phalaenopsis

one of the gifts we received for our housewarming was this beautiful orchid from my boss's wife(who is awesome). i am positive i will kill this thing within a month, as i have no idea at all how to take care of it. my friend emily walked in, and said--that's a lovely phalaenopsis! my reaction was more like--wha??? now that i know what kind of orchid i have, i have been reading all kinds of stuff online about orchid care, and trying to figure out how best not to kill it. how much water? how often? how much light? can i re-pot it out of its ugly green plastic pot while it's blooming? everything i read seems to say something different. emily offered some good advice from her parents, who turn out to be avid orchid-growers, but i will feel that i need more help. so, internet people, help me! if any of you guys know anything at all about these things, or if you can recommend a good book or a reliable website about orchid care, i would really appreciate it. i think this thing is lovely and peaceful, and it looks amazing with the greens in our kitchen and dining room. it's also VERY appropriate to project spectrum this month as well--i am trying something new! growing a pink and green plant. :)

creature comforts

this past weekend we had a housewarming party. and let me tell you, people--there is no better way to get your own ass in gear and unpack some boxes than to throw a party! we got the downstairs half of the house pretty well done before said soirette, and the upstairs is at least fit for humans, if not remotely complete. well--to be honest, you still can't walk in the studio, but hey--no one but me cares about the stuff in there anyway. well--maybe THK cares. and meredith. and the hippie, whose yarn is hidden among my own. but i digress...

the housewarming was (as demanded by our friends) a cocktail party. i made pineapple infused vodka with which i made a bunch of martinis, and they were a huge hit. (meredith and i have been known to drink a whole fifth of pineapple infused vodka in one sitting, so i can attest that they are not only easy, but also easy to drink. not that this was the only cocktail, but i like to feature something. y'all let me know if you need to know how to make 'em.) and here's the thing--i kind of forgot that people give you presents at housewarmings. i mean, i would definitely give a housewarming present, but i didn't really think about GETTING any. many people gave us wine, giftcards to stores where we need stuff, etc. and my friend sonya blew me away by giving us 6 soup bowls in my grandmother's china pattern AND a beautiful piece of art glass. WAY more generosity than i deserve. and yeah--there were many fabulous gifts, so i won't bore you by running through the whole list. BUT. i HAVE to share THESE:

THK made us these sock creatures, and not only do i LOVE them, but i also think they look just awesome on the blue blue wall of our new giant bedroom. are they not the cutest things you've ever seen that don't meow or bark or have fur??? they are from a book called stupid sock creatures, and i think maybe i need to try making one myself. i am not sure i could rival these, though--they are just great. :)

all in all, it was a good party. i am SO GLAD it's over. and now i have the new weekend coming up, and i am torn between going home to see my mama, working on the house some more, and just sitting on my ass knitting for a whole weekend. what to do...

oh, and as an aside, meredith's posting again and she even has pictures of knitting! yay!

i like to fix things

so my friend meredith has apparently decided to quietly start updating her blog again, which pleases me. and she posted a quiz, i had to take myself to see what character from firefly i am. i LOVE firefly and am still depressed that it had only one season--i want MORE! anyway--here's my result:

You are Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)
You are good at fixing things.
You are usually cheerful.
You appreciate being treated
with delicacy and specialness.

Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)		85%
Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command)		75%
Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic)		75%
Inara Serra (Companion)		70%
Derrial Book (Shepherd)		65%
Wash (Ship Pilot)		60%
Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)		55%
River (Stowaway)		35%
Alliance		30%
Jayne Cobb (Mercenary)		25%
A Reaver (Cannibal)		0%

Click here to take the Serenity Firefly Personality Test

oh, by the way, the hippie got the same result. coincidence?

maw-maw's china

i have been a busy girl, y'all. and who knows what all i have been doing--i have just been too busy to write, and that's all i can tell ya. the house is still full of boxes that appear to be multiplying as i unpack them. however, as of last night, i actually finally feel like i am starting to make a teeny tiny bit of headway, which is good, since we're having a giant housewarming party this weekend. whew! i will NOT be ready! but anyway. i am about to wax sentimental on you, so quit reading right now if you're not in the mood for that sort of thing.

a week or so ago, i had a pretty tremendous time when i unpacked my grandmother's china. now, my grandmother is living, but her mind is just gone, and she can't live on her own anymore. my parents and aunts and uncles agreed to move her into an assisted living community, which means everything in her house was divided as she had wished it to be and given to all the various relatives. i have a few things from her, all of which i love and cherish. but above all, i am still astounded to have this china, which she had always told me she would one day give to me. i admit i thought one of my aunts would keep it. but they didn't. they gave it to me.

i used to, every spring, go through the kitchen with my grandmother, wash everything in all the cabinets, and put it all back. and every spring, the china was my favorite part. this was a gift to her from a wonderful lady for whom my grandparents cared for and for whom they did many many selfless things over a long period of years--she gave it to my grandmother by way of thanks. and in turn, it had been a gift to her from someone further back in her own family. this pattern is so not me, and yet i just adore it for its history and its leagacy of kindness and for the memories it carries for me of my grandmother's kitchen.

when the hippie and i were in our apartment, there was nowhere for the china to live--it's been packed in boxes in the basement for literally years. it was one of the last things i found when we cleaned out the basement. and now, for the first time, it has a home. i took it out of it's boxes, washed every piece, and then put it away in my own cabinets. and i realized that this was the first time i had ever washed it without my grandmother right there by my side. and y'all, let me tell you that it was more than a little emotional. i missed my grandmother so much right then. and i know i will think of her every time i use it. i did use it for the first time on easter surrounded by friends and laughter--the Right Thing. maybe i will get around to finishing out the set someday. and hopefully one day i will be able to pass it on to someone who does me a kindness, too.

green

green. second only to blue on the list of colors i love. that banana leaf in the top corner makes me want to buy all new oil paint and a new easel and breathe in the smell of turpentine like i haven't done in years and years. and i will, just as soon as i get the studio unpacked and set up. but in the more immediate future, i have the green sweater for kimmie's baby (the girl that is--the blue sweater in progress is for the boy) to start, a green blanket for a different baby to make by the end of may in this lovely pale grassy green yarn i bought a couple of weeks ago, and some green malabrigo still hanging around for a sweater for gabriella (if i can ever get around to it). green is a strange color for me to think about consciously including elsewhere, because it's implicitly everywhere! i am sure i will be using some green in any embroidering i do as well as in any of the botanical drawings i have floating around in the back of my head, and i use it pretty much every day in my cooking as well. not to mention how many rooms in my house (kitchen, dining room, guest room, laundry room, powder room...) are now painted green--the hippie, he loves green, too!

for the record, i will also be glad when this cold snap we are having goes away and lets all the plants get back to flowering and turning green.

yellow

this collage may be my favorite one so far, which kind of surprises me. yellow is not usually my favorite, but this just looks so light and cheerful!

yellow projects i have in mind for the next couple of months? hmmmmm--i'm making another fluffy yellow baby blanket as we speak for a baby that's due at the end of april, but that's all i've got on the radar for the moment. i need to think about this one some more...

pink

i am still into these collages you can make with flickr toys. it seems such a great way to get started with the new phase of project spectrum: looking at all the pictures i have taken over the last couple of years for some pink, green, and yellow inspiration.

pink projects i am thinking about? pink botanical drawings for my new olive green powder room--it's been way too mong since i have picked up my colored pencils; pink flowers embroidered on SOMETHING--REALLY want to learn some embroidery! a crocheted pink christmas tree skirt for my sparkly lime green office christmas tree--i have putting off the art of hooking for way too long, which is so stupid when i have a great teacher sitting at my table almost every sunday. all i gotta do is feed her!

lest you think it's all doom and gloom over here...

flowers make everything better. meredith sent us these lovely gerbera daisies last week, and they are still looking fabulous on my kitchen counter. they are the bright and lovely oasis in the otherwise wildly disorganized house. and they give me hope that some day (hopefully soon!) the house will be worthy of them. i am making a little headway every day, and i know i will get there eventually. feng shui be damned--the house is starting to be lovely. the hippie's mother also sent us a beautiful rosemary plant, which is an amazingly thoughful gift. the hippie and i both ADORE rosemary! at the old apartment, we had this big gorgeous rosemary bush in the front yard, and i was so sad to leave it behind. this new beauty will live in its pot for the summer, and then i will plant it next to my front walk, where i am hopeful that it will thrive and grow and become part of our daily landscape. really, all stress aside, life is good, people. life is good.

ps--my camera battery remains dead as a doornail, so alas, there are no pictures of the rosemary to share. maybe someday, i will find the charger.

pps--as we have come into april, the colors of project spectrum have changed! we have moved away from blue, white, and grey into the springier combination of pink, green, and yellow. consider this pink flower to be my introduction to project spectrum, phase the second. :)

is this throwng my feng shui out of whack?

so i am doing laundry at the new house this morning. and i have the new washer and dryer, which are now stacked, and i LOVE them in that way that a 50's housewife loves her applainces. so anyway--i have the clothes in, and i am washing the hippie's black stuff with the new detergent that i got that's specifically for black clothes, and i am kind of into it and all. and yet. the washer is making this loud clicking sound. and i have no idea if this is normal or not, and it seems like--how can that be normal? and how do i find out if it's normal or not? the thing is supposed to have a "quiet wash" package... do i ALREADY need a whirlpool repair guy? because i sure hope not! and if so, when the hell am i going to deal with that? and anyway, this CLICKING sound is messing with my laundry zen and kind of pissing me off. and i don't have any real point here, but i just felt like sharing. stupid laundry.

unpacking, etc.

ah, moving. not my favorite. i am exhausted and getting ready to head over to our old apartment to (hopefully) finish cleaning out the basement and staging everything for its impending transfer to a) good will, b) the new house, or c) the boneyard. meanwhile, i am listing stuff to sell on craigs list, because who in the hell has time for a yard sale? the landlord's being a cock himself, and not returning my phone calls about the money he owes me in deposits and ceiling fans. and well--i am just pretty well ready to be done with this mess and focus on the new house.

that said, the new house IS progressing along, even if it's slower than i would like. the bedroom is passable, although only half unpacked. the living room is set up, even if all the books are in boxes. the dining room is functional. the guest room and computer room are about half way there, and the kitchen--well, the kitchen is a work in progress. i have managed to unpack the booze, the barware, and the tea. i have also cleaned up the wreck i made out of everything while frantially searching for spoons the other night. and we're, you know, eating and drinking and all that. in fact, someone already spilled a drink in the new house--a whole glass of red wine! she shouldn't feel TOO bad though, since the hippie created a beer tsunami just a couple of days later in the dining room floor. oh the tragedy of alcohol abuse that's been afoot!

our friends have been just awesome through this whole thing. we had MANY people helping is move the heavy things last saturday, one of whom even drove down from maryland with a truckload of ikea bookshelves for the hippie. our friend amy has worked on the house about as much as we have--she's been involved in the painting, the cleaning, the packing, the unpacking, the putting together of furniture, the replacing of light fixtures, etc. we definitely owe her a stripper or something. maybe a new car. and THK has been great company while i have been unpacking. she shows up with her knitting and just hangs out with me while i sort through things and put things away that no one can really help with. it reminds me of the glorious college moments when there was always a girlfriend handy to read trashy magazines and paint her toenails while you cleaned and re-organized your dorm room or procrastinated your term paper. i love that! by the way, that's a picture from the lunch break she and the hippie nad i took on sunday at XIOS, a great little greek place near the new house. it was WAY too perfect outside to work the whole day with no chill-breaks! that's her yarntini yarn in the cosmopolitan colorway next to her neon martini--an excellent combination.

anyway--i am clearly babbling, so it must be time to go. *sigh* y'all wish me luck with the nasty moldy basement...

rant: blogger sucks

i wrote a whole blog post. a long one. with pictures. and blogger killed it because of an html error. wtf, people? old blogger let me fix those--does new blogger just refuse to deal with one tiny broken tag??! anyway--i don't have the strength to re-write the thing right now, and besides--it's a knitting lunch day, so i am going to go knit for the first time in a week. suffice it to say, i am tired. i am unpacking. all is well, but overwhelming. i'll write a real post later today. again. grrrrrrr...

angst past, new house still the Right Thing

now that the well-timed bout of food-poisoning is past, my angst and doubt over the new house appears to have evaporated as well. the new house is so pretty inside, and it's starting to fill up with our stuff, which makes it feel more like Our House. the hippie's been saying that it has felt for the past month like we have been painting someone else's house. i think we are both pretty ready to move in and stake our claim. i wish i could lay claim to this lovely plum tree as well--it's in our neighbor's yard, but the yards are so small that this translates to--right beside our driveway. these blossoms are so lovely--they lift the spirit.

doubt

it's warm out, and i step onto the front porch and inhale the scents of this old neighborhood. i walk into the bathroom where the window is open, and it reminds me so much of my grandmother's house when i was a child that i want to cry. and i wonder, are we making a mistake? i love the new house, but is it as US as this old rickety place has been? call it late night packing melancholy, call it hormones, or call it whatever you like. for all my overall excitement, tonight i am filled with doubt. it probably doesn't help that i have been sick since about 8:30pm. but whatever. not having a good night. glad the hippie's not home to see it.

new pretties for the house

two posts in one day--y'all try not to have a heart attack, now...

because the hippie and i haven't spent any money in a while--oh wait... since you can never spend too much money when you are buying a new house, the hippie and i bought a new dining room table and chairs last night. this is the chemia dining room set from world market, and it's AWESOME. very sturdy and pretty. my friend jenn has this same table, and she sent me a link when it went on sale--now i have it, too! it was just too good of a deal to pass up. it's going to be SO NICE to be able to use things like place mats and table runners and stuff without having to keep the table 100% covered all the time. i am sure THK is going to take one look and go--new yarn table! (and it's true...)

i also caved and bought the media stand from crate and barrel that i have been lusting after. i went and looked at it, made sure that the doors pop out so i can clean them, and then laid some bucks down on the table so the shiny new tv has a place to put its feet. i am not even going to START talking about the appliances! not to mention the retardedly expensive toilet paper holder i bought. maybe buying a house makes you crazy.

does anyone know when pottery barn puts their upholstery on sale?

present

good thing for y'all those cupcakes were cute, since i made you look at them for so freakin' long! it's been a crazy couple of weeks, as i am sure you can imagine. i won't go into the gory details, but let's just say i have been painting. a lot. and packing. and when i am not doing those two things, i am...um... oh yeah! spending money on paint! i am in the early phase of home-ownership when it seems that $200 leaps from my pocket into the lowes cash register every time i set foot outside the house.

so anyway, sometime last week (the days, they are running together) i went over to the new house to do some things, and i found THIS is my mailbox!

a package! my first one at the new house! flaurella, who rocks, sent me something as a little housewarming present. i LOVE getting stuff in the mail! wanna know what was inside? OF COURSE YOU DO!!!

i may have mentioned before that my friend flaurella has a shop called eclectica that sells vintage costume jewelry--she has all kinds of great stuff on her site. in fact, the hippie bought me a beautiful charm bracelet i wanted from her just last fall--i LOVE it and wear it all the time. and i am not the only one who loves her--she was recently featured in a new york times article about cameos, which is just awesome. but anyway, back to MY package! look at this beautiful wrapping--even the plain white tissue paper looks good. i love the little victorian stamp and i think that the little rosebud on the box is a lovely touch as well. inside, there were three little charms to add to the bracelet the hippie gave me or to start a new one. one is a ball of yarn. flaurella seems to think i might have a thing for yarn or something. the second is a little house in honor of my first house, which about made me cry. and then the third is a tiny currituck lighthouse which was our favorite out of all the lighthouses the hippie and i visited last spring about this time. such lovely and thoughtful gifts--i was, and still am, blown away! i know i am a sap, but sometimes the small gifts have the most punch to them, expecially when they come out of the blue and are so well-considered. so thank you, flaurella! thank you SO MUCH! and i am really very sorry that all my thank-you notes are packed up in a box somewhere in the madness so that i can't send you a proper Southern thank-you. i'll get to it, i swear!

4 days till move-in day. trying to keep the panic at bay...

mmmm...cupcakes!

yesterday's normal sunday knitting and cooking madness was interrupted by the making of 48 cupcakes for gabriella's fourth birthday party. it's really hard to believe she's almost 4 already! i feel like she was just born about 5 minutes ago. anyway--this is how i spent my sunday morning. i baked the cupcakes and made two colors of green buttercream icing for them. then THK and i decorated them with jelly beans in various green flavors and little flower-shaped candies and dark green writing icing. this was SO MUCH FUN! i admit to taking some cues here from the baking of jane and the fairy cakes in nigella lawson's cookbook, how to be a domestic goddess (thanks aimee!)--i am just glad i had a reason to do some baking of my own. i am also happy to report that in all, i only ate two cupcakes. it could have been a LOT worse!!! :)

in other cooking and eating news, THK made her first roasted chicken the other night--go D!

lust, homeowner style

like any new homeowner, i have become obsessed with browsing around for furniture and stuff for the new house. in addition to the massive cash we are about to throw down for the appliances we must have to make the house work, i am also filled with lust for the following items, some of which we actually need, and some of which are just yummy.

needed: the charleston sofa from pottery barn in cranberry twill or cardinal brushed canvas. we have a sleeper love seat that matches this sofa, and it's AWESOME. it's comfy and pretty and has machine washable slipcovers, which i highly recommend for anyone with pets. plus, our cutrrent sofa is a piece of crat that's falling apart and with which the cats have had their way one too many times...

needed: the kingston media stand from crate and barrel. i have been looking at media stands everywhere. the hippie's gonna buy a big screen TV, which is fine and all, but this require some more furniture. the little stand we have now will not work with a ginormous TV, nor will it hold all the crap that goes with it. so. this is the best one i can find that fits the bill and will (mostly) work. plus, it's pretty. :)

wanted: SHEETS! i LOVE sheets. and i think these chrysanthemum sheets from garnet hill are just so pretty. i want them in blue AND green to go with my blue and green bedroom. i don't NEED them at all--i just WANT them. and i am embarassed to say that i also want these christmas sheets. it's actually hard for me to believe that i want christmas sheets as i generally keep the holiday stuff confined to the main living spaces of the house. but man, these are just too cute, and i think they would look awesome with our bright blue walls. *sigh*

i was planning to put a picture here of the pivot dining room table from crate and barrel, which we have also wanted for a long time. but now that i look at it again, i realize i am not 100% sold on it anymore. i still think it's cool as hell, but it may also be too small. hmmmm. guess i have more shopping to do!

seagull grey

i am leaving work a bit early today to go do more of this. this is the color of the new living room. everyone keeps asking what color everything will be, so i thought i would start indulging. coincidentally, many of our color choices fall witin the bounds of project spectrum, so this tiny post is a double whammy. :)

painting and packing

since we closed on the house last friday, i have been alternating days--one at the new house painting, the next at our apartment packing. i have (with help) managed to get a coat of paint on the living room and kitchen and to finish painting the dining room at the new house. at the old house, i have caught up with laundry, packed six boxes of books, and knitted half the front of a baby sweater. oh yeah, i also went to the grocery store and made dinner for sunday and monday, lunch through tomorrow, and breakfast each day.

this is so weird, to be disassembling what has been my home for four years, the first home i shared with the hippie, and simultaneously nesting like a mama bird at the new house. it's an emotional roller coaster--let me tell you.

i LOVE the new house--i am SO excited about it! while i am there, i plot and plan, and spend thousands of dollars in my head. i picture it filled with firends and our things. i imagine paintings i will finally have the room to create. i can't wait to have a housewarming party. i am having a GREAT time arguing with the hippie about colors, and i adore painting it and making it feel like my own. i think we will be in this house for a long, long time.

and then i come home, and i am so sad for the little kitchen i have become so accustomed to, and for all the trees i am moving away from, and for the flowers in my yard. i am sad that the cats won't have all the squirrels and birds on the front porch to watch. i am loathe to leave my upstairs neighbor, who is a fabulous woman and who doesn't yet know that we are moving away. i drive up in front of our little house and i want to cry. and the packing--well, that's always something of a sentimental journey.

i guess this is normal. i am definitely a person who gets attached to a place, and i am a person who also loves to dream and think about the future. anyway. i have no real point here--i just wanted to share how awesome and how hard of a time i am having.

homeowner

yep. got the key, and am getting ready to head over the the new house to start painting. yesterday we did a walk-through and then went to lunch with our fabulous realtor, then closed without a hitch. we met jenn and gabriella afterwards for a tour of the house and some paint swatch viewings. i have picked out colors for nearly every room, and gotten approval from the hippie for my choices. now, it's off to lowes to buy a gajillion dollars worth of paint and get movin'. it's gonna be a busy month year, people.