poor poor eliza

Last night Briton came downstairs wearing his best "disappointed older brother" face saying "Evie is in BIG trouble. And then he held out a pair of scissors and some familiar orange and pink yarn.

"She CUT OFF Eliza's hair!" He told me (dramatically, I assure you). Right about then I heard Evelyn erupt into wails in their room.

(before the big cut)

Upstairs I found Evie face down on her bed, sobbing and a partially bald Eliza laying on the floor with "hair" all around her.

(After, looking a little shabby but also a little funky)

Part of me was totally mad. I worked hard on that doll, after all. But then again, it's her doll, right? And better the doll's hair than her own (we've been there already and it was not pretty!) I'll be honest with you, I wasn't really sure how to react. So I lay down on the bed with her to try to calm the high pitched sobs, asking her why she had done that. Except, I already knew the answer.

I cut my kids hair. Always have. Briton, because he dislikes barbers and they always cut his bangs too short, no matter what I say, and Evie's because she has so little hair that she really doesn't need a haircut, but when someone else is getting one (I cut Will's hair as well) she wants one too. She's only had one "real" cut in her almost 5 years. The rest have been mommy cuts. And we've made a big deal about Mommy being the only one who can cut hair, hoping to avoid the "I cut it myself" issue as much as possible. But Evie spends a great deal of her day pretending that she is Eliza's mommy. So, really, it follows that she can cut Eliza's hair.

After some hiccups and nose blowing Evie said as much, also adding that she thought it might grow back rainbow colored (maybe just on the off chance?) but then "it just didn't!" I spent most of her tale trying to not look too stern, which was hard because I was trying not to laugh and stern is how I usually do that. Eventually Evie and the newly shorn Eliza dozed off for the night and all was calm in the house.

But now I have a dilemma. I can fix the doll's hair. I can even make it rainbow colored hair. But should I? Or do I leave it as is as a reminder of what happens if you cut hair? (not to mention it's kind of punk rock cute with the new do, if you don't look at the gaping hole on the back of her head) Hummm. What do you think?

sorting, sorting, sorting

Well Monday just flew by without much of a moment for sitting at the computer. Although this move is coming quickly, or at least the decision to move came very quickly, we actually have more time in some ways than we usually have when we've moved. Right now we're filling up every spare second finishing projects around the house, all those things that we planned to get done this year now need to be finished this month. Mudroom walls are being painted, the floor is going in, siding on. The house paint has been touched up. The garden is looking very pretty indeed and the stair banister that we took apart when we installed the shelves are, as I type, being put in. Or at least I think that's what all the banging and drilling coming from the living room is. I'll share photos as we get things completed, if I can remember to take them :)!

But because we do have a little more time before we actually have to move, we are trying to clear out as much as possible. Most of the time we've had to throw things into boxes as quickly as possible and as a result our basement is, well, pretty packed with crap. While I enjoy, most of the time, keeping the "house" tidy, I hate hate hate dealing with the basement. And the car. But that's a totally different story. And a different thing that needs cleaning before it goes.

Will and I joked this weekend that maybe we should permanently become big city apartment people (not really, because I think we'd eventually go a little crazy without a house to take apart) so that we don't have a basement or a car to fill up with junk. Probably not an option though since we like old houses and old houses usually have basements.

Anyway, this is all to say that I spent most of Sunday cleaning out the basement. Not just cleaning but CLEANING! Getting rid of boxes and baskets and random pieces of furniture that we have held onto but don't really need or have much emotional attachment to. I'm still hauling things away but it's a huge improvement. I still have a hard time letting go of things like my old dolls and special furniture pieces like my cradle so those will stay (forever I'm sure) but just having so much gone makes me feel lighter. It's amazing how much junk we have hauled around all these years. And the prospect of needing a smaller storage unit while we are in New York makes me happy too, because student budgets don't leave a lot of room for big storage unit rents, ya know?

If I'm a little MIA for the next week or so you'll just have to know that I'm probably plastering or painting or hauling yet more things to Goodwill. The house will go on the market sometime in early April (so Cville peeps, if you know anyone looking for a charming little Cape with a HUGE yard in North Downtown, send them my way!) but after that I'll be back in full force with projects and plans and all sorts of fun :)

thanks

Thank you, everyone, for your kind words yesterday. I can't tell you what a boost they gave me! It's so wonderful to have a supportive community around you when big changes happen. We still, obviously, have a lot of planning to do and I'll keep you up to date with anything fun here and will also keep up my normal posting as well. And don't worry, I'll keep blogging from the city. I'm sure I'll have lots and lots of stories, like, how Rhode Island turns out.

In the meantime, we are chugging along with out week and enjoying this beautiful, sunny weather. And I'm feeling pretty lucky to have a family that's up for adventure. So here are a few happy moments to round out the week.
Newsprint and Mr. Sketch markers (the flavored kind) make dinner, and breakfast and homework and piano practice just a little more fun.

Briton, who is reading From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwiler with me, thinks it would be pretty cool to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but only if we can all go, he has no interest in running away.

This is a freaking genius way of using big spools of thread on a regular sewing machine. Duh, why didn't I think of that. I've had a few sitting around ever since I lost my serger in the great basement flood.

Evie, thinks scrubbing baseboard with a dish brush is great fun. My trim has never looked so clean. I should be worried that she enjoys it so much, but for now, I'm just going to take advantage of it. :)
Cupcakes make bad days at school better, even when you have lost your entire research project and you have to start again. (poor kid:( )
Hamantash. Evie came home from school Monday talking non stop about hamantash and how she wanted to make some. I couldn't figure out what the heck she was talking about but typed it into google (thank goodness for google) and presto, recipe. (They are a dessert for Purim) Perfect for little hands and a big hit with the older brother.

It's going to be 80 degrees today. Yay! My garden will be so happy!

new.york.city.

Well my friends, I have some big news. I'm not gonna lie, this has been quite a week at the Grimm house, lots of exciting things going on. And no, I'm going to stop you right there before you even think it, we are not going to have another baby, even if Evie wishes we would, sorry :). But a lot has been happening here abouts. I mean, we finished (almost) the bathroom, the magazine article came out, I found the perfect spinning wheel (in my dreams) and, drum roll please, we found out we are moving to New York.
Holy cow.

Last fall Will decided to apply for Grad school and just for kicks, he went all out and applied for some "if I could just pick any of them" types of places. And then we kind of forgot all about it. Life is good here, we love our friends, we love our house, we love our town, who wants to change things? And then a letter arrived at the end of last week to inform us that he'd been accepted into Columbia University. How do you say no to Columbia University?

So, to New York we will go. In June. In JUNE people! Not even in June, BY June. Holy Cow. I can't stop saying that.
At the moment we have very little settled. We know that we will be there about a year, maybe a little more. We have a vague idea of the neighborhood we want to live in, but that could change. We has some unusual ideas about what we will do about school for the kids, but again, that could change, and I'm sure I'll be writing more about that as we go. Will may go up first so that Briton can finish the school year, but, you guessed it, that could change too. The only thing we've really settled on so far is that we will try to sell the house.

I know, I know, we've put a lot into this house. We LOVE this house. But for a number of reasons we've decided that selling it would be the best thing for our family. Right now all I can think about is getting paint touched up (today) and siding on the mudroom (next week) and so I haven't had time to dwell on the fact that I'm leaving my happy little kitchen. I haven't even fully registered that I'm going to have to leave all my friends and my wonderful neighborhood. That will come, I'm sure, when the dust has settled on the decision.

The kids know and they are both excited, Evie because there is a possibility of bunk beds and because she will get to ride the subway, Briton because of the 20 playgrounds in Central Park and because of the close proximity of Rhode Island. Or as he puts it "New York will be fun, but this is a once in a life time opportunity to go see Rhode Island. "

Really, I have no idea what that's about. What's in Rhode Island that an eight year old would be so excited about? Whatever it is, I'm going to ride it all the way up to our (theoretical) new apartment.

So, New Yorkers, former New Yorkers, city people in general. Send advice this way. Four people and two pets in a teeny (possibly student housing teeny) apartment for a year.

Holy Cow.

paint chip bookmark: a tutorial

One of the great things about going through all the closets, under bed spaces (done!) and desk drawers is that I find all sorts of things I'd forgotten about. Things that I've been looking for, things that I can't imagine why I ever kept, things I didn't know I had. All sorts of things. Like paint chips. I wont tell you how many paint chips I found because, well, it's embarrassing. I have some from a house we owned 7 years and 4 moves ago. Why? Who knows, I just do. Or did, because those are one of those things that went into the recycling bin, except not all of them. I kept a few for a little project.
I don't know if you've noticed this but paint chip crafts are all over the place right now. There are paint chip buntings, orbes, and wreaths, paint chip art, paint chip garlands, paint chip wallets, business card holders and sculptures. And paint chip bookmarks.
We are always digging for scrap bits of paper to use as book marks. Especially for Briton who likes to use them to keep his place on the page while he is reading. Usually we end up with a discarded envelope or a folded piece of recycled paper. So a bookmark seemed like a good use for a few of those many, many paint chips (why, Gillian, why do you keep this junk?)

OK, so I also wanted a chance to play with my Silhouette. A few weeks ago I ordered some pens for it and have been having a grand old time using it to create intricate designs on cards and envelopes and random bits of paper, and now paint chips. Add a grommet and a ribbon and, what's the expression, Bob's you're uncle (I have no idea what that means, by the way) you have a fun bookmark. If you don't have a Silhouette, you could do this without the added art or you could use a stencil to paint something interesting over the colors.

Paint Chip Bookmark

You'll need:

Assorted paint chip strips
Silhouette Sketch pens (and Silhouette)
Grommet Kit
Corner punch
Ribbon
Scratch card stock, about the same thickness as the paint chip

1. Line the paint chip up along the leading edge of the cutting mat and then but the card stock up against the other edge, this is so any work that spills over the edge ends up on the paper and not the mat. Trust me, you don't want the pens to write on the mat. It doesn't seem to do any harm to the mat but the pen stops moving until it works off the sticky stuff. And then your drawing is weird.2. Choose an image for your bookmark, lining it up with the position of the paint chip on the grid and run it through with a Sketch Pen inserted into the cutting blade thingie (very technical, I know)3. Trim the corners with your corner cutter and punch a hole in the center top (I couldn't find my hole punch so I used a size knitting needle, size 13, just in case you need to know)
Assemble the grommet so that the smooth side is on the top of the card (I flipped it for the first one) this means that your paint chip will be upside down in your grommet mold. Hammer into place, string a ribbon through and you're done!

thiiiiiiis close

The bathroom.
It only took us four months longer than planned but (drum roll please....) we are done, or so very nearly done that we can say it's done. The only thing left to do is to switch out the shade on the light fixture. The ones we bought, while pretty, were just not getting along with the mirror (too wide) so back to Lowes I will go later today to find some narrower ones.

As I've said before this bathroom is super hard to photograph because it's so stinkin small, but you get the idea. Coming from this (and remember, this was after we painted it, before it was even worse!)It's much better. In fact, I think it's our nicest, quality wise, renovation in this house, mostly due to the fact that we have a nail gun now and that we have finally learned the secret to caulking (wet sponge people, not fancy caulking tools or your finger, a wet sponge does the trick. And getting caulk from the paint store and not Lowes, that helps as well) If we had had Will's new nail gun when we were putting the kitchen together things would have gone so much more smoothly. But alas, we didn't. Still, all further renovations will be taking place at the hands of the fantastic finish nailer which I love, even though I'm terrified of it and won't be using it anytime soon.
So here's the rundown of what we did:

Everything came out of the old bathroom - tile on walls and floor, toilet (reserved, we'd already replaced it) sink, stinky cabinet, ugly mirror. The new white tile and dark grout went in pretty well with only a minimum of "oh shits. The paint had some more (a whole quart was tipped over in the hallway. Yeah, fun) Bead board on the walls with trim top and bottom.
The mirror was actually a gold picture frame from our dining room that held Briton's art. It was a wrench to loose it but it fit perfectly and after two months of trying to find something that would work it was a relief to realize we had something in the house that would do. Besides, I can get another frame (I hope). Will had the old upstairs bathroom mirror - which has been living in our closet since I redid that room- cut down and I paint the frame, gold wasn't working with the silver/teal/white color scheme, and up it went.

And then there is the sink. Yes, I know, this is not the sink I wanted. I almost had Will convinced to try the bast iron wall mounted one, but then it sold before we could pick it up and we never found another, and after waiting around for a few more weeks to see if another showed up we gave up (I gave up) and went pedestal. I'm actually pretty pleased with it, it makes the bathroom very crisp looking to have all that white on the lower half.
Besides, I love my kitchen sink, I love the upstairs sink, so if I don't love this one (I do like it, I just don't love it) oh well. Will should get a turn now and then. But don't tell him I said that because I'm totally winning the shingle vs. clapboard on the mudroom battle at the moment.

So yes, Done. I still need some doo-dads. A soap pump that looks nice and maybe something to hang over the toilet, but even without those things I'm so ridiculously pleased to have a bathroom again. One that smells nice and looks nice and ahhhhh.....is pretty much done.

Now. On to the next project. Mudroom floor, here I come.

glossy

Way back, oh, I think last winter, our kitchen was featured on Design Sponge which was very exciting and a little nerve wracking since people comment, but it was mostly good feedback. That same week I was contacted by Better Homes and Gardens about a doing a spread on the kitchen in one of their Kitchen and Bath magazines (I had no idea that they had several kitchen and bath mags, they do, we are in Makeover not Ideas or DIY). SO a few months later they came out for the day and primped, polished and shot our kitchen. I didn't feel like I could blog about it at the time because frankly I didn't quite believe that our little kitchen, our DIY, make things up as we go kitchen, would actually be in a magazine. Plus they shoot way out. Waaaaay out.
So this weekend when we were cruising the bookstore and we picked up the new issue of Kitchen and Bath Makeovers we had to try hard not to squeal to find that yes, we did make it in. EEEK!
They did an amazing job with the room, making it look bigger than it really is I feel, but I guess that's how it goes in the mags. That sounds like I know what I'm talking about, which I don't. But we're pretty excited! And Nigella looks so cute, it just makes me smile that they asked if she could be in the shot!