Get out of my nest!

Oh, I had to post this.  Remember when I said that if I ever found a way to get my way with the decorating I'd let you know.  Well, I stumbled upon this article, "Convincing Your Husband to Decorate Your Way." It's about getting your way!  The nice way, actually.
I laughed when I read the part about ceiling fans and pouffy leather sofas.  Ceiling fans are the never ending debate around here.  I of course want lovely and Dan of course wants functional.  We have the pouffy leather couch too, although I can't say much about that because I have already sold the one I just had to have.  Then there's the all too common story of the husband who refuses to paint the paneling.  I mean if it's high quality, nice looking wood I can see cause for a debate but my motto is "if it's ugly, paint it."  Makes sense.  Wood purists drive me crazy. 
I agree that the woman should have extra pull when it comes to the house.  It's our nest and all of that.  The woman who wrote the article explains it well.  BUT  how many of us have then turned around and yelled at our husband because he did NOT have an opinion about something.  We shove him out and then get mad because he won't answer us about which fabric for the curtains.  My husband and I used to do the decorating together.  It was a nice way for us to spend time together, and it's nice to share an interest. Over time our styles have diverged somewhat and we've had some heated debates.  These days he stands back and lets me take over more often.  Partly because he's busy and partly because he's seen me pour over hundreds of internet photos and realizes how important it is to me.  I hope it's not because I've bullied him until he doesn't care anymore.  He does still watch Design Star with me.  That's right, I'm outing him.
Like everything, it's about balance.  I don't agree that the bedroom is a woman's domain, I don't think a guy should have to sleep in pink ruffles if he doesn't want to. This is his home too, we do want them to be here, right? Not all guys have horrible taste.  Some of them enjoy being involved in the decorating process and it would be a shame to take that away from them.  I also think sometimes a guy has a hard time visualizing things the way a woman can and they should just trust us because we're usually right.  Okay, done rambling.  Here's the article.  Feel free to add your opinions on this fascinating topic.
http://cotedetexas.blogspot.com/2011/08/convincing-your-husband-to-decorate.html

plying with image sizes

I was wondering how to get larger images on here and finally took the time to figure it out.

Dan hung stuff up!

I finally have something hanging in some of the blank spaces I've been staring at for months.  Awhile ago I spotted a cool shaped frame on Pinterest and I got so excited I went outside and got a huge piece of plywood that was left in front of our house and had Dan teach me to use the jigsaw.  I had priced around a little and decided I was going to have to do it myself.  It went pretty well except when there was this llama wandering around my street and it distracted me when I saw it out of the corner of my eye.  Then Dan went and got some carrots and tried to get the llama home, and that was funny, but I digress.  Then I had to sand and paint like crazy.  Then I had to do an awesome photo shoot to put on the frame.  It was a lot of work.  It was supposed to go in my entry, but when we made that bench I saw that there was no way it would look good together.  So finally Dan hung it over the stairs.  Basically I did a ton of work and it didn't really have a place to go, but it's up so there you go. 
I also found something else to put above the bench, I'm super happy about that.  This window was from my grandma and grandpa's house.  I basically grew up there so it's very sentimental.  I chose some photos I love and sprayed them with adhesive.  It left some glops, probably not the best choice but it's okay.  Some people have used invisible tape, not sure what the best option is.  I'm just happy to have some of my visions come together.  I definitely need something larger to go under that bench, and maybe some color there.  Opinions welcome.

I feel the need to apologize for this weird, shadowy picture.  Since I'm a photographer I feel I have no excuses for crappy pictures.  It's a lot of pressure.  

"And when you look up, they drop on you."

I think that's jagulars.  Here's something that I'm pretty sure is a good idea;  A painted ceiling.  I want to paint my kitchen ceiling green.  It would work pretty well because the arch divides the rooms so there would be a good stopping point.  I think it would divide the spaces a bit more, cozy up the kitchen, and add some much needed color.  Dan is uncertain.  I think he's just not saying much, hoping the idea will blow over.  I actually told him to try that technique.  Instead of telling me, "That's a terrible idea," just say, "You're right.  That IS really awesome!"  Most of the time the excitement will die out or I'll change my mind anyway, totally negating the necessity of an argument.  He does love to avoid an argument, I told him my awesome arguing skills are totally wasted on him.  Anyway, time for some examples.  I think you'll believe once you see.

 I think the first pic is from southernliving.com and the purple is from housebeautiful.com.  I don't know the rest of the sources.  I'm guessing that gingham is wallpaper or something, very cool.  I've seen stenciling done too.  I also saw some where they painted the underside of the porch a bright color.  Love that.  Anyway, something to think about. Opinions?

Say Cheese Girls!

I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of our exchange students who recently went home.  Savy couldn't remember how to say "Chinese" so she called them "cheese girls."  They (and 2 friends) made an authentic Chinese dinner for us.  Finally, my aprons were put to good use. The food was good, and very different from our American version of Chinese food.  We roasted mallows and made s'mores next door. They were really pleased when they understood that s'mores comes from "some more." How can I have some more if I haven't had any yet?  Forget about it, Smalls.  We also went to Ritter's Island/Thousand Springs, did the Drive in, and had a sleepover with purple and teal popcorn (made by Dan- "that's who I married") that matched the nail polish I bought, and of course Karaoke and Wii bowling.  They really do like Karaoke.  And ColdPlay.  And anything that says Nike on it.  We were surprised to find how novel even looking at the moon and stars was for them, they really can't see them well at home.  The kids loved this, and they miss their Chinese sisters.  It was a great experience for us.  If you try this, do expect to spend some time shopping.

Being an adult

Just a little funny for today.  This is me.  Only I don't know if I ever really go into overdrive.  I feel highly successful when I have crossed three or four things off my list and my house isn't a wreck. When her eyes go wild and she's pounding on her keyboard I think she looks frighteningly like me.  Well, I can't wait several minutes for this layer to flatten I might as well browse on pinterest.com.  Too bad Dan installed extra memory on my computer, I may not have that excuse anymore. 
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/06/this-is-why-ill-never-be-adult.html