cilantro and veggies didn't hurt either.

happening. right now.

ohmygod, i am kind of ridiculously happy that the whole christmas thing is over.  i mean, don't get me wrong, i do love a good celebration, but the stress of getting everything done that needed to be done was too much this year.  just too much.  

so the holing up solo (save for my husband and dog) for a long weekend was a delight, we did nothing except eat and make a mess.

how was your holiday?  lovely i hope?

and now, it's time to actually get my shit together and start taking these final touches on the house seriously.  i mean, it's been SIX MONTHS.  can you believe it?  i can't.  in fact i'm slightly embarrassed to admit it really.  but whatever.  we've made a lot of progress and just because there is a lot left to do, doesn't mean it isn't fun.  we really are done with the nitty gritty, i think.

annnnnyway.  i've a few days off this week, so i've decided to go ahead and start the gingham vestibule project.  when i saw the above picture on design*sponge a while back i knew there was no changing of my mind.  i had to have these walls.  mas thinks i'm ridiculous for even attempting.  but whatever.  today is the day i start.  i mean, taping the walls is a v. good first step, right???

happy christmas.

two of my most favorite things on the internets these days.  i bought one for myself for christmas, it was a bit of an indulgence.  but it kept popping up in my dreams over and over and over again .... 

{pom hat by yokoo, chair from organic modernism}

white.

i really wish i could pull off this hair color, and i really wish these shoes would show up on my doorstep.




{hair via jeana sohn, shoes via jak & jil}

i caved.

i've done a lot of painting in this house of ours.  and when i say a lot, i kind of mean it.  if i told you how many audio books and episodes of the office/parks & rec/gossip girl and harry potter movies i've listened to while painting, you might wonder about my sanity, or at the very least my efficiency.  but this painting thing is kind of a craps shoot at first.  like when i painted the entire foyer/upstairs hallway this very pale grey and it ended up looking like BABY BLUE.  i had to repaint it.  a nicer grey.  one that actually turned out grey.


then there are the ceilings, we left nary a ceiling untouched, and with the majority of our rooms being darker than 75% grey do you have any idea as to how many coats that takes?  also, there was the painting of some old furniture we thought needed a facelift.  the painting of kitchen cabinets, which were COVERED in grime.  and the trim.  this house has trim all over the stupid place, and it's old, and it's been re-painted, at the very least, 18 gazillion times.  oh, AND, apparently the woman who used to live here had a thing for leaving her dogs in rooms until they scratched their way through doors.  so shit had to be fixed ... or just covered with paint, which maybe took longer, because getting into those damn nooks and crannies takes a while.


so when the thought of picking up a paint brush and attacking the bajillion linear feet that was left of 6" trim made me want to hurl myself off of our roof, i called in a dude and he brought another dude and they are now currently just doing it.


i've mixed feelings about this, because really, i could do what they are doing.  i've actually turned into quite a good little house painter.  and you know what?  i wouldn't break that porcelain skull i had sitting on the dining room table either.  (yes, there was the breaking of one of these, and yes i could KILL them, and yes, it's fine, i've patched it up with some glue) but at the same time i've watched my social life dwindle since living in a city where i could actually have a social life.  i've also seen some of my favorite items of clothing become splotched up with paint because i'm just going to touch up this one spot, why would i need to change?  and then i saw nothing getting done with the bastardly trim day after day after day.


so that's it.  they came in yesterday and will leave today.  tonight i'll decorate the christmas tree and revel in the delight of just being DONE.  i've put some sparkling in the fridge in fact, just for this very occasion.  now it's on to hanging more things, like antler hooks that came with the most absurd anchors i've ever seen ...


though from here on out, this house will not own me, or ok, maybe it will, but i'm heading out for happy hour waaaaaaay more often.


{image of stairs that look absolutely NOTHING like ours via happy mundane}

acrylic, paper mâché, foam + wood

i kind of can't get that wreathy one out of my head.


found on pinterest, made by lauren clay.


ps - HOW ARE YOU GUYS?

boots.

last night, around 6:30, i kind of made what some would call an impulse purchase.


you see, about a year ago j.crew was selling some of the most amazing coral bottomed sperry's (seriously, i love them). but, they sold out in like a MILISECOND, leaving me without and thinking about them non-stop, for like, a year.


so ... when i saw these in the j.crew catalogue last night, there was quite simply nothing i could do.  they were on the first page, i was sitting next to my computer, it was over in less than a minute.

sometimes ...

after i haven't blogged consistently in MONTHS i get nervous and don't know what to blog about.  it leaves me second guessing and nixing posts.  also, it makes me little verbose, you know, like i have to tell you every last little thing that has been happening in my life - around the house, on the internet, and in the yoga studio.  i go to proof read my 85,000 words, and delete almost every single one, leaving a mere sentence behind because it is just simpler.  then i'm embarrassed, who am i am to think i am clever enough to boil things down to just one sentence? so i delete the whole stupid thing, close my computer and go to work.


i forget that finding a wonderfully simple bracelet is sometimes enough.  well, that and telling you that you should maybe also buy this one to go with it?


ANNNNND now since it has been a bit since i told you our kitchen was functional, i should probably tell you a secret ... we hung two shelves in a couple weeks back.  feeling all proud and happy we went on with our lives.  then a few days ago, one of them fell off the wall.  none of my precious wecks (filled with baking ingredients such as flour) were harmed in the process, and thankfully frances was asleep upstairs so we didn't have to endure her THE APOCALYPSE IS COMING NOW meltdown.  we just had to spend two hours in the shitty dc home depot hemming and hawing over the various dry wall concoctions that supposedly allow you to hang upwards of 600 lbs from the worst wall building material ever.


{bracelet by son of a sailor}

happy november!

last night we passed out candy and made a ridiculously delicious mushroom soup.  it felt so comfortable, so homey, so ... normal.  and now, i'm sitting in our kitchen sipping coffee and enjoying being just about DONE (with the kitchen that is).  and you know what?  it is super satisfying.  


also, it's november, my most favorite month of the year.