Crazy Town

I'll tell you about Crazy Town in a minute. But first, look at the pillows I made today! I just loved this fabric and had to have it. I bought three quarters of a yard at a designer fabric outlet in Kinderhook, NY about a month ago for $35. It's a heavyweight tapestry, and I considered making a small rug out of it for my bathroom (for about a minute) before I decided to make pillows instead. I LOVE 'em!

I put a yummy green velvet on the back, that I bought at the same place.

OK, so below is what my friend Kelly is referring to as "Crazy Town." She just "doesn't get" why I want to use raspberry red with my blue walls in my kitchen. What's to get? I think it's cool! Opinions, anyone out there? Am I crazy? I want to paint my built-in a raspberry red too. Seriously, tell me if you think I'm nutso.

I love this toile so much I can hardly stand it. It's my favorite fabric at Bolt, and has been since we opened. I can't believe someone hasn't snatched it up by now! Maybe it's just me!

And as promised, my awesome stainless bar cart, bought for $35 at a garage sale the other day.

Party on, Garth!

The bottom is actually perfectly fine stainless...that debris you see there is from the rain pelting all over it last night.

And last but most certainly not least, my too-cool-for-school faux bamboo chairs, picked up at a nearby flea market on Sunday. Guess how much I paid? You won't believe it when I tell you! I got four of them, and I'm painting them red, and puttin' 'em in my kitchen. CRAZY town!

Oh, P.S., they came with seats, if that factors into your monetary calculations. I just took them off to paint.

Tomorrow we're headed to Six Flags Great Escape and Splashwater Kingdom. Funny-fun-fun! I may bring my camera to get pics of Kathleen on crazy roller coasters. Scary!

Summer Daze

On a nice sunny summer afternoon in NY, don't you just want to curl up with a good book? I bought a new magazine last night at Borders, called Southern New England Home. I love looking at "local" homes and decor. I can't wait to crack it open. The pages are nice and thick--it feels like a book, and will probably end up in my decor book collection.
Lost in thought, gazing at the river.

Random river shot.

Kathleen made this fruit pizza last week for a dinner party. Didn't she do a great job?
I just love these in the summer, with all the fresh fruit that's available to us. Yummmy!

A little proud? Hee!

I managed to putty up all the holes in the beadboard and molding in the kitchen today, and got a coat of paint on it all. I'm probably going to need two more coats. Ugh. I weeded my gardens, too, since the humidy has finally broken. It's been pretty nasty here of late. Today and yesterday were gorgeous days. Oh, and I bought a VERY cool stainless steel buffet cart thingie for next to my outdoor grill. I'll take a pic to show y'all later. I got it at a garage sale today! Cheap!

Ba-da Bingo, It's Lidingo!

IKEA, Elizabeth, NJ
I didn't like the Elizabeth store as much as the Paramus store, but since I had to go to their warehouse in Elizabeth to pick up my door and drawer fronts, I figured I'd check it out. Of course I didn't leave empty-handed. I'm especially fond of my new cheese grater. :)

I took this picture out my passenger side window while driving home. It's NYC! Don't tell anyone what a hazard I am on the road. Oy.

Et voila! My new kitchen doors! Yay! We stayed up until midnight getting it all put together. But I'll tell you what. It's EASY-PEASY to assemble this stuff. I can't get over how wonderfully clever everything is. Seriously, if you're vascillating on whether or not to do-it-yourself with an IKEA kitchen, I'm telling you right now to GO FOR IT. If I can do it, anyone can. Seriously.

Of course, now the floor looks like TOTAL crap. But I need to paint first. THEN the floor. These things take time.

I put handles on the sink fascias because I like the symmetry of it all. BF thought I was a little nutty, but whatev. He also thought I was a nut because after I put those slow-stopper-thingies on each drawer, I pushed it closed and clapped my hands with glee. It's the small things, people.

A friend of mine came in to have a look today and mistook my Pragel stone effect black countertops for Corian. Pretty cool, eh? I guess she didn't see the raw edge to the left of the sink? Heh. (It's on the list. Geesh. Stop rushing me.)

OMG how much am I loving my giant drawers?!!?!?! Oh, like SO MUCH!

And my pull-outs? Hell-OOO!

And everyone must have their very own Boholomen sink cover. I mean, really.
I've already made a batch of salsa today in my shiny new kitchen. One of these days I'll get all the holes filled everywhere, so that I can paint, then lay the floor, then get a table in there, maybe some window treatments--or not. I can't wait for it to be ALL DONE. But for now, it works, and I love it!!

GOOGLE WEB SURFING FRIENDS! PLEASE LOOK AT THE TOP MENU BAR AND CLICK ON "MY KITCHEN" FOR MORE PICTURES OF MY KITCHEN IN PROGRESS. I LOVE MY IKEA KITCHEN, AND I'D LOVE IT IF YOU WOULD POST A LINK HERE TO YOUR IKEA KITCHENS TOO! I GET A LOT OF SURFERS COMING TO SEE MINE--I'D LOVE IT IF YOU WOULD ADD YOURS TO THE MIX!

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!

~sharon

Vignettes

I took these photos at my uncle's house on the river last night. It's actually an old dormitory, and they use it for entertaining in the summer. There are 12 bedrooms, and I took pictures of many of them. I turned them all into black and whites, because the rooms all had a vintage feel, and black and white felt "right." Some of them are reminiscent of Andrew Wyeth paintings, don't you think?

Cat on a Leash

OK, I'm askin' ya'....isn't this weird?

So, speaking of cats, we didn't go to IKEA on Saturday. What does this have to do with cats, you ask? Well, I've got two of them, and they are both a big PIMA. Every morning at around 4-ish, or 4:22, or 5:13, or whenever they feel the urge, they are outside my bedroom door scratching, pushing, meowing loudly...generally making a big nuisance of themselves. Well, usually I get up, feed them, pee, and go back to bed. Not that that usually stops them. They're back an hour later.

Friday night the shenanigans started at 1:30am, and Tess would NOT shut the heck up. At. All. I was SO tired, and SO annoyed, that finally at 5am, I put her in the basement and closed the door. Ahhhh...peace. But I still had only had about 3.5hrs of sleep. So, when Kathleen came down and knocked on my door at 8am with an expectant look on her face, I said "We're not going" and rolled over, pulling my covers over my head as I rolled. That night was also going to be Jonas Brothers concert night, and I needed SOME sleep, right?!

So Tuesday is IKEA day (because today is orthodontist day), and for the last two nights, I've put BOTH cats down in the basement with their food and their litter, and I've slept like a baby. Peace at last. And they seem no worse for it. Brats.

Lake Houses

Kathleen's grandparents live in a lake community in Ohio about a half an hour outside of Columbus. I took some pictures from the boat over the course of our three day visit, and thought you might enjoy some of these houses as much as I did. Some of the landscaping was really great. There is some BIG money on this lake! This first picture below was taken from the deck on the back of the house. I didn't post a picture of their house for privacy reasons.

I couldn't resist this shot of Kathleen and the dog. That dog was SO good and SO cute the whole time we were there. They also had an adorable cat, Molly, whom Kathleen took out on a leash a couple of times. Now THAT was funny. Who ever heard of a cat on a leash?

Of course I have to share more pics of my kid--she's too photogenic NOT to post them.

Tomorrow morning we're heading down to Elizabeth, NJ to pick up my cabinet and door fronts from IKEA. Then tomorrow night, we're going to see the Jonas Brothers at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Whoo hoo! LOL. Oy, the things we do for our kids. :-P

Niagara Falls Teaser

We're here on our way home from Ohio, and the halfway point just happens to be Niagara Falls! We had to stay on the NY side, but it's just as lovely from here as it is from Canada. It's been a long day, though, and I'm off to enjoy my cushy bed with crisp white linens. We'll be on our way home tomorrow after enjoying more of the town, and who knows where we'll stop on our way back east. Perhaps some back roads are in order?

G'nite!

Road Trip!

Tomorrow morning (EARLY) I head out to Indianapolis to pick up my darling child from her week-long stay at her friend McKayla's house, and zoo camp. This will be my longest solo road trip yet, and I'm just a little bit nervous. I miss Kathleen, though, so it's going to be worth it!! :) I have books on CD, satellite radio, and my own busy head for company, so it should be fine.

On the way home, we'll be stopping near Columbus, OH, to stay with Kathleen's paternal grandparents, whom she hasn't seen since she was five years old. So THAT should be interesting! Her father is going to drive up from NC to meet us there, which is a good thing. We last saw him in April.

I'm also tossing around the idea of stopping in Niagara Falls for the night on Tuesday, which might be a nice way to break up the long ride home. I've only been once, and Kathleen's never been, so I may surprise her with a little impromptu stay there for the night. There is so much to see there. I'd love to take her to the botanical gardens, the butterfly conservatory, and Niagara on the Lake. I wonder how much we can fit into two short days?! Maybe we'll drive home at night. Hmmm. We'll see.

So that's where I'll be for the week. Stay tuned for pictures from the trip, and of course when I get back, painting will begin in earnest in the kitchen. BF is going to be in TX while we're in IN, so nothing's going to get done for the next week or so. I can't wait to get that kitchen DONE. After the painting gets done, I get to lay the new floor. Yay!

Have a great week, y'all, and I'll catch you on the backside!