Saturday, July 31, 2010

Aqua-pre-teen

July 31, 2010

Grace and I finally got all the last little details taken care of in her "Fabulous New Room!"
Actually, it was just some paint, a bargain bed we bought second-hand from a neighbor, a little new ribbon and fabric, and cheap-o bedding from Target.  Grace paid for the bedding herself.

So without further adieu . . . drum roll sound . . .

This is the bed that started the ball rolling . . .


Grace chose the paint color behind the bed (Largo Teal from Benjamin Moore/PB Teen).  I made the executive/mom decision that it was too dark to paint the whole room that color, so I just did the wall with the bed; the other three walls are two shades lighter on the same paint chip.  But you can't really see that here because I took the pictures (A) at night with (B) my crappy  old camera.


The princess in the royal bed with her Target comforter.  And $6 lamp from Pier One (although it makes everything greenish so I feel like I'm in the ocean or a fish tank when I'm in there with only that light on).

We had to re-do the hoop art.  The new fabric is a little too close to the same color as the wall, so we may be looking for some different fabric. And this picture makes it look really BLUE, it's more aqua as you can see in the next picture.

Opposite the bed, is the desk, which luckily I didn't have to repaint.

I actually measured to hang these, a first for me.

Grace's original art... a mountain scene and a kleenex cover from Paint on Pottery. . . on her dresser.

Even the mannequin matches the room.

The vanity got some new knobs, a lamp (thanks Aunt Kackery) and a vanity seat re-do.

I love these little pom poms.  

I discovered White Board Paint!  I wanted to paint the back of the door with chalk board paint, but the chalk board paint colors were all too dark to go on the side of the room with the darker paint, so I used this cool white dry erase paint.  What will they think of next?

We hope you like Grace's room.  She sure does.

Question of the Day:  Did you have your own room as a kid or did you have to share?  
Bonus: Tell me about something interesting thing you had in your room.

My Answers: I always had my own room until I was a sophomore in college when 4 of us lived in a two-bedroom apartment.  I remember my dad bringing me a king-sized water bed when I was in about 7th grade.  I thought it was really cool. It took up pretty much the entire room.  What ever happened to water beds?  

Thursday, July 29, 2010

News From camp

July 29, 2010

Tommy called today...the last day of camp.  Nothing like waiting till the last minute.  I'm not complaining, I wasn't expecting a call at all.  He answered all my questions with yes or no, only once did he elaborate.  I don't blame him though, he has lost his voice.  Apparently there is a lot of yelling at camp because he loses his voice every time he goes.
The only "incident" he told me about was a boy who tried to sneak out of his second floor room by repelling down the wall with bed sheets.  The sheets ripped and the kid fell into a bush, spraining his ankle.  Sounds just like a movie.  They are at Disneyland until midnight and then Aunt Fissa will pick up Tommy, saving him from the overnight bus ride back to AZ.  He will spend the weekend in San Diego with Fissa.  Lucky him.

Question of the Day:  Did you go to summer camp as a kid?  What kind, where, did you like it?

My answer: Yes.  Gymnastics camp when I was in (I'm guessing) 4th or 5th grade.  Not sure where it was. I was not a fan as I recall.  I also went to cheer camp at NAU when I was in high school.  That was a fun experience.  I have pictures of me in my dorky hair cut & dorky clothes that we thought were so cool then.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Question of the Day/Week

July 28, 2010

I am thinking of adding a question of the day, or more realistically, a question of the week.  I love those emails that ask you all sorts of random questions then tell you to forward to forty hundred people or you will be cursed with bad luck for the rest of your days or that if you DO forward, you will be blessed beyond measure.  Blah Blah blah.  You know the ones.  In fact, I've probably forwarded some such email to you.

Well, in my quest to know my peeps better, I am going to add a question with each post.  So you see it won't reeeally be a daily question cause I just don't post that regularly.

So today's question is: If I was a genie and could grant you one vacation home, would you prefer a mountain or beach home?
Bonus question: Tell me about a favorite vacation you went on.

My answers: Mountain (said after I just came home from gorgeous Flagstaff, AZ).
In 2007, Tom & I went to Kauai, Hawaii and stayed in a fabulous hotel for an entire week; saw beautiful-beyond-belief scenery; hiked some amazing shore lines and other swimming hole/waterfall areas; relaxed and enjoyed the surroundings.  I think it was the most beautiful place I've ever seen and would love to take the kids sometime.


Hmmm.  Maybe a Hawaiian beach house would be my wish.  Nope, I love the mountains, preferably near some form of water.

Hello Grace!

July 28, 2010

Grace comes home today from 10 days in Washington with Grandma Mary & Emmie. I am so excited to see the crazy kid.  She and Emmie flew home as unaccompanied minors!  Wow what big girls.  Mt always-thoughtful husband is picking them up from the airport right now because I was lucky enough to have spent a girls' night in Flagstaff at Jeanette's cozy home.  I just got home and am now anxiously awaiting their return.
I have a big surprise for Grace....
I painted and mildly redecorated her room.  Nothing new (other than the bed she already knew about) just some color change in the accessories and rearranging the furniture.  I hope she loves it.  She picked the color and I haven't hung up anything in case she wants to move stuff around, but I think it's much older looking.  She is, after all, double digits now.  I'll show you the new room after I show her.  (It wouldn't be fair for you to have a sneak peak first now would it?)

Karen

Monday, July 26, 2010

Ta Dah!

July 26, 2010

The bathroom is finished!  I absolutely love it.  Here's a peek:

Don't know if I love the faucet or the marble more.


The shower is taller than before, and less metal to get icky. 
Love the H & C crossbar knobs...so cute!
And my fancy schmancy door handle.  Ooh lala.:

New towel bar & hooks (old towels)

I've got my eye out for a small bench or cabinet for the little spot in the corner. Any ideas?


And remember that spot that used to get gross and I could never reach it?  Here it is all shiny and clean!



Big difference!

Thanks Tom!  xoxoxoxo

Silly in Seattle

July 26, 2010

Finally edited my Seattle pictures.  Grace and I went with Aunt Kackery (Kathy) and Emmie for 4 days.  Mary met us and then took the girls up to her house on Lopez Island, in the San Juan Islands.

So here are the highlights of Seattle:

We ate at Ivar's three times I think.  The food is good, but the girls love it because you can feed the seagulls french fries from the outdoor patio.  You may know of my bird phobia, so I was, in my opinion, a real trooper about this.


Emmie is an old pro at it and is not the least bit afraid of birds.
The first day, Grace was a little apprehensive.  Kathy had to help s-t-r-e-t-c-h her arm as far as she could get away from the bird.
Another time, this nice grandfatherly-looking man was feeding the birds by holding a french fry in his outstretched hand and the birds would swoop down and pluck it out of his hand.  Grace was getting braver and wanted to try this nifty trick.  
She did it by herself!
Believe it or not, I even fed a sea gull...3 times because Kathy could never get a good picture of it.  She has a picture to prove it.  I swear!  I'll post it as soon as she gets it to me.  I was still mostly freaked out by the proximity to the icky things.  

The girls posed with every statue we came across...



We got silly shopping...

We also went to Pike's Market almost every day.  Yum!!

We had a delicious "picnic" dinner at the hotel from the fresh fruit, cheese, and salami we picked up at the Market.
One day we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island to visit the Daceks'.  Karen Dacek is Kathy & Tom's cousin who is lucky enough to call that beautiful place home.  We shopped and visited their lovely home (but I have no pictures from that). 

Enjoy the gorgeous view from the ferry. . .
It was so clear, you could see Mt. Rainier.  It looked like it was floating in the sky.

We HAD to visit the Seattle Aquarium.  It is small, but always a HUGE hit with the kids.  

More silliness: 

This is a scorpion fish being fed by the aquarium workers.  We saw lots of cool feedings that day. 
Lucky for us!

THE END!