a few of my favorite things

i have been slowly pulling out our

christmas decor the last few days.

i'm having a hard time getting going this year.

not feeling super creative or energetic when

it comes to decorating.

i did manage to get a few cuttings from the yard to

make a fresh door swag

and i've been piddling with the mantle but am not happy with it yet.

my lack of holiday decorating mojo might have something to do with the

impending sinus and ear infection i feel building in my head.

in the meantime i thought i would participate in the nester's

favorite things party by sharing a few of my

own.

so, here we go. a few things i'd rather not live without.

1. john frieda's frizz ease dream curls :: i have seriously tried almost

every product available for curly hair. from the expensive stuff to the

cheap stuff and everything in between. about two years ago i picked this up

during a buy one get one sale and have never looked back. it's cheap and it

controls frizz and softens my curls like nothing else ever has. you can find it in any drugstore.

2. blue chips with flax seed :: love these. alone. with humus. with homemade

pimento cheese. with salsa. for lunch, snack or dinner. i love them. blue chips

are naturally organic and the flax seed is full of health benefits. my favorite brand

is target's archer farms. i find it to be the most flavorful and it is also the least

expensive. double like.

3. my (not so) storybook life, by elizabeth owen :: i really enjoy a good

memoir. i also really enjoy a book that can make me laugh. this book made me

laugh. and cry. and then laugh again. i had to put it down while reading

during a hair appt recently because i literally could not contain my laughter and then, moments later,

had to ask for a tissue because tears of sadness were streaming down my face. (i received a 'poor thing' kind of smile from my hairdresser's apprentice and then i picked up people magazine)  liz is talented i tell ya.

her story of friendship and personal growth will leave you feeling warm and hopeful

and longing for the next chapter. you can find it here. oh, and liz blogs here.  

4. tazo organic chai tea concentrate :: my favorite hot drink is a 

starbucks chai tea latte. really, i think i'm addicted. i craaave them and

my day doesn't feel underway until i take that first sip. problem is a gande is just

under 4 bucks. not a habit we can support on our budget.so, i set out to come up

with my own chai latte at home and tried many different brands of chai tea in the process.

then. . . THEN. . .

i came across this at, of all places, wal mart. just over $3 and it lasts me a week

and is EXACTLY what is used at starbucks. my barista friend told  me so!

5. sweet leaf green tea with mint and honey :: when i'm not drinking
hot chai i am drinking this. love is also not too strong a word here. the only
two places i have found this in our town is earth fare, a whole foods grocery
store, and publix, a typical (but not!) grocery store. way cheaper at publix and often on sale.
i currently have four 64 oz bottles in the fridge. i'll need more by saturday.

 

6. campbell hausfeld compressor and nail gun ::  with all the projects
i've done around here this year this has been invaluable! it's user friendly, lightweight,
and packs just the right amount of punch for the average diy'er.

is it weird that three of my six favorite things are food/drinks? don't answer that.

instead go check out all the favorite things linked up at the nester's party. there's sure to be
some great gift ideas in there.

~ stacy ~

bedrooms, bathroom, red door, and a speaking engagment

it's been quiet on the blog because it's been

busy at quinby cottage!

just wanted to pop in and say i'm still here

and will be back tomorrow to give a

cottage improvement update!

i have two big projects underway.

the master bedroom and the kids'

suite upstairs, which includes their bedrooms,

bathroom and a hall that joins the two.

and, as usual, i found myself diving into

an unplanned project in the midst

of those two things.

inspired by the above picture (source unknown) and this

i have decided to paint our front door red.

it's sanded and ready for some makeup.

pics to come when she's all prettied up!

but first pastor j and i have been asked to speak at

campus crusade for christ at the university of south carolina

tonight.

 the topic?

the boundaries of love

wish us luck!

is it 2011 yet?

man, we have had one of those "one thing after another" seasons over the last six weeks. you know the kind. . . the car that starts becoming a money pit, unexpected medical bills, sick kid after sick kid, a growing list of household projects on a shrinking budget, blah, blah, blah. . .

i seem to be unable to rest until this little cottage of ours is to our liking.  with the last several weeks being so hectic i couldn't tackle some of the larger projects but i did manage to get our tiny little bathroom updated.

it was one of those projects that just happened. you know the kind? i didn't have a plan or a vision and it wasn't on my agenda for the day. as a result i didn't even snap a before picture for you, so i'll have to 'paint' you a picture of the before.

here it is today. not an "after," but an "almost done."

what we started with in here were walls that were a fleshy color.

i honestly don't know how to describe the color; most of the house was painted

with it. fleshy with pink undertones. not attractive. the cabinet

in this bath was a standard oak with modern silver pulls.

because i needed to do this one on a dime i went to

our shed and pulled from paint we already had.

the vanity was painted alabaster by sherwin williams and i used some old rusty pulls

i had on hand from a project that never saw the light of day.

the walls are blue hubbard, a sherwin williams color i had mixed

at home depot with behr paint and primer in one. this color was

used in our front room and i had just enough left over for

our small bath.

the wall over the toilet had a standard towel bar. i removed that and filled

the holes and personalized the space a bit with pics of

the boys and warmed it up with a couple candles.

you can see the wall across from the toilet in the reflection of the mirror. that is the only

floor to ceiling wall space in the bathroom. the previous owners had

a vertical towel holder on that wall that held about six towels.

i put up a chippy shelf with four rusty hooks.

i picked  this up at hobby lobby for 50% off, making it $10.

so, now we have a place to hang our towels. hanging them over the doors was

not working for me! :)

this is another hook i had on hand. it has three different

sized hooks that pivot. i took down the ring towel hook on the wall

beside the vanity and replaced it with this. i need to go back and

paint the silver screws i used to put it up. i touch of hammered bronze spray

paint should do the job!

and because i love to display my blue ball and atlas jars i had to

make a spot for one. i just shoved a bunch of

white candles in and called it done.

to finish it out i will frame out the mirror and change the lighting

and faucet. i will likely put a couple cute knobs on those

two faux drawer fronts on the vanity, too.

but for now, it's a big improvement!

and the best part? the total out of pocket was $10 because we used what we had.







when simplifying isn't simple

WARNING :: this post is filled with words, no pics of projects or house updates today! I'm not even
going to go back and read this so it may or may not make sense!

it's been quite a week.

in fact, it's been one of those weeks that

has forced me into near constant prayer.

we moved into town and into a smaller home for the

purpose of being close to our church

family and the community where most of our ministries

take place. it's also been or desire to simplify

our lives on a number of levels, from material possessions

to decreasing travel time for pastor j to how we spend time as a family.

while we love our home, neighborhood and proximity to the city,
not everything in our life feels
simpler. more simple? simpler? anyway. .  .

1. inner city schools. NOT a simple transition. it's been
rough in fact. really rough. it is important to us
to support our local school, to be present and encouraging, to offer
solutions and not be the parent's that just point out the problems. this is going to
require more time.

2. we have come to realize that bean is going to
need more therapy than the school can provide,
at least one to two hours outside of school.
this is going to require more time.

3. little quirks in tank's development, that we have been
only mildly concerned about have turned into larger concerns.
after being observed for three hours by a specialist
from the university we are now
getting set up to have him go through a full
developmental/psychological eval.
additionally, we found out he failed his recent hearing test
and have been referred to a specialist.
we know that he will need speech therapy at the very least.
this is going to require more time.

4. as things are, we don't have much more time. something's gotta give.

*************

it's ironic isn't it? that as we seek to simplify our lives things get infinitely more complicated.

complicated, yet the decision that needs to be made, for me, is a simple one.

my family needs more of my attention. not the kind of attention they get inbetween
projects or the kind they get when i have so many other things on my mind.
they need my full, undivided attention.

the only way for that to happen is for me to give up some things that are  forcing me to divide my
time. namely, green seed creations, the business.

i have decided that now is not the time to develop green seed. i will be turning in my
business license, finishing up some custom orders and not accepting more, and pulling out of the shop
where i currently have some of my wares. (also ironic is that this is all
coming about the week my little blog is getting a more professional look.)

i will maintain this blog, because i think it's important for me to have
something for me. and i enjoy this, even if no one's reading i enjoy it.

one day i will want to look back at the changes we made to our sweet
cottage and this is where i will look. so, i'll continue to document what i
do around here, with the reno and other projects, like the built in's i'm
going to make for the boys bathroom.

at the moment, i can't find my camera or i would show you some of my fall
decor. it is in keeping with our theme of simplifying and i am really loving it.

i'd love for those of you that come around from time to time to keep popping in
and hope you'll understand if my posts are not terribly consistent.