Feeling Gray

See if you can put together the pieces of this puzzler....

1. The minty green color of my kitchen walls weren't working for me.  Not awful-- but not my favorite. Reminded me of mint chocolate chip ice cream which I do NOT like.  [Mint only belongs in gum in my book.]

2. My friend Kendra (who has lots of practice painting) said she's gonna come visit me for a couple days!!

3. Sherwin-William's had a weekend sale on all their paint and supplies.


SO... I painted the kitchen!  Well, Kendra painted the kitchen and I watched.  And I occasionally rolled some paint on the parts I knew I couldn't mess up.  I also did a great job removing and re-installing the outlet covers.

Loving the results!  Makes the kitchen a little moody- and a lot less minty.

BEFORE:

...and AFTER:

I know in 20 years I'll think back and say, "I can't believe that I once painted my kitchen gray!!"   Maybe not.  But I remember when I used to think that my purple striped wallpapered bedroom would be the coolest thing ever until the end of time.

Anyways....
It's been a fun few days!  Got to spend time with Jess after her wisdom teeth got removed.  I made her milkshakes and smoothies-- and monitored her medication intake :) And a friend who moved away for several months stopped by for a sleepover with us (as Ben was out of town).

Dory the cat liked her. She likes anyone who tries to feed her people-food.

Then Kendra came!  After she painted my kitchen-- she painted my hair!  Just a subtle touch to add to the sun-bleached highlight look. The Kendra Salon is the only one I really trust to color my hair!

 Then we sifted through some dirt and grime at slightly filthy second-hand and antique stores.  I LOVE the clutter of those antique-store hoarder people.  Kendra found out she doesn't like it much- ha! But I got awesome turquoise dishes for my new gray kitchen!

Thanks for coming Kenny :)  Thanks for painting my kitchen and my hair!

The Help

I just finished this book!

Pic from Amazon.com, hence the "click to look inside!"

I read the final pages this morning from 6am to 8:24am.  I suppose the Bible should have been the first book I reached for-- but I knew I was almost finished with this book!  I had no idea how much time had gone by when I was reading-- and that's what I love about reading a good book.  

It follows 3 women in 1960's Jackson, Mississippi.  A look into the lives of black women who work in the home of a white women... and also a look into the attitudes of the South during the beginning of the Civil Rights Era.  Historical fiction, or non-fiction are my favorite things to read.  Therefore, my imagination probably doesn't get the practice like it's supposed to-- but I'm more fascinated by what is real! 

The movie comes out August 10th! Who's with me??  

The Help movie website

My new goal is to read a book before it hits the New York Time's Bestseller list.  How should I go about that?

culture

Jess and I are watching My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding on TLC and it is fascinating.  There are about 300,000 Gypsies (or Travelers) in Britain. They grow up in really sheltered and strict lives and get married really young (like 16). They have huge wedding dresses-- I'm talking 20 foot dress trains and 200 lb. dresses which leave scars on their hips.  The reception is a huge nightclub party and the men sit separate from the women.  Then they get married, have lots of babies, and live really simply with few possessions. Yet everything about their parties are extravagant.

Lots of reception venues refuse to host their wedding if they find out they're Travelers.  Of course, a venue couldn't discriminate against a wedding of a different race or religion. But these people host a rowdy party.

It's fascinating to me.  I see many Biblical principals in how they live-- yet so many things couldn't be further from that. High morals and NO sleeping together before marriage-- but go ahead and dance in your under garments at your cousin's wedding.  Which could be both of your cousins...marrying each other, because that's ok.

 Of course, I'm only educated on modern Gypsies by this TV show and this article... All about Gypsies.  So it's possible that I may be a little uneducated.

Sometimes I forget how vast and complicated this world is.  Yeah, I just spent half my summer half way across the world-- but when I'm settled on my couch with my cat in my shiny new house... I forget.  The complications of culture and people always leave something to learn. And a lot to think about.

From TLC.com 

Sometimes I learn a lot from TV!

Little house guests!

Last week we had some little house guests by the names of Abi and Anna... and their momma Amanda!

We discovered how well this town accommodates young kids with the playground, fountains, and library downtown. Also, we took a walk to our neighborhood park and played in the splash pad!

Here's a picture of my chocolate chip cookie helper and Anna with her favorite part of our house-- the cat! She would seriously give a standing ovation to the cat whenever she walked by! She'd stop clapping to try and pet her-- and for the most part the cat let her!

... and sometimes she just likes to wear goggles! :)

Thanks for coming Amanda, Abi, and Anna!!  We had a blast!!


I'm out for a few days to beat the heat by a a pool and lake with my cousins/aunts/uncles!

Exploring new frontiers

New house and new city brings opportunities to do/have new things! Get a pet-check! Try the best rated Chinese take out place- last Friday night! Get some clearance outdoor table and chairs- yep! (those chairs were a pain to put together though).

Then there's the not so fun but necessary things- like buy a ladder.  Which I did successfully by myself and got the best deal by utilizing online price matching, coupon finds, and gift card usage.  But we had to buy that ladder to clean out the gutters which was a job for Mike Rowe. Years of heavy leaves/dirt/shingle pieces stuffed those gutters and filled up several 5 gallon buckets. Oh yeah, I had the new necessity/opportunity to buy 5 gallon buckets at garage sales last week.

Anyways...

It's also fun to try and fit into the new culture of your new town.  And that is how I came to recycle. [Haha!! Seriously as I am typing this the recycling guys pulled up in front of our house to get it. That made me laugh out loud.]

I've never been an avid recycler unless it was reused and saved me money in some way.  But I do feel a little better about myself because I recycle :)  The blue recycle box just showed up in our garage when we moved in. So I guess they kinda make you do it-- or at least make it really easy for you to do it.
I keep having to look up what is recycle-able on the city website-- so obviously I'm a newbie.

OH- and it comes with a lid.  Which shouldn't be used to catch the oil dripping from your husband's car. Washing oil off the recycling lid was kinda a funny thing to do. [FYI: oil dripping issue now solved thanks to husband's handy work]



Dory the cat is doing great! And she's just pretty to look at. She LOVES to jump on our laps when we're sitting on the couch.  In fact, she's on my lap right now.  Sit within 4 feet of her and she thinks she might as well be sitting on you.  So here I am with my left arm pinned down by her and she's bouncing whenever I type.

And she still loves Ben!

Rainbow Cupcakes

June 29 was the first day I've ever seen my friend Jess on her birthday since I've known her!

All she wanted from China was a fan-- and she's even been there!!  She's super easy to please and thrilled with the littlest things! That's what I love about her!!

So I made rainbow cupcakes. And, of course, miniature rainbow cupcakes. Congrats Jess, your b-day cupcakes were my first baking experience in our new home!

No need spend time writing a tutorial-- but here are my tricks.

Easy frost can for the clouds-- I decided 2 clouds was better on the larger cupcakes rather than full coverage. I'm not someone who likes a ton of frosting.
Air Head extreme sour strips-- just cut them to fit your clouds!

Dory

Well, we got internet in our new place-- finally!!!  AND we got a CAT!!!

Meet Dory (or at least that's the name I've been trying out on her)

She is about 10 years old.  She's a craigslist cat who needed a new home. She and all her supplies was FREE (plus previous owners bought brand new food and litter AND updated shots/vet visits). That's nice since our bank account has been getting a work out lately.







Since we've had her about 2 days... here is what I've figured out:
- she hangs out under the couch. Less though since she's been adjusted a little more.
- string cheese will get her to come out from under the couch

Notice the bump on the right side-- that's her. 

- she likes to lay on my stomach if I'm laying down.
- she crawls underneath the quilt on the guest bed to sleep
- she hisses when she's annoyed (she's set in her ways)







And here's my favorite one...

- she likes Ben... possibly more than me. But I'm OK with that right now, it helps him adjust.  And ya know what, Ben likes her!  She arrived here in the morning and had a rough day-- hiding from one place to the next. By the evening she came out more often and then I found her like this with Ben! I didn't know I married a cat whisperer...

That's the news from here! We're looking forward to a weekend at our new home/city with not much planned!

wordless beauty and brokenness