Fake Flowers

Real flowers, move aside. The next generation of fake flowers is here and they are awesome.  I found these in a random catalog (Signals. Never heard of 'em.) I received in the mail.

1. The coffee table book to end all coffee table books: Paper Blossoms by Ray Marshall. It's pop-up art for the adult set. Please give this book to someone on your Christmas shopping list this year. 




Pics from Amazon where these books ship in 1 to 4 months. Months! Try a different retailer.

 

2. Felted wool bouquet. Cozy and no watering required. I found some similar bouquets on etsy, but none were quite this pretty.

Red cat

One night last week, Penny suddenly took an interest in the red wooden cat on the top of my TV. She stared. She whined. She tried very hard to reach it by stretching up on her back two legs. Alas, in true cat fashion, the cat showed no interest whatsoever in Penny.

Penny staged

The memory is fading, but I'm pretty sure I staged this pic. All the elements were there — Penny and the netbook were already lying casually on the bed — how could I not just push them closer together?

Living room: Upgrade

My sad slip-covered love seat (it's blue country plaid underneath) has finally been kicked to the proverbial curb. As of last Friday, it was demoted to my spare bedroom where all my misfit belongings go to die. That was the day my new chairs from Overstock arrived. The only sad thing about them is that I bought them one day before a 5% off seating sale started. AND, now when I went to fetch the link for this post, I see they are 10% off. HRMPF! I do wish I wouldn't have seen that. It pains me not to get the best deal.

In other living room news, I also spray painted my crummy MDF TV stand Krylon's Ivy Leaf.

BEFORE. This is a lame before, but it's the best I had and it does a good job of showing the sadness that is the love seat.



AFTER. New chairs. Night-time lighting.



AFTER. From a different angle this time. Still night-time lighting. Also, no flat panel TV here.

New color for the kitchen

After two years, the orange I'd painted my kitchen was just too...well, orange. The room glowed radioactively with its orange-ness. After I saw this kitchen's paint color, I knew mine couldn't stay orange for much longer. So, I painted it Behr's Mocha Accent. It's a pretty perfect brown-gray-green and my kitchen feels grown up now.

Does anyone else google paint colors to see how they look in other people's homes before taking the plunge? I do.

Before. Yes, there are bananas everywhere because I just re-used this pic from a previous post. Oh, and before before.

After. I know how it looks, but that "N" is not for Nebraska; it's for November.

The most depressing thing

The most depressing thing in the whole world is not natural disasters, divorce or death. It is when Dave leaves the house.

Book Review: Little Bee

Here goes, my inaugural book review. Before I begin, I think you should know a few things about me: I appreciate clever, witty writing and endearing stories. I gag on cheesy dialogue and ridiculously implausible story lines (I'm looking at you The English American).

Book: Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Stars: 3/5
Quick summary: The lives of a teenage Nigerian refuge and a British working mother collide.
Should I read it? Sure, but don't rush out to get it. If and when you get around to it is fine. 
My take: The story has some smart, spry writing, but don't be fooled -- the subject matter is serious and can be a bit grim. I was happy to be done with the book because it had just a little too much sunshine-covered sadness for my daily commute.

Pic from Barnes and Noble.