A squared T squared

Notice anything different about the two photos below?

T-squared (Talla's Turtle) and A-squared (Alex's Aligator) took a nod from their Uncle Cam (Colleen's Alligator Mascot) and dressed up for the holidays*.

A little background on Cam. Last year at Christmas we arrived at Alex's mom's house and found a lit up alligator in the front yard. I'll let Alex tell you the story about his pet alligators (that's right - plural!) another time. Over the course of the year Colleen dressed the alligator up for each holiday. 

Colleen learned I like turtles (I was known as Talla Turtle growing up) so that same Christmas we received alligator and turtle yard ornaments for Sheridan. They lived a boring life in our front yard for most of the year. 

They were screaming for a more exciting life so I decided to paint them shiny gold. A quick cleaning and a few coats of high-gloss gold later and we had ourselves fancy yard ornaments.

I don't think these guys will dress up for every holiday, but they seem to be enjoying their Santa hats for now.

*For those of you that noticed the abundant leaves instead of the snazzy Santa hats, here is photographic evidence that the yard was clean for at least an hour. Take a look at all those leaves about to take assault on the yard!

We Have Fun.

Sometimes we forget we're grown ups.

Charleston, SC, November 23

Blue Ridge Parkway, NC, November 9

Our Tree

On the morning of Sunday, December 1st our living room looked like this:

We spend a lot of time in our living room. We love the energy of it. We both agreed our big window was screaming "put the Christmas tree here!" We were nervous about rearranging the room since we loved it the way it was, but a few hours later it looked like this:

The love seat was moved down to the living room and the room was opened up. We like the new arrangement significantly more that we thought we would. We can't quite decide if we just like it because it's a change or if we like it enough to keep it. We do know the new arrangement increases our need for an area rug and some behind-the-couch art. The room is looking too naked. But - we created the perfect spot for the tree!

You'll notice I painted a little "happy holidays" banner on the window in front of the tree. I immediately wanted to re-do the banner and add additional stuff to the tree - it's now a week and a half later (an only a week and a half until Christmas) so I've accepted both as done. It's funny how much more I can enjoy our Christmas decorations once I just accepted their imperfections.

When Alex helped me decorate my tree last year he shared that he didn't really like my ornaments because they weren't personalized. We've now started the popular ornament-a-year tradition. Last year Alex started things off by getting me a mistletoe ornament. This year's ornament is a miniature sweetgrass basket we picked up in Charleston a few weeks ago.

I'm hosting two different holiday gatherings this week. I'm looking forward to sharing our tree with some friends.

Bright Idea?

We've agreed since the beginning of our home-sharing adventure that Sheridan is just a temporary home. Since we're not sure how long we're going to live here, we're very budget conscious when it comes to decorating. Lighting has not been an exception. We did several lighting makeovers rather than purchase new.

The first light to get a makeover was the dining room light. The house came with a nice, standard brass chandelier. It was fine but didn't really go with the room after we painted it. Rather than purchase a new chandelier I spray painted the brass one high gloss white. I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I kind of dig it. I'm thinking of adding a pattern to the faux candlesticks before calling it done.

Before and after (for before, before photos visit the bottom of this post):

The next light was a tiny little reading light I purchased from IKEA years ago (I think I was in college). The light had a brown and tan vine pattern that no longer fit my style. I had some leftover black and white tweed that I liked much better. I thought spray adhesive would do the trick but a few days later the material started coming off of the original shade. I added some hot glue to the edges and haven't had any problems since.

The third light makeover was also for the living room and is still a work in progress. We found a lamp at a local antique store for less than $20 and a shade at ReStore for about $5. I spray painted the lamp high gloss black. Initially I like the shade but later decided that while the shape was good, the fabric was bad. It's naked right now but I hope to get some white striped fabric on the shade soon.

Coincidentally Alex bought another house in our neighborhood and the previous owners left the same lamp! Now we sort of have a pair - Alex left the second one in the other house for his current tenants to use.

Three lamps for about $30. 

Tadaroo

On July 19 Alex surprised me with a dog. Best birthday present ever. We named him Tad. Talla and Alex's dog. Don't worry, you're laughing with us, not at us.

I'd love to show you some pictures that capture Tad's adorableness but he doesn't sit still long enough. I have nearly 100 fuzzy ghost-like shots of him on every camera and camera phone I own - he just won't stop moving!

The rescue organization told us he's about three years old. When strangers comment on how cute our little puppy is we don't correct them - pretending he's a puppy gives us an excuse for his high energy.

In lieu of an actual shot of Tad, here is a felted Tad Alex's mom made for us while she was in town in October.

Alex is the only one that can seem to get Tad to sit still. I guess I would be still if a creature over eight times my size man-handled me.

Thankful for casserole.

My first post in almost a year!

Three years ago my outdoorsy friends started a tradition of doing a Friends-Giving potluck dinner right around Thankgiving. This particular group of friends always finds a way to make things more interesting. After exchanging 99 emails (literally!) we decided the 2013 Friends-Giving should include a casserole only dinner, except for the deep fried turkey, followed by big wheel races. Good times were had by all and it was a nice reminder to give thanks for awesome friends.

Given the success of casserole Friends-giving, Alex and I were not surprised to find a note of thanks for casseroles on our dining room chalkboard after leaving Sheridan in the hands of our friends for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Tim (our former house mate and friend included in group described above), his sister Ginny, his brother-in-law Ken, and their puppy Miles spent the Thanksgiving holiday at Sheridan. Our Canadian friends Jacob and Stephanie joined them for the holiday feast. Alex and I were in Baltimore with Alex's family. We were happy friends enjoyed the house and Tad was happy to have a playmate for a few days.

We're not sure what some of the other items on the chalkboard refered to, and we're not sure we want to! I wonder if they predicted Alex would be bringing home a T.V. when they included television on that list...

A little bit of background on the chalkboard. My last apartment had a large chalkboard painted onto the kitchen wall. I loved it. I would always write excerpts from books I was reading and around Thanksgiving I would include a long list of things I was thankful for.

I missed my chalkboard and our dining room walls were feeling a little empty so I decided to create a chalkboard for Sheridan. I found an old picture at an antique store in town and talked the guy into selling it to me for less than $20. I cleaned it up, spray painted the frame aqua, then rolled a few coats of chalkboard paint onto the glass. Super easy project. 

Since this chalkboard is part of the dining room, here's an update on the dining room. A more complete update coming soon!

Starting place:

Wallpaper removal:

Today:

And now you know why I'm thankful for casserole.

Night Stand Reading List

First of all... Wow...  It has been a while since either Talla or I has successfully posted anything on this blog. Back in June, our summer roommate, Tim, was supposed to post something but never did.  @Tim - We are still waiting on that post, man!  Better late than never.  There are 3 posts that I have drafted over the past 4 months that I just need to upload pictures for.  Those will be up before long.

Pictured above are the three books currently sitting on my nightstand.  Two of which I am halfway through, and the third has yet to be started.  As a back story, I have discovered that on the whole it is really nice to live with your significant other.  While all the quality time together has brought Talla and me closer together, it has not been all rainbows and sprinkles.  There are times (like right before she gets her period) when we are each a bit more irritable.  Sometimes Talla and I just don't get through to each other.  I realized, that it might be because women and men are different in many ways, and a common response that might make sense from a man to man doesn't make sense from man to a woman (& Vice Versa).

As such, Talla has recommended that I read this book called Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.  Now any time I enter a crucial conversation, I start with the phrase: "When you do _____, it makes me feel _____."  I think it has helped in some cases.  There is other stuff that I've learned from this book too...

On the bottom of the stack, you see a book with a title called "Assholes finish first" - the other half of the saying: "Nice guys finish last."  It is by Tucker Max, a Duke Law graduate who first got famous from blogging about his ridiculous sexual exploits and drunken tyraids while he was in college.  He compiled his posts into a book, and it was fairly successful.  I never read it.  This is his second book, and it has got to be more ridiculous than the last.  While I do not condone or wish to emulate his behavior in anyway, his memoirs are very entertaining.

I found it in the closet of a house I bought down the street back in September.  After ten pages of 'Mars' one night, I decided I was done with it for the night and picked up 'Assholes'.  It has been my routine the past few nights: 10 pages of 'Mars'; 10 pages of 'Assholes'.

I'm lucky to have someone like Talla who can appreciate the humor in how I complement my bedtime literature.