Made it!

Surgery was a success and I'm finally home. I had a really rought time in recovery - the pain was unbelievable and feeling subhuman for the last two weeks has been hard, but since I can finally type for a few minutes I think I'm on the road to recovery. Mostly my day consists of waiting for rounds of pills to stave off pain whilst trying to force my slow and uncooperative body around in the walker. I haven't washed my hair in any real way since Aug. 16th so I feel like an orc or something. Tomorrow I maybe be able to sit in a shower chair and get a limited shower and actually shampoo my hair so I'll feel way better then. My dream is to get into a deep bath full of bubbles and soothe my pains away, but that is about a month off I think.

I'm ETERNALLY grateful to my family for taking care of me - I never ever would have made it without them. My docs were great and my nurses were a rather mixed bag, but enough good ones to make me grateful to them, too. Physio therapists are by definition tought gym teachers and mostly I'm happy with them, but the occupational therapist seemeed intent on treating me like my surgery was brain surgery or something and after awhile of being treated like an idiot and being in a lot of pain and repeating myself I got a little short with her so I'm quite glad to see the back of her. All in all, though, not a bad experience. Still, my GREATEST piece of advice for a stay at the hospital is have someone with you at all times that questions what's going on and if the right med/therapy/appt./etc. is going on because the hospital is just FULL of mistakes and you could be harmed without an advocate fighting at your side constantly.

That's all I can stand to type for now before I crash and fall asleep again. Thanks to All you great bloggers and friends out there for your kind wishes. I hope to be blogging fun crafty/artsy stuff again very soon. Happy Sunday!!!

See Ya Later, Alligators...

Tomorrow I go in to the hospital for a central line and then Monday is my surgery so I'll be gone from blogland until I've recuperated a bit. Thank to everyone for their wishes and prayers. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared, but then I think any sane person on this earth would be scared so no apologies for that.

Frida Kahlo

Just fyi to anyone curious or out of the loop. I have been living with rather severe scoliosis since I was diagnosed at 11. I wore big ugly, painful brace for a year and then had to have surgery the next year. I have three rods in my back along with lots of ugly bolts and screws and it did me well for about 16 years, but now the pain is back with a vengeance and I can hardly walk or do much of anything so I finally dragged myself back to see the doctor and found out my back has degenerated quite badly and part of one rod is broken and I need to extend more rods to hold my whole back in place and all sorts of other disturbing details that I wish I didn't know about so enough said about that. I'll be in the hospital at least a week, possibly more and then recuperating for months afterward.



I have an EXCELLENT surgeon so I'm not too worried about the results. If you would like more information you can visit my surgeon's website. The adult scoliosis link lets you see all types of x-rays of the kind of surgery I'll be having. I do warn the squeamish, though, that they are disturbing to most people so view with caution.

My next post will be the 100th and I'll be sure to have a giveaway when I'm feeling better. I've been working on some pretty cool necklaces and jewelry which I'll save for a surprise. :) See ya guys later!!

Summer Treats

I just love my summer door sign:

I got it at Hobby Lobby a few years ago.

And I'm craving chocolate cupcakes right now...mmmmm....have one!

Yesterday after I got home from the pool I spotted some prowlers across the street!!

Our neighbor's chickens got loose!! Yikes. No one was home so we had to hurry up and herd them back into their own yard before they got hurt.

Why did the chicken cross the road? Because their neighbor's fence is too low! We're going to give them some taller chain link fencing to help them keep them in. :)

Aren't they beautiful to look at? Such vibrant colors. I saw the neighborhood cat run away from its hiding place nearby once we started herding them back in - they're lucky we saw them first!
You just don't see this kind of thing every day in the city it was really fun.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

Anybunny seen this?

Have you seen this rabbit toile wallpaper?? I've been searching for it high and low ever since we first spotted this on some wallpaper site and failed to buy it.

Now I wish I'd snatched it up - all I have is this really bad image of it. *sigh*

I'm not really big on wallpaper actually up on my walls as I figure I'll get tired of it or find it too repetitive. What I'd really like is to paper a room with vintage sheetmusic or old maps or find some wallpaper that looks like elegant old handwriting all over the walls. I've yet to find a decent example of that, though. Sometimes I'm tempted to paper a wall with all the beautiful scrapbooking papers I have. Why do those seem prettier than anything I can find at a wallpaper store??

Anybody got a really cool wallpaper picture or link to share??

Happiness is...

...a good movie


Saw the latest Harry Potter movie with my family. An excellent adaptation of the book this time around. Alan Rickman as Severus Snape thrills me. I would pay good money to just sit and listen to him read the telephone book to me. That voice of his...such bliss.






...a trip to the bookstore



Went to Barnes and Noble and picked out a few new books to read next month while recovering. A new Tudor book, of course, on Jane Boleyn, and two Julia Child books since I'm looking forward to the Julie/Julia movie. I wish I'd felt better so I could have stayed longer to look through some other books, but I was hurting and quite tired by then so we went home before I could max out a credit card on all those great books I found.



...and a good meal.

We then went home and made some homemade pizza and enjoyed a little glass of wine, too.

All in all, I had a great weekend. It was finally warm enough again to go to the pool twice so I managed to get some good exercise, too. I feel much more relaxed and at peace.

Hope everyone else had a great weekend.

Gratuitous Vintage Rabbit Pictures

Because fluffy bunnies always cheer me up...

These two really crack me up...

An old primer - such a pretty illustration!

And thank you for the good wishes, everyone! I had a wonderful day at the pool. The weather finally warmed up, though the water was rather cold. I also got some craft supplies through the mail and am very much inspired for new projects. I'm in a much happier mood and promise no more dreary posts. :) It's all sunshine and smiles from now on. And crafty, vintage-y posts, of course.

Have a GREAT weekend!!!!

Time Flies...

...even when you aren't having fun. A whole week goes by without a post - I've been a bit preoccupied. Wednesday was spent all day in the hospital for pre-op tests (CT scans, blood drawn, x-rays, etc. etc.). I've been x-rayed so much I no longer need a night light - I'm glowing in the dark. The worst part of it all, though is being in nothing but a flimsy hospital gown while one doctor examines me and three more plus a nurse stare at me like a specimen beneath their microscope. Actually it was better than last time - then there were four observing doctors with the nurse and surgeon - all in one tiny little exam room with no room to spare and everyone shuffling around when I'm requested to walk on my tippy toes and then heels and get onto the table. My x-rays were up all over the room like wallpaper for them all to enjoy. Just about the worst nightmare for someone as shy as me. I'm just so darn interesting of a case, the nurse told me. I'm so thrilled to be so interesting...never mind my feelings, doctors. By all means, talk about me like I'm not there. The nurse was the only one that could tell how uncomfortable I was - she was nice. When another person knocked on the door and tried to enter she actually told him to go away - there's no more room! lol

Anyway - enough complaining. I do so hate dreary posts, but I hope you'll forgive me if I felt the need to vent - it was a really awful day. I'm defintely in the mood to forget about the all too near future and focus on some inspirational ideas and photos.

First, Black Apple's post on her Renegade booth - oh how I love her set up. Just the kind I've dreamed about having one day. I covet her vintage red suitcase the most...seems too good to be real...maybe a reproduction?

detail from Black Apple photo - see her blog for more

Which of course got me looking for red suitcases. I'm just drooling over these:

Handmade luxury suitcases from Globe-Trotter

This one, though I forgot where exactly I found it...

Red is one of my very favorite colors...I hope I find a cute vintage suitcase in that color one day. My other favorite for suitcases is maybe white...or green...or, well who the heck am I kidding? I love vintage suitcases, period. :)

Happy Friday, everyone. I hope to finally get to the pool again this weekend - it's been downright cold this month - 70's in July in St. Louis?? Unheard of - it's a conspiracy to keep me from the pool, I tell you.

Squirrely Friday

Last weekend we went to a little flea market and the only thing we brought home was this little guy:

My mother fell in love with it, but my first thought was, this squirrel looks like he's on crack. lol

But the more I looked at it the more I realized he reminded me of the squirrel in Over the Hedge.

Doesn't he look like Hammy?

I loved that character in the movie, Hammy totally stole the whole film - I thought the rest of it was quite boring, but whenever Hammy had a scene I was laughing hysterically. :) They should do another movie with a much bigger part for him.

Just thought I'd share my vintage Hammy with you. Happy Friday!

Getting Closer...

As my operation looms closer it's becoming more and more real to me and just a little bit, okay - a lot - scary. I've had to ask relatives and friends to donate blood for my operation as I will need quite a bit so I'm beginning to feel like a vampire. Give me your blood!! And on Wednesday I go in for a whole day of tests and doctor visits. I'm having a CT scan, blood work, EKG, a bone density test, a visit with the surgeon, and a visit with my anesthesiologist. Whew, that'll be a fun day.

So, to cheer myself up, I bought my first Black Apple print. :)




I'm thinking of maybe taking it to the hospital to have something pretty to look at. And with all that morphine I'll likely have some interesting dreams about the little couple in their terrarium and the house that is too small for them. lol

Off I go to finish painting the pew...it's coming along quite nicely, as soon as it is finished I'll try to take a good picture.

Happy Thursday!!

Inspiration Tuesday: Cottage Style Bathrooms

I love the Cottage style. You could call it a Country Style, Shabby Chic, etc., but it all boils down to a few simple elements that make my heart go pitty pat:

Vintage furniture/decorations

Light and airy colors (pale pink, blue, yellow, etc.)

Various shades of white (painted furniture, bowls, shelves, etc.)

Homey touches (which some might call clutter)

Beadboard or wainscoting

All of which you can see here:

Oh how I love the idea of a large armoire in the bathroom holding towels, soap, etc. I envy people with large bathrooms where not only an armoire can fit, but maybe even a chair!

The glass jar with soaps - so cute! The vintage mirror - adorable, but whyever did they put the towel bar there and then the mirror is so high up no one can even look in it?? I like mirrors on walls simply to bounce the light off of, but a mirror like this definitely deserves to be looked into.

Cottage style can be divided also into different country styles - French, English, Swedish, etc. This French Cottage bathroom is so cute!

image from housetohome.co.uk

I absolutely could not live in a house with a modern style. So as we start to pick out things for our new bathroom (still in its gutted stage so far) we absolutely HAD to find the right vanity to suit our taste. My first thought was that I don't want the typical modern vanities on sale at nearly every hardware store or cabinet place I can think of. I want something that looks like old furniture, so I thought of using an existing dresser from our house or a flea market or something and altering it. But then my operation got moved up and our deadline is on the horizon so we swung by a hardware store just to see what they have.

At first it was the usual typical ultra boring vanities, and then super duper modern minimalist vanities...but then I saw this!

You'll have to trust me when I say in person it is even more beautiful. It definitely fit the bill of looking like a small victorian cabinet repurposed into a vanity. I was far more interested in this piece than anything else in the store. And the best news is you could upgrade it to a bigger sin Which looks like an old desk! It holds two sinks - and yet another style

So lovely! But the more I looked at it the more I thought, it's gorgeous, but it's so dark and ornate...does it really go with the Cottage style we were hoping for?? Then I saw this one:

Same company, but this one is more Cottage style and the vintage white color is just right! It also comes in larger sizes like this: And the best part is it already comes with the counter top and sink so no need to search for those things to fit it - perfect. The pictures really don't do it justice so if you'd like to see them in person you can go to the store or website and zoom in on the pictures. All cabinets are found at Lowes.

So now we must pick out flooring and tile for around the tub. I'd like a nice tan/off white stone kind, similar to the one in our kitchen backsplash. The color of the walls I'm not sure of yet. Mom likes sage green so far.