Lazy Weekend...

Ridiculous Paintings!

So, since I just launched the etsy shop, I decided that it would be appropriate to point out some of the more ridiculous details among the paintings. I'd definitely call my work ridiculous... in a really good way. :) So without further delay...

1. Ridiculous Wiener Dogs!

2. Ridiculous Amounts of Paint!

3. Ridiculously Bright Pink!

4. Ridiculous Hair!

5. Ridiculously Tasty!

6. Ridiculous Blue Trees!

Don't you love blue & white trees? I know I do! In other news, I'm already working on some more paintings & in the next day or so I should have photos of the bathroom! (was- lavender, now? black, white, & bright green!) Happy Weekend!

UPDATE: Ok, so it just occurred to me- #1 is from a painting I haven't listed yet (bigger in size, still unsure about shipping), but it will be up eventually.

The Shop is Open!

Hooray! Today, I opened my etsy shop Cozy Little Cave and am finally (after years of just talk) selling my paintings! I've got it stocked just in time for back to school with pieces for all styles and budgets- I hope you'll check it out & let me know what you think!

UPDATE: Due to the shop opening & me getting little sleep, ridiculous Friday will be posted tomorrow :)

Candle in the Window...

I don't have much for you today other than some updates. I'm busy getting together paintings and painting new ones for my etsy shop opening this Friday (as well as shipping materials, business cards, etc!). I've also decided to paint our upstairs bath in the midst of this... and much to my delight, I love it!! It's 90% done, and you can expect pictures soon!

Meanwhile, I thought I'd share my response to a large number of homes here in Pittsburgh with candles in the windows. Now, back in Houston, this was a well-known Christmas decoration, but here, it seems to be a year-round thing. So what have I done, you ask...?

I decided to put my crystal candlestick proudly in our bay window! I love it! It's pretty there-front and center- a subtle, somewhat witty response to a regional trend. :) (I say trend because I don't think these homes are all waiting for a soldier to return or lost someone in a war- our home's previous owners had a candle and no such reason I'm aware of)

Grand Opening this Friday!

Hooray!

My etsy shop, Cozy Little Cave will be opening this Friday! I'll have a few nicer oil paintings as well as some fun acrylics for your back-to-school dorms & apartments as well as homes. There's something for everyone (and every budget!), so do stop by & check it out! I hope to provide prints in the future, but for now, it's all original paintings. Hope to see you there! :D

Dining Room!

Today I decided to go ahead and share the dining room- even though it's still only 99% done. I still need to get bases for 2 eames shells to finish out the chairs around the table. I also still need to hang my china pocket watch plates above the atrium door leading to the patio (now that the door is fixed).

The basic look is there, and I'm quite pleased with it. I particularly like how my vintage posters came together. This room is open to the kitchen, but the kitchen isn't 100% yet, and the lighting to for photographing it is awful, so I'm gonna wait to show you that side! :)

Happy Weekend!

Hope y'all are having a delightful weekend! Ours has been sunny and relaxing- what with a chaotic couple of weeks behind us. Now that our families have come & gone, we're mostly settled in. I'm sitting in the living room as the sun pours in through our big bay window and this...

Isn't the stained glass lovely? We have another upstairs in the office- both original to the house. I'm so grateful they're in such good condition- they simply glimmer in the afternoon!

I'm well aware I missed Ridiculous Friday yesterday, so here's a casual list of MORE ridiculous things going on here lately...

1. Our doorbell mysteriously got switched to play jingle bells when rung... we have no idea how.

2. I have yet to make some playlists for my music around the house... so no matter what, if I listen to older music (akin to the period of the house), Christmas music gets in somehow.

3. After spotting a stunning sale at Petco, Pepper now has an assortment of sweaters and coats for the chilly seasons! (and all for $2.99 or less!)

4. We finally got the big, shattered atrium door in the dining room fixed! Yay! No more taped up plastic!

5. Jesse's dad figured out how to fix our garage door remote... we just had to press a button.

6. The high here tomorrow is 73!! Houston's is 96... hehehe

See you next week with full pictures of the dining room & kitchen!

Water Prism!

So, back in Texas at the enormously wonderful Renaissance Festival I bought a glass water prism. Aside from being a beautiful artisan piece, it lights up sun filled rooms with rainbows & light making for a cheerful, happy space. I always loved the thing, but I've found a renewed joy in it in the new place! We hung it inside the garden window in the dining room! Mostly in the morning (but all through the day) it casts little specs of light and rainbows around the dining room, kitchen, and living room. It's a nice blend of pretty, delicate, and subtle.

...and it makes me smile. I'm thinking I'll grow paper whites there in the winter and the two will make a stunning couple... don't you think?

Today is Jesse's family's last day here, so we're taking them out and about on another adventure! I hope to get the rest of the dining room finished & photographed this weekend (the room with the built in) & am really excited about it so far!! Next week should also bring the opening of the etsy shop!

Have a lovely, relaxing weekend!

Dear UPS...

Dear UPS,

Thank you for taking such care when you deliver things to my door. I know there are steps to our porch, so I think it's perfectly fine for you to just hurl parcels at our home. I sleep so well at night knowing that my purchases are in your burly hands. I can't wait to order something fragile and pretty for my new home and have you deliver it.

Love,

Tess

30 Flavors of Soft Serve!

Jesse's parents and sister are visiting this week, and so last night we took them out to dinner, to the Duquesne Incline, and to the Page Dairy Mart... possibly the best ice cream place in the world. The views from the incline were incredible- I still can't get over what a 'pretty' city Pittsburgh is- and the ice cream was abundant, delicious, and under a bridge. But wait! Page Dairy Mart offers more than the ambiance of a homeless man! 30 flavors of soft serve! And the South Side Shake- 1/2 milkshake 1/2 ice cream! ...a fun time was had by all! Here's a peek at our adventure... and what you'd get to do too, if you visit me!

Lovely Little Built-In...

When we bought the house, we unknowingly got a nice little surprise with it- an old (original) built-in that the owners had removed and stored in the attic! We brought our new found treasure down, cleaned it up & placed it in our dining room to house our china & some of the Russell Wright. It's not actually 'built in'- we're just using it as if it were furniture for now, but I'm so excited about it- a great surprise for sure. Isn't it lovely? I really like how it turned out!

Here's a bigger view of the whole cabinet. It matches the one in the living room & does a nice job of creating consistency between the spaces.

Brought to you by Blue Coal...

So any of you who know me well probably know that I have a fondness for old time radio shows. While I'd like to say I'm the sort of person who listens to them in the evening sitting in a stylish chair with a glass of wine- I listen to them while I'm painting, doing chores, or anything visual. Personal favorites are The Shadow, Sherlock Holmes, X Minus 1, Jack Benny, and Bing Crosby. The writing is good, the stories are original, and the ads are so delightfully retro and idyllic! Now that we're in a house built when these shows first aired, I've been listening to more OTR- it sounds really good in this house- and I'd like to share my source... RUSC.COM

Now Rusc is run by this amazing guy named Ned who adds multiple shows EVERY DAY (except Wednesdays). He charges a small fee to help upkeep and host this huge collection, but all old time radio is in the public domain- I just prefer to pay him for pulling so many all in one place. There are plenty of free sites if you do a bit of googling though.

I highly recommend you check out old time radio for...
a) driving in the car
b) being nostalgic
c) hearing famous actors/singers
d) hearing good stories/music
e) being informed on Blue Coal and Lucky Strike Cigarettes
f) being generally cool

g) playing in a home from the 1930s-50s

h) inspiration

and remember... the weed of crime bears bitter fruit! Crime does not pay! The Shadow knows...

Chartreuse Russell Wright Pitcher...

I am absolutely drooling over how the Russell Wright pitcher looks on our old telephone stand. I actually do own a black old 50's telephone, but can't resist the creamy chartreuse glaze against the old dark wood! As you can guess... this was the inspiration for a few other parts of the kitchen... but more on those later!

Isn't it such a delicious pop of color? :)

New Kitchen Light Fixture!

Our new kitchen is so nice & open with a good amount of space. Its one big issue (that we slowly came to realize) was that it wasn't very bright. Because of its position in the house, it just doesn't get as much natural light as the other main rooms do. The light/fan is new & pretty nice, as is the track lighting. The one to tackle: the ceiling mount above the sink...

This little dude isn't so bad, but his unforgivable problem is being dim. One bulb & a heavily frosted glass means minimal lighting. Enter: the Ikea Calypso!

(I apologize for the poor image- This little guy is so bright,

I can't even get a decent picture of it!)

I had looked at Home Depot & Lowes (among other higher end online retailers) for good ceiling mounts for our equally dimly lit stairway. I had yet to be impressed. $40 and upwards for uber traditional and boring (and not that much better). The look isn't bad- it's just not me. And needless to say, I'm not about to spend that much when what's there is workable- just not as bright as I'd like.

And yet, the kitchen requires bright light more so than a stairway.

The Calypso rings in at a nice little $30 & is steel & glass (no particleboard/ikea bashing here!) It's larger than the previous mount, takes 3 bulbs, is recessed a little from the ceiling (bounces light off it), and looks modern & simple. What an improvement!

Picture Cluster...

The house is looking a lot more like a home (and a lot more put together) now that we're getting more on the walls. (As a side note- I am LOVING the crisp white walls against the dark wood)! Here's the latest work- and the one I was most unsure about. This is located to your left after you walk in the front door & faces the fireplace. I'm pretty happy with the outcome- it's a nice balance of formal and casual & offers the opportunity to expand on it in the future. :)

After Everyone Leaves...

Someone steals strawberries...

...and then takes a nap on the sheep :) precious!

6 Ridiculous Happenings This Week...

So it's been a crazy week! We've gotten the house somewhat put together with the help of my parents, sisters, aunt, and grandma. We've stripped wallpaper, put up window treatments, done yardwork, painted, etc... Thanks to the chaos (they leave tomorrow), my free time has been brief- needless to say. It's been so much fun having them here- here are 6 ridiculous things that happened this week...

1. Nell hitting her head... on a fan blade... that was moving

2. My mom getting a nasty burn on her chin... from a ceiling light

3. Shattering the dining room door trying to put up a shade

4. My dad getting dirt dumped on his head from my mom (cleaning window boxes) above.

5. Painting the kitchen door... chartreuse!

6. The pup pup's new diaper!

Napping...

Flowers and Crazy Hats...

This is what showed up in my yard today!

Gorgeous! ...and it's as big as your head!! It's a perennial hibiscus- my mom said it's called a "Rose Mallow" which is great since it's a big and fluffy flower and Kitt's chinchilla (the Mallow) is also big and fluffy. :) What a nice surprise this morning... and a good counter since today also brought a shattered glass door that needs to be replaced (ah, the joy's of homeownership!). You can see the flower through the shattered glass...

This is what showed up indoors today...

I think it's a good look for her... :)

Boxes...Boxes...Boxes...

Well, it's been quite a crazy couple of days! The movers filled the house up with tons of boxes that we're still sifting through. The hardest part isn't unpacking and putting everything away- it's figuring out where to put everything when you've got a whole new layout. It's been great having my family here to help though! I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have them here to give us advice on setting the place up. :) I've also got a ton of fun little things around the house I can't wait to show everyone! It'll be nice to get some of these rooms finally complete- but it'll take a while. Meanwhile... I'm taking it one step at a time. Wallpaper removal is done, and the dining/kitchen is 1/2 bright frost white- I love it!! SO bright, so clean and fresh! I'll be posting more about the projects once they're done and things start calming down...

Meanwhile, Pepper has been mostly doing this...

While others work very hard!

The truck that brought our stuff...

Today, Nell went and picked fresh strawberries and broccoli from our garden- mmm! Not only were they delicious- they looked adorable in my Russel Wright dish! I can't wait to plant more food-producing plants next year- right now we have strawberries, blueberries, broccoli, mint, and chives.

Dinner from Fiori's pizza- recommended by the movers and absolutely delicious!

De-Wallpapering Progress...

Before...

During...

Nearing the end...

Homeowners!

It's official! We're homeowners! Doing the final walk-through was so fun & we couldn't be more sure that we picked the perfect house for us! There was even a surprise for us that we found in the attic- more on that later!! Closing was pretty painless (aside from signing our lives away and all). Here's a pic of our amazing mortgage guy Mike, our spectacular realtor Lu, us, and the sellers Tara & Javon- such a great couple! The office was shocked to see such a 'friendly' closing. :) Now we're off to Lowes & Home Depot to start at that wallpaper & paint!

6 Ridiculous Front Doors...

In honor of closing on our house, today (*yay!*) I'm looking at ridiculous front doors... ridiculously awesome or just plain ridiculous...

1. Alice Howe, a gorgeous holiday home in the UK

2. Old King's School Shop in Canterbury- just ridiculous!

3. Westenberg House- ridiculously huge door! (photo via Daniella Thompson)

4. A ridiculously cute door I saw in Avoca, Ireland

5. Ridiculously retro door via RetroRenovation.com

6. My own new front door! Ridiculously awesome!

Here's to opening front doors that are colorful, whimsical, welcoming, and bright!

Here we go!

Check this out this picture from our balcony during our honeymoon in Big Bear, California- isn't this so nice and calm and peaceful? I'm trying to maintain a similar sense of tranquility... but it's hard!! I'm a mix of excitement, anxiety, thankfulness, and praise! I'm so thankful that Jesse & I were able to get a home that meets our needs, is in a great neighborhood, and will allow us to have guests come visit. God is so good & I feel so blessed! I miss everyone back in Texas so very much, but I'm so grateful for such a great beginning here.

We're ready to go for closing tomorrow & I just can't wait! Until then, I'll be making a list of supplies we'll go get right after we close- things like primer, paint, brushes, rollers, dropcloths, and various wallpaper-stripping devices. I can't wait to get going so I can show you all my progress and get your opinions! I'm even going to pick out my clothes for tomorrow (yes, a nerd- I know)... it'll be a miracle if I can get an hour of sleep! :D :D

Waiting...

1 more day until we close on the house!!!!

Waiting is getting harder & harder! I can't wait to get in there & get to work painting & arranging everything! Until then... I'm sitting here... waiting...

Hope you're all doing something more productive than me! I detest this 'on the edge' phase!

Mattress Dominoes!

Just saw this on the front page of Apartment Therapy- wouldn't it be SO much fun to do something like this before/during our move in?? Not too realistic, but it's fun to think about. :D

Looks like someone likes the new Eames shells!

Pick a Chair... any chair...

OK, so I've got a decision ahead of me (ok many, but this is a pressing one).

I'm trying to decide what to do for dining room chairs, as I currently don't have a full set. I always wanted to surround the table with white Oh! chairs by Karim Rashid. I am now far, far away from any Container Stores though, and shipping is an astounding $17/chair- wrecking the super-affordability of the chairs.

I currently have a set of 4 upholstered, vintage Eames chairs (1 yellow, 2 blue, 1 green) that surround the table (similar to these...)

Here is my dilemma... I now have found a craigslist IN Pittsburgh where someone is selling several chairs similar to the ones I have. I can now possibly choose to get those (at a decent price!) and instead forge a colorful set of Eames chairs around the table....

UPDATE: Decided to go with the Eames chairs- better investment, and the most economical solution!