Candy & Eyeballs & Nickels, OH MY!

October 29, 2015October 29, 2015 / Ally Bean / 36 Comments

Old School Jack-O-Lanterns.

Around here Halloween is A BIG DEAL.

Just about everyone decorates the exterior of their house for the holiday. And most of the families, save the conservative Christians and the Mormons, are home to hand out candy or whatever on Trick-or-Treat Night.

It’s the one time of year when adult neighbors, often with a bottle of beer or a glass of wine in hand, sometimes in costume, accompany their kids to our doorstep, then actually acknowledge and speak with us.

The Harvest Moon.

Trying to set a good example for the kids, I suppose. Be cordial. Even if we, your parents, can’t be arsed to say “hello” under any other circumstances.

Be that as it may, I still find it to be a fun holiday.

If only because little kids dressed up are a hoot to watch stumbling around the streets. And because bigger kids are a hoot to talk with as they try to barter for more candy. Both make me laugh.

Treats For The Beggars.

In the past, on evenings with perfect weather, we’ve had 220 beggars. Because this neighborhood is growing, with many new homes built this past summer, I’m planning for 250 kids who will get a piece of candy OR a bloody eyeball OR a nickel.

And if we’ve handed out all of that before the 2 hours of begging is over, I think we’ll take our chances, turn off the lights and hope that these kids don’t know about soaping windows!

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So what’s up with your Halloween plans, my gentle readers? Share your spooky or kooky in the comments below.

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Fact: When The Research Is About Color The Time Is Not Wasted

October 16, 2015October 16, 2015 / Ally Bean / 21 Comments

• I was googling IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR FUTURE PROJECTS when I came across SOMETHING MUCH MORE INTERESTING.

• The SOMETHING MUCH MORE INTERESTING was a spiffy 6-question online quiz by Glidden Paint, a company with which I have no personal experience.

• I took the quiz so that I could learn what they refer to as: My Colors, My Life.

• Then I was able to pick one of my colors and the system generated a balanced, beautiful color scheme based on that one color.

• If you, too, are facing a dull task and looking for something more interesting to do, may I humbly direct you to the Glidden Colortopia Quiz.

• As the above images show, the results, created for quirky little you, are inspiring. And dare I say, they could change your life!

Sitting Pretty On New Kitchen Chairs

October 13, 2015January 25, 2024 / Ally Bean / 29 Comments

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Just like on HGTV, here’s a teaser for the BIG REVEAL.

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I’M ALL ABOUT MISMATCHED CHAIRS. If things are too matchy-matchy, I get nervous. [What if I stain or break something? Then what? Things won’t match.]

I prefer the positive energy that eclectic style brings to a space. So after years of perfectly coordinating table and chairs in our kitchen, it was time for a change.

Here’s the story.

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Is this box from Hannibal Lecter or Pottery Barn?

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I BEGAN THIS PROJECT BY SEARCHING for chairs in brick & mortar stores and online. Eventually I decided which new chairs I wanted around our Ethan Allen kitchen table, which we’ve had since we moved here 15 years ago.

UPS plopped this very large box, filled with chair pieces + hardware, on our front stoop and I dragged it inside.

To make the table look better, Zen-Den painted the pedestal a warm neutral shade, SW6141 Softer Tan.

I figured that we’d use 2 dining chairs from Arhaus that we already had, knew to be comfortable, and were no longer being used in the dining room. To these we would add 2 new chairs from Pottery Barn, ordered online.

We received the Pottery Barn chair pieces in a very large box. Then one of us put them together in the foyer on Sunday morning while the other one of us photographed the event. For posterity, ‘ya know?

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Looking lonely, a chair back leans against the wall, waiting to join together with other chair pieces to make a seat.

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I’M GROOVING ON THESE NEW CHAIRS, brilliantly built by Zen-Den. After sitting on the wobbly, match-y Ethan Allen Windsor chairs that came with this table, these new sturdy chairs are wonderful.

They coordinate with, but don’t match, our former dining room chairs repurposed as kitchen chairs– all of which makes my frugal, design-y heart happy.

No higher praise than that, eh?

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The BIG REVEAL shows my eclectic sense of style works for us.

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[Hello FTC! I know it’s been so long since we spoke, but I wanted to make sure that you understood that there was no monetary &/or other compensation involved with these kitchen chairs. The foregoing is my opinion about things, shared here– just ‘cuz I can. We good?]

Of Autumn Beauty & Chores Most Necessary

October 8, 2015October 8, 2015 / Ally Bean / 28 Comments

Our weather this week has been perfect.

The night temps are down into the 50s while the days are in the 70s. We have clear blue skies with sunshine going on during the day.

Twinkling stars have filled the sky at night, while the moon, which is now waning, has been such a small crescent that its light doesn’t diminish the shining stars.

With all due respect to December and the holiday season, I’d suggest that this is the most wonderful time of the year.

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I noticed the stars early this morning while I was taking the screens out of the windows.

Late yesterday afternoon I got a phone call from the man who cleans our gutters and washes our windows. He asked if he could come over today, the weather being so nice and all.

I said “sure.”

So very early this morning I removed all the screens from the windows, and gazed into the dark blue starry sky, appreciating its simple beauty.

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Tomorrow the sprinkler system will be deactivated for winter.

The man who does this is a delightful, talkative character who always leaves me laughing. The stories he tells, often about our neighbors, are, shall we say, insightful.

But after he’s finished blowing the air out of the underground sprinkler system, the rest of the winterization chores will be ours to do at our leisure.

Or not to do at all, I suppose.

And on that tentative note, I shall end this post. An old-school style blog post that offers no controversy or angst to the blogosphere, but tells its own quiet little story. Such as it is.