what amounts to quite a good 4th of july

The man didn't have to work yesterday, which was a wonderful surprise. Another surprise was that he had today off from work as well. This never happens, where we get to spend a couple full days together. It is times like these that remind me of why we are together - the time we spend together is effortless and relaxing, and all around wonderful.

To celebrate our togetherness after over two weeks of barely having time to nod in one another's direction, the man and I went out last night for the first time in a very long time. We went to a movie, hit up a couple local bars and didn't come home until bar time. All in all, we welcomed the 4th of July with a ton of merriment and then crashed, sleeping in until 10 am. And...another wonderful thing...no hangovers. I'd say the night was a success.

We've taken advantage of the new patio chairs I just purchased from St. Vincent de Paul's (6 for $33.00), two of which are on our balcony and already have new cushions. The other four still need cushions, which I'm adding to my to-do list for the week. I'd like to get them done before we have company over next weekend. Here's hoping that I won't have a bunch of late work nights this week so that I have time to prep the house for the "mother-in-law's" arrival mid-week.

Now, back to the balcony. Have a safe and happy Independence Day.

red rabbit

This is a wonderful short animated film by Egmont Mayer. I know the screen shot looks a little dirty, but this is by no means racy. Definitely worth a few minutes of your time to watch:

Red Rabbit from Egmont Mayer on Vimeo.

random question thursday

If you could live in any home on the big (movies) or small screen (TV), which home would it be and why?

I'd live in the house from The Incredibles, hands down. It is a mid-century modernist's dream. Yes, I know it is animated, but it is gorgeous. The furniture styling is authentic, and there was obviously an effort to make the home truly mid-century. Here are some photos:

I love the 60s architecture, the furniture, the paint colors, the accessories, the kitchen. It was hard to find good screen shots, because most of the house scenes are at night, and obviously most of them are just background shots for the actions of the characters. There are enough to note that every piece was intentional.

What about you? What is your cinematic dream home?

july 2009 goals

Yesterday marked the official end of my June National Blog Posting Month. I didn't quite make it, but I'm still pretty proud of getting 30 posts up in 30 days, whether they occurred one each day or not.

As promised, here's my list of goals for July 2009:

• finish coffee table project (leftover from June)
• reorganize paper files (leftover from June)
• exercise (in some form) every single day in June - I want to be active on a daily basis, as I know work will be stressful with added responsibilities and home will be less homey with multiple visitors and the man working most weekends. I need an outlet to get rid of my negativity, and I am thinking amping up my exercise again will help.
• reorganize closets/storage - I'm doing this in a continued effort to simplify my life.
• go through the house and donate items to charity - clearing out the closets will make this easier.
• read a few books on feng shui and institute some of the practices in my home - see, all the goals are coming together.
• plan a weekend trip with the man - maybe camping, maybe a B&B somewhere, I'm not sure yet.
• buy a wedding gift for my friend Pam
• enjoy some sort of cultural outing (Concerts on the Square, a museum, a play, etc.)
• redo my budget

And there you have it, my list of goals for July. Nothing too heavy, but enough to keep me busy. I'm sort of bummed out that the man has to work most of the weekends this month, but I keep reminding myself that I have plenty to do on my own. Here's hoping that all of the extra hours we've been putting in lately creates some good karma. I'm just throwing this out into the universe: we could definitely use a little more cash and one fewer roommate. Take that as a hint, universe.