So I’m reading Sisterchicks Go Brit by Robin Jones Gunn. (She’s one of my fave authors, and has been for years and years). One of her paragraphs from an aspiring interior designer was so inspiring to me; nailed it on the head, I guess you could say:

“It’s amazing how the decor of a room can affect how you feel about yourself and your surroundings. Maybe that’s why I love decorating so much. I love elevating people’s environment so that it elevates their feelings about themselves.” … “In a way it makes you remember that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. That’s what God says of us. I think we suppress our appreciation for the ‘wonderfully made’ part far too often”.

Yep, love that! Ms. Robin always comes through with some pretty wonderful quote-ables.

On the homefront…notice I’ve been absent from blogging for a few days? We’ve been truckin’ right along, from morning to night! I’ve really had fun-taken a break from scraping walls and carpet pads, and I’ve helped lay flooring; wood and tile. Erick and I make a good team-I’ve truly enjoyed working alongside him instead of in separate rooms on different projects. And I’ve officially glued together PVC pipe, layed grout, worked with the jig and chop saws-much fun, I tell ya! Here’s a picture of what the flooring throughout the house looks like now. We only have a small landing left to lay the floor on, then we’ll stain the original hardwood floor in the kitchen to match the rest of the house.

Erick has to seal the grout in the bathroom today, then I’ll post some before and after pictures. I’m LOVING the bathroom and how it’s going to turn out. Yay!

Annnnnddddd….our escrow money is starting to roll in. Which means appliance shopping this afternoon! Mom and dad have company coming in one week from now, and it’d be a pretty tight squeeze trying to fit us all in here, so we hope to be at the new place before next Wednesday. Eeek!

Oh, and one last HUGE thank you to dearest Nicole from Breaking Even, who sent me some amazing music mixes. You are such a DARLING, girl! I’m now an official fan of Carla Bruni! And I couldn’t be more ecstatic about the mix of Diana Krall/Pink Martini/Jamie Cullum/Madeline Peyroux (and so many others…I’m listening to it right now and can’t recall everyone who is on it, but suffice it to say-it’s my new happy cd!) Without tv and with limited radio reception, it’s just by happy accident that I find new artists that I enjoy. And I’m so happy to have found so many at one pop.

Erick’s home! Time to go shopping, woohoo!

Here is a varied list for you!

I’m currently munching on the peanut butter cookies that the boys and I made yesterday: 1 egg, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 cup of peanut butter. Whip it all up, drop spoonfuls on a pan, and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Can it get any easier than that?!

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2 artists that are truly amazing-The Maine Grind in Ellsworth carries their work, and you can also purchase the prints online here.

Alan Claude? LOVE HIM. I particularly want this print. Here is a close up of Portland Head Light. It’s beautiful!

And this print is delightful. Can’t afford it anytime soon, but maybe someday! It’s by Philip Frey.

Ok, I am in need of art classes.

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Yesterday I received an email from Tintypes, a really fabulous store in Bath. On July 18th from 5-7, they are hosting a gathering focusing on the International Princess Project, and will be selling Punjammies for $30 ($40 after the initial evening), wherein all proceeds go to help women in India get out of the sex trade and start a new lifestyle. Click on the Princess link to discover more about this organization; it makes my heart sing when people start something so amazing as this. It’ll break your heart a little bit, but also make you glad for people who put things like this into action! I do believe I’ll be saving my bucks to buy a pair!

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One more delightful thing? Nonnie and Papa return tonight, and we are going to take the day off Wednesday or Thursday to go strawberry pickin! Shortcake, here we come!

Have you seen Heather Bailey’s new collection coming out in July? If not, go here. I’m thrilled! And I need money!

This morning, Jack has:

a) drawn on the walls with crayon (note to self-invest in washable paint for the house)

b) poured out the salt on the flour

c) dumped the entire contents of the oregano on the floor

d) flung bits and pieces of his peanut butter and honey sandwich far and wide

e) scattered his bowl of popcorn ev.ery.where.

f) and has generally been a complete scamp today

g) I’m so glad he is down for his nap!

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OOH! Check to see who’s blog my lovely sis-in-law has been featured on! Yipee!!!!

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Now that the boys are tucked in, I plan on wrapping up a few things I’ve been working on. Stay tuned later today or tomorrow for pics!

New (to me) music find! Love her!

Click here to listen to clips.

Off to Bar Harbor for a day-before-Father’s-Day celebration. Have a great weekend!

Augusta! Yarmouth! Freeport! Bath! And it all began with a coconut coffee and a cranberry orange muffin…(although the guy behind me at D&D ordered a cinammon coffee and a chocolate chip muffin, which sounded excellent as well!)

Mom, Debbie and I hit the road early and shopped and dreamed and gained inspiration at every turn. I picked up some vintage bottles at an antique store for a new art idea that I’m thoroughly excited about, and we also have some great new pillow ideas. Nothing like 3 creative heads bouncing ideas around together!

The weather was beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. And we pretty much wrapped up the day with a shop I’ve blogged about before, but the amazing Gayle of Ornament allowed us to snap pictures to our hearts content. THIS is what I want my house to look like…classy and casual, beachy and romantic, mix of old and new. *OH* how I long for a white couch to sink into. (Crazy thought with my 2 little boys running around, right? Especially since I wrote about that grand ol’ sandpit we have in the backyard!) Prepare to feast your eyes…

LOVE these plates. Bought the birdie salt and pepper shakers.

Aren’t these hats amazing?

Ok, I’m ready to go back. If you want to go, you can find it at 11 Centre Street in Bath (Maine of Course!)

Thank you for letting us run amok, Gayle!

Very, very sad. And very, very glad!

My dear Sarah over at www.todayshomemaker.com has decided to forgo her current website (somebody pick it up PLEASE!!) in order to follow her true passion, which is writing.

I read the first two sentences, and I was utterly hooked. I think you will be too…so add her to your blogroll…you are in for a wonderful read!

Saturday morning Erick and I rolled out of bed early and spent the morning at Lowes, Home Depot, Winslow Supply, Target…watched our money trickle away on all of the “unfun” things that homeowners have to buy (aka pipes, heating elements, putty knives, etc…)

*Oh for Home Decor!*

To make up for all of the necessities, I ordered this from etsy seller Handgrown Pottery (had to have a little fun, you know). I have such an obsession with bowls. We have no pots or pans, no silverware, no utensils, but we do have bowls!!

Saturday afternoon we spent the day with Ashley who generously helped us scrape more wallpaper. And I have found the answer to this business! A steamer, water, and vinegar. We borrowed my parent’s small steamer, and I felt like breaking into the Hallelujah chorus! It was like wallpaper remover’s bliss! And then it busted…. We heard this terrific pop and somehow the pressure got to the steamer and it is sadly with us no more. (grrrrrrr) However, as long as we keep the paper really soggy with a half and half mixture of vinegar and water in a spray bottle, it does the job pretty well. Just not as well as if we had that steamer back!

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Sunday after church we loaded everyone up (the boys, Papa and Nonnie) and we struck out for the house once again. The only big annoyance of this business is that we only have the weekends to work, and it’s so much easier if the boys aren’t around, but 2 days in a row of not seeing my kids is AWFUL!! So along with us they came! Fortunately, Grammie and our new friends came to our rescue and we had an amazing afternoon. Work is so much easier with a fun group! It certainly breaks up the monotony of it all. We are happy to report than Andrew and Erick got our plumbing up to par, so we now have use of the bathroom (no more runs to the store for potty breaks!) Next on the agenda is getting our heating pipes replaced, and Erick has become a master with sauter. He has completed the repairing of breaks in the living room and is almost wrapped up with the kitchen.

Dad took the cabinets down in the kitchen so I can release my design angst on the fake brick. Time to see it go!

While we were hard at work, the G kids kept Ry and Jack entertained. They had SO MUCH FUN. The previous owners of our house had an above ground swimming pool, so there is this gigantic sand pit in our back yard. At first glance I was horrified, but then I realized it was a blessing in disguise! What kid wouldn’t give and arm and a leg for a gigantic sand pit?! Eventually I’d like to line it with ocean rocks from our travels and put a fire pit in the center. But it will always remain a great place for the kiddos to get down and dirty. And get down and dirty they did. We had on and off again showers (which they LOVED), so of course the sand turned into mud (which was great for making sand castles and cities). But there is nothing like watching kids at play. It makes my heart so glad! Next time I’ll remember to bring the boys a change of clothes.

Hard at Play

Dancing with Glee on our ghetto porch (I love that we have a porch, but I can’t wait to change it from screen to glass!)

The scrapin’ ladies

Dad tearing down the cabinets…

Today we are ordering our new flooring (yipee!) As soon as it’s down (click and lock…shouldn’t take a terrifically long time), the bathroom tiled, and the heating pipes fixed, we’ll move in and finish while we are there. I’m hoping by the end of the month?

Have a great Monday!

Well…I have a new favorite Etsy artist, and wanted to spread the word! Aren’t these paintings cheery? Click on over to Holly’s shop to see what other goodies she has.

And Happy Friday!

…of the parade.  And by the way, can any of you get through a Memorial Day parade without such an overwhelming sense of gratitude that it fairly spills over and out your eyes in the form of grateful tears? Not I…