Hoarding Covering The Walls

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I love stuff. Art. Old relics. Things that hold a memory or recall a moment in time suck me in and keep me there. But I have a small house and a lot of… Stuff. It was only a matter of time before it encroached all over the walls. It is still a work in progress. At my last estimate, I need nine more pieces of art just to complete the two gallery walls in the living room.

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I purchased this crewel work of a monkey in a sail boat at the Rose Bowl Flea Market back in July. I bought some clips and hung it by the front door. Shockingly, the sellers wanted nothing extra for the mystery stains. “My husband is so thrilled with this piece,” she says as her face spasms from winking so hard.

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My sister and my brother-in-law gave my husband and myself these awesome vintage initials from an old sign (we’re guessing J.C. Penney’s) for Christmas. I love the purple color so we hung them backwards. This also kind of represents our thought process at all times.

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My daughter just finished painting this piece of art. It is based on Van Gogh’s The Starry Night. It is her favorite thing she has done. We love our new art teacher, Jennifer Bonneteau. She is amazing. My son made a similar painting. I just forgot to take a closeup picture of it.

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The kids did their self portraits again this year. They did the paintings all by themselves at home. I think they did a great job.

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Here is where I want to put more pieces of art to complete the project.

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I bought this old folk arty game wheel at the flea market. I like it a lot. It was a lot larger than I had thought when we brought it home.

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I have an idea to put bookcases up here (better pictures of the niche can be found in this post). We are overflowing with books. I previously put bookcases in a niche in our home here. But I would have to wall in the kitchen on the other side. My husband says we need the extra natural light in both rooms. What do you think?

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I want to get a new couch in this room. I am thinking of this sofa in mustard or teal. I also considered a pink, but I think it would be too much. I am definitely waiting for a discount! What home projects are you currently working on? Any new furniture plans?

The Perfect Dress

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You know I do not say that lightly. But this is it. The perfect dress. For me, anyway. It was another item I waited for a fantastic sale price on. I bought it in the spring. It nips in at the waist and then flows out into an old-fashioned dream. It is the palest of pinks which makes it more interesting than another white dress. I even purchased one for my daughter, because she loved it so much.

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I knew I wanted to take pictures of this Free People Heart Dress (sold out, but similar dress in pink here) in front of an old building. I had the perfect spot in our town. It was an old building with a giant head of an 1800s woman in a flowered hat. Well, we went there the other day and guess what? The new owners painted over it! What a travesty!

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When I was at my dad’s house, I knew I wanted to take the opportunity to style this dress in front of Rusty’s house.

Who is Rusty? You ask.

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That is a long and short story.

Let’s go with the short version.

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When my mom and dad moved into our home, they rented the property from her family. They later purchased it. Rusty kind of came with the deal.

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Rusty was not related to the family. He squatted in a ramshackle old house next door to our own that was also on the property. In fact, this house is pictured in the B-movie, “Skeeters.” But that is a story for another day.

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Rusty was a hobo.

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For real. Although, I realize that is not a politically correct term. It is what I knew him as and I will not change it. It is meant with no offense, because Rusty rode on railroad cars and was a transient, which is how that term came about. He was the real deal and I loved him. He came and went as he pleased. The house is still full of the remains of his travels.

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One day I will share with you my memories of Rusty. He died when I was almost four. But I still have fond flashes of moments with him in my mind. I called him, “Uncle Rusty.” And he was a harmless sweet man who happened to bunk on our property. I had an interesting but wonderful childhood.

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I think Uncle Rusty would have liked this dress. Although, it wouldn’t have been practical.

I could never catch a train in this.

Maybe it isn’t so perfect after all.

Nah. That’s silly. I’ll just take a bus.

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Did you have any interesting characters in your childhood? What is your perfect dress?

Watching: Housebound

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Are you a fan of horror movies? Well, I am not. That is to say, I am not now. However, that was not always the case. I believe all teenagers go through a phase where they cannot get enough of fear inflicted adrenaline. I think it has to do with the fact that their brains are not fully developed and there is a part of the brain tissue that makes one aware of danger and mortality that does not become fully active until the age of nineteen (I played a doctor on t.v. once. Just kidding. I once drank coffee and watched a doctor describe this phenomenon on t.v. once. Which, if you ask me, is exactly the same thing. I wonder which part of my brain has not fully developed yet. don’t answer that).

Does “The Walking Dead” count as horror? Well, of course, you answer. But does it really count as horror when the viewer reads the entire plotline before each episode so that they may cover their eyes or leave the room well in advance of each gory scene? I am not sure. But I do watch “The Walking Dead.” Or at least most of it anyway.

What is my point?

Sorry. I tend to prattle on. My point being that I am a wimp. Being scared is, well, scary. But I watched a horror movie recently that I really enjoyed. In fact, I liked it so much that I made my husband watch it with me again the next day. I liked it so much that I decided to write a post about it.

I liked it. A lot…

My daughter and I were on a date. Don’t let her know that I just called it that. We went out to dinner where I ordered the chicken strips and she ordered the halibut. The person bringing out the food set the plates down wrong. I can’t imagine why.

My husband was at work. My son was at a sleepover (the technical term for a boy slumber party. Don’t ever call a preteen boy’s sleepover a slumber party. It is funny the things you do wrong learn as a mom). My daughter and I decided to lay in my bed and watch a scary movie together when we got home from our dinner.

I was dreading it.

But as I was flipping through the movie choices, I stumbled upon “Housebound.” I looked it up on Rotten Tomatoes where it had a rating of 96%. It is rare for a horror movie to get a rating above a 65% so I was intrigued. We read the reviews and decided to go for it.

I cannot really describe it. If I were to use two words to do so, I would say it was wonderfully absurd. I had read the reviews online calling it a horror/comedy and I could not understand what that meant. But then I watched it and it all became clear.

The synopsis is a young girl (Kylie) in New Zealand with a cruddy attitude who commits a crime and her sentence is having to be under house arrest in her mother Miriam’s home. Kylie quickly learns her mother thinks the house is haunted. And the story goes from there.

Here is why it is different from other horror movies and why it works:

1. Why do they stay in the house? You know how irksome it is screaming at the t.v. when you are watching a horror movie wondering why the heck the people just don’t leave? I mean seriously, who would stay in those houses? Nobody. Not a single sane person. I liked that “Housebound” explains from the get-go why the main character has to stay in the house. It is essentially her prison. It was a different scenario and I appreciated that the writer, Gerard Johnston, (who was also the director) treated the audience with intellectual respect.

2. The main character isn’t an idiot. How many times do we see the heroine in a horror flick be a screaming and whimpering fool? I am not saying that I would not be the same way. But it is annoying. This character is a bada** from the beginning. Kylie has an attitude but it works in a horror movie. You don’t like her but you feel like she is capable. All of the side characters are well executed (pun not intended) as well. They had a genuine depth to them that I was not expecting in a horror movie.

3. Moments. It is just a smart movie. There is a moment about a quarter of the way in to the film that is so unexpected and funny that it is now one of my favorite scenes in a movie. There is cursing and bloody scenes so please be aware that while this is a different twist on a traditional scary movie, it still has those elements. Usually horror flicks are cut and dry with horrible scripts but this has many surprising turns. The dialogue is excellent. Some of the moments are ridiculous. Some are gory. Some are scary. But I admit that I enjoyed the whole thing.

My daughter and I both gave this movie a ten out of ten. It reminded me of the eighties movies that I adored. I also love a dark comedy. I enjoyed both “Zombieland” and “Hot Fuzz” in years prior. Although neither one made me smile enough to write a post about them, like this film did.

Have you seen this movie yet? Had you heard of this movie before? Because I do not typically indulge in the horror genre, I had not even known of this movie’s existence prior to last week. Take the advice of a girl who once played saw a doctor on t.v.: Watch it!

Welcome To Our Christmas Home

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Welcome!

If you celebrate Christmas, today is probably a very busy day for you. I wrapped a mountain of presents last night while the entire family sat down to watch “White Christmas.” We went to dinner at a local Irish pub after I finished making four chicken pot pies (three of which are for dinner tonight). I also made these appetizers and when I wake up today I plan on making Pioneer Woman’s Best Chocolate Cake for dessert.

My father, stepmom, my sister, brother-in-law and nephew will be joining us for dinner tonight. I purchased three dozen premade plain Christmas sugar cookies for the children to decorate and leave out for Santa. I think my three year old nephew will enjoy that. I know Santa will! Tomorrow it is just our little family celebrating the day together. I like simplicity.

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I decorated the house the same this year as I did last year with a few new additions.

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I strung some wrapping pompoms on the chandelier in the living room. My husband picked this chandelier out a few years ago at a local antique store. I love the mellow mustardy color. I also love that he picked it out. I would never have noticed it. I never look up. I remember when he showed me his find while we were in the store together and being filled with wonder and happiness that I can always count on him to look up for me. It is nice to have a partner who completes you. This chandelier represents that to me. He looks up and for that I am grateful.

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My husband came home several times in the last two weeks with sweet surprise gifts of ornaments for our trees.

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I changed the slipcover on our couch to accommodate a velvet one I purchased from eBay many years ago. It was a nice change this winter. I made the giant pillow from an old feedbag, but the two Kantha pillows were recently from Anthropologie and the neat feather pillow in the middle is from World Market.

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Murphy has enjoyed lounging on the “new” old couch. I wish I could join him, but there is always so much to do!

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I love using paper pompoms as flowers in December. They are over the top and last forever. These are four years old. The pink pompoms are actually from Michael’s craft store. They were $4 but with a coupon, I paid $2 a piece. I purchased four and strung them on this vase chandelier from my first apartment.

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And on our antique mirror.

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Tonight the kids will unwrap their new pajamas. The house will be filled with anticipation, although this is my very first year with wise children, if you get what I mean, so the anticipation will probably not be quite the same as years past. And I have to say, this has very much hampered this Christmas and made it a little less special.

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Hold on to those little ones. Enjoy the magic. I, myself, will be looking for Rudolph’s nose tonight. I wish I had taken more pictures… Of the pompom wreath at the front door with the fox nestled inside like two odd long lost soul mates… Of our bathroom where the embroidered hooks hold wreaths and ornaments… Of the garlands above our kitchen sink… But I didn’t. I guess that will have to wait until next year.

If you celebrate Christmas, how do you decorate? Do you do the same thing each year or do you have a theme? Are you ready for the big day? What is on your menu? On Christmas day, my husband makes chicken enchiladas and we spend the whole day in pajamas. I cannot wait!

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Merry Christmas to all (if you celebrate, if not, Happy Thursday!)! And I hope you have the coziest and sweetest of days!