Random Round Up: Breathing Room

A much needed break and a few pretty moments from the weekend:

Cherry Blossom Confetti

A little country air for a friend's retirement party.

Coming Storm

Friday Night Happy Hour

Study Buddy - Find the puggle paws!

Have a wonderful week, everybody!

In Need of Sunshine

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the tragedy happening here in my very own state right now. Since it's receiving so much national attention, you are probably already aware of the massive landslide in the northern area of Oso, Washington. The lives it's claimed are rising daily, there are nearly 200 people unaccounted for, and hundreds more trying to help.

The area of the slide - Oso is about an hour north of Seattle. image

The slide from the air. image

A family dog - Buddy - being rescued (yay!) from the rubble. image

Utter Devastation image

The bleak news coverage has me longing for a little ray of hope and sunshine.

So here's a little 15 second shot of sunshine, courtesy of my yard a week ago today. In the face of what's happening, it's not much. But sometimes a 15 second break of pretty can go a long way.

Please, help Oso if you can - Monetarily, physically, prayerfully. Click here to make a donation, or text "REDCROSS" to 90999. Have a lovely weekend, everybody.

De-Grassy

Far from the Canadian tv series, de-grassing in my world is one hideous process. Whoever planted the (now very mature) gardens at our house went a little crazy with some type of "pretty" variegated ground-covering grass to fill the empty spaces.

Section 1: Before (top) and after (bottom).

The problem is, now those "empty spaces" created by baby plants are no more, and this God-forsaken grass is snaking it's way though every crevice. I've already spent hours over the past two years trying to rid the yard of this plague, and now have a few more under my belt.

See those awful snake-y roots? UGH.

It's not nearly complete. Sigh.

But progress is progress, and I'll take it. Plus my hands and wrists are still sore from waging battle, so I live to fight another day.

'Till then, grass. 'Till then.

Random Round Up: Weekend Bits & Pieces

This post coming 14 hours later than normal doesn't give me hope for a less draining week this time around, but hey. I'm here. And hey. So are you. Cheers to that.

Girls' Weekend remnants

Trippy movie theatre flooring.

Wes Anderson perfection. Every moment a perfectly crafted still image.

Almost magnolia season!

And to no one's surprise: A new project has cropped up thanks to a pull cord deciding to kick the bucket...

I've hated the used-to-be-white mini blinds since we moved into the house, so, much like the slow demise of the boob lights, I'm not so sad to see 'em go. It's an upgrade that hasn't been high on the list, but since I like, well, daylight, it's time to fix the issue. And why repair when we planned to upgrade at some point anyway? So all-in-all: Yay. Wide slat wood here we come. I'll keep ya posted.

Have a great week!

Overnight Spring

Apparently last weekend and this week are competing for who can fly by fastest. Where's the time going?!

I've done nothing but survive this week, so projects have been roughly shoved delicately set aside for the time being. What does that mean? Pictures of the seemingly-happened-over-night burst of spring happening 'round here. Enjoy - Especially those of you still buried (Minnesota, I'm talkin' to you!).

Have a great weekend - I'll be doing some serious weeding.

...Suddenly I'm a little jealous, Minnesota.

Random Round Up: Speedy

Some weekends just fly by way too quickly. Case in point: This one. Where's the pause button?! I needed more time!

Flower Frosting - One camelia bush is already slowly blooming!

My new obsession.

The perks of playing hostess and having lovely friends.

A hot, made-to-order cookie: Just the thing for a Girls' Weekend night out.

Spring is starting to happen in the backyard...!

Have a great week, guys.

TGIF

Cheers and thank goodness for great friends. A much-needed weekend!

image

'Bout That Action, Boss

Shameless Seahawks plug. And this one too, because it's funnier in song.

But it's true: I was hit hard with a solid dose of gettin' after it this past weekend and took it out on the hallway door trim trio. Nope, that's not a new jazz band, it's these guys:

Laundry room straight ahead, sewing room to the right.

Powder room, diagonally across from the laundry room.

When I snapped the pictures I'd already done most of the sanding - I told you, all about that action! Up close and personal with the miles of trim, I could see just how much they needed an update:

Once fully sanded, a quick wipe-down with a rag and liquid deglosser and then it was time to prime and paint - You can see the products I use in this previous post. And remember that we took care of the baseboard in the same manner back here.

In hindsight, I probably should have taken the time to fill a couple rough spots with some wood putty and caulked the separated bits, but honestly, I didn't really notice them until the white paint went on. Ah well, another little upgrade to do another day.

I don't tape - A 2" short-handle angle brush, some paper bag, and some patience is all I needed. 

Two coats of paint later, I had a gloriously updated hallway.

I did the hallway side of the laundry and sewing rooms, and both the hallway and interior of the powder room. It feels so much brighter and somehow "higher-end", when really instead of money, all that's been invested is about six hours (spread over two days) of elbow grease.

But check out how yellow the "white" doors now look.....

Inside the powder room.

I feel a project coming on.

Random Round Up: The Pooch

Sometimes I just get snap happy around my pooch. So snap happy, in fact, that I take no other weekend pictures. So today, dog pics are what you get.
Don't worry, he's adorable.

Have a great week!

Shrapnel

Weird happening last night: Our hallway light, in use constantly, decided to spontaneously explode.
A loud pop, and then the rain of shrapnel onto the hard floor. Luckily none of us were near enough to take a hit (although Tucker was really close and almost had a heart attack, poor guy).

We recently changed the lightbulbs, but other than that, nothing out of the ordinary. My thought was the bulbs were too strong, but they weren't extra hot to the touch or anything when we investigated. Has this ever happened to you? Tell me in the comments if you know what caused it.

...No crying over shattered boob-light for me though. Now that three out of the seven in the house are gone (one down to bare bulbs when we moved in, one smashed, and now this), I think it might be time to start searching for replacements. I mean, I can classify them as like a safety hazard or something now, right? Yay!

[Le] May Day

I don't know a lot about cars. I can change a tire, my oil, the basics. I'm in awe of people (ahem: Dad) who can spot a car - heck, the GRILL of a car - and tell me year, make, and model in a heartbeat. I'm going to post photos now, and more power to you if you can tell me the stats.
I don't have 'em.
But (and get ready for the girly-ness...) look how pretty! The Le May Museum is one candy chrome coated treat.

Tiny lady (my madre), huge tire!

Yabba Dabba Doooo!

If you can get to Tacoma, WA and hit this four-stories-underground(!) museum, do it. Gear head or not, the eye candy is superb.