dirty deeds act one: demolition

When i was little we had a "playhouse" in our side yard. It was a bare bones shed with no drywall or insulation that housed our barbie "mansion" (old changing table) and all other dolls too ugly to be in the house (more Detroit than Malibu Barbie). One day i decided to make a change. With my eight year old resources, i set to work...

Crayons.

That was my genius plan. I started before i thought it through (of course) and i finished the diagonal purple and green stripes (a color scheme that my even my young mind realized were similar to the "Joker" colors and hated immediately) on about 1/10th of the wall before i quit. It stayed that way until the day we moved 4 years later.

On Monday when i asked Adam when we could start on the basement renovations he said "in the next few weeks." Does he even know me at all?? Once he left for school I went downstairs to assess the situation. About 10 minutes later i was knocking out walls with a hack saw and my bare feet. But not before i handed Elyott my cell phone to call 911 just incase i electrocuted myself (the "genius" element of my grownup story. nice mother.) Sheamus jumped around my reckless abandon shouting awesome one liners like: "mom! i am SO impressed!" and "wow, you are wild!" or my fave "you are such a good PERSON!!" (I love when kids lack the vocabulary to express themselves like a regular boring adult...or "humans" as Sheamus would call them.)

Anyway my point is, what turned out as a totally impulsive remodel, unlike my failed childhood attempts...I finished! And by "remodel" i mean the smashing of things like a crazy person, and by "finished" i mean there aren't any half standing walls or rusty nails left on the playroom floor. My bruised heels are proof that ain't no contest loss that can take this odd jobs down. 

Total butch-style demolition: check.

team Boo ♥'s you

clap your hands and say yeah.

{via glo}


It is time to vote friends!

If you want to see teamBoo's basement "epically made over" head over here to vote for us! We are number 34 (look for our family pic) and you can vote once per IP address. Go now because voting ends tuesday and if your anything like me the second you leave here that sneaky internet will wave something else shiny in your face and you'll forget. 

Why should you vote for us?? Besides the basement party that you will all be invited to? and our serious lack of fundage? Because otherwise i will start the project and then get seriously sidetracked by something really dumb and impulsive like cleaning out all my window wells with a steam cleaner and then Adam will make fun of me for the janky half finished playroom. Like last week, i started taking out the cabinets in the bar area. But i'm such a spaz cause i never want to prep stuff before i start. So instead of taking all the stuff out or moving the millions of giant tripping hazard toys out of my way, i just got the drill and started taking out screws. Then once i realized the shelf weighed like 600 pounds and i didn't have the right drill bits, i lost steam and waited until someone more focused (adam) could help me a couple days later :) 

I'm like that "if you give a mouse a cookie" book personified (only i'm more like the "pig a pancake" one?)

So if we don't win, it will be still be made over...but not EPICALLY. And "epically" is the operative word for this transition to not drag out for the next 2 1/2 years*. GO now! and thank you kindly.

team Boo ♥'s you

dirty deeds and they're done dirt cheap.

{via minor details}

Since 100+ temps are just around the corner, I am gearing up for a basement makeover. That way my kids and i will have a place to play that doesn't look like toy purgatory. A place misguided and underutilized. My problem? I have no money. like NONE. I can work miracles with budget design, but unfortunately my house is the red headed step child of my life and is always second fiddle to my creative endeavors. 


So this is where i shamelessly beg for the help of my empathetic demographic (that's you): Mandi at vintage revivals is hosting an "epic makeover" to one lucky reader (me?) where she will personally come and help revamp a space that needs some serious direction (my basement!). Plus Mandi, if you're out there, kid spaces are so fun because anything goes since kids can't stop you aren't...picky (horse mobiles, the color orange, ridiculous murals, disco balls...circus freaks!?) the weirder the better.


So whether i am chosen or not, i will sell lemonade, donate plasma, tap dance on the street corner...whatever it takes to earn the cash to spruce it up a bit. It is our only survival plan for the summer months. I will chart my progress here, and then at the end we can have a big AZ-onian blog playdate at my house! Cause there "ain't no party like a Liz Lemon party cause a Liz Lemon party is MANDATORY" (i've had that stuck in my head for like three days now) 


here is my very sad before (p.s. we've lived here six years and it still looks like an taupe box where fun goes to die):

The sky is the limit! (actually $$ is the limit...but you know what i mean) I'll let you know when the voting starts...

team Boo ♥'s you

auf wiedersehen.

This is me getting some final Christmas images out of my system. (tear)

Sonny's first Sandy Clause picture. 

(before he's old enough to be terrified of him)

boarding the polar express

When i grow up, I want to live in an Anthropologie store. These are from their winter display....aren't they the bomb? Maybe i'll make one next year (unlikely)
On to the new year!
team Boo ♥'s you

Candyland finale

Behold the cardboard candy wonderland! Complete with "peppermint forest", "gumdrop mountains", "gingerbread village" and "chocolate swamp". My favorite part was the game pieces on the ground. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen! Did i mention I never want to touch a piece of cardboard again in my life? well i don't.

team Boo ♥'s you

never mind the metal chairs...

Here is my latest form of life sucking force:

Christmas party #2

(the first for 30 guests, the second for about 250)

but good news....no contractions!!

I really think a lot more could have been done for bigger impact, but I had a Metric concert to catch, and that stuck a middle finger to any further embellishments.

(Bethlehem had snow and enormous orange basketball hoops...no??)

In the end, I showered, rubberbanded the fly of my blue skinny jeans and stuffed my face with ham before a night with Emily Haines and some mild heart burn.

And at this point in pregnancy, you can't really ask for much more than that.

It's all down hill from here donkeys!!!

team boo ♥'s you

How to launch yourself into pre term labor...

1. Agree to head up decorations for a church party

2. Hold said party in an enormous basketball court on a $250 dollar decor budget...(thank you appliance store dumpster) using cardboard, paint and tree branches (without putting ANY new holes in the wall)

3. Decorate party for two days straight

4. All the while bending to paint and jumping up and down a stage 67 times

5. Drink only Pepsi Max for both those days

and VOILA!

...you will find yourself in the hospital triage in no time.

So even though the party was a total success,

as was my body's ability to not dilate through two days of premature contractions, basically I learned

pregnant chicks need to have more helpers and drink more water when throwing a party.

(oops.)

All is well.

(Though I might be swearing off soda for the remainder of my pregnancy)

clean slate.

  

I need to reclaim my bedroom.

donate unused stuff.

paint some rooms.

I'd love to knock out some walls.

then I want to open the blinds and have my house magically look like this.

anyone want to help? sponsor? no?

40 year lovers!

Last week i had the honor of helping my friend Summer congratulate her sweet parents on their 40 years of marriage.  With the Arizona heat, we had to take this surprise party inside and downstairs.  It actually worked out perfectly when her parents arrived early, but still had no idea that I was putting together the finishing touches down below.  I had to climb out the window well as to not raise suspicion as to why some strange scummy neighbor lady was emerging from the basement for their traditional quartlerly "family birthday gathering"

this is an easy illustrator label {and fast way to personalize an event} i made to glue over the lemonade bottles for each table round:

as always, we scoured our houses for things we already had for a very low budget decorating cost.  

{I think Summer spent under $100 bucks! }

thanks urban O.

Introducing my two new "baby steps" toward a brighter home ...

...next stop, the hardware store.

{which the thought of makes my palms sweaty}

Have a sweet sweet weekend!

sweet dreams are made of these...

I am gearing up to revamp my kids room, since we will be spending A LOT more time indoors reeeeally soon. Here are a few spaces that have inspired me lately:

frillie designs' photostream 

{who, might i add, has the most charming home.}

jan eleni child interiors 

...and the late domino mag :(

welcome.

Like any 1st impression, an entrance to a home speaks a thousand words...  

For example, walking into MY house one might fear that they are being lured into a dungeon, soon to be forced into applying lotion on hourly intervals.  

Okay so it's not that bad.

Thankfully i have no interest in wearing anyone else's skin...but still, it's sooo DARK   

I dream, literally daily, of knocking down walls and painting everything white! My husband thinks i'm crazy. {*Perhaps i should have him watch Silence of the Lambs again to put his idea of "crazy" into perspective} 

I just want mine to feel bright and inviting, like these... 

{images found in Domino mag}

looooove this door...

This sweet vinyl massage can be found here on etsy. 

...and, do come in.

what a shame.

I bought (and restored) these vintage stools in hopes to modernize my lifeless kitchen....only to discover that my kids want nothing else but to destroy them.   You see, they swivel.  If they had their way they would sacrifice the stools, the counter top and their heads all in the name of dizzying fun.  Therefore, sadly, I must sell* them.  Based on my experience they would be best suited to a home without kids under 5.  I am listing them on the AZ Craigs list but thought I'd throw them on here too. you never know...

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

sayRED.

Success! However the 10 minutes I had to get ready, with my dirty hat hair, resulted in me looking disturbingly like a giant baby! 

{oopsies }

I have a little love/hate with party planning...meaning I dread every minute until the actual day of setup (when adrenaline finally takes over). But of all mothers, there are few as deserving as Steph, due to the countless hours she's logged putting on parties for everyone else (she is the master of all party planners). 

Shout outs to Summer and Bert for being such willing helpers, and of course my sister Lisa who Co-planned and cleaned everything! {with her 3 monkeys in tow....making her the hero of the day in my book}  

Steph is going to make an amazing mommy....one that my kids already covet as their own in fact! And hooray for new babies that i don't have to give birth to...can't wait to meet you baby!!!