An Advice-Ridden Rant

I would like start by sending a giant "screw you" to Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon, may he rest in peace. To all of you who have not settled down yet, I need to be clear: love.is.NOT.all.you.need.

No disrespect to The Beatles, but that song is crap. Sure it may be catchy and fun, but it's lyrics are just...ridiculous. I don't know if it was the weed, the movement, the 60's in general or if they just had some crazy-thick rose colored glasses glued to their faces, but allow me to set the record straight. In fact, I'm going to as far as to say love is not enough. It's a great start, a firm foundation and a definite must, but relationships are hard--no matter how long you've been at it. To change and grow with one another is more challenging than it might seem and you need a whole lot more than love to get you through it. It takes a lot of hard work, self-sacrifice, compromise, patience, respect, listening, understanding and a giant glass of putting yourself in the other person's shoes. And it's not for quitters or the thin-skinned. Forever is a really long time and life isn't all hearts and rainbows 24/7 ( but wouldn't that be awesome?) and on top of that, no one is perfect. You can love someone until your heart explodes, but without all of the other ingredients you need to make a relationship work, you won't make it...and if you do, you need a medal. A big one.

I guess "love is a major must" or "love is what you really need" wasn't as catchy, but I mean "love is all you need"?! Really? Come on, guys.

So that is my rant. Times are tough, obvs, but I sure am learning a lot about being a true partner this week. For the record, I'm not amazing at it, so maybe you could pray for me or send me love and light or whatever it is you people do that is uplifting. I could definitely use it.

Love and peace (and all the other things).

thechive.files.wordpress.com
Note to self

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORMAN HIBB!

One of my favorite people of.all.time. is turning 30 today! Cory Neil Hibbetts used to chase me on the playground to give me kisses, which I of course hated because boys were "so totally gross" back then, but as we grew up he turned out to be one of the best friends anyone could ask for. He is quirky and funny, so ridiculously talented in every aspect of music imaginable that it literally makes me want to barf, and most of all, he is a genuinely loving and accepting human being. Not to mention "he's a cutie with a booty like OWW". Hahaha, I kid, but he really is so handsome.

It makes me so sad that we live so far away from each other. Remember the hilarious Delta Gamma who orchestrated the f-bomb-ridden email gone viral? Yeh, that's where he works. At the University of Maryland, that is. Not Delta Gamma. I'm spiraling. Moving on. Anyway, he thought it would be a good idea to move there, to the posh DC area. He was right. His life is so much more interesting than mine! Outdoor markets, Anthropologie(s)...to choose from...because there is more than one, a plethora of cherry blossoms, amazing food and shops and the list is making me sick. I always choose wrong. And God, I just miss my amazing friend! So here's to you Cory Neil! Happy Birthday!

HVOO 2013

I know, lame. Excuses suck, but last week was a whirlwind. Actually, the last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. Anyway, this year's theme for the 2013 Hatteras Village Offshore Open Tournament banquet was "Garden Party". I wanted color. And I got it.

I went with some Pinterest-inspired DIY projects to get things done on the cheap. Painted flower pots are my jam right now. 

Ball has reintroduced their vintage blue mason jars as part of their 100-year anniversary "Heritage Collection". My girl, Jessica, from The Slough ordered me an assortment of fresh cuts and the orange, magenta and soft lime spray roses really set off the blue glass jars.

The centerpieces really made the whole thing, but I really think ceiling installments add a lot of depth to a room/party so I decided to do a little bike wheel project that again, was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest. I collected a few old bikes and spray painted the metal part of the wheels  in "Metallic Gold" and "Hammered Copper", both by Rustoleum. Spray paint is amazing, by the way. I wish I would have remembered to take a "before" photo.

You know what else I've discovered is amazing? Zip-ties. Omg. Anyway, finished product...

I don't really feel like my photography skills (or lack thereof) can do the room any justice, but it was simple and to the point, and I was pleased with the end results.

I also made a couple of quick rope swings. For the record, I normally HATE ivy. However, I do like the color and whimsy that it added to the swings.



And don't let me forget the balloons. I've been obsessing over balloons since I started following Geronimo Balloons on Instagram. You know those letter/number balloons that are everywhere? Well, I went for the 40 inchers and they were awesome...until I lost an "O". There was a French Canadian guy and he was like "oh no, oh, OH, it's gone." The wind caught it and it flew off of the ribbon. So sad. We decided to roll with it anyway..."Hatteras Village Offshore"? "Hatteras Village Open"?

So yes, this is what I've been up to. I wish I had better pics, but whatevs. You get the idea. Peace!


 

 



HVOO

Sorry about my absence...again! It's HVOO time again so I am swamped. I finally set the hallway up so I'm gonna share those photos with you and peace out til next week.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Sorry about yesterday everyone. I took the day to celebrate the hub's birfday.

Cass & Joe

I cleaned our house top to bottom yesterday to prepare for Joey's little cake and cream get together last night. I've got to tell you, it was way overdue. On my seven month hiatus, our cat, Miles Davis was hit by a car. He went missing for two weeks and when we found him one back leg was severely broken leg, the other was fractured and he had a broken pelvis. Long story short, he has been in double casts and an e-collar/cone for like 9 weeks. Casts were just removed last week, but he still has the cone because he got a pretty bad skin infection and the break didn't heal so more than likely he is going to be a tripod in a couple of weeks. My point is I have cat hair everywhere. It was a long day.

Isn't he the most precious little thing ever? Before he got hurt he was the most mischievous cat in.the.world. Now, I melt every time he looks at me. Oh my God, I love him.

Anyway.

In other news, I have had a big morning. I was really refreshed as I woke up to a clean house, went to pot, passed a kidney stone. Meet Shaquan.

#ipeedthatout

You ask "But Cassie, why didn't you mention this when you were telling us your ridiculously long and pathetic wedding story?" Well kids, I didn't know. I was confused because I thought I had a UTI but it felt like I was passing a stone when I went to the bathroom and I just knew that couldn't be so because I haven't had the excruciating, take-the-breath-out-of-you, throw-you-to-your-knees-in-a-half-second, make-you-barf pain. I've only had some somewhat intense lower abdominal pain combined with pee pain. Is this too gross? Probably. Anyway, my theory is it what a leftover from the honeymoon that was just lodged somewhere in my urinary tract or whatever. So, whoa, but you know what? I feel like I've defeated something really massive today and with that, I'm feeling pretty good.

So, there's a little catch-up for you. I hope you all have an ahhmazing day. It's for real gorge here!

Pins I've Tried: Striped Hallway

Monday. It's Monday. And I'm not a fan of Mondays.

That being said, I have had a crazy productive weekend (maybe that's why I'm so tired?). I finally finished my striped hallway! And by finished, I do mean the paint job. Artwork is next. Last year I bought these custom frames and mats for some silk scarves I bought in Paris a couple of years ago. Well, I managed to measure the scarves wrong so the openings aren't correct. I've half considered mounting them to another background, but how do you mount silk? No seriously, does anyone know how to do that? One of them does have a really cute edging that I'd like to display, so I'm even desperate for suggestions at this point because the custom mats were a little pricy.

Back to the hallway. This is what it looked like before. Notice the nice patch job on the left wall. This is the last room to be taken on post-renters.

Photo by Cassie Gray

Here was my pinspiration (ha)...

www.apartmenttherapy.com

Let me be very clear. I have a love/hate relationship with this photo. Love the paint-job. Hate everything else. Hate that plant. Despise that light fixture. That chair could use a makeover. And I myself feel that there are too many pictures on the walls and that combined with the striped runner and striped light fixture make this room a hot.friggin.mess. Just my personal opinion.

I took what I liked and made this...

Photo by Cassie Gray

Now, please bear in mind, light fixtures are on the next phase of the house interior revamp. The fixtures in this house are awful! Believe it or not, that's not even the worst one. Gross, I know. It looks like a boob from below. I digress. Last night I put the bookshelf back, but I think it distracts you from the paint job, so I'm rethinking it. I'll probably just put a little table or chair back there instead. I'll show another photo when everything is in and up and so on.

Now, the how-to. This is sort of a pin, but only because I pinned it from a blog that I love and came back to it later. Jenny Komenda. Little Green Notebook. Amazeballs. Seriously, put her on your must-read blog list. It's a game-changer. Anyway, I was teetering back and forth between wallpaper and stripes for this hallway. Stripes were my original plan, but I'm all about some wallpaper right now, so there's that. I was also really hesitant on the stripes because of the whole painter's tape deal. I've been painting my houses for a long time now and that junk sucks. It always leaks. Always. In fact, when we painted this house, I didn't tape at all. Until now. Until Jenny's genius mind spit-out this little brain child.

Jenny Komenda via http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/

You seal the painter's tape by painting over it with the base color and let it dry before painting on the contrasting color. GENIUS. Tried and tested. It worked. I will say there were a couple small boo-boos, but those were mainly a couple of corners and I think that is my fault because I didn't make the tape tight enough, so be careful with that.

Photo by Cassie Gray

Also, I would recommend using a decent tape. I used two different kinds that I had laying around. One was generic, and one was the Scotch super-sticky blobbity, blobbity good stuff. For the record, I am almost always cool with the generic stuff, but in this instance, it bubbled when it got wet. Full disclosure, it had been on the walls a couple of days before I sealed it because this was an after-hours project. Still though, both types of tape were put on at the same time and then sealed at the same time and only one bubbled, so yeh. The other little (and I do mean very minor) boo-boos were from the bubbles.

So the jury is in. This pin was a success.

Side note: to lay out the stripes I measured from the bottom of the crown molding to the top of base molding and found a number that was easily evenly divided. Example, I had a total of 96" inches, so I did eight 12" stripes. I laid them out by each opening using a yard stick, then drew them out with a level. Jenny uses a more precise method, but I was just too lazy for all of that. To read more on her blog, click here.

Fab Friday

So, as you all know today is Fab Friday and I like to give a little sneak peek of my weekly inspirations--almost always found somewhere on the interwebs. Today, is no different. Like our house, our yard was a disaster post renters and Hurricane Sandy, but never fear, I have the fortune (or misfortune) of starting with a completely blank slate. Not one tree, not one bush. Just some good-sized, albeit poorly-constructed, decks, an extremely unlevel yard, and enough weeds to keep the greenest of thumbs awake at night. Deep sigh. Such is life. Moving forward. I like a challenge, so I have turned to Pinterest for ideas, and have spent a sad hour (and penny) in Lowe's, Home Depot, Ace Hardware and Dare Building Supply (shop local--what, whaaat!). I have drawn out plans and am waiting on a quote for a newly constructed deck with an arbor and the hub is about to band the bottom of the house to hide the wires and crap that lie underneath. I also have big plans to paint the shutters and deck (shhh, the hub doesn't know that yet) and have planted six White Indian Hawthornes, a Weeping Cherry Blossom tree and two Anise Trees that were wedding gifts. This is all in addition to about five other plants that I've potted on the porch...and btw, cement planters are my jam right now! Pavers will also be making an appearance somewhere in the near future. My problem with the blank canvas is that I have so many ideas and like so many different design styles that I have a hard time focusing on one plan. Oi. At any rate, here are some of the things I'm crushing on this week.

Elle Décor: Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi's Home

Flickr by Romany Soup

www.consulting.markdsikes.com

foxontherun.tumblr.com

japanesetrash.com

lushlifehomegarden.com

thecuriousbumblebee.tumblr.com

Hope you all have an ahhmazing weekend! Peace!