Friday, October 11, 2013

This & That

What do furloughs, decks, fall decor, and Oregon all have in common? Well, they were all part of the last couple weeks of my life...

Furloughs and Decks
Lions, and tigers, and government shut-downs- oh my! We have had two unexpected weeks at home with my husband courtesy the U.S. government...now if they were only planning to give him a paycheck. Steven is a self-proclaimed non-handyman; but he has, however, used this little break from work to undertake a pet project of freshening up our deck. He's excited to make our deck last longer; I'm excited that in the end it will have a mahogany stain. Four little people have been eager to be out next to him. And I'm kicking myself for not getting pictures of my sons' see-saw-from-old-deck-wood project.
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Fall Decor
Because who says that fall decor has to always include pumpkins?
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For the fall mantle, I went for an Anthropologie-ish rustic feel with unexpected items...
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Missing Oregon
It's been a travelicious year! Two weeks ago, I got to head out to the land of Oregon on a solo trip to go see my lifelong G-friend, Caroline. We were literally babies together and are now kindred-spirit mommas. She and her husband had adopted two little girls early this year, and I couldn't wait to get my arms around them and their big sister.
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And this, my friends, is Caroline's house. She and her husband built it from the ground up, and she designed every last detail. It was like walking into a magazine.
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1927 re-furbished stove...be still my beating heart...
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My little haven of a guest room:
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I asked her what this space was and she replied with a truly-modest flick of her hand, "Oh, that's just our catch-all."
Sweet Jesus, please don't come look at my catch-all!
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We finished off my visit by doing a mini-mommy retreat at a boutique hotel in Portland. And freed mommies, when totally alone, get a little giddy and stupid. So we started grabbing the camera and pretending we were pin-up models. Thank God no one was there to remind us that those days are long gone...
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And, while I couldn't wait to kiss my babies, I'm not going to even try to pretend that in the middle of homeschooling and meal-making I haven't whimsically wished I were still a fake pin-up model in Portland...

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