It's about time for another installment of Liz's Home!



Liz rearranges her furniture about as often as some people change their underwear.




But I think this new set up is a keeper! Previously Liz kept on boxing off her living area about where the fireplace starts - but she finally started thinking outside of the box and opened up her living room by placing everything on a 45 degree axis.


Picked these up at IKEA like 5 months ago. My awesome mom hemmed them for me, and I thought after 4 months of homeownership, it might be time to put them up.


And the dining room - now with the daybed against the window.

Funny story: Liz lives around the corner from us (like 1/2 a block) and the other day Jeremy and I locked ourselves out of the house, on accident, as we were about to run an errand. We didn't have keys, our phones, nothing. So we walked over to Liz's in the middle of a Sunday and what was she doing? Making us home-made ice cream to be devoured later that week! We got a key from a friend that house sits for us on occassion and the day was saved. We felt all neighborly and domestic - it made getting locked out of our own home kind of fun.

Do you know your neighbors? Do you like them?

• Labels:
• Interior Design
• Liz's First Home
• neighbors


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After finishing Into Thin Air (a devastating minute-by-minute account of the 1996 Everest disaster) I've moved on to Julia Child's My Life In France. It is much more light-hearted and sweet.

What are you reading right now? Any suggestions?

• Labels:
• books
• julia child
• Mount Everest


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We went indoor rock climbing again this weekend. So. Much. Fun. It's only our 5th time but we've already invested in our own shoes and harnesses and we're really starting to see some progress in our performance.









A couple of people have asked me about having upper body strength - I'm not going to lie - it definitely helps to have some muscles up top when you're hanging on to a hold for dear life - but I've found that having solid leg strength and good balance are just as important.

The rest of the weekend was spent reintroducing Fall and Winter clothes to my closet, and late evenings turning into early mornings on the deck with the chiminea going and playing apples to apples with good company.

Unfortunately, we didn't really get around to the guest bedroom, though I'm half way there with clearing all the Fall clothes that were stored in there. Maybe next weekend. Maybe.

• Labels:
• indoor rock climbing
• rocktown
• weekend to-do


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What's everyone up to this weekend?


We're going to:
• Go rock climbing with our buddies
• Then indulge in some amazing Mac and Cheese at Sage
• See The Informant with my mom
• Work on the guest bedroom
• Lay around like fat cats
• Possibly watch the Exorcism of Emily Rose (if Jeremy isn't too scared *wink*)

• Labels:
• Food
• indoor rock climbing
• weekend to-do


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I've been feeling a little under the weather this week.





I'm typically a coffee girl - but I enjoyed the comfort of a cup of tea or two this week.

What makes you feel better when you're feeling a little laid up?

• Labels:
• details
• tea


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I've been flipping through the new Pottery Barn catalog over breakfast and daydreaming that all of the cozy homes covered in snow and wreaths belong to my parents. Get on it, Mom and Dad.

But this morning I spied this mirror (which in the catalog is layered behind another mirror) and kind of fell in love.



I mean, literally, I gasped. And when Jeremy asked me if everything was okay I spit cereal (Kashi Autumn Wheat) all over his arm as I was enthusiastically showing him the corner of the mirror (tucked behind another mirror) that was now the mirror of my dreams. He wasn't quite as enamored as I was.



I know it's nothing super special but that's kind of what I love about it. It just has this simple, old-school charm.

• Labels:
• Mirror
• pottery barn
• Weekly Window Shopping


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I cannot believe that we've been in our home for a year and a half and our guest bedroom is nothing more than a winter clothes and drums storage space. However, I have been collecting a few things to make it something special. I just need to put them together in the right way to make it work.



The Bed




My mom gave us a vintage wrought iron frame, a few old quilts (that are tattered and on their last leg), and hooked us up with a mattress set for it as a wedding gift.

The Floor




The Drums

I think Jeremy's drum set is so pretty.

The Painting

You can read the story behind it here.

I love that almost everything in this room has history. It's a hodge-podge of things that reminds me of spending the summer as a kid at aunt's house - full of old quilts, cold air conditioning and the smell of laundry.

I think the first steps are painting the room a light shade of grey (from the same family as our master bedroom) and getting all of the elements arranged in a way that works together. The drums and bed make for a tight-fit so it will be a little bit of a challenge.

If you have any ideas feel free to throw them my way!

• Labels:
• guest bedroom
• Interior Design
• moodboard
• quilts


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Seriously, I know I might be preaching to the wrong demographic, but if any of you have a Nintendo DS and you haven't gone out and gotten yourself Scribblenauts yet you are missing out.

Jeremy and I became fans of the game on Facebook where they are hosting a contest where you enter a photo of yourself wearing the Scribblenauts Rooster hat.


But how are we supposed to compete with a BABY and a DOG!?

• Labels:
• scribblenauts


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I'm not that girl that starts daydreaming about Spring two days into Fall but...



I am thinking about landscaping for next year. I really love this ivy (does anyone know what that lime green goodness is called?) taking over at Sara Sara Cupcakes. It seems low-maintenance with a lot of visual POW! I know nothing about landscaping so I think it's going to take 6 months worth of planning, researching and visualizing in order to execute it in the Spring.

This Fall/Winter I want to tackle a few things that just can't seem to get done in the house - like our guest bedroom, office and maybe finally hanging a door on basement entry. We also need to do some boring stuff like caulking the windows and insulating the attic.

And then when spring comes around we can focus on the landscaping. Like:
• Lime green and purple-spiky ivy
• Wild flower garden
• Veggie garden
• Green, green grass
• Patio furniture

• Labels:
• landscaping
• oklahoma city


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I recently designed this quick little baby announcement postcard for a friend/coworker of mine.





Felina, the new mom, didn't want anything too baby-ish so I decided to make it look a little more like an art gallery announcement.

The photography was taken by Simon Hurst, the same feller that did our wedding photography.

• Labels:
• babies
• graphic design
• Photography


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These flowers I picked up at the grocery store yesterday paired with cloudy days make me feel like Fall is REALLY here now.

I'm saying goodbye to one of the best summers of my life:
• Slip 'n' slide at the park
• Floating the river
• Michigan
• An obsession with Mount Everest
• Discovering indoor rock climbing

Onto Fall-Oh-Nine. A new list to come.

xoxo!

• Labels:
• fall 2009
• Flowers
• summer 2009


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This weekend we celebrated Liz's birthday with drinks at Red Prime Steak.


The lighting was amazing.

We had the sweetest waitress that taught us the coolest cocktail trick where you set the oils from an orange or grapefruit rind on fire.

We're definitely going to have to go back for dinner sometime soon.

• Labels:
• Food
• Interior Design
• oklahoma city


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I did a guest blog at Third Degree Creative about living a fabulously creative and curious life.



Most of it is stuff you guys have already seen but you can check it out here.

• Labels:
• blogging
• Work


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Guess what I got Liz for her birthday!?


Wrist worms made by the very talented Sandra Juto. I picked out the dark grey with pearls (top left). After receiving them in person I fell even more in love.

Sandra also recently posted this picture to her blog - it hypnotizes me.

• Labels:
• birthday
• gift ideas
• wrist worms


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I'm considering illustrating our What We Wear posts from now on. Yes, no?



It would be a good way to hone my drawing (or lack there of) skills.

Also, we got Scribblenauts for the Nintendo DS yesterday - that's where the rooster hat comes from. If you have a DS I highly, highly recommend this game. So much fun.

• Labels:
• Art
• illustration
• nintendo DS
• scribblenauts


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It should go without saying that I LOVE this.


via Obsessive Consumption via Uppercase Gallery

eventually I'll get around to showing you the Ampersand carved and inked into my ribs.

• Labels:
• ampersand
• Art


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More unsophisticated tagging.

I love the pop of yellow in this shot.

• Labels:
• graffiti
• oklahoma city


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If you've been following this blog for a little bit you already know that my brother makes a living as a sideshow performer at Coney Island. If you are new here, well, there ya go. I have a freak show brother.

Because of his job he's kind of a minor celebrity. He's been on all sorts of shows including Samantha Brown's Great Weekends, Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, The Girls Next Door, Miami Ink as well as lots of local publicity in New York. He even has beer named after him with his image on the bottle!

Anyways, he's an interesting guy and makes a really good subject for artists and photographers (and bloggers). But this is, hands down, one of the best illustrations I've seen of him.


Illustration by Patt Kelley

Sidenote: When I get homesick for my brother I watch this video on YouTube.

If you want to see the real Donny this is it. Fast forward to 1:14. This video is actually kind of boring and not representative of Donny Vomit the performer. This is a video of the boy that, no matter how famous he gets, still cleans out his parents rain gutters when he comes home. A hard worker before a performer.

• Labels:
• Art
• Donny Vomit


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Earlier this week we scored some home-grown tomatoes from our friends (and climbing buddies) Ashley and Colin. And yesterday was the perfect lazy, rainy, cloudy Sunday to try out a new recipe.


These tomatoes had this recipe (a tomato and corn pie, over at Smitten Kitchen) written ALL over them.

However, I don't really do pies. I'm far more comfortable with casseroles - so I tweaked the recipe a little from a pie to a pot pie kind of approach.


First, I made some wheat biscuits from scratch. I used a shot glass to form perfect little circles.


Then I blanched, peeled, sliced, juiced and seeded the tomatoes. It was a lot of work - but kept the "pie" from getting too soggy.

Meanwhile, I was sauteing onions on the stove while Jeremy cut corn fresh off the cob.

Then we layered it all in a casserole dish and topped it with sour cream and sharp cheddar. We placed the biscuits on top and threw it in the oven.


It turned out delish. Next time I'll use a few more tomatoes and maybe throw some black beans into the mix.


Overall, the dish was summery (in veggies) but hearty and fallish with the biscuits and cheese on top.

• Labels:
• Food
• veggies
• what we eat


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It's just a few hours until the weekend begins!

Our plans so far:
• sleeping in
• lounging around the breakfast nook for hours while sipping on coffee
• rock climbing (3rd weekend in a row!)
• possibly hitting up Oktoberfest
• getting in a good Rock Band sesh
• hopefully sending some wedding pics to print. finally.

Also, Yansy at Designing Life featured a guest blog by yours truly on What I Love About Oklahoma City for her City Escape series. Check it out!

• Labels:
• coffee
• indoor rock climbing
• weekend to-do


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This is a post about diapers. Yes, really.

One of my favorite bloggers, Ryan at Pacing the Panic Room, is hosting a giveaway for cloth diapers, Fuzzi Bunz (cute, right!?).


These diapers make pooping yourself stylish! I'm not eligible but I thought about trying to make a baby last night just to enter this very cool giveaway. So if you are pregnant or have a newborn and are hip to the cloth you should go enter.

And if you're not familiar with Pacing the Panic Room, Ryan and his wife Cole did a really neat series (that launched him into blogging fame) while she was pregnant.




Check it out here.

• Labels:
• blog give away
• blogging
• fuzzi bunz


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I'm distracted, you guys. I'm not perusing the internet for the perfect rug to layer in with my other rugs, I'm not eyeing my next pair of perfect Frye boots, I'm not even thinking of stains for our hardwood floors.

I've got a serious case of wanderlust. I'm craving some adventures. Instead of cruising Urban Outfitters, I'm online shopping for sub-zero down jackets and backpacks from REI. In fact, our most recent purchase was a climbing harness and shoes for each of us.


photo credit: craigkass via flickr


photo credit: apurdam (Andrew) via Flickr

I've got my sights set on the Himalayas but that's not going to happen for a couple of years - before then we have plans for a cushy New England cruise, backpacking Europe, and hopefully a couple other adventures. Experiencing the world is a new priority and it's consuming my thoughts.

What has been your favorite vacation, mini-vacation, or adventure?

• Labels:
• adventure
• Mount Everest
• travel
• Vacation


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This is our 500th post!



We started this blog as a way to share our home remodel project with our friends and family and since then it's become so much more!

Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?
• We spent almost every spare hour in June 2008 remodeling our home. Evening, weekends - remodeling.
• I was put on a toilet paper budget. Still in effect. Every time we have friends or family over we scream at them as they head for the bathroom "NO NUMBER 2!" or "YOU ONLY GET 2 SQUARES!"
• We did our dishes in the bathtub for months.
• We celebrated Halloween!
• Jeremy proposed - and I was completely surprised.
• We thought it'd be funny to document what we wear every single day.
• We got married!
• We went on a honeymoon and at the same time Jeremy got appendicitis.
• We vacationed at Liz's family's cabin on Lake Superior in Michigan.

And that about brings us to date. Thanks to everyone who enjoys taking a little peek into our lives and who gives feedback on our projects!

• Labels:
• blogging


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I spent semesters in college hand drawing letters - replicating typefaces - to perfection.

I am considering picking it back up after being inspired by hand lettering plastered all over my favorite blogs.

The beautiful.

Calligraphy by Betsy Dunlap, via Oh So Beautiful Paper

The artsy.

By Linzie Hunter.

The quirky.

More Betsy Dunlap, via OSBP.

And the funky.

Kate Bingaman-Burt of ObsessiveConsumption.com

I would like to start practicing and develop a hand-lettering style of my own.

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