List of five: How we roll today

1. It snowed. Happy April Fools Day, New England style!

2. Unfortunately, this car is not how we roll today.

Lauren and Maddy got into a fender bender last night, where they were the middle of a three-car cruncher. Luckily, everyone was okay other than being a little shaken. (They complained of some achiness this morning so we asked the doctor to check out Maddy's headache and neck ache and Lauren's back ache. All is well.) But still scary.  Someone please come up with a bubble wrap enclosure for our teenagers. Okay, thanks.

3. G had to do a video teleconference from home this morning so we got him all set up.

The tower of board games to position the light was particularly delightful. Oh, yeah. That's how we roll.

4. School is hard work. Naps are how we roll on Friday afternoons.

Changing the world, one nap at a time.

5. Thank you for your paint suggestions! They definitely led me in the right direction and now I have a very nice reference folder for future projects. I settled on Moonshine for our bedroom, a soothing grey. This was my Moonshine inspiration, at Young House Love , where someone sent me but I can't remember who:

So far I love it. The faded wallpaper and quirky tree mural from the previous owner are gone, baby, gone! Um, yes, it took me three years from that wallpaper post to get to the bedroom paint makeover. And, yes, I STILL decided the paint color at the last minute. I'm coming to realize (and G has long known) that's just how I roll.

Happy weekend, one and all! I will be enjoying General Conference, attending a dear friend's daughter's bat mitvah, doing prom errands with Lauren, and cozying up for some family time.

Colors.

Wow, that was such a quick trip. My apologies to all those we didn't see this time around (everyone). Lauren was running the show and she definitely had us running! 

I did get to see the Carl Bloch exhibit (thanks for the tip, Allysha), which was lovely. Actually, I had a TON of time to myself since Lauren had no lack of nice friends to show her around and, let's be honest, moms kind of get in the way of those kinds of things.  At least that's what I'm led to believe. 

And I also believe that Lauren is infinitely closer to making a decision. I think we both kind of felt the vibes at one particular place. She's still weighing options but it was definitely a well-taken trip because it changed a lot of her perceptions and feelings about the schools--not a blinking arrow but close enough.

At the end, she caught up with some of her friends from last summer's Tonga trip. As luck had it, it was the weekend of Holi, a Hindu festival of colors celebrating spring. What a blast she had! She also got to catch up with her cute friend Jared before he left on his mission for Mississippi.

. . .

Okay, speaking of colors, as I mentioned a little earlier today, I am in the throes of trying to select a paint color for our master bedroom and bathroom.  Here's my plea for a little audience participation today:

What's your favorite paint color that's a neutral but still a color?

Pretty please?

Curtains!

We have curtains! On our windows!

We moved here three and a half years ago, folks.  And it's taken me that long to weigh options, decide, doubt my decision, weigh again, postpone, repeat. As Fanny Price says in Mansfield Park, "I have no talent for certainty."  You're going to laugh, because after all those years of hemming and hawing, I went with a very basic white linen drape (and, by the way, it's actually a lot thicker than it looks here with the light glowing through).

We really wanted this little den-like space to feel like a cozy timeless library, like it could have been assembled by your librarian great-aunt in the 20s or 40s or in 2010 by, well, us. Eclectic. Maybe a little quirky.

 

Because of this--and I know this will not be everyone's favorite--we also chose antique brass hardware.  I love it for this room, though. (By the way, I've been seeing a lot of brass and gold in magazines so maybe the trend is turning back to gold and brass?)  

Linen drapes on sale, here

Rods and such, on sale here

No, I don't get any fees for mentioning this.

Just trying to be helpful and informative here

in case you are three years into a curtain decision and need someplace to turn.

I'm glad we got this vintage, scraped-up postcard spin-me-round at Brimfield last month:

(^You spin me right round, baby.)

But it's kind of awkward there on the trunk/table.

Any ideas?

October sprucing

Oh, I love autumn. October, I welcome you with arms wide open.

Unfortunately, my front porch wasn't reflecting that love and was in need of a serious makeover. It looked more like a place to sit with a rifle slung across your lap to scare trespassers away while muttering "git off my propity" between clenched teeth. Not the welcoming message I was after. 

{Maybe my mind just goes there because we started reading To Kill a Mockingbird out loud and I've been thinking about porches and scary neighbors.}

I've had the corners folded down on a couple of catalogs for ages and, lo and behold, when I checked online they were on sale.  It was a sign, a giant green light from the universe.

Ah, much better. It's getting there anyway.  Amazing what just a couple of changes will do.

Red bench , on sale.
3-tiered wire baskets stand , on sale.
Fall cattail wreath (not pictured), not so much on sale. Hey, 2/3 isn't so bad.

Come and sit a spell, you hear?

. . . 

Listen: Theme from To Kill a Mockingbird, Elmer Bernstein

{The whole soundtrack is wonderful; it says childhood + autumn to me.}

Sunday dinner @ 135

Just a little love letter to my grandparents' house (fondly known as 135):

Taken from flip video I took last weekend on a whim, shaky camera work and all. It's part of my personal geography, that house.  I love everything about it and the people therein.

Music: To Build a Home by The Cinematic Orchestra