Posts from — July 2011

I got a new table. Well. . . I got a really old table that is new to me. I saw it on craig’s list and went to the garage sale it was at. I scored this baby for $6. You might not be into the chippy paint old table look. . .and I am okay with that. But I love this table for the following reasons. 1. It really is an enamel top table that has been painted (sorry if that means nothing you, but to me it means I can one day strip off the paint to reveal a table top that is quite fun) 2. I actually am grooving on the paint job gone disaster that it is currently sporting- though I am sure I will one day re-do this table 3. It fits the spot I was looking for a table for 4. it was only $6

I am defiantly a knick-knack person. I grew up in a pretty streamlined knick-knack free home but remember being 12 and finding things to ‘style’ the top of my dresser with. I like having spots in my home where you have to stop to look to take it in.  For me, styling  makes spaces feel finished.

I spray painted a birdcage a friend gave me in college sunny yellow and filled it with paper boxes made by another friend. Everything else here is stuff I just walked around my house and picked up objects or got them from the stash of things in the guest bedroom closet that are currently without a home.

We traveled to Gulf Shores, AL for the second Van Winkle vacay earlier this month. Longest drive we have taken with Genevieve and she did great! It helps we went through the night so she slept through most of the 16 hours. We enjoyed a week relaxing on the beach and spending time with Jonathan’s Grandma, parents, and many of his siblings and our nephews. It was so fun to watch Genevieve play with her cousins :)

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Today I am thankful for peace.

Life has been on the crazy side. . . I should be back to blogging regularly now :)

Two plus weeks away from home with a little one was a doozie. . . not something I will sign up to do again any time soon. . . but great times were had at the beach with Jonathan’s family and in Dallas and at my cousin’s wedding. I will post about all that fun once I have a chance to find where I put my brain and upload some pictures.

In the meantime. . .I will share with you how I waste my time. . . sorry in advance. If you are not on pinterest, you should be. I warn you- it will be like facebook circa 2003 if you were a college student back then. Lots and lots of time spent.  Basically it is a site where you can virtually ‘pin’ images you see online to your pin board. You can also browse other’s pins (the addicting part). I love that by pinning something. . . I will forever be able to find it at it’s original source which has often been a problem for me. I have been on pinterest for months now and can say I am defiantly in love with this site- not just excited about a new thing.  Pinterest does have a waiting list to join right now, but it goes very quickly if you have an invitation from a member, so if you want one leave me a comment.

Here are some of my favorite recent pins:

(all images found via pinterest)

Ahhh. . . inspiration :)

If you want to see me on pinterest, click the button on the left sidebar.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Today I am thankful to be home.

Genevieve and I are in Texas. Land of the armadillos. My Dad & Julie have been on an armadillo extermination adventure for quite a while now (not to worry, this is a catch and release program, no armadillos were hurt. . . although my Dad is not making any promises to future armadillos who happen into his yard). The beast above is number 11. Yes, 11. And Evie and I saw him up close and personal this morning. If you have never beheld one for yourself, I have one word to describe them, Nasty. Just google images of them if you need to see more (although you really don’t, take my word for it). And if your computer has smell-o-vision built in, plug your nose people because like I said, nasty.

Enough armadillo talk for you today? Okay, me too.

Wait. . . one more story. . . Since Jonathan is at home (pesky job) and we are not. . . I will share with you a tid-bit of our phone conversation today about the armadillo.

Me: So when the animal control lady came to pick up the armadillo Julie asked if they have the record for the most caught at one house and the lady said yes. But then she added that they do not have the record for a single type of animal picked up from one house in their city because a lady had 54 skunks at her house over a 3 year peoriod. Can you believe it, 54 skunks!

Jonathan: 64 skunks. . .that’s crazy!!!

Me: not 64, 54

Jonathan: oh, I guess that’s not too bad

Me: WHAT?

Jonathan: Well it’s only 54 skunks.

And that concludes the armadillo post.

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Today I am thankful for not having an armadillo problem at our house. Seriously.

Meet Sancho. Last week we watched Sancho. . . who is Jack’s bestie. Audrey enjoys companionship but on a daily basis isn’t a great player which Jack misses. So he has Sancho. Our good friend’s dog who is abounding in energy and keeps Jack super happy. For those unfamiliar with our dogs. . . Audrey is the black lab, Jack is the border collie, and Sancho is the english setter.

As for these kind of cruddy pictures. . . I defy you to use our not so great camera to take reasonable action shots of these three playing. Please forgive. . .

A side-note. . . Genevieve was determined to ‘help’ me write this post. . .so if there are crazy typos I didn’t catch. . . . I’m sorry. A little one was banging on the keyboard.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Today I am thankful for friendship.

In May Genevieve and I braved a new feat, traveling alone, in order to join my Dad and Julie and various other family members at the beach in North Carolina. And wild horses run on the beach there. Wild horses. So cool.

I hope you get to see wild horses sometime. It’s pretty awesome. Peace out.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Today I am thankful for THE BEACH!!!

Because who doesn’t need to see a picture of a cute baby headed to the pool on a Monday morning?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Today I am thankful for swimming on hot summer days.

I never shared a full tour of Genevieve’s room. . . so here it is. . .

I had so much fun putting this room together, mostly last summer while I was pregnant. I made as much as I could for the room which makes it extra special, at least to me. We have so many fun memories in this room already, and I hope this space is as special to Genevieve as it is to me.

Photos taken by Sam Miller Gott. Visit her here.

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Today I am thankful for color. I am so thankful to not live in a black and white world.

My shop is open! Please come and visit and see the fun baby quilts and things I have been working on. I have other plans of things I would like to add to the shop, but for now I just wanted to get it open :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/blueGiraffes

Here are a few of the baby quilts for sale:

so go check out the rest!

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Today I am thankful for being able to stay home with Genevieve.

Sometime in the next 24 hours my shop will be opening. Stay tuned!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Today I am thankful for air conditioning. It’s been hot people.