Sasha

You've seen her before, but - Sasha and I have been roommates for two years now, not for much longer!! Here she is helping me out with Jimmy, he can be a handful. Sasha helped pick out the next paint color for this room, as you can see here!

This weekend Sasha and I are going to Charleston to celebrate Laura's bachelorette-hood! We like to think that we are in charge of all of Laura's fun, and that she needs us for a good time! But, in all reality, she does actually need us. We will be creating all kinds of mischevious and devious little activities for our little bride! And all of her favorite goodies will be there.

So Sasha is now starting a rotation at Vanderbilt, where she plans to dominate in the field of dermatology. She was my wingman for the party last weekend, the only person except me under the age of thirty! She also is the grandmother of my pup, Piper. Here you can see her and Laura and I and Piper, Milly, Rudy, Buddy (now deceased!), Mason, Chatam, Sophie, Emma, Samson, and two others with no names.
So, in homage to this wonderful lady Sasha, I blog about her. In leiu of a thank-you note that I've already written, anyway!!

Painting!

I've been tapping into my creative side, (as you can see) - and now I think I'm a painter, apparently!! I am currently trying to make two huge pictures to flank my boring mantle. Evidently, I've already gone through this phase once before (notice the painting currently on the mantle). My current plan is to take the mirror that I am repainting that is on the right, and put it on top of the mantle. Then I am going to put up two really really big yellow paintings on either side!

Here are the paintings as of two weeks ago, displayed so beautifully in my parents' sunroom.


And here they are one week ago, with FIVE additional coats of paint on them, with apparently the same results!


So they are a bit of a better shade of yellow, I guess! The plan is to paint some cotton stalks on them, and hang them on either side of the mantle. Dad is planning on a stealthy reconnaissance mission in Boligee, stealing some real-life inspiration for the cotton! If you see a sneaky Fred one night in black clothes with big long shears, don't worry, he's just supporting my hobby!

Another painting objective: Paint some Beatrix Potter prints for Allison's new bebe! Here is an example of one I just did. Obviously, this is the one I used as inspiration. I used watercolor pencils to sketch it ahead of time, then just add water and voila! It becomes a watercolor painting without needing the foresight of regular watercolor!

Hot finds

So last weekend I did a little road-trip on up to Atlanta. First I visited Allison and Michael's new pad, had some dinner with Wheeler and Mary, Michael's sister too. Yummy chicken, hearts of palm salad, and Wheeler's favorite, fruity-tooty Miller Chill beer (haa). Then they guided me to the coolest flea market ever, called Eastbrook Flea Market & Antique Mall. Three stories, I spent three hours!!

I've been wanting to get some lamps that don't look like carbon copies of my Target lamps....and I found these two great ones! The green one on the left will go downstairs in the dining room, the blue one in the blue room that I showed last post.

Then I found a fabulous vintage purse - to use at Kanhka's wedding and Laura's Rehearsal Dinner!!
Cover has had these awesome framed antique keys in her house for some time, I don't know where she got them, but I was lucky enough to find my own framed keys!! I found some other great stuff, though most of it involves some work before photo-ready!
The weekend brought me to Atlanta - as I went to see Jimmy and Mary Keeley. We all ate well, watched Olympics, and found some great stuff at Ikea on my way home!! One more notch under my belt on my way to tasting every Ethiopian restaurant in the country! My favorite food, you should give it a try (just wash your hands first)!

The Real Reason I've Started this Blog

So, my friend Allison is the reason I'm starting this blog - for those of you who openly wonder aloud, 'what in the world does Anne have to blog about?' (ahem, Laura). She was telling me about her nursery project, and we started talking about painting. And I told her about my recent projects redecorating Jimmy's house,
my soon-to-be home. Over the years he's lived there I've piece-by-piece taken his stuff out and replaced it with treasures I've brought in (hah, much to his dismay)!! She insisted seeing what I've done, and the easiest thing to do is put it online!!

Take the most prized feature of this house for example: the pirate room!!! Now I know that you are distracted by the fierceness of the folks out in front, but see the mural behind? What a cherished little treasure, for an 8-year-old boy....Though we had several happy memories as well as major idealizations of a pirate party... So I took Kanhka's suggestion, my friend from medical school, (now a doc), and hired some el cheapo painters from Greensboro, and voila!! Color: Raccon Hollow from Benjamin Moore (thanks to Mrs. Lemen, my mom's friend who is a decorator in Virginia).

So that wasn't the only room I painted. This is probably my favorite color: it is also from Benjamin Moore, called Wythe Blue. I am going to probably put it in our master bathroom too. This room is still pretty boring, as you can see in the picture. I have big plans to frame this cool print I found for the room, but it is going to cost $$$$ so I'm waiting till I am less poor!!

So, for now, this blog will serve as my outlet so people like Sasha don't have to continue taking tours of Jimmy's place so I can show you all the new stuff!!
Just a quick view of those mentioned in this post:

Laura
Kanhka
Julie Lemen
Sash-dizzele

Vroom

Hello. I've run away with another man!
Just kidding. This is my cousin Rick. He drove over from Fairhope Alabama the other day to show off his new Harley. That's one bad dude. He drove my mom around the bay too, Kee had a great time.

Despite my helmet hair, I was able to pull off a much more lady-like outfit than my biker getup later that night for my Pensacola shower. The week prior was Jimmy and I's engagement party at Seville Quarters in historic downtown Pensacola. I've included some pictures, courtesy of Allison and Virginia!!

Amelie, Kent, Christian, Whitney

Virginia and I

Myself and Allison (preggers!)

Fred, Ursula, Jimmy, Me, Jim, Kee, Cover

The new extended Fam

Me, Troupe, Cover

Christian, Jimmy, Michael

At the Irvins, with bushwackers!!

whew

guess what

I think i finally managed to get control over the most dreaded part of this whole wedding business - the guest list!! it only took me 9 months and 24 hours (all day today) to do; sounds kindof like pregnancy and labor!

I just want everyone reading (all two of you, mom and cover) to know something about one of my favorite people, Joshua, from SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!

So this guy makes me tear every time I watch him, and he is the last person on earth you would have guessed would do that!! He is so good that I voted for him 16 times last night after the show ended! (I voted for my second favorite, Twitch, four times too). So keep your ears perked, the announcement of the winner comes on tonight on Fox. Anyone want to go watch their dance show on tour this fall with me??

And another update - I've given up on the semblence of height, and decided to go with flats for the wedding (no poking in the grass). Who would have known the drama that this would create, as we drove to B-ham to get the dress, and had to have it overnighted to a friend's house, and then despite our efforts, it never showed!! Long story short - I'm still getting married, which is all that Jimmy cares about!!

Welcome

Hello~

Welcome to my attempt to blog!! I have recently been inspired by Nick Olsen, who blogs for Domino, Allison Irvin, and Holland Sinrod, who are both 'expecting' and have lots to talk about!

Well, I don't necessarily know where this will take me, but I am pretty bad at keeping up with everyone, and now you can see what I do with my time instead! haha. Between school, applying to residency, and theoretically planning this upcoming wedding, I like to distract myself with projects around the house and for other people (much to Jimmy's dismay). And now, I am in Pensacola living with Kee and Fred for about 6 weeks, so I've got tons more time and new places to explore for fresh ideas.

Things on my list of things to do these few weeks:

1) turn in my application, due Sept 1 (boring.....)

2) go up to Charlotte and to Atlanta - visit Mary and to Charleston - celebrate with Laura!!!

3) make a lamp and/or an art piece for Allison's little bun for the nursery

4) play in Pensacola with Amelie and Emily

5) entertain myself with endless googling and playing with Piper

6) going to the beach in the early mornings with mom

Already got a head start with #5 and #6, kindof

So I got stung by a jellyfish, but Jimmy and Cover and I got away with a dog on the beach in the middle of the day, even with two beach patrols driving by.