Shortcuts for sanity

This week my Mother in-law and her girlfriend came to visit for a day before departing for a beach getaway. Last night, they returned for another night before heading back to Pennsylvania.

Our steady stream of visitors has made us pros at feeding our guests in a manner that impresses them every time and keeps us from going insane.

The menus are decadent but super easy. Monday was filet mignon with bearnaise butter and pasta with shallot, thyme and truffle butter and a baby green salad. All of the gourmet butters were purchased at Wegman's grocery. If you do not have a Wegman's grocery near you, move.

Since there were 8 for dinner the grown-ups and the wee one ate in the formal dining room and we left the teens to the kitchen table. I chose my grandmother's Metlox California Ivy plates because they are a bit festive but also dishwasher safe. This pattern and others like it are widely available on eBay.

I used antique linen napkins, napkin rings, and silver.

The napkings were not pressed and starched so the collection of mismatched antique napkins rings solved that problem and lent a more casual feeling to the table.

Thursday night's menu was salmon stuffed with creamy lobster and roasted red pepper dip (another Wegman's purchase) so I used my fish knives which are also mismatched.

The table is slightly unfussy but a step above the everyday and the menu is secretly idiot proof but our guests always think we have gone out of our way to do something fancy. Win-win.

Floor lamps?

Did you ever see something that you thought was so ugly that it made you mad just looking at it?

OK, maybe I am overstating it but I had a headache (imagine that) and saw a few lamps that just bugged me. I have come to the realization that I prefer table lamps so the floor dwellers are at an immediate disadvantage when it comes to my opinion.

The first image is an offering from Horchow. I usually like Horchow but it looks like they tried to be RH for a while.

Here are the rest of the absurd lighting options I saw.

If you hate me get this for me

Really?

If have not gouged your eyes out yet, check out this one that takes aim but misses the equestrian chic look.

One last little bit of torture as I leave you chinoiserie gone wrong.

Now we are six...

This post has nothing to do with Winnie the Pooh and A.A. Milne's lesser known volume.

No this is a post about scrips and scraps and what has had me so, well, busy. The word "busy" has become rather generic and short for I don't have time for you or to explain, much like the word "nice". I just can't think of another word except "chaos".

This summer provided a steady stream of visitors and now my stepson has come to live with us... in my library. Giving up the unfinished library has not been a heartache at all but the mere thought of a sloppy teenager's bedroom inches from my front door has my blood pressure elevated. I may need a moment to vent here... The little girl next door comes here in the a.m. and I take her to the bus and retrieve her in the afternoon. I also have the new preschool dropoff/pickup schedule and my husband's long and ever changing work hours PLUS three freakin" teenagers (two of whom are not good boys) to deal with, my own self and 3000 square feet of ridiculously lovely,fortunate space to have and clean. 

Peeps, I must tell you that all of this good fortune comes with much work and when I was a young'un, I wasn't up to it  ( even though I coveted it) and I am pleased that the powers unknown to us had the wisdom to withhold such things from me until I was able to  value and care for property.

this desk is now in the entryhall

 I will spare you all the details but let's just say that this has been a bumpy transition with #6. My stepson is no stranger to me. I have known him since he was 9. He is now 17.

Yesterday (9/11) I felt like design needed to take a backseat to solemnity and a day that most of us will never  forget. I still cry when I remember that day and how close we were to the mountain in Pennsylvania where Flight 590 crashed. My Grandparents were still in Arlington, Virginia at the time and they heard the plane hit the Pentagon and thousands of car alarms go off for hours, jets scrambling and sirens with zero phone service. It is one of the many things that reminds me to be thankful for each moment with my loves.

 When I am feeling stressed, I want nothing more than to paint but when I am busy-stressy I am often too exhausted to paint.

Instead I have been coming up with less relaxed systems than I am used to, out of necessity. My house has never been so tidy and clean for so long but I feel that with just one extra mess-maker it may get out of hand if I do not approach it with a bullhorn and whip in hand.

detail of an unfinished work

detail of companion piece

I have had very little time to paint but I finished one 30 x 48 canvas and I am working on a companion piece of sorts. It is the same size canvas and mainly the same colors.

I have also completed a small nautical painting that, whether good or not, made me happy.

"A wind that follows fast" by Kerry Steele

As far as DIY things go, I work best on a deadline. I gave myself a crazy-ass deadline to paint a dresser and nightstand for my daughter's room in Annie Sloan Decorative Chalk paint.

I purchased the product at a local shop that could not have been nicer or more worried about how I mentioned the product. I guess Annie is a stickler for a trademark. No worries, Miss this is just my personal opinion. 

This dresser was an estate sale find along with the matching nightstand and both with glass tops. It was an unfortunate 1965 yellowy-orange wood color that is sure to be back in fashion in a few years. Ya know... once I get rid of it all!

My opinion of the product is... meh. I don't know what all the fuss is about. I LOVED that I did not have to prime anything but I had to scrape loose the flaky bits and clean it with a degreaser to remove the ancient wax and grime. 

I had to use two coats but I wish that I had thinned the paint with water because my major dissatisfaction was with the very visible brushstrokes.

I have painted vintage furniture with flat paint and waxed it with regular paste wax before, just like Martha showed me. I can't say that I noticed much difference this time. What am I missing? Someone enlighten me. I just don't get it.

Having said that, I may still buy more to redo my kitchen cabinets. The NO priming or sanding part makes it do-able.

NEWS.... Several art shows in Virginia including my work, details soon.
So there you have it, a little bit of everything.

Make this!

via Southern Living

I recently subscribed to Southern Living magazine and  well, yum. I had been meaning to make this Caramel Apple dip (above) and was procrastinating because I just didn't feel like it. I thought it would be effort. Let me tell you that it was so easy. Five minutes easy and the super rich, creme brulee-like result is decadent.

I don't often post about food but it was that good.

Find it HERE

There may be a bit of silence while I paint some furniture that I hope to be posting about soon.

Chinioserie Cheap - five ways

 We have all seen the spendy chinoiserie lovelies out there but here are five that won't break the bank when you are feeling the need to treat yourself.

It may not pack a big punch but these magnets from Gumps are $25 HERE

The tray is what I am loving. Its on sale HERE for $29.99

This Caspari chinoiserie journal is a great place to record your deepest, darkest decorating fantasies.

$12.50 on eBay

World market sells sets of four of knives, soup spoons, teaspoons, salad forks or dinner forks for less than $10 per set. HERE

World market also has this midnight willow pattern at bargain prices per set of four also. HERE

OK, six maybe.

 $8 brass crane on Etsy

Scored and chinoiserie on the cheap lately?

Aaaagh!

Yesterday, Linda emailed Nancy who emailed me because four of these lanterns were right down the road from me.

A rather vexing situation prevented me from grabbing them and I really don't have the time to paint them.

They are still available for $20. Darn. I wish someone would have grabbed them then I could stop stewing about it.

My Luckett day

Nancy Powell, the extraordinary Mom half of the Powell-Brower team, and I went to Lucketts, Virgina last Saturday. Yes, you should be super jealz because it was fun. I drove to her lovely house and she drove us both a bit further North to Lucketts.

I really did not know what the deal was. Let me tell you that there it was antiquing extraordinaire.

Courtesy Nancy Powell

 There were several of these darling out buildings that were styled somewhat and full of refurbished and ready to restyle pieces.

So many bits of salvage waiting to be used in some awesome way.

If this fireback had not been cast iron and 5 million lbs. it would have come home with me...and Nancy by default.

Cool right?

This is the entrance to the show house. The house is a very cool, crusty old farmhouse containing styled rooms and products for sale.

The rooms were a lot like Restoration Hardware and a bit one note, not so original but there were certainly a few fab items and take away ideas.

I'll let Nancy show you that.

I spent much of my browsing time thinking to myself, "Hmmm, where could I put that?"

The prevailing styles seemed to be vintage-y leaning toward kitsch and industrial chic.

A few other things that caught my eye...

My favorite booth

This was in a booth in the general store that was wonderfully curated

 There was an accessory store that had tons of tempting items.

Anther oddly common item was letters. Big shiny ones, rustic ones, cutesy ones and signs that had sayings on them. Not my cup of tea ( or A ).

After all of this warm and humid shopping we headed back South to Leesburg, a charming town, for lunch.

I wish you could taste the food we ate and hear us giggling. Nancy is funny too.

We both treated our wallets with care and came away with a few small trinkets.

Here are mine.

This vintage, etched glass martini pitcher that is quite petite was too hard to pass up at $15.

The real prize, to me, was this antique German pillow sham.

detail if the sham

Look closely and you will see that the sham has the initials "H S", my youngest daughter's initials. 

I had to have it.