Friday, October 31, 2008

Hell & Pigs

Hell has frozen over and pigs are flying.

After a two month hiatus, I exercised. And then, I cooked dinner. And yesterday, I spray painted a pumpkin.

Life is beginning to return to normal.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Yippity!

It's DONE! My new photography blog went live this week :-)

It was such a long process, starting with who I wanted to be. Really putting down into words and images the photographer that I want to become. Then making that look fantastic (Thanks Anne!) and then making it visible to the rest of the world (Thanks Sarah!)

I am BEYOND thrilled with it all.

www.hazelnutphotography.com/blog

... now, on to the next project!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A Tag!

I got tagged by Anne and must list 6 super random things about myself. (I love tags. A lot.)

1. I am OBSESSED with email. OBSESSED. I love getting it. I love sending it. I check it at least 800ish times a day. On my phone. On the computer. While in traffic. While standing in line. While I should be doing something else...

2. Pumpkin is clearly the best tasting thing on the planet. Pane e Vino has a pumpkin ravioli special every year in October, but the actual week varies. Every Monday in October I call and ask if it will be on the special board that week. When it finally is I make the reservation for as soon in the week as my friend Ani and I can get together. When I ordered last year, the waiter said that they were out. OUT?! I threw a mild tantrum and the chef "found" some. It was delcious. We topped it off with pumpkin cheesecake. Perhaps this is the week :-)

3. I am a planner. I love lists. Writing out lists of plans is heavenly to me. I have at least two To Do Lists going at once. There's always a pad of paper in my purse and a running list on my phone. The thrill of checking off an item is beyond amazing.

4. I grew up in the middle of nowhere North Carolina. I lived down a long dirt road, drove an hour to the nearest movie theater/mall/Wal-Mart/fast food joint, spent many a first date driving through mud puddles and shining spotlights on bears, and left my keys in the car when I went to the grocery store. The county only has one stop light. It's 25 minutes from my house. When we got a temporary second one to deal with some bridge maintenance, it made the front page of the newspaper. When I decided to go away from college people asked me "Why you goin go so far away from you Mama?" And when I decided to move to Los Angeles they thought I was crazy.

5. I was bored in high school, so I tried out for the track team. I hate running! I don't think I ran a single lap in the three days of tryouts and I made the team. (They even cut other people!) I am not a quitter and have never quit anything in my entire life... so I had to stick it out through the year. I spent a lot of time "sick" and "dehydrated" so that I wouldn't have to run the races. I was really really bad and always came in last. But I stuck it out through the entire season. I blame my super short stocky little legs. I am nothing if not stubborn.

6. I have cankles. Chris has amazingly beautiful skinny legs and such a defined strong Achilles tendon. I pray that our children get his leg/ankle/foot combo. I have considered and totally would get cankle surgery.

The "rules" of the game are as follows:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
Now, I tag these folks....

- Diabolina
- Jen
- Mary
- SamEd
- Paola
- You!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Decor: Chandeliers

Chris has this way with things. He always wins the prizes or somehow gets the most amazing deal. Except when car shopping, but that's a whole different story.

Anywho, I came home last week and was pushed into the kitchen and told that I wasn't allowed into the front room. His mom and dad were here, and the three of them convened in secret meeting in the living room. If my footsteps neared the living room, I was reprimanded.

I was scared. There's absolutely no telling what could occur when the three of them get together. I feared walking into the room that had been repainted with zebra stripes. No joke.

But I walked in to this.


Freakin' awesome chandelier. At the Habitat for Humanity. For $100. The tag retailed it for $3,600.

It's ENORMOUS... at least 4 feet tall and probably five feet wide. It has quickly become the centerpiece of the pool room. I'm thinking of maybe painting it black... umm...

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Decor: Desk

I could potentially open an ick furniture store in my garage.

I had a vision for the desk I wanted in my office. BIG. Wood. Black. Interesting legs.

Found her on Craig's List for $80! Its previous home is just around the corner from the house and the seller even dropped it off for us!

It's the heaviest, most ridiculously solid table. I'm going to refinish it with a black stain and put it in the center of the room. My computer will go on the left side and on the other end, Chris' computer will go on the opposite corner. Then we can stare at each other :-)


Decor: More Chairs

I'm going to have to change the blog from "The Jordana Project" to the "Buy a Bunch of Junk and Turn it into Something Awesome (Fingers Crossed) Project."

I bought more chairs. And a table.

I've been searching for these chairs for WEEEEEEKS! Trolling all kinds of sites day after day hoping for something junky that I could refinish and turn into all kinds of amazingness. Still in it's ick stage, my new most favorite office chairs.


How close to what I was looking for?! I think I even like them better than the other version. They are beyond fantastic and I can't wait to sit behind my new desk in this fabulous chair, with the amazing fabric I bought weeks ago with the perfect vision in mind. Ahhhh!

We went down to the Santa Monica Flea Market to take a look on Sunday. And in the back corner, just when I thought it was a total waste to drive all the way down there, I spot these. And I think, "They're going to be AT LEAST $80 a piece and it's sooo not worth it." So I ask. $20 A PIECE!!! ACK!


And one of them is broken, so I tell her I will only pay $15 for it. She's fine with that. EEK!

There's also a table. All kinds of broken. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it but I kind of love it. I'm thinking about painting it all black and having glass or wood cut to fit the top. Or maybe something off the wall like stainless steel or concrete.




I'll have to go to town with the wood glue. And perhaps never put anything of value on it should it collapse into a million and a half pieces.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Decor: Chairs, Chairs Everywhere


I am currently obsessed with antique chairs of the Louis variety. Obsessed.
I found this one on Craig's List and picked it up on Friday. It's not going to work for my office because it's too small, but I'm thinking now for the living room. Painting it black and then reupholstering it with something fantatsic. Maybe white. Or maybe a print. Or maybe I'll leave it a bit until I reorganize my brain.

Decor: Photo Wall in the Pool Room

Remember the smurf blue living room? Well, it has been renamed the pool room and Chris wants to hang chlorine tablets from the ceiling. The color and the rounded walls into the ceiling do feel pretty much like an upside down pool. Kind of like floating at the top and looking down at the bottom. Perhaps we will repaint at some point in the future, but I'm tired of painting. And I don't want to. Chris' father suggested hanging 3ft, 6ft, 12ft signs on the walls. I suggested hanging them upside down. It's kind of funny :-)





(the green in the dining room was not my choice. It will be changed as

soon as I drum up the energy to put my painting clothes on again.)



But we're here for the photo wall! I'm so freakin' excited about this wall. I've wanted a giant wall that I can with as I please FOREVER. But I've just never had the space. Now I have more walls than I know what to do with and I knew exactly what it would be. An entire wall of black and whites. It's absolutely heavenly and I adore it. I think it needs a bit of rearranging and a few more photos, but it's almost there!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

eekkkkk! A Photography Feature!

Over at Elizabeth Anne Designs! Go check it out.

You're probably going to be sooo over me blabbering on and on about how amazingly blessed I feel these days. This little thing I started is growing and becoming so big! I am overwhelmed with how supportive every single person in my life has been. Beyond amazing.