Meet Buck

Meet Buck. He's our old school basement contractor. Buck is: an iced tea drinker, an early riser, adverse to smiling, trustworthy, and a hard worker.

Buck gives me a hard time, but likes that I push back. Today I told him I was taking his picture to show all you out there who he was. He blushed ten shades of red when I called him a handsome fellow.

Buck was over today working on shelves and a built in desk and bookcase. I'll post the rest of the tour when he gets his horrible looking tools off my carpet and finishes all the little things ...

Anyway, that's Buck. Now on with regular programming:


First, my girlfriend Julianna and I were talking about something to wear under shirts that is long enough to tuck into jeans so that the low-rise ones aren't so dang revealing when you walk, bend over, sit, stand ... whatever. You know my pain. I know you do. Anyway, she recommends the camis' from Undertease.  She swears by them and so I wanted to pass the tip along (she has impeccable taste).

Second, some unique Christmas gift ideas worth mentioning:

Tickle Monster Book. We give this to kids Caeden's age. Hugely popular and so cute. Love this book and highly recommend it to the little ones in your life.

Whisky Stones. Practical and useful. I have someone in mind for these.

Memory Quilt. I love this idea. I really, really wish I could sew. I am thinking of making a quilt (or having one made ... Mom Koop? Oh Mom? I have something to talk to you about... :) for the kids out of their favorite clothing items/blankets. A keepsake for sure.

Silicon Ice Cube Tray. Saw this idea in Cookie Magazine. Use it to make baby food, freeze pesto, freeze leftover chicken stock (am I the only one who has leftover stock sitting in the fridge?), making new crayons out of old, broken pieces (melt old crayon bits for 5 to 10 minutes at 400 degrees). These are the perfect gift for just about everyone. Oh yeah, they make great ice cubes, too.

One of a Kind Cake Stands.   Found these in Country Living Magazine. I adore the yellow one.

Have a good weekend!!

Basement Tour Part 2

Disclaimers:

1. I have to apologize for picture quality. Still using my iPhone (still lazy).
2. Sunlight is not the best this morning, so it's dim.
3. I did not have time to pretend I live spotless and pick everything up. What you see is what you get.

Here's where I work. Coffee cup, Nordstrom catalog, pictures ... are always staples on my desk. Picked up the office chair from a model home clearance sale for $35 (this chair is usually $550). Desk from Pottery Barn ... about 10 years old. Lamp is Anthropologie. Computer is Mac Pro with gigantic monitor (love, love, love!).

TV viewing area. Squishy sofa that barely made it down the stairwell (had to remove rails). Over-sized ottoman both from Curious Sofa (the best place on earth for furniture), old side table is too tall, too old and too white, but I am using what I have, so there you go. Leather chair is from the same model home sale. Picked it up for a song.

The great thing about a basement is rules pertaining to TV size don't really matter anymore. Big, bigger, biggest are all welcome. I watched the entire 1st season of True Blood the other night on it and loved the gaudy size. I imagine movie nights all winter long down here. Super cozy.

Here's my work in progress wall. I have a tough time replacing pictures in frames, I tend to just get more frames for more pictures ... so, I imagine in another month or so, this wall will be filled to the gills with more. And then I will need to find another wall ...

The clocks do not work, but each are set to a special time. The time my children were born, the time I got married, and the last one is my "just in case" clock for a special occasion yet to come.

Here's the playroom. Train table, normal table, storage galore all from Pottery Barn Kids. Love their style, but not sure they are built with quality in mind. The wood is soft and scratches, dents, and chips easily.

My OCD tendencies want me to delete this picture and go rearrange all the baskets and toys so they look perfect. Good thing my lazy side is dominant.

Here's the kitchen where we make smoothies, cakes, and everything else under the sun.

More tour tomorrow ...

In other news, Wayne is hanging in there. His white blood count is zero. However, he is shooting wheat grass every day and his red count is at a record high! We are hopeful he will not be needing a blood transfusion Friday if they hold steady.