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set it: rustic re-do

make it: beef stew with ale

gift it: 1. Steele Canvas Log-Carrier 2. Leather Conditioner and Waterproofing Oil 3. Estwing Camping Hatchet 4.Fairbault Virgin Wool Buffalo Check Blanket

1. Blue Hill Farms jams | 2. Brooklyn Brine Co. | 3. Rooster 14 Cookies (a.k.a. crack cookies) | 4. Big Spoon Roasters | 5. Steve’s Southern Banana Pudding ice cream | Top image via

Maybe I’ve been failing at blogging, but Lula is ready for the comeback of GPOYDT. Beginning with her most epic of fails. Hang tight for some fun house updates including–DRUM ROLL PLEASE–that time my mom and I (but mostly my mom) built a DIY copy of the Crate and Barrel Colette bed for the master bedroom. Plus curtains in the living room, new doors, paint jobs. It’s happening folks. It’s all happening. In the mean time, GPOYDT.

It’s that time again! Time for me to plant some stuff in the yard. Last summer, I planted verbena along the entire edge of the bed but I didn’t like how it looked by the end of the summer. During the fall/winter months, I alternated mums and kale, with a row of pansies in front of the rose bushes. It looked really pretty until the kale got really tall and alien-y looking after the weather heated up. I pulled it all up last weekend but left the mums. They are big and green now, but I think I’ll just trim them down this summer, and let them bloom again in the fall. Meanwhile, our rose bushes have been out of control! Look at all those roses!

Our mulch from last spring was sunbleached, so Aaron put a new layer down last weekend. We chose cedar mulch because it’s supposed to repel ants, termites and the dreaded cockroaches that we were over run with last summer. Those big, black cockroaches, or waterbugs, eat wood, so they are attracted to mulch, and last year…we had a lot of cockroaches. So fingers crossed that the cedar keeps them at bay!

The only new planting I’ve done this spring is HERBS! I tried growing them in pots last year but the plants outgrew the pots pretty quickly, so I thought I’d try planting them directly into the beds this year. I planted the herbs I use most – mint (for cocktails), basil, rosemary and cilantro. Anyone have any tips on whether herbs grow better in pots or beds? Just curious!

So this year, I need to:

1. Trim the mums down to a smaller size.

2. Find a small, colorful annual to plant between them.

3. Finally get around to planting SOMETHING on either side of the rose bushes, because there’s currently just empty space.

And that’s my plan for this year. The beds still feel a little bare, but considering that just a year ago, we didn’t even have landscaping out front, I’m staying positive. Hopefully by next spring, it will be totally filled in and lovely! Here’s a look back:

When we bought the house:

When we built the landscaping last spring:

Now:

For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Met Gala – or Costume Institute Gala – is the opening event for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s fashion exhibit at the Costume Institute. If the Oscars are THE AWARDS SHOW, then the Met Gala is THE FASHION EVENT. It’s the night Hollywood/New York royalty have got to bring it.

The theme was “Punk: Chaos to Couture” which is kind of awesome. What was NOT awesome was the way most of the people in attendance totally wussed out and tried to pass off a spiky cuff and lots of black eyeliner as punk. So tonight’s fashion winners and losers had to be judged on a completely different set of criteria, factoring in whether or not they embraced the challenge and were able to pull it off in a way that didn’t seem completely contrived. Any celebrity that showed up in an Oscar-worthy ball gown automatically got demoted.

Ready? GO!

Sienna Miller was a winner for me last night. She managed to look 1) like herself, 2) chic and sophisticated, 3) of-the-moment and 4) punk.

Only Rooney Mara could make white frilly lace seem kind of bad ass.

Personally, I think Lauren Santo Domingo can do no wrong. So this Dolce gown with it’s ridiculous puffy sleeves, fishnet neck and spiked choker was a win for me.

Here’s what was genius about this look: The dress isn’t punk, per se, but the hair and makeup make it feel punk. I dig it.

Spiked hair and full length fishnet. I feel dirty saying it, but Miley kinda brought it last night. It’s insane and ridiculous but it’s something.

Taylor was close, but I was rocking that same hairdo when “Bridge to Terabithia” was my favorite book.

Speaking of insane, a faux-hawk and tartan boots? I only have one question about this look…

When the Met Gala says, “Anna, wear punk.” and Anna says, “Yeah, no.” it’s punk. But only when Anna does it.

There’s a bit too much blue fabric happening here for my taste, but props for a belt that would literally kill anyone she hugs.

 The veil is more goth than punk and the dress is a near-exact replica of the one I wore to college formal in 2005, only infinitely more expensive. But JLaw always makes up for misguided fashion attempts with incredible GIFS:

I want to shield my eyes from three of the most beautiful women in Hollywood being RUINED by the insane idea that pants under a dress is ok. Discussion over.

Judging by her expression, I’d say Chloe and I share an opinion on turbans.

Everything about this is wrong for this event, and a lot of it is wrong for most events.

Elle Fanning wasn’t paying attention in history class.

SEERSUCKER, ZOOEY?!!??! REALLY??!!?!?!?! I’d rather you had worn Jess’s prom/virginity dress and done a Lisa Loeb musical interlude.

Heidi Klum loves punk so much, she wants to marry it. Like, right now. She’s ready.

The theme was “punk,” Uma. Not puke.

Possible places this carpool was headed when they took a wrong turn and ended up at the Met Gala:

a) The past

b) Medieval Times

c) Westeros

Punk is as close as Kristen will ever get to attending an angst-themed party (one she should always leave with a crown and a sash). I mean, c’mon, girl. They really softballed this one in for you. This was the best you could do?

Also, your crotch looks like a fortune cookie.

Um. What?

Unless “Kiss Me” is playing while Fredde Prinze Jr. takes you to the prom, this is not an acceptable look.

Nailed it.

Punk is dead. That’s what she was trying to say here, right?

That, my friends, is a photo of five of our old, unpainted doors. No longer on their hinges, but rather, waiting to be picked up by Habitat for Humanity. And no, this doesn’t mean we have four closets and a bathroom waiting to be fitted with new doors. It means that we have four closets and a bathroom THAT ALREADY HAVE NEW DOORS.

Aaron and I finally admitted that after more than a year, we just weren’t up to replacing the remaining doors ourselves. We didn’t have the time. So we called our handyman and in only a few hours, he’d done something that would have taken us an entire weekend. I’m not posting photos of the new doors yet because they still need a coat of paint, but soon, friends!

Last year, Southern Living published the photos from their 2012 Idea House – a farmhouse floor plan decked out in charming neutrals and a brilliant mix of old and new. To say that I’ve been obsessed with this house ever since is a bit of an understatement. I frequently find myself trolling Pinterest for farmhouse photos, daydreaming about building a farmhouse of my own (something that I’ve never daydreamed about before), and coming back to this spread over and over again. I shocked myself when I realized I’d never blogged about it. Better late than never?

My current fave.