One thing at a time.

It seems like a lifetime ago, but a couple of Saturdays past, we hung up the new post box, had a party, and hosted our first-ever guest.




Alannah came down from Fayetteville to help me celebrate my birthday & to warm our house. There are no words to express the gratitude & love I feel for this woman. We share a lot of the same beliefs and everyday problems. It's so terrific to know that I'm not alone AND I have back up. I always hope that everyone has that someone in their life; it makes things so much easier!

That said, check out the bitchin' birthday prezzies she got me!

This candle holder is made of Himalayan salt. I know because I licked it! And the box that it came in said so, too. It gives off fantastic light.




Alannah's sister, Jessy, is the proprietor an incredible little shop in Fayetteville, AR called Good Things Boutique. Naturally, they carry free trade & sustainable products. I was ecstatic to receive goodies from there. This incense sampler is pretty amazing. I opened it up to give it a whiff and I smelled a spicy curry-like smell. Japanese incense is ace.



This shirt, too, came from Good Things Boutique. I am a proud native Arkansan -- I'm so serious, whenever Arkansas does a good deed or has a pretty weather, I nearly cry tears of pride & joy.

Alannah also gifted me some bubbly & some art that she made. If you will, imagine me pointing at myself right now: this is what spoiled looks like!

Our housewarming party was, in my opinion, a smashing success. First of all, we have a superior lot of friends who give good company. Then there was the nacho bar & ice cream cake.

The Peeks got us these lovely (hard to kill) succulents. I love the one that looks like a sea creature:


Team Micah/Donna got us these precious flower bulbs. We need to get those into the ground, pronto! Alannah told me a very charming story of how when she was little, she believed in fairies. (Still does?) She believed that they slept on the fuzzy part of the bearded iris. Awwwwww! Of course I will always think of that every time I see them.


Holland/Salley nachos. The only thing this par-tay was missing was 1. Dr. P3pp3r & 2. pony rides.




Thank you for recycling:


The next morning, Alannah, ATM & I went to Loca Luna's for brunch. I regret not whipping out the camera to document our dishes. You know how there is usually entree envy? I don't think anyone suffered it because we all kept our eyes on our own plates and ate everything in sight. All I can say is crab cake eggs benedict. I'm sitting here yearning for some. It made the day feel like a holiday.

That evening, after everyone went home & the house was cleaned, we went to Pizza Cafe to meet the brand new Murphy baby. His name is Nikolai (Yes, Niko for short!) and he is beauteous. I'm so glad we got to meet him before he & his folks jetted back to San Francisco.

With mum, Lauren:


Niko, ATM & Papi Henry:


Moving on!
Say good-bye to this:

I don't recall which evening it was, but I started tearin' away at this hideous wallpaper. Next thing you know, ATM is in on the deal and we ended up with piles of it on the floor. Unfortunately, it was just the top layer. I spent all of Veteran's day scoring, soaking & scraping the bottom layer off. UNFUN. I'm still not done! Essentially, we peeled off this band-aid that uncovered the flaws of our kitchen; we will need to replace the countertops before we can paint the walls. So, I have since moved on to painting the livingroom, which is just as well as it is sparsely furnished. Sigh. I'm finally learning & accepting that this making our house a home will take a minute. Say...30 years? And it's all "one thing at a time." I will be very happy when we are done painting the living room and the entry way. I don't know what project we'll be moving on to next, but it probably won't be anything lofty.




This past Friday, we went to Lauren McEntire's art opening @ the Historic Arkansas Museum. I love Lauren. She is a true sweetheart. And her art's pretty good, too. In fact, I bought this one:

The story behind it is that she had friends draw, from memory, the states. Then she embroidered it. Someone was way off on Arkansas, but it's a great piece overall. I'll retain ownership in January 2010, but I already have it's place picked out at the house. It's the first time I've bought art through a museum instead of the artist directly, so I felt chichi & baroque.

Embroidered punk rock pillows. Lace? Of course! Richard Hell, Paul Simonon, Patti Smith, Ian Curtis, John Doe & Siouxsie Sioux. I wanted to see the Exene Cervenka one, but she already sold it!



Pearl, Lauren & Jeremy:

If you have a chance to go see Lauren's collection, PLEASE DO. Details here.

After Lauren's opening, we went to the Peek residence to celebrate Rett's birthday. I can't explain my photo-taking habits; I do not have ONE photo with Mr. Peek in it. Instead, I have one of a seriously sassy Collin w/orbs:

And one of Keiko, Luca, and Negi:

And one of Rett's gift, a John Kushmaul painting. I will admit, I'm envious. I've been trying to obtain a Kushmaul for a minute. I may just have to commission a painting. Notable, too, the Robert Dylan/ATM profiles.

Anyway, Happy Birthday, Rett!

On Saturday, I finally got to celebrate my birthday properly with ATM. He treated me to a massage @ the Quapaw Bathhouse.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

And then we had dinner @ the consistently delicious Rolando's. You can see the massage effects lingering in my eyes. Hee.:

It has been over 10 years since I've had a professional massage. Let's just say that I'm a massageonyst now. I'm already looking for my next fix. I think we'll book ourselves something around the holidays? I hope so. I mean, I DO have an overworked arm that has been giving me problems for awhile now. Mmmhmm.

On Sunday, we did brunch @ Robert y Leigh's apartment. Killer fish tacos (by Leigh and Collin) & fruit & guacamole & cheese dip & churros & Mexican Cokes.


After brunching, we started working on the living room. Micah told me to take a lot of pictures as we transform our house, so we can remember how much we've done and what it looked like before. This is just primer over the existing living room color. Last night, I started applying the color and it looks great! Me and my shoulder can't wait to be done!


After making some headway in the livingroom, ATM & I went to ACAC to see The Blue Hit from Austin, TX. It's really just one of those bands you need to see. Before they started playing, my rude 'tude was all "whatever" at them, but their first song sounded like Portishead, so my interest was piqued and I actually enjoyed the show. Singer-lady is a total show(wo)man!