Just for funsies...

Just in case some of you reader viewers haven't seen it, here's what our house looked like when we first moved in (October 2009). So even as I feel wracked with guilt over the sad state of our current landscaping, I can at least remember how it used to look. That banana tree had beer cans planted in the roots. Seriously.

We need yard help...

OK, so I'm going to sound ungrateful here and complain a little about our HGTV experience. Which maybe is unfair, since I could really just blame the landscapers... In any case, our yard is not nearly as pretty as it looks in the photo in my blog header. We did our very best (in all seriousness, we really did) to maintain things and keep the yard looking as it did the day of the "reveal," but things have worked against us... The biggest issue that we have run into is with the grass creeping back into the flower beds. We kept up with weeding for several months, but the grass growing back in has been IMPOSSIBLE to take care of, and in our frustration, we kind of let the weeds go, too. We have bermudagrass, which if you know anything about, is OUT OF CONTROL. If you look at the link there, the line that sums it up best is: This is a very aggressive grass and flower beds or other areas will be quickly overrun if not kept in check. Once established it is very difficult to remove due to its extensive root system. Yes. That is exactly right. So the problem is that when the landscapers came and planted the dozens and dozens of lovely new plants, they did two things that seem wrong, even to me, an admitted idiot when it comes to plants. One, they did not really add any soil to the flower beds. The plants are mostly planted in straight up Georgia red clay, so a lot of them didn't make it, in spite of our best watering/feeding efforts. Two, they didn't pull up the bermudagrass in many areas of the flower bed. They may have churned it a little, but they didn't pull out the root systems, so it started growing back through the mulch, etc., almost immediately. After spending about three hours removing about 3 feet of bermudagrass+roots in one section of the flowerbed, Justin called it quits. Since then, they have more or less been neglected.

So now I'm trying to figure out some low cost fixes... Not easy. I did find some special spray that is supposed to kill grass but not flowers, but I've been too nervous to use it. We have so many lovely rosebushes planted in the yard, and I would hate to accidentally kill them. My other thought was to pull out as much as we can cosmetically (as well as try and figure out which plants are annuals and which are perennials so we can pull out the dead plants that are not going to come back in spring... which will be nearly impossible for us) and then get some free mulch to put over the flowerbeds. I'm thinking some pretty brown mulch might soften things up and match the warmth in the railing. Oh, that was the other thing: the black mulch that the landscapers used was VERY thinly applied, which made the weed/grass situation that much worse. They didn't use any kind of barrier between the lawn and the flowerbed either, so it has been tough trying to keep the grass from creeping in on the edges, too.

I'm open to any and all suggestions. We are so proud of the outside of our house and we don't want it to end up looking like we don't take care of our lawn. For now, we still have the winter excuse, but soon, we'll be fair game. And again, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I think it would have been nice if they had given us some extra information about the yard. We were never told what any of the plants were, or how to take care of them, which is fine, but I think it would be smart on their part to help educate homeowners like us. I mean, part of the reason we got on the show was because our yard looked like crap, and we said in our audition tape that we had never had a yard to actually plant things in before so we didn't know where to start. But I know the bottom line is the big before and after. I mean, I'm pretty sure that's mostly the reason I watch the show!

Mid-Century Modern Playground!

When I was a kid, I used to go to Piedmont Park often with my Dad and my sister. We would ride bikes or roller skate, and play on the super awesome modern art playground. I went back to see the playground about six years ago, and it was in sad shape. It was a mess, and a lot of the equipment was roped off and not in playing condition. *BUT* this weekend we went back with our daughter and it is all shiny and new! And still the most amazing looking playground I've ever seen. It was designed by a Japanese-American scupltor named Isamu Noguchi (!!!). It was originally built in 1976, then refurbished in 1996 and 2009. There have been a lot of things that I'm not super proud of in terms of Atlanta's infrastructure, planning and restoration projects, but this playground makes me glad to be a Georgia peach. There's a fantastic article about the playscape here at Burnaway.org, which is a fantastic art website in general. Here are some of my own photos of the playscape. Some contain my little monkey child and my handsome husband. Some don't... Taking pictures of a playground without feeling like a creeper is not easy. Trust me.
The twirly tower thing is the coolest slide ever. You wind up the staircase on the inside, then slide down the outside. It's all very metal/concrete modern, but awesome. The block formations are in a few areas of the playscape. They are so cool!
Another view of the tower. And my family. :)
Towards the middle of the playscape is this cool mound. It's smooth, and while you think kids would be less than enthused by a round semi-circle, they all seem to love it. It's neat because it is near a large sandpit that is a similar size (and is also a circle) so it almost seems like you could just pick it up and plop it on top. Of course, I'm sure it's really about art and positive and negative space, but either way, it's lovely.
Here's the giant sandpit. My daughter loves sand. Especially getting it in every nook and cranny on her body.
There are also several of these geometric shaped monkey bars (or maybe just two...) but they are amazing looking. Kids love all of the holes in these pieces. Peekaboo possibilities are endless.
Check out this swingset!! Gorgeous. I love the color they chose.
My daughter loves this one. It has monkey bars across the top in the inside. Look at the pretty gray inside!
Here's Roxanne standing on the mound again. You can see the awesome swing set again. And some more of the playscape itself.
Another slide. This thing is incredible. Clean lines, fantastic materials, and it never gets congested with kids because it has the three slides. Roxanne can only do the middle (little) one for now, but someday she'll be on the big ones!
Tada! Lovely!

A new room to decorate!

OK, a new excuse for my infrequent postings. I'm almost 13 weeks pregnant. So half of my brain is being taken up with thoughts of baby at any given moment. The other half is trying to cover my non-in-utero family, my job and school. So a little crazy. But in a good way. Mostly. I fully admit that I cannot stop thinking about decorating another kid room. I've been reading blogs lots and lots and looking for ideas. Just as we didn't with Roxanne, we won't find out the baby's gender until delivery, so it's got to be gender neutral stuff. For now, I'm thinking vintage kid stuff, but in a cool high brow/not too babyish way. We'll be transforming the playroom/music room into the baby's room. It's tiny and oddly shaped, so even just deciding where to put the crib is a pain. The crib itself is a pain... We planned to just use Roxanne's again, but hers was recalled since it's a dropside. ALL dropsides are recalled. We can get a part that is supposed to disable the dropside feature, but I keep reading that you should still just replace dropside cribs. So far, there have been 36 deaths associated with dropside cribs. The worry wart in me says we should just get a $130 crib from IKEA and rest easy. But we like Roxanne's crib. And cribs are expensive... In funner categories, here are some things I'm looking at and feeling inspired by. Yay for babies!

We *need* one of these Queen Buzzy toys, since Roxanne has dubbed the new baby "Baby Bumblebee." On a floating shelf? Adorable? Yes. This one on Etsy looks lovely.

I saw a posting on OhDeeDoh the other day about vintage WPA posters (or reproductions thereof) being used in kid's rooms, and I love the concept. Ebay has a fantastic selection. I also love this one that I can't borrow an image from... It's not WPA, but I love the graphic on it!
We're also thinking about dressers, etc. I've been keeping an eye on Craigslist for a nice long, low six drawer dresser. Preferably a handsome teak MCM one... We could put the changing pad on it, which would be great in such a small space. We've also got to decide on wall color. Even though I love the color in there already, Justin thinks it's depressing. I say soothing. We'll see... At least I have a good excuse as to why I can't help paint...

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Atlanta Craigslist goodies...

My spring semester has started with school, and I'm intimidated. I'm just taking two classes again, but it's going to be a LOT of work. Reading, yes, to be expected, but lots of writing this semester, too. But I'll make it! Taking a break from reading some fabulous Eudora Welty stories for class, I love scanning CL. It's like thrift store shopping when I don't have time to actually go thrifting. Since I'm not in a position to actually buy anything, I'm posting some of my favorites. :) Enjoy!

This Welbilt range is right near me in North Decatur. Only $100! It doesn't mention whether or not it works... It would almost be worth it even if it didn't... Except we actually cook these days.
This is listed as a 1952 Kent Coffey Highboy Dresser. I love ads like these, where they clearly love the piece, but never once use the phrase "mid-century modern" or "Eames era." It's listed at $110.
This piece is not a diamond in the rough. It's a diamond, but the owner knows it. :) It's listed at $600, but claims to be a Peter Hvidt design. It's beautiful. Look at the edges!
I love these vintage high chairs. I just always worry about the safety... This is only $25! I love the image on the chair back.
This might be one of my favorites. It's described as a toybox, and I just love the shape and colors. It reminds me of a carnival. But in my opinion, it's too expensive. $50? I don't know. I guess in a booth it would be that much. Either way, it's adorable, right? I will point out that it's been up for a while, and keeps getting re-listed but with no price drop. Take a hint?

The big girl bed

Here's our kitty, BooBoo, breaking in Roxanne's new bed. Maybe she thinks she blends in with all of the Hello Kitty toys. She didn't fool Roxanne though, who is apparently unwilling to share her new bed with the kitty and her "stinky booty." Sorry BooBoo. We know you don't really stink.
I'm still not sure about the wall decor yet, but I love this little quilt hanging on the wall and wanted to try and display it somehow. I think I need a better way of hanging it. Maybe a curtain rod. But isn't the headboard adorable?!
This quilt folded at the foot of the bed is another one of my favorites. I love the pink and red and creamy white (obviously). I'm just glad we don't have pink walls in there. As it is, I need to work in some different colors.
The footboard is low, which is great for Roxanne climbing in and out of the bed. The only problem we are running into with the vintage bed is that it seems wider than a modern-day twin. Weird, right? It seems like usually everything runs bigger now. It has an inch or two on each side between the box spring and the metal bed rails. We bought slats at IKEA to go under the box spring, and they really aren't tight enough to stay totally in place. Of course, as long as she's not crazy jumping on it and with the addition of the bed rail, it seems pretty safe and sturdy.
The stepped back view. As you can see, the bed is right in front of the door. And her bed is now on the wall that our room shares with hers. Such is life in a little house!

Mish Mash Photo Post

This is the very first piece of Roxanne's very first vintage collection. With my mom's help, I decided that she would love collecting vintage Josef Original animals. They were made for quite a while, and there is a range of styles. The later ones are flocked, and adorable, but I decided these earlier ones that have a shine to them are slightly more vintage looking and less cheapy. My grandmother gave her this dog and the kitty pictured below. I found both on Etsy and the sellers were both WONDERFUL.
My mom got Roxanne a glass display shelf that I plan to hang in her room to put these little guys in. We just got her new twin bed set up, so everything is off the walls and ready to be re-worked. Her room gives me grief because it is just so little and so crammed full of stuff. But so it goes with little ones. The important part is that it's cheerful and she loves it. As she gets older, we can cull out things like the glider. I'll post photos once her room is all done. Her little headboard and footboard look like they are from the 60's and my mom found them painted off-white at a Goodwill. I meant to do some touch-ups but opted for a good cleaning for now.
Here is a side view of one of Roxanne's Christmas presents. It's a large wooden dollhouse. My mom spotted it at Goodwill while we were shopping, and it was only $6 for the house and a good bit of the pretty wooden furniture you see inside. I re-painted (including the chevron rug you see here...I couldn't help myself). The house was painted along the edges with dragonfly and flower stencils. Not really our style.
Another painted rug... These colors are the same pinks and reds I used to paint her dresser. Someday maybe we can actually fit the dollhouse into her room!
I could be wrong, but it feels like a home-made dollhouse. I love to think that a dedicated Dad built it for his little girl. It's very sturdy, and I actually like the sort of modern lines and the fact that it's kind of sparse inside.
Here she is looking at it on Christmas morning. This was one gift from Mama and Daddy, and not from Santa. Santa gifts were wrapped...
On an unrelated note, this is our improvised "den" in the basement. Our old IKEA futon, the old flokati, and some other useful pieces of furniture w had around. I know it's not exactly fabulous, but this area was being used just for storage, so it's nice to make it livable.
We haven't owned a TV in a number of years (although we watch internet TV and use Netflix on the computers; me moreso than Justin). This set was given to us by my bosses. They upgraded to a flat-screen, so were ready to give this one away. It's nice to angle it towards the elliptical so we can watch one of the eight or so free channels that we get through the digital cable box thingy. Maybe that will motivate me to use it more...