Dear Anthropolgie,
Why do you torture me with your super cute flats with pompoms that cost $98.00? I hate you. Where's my credit card?

Laura

I need to rock

When we first bought our house I was so excited to have a front porch because that meant that I could have a porch swing. As long as I can remember I have wanted to have a house with a porch swing. I found one that I loved a while back but decided to look around a little more and of course it is no longer available. I found this one at Pottery Barn. The price is reasonable and it looks like good construction. I am not sure about the ropes vs. chains. I think the first one I found had chains. Also, I wanted to get an unfinished one so that I could paint it a bright color, if I buy this one I will not paint it because the finish is so nice. But I guess that is okay.

After spending a week on a porch in a rocking chair on vacation I decided that maybe I don't need a swing, maybe a couple of rocking chairs will work. They don't require that I drill into the ceiling of the porch and they take up a little less space than the swing. The problem is that the price range is so wide and apparently so is the quality. Every where I look I find people that are pleased with their rocking chairs and people that say they are crappy construction. I don't want to spend a fortune on rocking chairs, but I also don't want to have them fall apart.

I also found this little bench at Pottery Barn and kind of liked it too. The pros are that Wade can sit on it when he plays guitar unlike the rocking chairs with arms on either side. That was his main complaint about the rocking chairs. But it is the most expensive of the options (even on sale) and, well, it doesn't rock. Then while searching for swings I found this, it is a swing lounger. Basically a bed on a swing. This is probably my dream swing but it doesn't make much sense for the front porch of a little bungalow. Someday though....on the back porch of our house by the ocean...a girl can dream.
Advice? Opinions? I am leaning towards a swing because I know I can find one that is well made and not break the bank. But, those rocking chairs sure look cute and it was really nice to use them on vacation. I need help.

Ouch

I had a “friend” chew me out the other day and it has taken me a few days to recover from the blow. I don’t feel that I did anything wrong, but I know that in every situation there is something to learn, something that I can take from it to help me be a better individual or a better friend. I think what I learned from this is to listen to my gut and act on how I am feeling sooner rather than later. This friendship should have ended long ago, the only thing we had in common was the age of our children and I knew that from the start but I felt guilty for not giving her a chance. And I felt guilty because she is a single Mom and was struggling. Now I feel guilty for not stopping it sooner to avoid hurt feelings. Another lesson, guilt is not a reason to stay in a relationship. So that is that…now I am leaning on my friends to remind me that I am not all those awful things she said to me because no matter how much confidence you have in yourself taking blow after blow from a person that speaks not in logic but in anger, can do a little damage.
On a more positive note my Week of No TV has been great. I worked on recovering our chairs last night and am almost finished with my book. I do miss The Daily Show and the Cobert Report a little, but it is worth it for the free time. Also, last night I knocked #23 off of the list. I told the story on the bean blog.

Meme

I was tagged for a meme and I almost didn't do it because my life is not that interesting and I think this particular meme calls attention to that. But, they are just so fun...I can't resist them. I still fill out the email one that has been circulating the Internet since 1998. So here goes. Pretend that it is exciting, okay?
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What were you doing 10 years ago? Hum. 10 years ago I was living up on campus in this tiny apartment with my friend Sarah. I had just finished what I call "The drunk period" (1996-1997...man those were good times), had an annoying ex boyfriend making trouble for me, was getting ready to start back at KU for the second time and had just started dating this guy, named Wade. He was cute.
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What are 5 things on your to-do list for today?
-Pick up Rolling Prairie
-Clean my bathroom
-Paint the dining room table
-Play with Henry
-Mail Annie's package
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Snacks you enjoy: I am a terrible snacker, mostly because I don't have an off switch. A snack is a little something one may enjoy on occasion....not me...I will eat the whole bag, box, bowl, whatever. My favorite "snacks" are Red Hot Blue chips and a avocado chopped into little pieces. I also enjoy yogurt covered raisins from the Merc bulk section, but I have to buy a small bag or I will eat them all.
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Things you would do if you were a billionaire: I would move...immediately. I would sell my house and move. I'd pay off people's debts, donate, yata yata yata... Then I would go to pastry chef school and I would open my own bakery. I asked the mister this last night and he said he would be on-board with a lifetime of surfing, playing music and eating baked goods. Oh, and I would have and adopt lots of babies and travel around the world.
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Places you have lived:Lawrence, Kansas --this is the part that makes me look extra boring.
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Jobs you have had: Pharmacist assistant, stockroom worker, nursery worker, accounting assistant, biller, maid.

You Rebel

Did you know that on June 29, 1964 the first television remote was manufactured? And they have been destroying the lives of able-bodied people ever sense. I am baffled by the amount of time one can lose in front of the TV and the number of people that watch TV for hours on end and feel fine about it. I guess that is good, I mean at least they have a way to relax. I am barely able to sit through a movie without doing something else. It drives my hubby crazy. I have to knit or do sudoku or make a grocery list or have my lap-top out while the TV is on. Without something to do with my hands I either get antsy or fall asleep. And then there is the guilt. I spend an hour watching TV and feel guilty for days for wasting that hour. Personally, I could do without cable entirely if it wasn't cheaper to get the package bundled with our Internet service.
Neither the mister nor myself find much good in TV and we try to keep it off. We especially restrict it for Henry...did you know that the average kid watches 4.7 hours of TV a day and 20 hours a week playing video games. This is shocking to me. We will never buy a video game system for our child, poor deprived kid. We will take him to arcades though, if they still have those.
Anyway, in "honor" of the 44 anniversary of the device that allows us all to sit in the same place for hours at a time without thinking or speaking to our family members I am declaring this The Week of No TV. And to help me through those moments where the desire for laziness seems overwhelming I have pulled out all the books that I have purchased over the past few months and not yet read and set them on the table where the remotes usually sit. Maybe next week I will be able to post a book review. First up David Sedaris.

Sneak Peak

I only got 5 of the 10 yards of Ivory Sketchbook that I ordered for the dining room chairs. Apparently it is a popular fabric. So much for originality....oh well. I am using those 5 yards to recover the seat cushions. I will cover the seat backs when I receive the other 5 yards. I had been throwing around the idea of painting the table another color but I decided to stick with the white and paint the walls a bright blue color. Kinda like this-
You can't tell from my picture but the fabric for my chairs has a blue in it. See-
We are going to paint the cabinets, moldings and bookshelves, white. Tile the kitchen back splash with white subway tiles and put in dark grey concrete counter tops. We bought this oven with part of our stimulus check.

I think by this winter we will have our kitchen finished and we can move on to the study. It's a good thing we only have 6 rooms in our tiny house :)

Renewal

It has only been a week but I am missing my life at the beach house. The time I spent on Folly Beach was really a celebration of summertime: fresh food, feeling the sunshine on your bare shoulders, family, windblown hair, the smell of sunscreen, bare feet, ice cream, sunshine until 9 pm, afternoon thunderstorms, driving with the windows down, freckles on my sister’s nose, sleeping with the windows open, talking into fans, sand castles, sweat, staying up late, saltwater kisses from a little boy, bright pink toenail polish, birthday cake, big sun hats, wildflowers, sun tea, lazy days, road trips. I am trying to find a way to get back there....permanently.

On the drive back to Kansas the mister and I pulled out the atlas to search for a place on the East coast that would fit our needs. Our list:

1. Somewhere that has weather that allows us to spend some time outside every day.
2. Somewhere that has options for recreation that are things we want to do and are within 15 minutes from our house.
3. Somewhere close to the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean is like truth serum for me. If I feel sad, it makes me cry. If I feel happy, the joy bubbles up in my stomach and makes me want to sing. It is like being drunk or a really good song, it just exaggerates my feelings. I love it.
4. Somewhere that is relatively close to my family. I miss my sisters and can't imagine life too far away from my parents.
5. Somewhere with dynamic, diverse, open minded, progressive, creative people.
6. Somewhere with great restaurants.
7. Somewhere that needs a cupcake shop :)

8. Somewhere with a university

9. Somewhere with coffee shops that aren't Starbucks and a downtown area that is not a mall. No mall at all would be fine with us.

10. Somewhere with good surfing (more for the mister than me on that one, but I do think he is dead sexy on a surf board so I am keeping it on the list)

11. Somewhere that isn't too touristy

12. Somewhere with good schools, preferably Montessori.

13. Somewhere that we could afford a little house. I don't need a crazy 3 million dollar beach house (although I wouldn't turn it down) but a little 3 bedroom bungalow is right up our alley.

So far Wilmington NC fits the bill. We are planning a vacation...eh, I mean a trip to do research on that area...in the fall.

Hey. Guess what. On our vacation I was able to cross #2, #5, a little bit of #27 and #28 with a slight adjustment off of the list. So far I am doing okay on #6 but failing miserably on #’s 4, 7, 8, 14 and 18. Oh and #30 is much harder than you think. Less than 2 months to finish the other 25 or so left on the list. I am thinking a few of them might make it on to my 31 In my 31st Year list. I guess it is good that I get an extra "thing" each year. And just so you know, #31 on the list is "Get back to the beach".

A break

I am taking a little break. I've got some stuff to work out. It might be a couple of days or a couple of weeks, I don't know.