Oh, Omaha

The family descends on Omaha! My Brother married his girlfriend, Kelly, last weekend in Omaha, NE.

 From top to bottom: Brad, my grandma, me, my brother Jacob, my mom, my sister Hannah, and my dad.

Our arrival in Omaha ( fun fact number 1: the airport was actually in Iowa) marked a number of firsts for our family. My Grandma, mom, and Jacob had never flown before. Brad had never been to the Midwest, and I had never ventured further west than Chicago. Although NE is very different than VA, and everyone thought we had southern accents (I found this hilarious, because everyone from NC south thinks Virginians sound like northerners) we really enjoyed our trip to the Midwest. We discovered that Omaha is an art appreciating, food loving, hipster kind of town, and fun fact number 2: we did not see any corn!

We were starving after a long day of traveling, so after a quick stop at the hotel, we had a late dinner at Spaghetti Works. The food here was OK, but the real star was the awesome, quirky decor!

From the old-fashioned fortune tellers that greet you at the door,

to the crazy cool light fixtures, this place had great eye candy. 

We thought the area around the restaurant seemed fun, so we decided to go back the next day and check things out. We discovered it was called Old Market and full of antique stores, funky clothing stores, and lots and lots of yummy places to eat.

Our first stop, after an amazing breakfast at WheatFields, was a soda fountain/candy store/antiques market called Fairmont Antiques and Mercantile 

This wall of pinball games made me want to start a collection of my own.

My sister rocking the retro cool of this hot pink car.

Our shopping excursion was dampened by a steady rain, but that didn't stop us from ducking in and out of nearly every retail store! We finally found some relief from the weather in a covered courtyard area between the shops called the passageway.

Brad and I, very happy to be dry for a moment!

Mom and Hannah were happy too! Fun fact number 3: Everywhere we went, people thought Hannah and I were twins. We've only been told that one time in our lives, but at least three people thought so in NE.  

After a day of window shopping, we had a lovely rehearsal and dinner ( more on that later). The day of the wedding, we had a few hours before we needed to gussy up, so we took in The Durham Museum.

The Museum is housed in the old train station and has lots and lots of art deco details.

It also had fun sculptures in the lobby that talked to you about the heyday of rail travel.

Downstairs, we learned all about the history of Omaha, went through an emotional exhibit of Pulitzer Prize winning photographs, and had a blast playing on the train exhibits.

My grandma deemed it, " The best museum I've ever been to." 

Stay tuned for more details on the big day!

<3

Hattie

PS, What's your favorite random American city to visit? I wouldn't have picked Omaha as a vacation destination, but it turned out to be a really fun city with lots to do. I want to add some more looked over cities to my travel list!

Throw me some rope

I just got back from a fun-filled trip to NE for my brother's wedding - so expect much more to come on that front! Today, though, I want to share my first rope project. I've got several other rope projects in the works, so I hope you're as crazy for the nautical look as I am!

I decided to start off with this fun woven mat from my knot book.

I have to say, it's a little harder than it looks, and it took me awhile to get the hang of keeping all my lines straight and taunt. It's pretty satisfying to see a pile of rope turn into something pretty, so I think it was worth the effort!

I decided to fancy things up a bit by sewing some red thread in and out of the knot. I love how it added some beachy flare, but still has an understated and natural vibe.

It works well as a pot holder too! If I can make one of these, anyone can - so find a book or tutorial and given a fancy knot a try! It's fun to learn a new useful skill :-)

<3

Hattie

The 5 stages of (building) grief

The last time I showed you this picture...

... I was pretty sure a house was about to be constructed behind me. Everything was going so well, and we had green lights all the way to the appraisal.

But then the appraisal came back. A big, fat, red light. The number they gave us was so low; we thought it had to be a joke. We're talking tens of thousands less than the cost to build. And so I entered the 5 stages of building grief.

1. Denial - This number can't be right. Clearly there is an error somewhere.

2. Anger - How dare this appraiser crush my dreams and undervalue my precious house? I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!

3. Bargaining - Maybe if I explain how special this house will be, the appraiser will change his mind? Just because houses around us are selling low, doesn't mean our house would.

4. Depression - We're never going to get a house! We're doomed to live in this tiny cottage forever. Teachers aren't paid enough to have a beautiful home.

5. Acceptance - This is just a minor setback. There are other banks and other appraisers in this world. This must not be the right situation for us, but that doesn't mean we won't start on a house before the summer is over.

So ... here's where we are. It is not likely that our house is going to be appraised for as much as it will cost to build. Very few houses have sold near us, so there are practically no comparable houses within a 5 or even 10 mile radius of our land. This is the problem with living in the boonies - people pass their homes down to their children or build new homes on family land. You can also have a million dollar home next to a trailer. This does not make for cookie cutter neighborhoods with lots of similar houses being bought and sold. Good for my open spaces loving soul - bad for home appraisals.

However, we've been told by a number of people that the appraisal looks, "fishy," so we will be getting a second appraisal in hopes of a slightly higher number. We're also talking to a number of banks to try to work out the best financing option for us.

So, please forgive me for not posting as much as normal. I can't bring myself to post all of the house stuff we've been doing (kitchen planning, choosing exterior materials, etc.) until I know for sure the house is moving forward. I've been a bit of an emotional wreck as we play this hurry up and wait game with financing, and I haven't been my usual crafty and creative self. It's hard to sew and paint when you're busing chewing off all your fingernails!

Happy house prayers are welcome, and I'm so thankful that y'all are sticking with me through this craziness!

<3
Hattie

Library flowers

Last week was National Library Week. In celebration, my school sent me this huge vase of springy flowers.

I enjoyed them as is for a few days, but if you know me, you know I am not one to leave a bouquet of flowers untouched. I went with my usual divide and conquer strategy and scattered the blooms in vintage vases all over the house.

Three sweet little milk glass vases are right at home on the kitchen table.

Cuz, ya know good things always come in threes!

I had to indulge in my favorite form of pampering and plop the hobnail vase of carnations on my nightstand.

Forget the manicures and spa treatments, this country girl just needs a tiny vase of flowers to feel spoiled!

I had to plunk the daisies in aqua canning jars, because daisies just belong in beautiful old jars.

I've never stuck flowers on the bookshelves before, but I think they add some unexpected fun.

It's ridiculous how happy I am when flowers are sprinkled all over the house! What simple thing makes you all giddy?

<3
Hattie

there's a hole in the elbow of my shirt...

To be sung to the tune of, "There's a hole in the bottom of the sea." There's a flake on the skin on the elbow on my arm poking out of the hole in the elbow of my shirt! There's a hole! There's a hole! There's a hole in the elbow of my shirt.

Yup, there's a hole in that there shirt. My pointy elbow tore right through it when I was in the middle of teaching a research lesson last week. Since I'm on spring break this week, I finally have time to share how I saved the shirt and outwitted the hole.

First step - (please pardon the icky lighting, I was so eager to start sewing, that I snapped away without thinking about the dim lighting) cut off that hole!

I turned my long sleeve shirt into a short sleeve shirt with a little sleeve trim-a-roo.

Step two - make the neckline more feminine.

This was as simple as cutting a 'V' into the front of the shirt.

Step three - make some ruffles

I cut inch wide strips out of my sleeve fabric and used my machine to create some random ruffles by pleating and shoving bits of the fabric under the presser foot as I sewed a straight line down the middle of the strips. Note: do not shove your finger under the presser foot as that will result in the needle piercing your skin, causing you to run to the bathroom with blood dripping down your hand - not that I know this from personal experience.

Step four -arrange and pin your ruffles.

I went for an asymmetric look with one ruffle on one side, three on the other, and three ruffle roses in the middle. Once I was happy with everything, I stitched it all down.

Step five - love your shirt

I've worn this three times so far and washed it once. Everything came out great, and the ruffles actually become a bit  more ruffly after a wash.

I love it when I can save something from the trash bin and give it a little more life!

<3
Hattie

Decorating in the Stacks

What kind of librarian would I be if I didn't take the time to share some of the awesome ways your local library can help you create a beautiful home - on the cheap?!?! Here are three hints for ways the local library can save you some decorating dough.

1. Free magazines
.
This one is sort of a, "duh," but I thought I should share it anyway. If I'm not sure if I love a magazine, I like to check it out at the library for free, then decide if it's worth buying. My library also has a free magazine bin where patrons can donate old magazine and take home new (to them) magazines for free.

2. Library discard sales

I love to find sweet old books to use in little vignettes around the house. They rarely cost more than a dollar or two and are so much fun!

I also keep an eye out for books with fun illustrations or color plates. You can scan them or cut them out for framing.

3. Unusual books

Of course the craft and decorating books are great resources, but it's totally worth scanning the rest of the non-fiction section for out of the box ideas.

I was browsing the shelves the other day and picked up this little gem. I'm feeling a trip to the hardware store is in order so I can buy some nautical-looking rope and start tying some knots.

I think this would make a really cool wreath.

I have always want a monkey's fist door stopper, so I definitely need to try this.

I'd love to stitch a few of these together to make a unique table runner.

What's the best thing you've found at your library?

<3
Hattie

Home sweet home plans

The big excitement around the roost this week are our newly finished house plans! Click on any of the images to see them larger.

The front

I am so in love with the porch and stone columns! I think the dormer adds a lot of charm.

Right side

The long, narrow window will be in a bathroom. You can see how much our lot will slope!

Left side

I think this deck is going to be awesome! I already have plans to put in a paving stone patio between the deck and the front porch.

Downstairs

Some of my favorite features: The corner fireplace, french doors with transom leading into the library, the doublesided closet perfect for coats, hide-and-seek, and trips to Narnia, and the lovely, open kitchen - with dishwasher!

Upstairs

Yay, for walk in closets, walk in showers (with rain head!) and lots of storage under the eaves and in the attic.

We are so, so excited to start on this project! We hope to meet with the bank next week to get everything set to go. If all goes well we may be able to break ground in mid-April!

<3
Hattie