Life got in the way

Well, I don't think I have ever gone a month without blogging.  September just happens to be my favorite month and I think we have been soaking it up.  I started off my month with one of my favorite traditions: I hopped aboard the Hogwarts Express and have almost finished rereading my favorite books.  I took a knitting class and knitted my first hat, then my second, then my third.... I like to knit  them.  We celebrated the Mr's birthday and are planning a few fall trips. With my little man in school for a few hours a day, 4 days a week, my life has started to revolve around taking him and getting him.  And, I have started some good habits for myself.... working out again steadily.  I have done some here and there over the past few years, but I am pretty much scheduled at the gym at least 4 days a week, but I end up doing more.  I have a bunch of cute clothes that I would like to wear again.    So, basically life has gotten in the way. And, I think that is the best reason ever not to blog as much.

We decided to put off moving and listing the house until Spring.  The Mr. has travelled so much this year and we are planning 2 trips this fall that it just felt rushed, and I don't like to half do things.  Plus, I can't imagine not snowflaking the house at Christmas just to appeal to those who don't like reams of paper hanging from the ceiling and windows.  So, we will work on getting things ready and hopefully sell and move before next Summer so we are settled by the time Kindergarten starts.  We are ready though.  We are ready to purge and simplify and call a new place home.  We were not meant for subdivision life.

I have stepped back on custom painting with the Mr's travel and our trips planned, but I hope to pick it back up soon.... either here or once we get settled.  I have been making things (besides hats and scarves!)  and have lots of ideas in my head, but for now, I am keeping them to myself.

I hope your September has been as lovely as mine!

Knitting Away

I made a little decision to knit a bunch of scarves for my family and friends for a little project in December.  I finished all of them this week, which brings my total of scarves knitted to 14. I decided it is time to branch out a little bit.  I need to learn how to knit something else.  So, I signed up for a little hat knitting class in September.  And, I have a bunch of people I want to have a hat!

Now, I am getting started on some new items for my esty shoppe this weekend!  More soon~

5.4.3.2.1. Blast off! A 5th birthday party

hello hello~  we have been pretty busy around this casa over the past few weeks.  The boy turned 5 and  we had a party just the 3 of us. Then a few days later a bunch of family and friends came to celebrate this little man.  We also found out that he was accepted into a program that he was on a waiting list for earlier this year. We had to juggle some school things around and are getting into a somewhat of a routine.  We love planning his birthday every year and this year he had plenty of his own input which made it even better.

The theme this year was ROCKET!  The Mr. designed and block printed the invites and made the 3 of us some pretty sweet shirts too.  We wanted a retro rocket theme.  We had originally planned on a Man in the Moon theme like from "Trip to the Moon," but after talking it over, we decided on a comic-y look.  I punched out several stars and sewed a little garland and draped them all over the treat table.

I bought some starry lights and they didn't really do what I wanted them to do based on the placement of light sockets and tape not holding the wires, but that is okay.  I am sure I will find another use for them.

We found all kinds of different candy and treats and I came up with some names and the Mr. made signs.  I found this great vintage set of cardboard standups with spacey things like rockets and aliens.

The lemon cupcakes had sprinkles shaped like stars. The cake pops did too!  I loved how the stars looked on the outside of the dark blue cake pop coating.

We had sixlets, pretzel sticks dipped and sprinkled, Milky Ways, rock candy on sticks, flying saucers (a really strange candy!) and cake pops.

The Mr chalked this giant comic book cover of the little man riding in his rocket

The rocket was the little man's and the Mr's project.  They went to Home Depot and found all kinds of stuff to repurpose and create this rocket.

They added a small fan to "fan the flames."

We had other food besides the cavity makers... really yummy tiny tacos, but we forgot to take a photo.  I made some limeade and some raspberry lemonade for punches.

I made some confetti out of tissue paper and put it in some clear balloons. It was much more exciting the next morning when we had to pop them. Confetti everywhere!!  Or, more confetti everywhere!

I found a company on etsy that makes these great wooden puzzles and they had rockets!  The treat bags had that and a space crayon and a Milky Way bar.

We had a blast!!  This may be the last birthday party in this house.  I sort of joked with the Mr that we should take into account decorating for birthdays when we are house hunting.  But, really, I was being serious.

More soon.... I have been busy knitting scarves for my December project!!

In the middle

Let me be the first to tell you, in case there was any doubt: opening and decorating a shoppe is much more fun than closing down two studios and moving everything.  That has been our life for the past few weeks.  We have everything out now and we are in full on party mode for baby hughes' 5th birthday.  The boy wanted rockets, so we are giving him rockets.  Not live ones, mind you.  That would be a disaster.  In the midst of all this, the Mr. has been super busy (which we are grateful!) He went to Chicago last week to chalk a booth at the BlogHer conference.  

We are giving ourselves at least until after the birthday party to really tackle what we need to get the house ready and on the market.  We are torn on putting it on the market this fall/ winter or waiting until spring.  I think the earlier, the better, but then I also don't want the house on the market over the holidays.  So, we will see.  I am just ready to start packing!  But, I also know that this move is much bigger than the ones I made in my single days.

The middle stages are always the hardest for me.  There is a momentum of an end and an excitement of new beginnings, but the middle is just kind of ehhh when it is longer than a few days or weeks or doesn't even have a determined amount of time.  I know it will all happen in time and to enjoy all the parts.  But, patience isn't one of my strong points.

It looks like there is a good chance that we will be moving to the Tri-Cities area if we stay in Tennessee, which we would like.  We still want to make another in depth trip there this fall and really look this time to see if it fits the bill.

Saying goodbye to our little space on Hardin Alley was hard, even as much as I like change.  I loved having my little shoppe there.  And, I know that it most likely won't be the only shoppe I have over the years, I will still have great memories of my time there.  And, I am excited to come back to visit.  Our friend that we met through the shoppe when she came to buy furniture for her sweet daughter is opening up a bakery there in the next little bit.  If you are local, you need to check out Delectable Art Bakery in Spring Hill.  I was so happy that someone I know is going to love the space as much as I did.

Okay, I think it is time to start cutting out several hundred stars!  I love party time!

Dream Home- Interior

The other day I showed you what I was looking at exterior wise in this post.  Honestly, the space on the outside is somewhat more important to me even though I know the best stuff is on the inside.  I can work with a less than pretty interior.  An exterior usually requires more than just painting the sides and doors.  Still, there are a few features I would be thrilled if our new home had them.

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Allow me to be perfectly honest with you.  If I find a home with floors like this, we are buying it.  I don't care if I can see the sky through the roof, herringbone floors like these can make me call that a skylight.

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Of course, I am realistic and will settle for any old original wood flooring like these.  We have wood downstairs and carpet upstairs now and my goal is to never have any carpet ever again. (Those walls are pretty awesome too!)

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Now this is something that I am sure that my Mr and my friends who care about this sort of thing are tired of me talking about: this layout.  This is one of the main reasons I want a bungalow.  Two small windows over 2 low built ins with a fireplace in the middle.  This is my favorite living room layout.  Let me be sure you know.  I WANT this.  And, bungalows usually have it.  It is perfect. 

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 I also like the substantiality of this fireplace.  I wouldn't mind a painted brick one either,

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 I love Kate Spade's kitchen.  Or her former kitchen if she redecorated it.  It is perfect.  I would really love to have a classic checkered floor.  So many times they can look retro and that isn't the look I am after.  This has just the right balance.

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 It is just perfect!

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This kitchen is pretty incredible too.  I love the absence of upper cabinets and those windows.  I love black windows!

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 I may be burned at the stake for saying it, but I am not a big fan of islands and peninsulas.  I really only like islands if they aren't built in.   I love galley kitchens like this and u-shaped kitchens that have an area for a kitchen table.  And, if you have figured it out already, I love white cabinets.

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 Ahhh, enamel appliances.  I would love to have some.  I think I would give up a dishwasher if I could have a stove and fridge like these.  Either in white or the green.

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 I love built-ins.  Love them.  I would be super excited to find a home with a butler's pantry.

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I love the look of a banquette.  Even if there isn't a space for a table in the kitchen, it would be nice to have a little corner like this.

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 I want a bath that has great original tile.  I want this sink.  I want less toilets to clean and no shower stalls. My ideal house has no more than 2 bathrooms.  Ideally, 1.5. And fewer sinks.

Dreaming is fun, huh?  I think the most important thing that the interior of our new home has is quirks and character.  I want molding that has patina or looks like it has been painted 5 times over the years.  I want light switches that click like my grandma's did when you flipped them.  I want a room that you don't know if it was a bedroom or a dining room or what.  Something that makes me come up with creative solutions to make work.  I will give up things like walk in closets and floors that don't squeak and siding that is easy to upkeep.

In the midst of moving out of the shoppe and getting this house ready, I am planning a 5th birthday party.  5th.  How did my baby hughes become a skinny little boy?

more soon~