Recommendation: Audio Book

I'm not much for audio books. I really only have the time to listen to them on the way to work and I much prefer to read an actual book (call me old school) than listen to audio books. But when my friend told me I just had to listen to this audiobook because it was amazing I decided to because I'd had absolutely no desire to read the book in the first place.

I had already heard about the book The Devil In The Junior League - and had dismissed it really - because, for some reason, it reminded me of The Devil Wears Prada. And I really hated that book (I won't go into my reasons why, but suffice it to say, I couldn't stand how she took all that crap!). Anyhow. I wouldn't pick up the book but my friend swore by the audio and said the narrator was great. So, I figured, "why not?".

So, she lent it to me and I friggin' loved it!  A simple synopsis:
Fredericka Mercedes Hildebrand Ware known as "Frede" to her fellow socialites, is the quintessential Junior Leaguer in Willow Creek, Texas. She has, however, made a fatal mistake by trusting her husband, who has disappeared with her money and another woman. Frede's neighbor, attorney Howard Grout, is loud and crass, but he is also one of the most aggressive lawyers in the state, and he makes Frede an offer she can't afford to refuse. He'll hunt down her lowlife husband if Frede gets his good-hearted but gaudy wife into the Junior League.

My friend was right-the narrator made this book for me. She did multiple voices in wonderful ways and well, I just thought it was brilliant! The story hooked me from the start mostly because the narrator was lovely. I could clearly picture each character and her voices were varied and fit well with each character.

I won't ruin the book for you but I highly recommend getting the audiobook because of how colorful and flamboyant she is with her voices. It really made me picture the characters.

Here's what I pictured:

1)Frede Ware: She was a prim and proper southern belle who was used to being the prettiest and most popular girl -and always got her way. Thus, I pictured this character the whole time I was listening:

These are pics from the show True Blood (HBO), the character here is Sarah Newlin (played by Anna Camp). She is a proper southern girl in True Blood as well and has the accent down pat. So, this was my Frede Ware.

2) Nikki Grout: She was a sweetie but from the "wrong side of the track" and just wanted to fit in. I lurved the narrators voice for Nikki. She was all high-pitched cuuuhhnnntry girl with such a twang you just knew she was country trash. It was pure awesomeness. She was all "Ohhhh Myyy GAWD! Eyeh juhhhst cain't believe it Frede! Aren't ewe juhhst a suh-weet heart!!" :::high pitched over the top voice::: It was great. Because of Nikki's distinct style I pictured a young Fran Dresher (ala The Nanny) but most definitely did not have Fran Dresher's voice (hate it):

And one of my favorites-Sawyer Jackson. Well, with the name Sawyer I could picture no one else but the only Sawyer I knew:

 This is Josh Holloway who plays the part of Sawyer in the tv show Lost.
And, okay, I might have been able to get past the fact that when I heard the name Sawyer I pictured Josh Holloway but the description of Sawyer Jackson from the audiobook -what with the jeans all the time, a scruffy, bohemian artist- I just couldn't picture anyone else except the Sawyer above. Which, actually, was fine by me (yum). He was great for my book because he was the love interest. (again, yum).

Anyhow. I highly recommend the audio book to anyone with the time to listen (only 4 CD's and they went by quickly). Very good audiobook.

Spring Wreath for cheap.

Here at La Casa we are on a strict budget. (okay, who am I kidding, I'm always cheap.) So, when I was trying to think of what to do for a spring wreath I wanted it to be really inexpensive. Typically, I would stuff some fake flowers (tres chic, I know) in my grapevine wreath and call it spring-tastic. But I wanted something...different, better, magical, earth-shattering and okay, well, that might not actually happen with wreath making but I was in the mood to try something new.

So, I started with my bare grapevine wreath (0 dollars since I already had it):

Yes, I work off my floor. It's more comfortable for me than a table. Anyhow.

I found this greenery that looked a lot like moss but appeared to be some sort of twig greenery type of, well, greenery (eloquent, I know). I found it at the new love in my life's house--his name is Will and boy is he a Good guy. It was only 1.00 for a package:

Yes, Good Will, I love heeem.

Here's what it looked like:

I also pulled out these flower buds I had tucked away that I bought from Ikea ages ago. At the time, I didn't know what I would use them for but I knew they'd be useful. They were on clearance for .10 cents a box. I couldn't pass them up when I saw .10. I knew I could find something craftsy to use them on. Until now, they'd just sat in my craft desk waiting to be used:

Armed with these 3 things and my trusty hot glue gun I got to work.

I wanted to make a wreath that was somewhere between spring and winter. Like, spring was trying to break free from the winter haze that has continually been cast for the past few months (even here in Florida we've received colder than normal weather-45-55 degrees is very cold to Floridians when you expect 75 degrees. Not that I'm complaining--I love this cool weather!).

I started by wrapping the twig/moss/greenery around the wreath in a very laissez-faire way:

After I mastered the haphazard and messy greenery arrangement (which, lucky for me, it's not too difficult to master messy--I'm just soooo talented that I can conjure up "messy" quite well--despite my fastidious and absolutely saavy organizational skills *snort*).

Anyhow...after the greenery I added the flowers in yet another brilliantly messy, and strategically random, placement:

The affect I was going for was that this was spring trying to overcome the harsh despair of winter. (Gosh, DIY decorating and philosophy--what depth this blog has *snicker*).

Then, because my talent astounds me at times, I remembered this cute ugly little bird house I had no use for, but had kept, knowing one day I could find something for it:

Niiice. Chipped bird house? Check. Moldy looking? Check. Ugly nails? Check.

So, I painted it a nice yellow color (with basic .50 cent acryllic paint I had on hand) to put in my wreath as well.

I added a yellow ribbon at the top to hang and here is the final outcome:

And an upclose look at the little bird house:

Forgive the craptastic pictures of the afters - I was taking them quickly at night.

So, what do you think? Too messy? I like it, in a natural kind of way. For now it will stay.

Cost breakdown:

Grapevine wreath-0.00 already had it

Greenery- 1.00

Flower buds- .10

birdhouse- 0.00 already had it.

Total: 1.10 awesome!

Before and After---dresser

One of my favorite blogs is inthefunlane.com. Holly has a love of white and I'm envious of how she can make it look beautiful and not bland. I could never do what she does. But that doesn't stop me from blatantly trying to rip off the favorites I love from her blog.

One of which was this:

And this:

What I loved so much was her use of the library pulls:

In an effort to recreate this piece I went to my trusty Craigslist (CL) to find a dresser to work with. One that would have nice lines...and a nice price tag.
And, because Craig never fails me, I found this:

Typical old beat up dresser in that God awful orange-y 70's stain (have I mentioned I hate that color/look?). Still it was the size I needed and (bonus!) it was inexpensive-only 20.00! Yay! As you can see, I was so excited I'd already started taking off the outdated hardware and filling in the holes before I remembered to take a before pic.

Here it is after a couple of coats of (FREE!) white Glidden paint (in Antique white) and new hardware:

Obviously it's smaller than my inspiration pics but it fits in my space well and definitely has the feel I was going for.

I wanted this to be an inexpensive DIY so I didn't get the lovely pulls Holly has above (they were more than I'd prefer to spend) but I got the next best thing--clearance pulls from lowes (2.00 each) and metal label holders from Joanns (2.00 for a pack). The knobs came from Ikea's As Is section (a steal at 2.00 for both).
In total I spent approx. 8.00 for all the hardware as opposed to the 13.00 for 1 library card pull I was looking at online. And I still got what I wanted. I love it!

Total spent on project-28.00. Score.
Again, Before and After:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Today is my sister's birthday and even though I can't be there with her to celebrate I know that I can send her Happy Birthday wishes from afar in a way that only she can appreciate:

See, I know she'll appreciate this because she's old enough to get the joke got a great sense of humor and who doesn't love The Hoff? Really, that was no crack on her age. After all, I can't very well make fun of her age without it being blaringly obvious that I'm not far behind in age (but I am still behind her thankfully!)

So, I'm sorry I can't be there with her to show her a night on the town, probably doing our favorite thing:

No, our favorite thing isn't torturing small animals.

It's karaoke, and I do miss going to karaoke with my seeeester!!!

Oh well. I suppose I'll have to settle for saying Happy Birthday and sending her a card (which will be late if you know anything about me!).

So, Happy Birthday!!!! I won't embarrass her and quote her age (even though my DH and mom are  probably the only 2 who read my blog and they know her age).

I hope you have a great birthday sister and you live it up as best you can in an age appropriate way today.

;)

Memory Wall: Which one?

I have tons and tons of pictures--and frames-- but I never seem to put them up anywhere in my house. Finally, after many debates with myself over the stupidity of buying countless pictures frames that I like, and taking many a picture, I told myself that I should display them somewhere (what a novel idea).

I wish I had a picture of this hallway (to come) but I made this really crude diagram:

Anyhow.

I am trying to decide what arrangement would look best. Again, here's a crude idea of what I'm thinking-working with the frames/sizes I have:

Option 1)

Or

Option 2)

So, which do you like? I know, I know, it's a little difficult to tell what with the shoddy mock up.

Any spaces you see will likely IRL (in real life) not be there. Or, if it looks like they aren't spaced enough, they will be IRL. But overall, which frame layout do you prefer? Which lets your eyes wander in a relaxing manner from one frame to the other? Which seems more balanced?

Thrift Store finds---I love them!

I could browse thrift stores like, all.the.time. But of course, I don't have the time. Still, when I get the chance, I try and pop into my local thrift store as often as possible (and, bonus for me annoyance for DH, a huge Goodwill opened up just miles from our house!!!). I love to go up and down the aisles, looking for nothing in particular, until I find that perfect something that makes me say "Oh, this would be perfect for [fill in the blank]...!"

My DH doesn't understand it but, bless him, he tolerates me bringing home crap hidden treasures to make them beautiful again. And, though he can't visualize it, he doesn't doubt that what I've brought home will look good when I'm done with it.

Enter this piece:

Yes, that's an ugly, yellow, sun-stripped end table. I couldn't quite figure out if it was stained, painted, white-washed or what? But it was ugly. Still, it had great bones. And my favorite part---it was only 5.00.

Awesome.

I sanded it down and painted some funky stripes on it and voila!

I also added some slight distress just to make the stripes not look so harsh. More subtle than anything.

What I love even more about this was that it only cost me the 5.00. All the paint I had leftover from other projects.

YAY!

  I plan on using it for a tv stand in our loft upstairs (our daughter's play room). I'll post pics when I get it in there.
Until then Happy thrift store treasure hunting!

What is Love?

Chances are, if you immediately started singing Haddaway, and bobbing your head, you don't really think about Valentine's Day the way most people do. For me, Valentine's stopped being fun when highschool was over. Don't get me wrong--I love my husband dearly--but I don't need a day to remind me of that fact. And neither does my husband. Now before you go thinking I am anti-Valentine's let me tell you that we still do celebrate it--just not with the gusto and anticipation that I believe so many do. It's just that my husband does many caring things that make me realize he loves me. every.single.day. And while we do something nice for Valentine's (usually a card and perhaps a small gift) we don't go gaga for it. Really, for me, it's just an excuse to eat chocolate with guiltless abandon and choke down a box of those chalk-like hearts with sayings on them (which have really gone off the deep end IMO with the whole Twilight sayings like, "Bite Me" and "Dazzle" and "I <3 EC". I like Twilight and all but really?

What happened to the ever-so-sweet "Hug Me" and "Be Mine"?) But I digress.

In honor of Valentine's Day I'd like to name just a few of the sweet things DH (Dear Husband) does for me on any given day of the year. I just want to appreciate every day and try not to put so much pressure on one day that really means very little in the long run.

1) When we think of Valentine's Day we typically think of chocolate candy boxes. Sweets for the sweet, etc.

But, on any given day, my husband is nice enough to go out and get me an ice cream sundae I'm really jonesing for, or that weird craving I suddenly have for apple pie. I'm a huge fan of anything dessert so it behooves me that I have such an accommodating husband. He will usually make a quick run to the corner store to get me any number of sweets I might have a hankering for. And, while my hips may be cursing him, my lips will always sing his praises because he does this tiny errand (even if it would be better if I didn't have that chocolate shake or those glazed donuts).

2. He lets me warm up my cold hands and feet on his body. We also think of snuggling with our loved one for V-day. I'm cold all the time and my husband is gracious enough to let me steal his heat (Heck, he's got plenty of it!). So, even though it's probably slightly uncomfortable for him he lets me slide my hands under his shirt and put them on his warm stomach. GAH! I wouldn't be able to stand it but he lets me do it and for that I'm eternally grateful.

3. He cooks dinner. Most guys might cook a special Valentine's dinner but my guy cooks all the time. At least 6 days out of the 7 he's the one doing the cooking (and on the 7th we're probably eating out!). I appreciate it more than you can know because, I'm not the best cook, and I know it can be tiresome when you add in the next special thing he does on a regular basis:

4. He cleans the dishes. Wow. I can not tell you how much I appreciate this. I hate the dishes. I would rather take out the trash, clean the toilet, and the kitty litter, than do the dishes. I just. don't. like. doing it. And my husband does the dishes all the time as well. I know it can be frustrating when you're cooking a meal and cleaning the mess afterward. But, bless him, he does it.

5.  He goes shopping with me. This is a small thing but I really like it when he goes shopping with me. Oh, and here's the key because I know most women say, "my DH does that too" but...he doesn't complain about it. He tags along, holds my bags, and gives imput when necessary because he knows I want him to. And he doesn't  utter one word of exasperation (even if sometimes I know he feels it). He will happily (okay, maybe not happily) go with me from store to store until I find exactly what I'm looking for and he just counts it as time we've spent together. Because he loves me. And that's one way he shows it.

6. He gives me foot/back massages. What more can I say? My DH is always giving and it is wonderful when I come home from a long day at work and he gives me a massage. I can't say anything more than the fact that it is awesome! 

I could go on and on but there wouldn't be enough time! These are just a few of the wonderful things I love my husband for.

This year I'm at work for the "big day" but on Thursday my husband is doing another wonderful thing- he's taking me to see Wicked. He knows I've been wanting to see Wicked for a while now and it just happened to be showing in the month of February so it became my "Valentine's present". To be honest though, he would have surprised me with these tickets at any time just because that's how thoughtful and loving he is.

I'm glad that he's like this all the time and not just 1-2 days a year when Hallmark tells him to.

But however you celebrate (or don't) Valentine's Day I hope you have a good February 14th.