Obsession du Jour

Well thanks a lot Nesting blog, now you have me daydreaming again ... Imagining life not in our cute and cozy 1920 craftsman, but in this beautiful, airy, and open abode. I love big living spaces and small bedrooms, and this house suits me just fine.

Oh yes, and THEY HAVE CHICKENS ... shall I remind you of how I feel about THAT ?!

Obsession du Jour

It kind of breaks my heart that I don't have a laundry room. I have to haul clothes to and from the garage ... and while that's not really a big deal in the grand scheme of life ... if I did have a proper laundry room, I could have beautiful things like this :

An elevated wire laundry basket. Just looking at her makes me feel happy. Sigh. I love her.

Found at Home a la mode via Design Mom

Obsession du Jour

Ellis Marsalis & Harry Connick Jr. - Caravan

Obsessions du Jour

Dutch doors - I totally love them

This kitchen is the same size and shape as ours. It's giving me lots of ideas for our (very much) future remodel.

I want this sink and faucet combo. I love the painted shiplap and the simple cabinets too.

I'll take that green kettle please.

Wide plank floors. Enough said.

If anyone had ever asked me if I liked trim and moldings the color of mustard, I would have said something like, " H$LL NO " . But this room is fabulous.

Everything about this makes me happy. I'm going to try to make those walnut garlands next year !

Top photo via Smith and Hawken. All others via Country Home.

OK, now that I've gotten the procrastinating out of the way, it's time to cook and clean for turkey day. If I'm not back before tomorrow, I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, and fun holiday .

Felt me an acorn

You know when you stumble upon something, and it's probably been around forever, but you've never seen it before ... and you just fall in love with it, because it's almost the cutest thing you've ever seen? Well, that's how I felt when I discovered felted acorns. I can't go another day without having some felted acorns in my life ... and I won't have to for much longer, since I ordered twelve of them this morning.

... after I found the acorns, I found these, which just might usurp the acorns in cuteness.

... in fact, I'm positive that they do.

... and of course they had to make little acorn babies, because I can't live without those either.

... and finally, a little bag that is made specifically for stashing acorns on long walks around the neighborhood. We need that too. 

Obsessions du Jour

I finally got around to trying this Method dish detergent, and I can't believe it took me so long. I love it ! It works much better than any of the big name brand, super-shine, super, super-everything ones. My dishes are truly cleaner. There's no soapy residue. I should not have to rinse off my clean dishes, and now, I don't have to !

A couple of years ago, I bought myself some reusable grocery bags. I didn't want to spend a ton of money on them, but did want them to be big and sturdy. I found these online for (at the time) only $7.95. I was wary, but the reviews were good. I bought 5 and hoped for the best. Well, when they arrived, I was not disappointed. They are large. They are made of some heavy duty fabric. The handles are log enough to easily sling the bags over your shoulder. They're perfect. They do cost a little more these days ($9.10), but they are worth every penny. You can find them at Jack's Magic Beanstalk.

Where I need to be

That's it honey. Pack your bags. Load up the animals. Cancel the paper. We're moving to Fredericksburg, and we're going to live in this house. This 1880's stone farmhouse, with 18 inch thick limestone walls. It's dreamy.

My ( uh, I mean, the ) house sits on eight acres. I think that's just the right size for us to have a cow named killer, some cute chickens with a bright red coop, and some pygmy goats to keep the weeds in check. 

PS : If you've never seen a pygmy goat, feast your eyes on this. They are just about the cutest things on the planet. Only about the size of a smallish dog, so I ( uh, I mean, a person ) can have lots of them !

House can be found here, and pygmy goat info can be found here.

Obsession du Jour

Obsession du Jour

Louis Prima ( With Keely Smith )

Louis Prima - I Wan'na Be Like You ( from the Jungle Book )

Louis Prima ( with Keely Smith ) - Hey Boy! Hey Girl!

Louis Prima was born in New Orleans ... I had no idea !

I need another bedroom

I found these beds over at Installations Antiques the other day, and have not been able to stop thinking about them. That child's bed just might be the most adorable thing I've ever seen.

Child's bed, Biedermeir, German - 1840

French bed, Cast iron, 1840

While on their website, I also spotted the sweetest little child's desk. A little Dutch school desk from the 1920s ... well, someone else spotted it too ... Annie from The Bunny Bungalow saw it, loved it, and has given it a wonderful new home. You can see it and read her lovely post about it on her blog, right here.

Obsession du Jour

I'm not sure why, but lately I'm loving predominately white rooms. I've always been an anti-white-walls kind of girl ... but the times, they are a changing ... All of these images are from a blog I found yesterday called, The Lucky Nest . I love it so much, I should change the name of my blog to  -  This is What I Like  - and just link it to hers.

PS : Me and anything white = a bad idea, since I have a way of spilling / dripping / splashing anything on everything. It's just one of those universal truths about me ... I can not be trusted with spillable substances. This is a fact that I was relaying to my husband on our first date ... and literally, as the words were coming out of my mouth, some burrito grease squirted onto my shoulder. How apropos.

PS #2 : My husband took me to Ruchi's Taqueria for our first date ... if you know what Ruchi's is like, and you know me ... you are HOWLING with laughter right now. 

Say hello to my little friend

Isn't she lovely ? This is the newest weapon of mass destruction for our war on animal hair ... and believe you me , this time , WE WIN !

P.S. : This vacuum is nicer than any car I ever had before I got married . 

Obsession du Jour

Yes, today I am totally obsessing over a refrigerator. SCANDALOUS .

image from City to Suburbia

hmmm, and that dishwasher is awfully purty too ...

Obsession du jour

I need to contain myself - because I'm flipping out over Jennifer Morris' jewelry . Am swooning. Can you believe she makes these beads by hand . No molds or mass production . Just her in her studio, molding and carving on her own . THAT is an artist ! 

You can find Jennifer's work in her etsy.com store here .

Obsession du jour

I came upon this photograph of a town in Sweden recently, and was blown away by it. The saturated blue sky, the light on the snow, I just love everything about it. It doesn't hurt that I've been having a love affair with Scandinavia for the last year or so - but that's an obsession for another jour. 

Lately, it seems that all of the rooms I'm drawn to, speak to the photo that I love so much. Do you think so too?