first friday off

today is the first friday of our "friday layoffs"... and i am at home keeping myself busy.  

this morning began with a start.  instead of waking and having a lazy breakfast i jumped out of bed at once when JD told me that Rainier was no longer in the yard and  he didn't know where she was.  it was 7:15 and i was walking down my street in my p.j.s, glasses, and with bed head.  "hi neighbor",  "morning",  "rainier i am going to kill you..."   after 15 minutes of exploring by foot i came home to grab the jeep.  JD set off (still in his p.j.s) with Baker to see if they could turn her up.

i drove around for at least a half hour... calling her name and offering cookies to no avail.  i decided to go back to combing the streets on foot.  not long after i returned home i got word from JD she was home.  he found her a block away, she had been terrorizing two cats and had chased them from yard to yard.

let's just say Rainier is in trouble.

JD left for work and i started in working on getting things ready for my etsy shop opening.  i have two of the hand embroidered dish / hand towels done and eight more to go today.  i love them and am getting so excited.  hopefully i will have enough inventory to get the shop opened up this weekend.  fingers crossed!

i am about to head back and start on another... my egg sandwich with dijon mustard, cheese, and tomato was perfect for lunch.  now i think i will go sip on my coffee and start the next project.

morning all...

well i guess that depends on where you are this morning.   today i awoke to find that i can't turn my head to the right.  crap.

i have been having some shoulder / neck issues, i am sure due to the amount of time i spend on a computer each day.  last night i went to yoga to try and work them out... it seems that i must have over worked things and now, no head turning for me.

on a brighter note last night i finished sewing up the first batch of my new hand towels for my shop... tonight it is onto embrodering them!  i should have the first of the inventory into my new etsy shop by this weekend - finger's crossed!

about wren

Things you should know:
I currently live in Seattle with my husband, dogs Rainier and Baker, and two cats Ginkgo and Bamboo.  
I am always in the midst of multiple projects (self imposed) with more starting daily.  
We are knit-picking our way through a home renovation one weekend at a time.  
I garden when it is warm enough and love the calm it brings.  
I design architecture by day but now have my Etsy shop in which I sell my wares.
I love my family and can’t wait to make it larger… the more the better.

the end of another vacation

the end of vacation is always so bitter sweet.

as the week draws to a close so does our beautiful vacation. i am sorry to go... my sister and paul left last night just before nine with their three boys so that they could drive through the night while the boys slept.

the waves were so strong today, with swells of at least ten feet, thanks to hurricane bill off shore.  they were putting up the red flags that signal no swimming as we drove off the island.

now we are back at the airport for the first of our two flights of the day, to home.  i am excited to see the pups again; i miss them when we are away.  it will be nice to sleep in our own bed and have a night of cool air.

it was nice to hang with the family this week, we don't get to do it often and with toddlers it takes a while to build up trust.  just as we were someone heath could trust it was over.

i will share some great pictures this upcoming week.  i forgot my camera cord - go figure.  tomorrow i think JD and will have a movie today and some quality time with Rainier and Baker.

at the beach

hey everyone... it's going to be a thin week for me in terms of posting.  i am at the beach in NC with my family and it is going to be hard to tear myself away from the ocean to sit in front of the computer.  i will do my best but i am not promising anything.

this morning we are starting the day with pancakes, eggs, and fruit. mmmm.  soon we will put our suits on and make it to the water.  sorry most of you are at work.  boy did i need the break.

bye for now... talk to you all soon.

cheers.

workin on - my tan

morning all... it is another beautiful day here on the east coast.  it is only nine in the morning and already it's warm  out there.  yesterday we reached 97 degrees but when you are at the beach the heat doesn't matter as much.

last night we ate peel and eat shrimp, salt potatoes, and corn on the cob while sitting out on the deck overlooking the ocean.  it was perfect.  today i think we might take a trip to the aquarium in the early afternoon when the sun is the strongest.

happy wednesday all... i forgot just how much i miss the east coast.  although my hair has been something special since we got here due to the humidity!

party people

a few weeks ago we had a party.

 

 it hadn't rained here in ages... i mean, we are talking record breaking drought.  then JD and i decided to host a little BBQ get together for our friends.  the day was hot and sunny.  we ran around the house working on getting last minute projects done.  i made mini peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles (or jimmies if you are from philly).  the burgers and hot dogs were ready for the grill, the watermelon was sliced, the keg was tapped, the first guests arrived.  just as we were pouring our first beers and sitting down with the guests... it began to rain.

ME:  "Are you freaking kidding me... it hasn't rained in months and then i have 30 people in my yard and it rains??? WTF????"

the food was all out on the tables, bean salad, watermelon salad with feta, the burgers were grilled, the buns were out...  i rushed to cover the food...

i then realized that i was the only one stressed by the rain.  the rest of the guests just went on like it wasnt' raining... i think that actually welcomed the change.  they continued to eat and talk in different groups.  some moved under the big tree in the corner of the yard others moved in a bit closer to the patio umbrella, but for the most part not much changed.

this story sort of sums up the past couple months for me.  i feel like i have been running around like the sky is falling and i am beginning to wonder if it is me who is creating the drama in my own life?  yeah things have changed, crappy things have happened, but JD and i are still here fighting through it.  i think i need to be more like my guests and move under the tree and wait until the storm blows over.  right now, still, i am running around trying to make sure things don't get wet.

i need to find my tree, my spot to sit this one out.  this doesn't mean i am giving up, it just means that i am going to try harder to go with the flow and wait for our storm to be over.  i know that there is a silver lining in the clouds out there somewhere, now i just have to wait and hope.

a new look

good god i need a new look.

for the blog, for the blog... well now that you mention it i could really use a make over in general.  hmmm.

i have been hard at work in the evenings, when i am supposed to be sleeping, thinking about the new "look" and designing the pieces.

last night we put the finishing touches on the wrapper.  i am oh so excited!

the new look should be live in the next couple of weeks.  don't you just love surprises - i know i do!  yippie.

Workin On - Our bedroom

 i know these are to be on wednesdays but i am all out of sorts lately. 

i am a 704.... (struggle in progress).  i mean that is really the best way to describe what i have going.  i try to be all organized and orderly but somehow it is always a struggle with me.  so i am a 704 and i would like to think you like me that way, but who knows.

anyway what i wanted to share our bedroom redo with you today.  we have been working on it for quite some time and it isn't all there yet, but we are getting there anyway.  when we bought the house this bedroom was lavender.  it was the previous owner's children room and three little girls slept here each night dreaming of princesses.  i wanted our bedroom to have nothing to do with princesses so the lavender was the first thing to go.

we opted for a cleaner color scheme that reflects our taste.  2 of the walls and ceiling are white, white, white, one of the walls is a bold yellow, and the other wall is a dark grey.

we selected from rodda paint colors and chose the horizon line, a no VOC paint. we began the bedroom remodel by ripping out the existing small closet.  in the photo below you can see not only the old closet but the lovely lavender wall color.

we replaced the two small sliding doors with one large door with bard door hardware.  the hardware came from McMaster Carr, which has about anything if your patient enough to go through the zillion products on their web page.  the door itself is cabinet grade plywood that we simply polyurethane.  eventually, i think, we will add hardware but it hasn't happened yet.  the inside of the closets got closet systems from the Container Store to maximize the storage space we have.  the stag print came from push me pull you design from JD's home town of Philly, PA.  (we also have a kiwi print from them that hangs in the living room).  

the other side of our tiny bedroom contains the bed.

we have yet to figure out the window treatment and the blinds came with the house and will be eventually be replaced.  i bought the frames back in january with the layout i wanted in mind.  then the frames went up on the wall, most of them without photographs.  only recently did i have prints made to fill out the frame and it has turned out better than i could have hoped.

most of the photos we took ourselves, but some are from friends or etsy.  we also have some framed butter flies that we got while in portland last summer at a friend's wedding from the store Cargo Inc.  Our bedding is a discontinued set from West Elm of birds and trees... i still love it every time i see it.  

this is the final corner of our room.  the photos are black and whites of the fur babies.  the old light fixture will eventually be replaced, trim will be put up, and window treatments will be found, but until then i think our room is getting there.  i know it feels much more like "our room" now then it did in princess purple.  as with any remodel our motto is one step at a time, one step at a time.

fur ball friday - the first week of freedom

this week marked Baker's first week of freedom.

since Bake was a puppy we have been crating him while we are at work.  we did the same with Rainier and over time we were able to leave her out for longer periods of time.  we had been doing some test runs with Baker over the last few weeks, allowing him to be out in the house with Rainier when we went out to dinner or to see a movie.  most times, we would return home to some chewed cardboard from the few boxes of flooring that remain in the house but he never destroyed anything of value.  let's just say that all changed this week.

Sunday was his first day of freedom and i imagine that Rainier enjoyed the company... we returned home from floating the river to find more chewed cardboard.  he would be disciplined, told that this kind of behavior was not tolerated and that was that.  overall i was very happy with the way the day went, he was out and we lost nothing but flooring boxes.  Monday was very much the same... but then there was Tuesday.

Tuesday he upped the anti.  Tuesday i didn't return home to find chewed cardboard.  i returned home to see that he had eaten his bed that i bought on etsy, at Bow Wow Beds.  i was ticked.  there were chunks of foam everywhere and the duck canvas bed was destroyed... i was not happy.

Wednesday Baker did not have a bed to chew when i left the house... i thought my return would find a better result, but boy was i wrong.  that evening i found Rainier's bed, from the same shop, chewed to destruction.  i collected the second bag of foam pieces for the week and took it out to the trash.  both dogs were in trouble and they new it.

Thursday we made sure that every toy we owned was in the living room.  there were no beds to destroy... there were none left.  so we left the house and crossed our fingers hoping that when we got home things would be in order and the dogs behaved.  i am happy that i played volleyball last night because JD came home to this.

yep that is what my living room looks like if you eat the feather pillows off the couch... see the two mutts huddled together for support on the couch, let's just say they needed it. JD was none too pleased.  so this week marked Baker's first week of freedom and his last. well, at least, for quite some time.  this morning he was ushered back into his crate and Rainier was left to sleep on what's left of  her torn and tattered bed.  maybe we will try again in another month or two.

SYTYCD - Finale

i am going with jaenine!  

but what the heck America?  i don't know what you are thinking any more so who knows.

i think that brandon is a much stronger dancer than evan... but you keep voting him back.

i like jaenine's personality much more than kayla.. but who knows.

what do you think?  do i have this right?

let us catch up...

hi... it's been a long time i know.

i have been a bit out of it, summer and all.  we have been working on the house a bit, our projects a bit, having fun a bit (well maybe more than a bit) and i have neglected my computer and all of you out there.  well i am back, at least for today.

last week, as many of you know we had a crazy heat wave here in the Pacific North West.  i had temperatures of 104 at our house which isn't too far from the water.  some of our friends who have houses in the mountains had temperatures of 107 - 114.  that is some crazy shit considering that JD and i don't own a fan or an AC unit.  typically even though it may get warm or even hot during the day, the nights cool off dramatically and make the heat bearable.  last week this was not the case..

the nights last week stayed hot... the kind of hot that makes you sticky.  i work in an old building in the capital hill neighborhood of seattle.  our building, not only does not have air conditioning but we don't have insulation either which made for a 92 inside temperature at one point.  it was so hot in our office that our computers ceased to work and the server shut done.  i only worked for a few hours each day last week because by noon it was too hot to run the computers.

normally i would have had 100 projects plan to fill that time.  work on my quilt, paint the kitchen, clean out my closet... but the heat was immobilizing.  all i could do last week was do some small tasks like laundry and dishes while taking heat breaks.  on a regular schedule i would take the pups outside and hose them down so they wouldn't over heat.  Rainier especially had a hard time and would be so refreshed after i would hose her down that she couldn't help but run around the yard and play for a few short minutes before she got hot again.

Thursday i managed to put most of our wedding album together... i worked on it diligently throughout the afternoon.  i am so pleased with the results and need to buy a few more pages to fit into the album.  i think i should be able to finish it tonight.

with the setting of the sun on Thursday there came cooler air... by the time we awoke on Friday the air was certainly cooler and we could all breath a little easier.  i was even able to work a full day on Friday, the fist since Monday.

sorry for the absence but it was too hot to think or write.  i would have just been stuck to the computer.  i will catch you up on our weekend... we got a lot done.  but for now this is enough... my arms are starting to stick to my desk.