This week's cutest pic

Such a lazy hound dog!

Gentle Cori

Happy birthday week to Cori, who had the gentle-est party that I've ever been to!



Everyone wore pastels, and I broke out my cashmere heart sweater. We had lavender infused water, and listened to sweet songs. Here's my sister and my friend Joey, looking positively like they represent a creepy eastside Church/cult!

This week's cutest pic

Like a little angel that she is... here is Bean post-surgery.



Metaphysical!

Finley's first cupcake

My friend Justyn's baby, Finley, turned one today. They had a sweet birthday brunch celebration.

Brian and I overslept, and recovered from mild hangovers (thanks to copious amounts of delicious sangria last night) as we raced up to Edmonds -- without a gift! -- to celebrate her special day. Just like any lonely, thoughtless, childless couple would.

Our lack of preparation and planning doesn't imply that we don't LOVE FINLEY MORE THAN ANY BABY ON THIS EARTH! She is so so so cute. I'm legitimately thankful that my kids aren't born yet so they don't have to compete.

I loved the progression of her first cupcake. (And it really seemed like she completely knew what was going on--that this celebration was for her.)















All done!

Chairs, a long time coming

One of our recent home improvement projects was finally finished, thanks to Brian who got down to it and started painting a few weeks ago.

I bought these chairs on Craigslist not too long after we bought our house and all of the sudden had a dining room. Actually, I bought a table (which never made it to our dining room and instead sits in the basement, becoming the cat's feeding station away from the crazy food stealing dog) and these chairs came with them. At first I thought we'd trash them but then I looked at them again, and realized that they could probably be pretty cute with some help.







This summer I picked out some glossy white paint with my mom and got to work...





But then, I got really sick of it. And stopped painting entirely. For months. I had no motivation without having a fabric picked out to recover the chairs. And I realized that I was very oddly freaked out of picking out a fabric. So one day, I made my mom come with me and I found a cute green print.

But the chairs still sat there, unpainted.

Then, over Thanksgiving when our neighbors asked to borrow our dining room chairs (they needed extra), I said yes but I was mortified. Our chairs were falling apart, chipping, stained, and totally disgusting. So I almost decided to start painting again, but didn't.

Then, Brian got frustrated and picked up the paint brushes, and painted for about 3 days straight. And we brought the fabric to this wonderful upholstery gal in Bellingham who finished the job -- in one day -- for only $30 a chair.

And voila! Cute chairs!







Now our dining room is getting close to being done. I would eventually like to get an area rug, and we were bummed to find out that our Christmas present to each other, a beautiful dining hutch that was partially paid for through a compilation of saved gift cards to Jayson Home & Garden over the years, is actually a piece of crap. (Thanks again to the honest sales lady who wanted to save us from the frustration of shipping and picking up a heavy pile of poo.) Anyway, we would eventually like to find another hutch that we like. But it's looking pretty good and I have to say, I think it's really a fun challenge to decorate on a budget; it makes you appreciate it all the more.

My grandma's furry friends

I love my grandma. I've known for a long time that she is a smart, interesting and crafty woman (see the amazing beach house she made here).

My grandma is a dog-lover extraordinaire. She has owned dogs for the majority of her 89 years. From boxers to poodles to more poodles, she has owned and loved the pooch. But, I never really realized the depth of her love until recently. Until her hat collection came up in conversation this holiday season.

You see, I have come to find out that each time one of her dogs passes, my grandma actually KNITS A HAT USING THEIR FUR. I asked her to model these for me this past weekend.







Apparently they don't even smell like wet dog in the rain! Amazing!