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Arkansas is having an unseasonably warm winter right now. Though the weather is still tricky – fog one day, sun the next, a little rain after that – it’s stayed consistently above freezing. Sweater weather, though my coats are long forgotten in a back closet.
Unless Mother Nature plays a switcheroo on me, I’m planning to cozy up in chunky cardigans, boots and scarves this weekend.
The always awesome Roll & Tumble Press has prints for sale at Fab.com today! We’re talking discounted rates on awesome art for yer walls. My fingers weren’t quick enough for the “You Are Here” print, but there’s still plenty of awesomeness left, so HURRY over to Fab.com and getcha some.
Not a member of Fab.com? Use my invite link here.
( I got the ampersand!)
We don’t know because our doorbell doesn’t work! And yes, that’s a real lady bug hanging out in my shot.
But anyway, our doorbell was kind of a mess. And I’m not just referring to the fact that it’s covered in paint. The only way to make it ring was by sticking a screwdriver in it, like so:
But since most of our guests don’t arrive screwdriver in hand, I thought it was high time to install a new doorbell.
So I found a nice, tasteful doorbell at Home Depot. This part – the chimes that I’ll install in the hallway – cost about $20.
The button that I’ll install on the front porch cost about $7. So all total, this project cost less than $30. High five!
The first and most important step : turn off the breaker that gives power to the doorbell. Safety first, guys!
So, if you remember from my hallway pictures, the doorbell chimes had lost their cover (top left). So I unscrewed them from the wall, but they were held up there nice and tight by about 50 years worth of paint (top right). Next, I loosened the screws that hold the wiring in (bottom left) and with a bit of prying, I gently removed the old chimes (bottom right).
Here’s a close up of the old chimes, which we’re pretty sure are original to the house (which was built in the 60s). Check out those cobwebs! But notice that the red wire is wrapped around the first screw, which is labeled “front,” and the white wire is wrapped around the middle screw, labeled “trans.” I loosened those screws with a couple twists of my screwdriver and unwrapped the wires before taking down the old chimes.
Once the old chimes were down, Aaron drilled holes to put anchors in the wall for the new chimes (top left). With the new chimes in hand, I loosened the “front” and “trans” screws (top right). When the new chimes were in place, I threaded the wires through the hole in the top left corner of the chimes and screwed them into place (bottom left). Once they were in place, I wrapped the wires around the “front” and “trans” screws and tightened them with my screwdriver.
A slightly blurry close up. It’s important to remember : red goes to “front” and white goes to “trans.” Once the screws are tightened back in place, the chimes half of your doorbell is officially installed.
The plastic cover just pops right on and voila! Your chimes tastefully blend right into the walls of your new white hallway.
Meanwhile, out on the front porch, I unscrewed the old doorbell button, and just like with the chimes, there’s a red wire wrapped around the top screw and a white wire wrapped around the bottom screw (top left). Just loosen those screws and unwrap the wires, leaving them exposed (top right). Take your new button, loosen the screws and wrap the red wire around the top screw and the white wire around the bottom screw, then tighten the screws back in place (middle).
We realized once we hooked up the button that we hadn’t turned the power off to this half of the doorbell, as evidenced by the light that came on when the wires were in place (bottom left). Oops! Lesson learned. It takes two (breakers) to tango. Last step – use the screws that came in the button’s package to screw the button into place (bottom right).
And there you have it! A nice, chimey new doorbell. And yes, it works!
My friend Summer is moving to New York City next week, so I thought it only fitting to throw her a southern-style brunch before she heads north, featuring all her favorite southern foods. With the help of my lovely co-hosts, Jessi and Chad, the brunch was a success, and we all ate until we nearly burst.
The Menu:
Shrimp & Grits
Bite-sized Chicken & Waffles
BBQ Pork Sliders
Berries & Cream
Summer’s Deviled Eggs
Pimento Cheese
Banana Bread Sandwiches with Cream Cheese & Strawberries (my fave!)
Fried Squash
Bacon
Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread muffins
Buttermilk Biscuits
Whiskey Peach Tea
Rosemary-infused Lemonade
And my friend/famed pie maker Autumn of Avant Tarte brought pecan and triple berry pies that were the perfect finishing touch! You can try her pies for yourself at Big Orange (you’ll be glad you did!).
Oh, and here’s the invitation I made:
I kinda went nuts on Pinterest the other night and “accidentally” pinned about fifty photos to my “To Go and To Do” board. Many of which involved European cities, Souther American countries, castles, and landmarks. One place I’m dying to go is Freiburg, Germany which is this amazing city on the edge of the Black Forest.
Oh, Pinterest. Continually feeding my wanderlust and addiction to inspiration. You’re like a drug dealer that I don’t have to pay in sketchy alleyways.
Follow me here. And let me know if you’re on Pinterest. I need more people to follow!
I’ve got a friend coming to stay tonight (yay!!!) so I thought I’d quickly pop in and give you a sneak peak of the hallway:
Yikes. Walls, trim and doors are painted. Ceiling’s up next. Plus there’s a handful of small projects that need to happen as well. I’ll keep you updated. 
Also, for any of you working on your own house projects, don’t forget about the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Donating your old materials to them not only helps others and the organization, but it gets stuff OUT OF YOUR HOUSE. The most important thing.
And if you’re like “Oh, I’ll never get around to going there to drop the stuff off” or “I don’t have a truck” or some other lame excuse, the Habitat ReStore will come pick your stuff up! For free! Just schedule a pick up on their website.
We left our old, crappy doors on the front porch today with a sign that said “Habitat” and….
when I came home, they were gone! It was pretty much the best thing ever.
Beige. The color of the evening. Not only was it the most popular dress color choice, I feel like it’s a perfect descriptor of the red carpet as well. Kinda boring, with just a handful of interesting looks. Also, a lot of weird half-updos.
Let’s jump right in, shall we? A few faves:
My “Best Dressed” of the evening goes to Natalie Portman in Lanvin. I love love LOVE the red and pink combo. That unexpected and modern color combination paired with the old Hollywood silhouette of the dress is a definite win.
Is it sad that a 13-year-old made the top of my list? Ariel Winter of Modern Family was perfect in her purple Dolce & Gabbana. She managed to look cute, sophisticated and age appropriate all at once. PERFECT dress for her.
I loved Emma Stone’s Lanvin dress the same way I loved Cate Blanchett’s Givenchy at last year’s Oscars. It’s different and offbeat but still sexy. Just like the gal wearin’ it.
Salma Hayek’s deco dress was amazing on her. On a less curvy woman, this dress might’ve been harsh or robotic. Not possible on Salma.
Claire Danes always looks great on the red carpet, and this year was no different. This J.Mendel dress was unexpected, modern and sexy without being showy.
Jenny Dewan. I don’t know who she is, but I want her dress. While the toga/goddess look isn’t anything new, I loved the green color and the fact that she paired it with periwinkle accessories.
Elle McPherson is 47 years old. That’s really all I have to say about that.
For someone who dated Marilyn Manson, Evan Rachel Wood continually turns out surprisingly sophisticated red carpet looks. The fish scale sequins that fade into feathers on this Gucci dress could’ve easily been a complete disaster, but she managed to look totally amazing in it.
Angie topped many a Best Dressed list today, but not for me. I love the dress. LOVE IT. But Angie already wavers on the verge of Disney villain – you know, beautiful but evil. The harsh lines of this dress, combined with the tight bun and red lipstick make me wonder where she’s hiding her dragon.
Another example of right dress, wrong person. I love this dress. It might’ve been one of my very favorites. But it is the same color as her skin and hair! She should be haunting an attic somewhere.
Shailene W???????’s dress was totally gorgeous. But it desperately needed something. Jewelry? Makeup? Better hair? A more famous person to wear it?
Charlize Theron looked gorgeous as usual, but a) I’m pretty sure I’ve seen her in this exact same outfit and b) blush pink and a sequin headband seem a little young for someone in their late thirties, no?
Rooney Mara. Cool name, cool dress. But I’ve had cuter ponytails on the treadmill.
***Now I’d like to award the following actresses Golden Globes for Best Performances in the “Pretty but Boring” category.***
Kate Winslet, Debra Messing, Freida Pinto, Tina Fey, Kate Beckinsale, Diane Lane, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Alba, Viola Davis and Sarah Hyland.
***And now for the other half.***
I want to rip that tutu off of Julianne Moore’s hips, Cinderella-style. Trust me, I’d've been doing her a favor.
I’m so conflicted about Diana Agron’s dress. I want to say I hate it, but I don’t. I think. I’m not sure? Let’s put it this way: if there were a “love it” bin and a “don’t love it” bin, I wouldn’t recycle this.
Sofia Vergara’s signature bombshell mermaid dresses are turning into a total snoozefest. Wear something different before I force myself to forget who you are.
The only thing Mila Kunis has to be mad about is that one of her boobs appeared white in every photo taken of her last night.
The periwinkle jacket is totally mother of the bride groom at David Bowie’s wedding. But Tilda Swinton don’t give a &^#$.
Madonna in Reem Acra. Close your eyes and imagine this dress without the mesh sleeves, cross necklace and single leather glove. Just strapless. Can you imagine it? Not bad, eh? Now open your eyes. It’s all still there. Sorry.
Love her, haaaaaaaate this. That dress is exactly the same color as her skin tone, and the sad hair and to-the-navel cut just accentuated her bad posture.
Another example of beige gone bad. The amazing necklace can’t even save this look.
Like Nicole Kidman, Amy Poehler had that tragic one-color-from-head-to-toe thing happening last night. But this makes up for it:
Yesssssssssssss! (PS – I finished Bossypants. GO READ IT RIGHT NOW.)
If Michelle Williams was able to convince one person she has the sex appeal of Marilyn Monroe, then she deserves every ounce of the Golden Globe she won last night. Bravo, Michelle! Excellent acting!
Julianna Margulies must have a stock pile of weird, futuristic Star Trek-y dresses. The only explanation : time travel.
Take a good look at this person. SHE is a fashion critic.
Little known fact : Zooey Deschanel got her start on You Can’t Do That on Television. That’s a lie. But she did have sideburns last night. And that’s weird.
What’s worse? A dress that’s as unflattering as humanly possible OR accidentally wearing a mullet to the Golden Globes? Jessica Chastain can’t decide.
Dresses that flatter plus-size figures do exist. I saw at least three of them on the red carpet last night. Melissa McCarthy, everyone loves you. But girl, get a stylist. And a new hairdresser.
Beach hair, sheer makeup and no jewelry? Weird boob cups and SUPER unflattering butt seams? C’mon girl.
A good rule of thumb : If Olivia Wilde already wore it, and you are not younger or hotter than she is, maybe don’t wear it. This whole look is so age-inappropriate, it’s almost creepy.
Ahh, the newly engaged Jessica Biel. Soon-to-be Mrs. Sexy Back. So do you want to make the obvious Miss Havisham joke or should I?
Hey girl. This is kinda awkward, but I feel like I need to let you know that you’re supposed to wear a dress over that petticoat. OMG, don’t be mad, ok? I’m just…like….being honest.
I’m going out on a limb here, but I’ve decided that unless your date is picking you up in his mom’s Corolla, giving you a crappy corsage and treating you to Olive Garden before the prom, a ball-gown silhouette is probably not an appropriate look for where you’re going. That being said….
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Piper Perabo totally failed. And that, friends, takes us to my “worst dressed” of the evening:
I’ve said in the past that Lea Michele always looks fantastic on the red carpet. Which officially makes me unqualified to write fashion recaps and post them on the internet. HEINOUS.
And that’s my take. What about you? Leave a comment and tell me what you loved, and more importantly, what you hated.
Do you have exciting weekend plans? Aaron and I are taking a break from door duty tonight to go out for dinner and rest. Hopefully, the entire door project will be finished tomorrow. And maybe I’ll even get the hallway painted.
I dream big.
See you fools Monday!
{via}
So I promised an instructional How To, and I’m following up on my promise, even though (I’ll admit it) nothing went as smoothly as we planned. We’re still installing doors and not a single one has gone up without some sort of problem. Aaron loves life right now. But anyway, here goes:
Mom bought us 5 doors – one of which was “pre-bored” for a lockset. Meaning the holes were there for installing a door knob. The other 4 were not pre-bored, so we used the pre-bored door as a pattern. We traced the circle for the knob (seen here) after making sure that the strike plates on our door frames were 36″ from the floor. The strike plate is the part of the door knob that is drilled into the door frame. You want to make sure that your new door knobs will line up with the strike plate when you close the door.
Meanwhile, I used the deadlatch of one of our new knobs to cut a pattern out of paper. The deadlatch is the part that sticks out of the door and catches in the strike plate.
Then we took the door outside and placed it on our super professional construction worker sawhorses.
I lined up my little paper-made pattern so that it was level with the circular knob pattern – the middle of it being 36″ from the floor, and traced around it.
When all our patterns were drawn, Aaron drilled a small hole all the way through the center of the circle pattern.
Then he attached the hole saw to the end of his drill.
He lined it up with the pattern we drew and DRILLED BABY DRILLED. Important note: do not drill all the way through with the hole saw. Use your hole saw to saw half way through the door, then turn the door over, line your drill up with the hole you made and drill out the other half.
We learned this the hard way (more on that later).
Then, Aaron lined up a paddle bit with the center of the side template. We started with a 3/4 paddle bit but after the first door, we moved up to a 7/8 because it fit the deadlatch a bit better.
Drill all the way through to create the hole that the deadlatch is inserted into.
Next, we turned the door on its side and scored the traced pattern with a box knife.
Mom showed us how to chisel. Turn the chisel to a 45 degree angle and tap it with a hammer. The point of this step is to take out a little bit of wood so the deadlatch will lie flush with the side of the door.
See? Aaron quickly went pro at chiseling.
Meanwhile, I was inside removing the old doors by unscrewing the hinges and scoring around them with a box knife. Homeowners, do a favor for the people who will own your house after you: DON’T PAINT OVER STUFF. Ughhhh. Anyway, once I’d scored around the hinge, I just gently tugged on each door till it came off the wall.
And immediately removed the rusted, painted old hinges. Note that the hinge area has been chiseled out so that the hinge will lie flush with the door frame.
Time to hinge! We lined up the new hinges where the previous ones had been.
Aaron screwed in one screw on the top hinge and one at the bottom, then we lined the new door up with it. Insert something under the door to hold it up and keep it from dragging across the floor- we used a piece of cardboard.
Once the door was in place, he put one more screw in the door too, so that, technically, the door was up. But for the door to fit the frame properly, we needed the hinges to lie flush with the door as well as the frame.
So we traced around the hinge, unscrewed it and took the door down.
And just like the step where we chiseled out the spot for the deadlatch, we scored the traced area with a box knife and chiseled it out.
