The Road Less Processed

Well, it's been a long while since my last update.  Le sigh.  My summer should have been more productive.  Slackers Anonymous, here I come!

But on the plus side, I did have some great firsts as well as find some awesome deco finds.  Our first adventure involved buffalo, camping, and snow.  Yes, snow, in June.  Last time I EVER listen to my husband when he tries to talk me into camping.  We took a trip to Rocky Mountain National Forest and Yellowstone, both of which were completely amazing.  We saw lots of buffalo, buffalo poop, and grizzlies bears.  We actually had a grizzly outside of our tent the last day were there... emPHASis on LAST day.  WTF Mr. Grizzly.  Way to freak me out.

Here we are fishing at Yellowstone.

This we took at Rocky Mountain National Park.  That is a marmot :)

We went to eat at the Buff in Colorado after RM.  It's one of those "Man vs. Food" places :) All of this food for only about $6!  I gorged!

Jump back to Yellowstone; we had just arrived (temp drop from 65 to 41, out of park to inside the park) and set up our tents in the drizzly cold.

Just one of the amazing thermal features... it was so cold there, and all I could think of looking at this was the beach!

The Yellowstone General Stores carried everything to make a camper happy :)

A beautiful river that runs past some of the geysers, including Old Faithful.

Heading over to the I think, Excelsior Geyser.  The crater was huge where the actual Geyser had first exploded.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone... Let me just say, I'm terrified of heights, and I wouldn't get any closer than 20ft away from the edge.... mEEEEP!

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone from Artist's Point, great hike there, even better view!  There is a trail that goes straight down to the bottom of the waterfall, Old Tom's Trail, and well... I was so scared of that trek I almost peed my pants.  Heights + me + water + slick handrails....  I don't even want to recall the awful memories!

And on the way home, we decided to stop and see Mount Rushmore.  It was 7 oclock at night and we'd been driving all day.  For some reason, the heads seemed much smaller and less cool than I think that it should have.  Of course, at that point, I had been woken by a grizzly bear, not showered, and been in the car all day.  I was seeing the world through a haze of grease and grog...

Later in the summer, I spent a few wonderful days with my grandparents.  My grandmother is a wonderful cook, and she taught me to make the most excellent coconut cream pie!  I took pictures to show off :)

The world's smallest rose, grown by who else but my grandfather?  That's a teaspoon!

Here's the magnificent coconut creme pie I made with my grandmother's help.  It was delicious!

And the 4th of July cookie pizza for the shindig my mother hosted.

Grandpa is a storehouse of oddities (mental as well as physical), and he somehow coerced me (ok, so I begged) into taking one of my dad's only water skis home with me.  After lots of washing in Dawn and scrubbing, it's all clean, and ready to take it's place in my dining room.  We've decided to go with a travel theme of sorts.  Right now I'm on the hunt for antique snow shoes for the wall as well as some awesome vintage prints on canvas from the various national parks we've visited recently.  It's going to be pretty damn sweet, if you ask me.

All that being said, Justin and I are really trying to move away from processed foods and get back to the 'nitty gritty' as it were.  I would love to become that from scratch sort of cook.  I've already mastered the from scratch gravy, as well as a few other dishes (like chicken and dumplings, oh goodness, yum!).  But we still have a long way to go.  What kind of things do you eat that are unprocessed?
Also, I would love to hear what your favorite new recipes are.  How did they turn out?  Are they easy or difficult to make?

It's the Little Things

Hope everyone had an amazing holiday!  Our Fourth of July weekend was absolutely jam packed!  Justin and I drove down to Little Rock with three rescue puppies (so cute!) and our two hooligans in tow.  We stayed the night with my in-laws, always fun, and we had crab legs, steak, red wine, and played rummy and spades.  It was just so wonderful and so much fun, and I couldn't get over how much in love they were with all 3 of the puppies.  By the end of the game of Spades, we each had a sleeping puppy in our arms.  Terribly sweet for sure!  We got up early Saturday morning to let the two boys catch their transport rides north (one to NY, and the other to OH), and the little female puppy got to meet her forever momma in Little Rock. 

It made me feel so wonderful and yet so sad at the same time to be uniting these loving families with great little dogs that they will cherish and love for the rest of their lives.  The sadness was merely jealousy on my part, because I had had my heart stolen by little Eastwood, one of the puppies.  Even Justin cried a little when we had to say goodbye to him...

But then came Sunday, with a day at the lake, thanks to my wonderful water-loving sister.  And Monday brought its fair share of fun too.  My mother invited us all over for BBQ and fun, and I made a cute little dessert to bring along.  It's called Fruit Pizza.  It's incredibly (ridiculous, actually) easy to make, yet it looks like a show stopper!

So here it is, my Fruit Pizza!

It's essentially sugar cookie dough, rolled out and baked according to the directions.  Once cooled, you mix cream cheese, sugar, and a dash of vanilla until smooth and spread it out over the 'crust'.  Then arrange whatever kind of fruit your heart desires.  Here are a few more photos, just for fun! 

It really was the prettiest thing I've made in a long time....

It's hard to be artsy fartsy with photography a la iphone...

Anyhoo, so that was yesterday.  Today was a new day, and it was a day where in rare form, I really wanted to go shopping.  The need to shop must have a greater pull on the majority of females, but myself, well... I usually can only handle about 10 minutes and then I begin to whine.  Anyone in my family can attest to this.  This time is greatly shortened if I'm not actually shopping for myself...

But I got an incredible wind today!  I went to..... TJ MAXX!  The worst store in the entire world for shopping... really, it is.  That being said, I gave it a good go for at least 2 whole hours and somehow managed to actually spend money there as well.  It's one of those stores where if I walk around with an item long enough, it always turns into something I don't reallllly need.  So today, I made it my mission to only pick up amazing things, and then to buy every single amazing thing I put in the basket. 

I did realize by the end of my excursion that furniture, despite my trying, will not fit into a basket.  But, I simply could not leave this piece behind!!!

It felt almost like one of those instances where I wasn't buying the piece, but rather freeing it, as though it were one of those sad little hermit crabs in the shop with 8 million hermit crabs, where you think that if you buy it you're really saving its life, but in reality you're just giving them a reason to buy more... same goes for pet stores and backyard oodly doodly fake breed breeders (You spent $800 on a mutt?  Aren't you smart!)... *steps off of soap box and backs away slowly*...

Anyhoo, as I was saying, I just knew in my heart it was the perfect piece for my dining room, the one I have spent months searching for!  I also got a few other things, including 2 pillows ($10 & $25), 1 gorgeous pillow cover ($25), a basket just like in the Pottery Barn magazine (but for $16), a glass vase ($4), vase filler ($8), and two candle holders ($8).  All in all, I was rather tickled with my purchases.

Here they are on display in my dining room, which is beginning to look a little more refined.  The table top:

The new buffet, topped with some glass vases and candles I had, as well as my lovely white platter, pitcher, and more vase filler for color.

Here is a view of the whole buffet.  Underneath is the PB-like basket (will fill with goodies) and a pillow I purchased but haven't found the perfect home for yet.  I also repurposed some amazing pillows we also found at TJMaxx but had been using in the formal living room.

And the whole sha-bang.

So what do you think?  Next on the list is a new rug.  I'm thinking a white one with a grey/blue pattern (also at TJ Maxx, but I really couldn't carry that one, so I gave up on it for the time being).  Also, I'm thinking of doing some really fun vintage travel posters in here, like these:  http://www.art.com/gallery/id--b6473-c1837/places-vintage-art-prints.htm?Aff=CONF&RFID=054402&TKID=0&KWID=893413358&gclid=CMWa7e-e66kCFYtb7AodIQ8eYQ&CTID=1105803609.  I think they'd fit perfectly, especially ones like the Yellowstone poster, since we just recently got back from a trip there.



To DIY or Not to DIY, That is the Question

Well, ladies and gentlemen, we here at the little red house are entering into new and completely uncharted territory.  We are stepping into the land of DIY, or rather, falling headfirst, with a pair of chairs we happened to stumble across yesterday morning while out garage 'saleing'. 

It was our first free Saturday in a long long LONG time, and so we made a real Fayettevillain day of it.  The sun was shining brightly through our bedroom drapes, so we got up early, headed into town for some breakfast at Rick's Bakery (sausage rolls and freshly squeezed orange juice), and then drove around Wilson Park scoping out the best garage sales. 

We quickly spied this little pair from the street:

And I just knew they would be perfect!  They are rather trashed, so we got them for $10.  To be honest, I'm awful at haggling or bargaining.  The man said he would give us the pair for $10, and I immediately reached for the wallet :)  Really, I'm that terrible.  Heart on my sleeve, and whatnot.

So, now the plan (extremely tentative plan) is to DIY these guppies into some incredible beauties.  I would love a sweet tan natural material for the cushions, something like this Herringbone fabric from Hancocks (only $6ish a yard):

And then we would paint the wood a white that matches our oh so delectable Pottery Barn sofa material.  In shopping for material, I came across this fabric that I really love, and I could see buying some and making pillows for each chair.

If you are wondering just where Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum will call home, I'm thinking they'll find a nice little roost in front of the fireplace in the formal living room.  Not to worry though, we'll find a nice new home for the Camel chairs, either upstairs in my office, or... GASP! in the den.  I'm really considering completely rearranging the den to include some more seating (that is not for dogs, as they have totally taken over most of our sectional). 

Just don't tell Justin... he doesn't know yet :)

Here She Comes, Here She Comes

The month of June 2011 has included a lot of ups and a lot of downs in my life.  I'm typically a pretty even keeled and laid back person.  At the same time, I'm also a very emotional person.  At the beginning of June, my husband and I got to go to the most amazing small time musical festival, Wakarusa.  There were many amazing bands there, including Mumford & Sons, one of our favorites.  It was an incredibly time, with great music, as well as great heat.  It was terribly sweltering, so that led to very little clothing being worn.

Oh, Lord, would my Granny B never approve!

And from the highest high, I felt the lowest low.  While we were excitedly awaiting M&S time on stage, I received the worst news I could have imagined.  I had lost my Granny B, my mother's mother, my grandmother, and a wonderful woman.  The lady whom I only got to see maybe once a year growing up, but the times in between visits were punctuated with long telephone calls, with the ever faithful conversation partner Granny B, listening attentively to every word, uttering words of encouragement and love, and at the end of every phone call, she would sign off with "I love you sweety" and a smooch.  Her over-the-phone smooch held all the love in the world for me.  As I grew older and got into college, I was able to visit Granny more often, although these visits turned into nursing home visits.  They were too few and far between for me to really have made a difference for her, but every visit ended with a long session of holding her hand to my cheek and kissing it. 

I remember her smell, the way her perfume mixed with her almond lotion, the way she looked in her big silver earrings.  She was so wonderful, and there was so much left to learn from her.

What I would give to feel her hand against my face.  To smell her sweet smell.  To tell her how much she means to me.

I realized the day of her funeral how little I actually knew about my grandmother.  She had grown up with a family, gotten a job of her own, been successful, and made a huge impact on so many lives.

But to me, she was just Granny B.

And that was so much.  It was more than enough.  It was a lifeful of love and caring that I will never forget.

I love you, Granny B.

We've Got Chemistry, Baby

Apart from being sexy, what do you do for a living?

Am I in heaven, because you are an angel!

I hope you know CPR, because you take my breath away!

Hmm... awkward pick up lines aside, the Little Red House has news, albeit belated.  AKA, I suck at updating lately.  The dog rescue thing, while amazing, is all encompassing.  It's literally draining.  It's so hard to see so many dogs out there that are purebred and need help, and be so helpless.  It takes a huge network of fosters, transporters, volunteers, and adopters to make this happen, and all I've got right now are a handful of foster homes that tend to rate on the dwindling side and myself.  In other words, I play director, coordinator, foster home sometimes, volunteer, and transporter.  And that's not even my day job!

But back to those awkward pick up lines.  I haven't even been to a bar lately... sadly I had to google those.  Come to think of it, no one has ever used a silly pick up line on me.  Ever.  Sad day, for sure, but I think I prefer my 'that guy from Eclipse' of a husband (as one of my old High School guy friends described him). 

Ok, ok, get to the point, and PICTURES!

As always, there has to be pictures.  Our house is obviously a weird kind of house, and no average run of the mill Pier 1 or Furniture Row items would fit.  So when I'm not out saving the pointer world (I have a cape, I'm legit), I scour Craigslist for odd pieces to fill said home.  Here's my latest acquisition.

I was lucky enough to be first in CL email line to get this fancy little item.  It's a Chemistry Table from the University of Arkansas via 1930s.  The drawers are full of signatures from old fraternity guys (1931, 1937, etc).  And yes, those are working outlets on top!  My Halloween wheel is turning just thinking about it!  It came with six school chairs also stamped U of A that obviously need some TLC.  Justin is going to be sanding those down and varnishing soon, but the jury is still out.  Here are my picks for chair options.

Something like this but less tufting and taller (specifically 41" tall back) and off white, not white.  The chairs in mind are microfiber.  I'd like to see six of these chairs on the sides, and these chairs on the ends:

So all in all, we'd have a table that seats 8.  The only problem is that these chairs are only 36" high I think.  I want a statement with the white chairs, since I feel the brown chairs are too short, but if I left the brown chairs, the wicker on the end wouldn't look so stumped.  What do you think?

Here's another angle of the table in the room with the original chairs.  The table needs to be lifted about two inches anyway to make it comfortable for sitting.

I'd like to have a long dresser on the wall to the right.  I'm considering painting something a bright fuji apple green to go with the blue, but I'll probably opt for a darker grey or white or brown.  Here was the one that got away.  I still cry over this piece.  I should have bought it!

These would go above:

And help me decide on a mirror:

I think the 2nd mirror is more formal and the kind of look I'd prefer.  I would flank it with those botanical bird prints matted and framed in a dark brown frame.