Ely Here and There: January 2011

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Do you have yours?

Do you have you have your Keep It Local Card? I think that it's really important to support local business. Maybe it's because I'm a local business myself, but I really think it's because they have something to offer that no place else has.

Las night I was at Irma's Burgers (mmmmm, onion rings), and I was happy to get my Keep It Local card! It was just $10 that goes to support local businesses, and you can get discounts at great places all around town including some of my favorites: Collected Thread, Irma's Burgers, Cuppies and Joe, Sushi Neko, and more!

I know you want one now, go ou get one at www.keepitlocalok.com.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Living Green

On the way to pick up my Sushi tonight I was listening to NPR (yeah...yuppi, I know). TheStory.org was on, and they were interviewing a man who does green building. I was so interested in it that I wanted to come home and blog about it. But I am ridiculously terrible at remembering things, so I would recommend that you take a listen www.thestory.org.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

For When You Need a Brain Break

This is a fun little quiz you can take to give your brain a break from the madness of life during your day.

My design style is apparently Old Money Extravagance. Yeah, that's right. I always knew I was should have been royalty. :)

Thursday, January 20, 2011

New Product

So, I was at Bed Bath and Beyond tonight, and I remembered that we needed laundry detergent. BB&B didn't really have a lot of options, but I did find this little guy:

I don't absolutely love the smell (but there was also an unscented and peony scent that might be good), but what I do LOVE is that it's super concentrated and has a pump bottle. You can't tell from this pic that I jacked from the internet, but it's actually a pretty small container, about the size of a hand soap container. Four pumps for a large load, and no more gooey detergent caps running down the side of the container.

I think it would be a wonderful gift for high school graduate-- give them an embroidered towl, a bag of quarters and this pump detergent. Fun!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

And it all Came Crashing Down

Literally. As I sat in my parents car (borrowed because mine doesn’t have heat at the moment) in Monday morning go to Walgreens to get flu medicine for Ryan, my wooden garage door split at the windows, and in result rained shards of glass all over the car. Awesome. Note: Ryan ran and checked to make sure Pete was okay and hadn’t gotten hurt, not me. Yeah, I know where I stand.

Anyway, so poor, sickly Ryan and I spent our MLK day off shopping for new garage doors. Which is not how I envisioned my Monday Funday, but I suppose I do feel lucky that it happened on a day that Ryan was at home with me, otherwise I would have been stuck in the garage and wouldn’t know what to do. And I’m thankful I was inside the car, and not outside getting a glass shower.

Anyway, I chose a garage door design that I’ve seen that I like a lot, but they didn’t have a color that I liked to go with our house at the moment, so we went ahead and got white so they would be easy to paint. Now I need some help—we decided to paint our house this summer while Ryan is off for school, but I’m terrible at choosing colors.

This is our house:

This is color is what I’m thinking, a warm grey with a slight green tint and white accents:

These are some other houses I like:

Do y’all think the greenish grey would look good? Or do you think it would make our house look cold? What color do you think we should do accents? Do I need to change the red door color?? So many things to think about, I’m stressed.

So, in conclusion, we have decided that the month of January hates the Fairs. All the crappy things happen in January for us. And the feeling is rather mutual at the moment.

But, so I end on a more pleasant note, here is some house eye candy that I have saved over the years.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Wow.

One of my girlfriends from college posted this video on her blog, and it really touched me. And by touched me, I mean tears streaming down my face.

I had never seen Kelle Hampton's blog before (and I thought I cried hard during the video, it was nothing compared to her birth story). I think one of the reasons why her video and story was so powerful is that she was so raw and honest about her feelings when she first found out she had a daughter with down-syndrome. I feel like she said the things that most parents actually feel, but is hard to admit out loud. Even to yourself, let alone in front of other people, putting it out there for anyone to hear. That's scary.

But also so freeing. I can imagine how relieved someone else feeling the same things might feel to see someone, who obviously is head over heels in love with her daughter, had some of the same disappointment and embarrassment that they might have felt. But also se how in so many ways her daughter is to be celebrated for her differences. So full of life, and so full of love.

She has started a ONEder fund to " spread awareness and create more opportunities for the world to understand that we are more alike than different." I encourage you to not eat lunch out one day next week, and donate.

Space Man Stew

Ok, a little part of my inside hurts sharing something that was produced by McDonalds...but have you seen the space man stew commercial??

I LOVE the illustration in it. I was trying to figure out who Illustrated it, and I couldn't really. But I love that style of illustration. In college I look some illustration classes with my graphic design major. I actually really enjoyed it, and most of my work in college was much more illustrative than photographic. Which is kind of ironic.

Anyway, one of the things on my 'bucket list' is to illustrate a children's story. Maybe someday when I have kids I can do that for them.

Now I want some french fries.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

The evolution of our House: The Dining Room

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it before, but I love houses. It would really surprise me if I hadn't. Even though we already bought a house almost 2 years ago, I still look at listings on zillow. I dream of having a home with oceans of natural light and interesting architecture that allows me to have a whole wall of book shelves with a rolling ladder, and I would sing and roll around on it like Belle.

I'm a first impression girl. For sure. I believe that 90% of the time the first impression you make is the one that sticks with a person. Which is rather unfortunate for me since I'm bit of an awkward muffin. But my first impression of our house was dark and dreary-- the fellow who owned it before us loved black. His bedroom had black furniture, black bedspread, black sheets, even black curtains.

So I think I've been stuck in the mindset that our house is dark and dreary always. And I hope this doesn't sound like I am being unthankful for the wonderful provision that we have been blessed with. I love my home because it is sturdy, and it is solid, and it provides us with room to stretch our legs, and it has a great layout for having people over (probably my most favorite thing is how well it lends to parties), and it is in a, what I think, is a gem of a neighborhood tucked away where most people don't just drive by. and I love that we have a great backyard for Pete to play in. And, especially lately, I feel so blessed to have a warm place to stay. I know not all people have that. There are so many things I am thankful for. But I wouldn't necessarily say the style of my house is my taste. But we are working on it.

But I believe I had my first breakthrough with our abode last week. I bought some flowers from the local flower store, stuck them on the table, and thought to myself..."Hmmm, I think I really like this room. I think this room and I could be friends."

So this is how the previous owner had it:

And here it is with a womanly touch:

It was definitely a work in progress. Mainly because I'm cheap. Most everything was bought on major sale or craigslist. I'm still looking for a rug, but man, those sure are expensive! But overall I'm happy with it, except I don't know what to do in the bay window. Any suggestions?? (I know, I'm never pleased...)

Sunday, January 9, 2011

2010 in iPhone Photos

So I mentioned before that one of my 2011 New Year Promises is to take more everyday photos. Well, my phone has been the place that I've been taking my everyday photos. So, it was the best way for me to sum up 2010!! (In no particular order)