scenes from a 3 year-old's birthday party

Happy birthday, little man. There's so much to see and do once you turn three.

You can wrangle a wild T-rex.

You can "build a house."

And lastly, you can host all-night Monster Bubble Belly parties and invite your godparents!
Gift courtesy of yours truly and B. Is that a surprise?

first trip to the zoo

It's become the weekend of godsons. I have to run out shortly and scoop up a gift for our 3 year old godson's birthday party, which starts in a couple of hours. And yesterday I tagged along for Henry's first trip to the zoo.

I think Henry enjoyed the farm animals the most.


Plus, the fountains!


All that fun was tiring. He didn't make it to see the Africa exhibit, the latest of the Virginia Zoo habitats. Next time, perhaps.

new do!

Thank you, Amber, for recommending the fabulous Matt at Wink Salon. I keep feeling my hair and can't believe it's really mine.

progress

Progress has been made on the patio and the mud room. Why I start multiple projects, I'll never know. Another Friday night painting the mud room and listening to back-to-back episodes of What Not to Wear. That Clinton and Stacy - gotta love 'em.

You guys remember the before right?


I find this color scheme so much more refreshing. Ahh...


Next - the patio. As you know, we've been working on the gravel pit for weeks and we're finally reaching the finish line. One more load of gravel and we're done.

The whole project cost us less than 250. We recycled the brick from our former patio and used it on only the perimeter. Gravel cost the most at 40 bucks a truckload, of which we needed four. Sand was approx. 15 bucks a truckload and I believe we used three loads. Not bad for a patio on a budget. It's spacious and will allow room for a table and a firepit. A pergula is in the plans, but probably not till next summer.



And lastly, I thought I would share my little find. Isn't it adorable? And the best part is - it was only 15 bucks! Serendip in the Freemason area has the most charming items.

lawnmower man

crepes, an art festival, & a gravel rake


Pretty much sums up my day. All the interesting festivals in Norfolk occur all in the same weekend, making it difficult to divide valued time amongst them. We awoke early to have brunch at Maria's house, where she made delicious lemon curd filled crepes. With full bellies, we headed off to Stockley Gardens Art Festival.


The festival occurs twice a year, drawing artists from all over the region. I noticed some new faces and interesting work, which is refreshing considering it usually features the same artists year after year. Not that I have a problem with decorative landscapes and still lifes of flowers, but, um yeah...you know what I'm saying.

Bobby and I like to go more for the people watching. Every Ghentite brings out their exotic dog to prance around, poop in the path of others, and lap up the remains of funnel cake discarded by the clumsy child.

Did I mention funnel cake? I have a love for sugary carnival food, preferably foods served on a stick or in a bag. Forget art - give us sugar! We chose the kettle corn this time.


Stockley Gardens is also probably the only place I would consider eating my food on a make-shift table/trash can. There it seems perfectly normal.


Stockley Gardens is also a place where one can purchase a 10,000 dollar oil painting or a creepy stuffed animal for 1 dollar.


The festival was a pleasure, but more important projects needed tending, like the gravel pit in our back yard we're calling a patio.


The project is almost complete with only one more load remaining.


Tomorrow - Greek Festival and a finished patio!

another sighting!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

meet Shasmo Lillegs

He was born out of an anxiety fueled crafting spurt the other night. He peeked out during the final bit of Law and Order Criminal Intent just as Detective Bobby burst into tears after discovering his dying mother's past association with a serial killer. Shasmo let out his first cry as William Shatner tousled Conan O'Brien's styled coiffure.

He's a little insecure, so he's been shying away from my camera. I was lucky to snap this pic as a scurrying animal outside caught his attention. His insecurity lies in the fact that his ears are larger than his legs. He manages to get around, but does have some difficulty standing upright.

I'll keep the camera close to my side just in case another photo op arises.

a beautiful weekend

The forecast called for scattered rain, but the sun remained to shine most of the weekend. We were able to start pouring gravel and anticipate finishing in the next week - a relief. I'm looking forward to sitting in the sun's warmth, listening to the constant chatter of birds, and enjoying a glass of cabernet on our patio upon completion.

slurp

spring fever

Apparently, I'm allergic to Spring now. This is a new development and I'm not a pleasant sick person to be around. I jinxed myself when recently bragging to coworkers that I've never taken a sick day. Now I'm delirious, whiney, and just want to curl up under my desk for a little nap.

And of course it just started pouring rain right before I'm able to leave work. Figures. Just in time for the weekend.

I took my lunch break outside today and found a shaded bench in a park downtown. I kicked off my shoes and set them beside me. I had this fear that if I left them on the ground, some crazy person would run by and steal my shoes, leaving me barefoot for the rest of the workday. Anyhow, two middle-aged men walked by. I heard one say, "oh, shoes." The other - "thought they were bananas."

So, happy Mother's Day everyone. Especially to those who will be celebrating it for the first time this year.

And to my mom. Mommy, will you come over and take care of me? Sniff, cough, aaahhh!

Scattered post, huh? IT'S BECAUSE I'M DELIRIOUS!

not fair.

I was feeling free and a bit impulsive on my day off last Friday, so I went ahead and ordered Feist/Grizzly Bear tickets at the 9:30 club. I checked my calendar. No conflicts.

I just received a revised production schedule for a project I'm working on - pushed back two weeks and the thick of it falls...you guessed it - during the show.

So, if anyone wants to go see Feist on June 13 (Wednesday) in DC, let me know and I'll cut you a deal. Sigh - I'm very sad :(

if I had any free space on my walls...

I would get one of these:



A gigantic 4x6 ft. poster from J. Otto Seibold's installation at Mass MOCA.

See how awesome it looks framed here.

you might think i'm a loser.

But my mom is a winner.

check out the local chapter of craft mafia!

Amber did an amazing job designing and organizing the website.


Norfolk Craft Mafia

is my godson not the cutest?

Call me partial, but I'm sure you agree. Marissa and Henry came by for a visit today, since I was leisurely lounging around the house.

Henry is developing his taste in furniture. I think he likes mid-century.

Look how delighted he is in the Eames armchair.
He'll need to grow a little larger for the LCW - he slid right out.

He's also developing a taste for other things.

Thanks for stopping by, kiddos!

new discovery (for me, at least)

Saw this guy on the Today show this morning. Love this concept.

Plus, I also learned that the malformation of my left ear has a name through his site! Darwinian Tubercle. Amazing! I just thought I had an unusual deformity. Now it's an unusual deformity that has its own name that I share with a guy who dances a jig in different countries. Awesome.

i'm alive!

I bet you guys were wondering what happened to ol' twittering bird, huh? I have finally emerged from my cave and can enjoy the light of day once again.

It's fairly common for designers to pull all-nighters, but I have managed to avoid them for some time. All week: wake up, shower, go to work by 8am, eat lunch at desk, get exercise by walking to and from printer, eat dinner at desk, go home at 11 pm, sleep. On Wednesday, I worked until 4am. I'm not a fan of sitting in one position, staring at a monitor for more than 10 hours at a time. It makes me a lil batty.

I think JG worked 72 hours straight. That's plain crazy, but she's damn amazing, so I guess it paid off.

So, as soon as I left work yesterday, I headed over to Nordstrom and treated myself to a new pair of shoes.


I'm in love with them - they're the most comfortable flats I have ever slipped on my feet. I intend to wear them every day this summer, so you better get used to seeing them.

They remind me of JG, who searched for yellow flats relentlessly a couple years ago. JG - do you approve?

So, I'm sitting at home, leisurely drinking coffee in my ratty bath robe, enjoying my comp day - the reward for excessive late night hours. I'm starting the weekend early and it feels great.

My plans? Craft, paint - both canvas and house. All weekend long with breaks for friends and family. Oh - craft mafia potluck this Sunday! Yay!

First project of the day:



This is our mud room which connects our kitchen to our garage/workshop. Behind the folding doors is a 1/2 bathroom. I'm breaking out the Kils.

Notice the tin star? I know, they're country, but for some reason I adore these stars. It's become a trend in Chincoteague to use them as a chimney adornment and it seems every other cottage sports them on that tiny island. Bobby is not too keen on them (perhaps they are a bit tacky), so I hung one in our mud room to satisfy my star envy.

Speaking of Chincoteague trends, the gazing ball, starfish birdbath, and horse-tie jockeys were also popular a few years back, and littered every other front yard. So, maybe I'll hold back with the chimney star, as the decor taste of the island inhabitants is notoriously questionable.

So, back to the mudroom. You can't see it in the picture, but there is 2 feet of drywall above the paneling. I plan to paint it "vintage map" blue/green. It's more of a robin's egg blue, but don't you love the color name? I bought a quart of it last weekend and had fun testing it in various places.


I'm getting close to finishing our spice cabinet, which I started over a year ago. Baby steps. I have the panels of glass, which I tried to "frost" last week (dreadful attempt), but I have yet to figure out how to attach successfully.

It's a doorbell, just in case you're wondering what that weird object is above our refrigerator. Like most of the appliances and fixtures acquired with our house, it's really dated, and not in an "original period piece" kinda way. I like to say it's "vintage." Sounds better, yeah?

Okay, so now I'm spending my day off in front of the computer once again, so I'm gonna sign off. But first, I leave you with some other shots taken from last weekend, when the weather was warm and sunny. First one - potted flowering plant Bobby's mom picked up from Tanner's Creek...hell if I know what it's called. Second- we collect stones from places of travel and they wind up in window sills, etc. Third - our little visitor who wandered into my shot.

Have a great weekend!

just checking in.

I've been working around the clock recently on the project mentioned in the previous post. I said I can't give details, but I don't see why I can't share a few thumb nails.


It's been fun though the time crunch is overwhelming. Finished pieces (7) will be presented to the client on Thursday. I'm on #4 and still need to layout a brochure tomorrow. Hmph.

Purchased the new Feist album this morning. Love it.

Need to get coffee. Back to work.