Tuesday, July 19, 2011

VJ

Today I met with a wonderful writer friend ... VJ Summers. VJ writes incredible solo works, and also writes with talented Sierra Summers under the name Violet Summers. We are part of a group of writers that tries to get together once a month, but I've missed several months and just plain missed them. VJ and I met for lunch and spent a couple of hours chatting about life, what we're working on, and just catching up.

There are many [many] different directions that my life is being pulled at this precise moment, but being with VJ reminded me of the void in my life that only words can fill. For those who are anticipating the next books in the Vintage Love series, rest assured that they will be coming.

Thanks VJ for the pleasure of your company today, sweetie. I love you.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

It's all green anyway

If you've ever wandered through my home, you will not be surprised by this statement: I love the color green. When my husband and I married a million years ago, I had no idea what colors would suit my personality and consequently painted -- and repainted -- all the rooms in our tiny home. It took me quite a while to finally discover the colors that made my mind settle and my heart smile.

At less than one thousand square feet, our home is small, and creating a flow throughout was important to me. (After years of having every room a different color with different carpeting.) From the moment you step through the front door and onto the enclosed porch, the color scheme is the same throughout most of the house. A light green-yellow satin called caneware covers the walls of the porch, living room, kitchen, and dining room. The window/door trim in all those rooms except the porch are painted with a gloss called winter surf.

Through the years, I've also used these colors to paint accent pieces that have been collected or reclaimed. Perfect case in point is the Hoosier cabinet that belonged to my great-grandmother. Rather than going the restoration route, I decided to simply have fun with this lovely old piece.

Then there's the eight-piece, one of a kind dinette set created from a salvaged table top, various chairs, an old dresser, and the legs off a bumper pool table.

There are many, many fun elements that have helped to create the comfortable, relaxing atmosphere of our home. For one thing, there's a lot of light. There are also sayings and quotes written directly on the walls, door and window frames, as well as on the dining room set. There's an airplane hanging from the ceiling in the living room, as well as art work from both of our kids -- matted, framed, and hung with pride. There's ceramic tile that my husband and I cut and laid with our own hands and hard work, and nostalgic memorabilia from our family history takes up large amounts of wall space.

And of course there's The Tree. The Tree will greet you when you enter our home as we do -- at the back. If you walk up the back stairs and into the dining room, you walk beneath the canopy that extends to the middle of the room. The Tree where our initials are "carved."

Not only does the color green saturate our home, but it has also managed to bleed over into my personal items. When my husband and I were invited to a Mad Men-themed party several weeks ago, I'm not surprised that it was a lovely olive green dress that truly got me in the mood for an incredible night of laughter and fun! I got to be elegant and sexy on the arm of my own Mad Man!

Yes, green is gorgeous! You will find it throughout my home and throughout my life.