octolilly [through the years]

What was your favorite childhood stuffed animal or toy? Do you still have it? Okay, admit it, do you still sleep with it sometimes? – Kassie

One of my sweet aunts bought me a huge fuzzy bear when I was around five years old. It was an American black bear and large enough that I could curl up with him and his paws wrapped around my shoulders.

I slept with this bear all the way through high school. I cried all over him, punched him when angry, threw him across the room, and generally told him every secret I ever had. The threads that held his nose on started scattering and he began looking a tad bit freaky. I didn’t know how to sew so I would push his nose back into the stuffing and keep practicing my make out skills. 

Eventually, when I found real live people to make out with and I started sharing my heart with those who could respond, my sweet bear went the way of the garbage. 

I hate myself a little because I threw him away. I have these moments where I brashly decide to get rid of things that have sentimental value. It feels brave and grown up and then I wake the next morning feeling fussy. I’m getting better about it.

What are your favorite decorative items/pieces of furniture/household features? – Kristen 

We live in a cozy apartment right now and plan to be here until next June. It has been exactly what we needed but it has not felt as though it was uniquely ours. Neither of us have felt a desire to paint walls or plan a decor theme and since we’ve moved so many times, we keep parsing through what we own and by the time we ARE in a house, we will need to purchase a considerable amount of items.

My pinterest boards are full of plans for the future. I want large maps on the living room walls, billowing curtains, bookcases everywhere, a bathroom in typography, a chevron wall, and a secret doorway through a bookcase. I’m totally fine with it being in the shape of a Tardis.

So, here are a few of my favorite things about my home: 

We have gorgeous large windows in our bedroom and in our office. They let in gargantuan amounts of light from morning to night. 

My mom had these flowers made for me when I was a teenager. Each flower echoes a part of my personality. I had them on a grecian stand in the corner of my room for years and now they feel a bit lost at the moment. I’m not sure where to put them. So they sit forlornly on my hope-chest.  The hope-chest holds sweet memories as well. My dad bought it for me when I turned 16. We both rambled through the second floor of a furniture store for what seemed like hours until we found this piece.

These bookshelves in Drew’s room are from IKEA. They have been absolutely awesome. He loves them. We love them. Everyone loves them. Also, it’s easy to clean up when we have labeled trays.

Our guest bathroom curtain! When Drew began learning his letters he would sit on the potty and shout “E! S! 1! UPSIDE DOWN E!” We’re big fans of typography.

This cozy window makes our small kitchen seem much bigger. I can peer into the living room while making dinner and comment on Mario Galaxy.

Our living room couch is almost worn out. I’m the only one who still likes it. It has a slipcover that needs washing frequently, pillows that need plumping weekly (and then Drew collects the feathers), and it doesn’t have the best support for your back but I still really love it. It will be regulated to a Room That Doesn’t Matter before long. Sniffle.

Daniel’s recently-passed Grandpa made this beautiful grandfather clock. I wasn’t too keen on it when I got married (Daniel’s family – don’t hate me!) but I have really grown to love it. It means so much to me now.

My reading corner. Complete with IKEA lamp. I could buy a hundred of those lamps. They are cheap and have warm, yellow light instead of BING BLUE WHITE LIGHT. The bookcase will be given away before we move again and that recliner will be simply thrown away but for now, it’s my reading corner and I love it.

What skill have you learned in the past year that you are proud of? – Bethany

Origami and paint-by-number projects that look somewhat awesome! I wish I could say kick-boxing and swimming but that’s for next year.

My sister-in-law Cassidy bought me an origami kit as a gift this past year and I’ve spent many evenings creating origami with Drew.

And then on my last visit to Maryland, I watched Cassidy and Daniel’s sister Sarah doing paint-by-number kits they bought from local craft stores and I got hooked. It is so relaxing, incredibly easy, and they are fun to give as gifts.

And with that, I’ve officially moved from WordPress to Squarespace. I hope everything is normal but if you see something odd on Octolilly (other than, you know, ME) please let me know. I updated my RSS feed info in Feedburner so we should be good to go.

Back to Reverb Broads! 

Share a recipe or meal that is a summertime favorite. – Amy

We love an extremely light and easy macaroni salad on hot summer nights! And when I say easy, I mean extremely easy. A box of noodles, 2 or 3 cups of peas, a pile of shredded chicken, 1/2 cup mayo, and 1/3 cup of mustard. Salt and pepper to taste.

List 8 reasons it’s okay to lie. – Katrina

1. Pleasantries! When my grocer asks how I’m doing then I’m more than likely going to respond with “fine” instead of “I cried all morning because I didn’t feel like driving to the gas station to get chocolate ice cream because I’m PMSing and I need chocolate and I feel achy all over and I hate those fuzzy things that fly through the air and keep making me sneeze and I love to wax philosophical over Sister Wives with Daniel even when he’s barely paying me any attention.”

2. When the truth tears someone down, hurting them. I do believe honesty is healing, refreshing, and more than likely the best policy. And just because the truth hurts someone doesn’t mean that lying is the right answer. However, there are situations in which telling the truth helps no one at all and can even seem rather selfish in a I-need-to-get-this-off-my-chest type of way.

3. Complimenting someone. Perhaps this stems from my southern kindness (bless your heart!) but white lies of your hair has never looked more beautiful or darling, this potato salad recipe is better than anything I’ve ever tried are perfectly acceptable.

4. To keep the peace (when you can’t possibly change the situation). An example of this would be my polite side-stepping issues with my Granny who will never understand anything I say about some things. I respect her, love her, and know that I can never change her or change her ideas about me. So I side-step, white-lie, and keep the peace.

5. Your height and weight on your driver’s license. I think trying to cut forty pounds off your license is silly (but go ahead, hee!) but no one cares if you choose what you weighed in February instead of what you weighed yesterday morning after eating that box of donuts.

6. When someone texts you “what are you doing” and you are pooing. ‘Nuff said? Unless you’re cool with using that poo icon while texting.

7. Santa, The Tooth Fairy, etc. We’ve told Drew that there are stories we all tell about certain holidays and some people believe they are real and some people don’t. We let him choose how he wants to think about it and if he is in pretend mode, we jump into that mode too. Thus, we lie about whether a fairy is going to army crawl into his bedroom and pull his teeth with pliers. Wait, what?

8. “Do I look fat?” This completely depends on your relationship with the person who is asking. More than likely, you should say no unless that person’s weight is bothering you and then you actually need to have a heart-to-heart about it. I tease Daniel with this question at the worst times and try to convince him that it’s perfectly acceptable to say, “why yes, sweetie. Because you are.” He just gives me a flirty wink and says “you look beautiful.” FINE. WHATEVER MAN.

I’m taking part in a blogging group called Reverb Broads that will be suggesting daily blogging prompts this June. If you want to join in, feel free!