Almost Heaven!

My friend, Robin, and I had what is close to the perfect shopping day. We took a trip to Tampa to go to two favorite stores - in the same day!

Yes - we went to:

Anthropologie and Ikea!

Such a happy day. I came home to take pictures of my purchases and had a little help from my photo assistant. He's very particular about the staging.

I found the cutest shirt at Anthropologie. Don't you just love how they put the extra button in the little drawstring bags? It's already been filled with lavendar and put in the linen closet. (By the way, the shirt is cream colored. I was trying out some different camera settings.)

I found several treasures at Ikea, including things for future crafting. But, these trays and watering can were just for pure love.

These are some pillow covers that I found. Stay tuned for their transformation.

A few yards of these fabrics. I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but I am sure I needed them.

(My photo assistant helped arrange the fabric as well.)

We ate smoked salmon and Greek salad and drank sparkling pear juice for lunch in the Ikea cafe. Don't you just love a store cafeteria that has a menu like that? The restaurant was closing early to prepare for their "Midsummer Event." We couldn't stay that long, but we really wanted to. Maybe if we had been able to take a nap on one of the Ikea mattresses. I know they encourage you to try out everything, but I think they probably would draw the line there.

Just one problem during the day - after requiring practically our own personal customer service in the "self-service" checkout lane at Ikea, Robin and I are pretty sure our photos are on some sort of black list. The next time we try the self-service lane, we expect to be politely, but firmly, escorted to the full-service lane.

A Little Hair of the Dog...

Is there any sort of "Locks For Love" program for dogs? You see all those poor dogs who have some sort of skin condition and have lost their fur. Surely they would feel more confident with little doggie toupees to cover those spots. You don't want the other dogs to laugh and point. Well, maybe the hyenas and the pointers, but they really can't help it.

I am prepared to contribute to such a program. I daily sweep the hair shed by my black lab, Tally, and I am sure that I have enough to cover a small poodle. A week's worth and you can knit your own Great Dane.

So, if someone will send me the address, Tally and I will be happy to help the bald dogs of the world.

Happy Birthday, Son!

Twenty years ago today, my wonderful son was born and life was (happily) never the same.

He was born on the first day of summer - a fact that he was very proud of. The hospital sent him home with us which was fairly terrifying at the time.

Right from the start, he was sweet and fun and funny and kind and smart. And, he owned my heart. Twenty years later, nothing has changed. I love you, son!

Behind the Red Door, Part II

After a day and night, the door was ready to be rehung. And it was beautiful! It was truly deliciously red. But, it made the old brass hardware and lights look dull and shabby. So, I went to Home Depot (Trip 2) and bought a new door handle, kickplate and light fixtures. My husband (lawyer-turned-handyman) installed the shiny, new door handle and kickplate.


And it was even more beautiful! No lights yet, but I could see it in my mind. But, now the flowers in the pots out front didn't match. They needed to be red - and pink - and bright! So, I went to Home Depot (Trip 3) and bought gerbera daisies. And, it was even more beautiful!

My husband (lawyer-turned-electrician) tackled the light fixtures. They didn't fit the existing mounting, of course. So, he went to Home Depot (Trip 4). And back to Home Depot and back to Home Depot and back to Home Depot....and finally the lights were up. And, it was even more beautiful!

The white trim around the door now looked shabby and I said I would paint that. So, I went to Home Depot (Trip 326) and bought the white paint. My BFF the orbital sander and I cleaned up the old paint, I filled some spots with wood putty and put on a fresh coat of white paint.

Then, I turned around, and saw the not-white-enough-looking columns. I had a brush full of white paint in my hand and you can guess the rest. (By the way, "wood filler" is a lie. It won't fill in spots where the wood rotted away and really needs replacing. But, you can slather it on like cake icing and paint it anyway.)

And, it is the most beautiful ever! I love, love, love it.

Now, we need to talk about the inside paint....

Behind the Red Door - Part I

Finally - I have the red door of my dreams. The process was tedious, but worth it. I had a hard time finding the perfect red - not unlike trying to find the perfect red lipstick. Some are too pink, others are too orange, some are just WRONG!


I sampled many colors on the door. I considered leaving a note on the door and a sign at the sidewalk asking passersby to come vote. I almost chickened out and painted it blue. I asked for opinions on Facebook and had more comments about that than any other thing I've ever said.

Finally, I settled on Red Delicious and sent my husband to Home Depot. (Trip 1.) He came back with the correct paint AND the correct primer, took the door off the hinges and put it on sawhorses. He borrowed my pal, the Orbital Sander (more about this in another post) to smooth it out and put on the paint. Done, right? Wrong.

First, it didn't dry in one day so we had to sleep without a front door. We took careful security precautions though. The door had a sheet of plastic stapled over it to keep most of the bugs out and the cat and the dog in, so that was the first barrier. I was still nervous that a truly resourceful crook could figure out how to get through the plastic shield so my husband stapled a quilt on the inside. He told me that would make it look dark so that no one would know we didn't have a door.

Okkkaaayyy...everyone knows that a sheet of plastic AND a quilt are inpenetrable. But, just in case, he set up a trap. He put two chairs in front of the door and filled the seats with the tools he had been using (staple gun, screwdriver, orbital sander, etc.) Anyone coming through the plastic and the quilt would not expect that and would fall over it, making a lot of noise.

And, at my request, we added our main noisemaker. We left our dog, Tally, out of her kennel. She barks loudly at anyone (known or unknown) who comes into our house. She is really saying "Yay,yay,I'msogladyou'rehere.I wanttolickyourface.Yay,yay!" But, crooks wouldn't know that and she does sound very fierce.

As it turned out, we were safe and ready for Part II of Behind the Red Door.

First Post!

So, I've decided to carve out my own little space in the crowded blogosphere. I'm not really sure why or what this will be. I do know that I've spent (too) many happy hours reading other blogs and feel like I should at least have a place to invite readers to visit.

However, this is mainly for me. I am at an interesting new phase in my life. My nest is more or less empty since my son has now left for college. He does return to it for periodic visits but I no longer have the day to day responsibility. I am fortunate to have a loving, hard-working husband who supports me, both emotionally and financially. I have the real and rare luxury of free time.

But, too much free time can be a dangerous thing. Like any excess, it's easy to squander it and get to the end of the day with nothing to show for it. Part of my problem is doing things in a vacuum. It's not that I need an audience, but I do need a place to recount some of the things that happen during the day. And, a place to show off some of my creative side a bit. And, a place to hold me accountable.

So, that's more or less the purpose. It will probably evolve along with me. Feel free to read along and I love comments, opinions and challenges.

Oh - about the name. It was inspired by the croquet scene in "Alice in Wonderland." That has been my favorite book for just about as long as I can remember, long before Johnny Depp and Tim Burton made it cool. (Although bless Tim for including my man, Johnny, in his movie!) This is the specific inspirational paragraph:

The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her flamingo: she succeeded in getting its body tucked away, comfortably enough, under her arm, with its legs hanging down, but generally, just as she had got its neck nicely straightened out, and was going to give the hedgehog a blow with its head, it would twist itself round and look up in her face, with such a puzzled expression that she could not help bursting out laughing: and when she had got its head down, and was going to begin again, it was very provoking to find that the hedgehog had unrolled itself, and was in the act of crawling away: besides all this, there was generally a ridge or furrow in the way wherever she wanted to send the hedgehog to, and, as the doubled-up soldiers were always getting up and walking off to other parts of the ground, Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very difficult game indeed.

That feels like my life. It can be difficult to keep both the flamingos and the hedgehogs in line at the same time. But, most of the time, all you can do is burst out laughing.