Before, Blah!

Drug the whole family to Lowe's tonight for 2 hours. Can't believe the kids hung with us. Got interior trim paint to touch up and repaint doors, spray paint which should look like hammered metal for the porch railing (we'll see - can't be any worse than what's already out there) and exterior paint in a rich, dark brown for the shutters and front door. My vision for this house has always been a creamy white trim with black accents, but after really studying it I went with dark brown. There's a ton of siding on the sides of the house that will need to be replaced very soon, so with the new trim color hopefully it will look much fresher.

We have already replaced the exterior lanterns with a larger, bronze style, and had the front steps redone. I have vintage round brass door knobs which are killer. They came off a giant mansion in Highland Park that was being demolished. I knew the person who bought the house and she said I could take them. They've been waiting patiently in the garage for 2 years. We are also removing those ceiling medallions some kook put on the doors, and dressing the doors out with a nice rectangle of panel moulding. Clean and simple. I can't wait to see how it all looks put together.

So...above is the "before" of the house (during happier landscaping times.) It's not totally offensive, just really boring. Blah. I said 6 years ago how the house needed contrast and have intended ever since to do something about it. We are such procrastinators! However - we are planning to wake up early tomorrow and get a start on those shutters. After picture to come, hopefully soon...

Wednesday=Friday

Today was my Friday equivalent. Hectic day, lots accomplished, and Saturday is tomorrow, right? Nope, just feels that way. No worky again until Monday. ahh, summer. I believe we have finally pinned down Client into committing to a few things. AND it only took 4 months. per fabric. whew. All our vendors are just trying to stay in business while Client vassilates wildly on which gold fabric is ideal for the fireplace chairs. Vendors have taken to calling, daily, essentially begging for an order. (so, so sad. bad industry to be in sales right now!) While in the grips of indecision, massively important design features (lovely onyx slabs) have gone away to other houses, never to be seen again. And the work starts over.

Not my problem. For 4 days I'll be playing with my family. Tomorrow, after a doctor checkup in which I fully expect to be spanked, I'll be free to play, read, and do laundry. Piano at 4pm, then pool at 5! Friday we'll gear up for some household projects, namely painting. M and I decided painting was the easiest and cheapest way to make a difference around here in a short time. He keeps saying "I have a whole week off to do home projects," when in reality Saturday is July 4th, Sunday is church, Monday I work so he'll be on kid-watch, then Tuesday is free. Wednesday we leave on vacation. Which one wall do you think will be painted on Tuesday?

Here's my essential paint list: shutters, front door, trim touch up (like, everywhere). I'd also love to prep the foyer for wallpaper but might just deal with painting away the stripes. That was a good idea in theory, just never finished it out. Update to come.

Wedding Weekend

Well, I'm still recovering from the fun and craziness that was Mendy's wedding. Yes, it's Tuesday, and I haven't posted in a long time, but hey. I think I only have 2 followers. No pressure. HA!

Just a few notes on the wedding before moving on to my gripe o' the day. Mendy looked radiant, despite the 107-degree Austin day. Yup, you read that correctly. I figure at 7pm it had dropped to around 105. Nobody fainted and Amy (maid of honor) stood still through the wedding with ants crawling on her feet. She gets a huge round of applause from me for that one. The Barr Mansion is lovely, but what made the wedding was the "ballroom" they have behind the mansion. It is timbered, with lovely paper lanterns and bell lanterns hanging from the rafters. White lights crept up all the columns. The wedding flowers mixed the ambiance of Austin-rustic with the elegance of a lovely wedding. Beautiful orange flowers were placed in various aluminum vessels, such as buckets of different shapes and sizes. Some tables had tall wrought-iron candelabras. All the tables had a covering of burlap bordered with the chocolate brown silk of the wedding party's dresses. It was an attractive, interesting mix. And the cake. Oh, the cake. yum.

So, gripe o' the day. My skin looks dirty. That #@%$ spray tan. My clients will think I cannot reach my toes to wash properly. Since my feet were entirely orange, any lessening of the intensity has created a mottled discoloration. ew. And lets not even talk about the area that was rubbed by my lingerie. Serious leprosy. So. The $7 Olay Touch-of-Sun gradual self-tanning cream was working out wonderfully for me, and I think I'll just stick to it the rest of the summer. Better to be white than orange. Maybe my husband can stop calling me Daffy now.