What We Didn’t Do Over The Weekend

/ Ally Bean / 34 Comments

The weather was supposed to be clear and warm over the weekend.  THAT’S WHAT THEY SAID.  So I planned accordingly.  I thought that we’d take the weekend off from our usual home improvement projects and goof-off instead… but that was not to be.

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I thought that we’d go to a rural county park on the other side of the city.  We go there a couple of times a year.  We like to walk the trails which take you through groves of wildflowers + into farmlands + beside horse paths + near a stream.  But we didn’t do that.

Then on Saturday night I thought that we’d have a cookout for the two of us with burgers + grilled veggies, cold beer and perfectly toasted marshmallows courtesy of moi.  I figured that we’d kick back and enjoy our deck for a few hours.  But we didn’t do that.

On Sunday morning I thought that we’d go to an outdoor antique show (which is more flea market than an antique show) at a county fair grounds.  We like going there because it’s filled with all sorts of old stuff and costs only $3.00 per person.  It’s a fun way to get lost in time.  But we didn’t do that.

Then on Sunday afternoon I thought that we’d spend some time sitting down in The Spoon [the lowest level of our terraced forest backyard].  I figured that we could just do nothing or read our books or play some backgammon or whatever.  But we didn’t do that.

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All of which leads me to the real point of this post that: PLANS CHANGE OFTEN.  And that instead of grumbling about this truth, I’d do well to remember the following Rules of Life by Robin Patricia Williams that I keep on a sticky note on my desktop because, well— they are the rules of life.  And because, clearly, I need to refer to them often.

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As some of you have figured out already, I’ve had quite a bit of difficulty getting the following to show up here on this post.  I’m going to try it one. more. time.   Then if it doesn’t work, I’m going to go drown my sorrows in a cold adult beverage.  Of course, if it does work, there’s a good chance that I’m going to go celebrate my victory with a cold adult beverage.  From my point of view, this last attempt at posting The [Revised] Rules of Life is a no-lose proposition.

  

 

Color My World

/ Ally Bean / 20 Comments

“All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites.”
~ Marc Chagall

Now that the evil ragweed season is upon us and the outside weather makes my eyes itch, I’ve found myself spending more time inside the house than normal.

As a way of entertaining myself, I’ve been researching color as it pertains to home decor + walls + artwork.  It’s a topic that I’m interested in knowing more about plus it makes me feel productive as I sit here muttering about that sneaky pollen out there.

So here’s what I’ve found.  Fun stuff.  Good information.  Often interactive.  Pollen-free.

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9 Designer Color Palettes.  This article is from Better Homes & Gardens.  I like how it made me rethink some of the ways in which I put color together.  Good ideas, as usual, from BHG.

Chip It! by Sherwin-Williams.  I uploaded a photo of the hollyhocks in our backyard and this is what I received back from Sherwin-Williams.  Neato, huh?

32 Paint Chip Projects.  This blog post has links to lots of ideas about how to use paint chips as art.  Admittedly I have yet to do try any of them, but if the weather continues to keep me trapped inside I’m going to give a few of the projects a whirl.  No time like the present, eh?

Design Seeds.  I don’t know when I first found this site, but I have to believe that it was one of the best days of my life.  Really.  If you adore color this is the place for you.  Design Seeds is filled with examples of color palettes created from photos of nature &/or household objects.  ‘Tis a wonderful place to visit, I tell you.

Benjamin Moore on Pinterest.  This Pinterest page is filled with a variety of boards.  Some are dedicated to specific colors while others are about decorating ideas.  There is even one board with photos from the Brimfield Antique Show.  Check it out.  It’s cool.

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What am I missing here?  Any other color websites that I need to know about?  Ragweed season goes on for a few more weeks, so I’ve got the time to look them over at my leisure.  😉

 

Dream A Little Dream

/ Ally Bean / 25 Comments

Zen-Den knows me well.

He was sitting in our study, shopping on the Williams-Sonoma website with the purpose of buying the Breville Electric Pie Maker, which I had decided we needed.  [More on the Pie Maker after it gets here & we use it a few times.]  I was in another room but he called for me to come into the study to see what he described as: “this is what you’d buy if you won the lottery.”

And what he showed me was, indeed, EXACTLY what I’d buy if I won the lottery.  I’d buy a Kitchen-Aid Mixer in a different color for every month of the year.  Heck, if the payout was large enough, I’d buy a different one for every week of the year!

Just because I could.

So, here’s my question to you:

if you won the lottery, what would you buy for yourself that your pre-lottery-winning-self would call an extravagance?