A Trip Around the Web + Please Don't Hurt Yourself.

Heeeeeyyy!

Yeah, I miss you guys.  Workin' hard over on The Exorcist.  Hey, did you guys watch the pilot?  The rest of the season is airing now, the stuff I'm working on currently.  Let know what you think!

Yeah and hey, I messed up my rotator cuff.  Loser.  How can that be, you're not working on house stuff?!, you query.  I know, right?  Crazy.  No clue as to what happened to be honest, but the doctor said it had been aggravated then I shoved it over the edge into full on strain.

Lemme tell you a thing or two, take care of your rotator cuffs because man, this sh*t hurts.  Like a bitch.  Wow.  And wow is a massive understatement.  Like doubled over in silent-scream while attempting to rip my arm off to make the pain stop.  For a "measly" strain.  Yep.

What's further upsetting:  it'll be weeks WEEKS! before it's ok and my arm works again.  (Yeah, my arm no longer works very well.)  Doctor said six.  Sigh.  Six.  And that's with the twice-weekly physical therapy.

Aaarrrggg!!  I'd shake my fist in the air but I can't.  The only other time I've dinged myself this bad was when I broke my finger.

So, insert a million eyerolls here.  I feel like a winner for sure.

Group portrait of Mike and I with his parents at Navy Pier, aka fun with mirrors.

Anywhooo.

Supplies for upcoming projects are piling up (stair, wallpaper, sconces, back door awning, stuff, junk, I should peruse my lists, get overly prepared for oodles of winter indoor time) so I must get whipped back into functioning.  Need my arm!

(A store I heard about in the office, Reuse Depot, very similar sounding to ReBuilding Exchange and the Habitat stores, will surely be getting a visit from me.  I will finally make it over to WasteShed too, I swear.)

As such, in the meantime, that of course means even less than less is happening around the house.  Totally boring.  But I've been amassing fun and/or interesting and/or educational and/or cool links to share with you for a whirlwind web-wide tour again.

Without further ado.....grab a mug o' somethin', a blankie, and cozy on up with me:

Finn with the world's biggest nose.

Remember my tool rant?  How tool manufacturers are missing the big gigantic half-the-nation boat?  I am not the only one who feels this way.  HeatherStiletto shared her tool rant over on 1001pallets.com.  Read it.  Read it here.  Share it.  Talk about it.  Let's get those tool companies listening.  *stamps foot down*

Have I shared this one from Abigail Ahern on rules?  Probably.  But I'm sharing again because it's important, plus in case you missed it.  She's also got some good tips on things to avoid with paint.

Oh and so funny too?  I had saved this to share with you about the uh quote, ugliest paint color (because I ended up with a color veeerrryyyy similar in the hall bedroom, heh) and Ms. Ahern posted this in response.

She's awesome.

Last year's Christmas gift to Mike?  A three hour chartered sailboat cruise on Lake Michigan which we took last month.  And it was phenomenal.

Tangent....vvreewww....I accidentally ran across these, seriously totally inadvertently on accident I truly swear!, and suddenly had the raging urge to change all the passage door sets.  I mean, how many do we need...one, two, three....oh, nine.  Eleven if you count the basement.  Man, we have a lot of doors.  Hm.  Well?

Unless I remove the door to the library which serves no purpose and skip the basement.  Hm.  Now the idea is on my radar.  A classy touch, IMO.

Maybe I can find them or similar for less.....Mmm, this just may happen.

Know why?  Excellent design is all about details.  As Charles Eames so eloquently stated, "The details are not the details.  They make the design."

Details are extremely important, especially things one touches, and when we sell, a buyer will notice (consciously or subconsciously), helping tip the scales in our favor.  Plus they'd look ridiculously cool, far more custom and unique instead of our existing boring cheap crap.

Mike conveniently ignored my email about them and when queried, he shot me that "and why?" stinky side eye.  Ah well, I still love him.

Chicago on a fall night.

I was pondering the poor lighting situation in the basement, as evidenced by every.single.darn.photograph I take down there.  I had replaced all the incandescent bulbs with fluorescents which were clearly poopy.  So I read up further on LED's.  Be sure to reference a helpful temperature scale before you buy.

Arrived in my mailbox via Crate and Barrel catalogue, the Zak Table Lamp.  I chuckled.  There's no way it's the same lamp, right?  Looks preeettty darn close if you ask me.  Surely ours must be a Target version but I snickered at the sheer near identical-ness and price difference nonetheless.

While on a lighting bent here, check out these DIY light fixture ideas.  Now I desire once again to replace and build our foyer light fixture.

Oh, hahahahaha?  Moments after I mention wallpapering inside our coat closet, my email proffered me a link on wallpapering small hidden spaces.  Hahahaha, aw boy!  Made me smile.

Speaking of wallpaper, these are gorgeous.  Right?

I feel like I can't do a trip around the web without mentioning painting all the things black at least once.  Right?

Oh, paint those walls black!  As you'll see there, several, if not the majority of those images reflect a more traditional interior so right, see, black works in any environment.  Nodding.

Or, omg (skip it all, scroll to the last)....high gloss black ceiling?  I am passing out right now.  Our first floor bathroom neeeeeeeeeds this, oh my.

Walls or ceiling too much?  Try painting your interior doors black, see how that dramatically changes things.

Oh black doors and those knobs above?  Swoon.

Read this interview with Cortney Novagratz, it was fantastic.  Always been hooked by their work as they do big, bold, fun and gusty stuff.

Turns out they actually follow me on Instagram (poof, mind blown) and they liked two of my photos recently.  Aw did I geek out in excitement!  Oh yes I did.

I about pooped my pants when I saw this, indeed.

Similar to that time Antonio Ballatore liked a few...man, I was woozy.  And he doesn't even follow me!

Uh huh.  That's right.  I'm such a dork.

Heh.

Anyway....

If you're looking for ways to keep your pooch entertained, my mom sent me 10 Brain Games to Play with Your Dog which sound like great fun.

My sweet little pumpkin pie Hailey had been in my dreams multiple times last week which is difficult and makes for tough waking hours.  It likely started when I dug up a pair of pants I hadn't worn in a while only to find them coated in Pea fur. Tears.  Streaming.  My baby girl's pretty face, aw man.  Boy do I ever miss her.

I bought this limited edition memorial bracelet to feed twenty two shelter dogs in honor of my pea though they didn't ask her name.  I'll restring as the elastic will surely blow in three seconds.  It says they're almost sold out but there are plenty of other options to chose from.  Feed those dogs.  Or straight up donate.  Or best yet, #adoptdontshop.

Great tips on flour?  Random subject change.  Indeed, check out Craftsy's baking hacks for flour substitutes.  Although....Mike has suddenly, without discussion nor warning, decided to go (almost) all paleo on me which wow is hard and expensive and particular and complicated and lacking in chocolate milk.  Spontaneity is not for want with him.  Still love him though!

Do you work freelance, or know someone who does?  I've been freelance most my life and always the dilemma is how to figure rates.  How to Calculate Your Freelance Hourly Rate provides useful pointers.  Thanks go to Erin for sharing that.

A Google wizard are ya?  If not, pick up at least a couple of these tips and you'll be well on your way.  Google and I are great pals, especially when shopping.

The ladies of Humboldt Park.

Super-awesome-free-this-month?!  A woodworking class over on Instructables!  How stinkin' cool is that?!  Caveat:  premium membership.

The class says for the average DIY'er with no fancy tools so hey, hop on over there and sign up!  I enrolled as there's little better you can do for yourself than continuing to learn.  Amiright?  Here's a list of their current classes, several more of which I enrolled in.

In the Who's Honoring Me Now category, our spiffy backsplash grout was featured over on About.com.  So flattered, thanks Deirdre!

Oh, our neighbors to the east had a water line leak.  Man, poor neighbors, getting water indoors every which way.

My sneaky surreptitious second floor window photo of their thoroughly torn up front yard. 

And yup, last post it was all Mike phone photos, this time it's all Becky phone photos.  Hope you enjoyed.

Goodness me, that oughtta keep you busy reading for a bit, huh?!  Thanks everyone!  A month and change and I'll be back hitting the to do list, gimpy arm and all!