We are so grown up

Guys. We bought a table at Crate and Barrel yesterday. And we didn't even use leftover gift cards from our wedding!!! It was a floor sample that was on crazy-bahungas clearance, but people, we are officially acting Like a Pair of Married Yuppies.



























But if it means we get to enjoy furniture that didn't come from the side of the road, then I'm okay with that. Maybe someday I'll actually post pictures of our own personal house, then we'll be a Pair of Married Yuppies Who Blog about Homeownership. Also, the first meal we shared at our fancy table was Taco Bell. Extra packets of hot sauce.

Also, I totally get crackly cry voice when I talk in front of people. It's like the sonar version of ugly cry face. I shared a prayer request (I know, I know) at church and the crackly cry voice haunted me all day. I'm such a crier!

See you soon. I totally installed a hit counter so now I am lurking back, lurkers.

Sleuthing it out

Any fleck of boredom has lately been cured with Craigslist. In the past, I've been overwhelmed by line after harsh blue-fonted line only a few minutes into perusing for, say, a Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams couch for $1.50. It's a lofty goal, I admit, and until a startling discovery called Craigseasy, I withered easily.

Not anymore, folks! Now that I can sort so swiftly, and most importantly by viewing lists of images, I am a Craigslist...dominatrix? That doesn't sound quite right (God help the google search), but in general, I am DOMINATING Craigslist.

Recent finds include a refinished daybed and trundle, a Pottery Barn seagrass chair that never actually got picked up (not the point!), and some disrespect for the owners of a certain antique shop in Crown Hill who obviously don't follow online etiquette.

But what I really want to talk about it how you search on Craigslist. Ebay is so much easier, they think of things for you! But Craigslist takes much more calculation.

I'll show you my keyword search list if you'll show me yours...

seagrass
tufted
velvet
eames
rocker
rocking
club chair
pottery barn chair
malabar
west elm
crate and barrel
garnet hill
restoration hardware
anthropologie
console
side table
slipper chair
sisal
cost plus
world market
pier 1
hemnes
billy
mitchell gold bob williams
design within reach/dwr
club chair/leather club chair

A Jolly Good Fellow

Our sweet Henry passed away today. He was a fourth grader. A witty, sassy kid who was claimed as a best friend by at least 12 kids I know. He loved to "window shop" at Toys 'R Us, take trips by limo to the Lego store, and make his mom laugh. My wise friend Marla, the one who "walks like a penguin," in the words of Henry, says there's a cumulative effect when you see kids being snatched away by cancer. Just because it's our job to be in Cancer World doesn't mean we'll ever be immune to the inexplicable unfairness, the grief, the shit of it. It's like a big tower of Legos that stacks up and you can't ever unstack it.



Last week Henry asked our volunteers to help him write a song. He had already named it when they arrived at the hospital, guitars in tow: Henry's Happy Life.


*I wouldn't typically feel comfortable telling a family's story here on my ridiculous little blog, but Henry's mom has always asked for his story to be told. She has pleaded for prayers and support--email chains, you name it--for as long as we've known her, so it seems to me that his story should keep being told. Please be respectful in sharing their story.

Saturday Morning Run Down

Because I have no shame in my now-withered blogging skills, I give you a list of the latest. Ahem.

1. The husband is gone. This means that I have gone cray-zay with organizing, stopping in the middle of organizing to go organize something else, cooking, stopping in the middle of cooking to go back and finish organizing, stopping to watch an episode of The Real Housewives of [insert ridiculous city here], then deciding it's time to paint the bathroom. I have also installed a new shower head with great aplomb and uninstalled a toilet seat. Alas, the new one is still not installed. I am hovering.

2. I just read a story about a mom whose son used the word "retarded" to insult his brother. Teaching her son how hurtful/inappropriate/jerky it is to use that word wasn't what I loved most--his consequence was researching nonprofits that support kids with developmental disabilities and donating two months allowance to the one he liked best. Isn't that smart? I don't know if it's all Gottman-approved, but I liked it. Go Mom!

3. Typography is my current obsession. I've made some new friends who are designy, and let me tell you, I am greedy for their knowledge. Have you ever thought about the people who DRAW THE LETTERS WE TYPE? There are people whose job it is to draw letters. WHAAA? It just blows my mind. All I want for Christmas is a Helvetica t-shirt.

4. Our house is getting cuter. It's actually significantly cuter when it's clean. Cheap fix, eh?

5. Last night my two favorite curly haired girls came for a sleepover. We watched The Incredibles, ate quesadillas and Weight Watchers ice cream bars, and fought over a Care Bear named Monkey.

6. It's still no fun to ride an hour on the bus to get to work. Get with it, Metro Transit.

That's all for now!

Yours,

Spazztastic

Husky at Heart!

Even thought #22 looks like a badass, he actually really likes coleslaw and has great table manners.

From what I can tell, when you get cancer, especially if you're a little kid, people like to give you STUFF. A lot of times it's free tickets, sometimes it's free stuffed animals (since we know those are so hard to come by), ugly hats are a popular choice, plus bandanas that had been sitting at the bottom of the barrel in the Michael's clearance section since last Christmas. And there's a lot of wonderful gifts that come along, but in the end, stuff if stuff.

But tonight, my friends, the kids who are staying at the Ronald McDonald House while their families face serious medical situations had an EXPERIENCE. A fun one. The University of Washington Men's Basketball team came to eat dinner! And I was there, cooking up a storm! And then I chatted up a storm, because who wants a bunch of awkward 18-year-old boys to stand around in their 7 foot glory and scare small children with their awkwardness? Not me. So I sat down, the 5'4" blonde girl with an entire table of African American, NBA-dreaming college students, to pick their brains about the rain in Seattle (hard to adjust to, according to the boys from San Diego, Watts, and you know, Senegal!!!), which majors would never work for a basketball player: science and engineering, for sure, and what they thought of the House.

"I've never been here before, but I am definitely coming back y'all!" Too cute.

We had a mini photoshoot (HP should sponsor us with the amount of color ink we have been using lately), let kids decorate cardstock picture frames and got tons of autographs. There were t-shirts and basketballs and some good natured ribbing, but my favorite part was seeing those boys, the ones who land on SportsCenter all the time, the ones who came from all around the world, not necessarily thinking college education was in their stars, realizing the influence and privilege of their position. I'm hoping they liked it enough to warrant a free few tickets for me this season. :)

You want vlog? I give you vlog!

Ear to Ear

Let me give you a window into my brain this morning. It's 6:51am on a Saturday, and my heart and head are so full, sleep seems ridiculous.

*Arrived home from Camp Side-by-Side last night to a happy husband and a NEW HOUSE! Dustin moved in while I was gone, and he painted the kitchen, dining room, and our little library.
*Not only was the house painted, Dustin picked out the most perfect blue known to humans and painted the little studio out back...then he set up my sewing machine and my favorite lamp. I am have my own ART STUDIO!!!
*Making new friends at camp is still one of my most precious memories of being a summer camper growing up, and Camp Side-by-Side did not let me down this week. I had no idea I had room for more best friends.
*Our friends just gave us a gift card to Pottery Barn, which is clearly going to be spent today.
*I got to hear Tony Campolo speak last night on HIV/AIDS and the Christian response in 2010.
*Because my boss is awesome, I get to have a whole more week to think about my overflowing cup.