Me Oh My Oh

Defense mechanisms. We all have them. The lack of plants in Arizona has surely forced me to be fascinated with succulents. When I lived in Kansas I could honestly care less about them. Or maybe that had more to do with the fact that I was a KID and obsessed with boys and makeup. The world may never know.

Well regardless of how it started, I love them now. They come in so many colors and shapes, and can be arranged in stunning ways. Here are some of my recent finds:

Via Studio Choo

Via Martha Stewart

I love love looooovvveeee it!! I guess you can make this with chicken wire?? All the colors… ALL THE COLORS! I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE!

Via Design Vagabond via Mosstika

and then of course you have MY succulents:

(the two in front… the left is Stella, the right has not presented a name yet ;])

In mah little owlie there. I actually separated the one that is in the right red pot above, and put half of it in the owl. Can I tell you that I about had a heart attack ripping the two sections apart? I don’t see how you can destroy a plant like that and still get them to grow afterward. But it seems to have worked.

My ever-so-talented Mother planted this cute little pot for me while she was here, using clippings from the yard and some that a friend brought over. They’re actually planted in a trash can that I had in college. Resourceful! I guess these aren’t all “succulents” as much as they are “cacti” but you get the point. They’re small.

You don’t have to live in the desert to keep succulents. I guess you can grow them in anything. I am not even going to attempt to tell you how to care for them based on the fact that I have only kept plants alive for a whopping 3 months now. But it appears that you have to water them. And give them sunlight. But not too much of either… or they will diiiieeee. That ambiguous enough for you?

Consider this a test. For your sake. I’ll play guinea pig. See how selfless I am?

I normally hate to have anything to do with Wal-Mart, but this time… I had to give it a shot. They’re just so… so… cheap.

We have been looking for black, blackout (got that?) velvet curtains for our theatre/music room for a while now. I thought I was going to make them, but it seems that velvet yardage is somehow more expensive than just purchasing pre-made drapes. Go figure.

THESE get great reviews. We’ll see how it goes. Hold my hand? This is all so new and scary.

It’s that time of year again, people… CANDY time! Now that the festivities are over, you have a 10-gallon left over variety bag of Nerds and Tootsie Rolls that you begrudgingly get to eat in the months to come. I tend to favor the most boring, standard Halloween sweeties. You know, all the stuff that kids try to trade away in school the days following the big score. These are my favorites:

Mary Jane Peanut Butter Kisses – Yes, there is a name for these little demons that sneak their way into grocery store aisles every year. Everyone hates them, but they are probably my favorite Halloween candy. Their wrappers tend to be really loose, so if you get them from a particularly nasty neighbor you have about a 50% chance that it’s poisoned or that there is a needle embedded in there.

Mini Tootsie Roll – How many of THESE did you find floating around at the bottom of your pumpkin come Midnight? So many that you probably even threw some of them away. Put them in my belly.

Flavored Tootsie Rolls – These are like the favored sibling of the mini Tootsie Roll. This is another “scraping the bottom of the pumpkin” choice that will do in a pinch when the only other option is a regular Toots or the PB goodness above. Again, NOM NOM NOM.

Tootsie Roll Pops – Particularly the raspberry ones. Eating a Tootsie Roll Pop is like playing Russian Roulette. You may or may not get one of those air pockets that skin the top of your mouth or tongue. I live on the edge, bish!

Candy Corn – Particularly the socially incorrect Indian Candy Corn -

Have you ever mixed candy corn with lightly salted peanuts? It is called a Poor Man’s Payday and it tastes JUST like a Payday. Pop a handful of both in your mouth at once. You’ll be hooked.

Now that I have demonstrated my epically bad taste in candy, there is no way that you could be ashamed. What are YOUR favs?

Halloween is upon us! My inlaws are here for the weekend so we won’t be participating in the festivities. But we’re going to Sedona so I’m REALLY ok with that! I did throw together a last minute ‘Ween costume for work though…

Hot mess. Nasty hair, smeared makeup, bathrobe, smiley mug, stray hair rollers… when people asked me what I was…

“Don’t you recognize me? I’m YOUR MOM”

It was definitely a hit :] Have a great Halloween weekend everyone

This is loooong overdue! I added some blogs to my little sidebar blogroll thingie over there. Check them out, because they are FABULOUS.

Jenny is pretty much my favorite blogger ever. Even on days that I’m not delving into my Google Reader, I take a looksie at her place. Not only does she have fantastic design sense, but she’s hilarious and uncensored, which is my kind of woman!

Tara at Scoutie Girl keeps my wallet deliciously empty on the reg. Hey, less cash to carry, right? At least I have cool stuff. She seriously finds the best handmade products out there. Love

House of Turquoise is to me what Playboy is to men everyone else. This is my porn, people, MY PORN.

Kate has to be one of the most talented people in the blog-o-sphere. We have wildly different tastes but everything she does is beautiful. And I need to stress the SHE does, because she really does EVERYTHING and does it right. Serious inspiration.

I don’t know how she does it but Reichel is a master of her trade. She finds fantastic alternatives to expensive designer furniture and decor. You can even submit a request and she will find a budget-worthy counterpart! Anyone who is decorating on a budget seriously needs to check out this blog.

Our side entry seriously needs some work. Since it leads in from the garage, it’s the first thing that WE see when we walk in the door. Behold, our side entry in all its glory:

Shaf has had that white shoe… thing… since his college days. I don’t know why we keep carting it around… probably because we didn’t really have anything to put in its place. It has a huge crack in it and basically is a piece of crap. And it’s where my purse ends up 99% of the time that I walk in the door.

Also, WhyTF does the doorbell chime have to be so damn big? And in the MIDDLE of the freaking wall?! Any ideas on how to obscure that?

So it’s time for a little updating.

We found the Z Gallerie Borghese Nightstand at Home Goods for $250. OH YEAH BABY. Come to mama. I’ve been finding a lot of Z Gallerie fodder at Home Goods lately. Macy likey. I don’t care if it’s mass produced, it’s glam and damn sexy. I hope it is still there when I return for it. It has been the last few times I was there.

Also – I got a little linky-link in my email saying that all Z Gallerie mirrors are 20% off, and I decided that I want the Stratus Mirror like yesterday. But how will I work around that massive doorbell chime?

I’m thinking I want to go with a glam look a la these:

Via Jonathan Adler

Via House Beautiful

I’m really digging the hot pink wall there, especially as just an accent wall. The wall that the table and mirror would go on, which you can’t see at all from the living room, which is of course teal. I don’t think Shaf would really object either… he really trusts my design sense and can appreciate a wide variety of styles, even if to the general population it’s kind of girlie. But who knows… it may even be too much for me. Too much color? Too many mirrors? Can one HAVE too many pieces of mirrored furniture? Probably… but this is in a different part of the house than the other… or am I just trying to justify it?

Don’t those look like bubbles? Some of our friends have commented that chilling in our living room is like hangin’ out under the sea. I love it! Remember when I made this post about terrariums, and how I ordered 25 Whirly candle holders from CB2 to make them out of?

Well I decided to keep them as candle holders for now… but they can be changed quite easily! Behold:

Daytime:

Night time:

We measured that little portion of wall with the overhang, and made an upside down “L” out of boards and both screwed and glued them together.

Then we screwed it into the wall, painted it, and installed the little hooks on the back of it. We did this so that you couldn’t see the hooks unless you are right up on it.

Right up on it:

You could just as easily skip those steps (who has a weird little overhang like that in their house anyways?!) and screw the hooks right into the wall or ceiling, but this is how I chose to do it because I am partially insane and must make everything extremely difficult. It’s just what I do.

BUT! In having the little “L” piece there, as you can see three photos up, we were also able to obscure a rope light behind it to add a little MORE mood lighting. Now we can have just the rope light on, or the rope and the candles, or just the candles. It’s quite versatile! We prefer both :]

It looks so magical, someday I’ll either get a really nice camera, or have someone with a really nice camera come out and shoot it to REALLY capture the ambiance :]

The lanterns I ordered from Discount Attic arrived on Friday! I was expecting to wait a while because their site said shipping (which was only $10 for 6 lanterns in a HUGE box) would take up to 2 weeks. I am very VERY pleased with this company.

They are fantastic. They aren’t heavy, cast iron lanterns or anything but for $11, they are smashing. I don’t dig the rustic finish on the chandelier but I am going to paint it anyways.

So knock yourself out, I totally recommend this place. Now I want to get that table and mirror for our side entrance…

A year ago today we were in Florida, getting married. It was like a fairy tale… we got married in the garden of Grandezza Country Club, where my parents live in Florida.

Our reception was on a yacht in Sanibel Harbour… The Sanibel Harbour Princess, property of the Sanibel Harbour Resort and Spa. It was lovely, the night was perfect. It had been raining all weekend but let up just in time for our wedding :]

Did I mention we had the best looking bridal party around?

You can dress ‘em up…

From the time dinner was over ’till we disembarked, we danced. Everyone at the wedding was on the dance floor at one point or another, and many times all at once :]

Although I knew it was for keeps long before that day, here’s to a year of marriage, baby, and many more to come. I love you with all my heart :]

…for ya today! All I have is a Happy Friday and have a good weekend!

Oh and maybe a cute little sitting area. Lose the slip cover and I’d be in heaven.

Via Real Simple

Happy weekend, loves :]