Sights and Sounds of Spring

And you were expecting photos of birds and blossoms, weren't you??? I wish! I took these photos through the blinds on purpose so you could actually see how close all this construction is to my house. At first is was sort of exciting to see them get started on this big project but it quickly became a nusance. They are out there with their big machines right after sunrise - not my favorite thing to wake up to.

They work all day and it's really bad when they are dropping and moving large pieces. The whole house rattles and shakes. It's just loud all day long. *sigh* We have gotten a few days of quiet when they move their work further down the field away from us. But we really won't be getting a break any time soon! Once the road is done, which is what they are working on right now - and I never knew SO much went into putting in a road! LOL!!! So once the road is done, the houses will start to go up so a new type of noise will take over the wee hours of the morn to wake me up.

Oh well! Sorry for the rant, I think I am just going to miss my quiet little street. Have a good weekend yourselves!

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Williamsburg swan lake.

okay, after much deliberation about how i could get swans outside my window, it dawned on me that I already have them in my kitchen.

I bought this amazing mobile from the children's section of ABC Carpet and Home a few weeks back. It's from a company called skyflight mobiles. I love that i was wishing for some swans and I had them here all along.

And please notice my terrible fluorescent light in the kitchen. My next goal is to take that sucker down! Any ideas where to look locally for cheap old fixtures other than ebay? I don't fancy a bargain attached to a huge shipping cost.

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My secret garden.

I, like sweet little Mary Lennox, believe in the healing power of gardening. My father is a beautiful, natural gardener and a constant inspiration for my plant pursuits. Apartment living can be tough on plants, limited sun exposure, an overactive heater, it's enough to make a girl feel like a failure....

I think i've finally gotten a handle of what works in my apartment, i have indirect southern and northern exposure. This is why i adore a good terrarium, I rarely have to water them and i can have all of my favorites that i can barely keep alive outside a jar, ferns, fittonia, moss and baby's tears. Most live atop of my dresser in the bedroom. I love how they look like victorian science experiments.
It's an addiction, i swear. I buy find myself buying things for the jars they come in and those cheesy grandma candy dishes in thrift stores for the glass toppers to put on my old canning jars.
I am completely obsessed with these old illustrations. They are all old "Home & Garden" covers from the late teens. I want to be a beautiful, amazingly dressed gardener in my own flower garden. Someday it'll happen. The power of positive thinking!
I just love this girl. I feel like someone looked into my heart and painting who i want to be these days.
This is my dream summer cottage. I hope to make my home look like it could be inside of this charmer.

Now if only i could wrangle some swans to hover outside my apartment window all day long.

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Handmade spaces

Hello!!!! I know it's been a long time and I promise a good explanation is coming soon. I have soo missed blogging and all of you! thank you, thank you for all your sweet emails telling me how I am missed and well wishes too!

How about some fun news? If you haven't heard of the Modish blog you are missing out! They have a wonderful regular feature called handmade spaces. I love seeing all the great creative spaces they find. Don't miss this handmade spaces archives too! Well.....they are featuring MY handmade space today! take a peek at the article HERE.

Pop on over there - she'd love to hear from you! AND if you have a great creative space you'd like to share - let them know!!!! I'd love to see you featured as well!!!

Have a great day! I promise to be back soon!!! xo - Meg

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And exactly two weeks later...

The floor is done and my apartment is finally emerging from under a cloud of sawdust.

This is the first coat of paint, its benjamin moore porch and floor paint in "parchment white" or something old timey like that.


Next I made a cardboard template of the size of diamond i wanted for my checkerboard and then traced it off on to the floor, using a yardstick to extend the diagonal lines when needed.


Here is a "rough draft" of the checkerboard. I went back over each line with a small paintbrush to tidy up where paint smudged under the tape. This was such a tease because it took days to finish and I had thought it'd be a quick job. I also repainted my baseboards.

These are some shots of my new floor all dressed up. I love it, but i can't wait until i resign myself to ivory getting dirty. I've been on all fours with a sponge more often than is appropriate for a 23 year old girl.


Okay, okay, so my floor isn't even in this picture but i just found this amazing basket last week and have appropriated it as my new catchall gardening bin. And i painted the little desk black on a whim last night.


My sweet little kitchen feels so much more lovely without vinyl flooring. Why did it take me so long to do this??!

Now, all of you please come over and let me cook you brunch.

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Inspiration strikes my floor...

Normally I consider myself to have decent impluse control, i tend to think things through and make informed choices or at least understand what risks i'm taking. Not so last weekend!

I've read Catherine Halley's blog "Scrappy Girl Decorates" for over a year now and think she is stylish, witty, self-deprecating and an all around decent girl. However, she and i tend to dream more about projects than actually start and finish them. So imagine my shock when i see she has ripped up her kitchen floor without even really debating about it first! Me too, Me too!! I want to make apartment progress too!!!!

Within literally 30 seconds I am on all fours in my kitchen prying up my dreaded vinyl flooring, forgetting that.....

1. I do not own my own apartment, i rent a little rent-stabilized 1.5 bedroom in williamsburg.
2. I have no idea what could be lurking under my tile. cement, more tile, plywood?
3. I have not enough money to even consider actually replacing my floor with something that could look nicer.
4. It is 10:30pm on a monday night. I am not endearing myself to my new downstairs neighbors with this late night crow-bar action.
As you can see, my tiles were already damaged i swear, Mr. Slumlord, i mean, Landloard. They were all loose and bubbling.
And cracking.

and yes, i took these pictures not to have good "before" floor shots but as blackmail photos, in case my deposit is held hostage if i ever move.....

So i've done some hard manual labor before, but this took the cake. Those are sheets of metal that were nailed down with 3" nails. Not easy for a girl to pry up one after another for hours!


What a mess, but look at my amazing 100+ year old wood floor. It isn't even badly damaged.

This is what i'm working with now. I've since scraped and sanded and sanded and sanded. and primed and painted. still more painting to go.


I decided to paint a ivory and black diamond checkerboard. A cheeky classic kitchen floor. I've painted the ivory diamonds and 1/2 the blacks. Still a few more days left to go and then i'll post the second half of the project pictures.

and thanks to ginny for the kick in the pants to blog again.

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When the captain goes down.......

I've been ill for a few weeks, had company in town, spent Spring Break entertaining the kids and trying to claw my way out from getting behind. You know how it is when Mom goes down - the "ship and crew" usually tend to follow. My husband has been a great help - don't get me wrong ;) (thanks again babe - love you) Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I haven't fallen off the planet - I DO miss blogging, sharing and chatting with all of you. Sometimes life happens and you have to re-prioritize for awhile. Please tell me you understand???

I will try to post more than once a week and hopefully still have fun things to share with you! for now, enjoy the weekend! see you next week!

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