Mood Board for Chez Emerson

I'm making decisions and we all know how that can be.

Here is what I'm thinking:

Click on this graphic to see it in it's huge loveliness.

The shag rug is the thing I'm eyeballing from Ikea. And I'm playing around with tiling our fireplace myself. I'm in love with gray tile. Something dark and lovely.

I'm obsessed with my Sputnik light! LOVE IT!

Here's the sofa I really wanted, only in orange. Ha!

But I'm perfectly delighted with the one I bought.

The paint is from Benjamin Moore.

Contemporary design isn't for everyone. I know this, but I have a HUGE LOVE for this type of look and I'm jumping out of my skin with my highly developed design-boner.

This room is going to rock all that I know. Oooooeeee! I'm excited.

Don't Cry for Me Argentina

Chez Emerson - the update.

The addition is moving along at a great clip. Someone shows up every day and they all seem to know what they're doing. Just one little snafu and we're putting it into the shit happens bucket. Cuz guess what? Shit does happen!

Our electrician was doing his electric-thing when BOP, something popped and BLOOP the computer panel from my LG stove (I hate you LG! You suck!) fried. I did a happy dance for a minute until Pup soberly reminded me that, no, we wouldn't be getting a new stove right now because, guess what? we have all our money tied up in this addition. Poopy shitty and color me sad. I knew it already, but couldn't I gouge our contractor for a new Wolf? Would he notice?

I'm kidding.

Kinda.

I don't play like that.

Unless I know I won't get caught.

I'm lying.

No I'm not.

Someone came out to work on the stove and I had that dude check on knob pricing for me again, hoping against hope that the knobs had come down from their $57 apiece pricing. Nope - now they are $189 apiece. I'm not lying. And that company knows the knobs are a pile. Oh dear! Don't get me started or I'll start ranting and raving like I like to do. Yes, I'm annoying.

Ask my sister. I had her on the phone yesterday for over an hour and I KNOW her ear was tired after she hung up. Really - how much can you LISTEN to one annoying woman? That woman being me, of course. hehehe

So . . . while all that electrical drama was unfolding something popped in the basement, but no one knew it. A GFCI (what the hell is that??) popped and turned off our freezer, media center, and humidifier. We happily went to Idafreekinho and were unaware until yesterday when I went to the dungeon basement to do a bunch of crap for the contractor.

Found the smelly freezer. Half full of our delicious free-range porky the piggy and bessie the cow. Oh sad day!

So I have to empty the smelly, bloody mess (I won't go into details, but I almost lost my lunch at one point), scrubbed it clean and now all that is in that freezer is my delivery from Karen from This Old House 2. Nummy!

This one looks particularly delicious! I can't lie, I ate two of the little ones yesterday. Stress eating yes? I also had Chinese for supper. When stressed, nothing is better than some chicken chow mein.

Check out this little video I made yesterday with my new Nikon.


Whoo ha! It's a good day coming today. I just know it!

What's on My Phone?

George Addition

In this first one, this is what it looks like when George and I (Calvin too) are trapped up in the loft while guys sling drywall around the lower level. The loft has tons of windows and it got plenty toasty and cozy up there. I can't lie, we were napping.

Pup and George in the DEN! This is the view from the hall.

Madhouse

It's a madhouse around here. Literally a madhouse.

Meaning, I am either insane, or we are putting on an addition.

I knew it would be hard. After all, I've been through a few bouts of remodeling in my life. I even built a house once.

But this one is really hard. Mostly because I'm unemployed (looking for work like a mo-fo I might add; finally, my kids might add) and mostly because, right now, the dudes are working in the office and working in the room-to-be-renamed.

I don't like it when things are out of place and the whole house is upended.

So, I'm pulling up my big-girl panties (or my granny-panties I guess I should call them) to get on with it.

Concentrate on what it is, not what you want it to be. Be in the moment. What the hell does that really mean? I think it means that instead of moaning and moping about because things aren't the way I want them, I need to celebrate the process (bop!) and maybe learn a thing or four.

So, with panties firmly in place, I approach the continuation of this process with open-ended curiousity and never-ending joy.

Got it? Yes I do!

What are you approaching?

Supererogatory Shots from My Nikon

Yes, I had to go to a Thesaurus for that word. All I could think of was 'gratuitous' and that word is boring and used up. I wanted a full, rich word. Ha! The more I look at this word though, the more it bugs me.

But annoying is getting annoying as well! What to do?

Regardless, here they are:

 I like to call this, "Pup Breaks Free." Except he's not really free is he? {evil laugh}

 George and Calvin wonder if they're next. Pup swinging a mallet scares them a tad.

 Can you tell that this cat is crazy? The craziest. Seriously Prozacably crazy.

I have no idea what the hell I was trying to do here. I do love my bookcases. Smooches Ikea.

Only a Northern Song

We got a bit of snow on Saturday. 20 inches, but who's counting? Not unusual to get snow around here. Not unusual to get a lot of snow around here. But 20 inches is pretty substantial. We had a blast walking out in the storm and poor Pup (not really, he lives for this shit) had to blow us out twice and we walked over to the kidlett's house to blow them out as well. Then he blew them out again yesterday.

It came down and came down. I have to say it was awesome.

We all piled into the Liberty (4-wheel drive) and drove around until we found a place open for drinks and burgers. I had scotch. Yes, it was crazy to be out in it, but we just couldn't help ourselves.

There is something about a storm that just makes you want to become part of it.

The hole for the den on Friday.

The hole for the den on Monday.

Leave My Kitten Alone

Today is the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's death.

Now here is a sign of the new times - Yoko Ono tweeted about it. Yoko Ono - tweeted. A woman that once sat in a gallery and had people snip off pieces of her clothes as art. Those two actions, tweeting and snipping, do not belong together. I am nonplussed.

~~~~~~~~~~

On the homefront, here's what I saw out my office window yesterday!*

 

 

The house was a rockin'.

*A couple of commenters are confused and do not what's going on. I thought I had been talking about it incessantly, but apparently I'm more annoying in my head. :)

We are adding a den to our house and the process began in earnest yesterday! Very exciting around here.

You Never Always Give Me Your Money

Could it be true??