This Guy.

 This guy.

Ever sweet, ever smiling.

Almost always, only my cranky makes him cranky, only my sadness makes him frown.

(Almost.)

My hero. Their hero. 

Hardest-working guy I've ever known.  (Smartest, too.)

He loves Dr. Who and loud music and any excuse to use a soldering iron and thinks the saddest movie ever was Bicentennial Man (because he sympathizes with our future robot overlords).

Awesome Dad. Awesome-r husband. (No, it's a tie.)  Loves our monkeys to pieces.

 

And me, too. (That makes me the lucky one.)

Happy Father's Day, honey.  We love you a bushel and a peck.

(*Just realized these pictures are two summers apart, and he's wearing the same shirt!) 

Our (Almost) Finished Master Bedroom

Numerous times over the last couple of years, I've referred to my master bedroom re-do and promised to share the results.  Well, much like with my Ikea kitchen re-do, it's taken a couple of years to finally write that post.

On the other hand, except for adding a yellow zebra-print chair and a trio of small mirrors above the bed, the room still looks exactly as it did when we completed it a couple of summers back. For better, and for worse. So off we go.

Looking into the room from the master bath:

Our room faces south/southwest, and being upstairs, is easily the hottest, brightest room in the house, especially with one big, long wall of windows. Seriously, it's an oven in this room from late July through October.  I would've loved to have a beautiful lighting fixture, but sleeping without a ceiling fan just isn't an option. 

And this is looking from the room toward the bathroom.  There's no door separating the two spaces, so the curtains provide some privacy when showering, or for when the husband, an early riser, turns on the lights when its still dark out.  (The curtains are usually open, but I didn't feel like showing the bathroom!)

Ah, look at that angled ceiling slope.  Don't forget, this is my House of Many Angles.

My Nate Berkus headboard, purchased online at HSN a couple of years ago. I'm very happy with the quality. 

This is the same area, with the recent update of a trio of small starburst mirrors.

Yellow pillows are from Target, again a couple years back. 

My version of the Ikea Rast hack that's been all over the interwebs for awhile.  These nightstands started out as unfinished pine. I should probably update the knobs from these Home Depot silver ones to the brass ring pulls shown in the original hack (at least the one I copied), but I was lazy and didn't feel like ordering them online. Not very much in the spirit of the William Morris project, I know. 

In my very first William Morris post, I griped about that stupid, loud-ticking alarm clock.  It's no longer next to my bed, but hasn't been replaced either.  (I use the digital one on the husband's side of the bed. It's cheap, but has withstood my slapping the snooze button every morning for years now.)

The main reason behind my delay in posting about my room is that it's never felt entirely "done" to me, even after two years. I'm the first to say that it's sorely lacking another layer of interest, via more pattern or color or (especially) artwork.

Here is the main problem:

The Big Gray Wall of Nothing.

I've been completely in a twist about what to with that big space. If I was an HGTV Design Star contestant, no doubt I'd have created some awesome installation using molding or stencilling or shiny hubcaps by now. But no. It sits as empty and devoid of interest as ever.

I actually do have an idea, and it's to create some wallpaper panel art.  I've even bought the wallpaper. It's lovely and by Romo, purchased for a great price on eBay a while back. (It's missing about a foot and a half off a full roll, but there's still a lot to work with.)

The paper is gray-blue with metallic chrysanthemums, that read a little gold or a little silver, depending on the angle.

I really do like this wallpaper, but my indecision on how to go about actually putting it up has me flummoxed.  Straight onto the wall?  Onto a piece of lightweight foam core or MDF?  The plan is to put up three panels onto the big wall, and frame them with painted trim. Sort of like this, from my Pinterest bedroom board:

Source: houzz.com via Kelly on Pinterest

I also want some some artwork for this bare wall next to the husband's side of the bed. 

I love the photography of Irene Suchocki, and a couple of her dreamy New York City prints would be so calming to gaze at in the evenings: 

Source: eyepoetryshop.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Well. There you have it. Despite being "undone," our master bedroom is still a nice retreat (especially when I put away the laundry and make the bed). It's a little more formal than the rest of the house, with all the symmetry in the lamps, tables and pillows.  Of course, our double doors are usually open, so it's hardly the private, modern hotel room that may have been its inspiration.  But considering that the master bedroom is often the most neglected space for a lot of families, I guess we've done okay.

If only I can get that wallpaper up before the end of the year, I'll be thrilled.

Oh, and a side table beside the chair, so I could actually set a drink or book down someplace other than the floor, would be a good addition, too.

On Thurdays, I'm linking up with Jules as part of her 2012 William Morris Project.

Pancakes and French Fries

End-of-School Gifts

The photo above is of the gift bags I prepared for the last day of school.  Somewhere along the line, it's become a tradition for me to give the kids a bag o' goodness to both celebrate and congratulate a year of hard work and good grades. (What will happen if they don't work hard, and/or bring home bad grades? Thankfully, that hasn't been an issue so far.)

It's a tradition, but not one that they've come to expect.  In other words, the kids didn't come home from school and automatically expect to find gifts, didn't mention anything, didn't start dropping hints. It's not like coming downstairs on Christmas morning and knowing that Santa has dropped by.

This year, the main gifts were a little nicer than usual -- Lily got a new camera, which she's needed for a while.  Tucker got a new MP3 player, to replace the one that mysteriously vanished earlier this year. Its loss has been baffling to us all, but heartbreaking to Tucker -- he loves his music, gets emotionally attached to his things, and so there were a few nights in the last months of crying himself to sleep over his lost gadget.  (His tears prompted me to tear apart the house, the toy bins, the cars -- it's just gone, and we're completely stumped as to where it went.)

The bags also contained new, personalized towels from Lands End, Celtic pattern coloring books for boredom, a Nate the Great book for Tucker, and two magazines for Lily -- including her first-ever copy of Mad. She's just discovered the animated television show, and loves the parodies and subversive humor.  Thanks to a good sale on Amazon Prime, they each also got a new DS game.

Yes, it was a lot, and yes, I would even agree that they're spoiled -- to a point.  There weren't other rewards for the first semester's report cards, no cash motivation for the good grades, no treats when Lily landed on the Honor Roll both semesters.   I think of these start-of-summer gifts as a way to get us all ready and excited for the long weeks ahead: new beach towels and sand shovels, sometimes water guns or pool toys, craft supplies, and always, always new books.

Their delight over the new camera and MP3 player was somehow better than Christmas. Both kids were truly surprised, and without a mountain of other gifts to distract them, they focused on and immediately started dug in and started playing. 

And reading. Lily was both thrilled and a little shocked by some of the content in Mad. "That is SO not appropriate!" she shouted, and laughed at the same time. (It's really not that bad, and I'm guessing most of the political and celebrity-based humor is going right over her head.)


Do you have a tradition to celebrate the end of the school year? And what's your stance on summer gifts? I'd love to hear.

L.A. Music Friday: Oh, Bob Welch

Well, shit.  Bob Welch, why did you have to go and off yourself yesterday? Because honestly, I wasn't even going to do an L.A. Music post (again) this week. I was going to spend today talking about how it's The Last Day of School, and  It's Officially Summer, and how I'm editing this post to the sounds of the D.J. spinning pop tunes at the 5th graders graduation pool party just down the way from my house.  (True.)  

Bob Welch, I haven't thought of you in ages. I turn up the volume up high whenever I hear "Hynoptized" in the car -- because I only have Sirius/XM in the car, and evidently true deep-cut FM radio is as dead as -- well, you.

I've been saving up for the day when I have the time and energy to write an L.A. Music post on Fleetwood Mac. It will be long and contain lots of personal memories. Like when I was in junior high and home from school for two weeks with the chicken pox, and my dad bought me the Mirage cassette to help pass the time. 

But this isn't the day for Fleetwood Mac, at least the line-up that I loved. You were part of that earlier, bluesy, pre-Rumours, pre-Stevie incarnation.  I was never too familiar with that whole Chicken Shack, Peter Green thing, but I loved the Mac enough that I was at least tangentially familiar it.

Oh, you and your sexy red shirt. Image via here.

Oh, Bob Welch, what do I know of you at all, except for your big radio singles and that you played on "Oh, Well," which maybe was some kind of foreshadowing on your part?  What do I know, except that I love me those cheesy A.M. Gold radio hits, and Ebony Eyes! Sentimental Lady! I stop the dial-spinning and listen every time.

Sentimental Lady: the kind of heavily produced song out of mid-1970s El Lay that made the British punks stab themselves with safety pins and shred their clothes. This is not rock n' roll.

But close your eyes, and listen. It's 1977, and you're on a terrace in Malibu, sitting in a giant wicker papasan chair. The blue Pacific sparkles in every direction. The aroma of pot and orange blossoms is carried on the breeze that sends the ferns in their macramé hangers swinging. Your most excellent sentimental lady wafts in, all chiffon and long, feathered hair and giant hoop earrings, bangled in turquoise and tiny Indian bells. 

That's why I've travelled far,
'Cause I come so together where you are. 
Yes, and all of the things that I said that I wanted
Come rushing by in my head when I'm with you,
Fourteen joys and a will to be married.
All of the things that they say are very sentimental gentle winds
Blowing through my life again.

 Add in Christine McVie's warm and wise backing vocals, and it adds up to one very fine, very mellow, very L.A. moment. I swear, I can hear the ocean in the background.



Oh, Bob Welch.  You made me cry, and rearrange my Friday plans for you.  Still: Walter Egan? Mr. Magnet & Steel? Don't even think about it, dude. 

Enjoy! And have yourself a most excellent and mellow weekend.

The Titanic In San Diego

This past Sunday we drove an hour south to San Diego's Balboa Park, specifically to take in the Titanic artifact exhibit at the Natural History museum.  (The show opened in April and closes in September.) 

Lily had already been a minor Titanic history buff prior to all the hoopla commemorating the 100-year anniversary of its sinking.  Her interest reached its peak the anniversary weekend of April 15th, when I took her for a girl's day out viewing of the movie, re-released in 3D.  (It's PG-13 in ways I never noticed back when it came out in 1997, but were very apparent when viewing with an impressionable 10-year-old.)

So needless to say, she was thrilled when she learned of Sunday's plans. 

Unfortunately, there are strict rules about taking any photos inside the special exhibit (much like when we went to the Tim Burton show at LACMA last October). But I can tell you it was pretty cool to see actual items that were onboard the ship, retrieved from the debris field on the ocean floor, and restored and set under glass for all to see.  I think my favorites were the dinner plates, some with the "White Star Line" logo still visible, along with the gold-trimmed china used by the first class passengers.  Lily's favorite was the green champagne bottle that still had half its contents preserved. (Was the cork popped to celebrate the bon voyage, or some other happy milestone for its owner?) We both agreed that looking at these things gave us goosebumps.

When you enter the exhibit, you're given a "boarding pass" with information on the back about an actual Titanic passenger. At the end, you pass by a wall where you can see if your person lived or died.  Myk was Mr. Allison, and I was Mrs. Elizabeth Nye. I'm not going to say which, but only one of us made it out alive. (It's not who you might assume.)

There was also a recreation of the boiler room, and a great big white hunk of frozen ice that you were encouraged to touch, to get a feel of just how cold the water in the north Atlantic was that fateful night. (This helped Tucker, who couldn't understand why the passengers couldn't just swim to safety.)

It was a great afternoon, but especially for this one: 

Some other shots of lovely Balboa Park:

It's a huge, beautiful park, and we usually just stick to exploring the museum areas. (They have a great railroad musuem that's fun for anyone who like trains, history, or just looking at miniature models.) Next time, I want to pack a lunch and explore all the walking/hiking trails on the property.  According to their trail website, there are 65 miles of trails to explore! I'll be thrilled if we can cover just one or two.

It's Friday...

No L.A. Music Friday post today, since writing yesterday's William Morris project post took forever to create, and I really need to get out into the world today.   (Although when I typed "it's Friday," I got that annoying teenage-girl Youtube song in my head. And I think she's from the Valley, so...hey!) *Actually looked it up, and she's from Anaheim Hills, so...hey!

But here's an update: I've got a new way to make coffee, now that inventory has dried up for buying new pods for my Senseo machine.  The above is a little Bodum French press.  It seems to do the trick for making my one-off daily cup.  After reading the directions, I feared I'd have to return it, because the directions specifically state to  "use COARSE ground coffee only."  Well, I'm not about to also go out & buy a grinder...that's all just way too ritualistic and time-consuming for me.

So far the store-bought grounds seem to work fine. Whew! Another first-world suburban mom problem solved.

Also, look out world, because the Tek Nynja, also known as my husband, has a new blog post out, after almost a year.  Click over here to see the kind of things he does for fun and relaxation.  I can barely understand it, but love how his enthusiasm shows through in sentences like "I love the challenge of hand-tuning code to make it as small and fast as possible, and that's not so easy with the PIC18F's!" 

 Right!  So now you know what we'll be up to this weekend: drinking coffee, ripping apart and hacking small gadgets, and hopefully getting out as a family to enjoy our glorious hot sunshine.

Happy Friday!