I saw this image in a recent issue of Country Living, the table was made from reclaimed wood with free plans from Ana White this is when the wheels in my head started to creak.  It’s all straight lines, how hard could it be?  Did you know Home Depot will cut all your wood for free?  No, they won’t cut your salvaged barn wood, but you could try to replicate the finish if you were resourceful. I don’t have a garage here so I can’t really figure out the best place to take on a wood working project, not that something like space has stopped me before. I built my extra large coffee table and farm benches in my upstairs living room once, granted my downstairs neighbor was elderly and hearing impaired.  I also don’t have a lot of time as setting up the studio again is going to be all consuming. So I looked up handyman/carpenters in my area and sent the image and plans link to them. I figure this could be done in a few hours and a local person may have their finger on the pulse of where to get some termite-free  barn wood. I’ll keep you posted if I get any quotes that won’t have me selling my designer dogs on the roadside.

I am truly excited with all my newly acquired space in our country home, it’s not huge by any stretch, okay the backyard is bigger than a football field, but the house is modest, a heck of a lot bigger than our tiny one bedroom in Los Angeles. With all this new space we will be needing furniture that I hadn’t considered prior.  We have a lovely little front porch and a large deck in back.  For the deck I just bought some simple folding wood chairs that were floor models at a store, they were $20 a piece, I also bought a round metal side table which is big enough for us to eat on (another floor model).  It’s not ideal or anything I want to photograph, but it’s not hideous and has been working out really well (for now).  The front porch, although not a necessity to put chairs out there right away (since we don’t even have a sofa), I did have a burning desire to get something out there stat.  It just seemed so forlorn coming home to an empty porch. My husband was sold on getting Adirondack chairs, I wasn’t.  I wanted something a little less country and maybe even more contemporary.  Outdoor furniture does not come cheap, I looked, more like scoured and had a hard time. I did end up finding some pieces I really liked at World Market, but even at the relatively low price tag for outdoor furniture it was beyond what I could afford to spend. I decided to give the Adirondack another chance, it’s a classic design, in the right colorway and possibly with the right pillows I could make it less cottage and more chic, right? I looked locally first Craigslist, no one was selling their chairs for less than $200, the Woodsmith was double that and even the big box stores were asking over $125 per chair.  I was dejected and considered trying to figure out how to build my own when I found an assemble yourself version at Home Depot for $30 a piece! I wasn’t sure if I could figure it out, I am horrible with any sort of instructions but I did and they are both nice and solid. My only dilemma now is what color to make them.  I am considering a matte black (or should I do high gloss?), or white, or stain them, I’m not good with decisions.  I’m not going to go with a color, that’s too much of a commitment for me.  I figure if I am yearning for a pop of color (which has never happened), I will add it via the cushions/pillows which I will have to sew myself.  I have tons of fabric, my sewing machine should be here sometime in 2012 (when will that moving truck arrive?) and I am really motivated. Since I successfully put these chairs together I feel like I can pretty much take on any project. Have any of you worked with unfinished furniture before?  Anything I need to know?  Any tips?  I would be distraught if I ruined my new chairs.

On my never ending quest to look ‘natural’ I found myself in the possession of a scientific breakthrough that is akin to magic, no really.  I used some of the ginormous gift certificate to Sephora that I had. One of the few purchases I made before I left civilization was Josie Maran’s Argan Matchmaker foundation a product I didn’t need, or let me rephrase that, I didn’t know I needed. Yes, I need this!  It’s very unusual in so many ways, the most unique way is that it’s a white serum straight out of the pump, yes white!  Once you rub it into your skin it magically conforms to the color of your skin, not a little but exact (at least this has been my experience and the same with all the reviews I’ve read). I have very dry skin, although it’s been a lot less dry with the thick moisture in the Carolina air (a.k.a humidity), this serum foundation is very emollient and might scare people that aren’t used to anything oil like on their skin.  I feel like it doesn’t stay that way and dries to a polished (non-shiny) finish.  I use it on top of my Smashbox BB cream (a little of both of these products go a long way, err on less product when applying and add more if needed). This is really the most natural looking I have been able to get with a foundation, it looks like I am not wearing anything, you don’t notice my hyper pigmentation on my cheeks (so unattractive), my skin just looks clean and fresh and it works well with my favorite Tarte cheek stain (an absolute must for instant pretty). If you are one of the lucky ones that lives near a Sephora than you can go in and they will make you a take-home sample so you can try before you buy.  It is a luxury product at $42, way out of my budget, but I don’t need to use a lot so I am hoping it will last me the entire summer. If I do my daily amortization math which helps me mentally deal with seemingly frivolous purchases, it comes out to be practically free. Have you tried this yet or any of the other versions of pigment matching foundations out there?  I am curious about the drugstore versions when I run out of this pot of gold.

Every morning when I walk into our new kitchen and grab my cup of extra strong coffee (thanks to my husband), I go out my French doors on to my wood deck and see that our 4 acres of backyard and the neighbors pond (!) are covered in the most glorious sheath of fog.  Even though we are going on day 18 without a moving truck, I can still revel in all the amazing that I have been able to experience. Last night it was fireflies–fireflies people!  I have never seen fireflies before; I didn’t even know that we would have fireflies here. My husband was very matter-of-fact that there were fireflies outside, ‘Babe, have you seen the fireflies?’ Uhm, no, I have never seen fireflies before and this is basically a small miracle. My goal with this move was to be closer to nature, but I had no idea what was in store for me (I am totally going to skip tick-gate 2012). When we were sitting on the deck yesterday morning I saw a stork.  Can you wrap your mind around that one? A flip, flappin’ jackin’ stork! My husband thinks it’s a sign, unless that stork is delivering our future baby in it’s beak I am not going to believe in signs just yet.  Did you know storks are nearly 3 feet high?  They can have a wingspan of over 10 feet, they are magnificent!  I have never given a stork the time of day and now I can’t wait to see if I can photograph one for y’all. When we were in Georgia a couple of months ago there were birding boutiques in every strip mall, I haven’t seen any here, but I am anxious to join in on this Southern birding extravaganza; you know how I love me some Victorian pursuits. Any day now I might go into a fern frenzy.  I’m curious have any of you gotten into any genteel past times? Birding, ferning, badminton, croquet?

This is a photo of my girl prior to her Thunder shirt. I bought her a Thunder shirt before we left Los Angeles, just in case she got a little anxious on the cross country drive, she actually was a trooper and only had one mishap–she vomited over the entire back seat of the car. If that made you sick imagine what it was like driving with her and her smelly self for thousands of miles.  The other night we had a huge thunderstorm, I’ve never been through anything like it and neither have my dogs. It was so loud the house felt like it was shaking and the random blasts of light from the lightening were straight out of a haunted house story. Bella was not sure what to do and took to pacing and whining, I tried everything to calm her down to no avail and then I remembered her Thunder shirt. I ran out to the closet and put it on her, we went back to bed, only I couldn’t sleep because my once terrified pup was so comfortable in her shirt that she was sleeping on her back, legs splayed and snoring up a storm. The Thunder Shirt worked like a charm and it worked immediately. I was so impressed, if you saw how she was acting prior to the shirt you would have figured I was up for a long night of her weird shenanigans, but the shirt makes her sleepy, very sleepy. After another series of lightning blasts and house shaking storm rumbles I was wishing I had my own Thunder shirt to wear, people think earthquakes are scary (California having many of them), I am thinking random thunderstorms are more scary. Earthquakes don’t last that long (I’ve been through two major ones), thunderstorms seem to go on for hours, seriously I could have used my own Thunder shirt last night. It’s supposed to be worse tonight but not until 1 a.m. which should be great since I am hoping I’ll be in a deep sleep by then