An American Girl in Germany

For the Beauty of the Earth

I bought these hydrangeas at the Brimfield Antique Show on Friday for only $5. They are glorious. And I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I'm almost giddy with joy every time I look at them. To be sure, these amazing blooms are no product of a big bang in the cosmos. I wish I could send a big bunch to each of you!

Other great finds at Brimfield include:

The "E" and "R" we needed to complete our last name in old printer's type letters. The letters are a little hard to see in the photo, but I promise they spell "MEYER".

A cute "Strawberry Rhubarb" sign for our kitchen. (For those of you who don't know, Keith absolutely loves Strawberry Rhubarb pie and it was a specialty of his Grandma Ruth's who recently passed away. I'm still working on mastering the art of strawberry rhubarb pie.)

The Brimfield Antique Show is a lot of fun (the food alone is worth the trip!). My parents went with us in May and Keith's parents were out here for this trip. It happens for a week in May, July and September. Who wants to go with us next year?

Work in Progress

So everyone is asking for photos of the house. And I haven't wanted to post any because most of the rooms are still works in progress. But here are a few photos of a couple of the rooms - just to give you an idea of what we've been up to...

The Master Bedroom

We painted and just recently hung a few photos. Still to come: new dresser, bedside tables, cozy reading chair, drapes and a rug. (Like I said... everything is a work in progress.) I'm so proud of the new duvet cover which I got for about a 10th of the regular price thanks to a sale and my employee discount at Pottery Barn.

The Bathroom

I can't tell you how much I love the green paint color. We originally had painted it a light blue, but it looked so similar to the bedroom that Keith offered to repaint (what a great husband!).

The Living Room...

...is still almost completely empty. A leather chair has been ordered and we're still debating on a couch. 

Oxford Sofa

Greenwich Sofa

Which one do you prefer? Either one we'll probably do in a camel colored linen or basketweave fabric. And yes, they're very different. I like each of them for different reasons. What do you think? 

We're also going to paint. The trim will be white and right now I'm leaning towards a light cream on the walls. And then we'll put the vacuum away and get rid of the random lamps in the corners of the room as well.

More to come. 

P.S. Why doesn't my house look like the photos from the Pottery Barn website??? :)

It's Ours!

It's official. We're homeowners!

First project is the wood floors. We're having them refinished before we move in... they needed it badly. I'm so excited to see the finished product...

BEFORE:

DURING:

Stay tuned for the "AFTER" photos. Oh and if you have an opinion on the stain colors above let me know. I was leaning towards something darker like the one on the right, but now I see how much lighter the rooms are with the light floors I'm leaning towards a lighter stain. Any advice/opinions?

Another project

Keith and I found 2 matching chairs in our travels yesterday for a pretty good price. I don't particularly like the color of the wood or the fabric, but have always wanted to try re-upholstering and am optimistic that Keith and I (perhaps with my mom's help as well) can figure it out. I'm thinking about painting the wood black... or if we discover the wood is nice when we start stripping the finish off, perhaps we'll stain dark. Then some cool new fabric and I think these chairs have some potential!
What do you think?

Our House

Well - it's not our house yet. But it will be (if all continues to go well) on July 13th. We are so excited!!!

(I hope I'm not cursing us by posting this prior to the closing... but people have been asking to see photos.)

Now we'll have a proper guest room and would love to have visitors! And as my mom observed, it conveniently has a little room that would be perfect for an addition to the family. We'll see about that... :)

I'm currently collecting paint swatches and trying to exercise a great deal of restraint since I just want to go out and buy all new furniture. But the plan is to make do with what we have (for the most part) and buy new things a little at a time. Visitors are also welcome in the month of July - especially ones skilled in packing, lifting heavy objects or painting. 

I guess the house stuff is what I'll blame for the lack of blogging. I promise I'll try to do better...

Projects, Projects Everywhere!

I am the kind of person who can't just have one project going. I must have close to 20 sewing projects going on right now. Most of them have been started, but from there they're in various stages of disarray. Perhaps it's adult attention deficit, but sometimes I feel like working on one project... and then other days I feel like working on something completely different. One of my resolutions for 2009 involves finishing some of the many projects I've started... like this one:

These blocks are the beginnings of a couple of cute baby quilts. So for any friends out there expecting a babies... one of these quilts could be in your future! I've also long considered setting up an etsy shop to sell some of my quilts - so maybe if I finish up some projects I'll have enough merchandise to get started!

P.S. I also follow this same approach to reading books.

Words to live by...

On the bulletin board in my craft room. Love it! Credit: Mary Engelbreit.

To my dear sisters...

You can stop worrying, I'm alive!

I have been noticeably absent from the blogging world. Well at least my sister Katie and my sister-in-law Makamae have noticed. I'm not sure if anyone else has.

The truth is, life just doesn't feel as exciting as it did when I was in Germany traveling and seeing new places. Not that life is boring, but it's just more of the everyday stuff. Stuff you may not be all that interested in.

With that said, however, I do have some fun photos from my dear friend BCK's visit to see me in March. Her fabulous and very thoughtful husband got her a ticket to Hartford for her birthday and we spent a couple of fun-filled days exploring New York and Connecticut and catching up. We have the same first name, have been friends since high school, roomed together at BYU until she left me to get married... (thus losing our bet on who would be married first - by a long shot - but that's another story) so I guess it's no wonder that no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other we always just pick up right where we left off and have a great time together.

Day One - New York City

Eating cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery in Rockerfeller Plaza
(The red velvet was so tasty!)

Signs of Spring in NYC

Evening entertainment after a delicious dinner at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill restaurant

What a great show and fun day in the big city! I'm sad I didn't get photos of our expedition into the garment district where we agonized for hours over which fabric to buy! BCK - you need to come out for another visit so you can help me sew my dress!

I'll save day 2 for another day.

P.S. I need a new name for my blog. Since the American girl is back in America. It's just not as catchy.

Happy Valentine's Day...

(Photos from Paris, Prague and Dublin)

Are you feeling generous???

 

One of my quilts is part of an online auction. It's for a great cause... all proceeds go towards helping Stephanie Nielsen and her husband Christian in their recovery from burns and other injuries sustained in a plane crash. I've been inspired by their family's faith and hope in the face of what I can only imagine is a most daunting and difficult trial. And they have strengthened my faith in the process. Such grace and strength. They are amazing.

So go to: http://formerlyphread.blogspot.com/ and bid on something. Even if it's not my quilt... (which is item #103 incidentally).

For more about Stephanie and her story you can go to Stephanie's blog , her sister CJane's blog or to this great article I read last night about Stephanie's recovery.

Thanks!