Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas!  This holiday season started off strong.  I got my shit together early and gave Mark his advent calendar of craft beer on December 1st.  I was taking selfies after making my wreath and I even made a giant potted arrangement for the front door.  Things were good!  We chose a Grand Fir for our tree... yep in the living room as we had not had a tree there in two years.  Found some sweet black and white ribbon and mixed up the decor with foxes and orange berries...super happy with the end result.   I was back and full of Holiday cheer!  I took photos of the dogs and made some amazing holiday succulent arrangements for the house.  And then comes the sound of a record needle scratching across the vinyl...I crashed.  The Holidays are so hard. Mark makes a fantastic effort to keep my spirits up - thank you MARK (best husband ever)! After a few very low spirited years, this year is actually quite good for me.  Just a few more holiday-type events to conquer and I'm in the clear.  Hope everyone else is at least hanging in there if not rocking the holidays totally balls out.  Make the most of it.  Love the ones who make you happy. Merry Christmas!

here's looking at 42

Thanks to everyone that made my old age seem not so bad. Flowers and cupcakes and beer and great friends are wonderful things.

holiday recap

Happy New Year! I hope everyone enjoyed (or at least survived) the holidays. If you didn't get a card or package from me yet, it is because I haven't sent them yet. I stink this year. There will be something headed your way so be patient.

We didn't have much snow here this holiday season so it never truly felt like Christmas. I did catch my dwarf papyrus one afternoon with little snow balls on them although the snow melted away about an hour later. Lottie found many cozy spots in sunny windows for naps. Mark made his annual holiday hot sauce from his summer pepper crop and I've heard it's quite tasty...you know I have NO heat tollerance so I have to believe what I hear. This year's Christmas decor had a plaid theme. Mark would like to point out that every time I walked past the tree, I had to make minor adjustments to the ornaments and ribbon and I think I got them all to be perfect... eventually. The tree topper was also new this year - a nice rustic wooden star that wasn't meant to be a tree topper but worked well none the less. Mark dressed up like Santa for a cancer fundraiser and won first place with his "Santa on vacation" costume. Way to go Mark! Thanks to the Hungry Hound, Lottie had so many cute Christmas cookies and cakes to eat - yes dogs DO need cute cookies and cakes too!! The 'merry woof-mas' cake was especially devine. Mark whipped up a batch of his famous italian meatballs for New Year's Eve. AND we were so lucky to have my sister and her family in town to ring in the new year. Speaking of my sister, she always finds the best bird ornaments for me. I love my new ornaments - thanks P! To keep my New Year's Eve tradition rolling, many drinks are consumed and at around 1:30 AM I think it's a good idea to take a photo of myself in front of the tree. This year it's a holiday miracle that I even ended up in the shot!

Cheers!

fairmeadow

For the last 10 years, I have been smitten with growing flowers and succulents and creating arrangements. Taking inspiration from MCM modern design and architecture, I proudly introduce a new blog about my floral design work, fairmeadow.

I want to create interesting floral designs for your home or business... those of you in NW Indiana. I have so many ideas and I cannot wait to share them! This is the beginning of what I hope can become a successful and personally rewarding career. I'm ready for the challenge!

Honored to be able to contribute to their big day, my first fairmeadow project was my good friends' wedding. I loved every moment of creating the bouquets, boutonnieres, and table arrangements for them. This was the wedding I had been growing the succulents for and I was thrilled with the way everything turned out, especially the small arrangements I put together using vintage wooden bowls.

About the name, fairmeadow...
The subdivision I live in is called the Fairmeadows although there is only one sign designating it and the lettering on this brick wall is often hidden by overgrown shrubs. I think it was widely known as the Fairmeadows back in the 60s, 70s, and 80s but I doubt that anyone new to the neighborhood has a clue.

One of my favorite Eichler subdivisions in Palo Alto, CA is called Fairmeadow. Built in the 1950s with a maze of circular streets, it's a treat to look at from an aerial view and I can only imagine the excitement of seeing one Eichler after another back in the day as you drove around in circles. The adjacent Eichler neighborhood, Greenmeadow, has a less interesting street plan however the homes there are truly amazing.



I'm excited to share my new blog and I hope you will take a peek and see what I've been up to... and continue to look and see what happens next!

we made it! five happy years!!

For every 50 pictures taken at your wedding, one turns out. I just looked through all the rejects today and laughed my ass off. Does anyone look good eating cake? I couldn't stop laughing during the photo session since Mark kept making funny faces and the thought of serious pictures just seemed impossible. Captured moment... the shot during the ceremony where I could not get Mark's ring to slide over his hot and swollen knuckle. I eventually gave up and he had to shove it on. Nobody prepares you for that! The ring is supposed to fit. At least that's what happens in the movies.

For all you brides and grooms to be...I hope you have as much fun as we did on our big day!

short again: take two

Got a great haircut on Tuesday...short again. Thank you Laura at Vanis for keeping my hair in shape. You are the best!!

one year later

Today is my blog's one year anniversary!

I think I've stayed true to my very first post...

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

welcome to HousePet

It's true... I will never join facebook. This is going to be my way of sharing creative and inspiring ideas, crafty projects we're working on, pictures of Lottie, and various ramblings of all sorts. Welcome to HousePet!


I never thought that people I did not know in real life would read this blog. And boy was I wrong. It turns out that the majority of people that read HousePet are complete strangers. Some have left comments and introduced themselves while others in far away countries continue to lurk annonomously everyday... yes I do look at my stats! Does it freak me out? Yeah, a little. However I think I'm more bummed that some of my real life friends didn't catch on to the whole blog thing.

Throughout the year I stumbled across some great bloggers that are truly inspiring, funny, and full of creative DIY. And I found so many blogs that are full of inspiring photos, drool-worthy furniture and architecture, and brilliant design ideas. I reconnected with one of my dearest friends from way back through this blog and now have her back in my real life as well as through her blog. That in itself makes this whole thing worthwhile!

HousePet gave me the perfect reason to sit down and learn how to use our new camera and I think I've become a slightly better photographer along the way. At 40 I'm still trying to keep up with the kids and even started a second blog on tumblr. I know - crazy! It's amazing for a person like me who is so unskilled with computers and doesn't have photoshop!

2010 was a good shopping year for me at Etsy. I really enjoyed posting photos of my treasures here as well as giving props to the sellers. I do love to spread the word about the good humans amongst us and I was lucky to have had so many positive Etsy transactions. I also met some awesome local vintage sellers (Flatout Design and Hot Coffee!) this year. Ok, maybe they just met Mark in real life but I hope that changes in 2011.

It was fun to share our patio renovation here. Hopefully it inspired someone to work super hard to make their own yard look better :) In case you couldn't tell from the photos, this past summer I was on the shovelling rock and BudLite Lime diet and workout routine. This winter we plan to finish the basement reno and you guessed it, every step will be documented here.

I've enjoyed my first year of blogging and I'm looking forward to 2011. For the last couple of months, I've been thinking about making HousePet a private "invite only" type of blog however for every pro there is a con and I'm really on the fence. Do you have any thoughts on private blogs?

August 5, 2006

four years ago...



we got married in our backyard.

A litle note about getting married at your house... I was on my hands and knees the morning of the big day cleaning all the hardwood floors in my home. And rearranging the furniture. My sister (and maid of honor) was kind enough to wash the bathroom floor for me. Now that is a true MAID of honor. I didn't think of the last minute housekeeping ahead of time. Nor did I think I would be decorating my own cake that morning. In retrospect, it's amazing that we pulled this off!

housePet goes short

Laura - if you're reading... I am loving my new haircut!!

happy summer

So many visitors. My in-laws, my sister and her family, even this bunny has decided to move in under our wheelbarrow since we have not used it in over two weeks. We will be back to shoveling mountains of rock soon. It has been so nice to have a little break. I even had a day to relax in the pool!!

lesson learned

It's my two year anniversary from the "porcelain flower pot from Ikea breaks in my arms and slices 3 tendons" incident.

I live in the Midwest. My Ikea flowers pots went thru a rainy Spring, a hot dry Summer, a wet Fall, and even got a dusting of snow before I finally brought them in for the Winter. Of course by the following Spring they were about to fall apart. And sure enough one did as I was carrying it out to the trash. Now I'm officially done with anything porcelain outside. No more cute Ikea pots for me.

That said, this is still my favorite weekend of the year. The excitement of going to 3 or 4 garden centers...buying lots of new cool flowers and plants...bringing out all of the patio furniture. This weekend means summer is officially here! Bust out those white pants!!

magnolia snow

oh my god, I won!

Dee Adams has surprise one-day giveaways on her blog... http://deedee914.blogspot.com/ . She has fabulous taste and gives away some amazing things like this sweet collection that I just won (i'm still in shock). She's an interior decorator, graphic designer, illustrator, and fine artist with an eye for the best in Scandinavian and mid-century modern vintage and inspired design. She's a big supporter of Etsy, lover of all things orange, and currently selling her original paintings and limited edition posters at her Etsy shop - also called deedee9:14. Her blog is an absolute must for furniture lovers, both vintage and pieces in current production. Just go there!!! You will not be disappointed!

February 1st birthdays

born on this fine day...

Clark Gable (1901)
Boris Yeltsin (1931)
Sherman Hemsley (1938)
Rick James (1948)
Sherilyn Fenn (1965)
Lisa Marie Presley (1968)
Beth Demakas (1970)

Raynaud's Disease

This is why I am a winter hibernator...

Raynaud's disease is a condition that causes your fingers and toes (and in some cases the tip of your nose and your ears) to feel numb, cool, cramp, and become painful when exposed to cold temperatures or stress. Raynaud's causes smaller arteries that supply blood to your skin to narrow, limiting blood circulation to the affected areas. Even holding an iced drink, putting your hands in the freezer, or air conditioning can trigger a spasm.

Raynaud's is more than simply having cold hands and cold feet, and it's not the same as frostbite. Signs and symptoms of Raynaud's depend on the frequency, duration and severity of the blood vessel spasms that underlie the disorder. Raynaud's symptoms include cold fingers and toes, sequence of color changes in your skin in response to cold or stress, and a numb, prickly feeling or stinging pain upon warming or relief of stress.

During an attack of Raynaud's, affected areas of your skin usually turn white at first. Then, the affected areas often turn dark blue, feel cold and numb, and your sensory perception is dulled. As circulation improves, the affected areas may turn red, throb, tingle or swell. The order of the changes of color isn't the same for all people, and not everyone experiences all three colors.

Raynaud’s can occur as a “primary” disease - that is, with no associated disorder. It can also occur as a “secondary” condition (referred to as Raynaud’s phenomenon) related to other diseases, such as scleroderma, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Raynaud’s is named for the French physician Maurice Raynaud, who first recognized the condition in 1862.

Outdoor world, I'll see you in the Spring!

welcome to HousePet

This is going to be my way of sharing creative and inspiring ideas, crafty projects we're working on, pictures of Lottie, and various ramblings of all sorts. Welcome to HousePet!