Goodbye House, Hello Apartment!

Good news y'all - our house is SOLD!!! We were so blessed by a wonderful buyer who is going to love the house as much as we did!

So, we are off to a smaller rented pad as we figure out where life will take us from here. I doubt I will show you much home improvement stuff since we are kinda in temporary quarters with our stuff in functional spots but maybe I will get it together to add a bit of beauty to the function soon.

It will be just as fun for us as hopefully it is for you to see where we go from here....

true dat.

I ran across this on facebook - maybe Katie?, maybe Kathlyn?, I can't remember but I snagged it. This has been my mantra this past month as I am a full time grad student (lord help me), our house is on the market (um, hello, my name is liz, I clean all the time), Charlie the hound dog is in remedial school (he's a trouble maker), my brother and sister-in-law had a sweet sweet baby boy and Aunt Liz helped with a shower, cooked meals, etc and generally got so over-excited she couldn't sleep. I am also trying to be a wife but sweet hubby has pretty much been a cute little haus frau lately. I think I'll make him an apron. Oh wait, I really don't have time.

Happy 4th of July!

We had some fun with sparklers last night!

Thanks Bower Power for the tutorial.

Mystery Chairs: Partially solved

Ok, so remember my mystery chairs?

I have a pair of these that I got on ebay for a song. well, maybe a song and a half but still a good deal and it was within my budget.

Recently, as we've been thinking about where we will live when we sell the house, we've been talking about recovering them. It's been a fun "dreaming project" where every time we walk by them we say, "Hey honey, what about a yellow floral?" .... "Hmm.... I think a retro print, maybe in a blue?"

Tonight I did a little google image searching after finding my old ebay purchase listing to know what key words to search for. Enter search terms: Hollywood Regency Slipper Chair.

Source: palmbeachantiquesanddesigncenter.1stdibs.com via Liz on Pinterest

BINGO. I found a pair just like mine. I mean CRAZZZY. Granted this set has been recushioned/reupholstered and is for sale in a fancy store. But they are just like mine!!!

The bad news is, they don't know the creator either. Boo hiss... They are listing them as 1970's which is totally cool with me. And for $2400 for the pair, I have plenty of wiggle room on the reupholstery costs.

For Sale by Owner - lots of pics

Thought you might like to see the photos...

We are ready to show now so if you know anyone interested, please send them our way. Thank you!

Cannot get there fast enough

a little peek into my mind today...

Source: None via Liz on Pinterest

Source: designboom.com via Liz on Pinterest

Source: blog.ratestogo.com via Liz on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Liz on Pinterest

Source: orkposters.com via Liz on Pinterest

Source: None via Liz on Pinterest

Source: taza-and-husband.blogspot.com via Liz on Pinterest

Source: dooce.com via Liz on Pinterest

Best Day

Thank you to my sweet husband for a great dinner out with great friends for my birthday.

A great day all around! Eric gave me the sweetest art print - as soon as I find a frame I'll show you too.

Thank you sweetie!

Oh Happy Day

PS - I turn 28 today.

Source: weheartit.com via Deanna on Pinterest

This picture just about sums up how I am feeling today, sending some major wishes out into the universe.

Some details...

After the big FOR SALE SIGN surprise last week I wanted to share some details. Granted, this won't be all the details cause we are still working out some of the details and therefore I can't share them since I don't know... but here goes.

Eric and I have been dreaming about a simpler life in a big city. Oxymoron much? Not quite. You see, we bought our beauty of a house (selfish plug here - is for sale, email me), when we thought we would settle down and start a family, put down some roots, buy some furniture, etc.

Fast forward a few years and thats not really our dream anymore. Well, it still kinda is, just not in the same way we thought it would be. Now, we have dreams of living in a much smaller home, having only 1 car, walking to the grocery store, living with less, traveling and changing the world.

Why now? Why not? Since I have another year in grad school, it will be a little while before we make any MAJOR changes but since we know our home will make someone very happy, and we are zoned for awesome schools, we thought we would see if someone might want to call it their new home before the school year starts.

So, that's about all I can share now. I hope you don't mind if I get a little philosophical about making these life changes - I hope you'll share with me too.

SURPRISE!!!

details to come... and now you know why I have been MIA. sorry.

If you know anyone interested, please contact me via email splendidminta (at) gmail.com

fabric liquidation

so, question. I want to pare down my fabric stash. How should I do that?

I have LOTS of small yardage pieces of craft/quilt fabric plus several large pieces of decorator fabric pieces. Would you etsy it? Is there interest amongst you readers to buy it right off the blog? Should I price it and just put it in the yard sale next weekend?

Help a sista out!

I got my hair did

Ever been in a beauty rut? I think I've been in one for the past year. Not anymore... I got my hair did!

Phew! It feels so good to get it all cut off. Add in a new eyeliner pencil, some new pressed powder and a little self-confidence and VOILA!

First Veggie Porn of 2011

The garden is going strong! Allow me to expose the first veggies of the season... PEAS!

These little guys were so sweet and buttery I ate most of them as I was shelling them but a few made it onto a hodge-podge salad.
I did however turn to Eric halfway through shelling and said, "Man, you would need a whole field of plants to actually make enough to do anything with".

Which is why, although I enjoyed my first pea growing experience this year, it was not worth it. I will continue to buy my $.99 bag of frozen peas. thankyouverymuch.

Scrappy Baby Quilt DONE!

get a load of this cuteness:

This little floor quilt is for my nephew that's currently baking in my sister-in-law's tummy. This is not my first quilt but I am super proud because this one I actually pieced (that's what you call putting all the small pieces of fabric together to make the colorful squares), and sashed (thats what you call the white frame I put around the colorful squares), and quilted it (with my new lovely free motion quilting foot), and bound it (the blue border that keeps it sandwiched together). I am so so so proud of it.

I quilted along with Comfortstitching... you can too!

Today...

My house looks like this:

Wanna come help?

Cornmeal Crust Dough

A regrettably long time ago, I was having lunch with a dear friend and having a conversation about cooking. She mentioned she had this great idea for a pie (which I cannot remember at the moment) but was having trouble because traditional pie crust just tasted off when paired with her magnificent filling. I suggested she try a cornmeal crust dough. WHAT? Cornmeal crust pie dough?

Anyways, I told her I had seen it in Southern Living, had made it once and loved it and promised to get her the recipe. Oops. That was like 2 (?) months ago. Sorry Elizabeth!

Now, for your enjoyment:

Cornmeal Crust Dough, from Southern Living and you can make the Homemade Apple Pie to go with it (YUM!)

Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup plain yellow cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup cold shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 8 to 10 Tbsp. chilled apple cider

Preparation

• 1. Stir together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in butter and shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles small peas.
• 2. Mound flour mixture on 1 side of bowl. Drizzle 1 Tbsp. apple cider along edge of mixture in bowl. Using a fork, gently toss a small amount of flour mixture into cider just until dry ingredients are moistened. Move mixture to other side of bowl, and repeat procedure with remaining cider, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until a dough forms.
• 3. Gently gather dough into 2 flat disks. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill 1 to 24 hours.

I hate caulking

Anyone else feel the same way? Caulk is my absolute least favorite chore, next to folding clothes and scrubbing toilets. Now it's warm enough and dry enough to do some caulking in the bathrooms, gutters and windows for general home owner maintenance. Thank you Dad for teaching me the ways of responsible homeownership.

As I was caulking our bathrooms this week though, I did learn a nice little trick. Let's start at the beginning, silicone caulk should be used in kitchens and baths. The one I used (2nd from the left) is GE brand, silicone in white and it's 3 hours to shower-ready and has a 5 year mold and mildew resistance guarantee. FAB! Why should you use silicone? It is flexible, doesn't crack and totally waterproof. It's also a big pain in the butt to apply because it is not water soluble and therefore, a pain to clean off your finger as you smooth the bead of caulk and a pain to clean up if you mess up. BUT... (thank you youtube) if you dip your finger in soapy water before running your finger along the bead of caulk it won't stick and you get a nice smooth line. To clean it up, just use mineral spirits. Above all else, before you do any caulking, remove all of the grody old stuff with a putty knife and exact-o knife.

That liquid nails is for the front steps, those tiles that had been dropping like flies are going to be re-stuck, regrouted and given a new lease on life. More on that in the future.

I'm off to break out the caulking gun and get back to it.

Baby got back!

The back of our house has seen a major transformation over the last year.

This is a picture of when we bought it in 2009. Notice the massive rose tree in front of the patio. And the "deck" under the window (and blocking the window). The beds were overgrown and vines climbed up the side of the house.

Here we are in summer of 2010. We cut the lady banks rose down to the ground, pulled all the fig vine off the house (except for below the window on the patio), cleaned out the bed in front of the patio and transplanted a couple of crepe myrtles. We also took down the part of the "deck" covering that window (the third window from the left).

And 2011... well, hello Back of the House, nice to finally meet you! Notice the deck is all gone, there is a new bed in place with a new brick border (thank you to my super sweet Mom & Dad who came for Easter and of course Eric!) with more crepe myrtles and sun loving plants like day lillies and lantanas.

Soooo much better and BONUS. Our house looks huge now!

Just in case you are wondering, we live in a one story, raised ranch built into a slope so that the crawlspace is actually a one car garage with a large workspace. There is a door you can't see just to the left of the AC unit in the last picture.

A quilt for nephew-to-be

I'm going to be an Auntie! I'm going to be an Auntie! (name that movie)

So I'm doing what best aunt's in the world do, giving my sewing machine a workout.

First up, a scrappy rainbow baby quilt. I got the inspiration and am quilting along with Comfortstitching, a lovely talented quilter blogger in the UK.

Here are my blocks: (these things are ADDICTING!)

I'm a little late in posting about it so they have actually been pressed, cut and framed. I'm going to wrap up the quilt top soon and will be sure to share! It's not too late for you to join either. These blocks are perfectly suited to my quilting style, very little cutting and measuring!