saw the light... it was good

(This narrative will be mostly in pictures.)

So, home improvements, right? Making moves... it's looking good.
Until we look up, that is, and see these:



These gold-gilded monstrosities were in the LR and DR.
We lived with it for a while because we are practical people
and there were more important things to take care of, but then Liberace called...



He wanted his fixtures back. We gladly obliged him.
In their stead, we found these two (dare I say) sumptuous pieces
at Home Depot. Regular, ol' Home Depot - don't sleep!



This is the dining room chandelier, and the lights are bright enough to withstand a dark wall color. Oh, espresso...



(Oh the amber drops look like candy! But I won't eat them - promise.)



This is the living room light/ceiling fan fixture. Love the smooth, curved lines on this, and the metal work will echo the dining room wall color quite nicely.



(The metal finish on this fan is beautiful. It's sturdy, but not overbearing.)
****

It's the next step in making this place look like our own. Next, we tackle the painting. Does painting the ceiling the same color as the walls really benefit a space? What about the general rule of a ceiling being a few shades lighter than the wall? Two rooms, two approaches. We'll see what happens!

Twenty-Something Tuesday 1.6

"If I was twenty-five again,
I would be much more physical!
I was late getting into exercise,
and I wish I'd started much earlier.
The benefits are substantial!"

- Am Amazing Woman

You said it, Sister.

Twenty-Something Tuesday 1.5

"The best thing about life in your twenties
is you can do anything you want to do and still have the energy to do it."

-- An Amazing Woman

If I or any of my siblings ever complained about being tired, my mom would laugh and say, "Ya'll are the oldest children I know!" My sibs and I are years removed from those instances now, and though I would argue that puberty takes a lot out of a person (we need more sleep during that stage; science even says so), I think I get what my mom found so funny. We had fewer responsibilities and energy to spare. But sometimes we would do nothing at all with it.

As twenty-somethings, our responsibilities may have increased, but we still have amazing energy. There are probably things we do right now that we take for granted: all-nighters, late movies and concerts on a weeknight, road trips, jet-setting and not wasting the day of arrival or departure to "catch up on sleep". We will not be able to perform this way forever. So I say waste not, want not. While I do advocate taking care of yourself, we can splurge a little bit right now -- burn the candle at both ends once in a while. It's exhilarating.

GEMINI 1: Wait a minute. Didn't you just miss a post last week because you were too tired after coming in from a concert on a Tuesday?

GEMINI 2: Yep, and I'd do it again too!

**image above courtesy of the internets.**

out of the frying pan and into the fireplace...

(This will be a narrative in pictures, mostly.)

When we moved in, we had this:




The green was a no-go, so we started to change things:




Then, upon closer examination, we saw that there was more to do than paint:


(this tile would fall out if anyone bumped into the mantle too hard)


(this cover is beautiful but was not living up to it's full potential)


So, we found a great contractor by recommendation,
and he started the transformation.
But he had to destroy...



before he could rebuild...



This is what we have now:




The end.

Twenty-Something Thursday 1.4 (the better-late-than-never edition)

The best thing about life in your twenties is
you finally get to start feeling like a "real" adult because you've got two and a half decades under your belt. When the first decade went under there, it meant that soon you'd have boobs like Pam Grier (hey, we all had dreams!) and that your teeth were beginning to shrink to match your face. The beginning of the second decade meant that soon you'd be able to drink too much LEGALLY and that you got to start believing you were smarter than you actually were. The latter half of the second decade means you've got the tits, you can start showing those teeth again (because you're through with those self-conscious years where you were above an utterly shameless grin), you know exactly how much to drink (although you don't actually need to drink at all) to find that grin without showing it to the toilet later, and you really ARE as smart as you think.

- An Amazing Woman

Besides smiling and laughing while reading the above (because, seriously, my nickname was Chiclets during that big teeth phase), I like what this response does. It reminds me that even though twenty-somethings are still children in the eyes of many, we've come a long way, Baby! We are well equipped to begin a conversation with, "I remember when..." or "Do you remember that time?..." We have memories and experiences, we have stories to tell -- silly ones and tearjerkers alike. That's major evidence of adulthood right there.

Everyone likes to talk about how easy childhood was, but we are still close enough to our single-digit and adolescent years to remember that they weren't all snow cones and hopscotch. There were cliques, labels, bullies, heartbreaks, insecurities; there was confusion, fear, misunderstanding, embarrassment and the list probably goes on. No we didn't have to pay bills, but we sure paid dues. The fact that we can look back and laugh is a testament to the resilience of children. That we have made it far enough to look back at all suggests that we can survive, and maybe that we've learned something. Life has plenty more to teach us in this next stage, but let's not ignore or discredit the lessons that we bring with us to this point, resilience being one of the most valuable among them.

If only more adults could look back and laugh (and I'm including us when I say 'adults'). I've seen more families fissured, more friendships dissolved, more beautiful faces wrinkled by anger lines as a result of holding grudges than I even care to think about. And for what? It's so ironic that we are fastest to forgive at an age when we have "all the time in the world", and when time is flying by ever so quickly we have the audacity to waste it being bitter, wounded and scared.

I think it is worth the effort to remember childhood, the good the bad and the ugly. I think it's worth the effort to continue to practice resilience, forgiveness, sharing, wonder -- all of the great lessons of our youth. It would make us better grown-ups. We've all been told not to sweat the small stuff. Well, insha-Allah (if it be God's will) we will live long enough where it's all small stuff. And we will find the things that mattered in childhood are the things that still matter: people who love you, doing it for your self (whatever "it" is) and - best of all - recess.

** ps - that beautiful photo was found here.

late breaking...

(((((Yawn. Stretch.))))

Went to a concert last night - Ingrid Michaelson.  She was worth every penny.  However, the opening act (who was good but just a few songs too long) and the obnoxious gent who saw the need to shout at random (and ad nauseam) were not worth the sleep I lost.  I say all of that to say that Twenty-Something Tuesday will be a Thursday edition this week.  

Stay tuned.