Kitchen!

I really believe that there’s nothing a coat of paint can’t fix. I LOVE to paint.

From the moment we moved in, I wanted new cabinets, but then I watched [one too many] episodes of Divine Design with Candice Olson. Mom and I watched this one where she did a glorious kitchen and I got to thinkin’ I could do that.

So I googled a video on how to paint cabinets, eh voila:

Before:

 

This pic is from before we moved in!

 

 

After:

So, we’ve been a little busy. We did it in one week, and can’t believe the difference. I LOVE paint. Give me a little VOC and I’m good. just kidding.

Really, it wasn’t that hard. This one, however, did not help:

And I’m glad it’s done. Our new website for work (the thing I was hired for) is about to launch next week – we show it to our CEO on Tuesday so it has been nothing short of crazy. I can’t wait to show it all to you!

But I have a lot of stories to catch up on so I’ll try to post a couple more before d-day.

The Deen Brothers

It’s been crazy since we got back from San Fran – I’ve been sick with a sinus infection, work has been nuts, and now I’m leaving for Chicago this morning for the week for work.

But on Saturday, I pulled it together enough to go meet the Jamie and Bobby Deen, better known for their mom, Paula Deen. The boys have some cookbooks that we love, and I was invited to attend this special food & wine day at the Fairmont Scottsdale.

May I just tell you how funny and kind they are (and easy on the eyes, if I must say)! Patrick and I wound up talking to them for like 20 minutes. Anyway,  you should get their cookbook.

Okay, San Fran pics to come when I’m back, plus, you may get an extra-special post about nasal cleansing. You are so lucky.

And we’re off!

This was supposed to show photos of my bloated suitcase, but there’s no time for that.

I’ve got the iPod, cookies, shloads of jewelry, my “fancy” jeans, my jacket, my camera and my purple brocade dress.

Oh, and the Southwest drink tickets. How could I forget.

We’re staying right in Union Square, and I’m dying to see mom’s reaction since the last time she was there in the late ’60s.

We’ll be the hotel room playing “Take Your Mama Out” by Scissor Sisters (go download NOW if you don’t have it – what a fantastic song) on repeat, if you want to come meet up with us.

We’ll be snapping pics as if you were here too

Adios amigos!

Chairs: before and after

Some things are so serendipitous.

All of a sudden, I had become very stressed about a dining room table, as I mentioned. So weird of a thing to stress about. Anyway, we were up in Oregon, and I was mentioning it, and Dorian said that we should come look at her step mother’s table, because it was big and sturdy and great. I was thrilled (truth be told, I couldn’t wait to get back to Phoenix to go look at it – Dorian’s step mother lived here.)

Anyway, thanks to a lot of help from Chris’ and Patrick’s biceps and hamstrings, the table made its way into a U-Haul we rented one morning. We are absolutely in love with it. It’s huge, dark wood, and 15 of my closest friends can sit at it together comfortably. (I would show it, but the table is getting ready for Christmas.) The only slight misnomer for the room it’s in were the chairs.

But a chair rehab-er, I would become. (I think.) But what to do with caning.

before.

After some consult with my fellow designer, I decided on black and cream (the whole room will be those colors), and off went the project.

Lo and behold, le chairs.

After.

Disclaimer from the lawyers: This post is meant for design inspiration purposes only, and not to brag about the adeptness of skill portrayed by Kelley and Patrick Cooper. Resulting thoughts from this post should be, “Oh, if they can do that, I can do it, and probably better than them,” or, “next time I do this, I will enlist their help since they have no problem getting spray paint over their entire bodies, or their dogs who happen to run through the trail of spray paint,”  or “I should really call Joye next time I want to recover fabric!”

Mom: her face and the race

Well, as you know from Julie’s blog, mom is a local celebrity.

We knew she was going to be on billboards around town, but the certainly not the biggest, hugest one on 40th Street and Camelback? Oh yes, she is. And it’s HUGE in person.

mom with camelback mountain in the background

If that weren’t enough, you can see it going the other way too.

So, we were lucky to escort this famous lady to Race for the Cure! Julie (pushing Jake), mom and I all ran together for the 5k throughout downtown. Mom and I got there early for the parade, which turned out to only be about a block long. But it’s the thought that counts!

Mom at the parade!

Mom and I meandered through the little race village and it was so fun to see everyone in pink and so festive. It was truly one of the best times all year.

Mom and Polly at the starting line!

Mom made a friend on the course

After the finish line - woohoo!

She did it!

Mom never stopped running once and we had a great time! Logan and Ryan even saw us finish all together. By the way, notice mom’s running number? It happens to be the year she was born.

Mom – we love you and we’re so proud of you!  We love you sooooo much and are so excited you are over that whole cancer thing. We had so much fun at the Race, just like we do all the time. We love you!!

So to complete the mom-is-so-over-breast-cancer trifecta, we are packing our bags and heading to a San Fran celebration! Mom, Julie and I leave on Thursday morning for four days of California fun and we can’t wait! There is a lot of dining, sight-seeing, bridge walking, shopping, drinking and FUN coming our way!

Nie on Oprah!

Alright – Sarah discovered the news this afternoon – Nie is going to be on Oprah THIS Wednesday. It’s a big show about family tragedy and amazing stories.

Check out the preview here.

Won’t it be weird to hear her voice and see her move? She’s never put video on her famous blog, and we’ve only seen her husband do a “thank you” video when he was out of the burn unit, when Stephanie was still in a coma.

Let’s discuss after the show!

(Sarah, I cannot believe you will be on a plane but I will give you the recap.)

Cliff Notes: Stephanie (Nie, Nienie) and Christian Nielsen are the parents of four kids, and they lived in Mesa, AZ when they were burned in a small plane crash, killing their friend and pilot. Christian had burns on 30% of him, Nie had them on over 80%. It’s a miracle she survived. Her blog was extremely popular all over the world way before the accident, most people reading on how much she loved being a mom and a wife. And now, it’s all about her doing the same things, in such a different way. (See her blog)

Here’s a couple “before” pics:

And an after:

She’s purely inspirational. Set your DVRs and watch!

Goldilocks

At this very moment:

I am getting ready for Boot Camp (did I tell you we started that? It’s a three-month thing – so check back in December).

Lucy is shredding a tennis ball that she is not allowed to have in the house, but she sneaks it under her cheeks when Patrick isn’t around.

I just put the sheets in the washer so Patrick won’t smell Charlie in the bed. One Charles Cooper slept with me all night, both of the last two nights that Patrick was in Denver for work.

Don’t feel bad for Patrick. It serves him right for what I found last week.

Somebody’s been sleeping in my bed…

Jack & Sam

On Saturday night our great friends, Jack and Sam (Jack was in our wedding),  were toasted in a party to celebrate their new home/engagement/shower/wedding send-off. They are getting married on October 10 in Rocky Point, and we can’t make it, but we are excited that we were able to celebrate with them before they go!

The toast to wish them a life of love and happiness…

Jill didn't think the camera was on

The girls

The boys

us

I could not for the life of me get a photo of Jack and Sam – they were too busy entertaining their guests! It was a GREAT party – we’re so, so happy for them. Jack and Patrick went to preschool together, and I’ve known Jack since about two days after we started dating. Sam is great for him – she’s so sweet. We love them – (and Jack, if you’re reading…) Bon Voyage! Happy Wedding! We’ll be here with bells on when you come back.

Today.

I don’t use koozies. But when I saw this one in January, I used it to bandaid my broken heart for another football season ended. But it’s week two. And I’m excited.

During halftime, I’m doing this:

Some of the items for fall decor. I also *might* be getting out my sewing machine to finish a fall project from last year. I also *might* be making a Joann’s run. I am definitely switching accessories, back to my purple patent purse.

It’s fall, people. Get excited.

The September Issue

If you know me, you know that I don’t miss an issue of Vogue. I love it – I love the articles, the photography, the creativity. I’ve always been fascinated with Anna Wintour (the editor-in-chief) because of how cunning (and cutting) she is, so when I heard last year that there was a documentary about her coming out, I was over-the-top excited.

Appropriately, it’s called The September Issue because that is always their biggest issue as it reveals the fall trends (and of course plays on the dreary days with Anna). The documentary tracked the making of the 2007 Sept. issue., and when I got an invite from the Fashion Council here, I was thrilled.

On Sunday night, Julie and I went to the Phoenix Art Museum to premiere the movie (starts in AZ in a couple weeks if you’re looking for it) and for the after-party.

Interestingly, we both showed up in white ruffles and black.

I highly recommend the movie – it was fantastic – Julie said, “I might actually start reading Vogue now!” And if you love photography – it’s for you. Wait till you see the photo shoots, and what gets cut from the magazine.

The after party

The red carpet

We had so much fun! Thanks for coming, Juie!